[codex] add configurable automatic git fetch interval

[juliusmarminge]

Summary

Adds a Source Control setting for configuring the background Git fetch interval. The default remains 30 seconds, and setting the interval to 0 disables automatic fetches while preserving explicit Git actions.

What changed

• Replaced the unshipped automaticGitFetches boolean with automaticGitFetchInterval, stored as an Effect duration setting with millisecond JSON encoding.
• Added a Fetch interval number field to the Source Control settings page, with 0 seconds shown as disabled.
• Routed VCS status subscriptions through the configured interval so passive remote refresh polling can be slowed down or disabled before it reaches git fetch.
• Set SSH_ASKPASS_REQUIRE=never on background upstream status fetches so OpenSSH askpass dialogs are not triggered by passive refreshes.
• Kept explicit user-triggered Git operations such as pull, push, and PR branch fetches unchanged.
• Updated settings merge/persistence handling so duration settings are merged atomically and persisted in encoded form.
• Included the setting in restore-defaults behavior and added status broadcaster coverage for the disabled path.

Why

Background git fetch can trigger SSH agent, passphrase, Touch ID, security-key, or Windows GCM prompts for users with secure Git setups. Making the interval configurable lets users reduce that background activity, and 0 lets those prompts happen only on explicit Git actions. The OpenSSH SSH_ASKPASS_REQUIRE=never guard also prevents passive refreshes from opening askpass UI when a fetch still runs.

Closes #356
Closes #1190
Closes #1418
Closes #1467
Closes #1965
Closes #2285

Refs #1921

Validation

• bun fmt
• bun lint (passes with existing warnings)
• bun typecheck
• bun run test --filter=t3 -- src/vcs/VcsStatusBroadcaster.test.ts
• bun run test --filter=t3 -- src/vcs/GitVcsDriverCore.test.ts
• bun run test --filter=t3 -- src/serverSettings.test.ts
• bun run test --filter=@t3tools/web -- src/rpc/wsTransport.test.ts
• bun run test:browser src/components/settings/SettingsPanels.browser.tsx
• bun run test:browser src/components/ChatView.browser.tsx
• bun run test:browser src/components/KeybindingsToast.browser.tsx
• bun run test:browser

---

Note

Medium Risk
Touches server settings normalization/persistence and VCS background polling behavior; misconfiguration could change remote status refresh cadence or settings serialization, but the change is scoped and covered by tests.

Overview
Adds a new ServerSettings.automaticGitFetchInterval (default 30s, 0 disables) and threads it through the subscribeVcsStatus WebSocket flow so background remote status refresh/polling respects the configured interval.

Updates Git background upstream fetches to run with SSH_ASKPASS_REQUIRE=never to avoid triggering askpass prompts during passive refreshes, and extends the Source Control settings UI with a per-Git collapsible “Fetch interval” control (including reset-to-default behavior).

Refactors settings patching/serialization to round-trip normalize settings via schema encode/decode, persist sparse settings via schema JSON encoding, treat automaticGitFetchInterval as an atomic key, and broadens string normalization by making TrimmedString trim on both decode and encode (with test updates to expect encoded wire shapes).

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit 8c99160. Bugbot is set up for automated code reviews on this repo. Configure here.}

Note

Add configurable automatic Git fetch interval to server settings

• Adds automaticGitFetchInterval (default 30s) to ServerSettings and ServerSettingsPatch in settings.ts, stored as DurationFromMillis.
• Exposes a UI in SourceControlSettings.tsx to view, adjust, and reset the fetch interval, with collapsible Git details row.
• WS RPC layer in ws.ts reads the interval from ServerSettingsService and passes it to VcsStatusBroadcaster.streamStatus, falling back to the default on read failure.
• Background remote refresh in VcsStatusBroadcaster.ts can now be disabled by passing Duration.zero and uses the configured interval per subscription.
• Background fetch runs with SSH_ASKPASS_REQUIRE=never via a new env override in GitVcsDriverCore.ts to prevent interactive prompts.

^{Macroscope summarized 8c99160.}

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[macroscopeapp]

🟢 Low vcs/VcsStatusBroadcaster.ts:267

When retainRemotePoller finds an existing poller for a cwd, it increments the subscriber count but ignores the new caller's automaticRemoteRefreshEnabled preference. The first subscriber's effect controls refresh behavior for all subsequent subscribers to the same cwd, so callers expecting different refresh settings receive the wrong behavior silently.

🚀 Reply "fix it for me" or copy this AI Prompt for your agent:

In file apps/server/src/vcs/VcsStatusBroadcaster.ts around line 267:

When `retainRemotePoller` finds an existing poller for a `cwd`, it increments the subscriber count but ignores the new caller's `automaticRemoteRefreshEnabled` preference. The first subscriber's effect controls refresh behavior for all subsequent subscribers to the same `cwd`, so callers expecting different refresh settings receive the wrong behavior silently.

