Collapse tool-call chat rows into a single live status line

Each round of a multi-tool-call chain used to append a new "Calling: X"
message, so a long tool chain stacked up a growing list of rows in the
transcript. Replaced with a transient status line under the thinking
indicator that updates in place each round; once the response
completes, the whole chain collapses into one expandable summary
message ("Used N tool calls") instead of N separate ones.

oAI/ViewModels/ChatViewModel.swift

@@ -120,6 +120,13 @@ class ChatViewModel {
     var messages: [Message] = []
     var inputText: String = ""
     var isGenerating: Bool = false
+    /// Live "what's happening right now" line shown under ProcessingIndicator's thinking verb
+    /// while a tool-calling loop is running — e.g. "🔧 Calling: read_file". Replaced in place each
+    /// round rather than appending a new chat message, so a long multi-round tool chain doesn't
+    /// stack up a growing list of rows. Not persisted; nil whenever no tool round is in flight. The
+    /// full chain is still recorded, just collapsed into one expandable summary message once the
+    /// loop finishes — see generateAIResponseWithTools's use of allToolCallDetails.
+    var currentToolActivity: String? = nil
     var sessionStats = SessionStats()
     var selectedModel: ModelInfo?
     var currentProvider: Settings.Provider = .openrouter
@@ -1589,6 +1596,10 @@ Don't narrate future actions ("Let me...") - just use the tools.
         streamingTask = Task {
             let startTime = Date()
             var wasCancelled = false
+            // Accumulates ToolCallDetail entries across every round of this tool-calling loop —
+            // collapsed into a single expandable summary message once the loop exits (success,
+            // cancellation, or error), instead of one persisted message per round.
+            var allToolCallDetails: [ToolCallDetail] = []
             do {
                 // Include web_search tool when online mode is on (not needed for OpenRouter — it handles search via :online suffix)
                 let tools = mcp.getToolSchemas(onlineMode: onlineMode && currentProvider != .openrouter)
@@ -1741,15 +1752,16 @@ Don't narrate future actions ("Let me...") - just use the tools.
                         break
                     }
 
-                    // Show what tools the model is calling
+                    // Show what tools the model is calling as a transient status line rather than
+                    // a new chat message — see currentToolActivity's doc comment.
                     let toolNames = toolCalls.map { $0.functionName }.joined(separator: ", ")
-                    let toolMsgId = showSystemMessage("🔧 Calling: \(toolNames)")
+                    currentToolActivity = String(localized: "🔧 Calling: \(toolNames)")
 
-                    // Initialise detail entries with inputs (results fill in below)
+                    // Initialise detail entries with inputs (results fill in below); appended to
+                    // allToolCallDetails once this round finishes executing.
                     var toolDetails: [ToolCallDetail] = toolCalls.map { tc in
                         ToolCallDetail(name: tc.functionName, input: tc.arguments, result: nil)
                     }
-                    updateToolCallMessage(id: toolMsgId, details: toolDetails)
 
                     let usingTextCalls = !textCalls.isEmpty
 
@@ -1800,9 +1812,9 @@ Don't narrate future actions ("Let me...") - just use the tools.
                             resultJSON = "{\"error\": \"Failed to serialize result\"}"
                         }
 
-                        // Update the detail entry with the result so the UI can show it
+                        // Record the result so the collapsed summary message can show it once
+                        // the whole tool-calling loop finishes.
                         toolDetails[i].result = resultJSON
-                        updateToolCallMessage(id: toolMsgId, details: toolDetails)
 
                         if usingTextCalls {
                             // Inject results as a user message for text-call models
@@ -1822,6 +1834,8 @@ Don't narrate future actions ("Let me...") - just use the tools.
                         apiMessages.append(["role": "user", "content": combined])
                     }
 
+                    allToolCallDetails.append(contentsOf: toolDetails)
+
                     // If this was the last iteration, note it
                     if iteration == maxIterations - 1 {
                         hitIterationLimit = true  // We're exiting with pending tool calls
@@ -1834,6 +1848,8 @@ Don't narrate future actions ("Let me...") - just use the tools.
                     wasCancelled = true
                 }
 
+                flushToolCallSummary(allToolCallDetails)
+
                 // If we hit the iteration limit or the model returned no text at all, silently
                 // nudge a follow-up turn instead of showing a placeholder/blank bubble.
                 let willAutoContinue = (hitIterationLimit || finishedWithEmptyContent) && !wasCancelled
@@ -1891,6 +1907,10 @@ Don't narrate future actions ("Let me...") - just use the tools.
             } catch {
                 let responseTime = Date().timeIntervalSince(startTime)
 
+                // Same collapse as the success path — any tool rounds that completed before the
+                // error/cancellation are still worth keeping a record of.
+                flushToolCallSummary(allToolCallDetails)
+
                 // Check if this was a cancellation
                 let isCancellation = Task.isCancelled || wasCancelled || error is CancellationError
 
@@ -1936,6 +1956,16 @@ Don't narrate future actions ("Let me...") - just use the tools.
         }
     }
 
+    /// Clears the live tool-activity status line and, if any tool calls actually ran, collapses
+    /// them into a single persisted, expandable summary message — used on every exit path of
+    /// generateAIResponseWithTools's loop (success, cancellation, or error).
+    private func flushToolCallSummary(_ details: [ToolCallDetail]) {
+        currentToolActivity = nil
+        guard !details.isEmpty else { return }
+        let summaryId = showSystemMessage("🔧 Used ^[\(details.count) tool call](inflect: true)")
+        updateToolCallMessage(id: summaryId, details: details)
+    }
+
     // MARK: - Error Helpers
 
     private func friendlyErrorMessage(from error: Error) -> String {

oAI/Views/Main/ChatView.swift

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ struct ChatView: View {
 
                         // Processing indicator
                         if viewModel.isGenerating && viewModel.messages.last?.isStreaming != true {
-                            ProcessingIndicator()
+                            ProcessingIndicator(toolActivity: viewModel.currentToolActivity)
                                 .padding(.horizontal)
                         }
 
@@ -156,10 +156,14 @@ struct ChatView: View {
 }
 
 struct ProcessingIndicator: View {
+    /// Current tool round's status (e.g. "🔧 Calling: read_file"), replaced in place each round
+    /// rather than the chat accumulating a new row per round — see ChatViewModel.currentToolActivity.
+    let toolActivity: String?
     @State private var animating = false
     @State private var thinkingText = ThinkingVerbs.random()
 
     var body: some View {
+        VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 4) {
             HStack(spacing: 8) {
                 Text(thinkingText)
                     .font(.system(size: 14, weight: .medium))
@@ -180,6 +184,15 @@ struct ProcessingIndicator: View {
                     }
                 }
             }
+
+            if let toolActivity {
+                Text(toolActivity)
+                    .font(.system(size: 12))
+                    .foregroundColor(.confabSecondary.opacity(0.75))
+                    .transition(.opacity)
+            }
+        }
+        .animation(.easeInOut(duration: 0.15), value: toolActivity)
         .padding(.horizontal, 16)
         .padding(.vertical, 12)
         .background(Color.confabSecondary.opacity(0.05))