codex/agentydragon/tasks/22-message-rendering-layout-options.md

id: 22 title: Message Separation and Sender-Content Layout Options status: Not started # one of: Not started, Started, Needs manual review, Done, Cancelled summary: Add configurable options for inter-message spacing and sender-content line breaks in chat rendering. goal: | Provide users with flexibility in how chat messages are visually separated and how sender labels are displayed relative to message content: - Control whether an empty line is inserted between consecutive messages. - Control whether sender and content appear on the same line or on separate lines. ## Acceptance Criteria - Introduce two new config flags under the UI section: - message_spacing: true|false controls inserting a blank line between messages when true. - sender_break_line: true|false controls breaking line after the sender label when true. - Both flags default to false to preserve current compact layout. - When message_spacing is enabled, render an empty line between each message bubble or block. - When sender_break_line is enabled, render the sender label on its own line above the message content; otherwise render Sender: Content on a single line. - Ensure both flags can be toggled independently and work together in any combination. - Add unit tests to verify the four layout permutations produce the correct sequence of lines. ## Implementation How it was implemented
- Extend the chat UI renderer to read message_spacing and sender_break_line from config. - In the message rendering routine, after emitting each message block, conditionally insert a blank line if message_spacing is true. - When rendering a message header, split layout based on sender_break_line: emit sender label and content either together or in two lines. - Write unit tests for all combinations of (message_spacing, sender_break_line) covering single-line messages, multi-line content, and boundaries. ## Notes - These options improve readability for users who prefer more visual separation or clearer sender labels. - Keep default settings unchanged to avoid surprising existing users.