feat(settings): add new task defaults for steps, skip-permissions, and propagate

openspec/changes/new-task-defaults/change.md

@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# Change: New Task Defaults for Steps, Skip-Permissions, and Propagate
+
+## Summary
+
+Add three persistent app-level defaults that pre-fill checkboxes in the New
+Task dialog, so users who habitually enable the same options do not have to
+re-tick them on every task.
+
+## Affected spec
+
+`openspec/specs/steps-tracking/spec.md` — the `showSteps` field referenced in
+the "opt-in per task with remembered default" scenarios is renamed to
+`defaultStepsEnabled`. Behaviour is unchanged; only the storage key differs.
+Existing `showSteps` values are migrated to `defaultStepsEnabled` on first
+load.
+
+## New behaviour
+
+### `defaultStepsEnabled` (replaces `showSteps`)
+
+- **WHEN** the user opens the new-task dialog
+- **THEN** the "Steps tracking" checkbox is pre-checked iff `defaultStepsEnabled` is true
+- **WHEN** the user toggles the Setting in Settings → General → New Task Defaults
+- **THEN** `defaultStepsEnabled` is updated; task creation does not mutate this default
+
+### `defaultSkipPermissions`
+
+- **WHEN** the user opens the new-task dialog and the selected agent supports skip-permissions
+- **THEN** the "Skip permissions" checkbox is pre-checked iff `defaultSkipPermissions` is true
+
+### `defaultPropagateSkipPermissions`
+
+- **WHEN** the user opens the new-task dialog with coordinator mode enabled and skip-permissions ticked
+- **THEN** the "Propagate skip-permissions to sub-tasks" checkbox is pre-checked iff
+  `defaultPropagateSkipPermissions` is true
+
+## Settings surface
+
+All three defaults are exposed in **Settings → General → New Task Defaults**
+(adjacent to the Behavior section). The propagate row is only shown when
+`coordinatorModeEnabled` is true.
+
+## Migration
+
+`loadState` maps `raw.showSteps === true` → `defaultStepsEnabled = true` so
+existing users who had steps tracking enabled keep their preference.
+`showSteps` is no longer written by `saveState`.

openspec/changes/new-task-defaults/proposal.md

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# New Task Defaults for Steps, Skip-Permissions, and Propagate
+
+## Why
+
+Users who habitually enable the same options (steps tracking, skip-permissions,
+propagate to sub-tasks) must re-tick them on every new task. There is no way to
+set an app-level default so the dialog opens pre-checked.
+
+## What changes
+
+- Three new boolean settings in **Settings → General → New Task Defaults**:
+  - **Steps tracking** — pre-tick "Steps tracking" in the New Task dialog
+  - **Skip permissions** — pre-tick "Skip permissions" (only honoured when the
+    selected agent supports it)
+  - **Propagate skip-permissions to sub-tasks** — pre-tick propagate (shown
+    only when `coordinatorModeEnabled` is true)
+- All three values are persisted and included in the autosave snapshot.
+- The `showSteps` key is renamed to `defaultStepsEnabled`; existing users'
+  preferences are migrated transparently on first load.
+
+## Impact
+
+- Modifies `openspec/specs/steps-tracking/spec.md`: renames `showSteps` →
+  `defaultStepsEnabled` and documents the two new fields.
+- Store: adds `defaultSkipPermissions`, `defaultPropagateSkipPermissions`;
+  renames `showSteps` → `defaultStepsEnabled` in `AppStore`, `PersistedState`,
+  `saveState`, and `persistedSnapshot`.
+- New Task dialog: open effect initializes all three signals from store instead
+  of hardcoding `false`.
+- No new IPC channels.