Evidence trail:
apps/server/src/vcs/VcsStatusBroadcaster.ts lines 267-290: `retainRemotePoller` function definition showing the `existing` branch (lines 273-279) ignores `automaticRemoteRefreshEnabled` while the new-poller branch (line 285) uses it. apps/server/src/vcs/VcsStatusBroadcaster.ts lines 47-49: `StreamStatusOptions` interface defines `automaticRemoteRefreshEnabled` as an optional public option. apps/server/src/ws.ts lines 958-963: production caller passes `automaticGitFetchesEnabled`. apps/server/src/vcs/VcsStatusBroadcaster.test.ts lines 300-302: test caller passes `Effect.succeed(false)` showing the API is intended to accept different values.

[merrkry]

I would suggest adding something like SSH_ASKPASS_REQUIRE=never in auto fetch, see #1921.

[juliusmarminge]

Screenshot of the new Source Control setting:

[juliusmarminge]

Full-page screenshot of the Source Control settings page:

[cursor]

Cursor Bugbot has reviewed your changes and found 1 potential issue.

Autofix Details

Bugbot Autofix prepared a fix for the issue found in the latest run.

• ✅ Fixed: layerTest deepMerge corrupts Duration when overrides include interval
  • Destructured automaticGitFetchInterval out of overrides before calling deepMerge, then applied it atomically afterward, mirroring the same protection used in applyServerSettingsPatch.

Or push these changes by commenting:

@cursor push c9ba6464c7

Preview (c9ba6464c7)

diff --git a/apps/server/src/serverSettings.ts b/apps/server/src/serverSettings.ts
--- a/apps/server/src/serverSettings.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/serverSettings.ts
@@ -139,9 +139,14 @@
     Layer.effect(
       ServerSettingsService,
       Effect.gen(function* () {
-        const initialSettings = yield* normalizeServerSettings(
-          deepMerge(DEFAULT_SERVER_SETTINGS, overrides),
-        );
+        const { automaticGitFetchInterval, ...overridesForMerge } = overrides;
+        const merged = deepMerge(DEFAULT_SERVER_SETTINGS, overridesForMerge);
+        const initialSettings = yield* normalizeServerSettings({
+          ...merged,
+          ...(automaticGitFetchInterval !== undefined
+            ? { automaticGitFetchInterval: automaticGitFetchInterval as Duration.Duration }
+            : {}),
+        });
         const currentSettingsRef = yield* Ref.make<ServerSettings>(initialSettings);
 
         return {

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[macroscopeapp]

Approvability

Verdict: Needs human review

New feature adding configurable Git fetch interval with UI controls and runtime behavior changes. An unresolved review comment identifies a bug where multiple subscribers to the same directory receive incorrect refresh settings.

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[juliusmarminge]

@cursor push c9ba646

[cursor]

Cursor Bugbot has reviewed your changes and found 1 potential issue.

Autofix Details

Bugbot Autofix prepared a fix for the issue found in the latest run.

• ✅ Fixed: Manual field conversion in settingsInputForDecode is fragile
  • Replaced the fragile manual settingsInputForDecode function with the already-available encodeServerSettingsSync which properly encodes all fields, making normalizeServerSettings robust against future schema changes.

Or push these changes by commenting:

@cursor push 6294961d2c

Preview (6294961d2c)

diff --git a/apps/server/src/serverSettings.ts b/apps/server/src/serverSettings.ts
--- a/apps/server/src/serverSettings.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/serverSettings.ts
@@ -55,17 +55,10 @@
 const textEncoder = new TextEncoder();
 const textDecoder = new TextDecoder();
 
-function settingsInputForDecode(settings: ServerSettings): unknown {
-  return {
-    ...settings,
-    automaticGitFetchInterval: Duration.toMillis(settings.automaticGitFetchInterval),
-  };
-}
-
 const normalizeServerSettings = (
   settings: ServerSettings,
 ): Effect.Effect<ServerSettings, ServerSettingsError> =>
-  decodeServerSettings(settingsInputForDecode(settings)).pipe(
+  decodeServerSettings(encodeServerSettingsSync(settings)).pipe(
     Effect.mapError(
       (cause) =>
         new ServerSettingsError({

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[juliusmarminge]

@cursor push 6294961

[cursor]

Cursor Bugbot has reviewed your changes and found 1 potential issue.

^{Bugbot Autofix is ON. A cloud agent has been kicked off to fix the reported issue. You can view the agent here.}

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit f27a9aa. Configure here.}