Add sidechat_manager.py: robust sidebar operations with retry and logging\n\n- ensure_sidebar() with exponential backoff (2s, 4s, 6s)\n- list_sidechats() with heuristic parsing\n- log_sidechat_op() for audit trail to sidechat-log.jsonl\nAddresses flaky NOSIDEBAR errors from hardcoded sleeps.

bin/sidechat_manager.py

@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+Robust sidechat management for muse-chat-api.py.
+
+Provides:
+- ensure_sidebar(ws): Opens sidebar if closed, with retry
+- list_sidechats(ws): Returns list of side chat names, with retry
+- All operations logged for audit
+
+The sidebar UI is flaky — sometimes the open button isn't found,
+sometimes content takes >2s to load. This module handles that.
+"""
+import time
+import json
+
+def _ev(ws, js, await_result=True):
+    """Evaluate JS via CDP, return result."""
+    import json as _json
+    ws.send(_json.dumps({
+        "id": 100, "method": "Runtime.evaluate",
+        "params": {"expression": js, "awaitPromise": True}
+    }))
+    resp = _json.loads(ws.recv())
+    result = resp.get("result", {}).get("result", {})
+    return result.get("value")
+
+def ensure_sidebar(ws, max_retries=3):
+    """
+    Ensure the sidebar is open. Returns True if open, False otherwise.
+    Retries with backoff if the open button isn't found immediately.
+    """
+    for attempt in range(max_retries):
+        # Check if sidebar is already open (Side chats text visible)
+        is_open = _ev(ws, """(() => {
+            return document.body.innerText.includes('Side chats');
+        })()""")
+        if is_open:
+            return True
+
+        # Try to open it
+        _ev(ws, """(() => {
+            const btn = [...document.querySelectorAll('button')].find(b =>
+                (b.textContent||'').includes('Open chat and side chats')
+            );
+            if (btn) btn.click();
+            return !!btn;
+        })()""")
+        time.sleep(2 * (attempt + 1))  # Exponential backoff: 2s, 4s, 6s
+
+    # Final check
+    return _ev(ws, """(() => {
+        return document.body.innerText.includes('Side chats');
+    })()""")
+
+def list_sidechats(ws):
+    """
+    List side chat names. Returns list of strings.
+    Ensures sidebar is open first.
+    """
+    if not ensure_sidebar(ws):
+        return []
+
+    result = _ev(ws, """(() => {
+        const text = document.body.innerText;
+        const idx = text.indexOf('Side chats');
+        if (idx === -1) return JSON.stringify([]);
+        // Extract chat names (heuristic: lines after "Side chats" that look like titles)
+        const section = text.slice(idx, idx + 2000);
+        const lines = section.split('\\n').map(l => l.trim()).filter(l => l.length > 0);
+        // Skip header, collect likely chat titles (skip timestamps like "1m", "2m")
+        const chats = [];
+        for (let i = 1; i < lines.length && chats.length < 20; i++) {
+            const line = lines[i];
+            if (/^\\d+[mh]$/.test(line)) continue;  // timestamp
+            if (line === 'Unread updates') continue;
+            if (line.length > 5 && line.length < 80) chats.push(line);
+        }
+        return JSON.stringify(chats);
+    })()""")
+    try:
+        return json.loads(result) if result else []
+    except:
+        return []
+
+def log_sidechat_op(agent, operation, details=""):
+    """Log sidechat operations for audit."""
+    import os
+    from datetime import datetime, timezone
+    log_file = "/home/super/Projects/NetVM/sidechat-log.jsonl"
+    entry = {
+        "ts": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),
+        "agent": agent,
+        "op": operation,
+        "details": details[:200]
+    }
+    try:
+        with open(log_file, "a") as f:
+            f.write(json.dumps(entry) + "\n")
+    except:
+        pass