openspec/changes/new-task-defaults/specs/steps-tracking/spec.md

@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+## MODIFIED Requirements
+
+### Requirement: Opt-in per task with remembered default
+
+Steps tracking SHALL be opt-in on a per-task basis, with a persistent app-level
+default that the new-task dialog uses to pre-fill the checkbox. The storage key
+for this default is renamed from `showSteps` to `defaultStepsEnabled`; existing
+`showSteps` values are migrated to `defaultStepsEnabled` on first load.
+
+#### Scenario: New task dialog reflects the persistent default
+
+- **WHEN** the user opens the new-task dialog
+- **THEN** the "Steps tracking" checkbox is pre-checked if and only if the
+  persisted `defaultStepsEnabled` app-level flag is true
+
+#### Scenario: Settings toggle updates the default
+
+- **WHEN** the user enables or disables "Steps tracking" in Settings → General → New Task Defaults
+- **THEN** the persisted `defaultStepsEnabled` app-level flag is updated to match
+- **AND** the next new-task dialog uses that value as the default
+
+#### Scenario: Task creation does not update the default
+
+- **WHEN** the user creates a task with the "Steps tracking" checkbox in a
+  different state than `defaultStepsEnabled`
+- **THEN** the persisted `defaultStepsEnabled` app-level flag is NOT changed
+- **AND** the per-task `stepsEnabled` flag reflects the checkbox state at creation time
+
+#### Scenario: Migration from legacy showSteps key
+
+- **WHEN** a user with `showSteps: true` in saved state opens the app after
+  this change
+- **THEN** `defaultStepsEnabled` is set to true
+- **AND** `showSteps` is no longer written by saveState
+
+## ADDED Requirements
+
+### Requirement: Persistent defaults for skip-permissions and propagate
+
+Two additional app-level defaults SHALL be persisted and used to pre-fill the
+New Task dialog checkboxes.
+
+#### Scenario: Skip-permissions default pre-fills the dialog
+
+- **WHEN** the user opens the new-task dialog and the selected agent supports
+  skip-permissions
+- **THEN** the "Skip permissions" checkbox is pre-checked iff
+  `defaultSkipPermissions` is true
+
+#### Scenario: Propagate default pre-fills the dialog
+
+- **WHEN** the user opens the new-task dialog with coordinator mode enabled and
+  skip-permissions ticked
+- **THEN** the "Propagate skip-permissions to sub-tasks" checkbox is pre-checked
+  iff `defaultPropagateSkipPermissions` is true
+
+#### Scenario: Defaults are configurable in Settings
+
+- **WHEN** the user opens Settings → General
+- **THEN** a "New Task Defaults" section is visible with toggles for all three
+  defaults
+- **AND** the propagate toggle is shown only when `coordinatorModeEnabled` is
+  true

openspec/changes/new-task-defaults/tasks.md

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Tasks — New Task Defaults
+
+- [x] Add `defaultStepsEnabled`, `defaultSkipPermissions`, and
+      `defaultPropagateSkipPermissions` to `AppStore` and `PersistedState` in
+      `src/store/types.ts`; remove `showSteps` from `PersistedState`.
+- [x] Add setters for all three fields in `src/store/ui.ts`.
+- [x] Update `saveState` in `src/store/persistence.ts` to write the three new
+      fields and stop writing `showSteps`.
+- [x] Add migration in `loadState`: use `raw.defaultStepsEnabled` when it is a boolean; fall back to `raw.showSteps === true` only when the new field is absent (not present-but-invalid).
+- [x] Add all three fields to `persistedSnapshot()` in `src/store/autosave.ts`
+      and export the function for testing.
+- [x] Fix New Task dialog open effect (`src/components/NewTaskDialog.tsx`) to
+      initialize all three signals from the store rather than hardcoding `false`.
+- [x] Add the three Settings rows in `src/components/SettingsDialog.tsx`
+      (New Task Defaults section, placed after the Behavior group).
+- [x] Add autosave regression tests (`src/store/autosave.test.ts`) using the
+      real `persistedSnapshot()`.
+- [x] Add migration tests to `src/store/persistence.test.ts`.
+- [x] Update `openspec/specs/steps-tracking/spec.md` to rename `showSteps` →
+      `defaultStepsEnabled` and document the two new fields.
+- [x] Validate with `npm run typecheck`, `npm test`, and
+      `openspec validate --all --strict`.

openspec/specs/steps-tracking/spec.md

@@ -13,18 +13,25 @@ reading through raw terminal scrollback.
 Steps tracking SHALL be opt-in on a per-task basis, with a persistent app-level
 default that the new-task dialog uses to pre-fill the checkbox.
 
-#### Scenario: New task dialog reflects the last-used default
+#### Scenario: New task dialog reflects the persistent default
 
 - **WHEN** the user opens the new-task dialog
 - **THEN** the "Steps tracking" checkbox is pre-checked if and only if the
-  persisted `showSteps` app-level flag is true
+  persisted `defaultStepsEnabled` app-level flag is true
 
-#### Scenario: Default updates when user toggles the checkbox
+#### Scenario: Settings toggle updates the default
 
-- **WHEN** the user creates a task with the checkbox in the opposite state
-- **THEN** the persisted `showSteps` app-level flag is updated to match
+- **WHEN** the user enables or disables "Steps tracking" in Settings → General → New Task Defaults
+- **THEN** the persisted `defaultStepsEnabled` app-level flag is updated to match
 - **AND** the next new-task dialog uses that value as the default
 
+#### Scenario: Task creation does not update the default
+
+- **WHEN** the user creates a task with the "Steps tracking" checkbox in a
+  different state than `defaultStepsEnabled`
+- **THEN** the persisted `defaultStepsEnabled` app-level flag is NOT changed
+- **AND** the per-task `stepsEnabled` flag reflects the checkbox state at creation time
+
 #### Scenario: `stepsEnabled` is per-task and persisted
 
 - **WHEN** a task is created with the checkbox enabled

src/components/NewTaskDialog.tsx

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   Show,
   onCleanup,
   on,
+  untrack,
 } from 'solid-js';
 import { Dialog } from './Dialog';
 import { errMessage } from '../lib/log';
@@ -75,8 +76,8 @@ export function NewTaskDialog(props: NewTaskDialogProps) {
   const [branchesError, setBranchesError] = createSignal(false);
   // Bumped by the Retry button to re-run the branch-fetch effect.
   const [branchRetryToken, setBranchRetryToken] = createSignal(0);
-  const [stepsEnabled, setStepsEnabled] = createSignal(store.showSteps);
-  const [skipPermissions, setSkipPermissions] = createSignal(false);
+  const [stepsEnabled, setStepsEnabled] = createSignal(store.defaultStepsEnabled);
+  const [skipPermissions, setSkipPermissions] = createSignal(store.defaultSkipPermissions);
   const [dockerMode, setDockerMode] = createSignal(false);
   const [dockerImageReady, setDockerImageReady] = createSignal<boolean | null>(null); // null = unknown
   const [dockerBuilding, setDockerBuilding] = createSignal(false);
@@ -88,7 +89,9 @@ export function NewTaskDialog(props: NewTaskDialogProps) {
     buildContext: string;
   } | null>(null);
   const [coordinatorMode, setCoordinatorMode] = createSignal(false);
-  const [propagateSkipPermissions, setPropagateSkipPermissions] = createSignal(false);
+  const [propagateSkipPermissions, setPropagateSkipPermissions] = createSignal(
+    store.defaultPropagateSkipPermissions,
+  );
   const [maxConcurrentTasks, setMaxConcurrentTasks] = createSignal(
     DEFAULT_COORDINATOR_CONCURRENT_TASKS,
   );
@@ -158,7 +161,27 @@ export function NewTaskDialog(props: NewTaskDialogProps) {
     focusables[nextIdx].focus();
   }
 
-  // Initialize state each time the dialog opens
+  // Initialize state each time the dialog opens.  Wrapped in on() so the
+  // effect only re-fires on the props.open *transition*, not whenever any
+  // store default mutates while the dialog is already open (e.g. the user
+  // toggling Settings, or autosave restoring state).  untrack() ensures the
+  // store reads inside are one-shot samples, not new reactive subscriptions.
+  createEffect(
+    on(
+      () => props.open,
+      (open) => {
+        if (!open) return;
+        untrack(() => {
+          setStepsEnabled(store.defaultStepsEnabled);
+          setSkipPermissions(store.defaultSkipPermissions);
+          setPropagateSkipPermissions(store.defaultPropagateSkipPermissions);
+        });
+      },
+      { defer: true },
+    ),
+  );
+
+  // Initialize remaining state each time the dialog opens
   createEffect(() => {
     if (!props.open) return;
 
@@ -168,8 +191,6 @@ export function NewTaskDialog(props: NewTaskDialogProps) {
     setError('');
     setLoading(false);
     setGitIsolation('worktree');
-    setSkipPermissions(false);
-    setPropagateSkipPermissions(false);
     setDockerMode(false);
     setDockerImageReady(null);
     setDockerBuilding(false);
@@ -629,7 +650,10 @@ export function NewTaskDialog(props: NewTaskDialogProps) {
           ? (projDocker?.imageTag ?? (store.dockerImage || DEFAULT_DOCKER_IMAGE))
           : undefined,
         coordinatorMode: coordinatorMode() || undefined,
-        propagateSkipPermissions: coordinatorMode() ? propagateSkipPermissions() : undefined,
+        propagateSkipPermissions:
+          coordinatorMode() && agentSupportsSkipPermissions() && skipPermissions()
+            ? propagateSkipPermissions()
+            : undefined,
         maxConcurrentTasks: coordinatorMode()
           ? clampCoordinatorConcurrentTasks(maxConcurrentTasks())
           : undefined,

src/components/SettingsDialog.tsx

@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ import {
   setDarkTheme,
   setCoordinatorModeEnabled,
   setCoordinatorNotificationDelayMs,
+  setDefaultStepsEnabled,
+  setDefaultSkipPermissions,
+  setDefaultPropagateSkipPermissions,
   updateStatus,
   checkForUpdates,
 } from '../store/store';
@@ -414,6 +417,93 @@ export function SettingsDialog(props: SettingsDialogProps) {
             </label>
           </div>
 
+          <div style={{ display: 'flex', 'flex-direction': 'column', gap: '10px' }}>
+            <div style={{ ...sectionLabelStyle, 'font-weight': '600' }}>New Task Defaults</div>
+            <label
+              style={{
+                display: 'flex',
+                'align-items': 'center',
+                gap: '10px',
+                cursor: 'pointer',
+                padding: '8px 12px',
+                'border-radius': '8px',
+                background: theme.bgInput,
+                border: `1px solid ${theme.border}`,
+              }}
+            >
+              <input
+                type="checkbox"
+                checked={store.defaultStepsEnabled}
+                onChange={(e) => setDefaultStepsEnabled(e.currentTarget.checked)}
+                style={{ 'accent-color': theme.accent, cursor: 'pointer' }}
+              />
+              <div style={{ display: 'flex', 'flex-direction': 'column', gap: '2px' }}>
+                <span style={{ 'font-size': '14px', color: theme.fg }}>Steps tracking</span>
+                <span style={{ 'font-size': '12px', color: theme.fgSubtle }}>
+                  Pre-tick Steps tracking in the New Task dialog
+                </span>
+              </div>
+            </label>
+            <label
+              style={{
+                display: 'flex',
+                'align-items': 'center',
+                gap: '10px',
+                cursor: 'pointer',
+                padding: '8px 12px',
+                'border-radius': '8px',
+                background: theme.bgInput,
+                border: `1px solid ${theme.border}`,
+              }}
+            >
+              <input
+                type="checkbox"
+                checked={store.defaultSkipPermissions}
+                onChange={(e) => setDefaultSkipPermissions(e.currentTarget.checked)}
+                style={{ 'accent-color': theme.accent, cursor: 'pointer' }}
+              />
+              <div style={{ display: 'flex', 'flex-direction': 'column', gap: '2px' }}>
+                <span style={{ 'font-size': '14px', color: theme.fg }}>
+                  Dangerously skip all confirms by default
+                </span>
+                <span style={{ 'font-size': '12px', color: theme.fgSubtle }}>
+                  Pre-tick skip-permissions for every new task. The agent will run without asking
+                  for confirmation. Only honoured when the selected agent supports it.
+                </span>
+              </div>
+            </label>
+            <Show when={store.coordinatorModeEnabled}>
+              <label
+                style={{
+                  display: 'flex',
+                  'align-items': 'center',
+                  gap: '10px',
+                  cursor: 'pointer',
+                  padding: '8px 12px',
+                  'border-radius': '8px',
+                  background: theme.bgInput,
+                  border: `1px solid ${theme.border}`,
+                }}
+              >
+                <input
+                  type="checkbox"
+                  checked={store.defaultPropagateSkipPermissions}
+                  onChange={(e) => setDefaultPropagateSkipPermissions(e.currentTarget.checked)}
+                  style={{ 'accent-color': theme.accent, cursor: 'pointer' }}
+                />
+                <div style={{ display: 'flex', 'flex-direction': 'column', gap: '2px' }}>
+                  <span style={{ 'font-size': '14px', color: theme.fg }}>
+                    Propagate skip-permissions to sub-tasks
+                  </span>
+                  <span style={{ 'font-size': '12px', color: theme.fgSubtle }}>
+                    Pre-tick Propagate to sub-tasks when both coordinator mode and skip-permissions
+                    are enabled for a task
+                  </span>
+                </div>
+              </label>
+            </Show>
+          </div>
+
           <div style={{ display: 'flex', 'flex-direction': 'column', gap: '10px' }}>
             <div
               style={{