Make the background FX drain visible: a busy cursor over the panel and a footer readout that names its direction, driven off fxReclaimActivity

src/core/ui/CLAUDE.md

@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ L7 sub-pass, 2026-07-27):
 - `theme` — pure palette module: role→color mapping, REAPER-grey neutral ladder + the pastel accent system, the keyboard strip's spectral ramp, WCAG contrast-floor helpers + `compositeOver` (the effective color of a translucent fill, so alpha overlays are testable). Only the ramp's MID stop is its own constant; lo/hi are still aliases of `accent/primary`/`accent/tertiary`, so a categorical accent move CAN still reorder the ramp — `testSpectralRampLuminanceIsMonotonic` is the build-time catch, not the structure.
 - `component_geometry` — pure button/slider/list-row geometry + hover hit-test helpers.
 - `action_bar` — pure task-grouped action-bar layout/hit-test: clusters (Capture / Placement / Maintenance / Tagging / Switching).
-- `footer_bar` — pure footer layout/hit-test: `[Arrange|Design]` mode-toggle geometry, Tail button, and Prune placement, plus `modeSegmentEnabled` — the mode segment's live/dead predicate under the playback gate AND under whether the shell resolved a routable command id for it (both bools passed IN, so this stays REAPER-free).
+- `footer_bar` — pure footer layout/hit-test: `[Arrange|Design]` mode-toggle geometry, Tail button, and Prune placement, plus `modeSegmentEnabled` — the mode segment's live/dead predicate under the playback gate AND under whether the shell resolved a routable command id for it (both bools passed IN, so this stays REAPER-free) — plus `footerReadout`, which decides what the footer's ONE passive readout box says: a MOVING background FX drain pre-empts the per-mode member count, since the drain is transient and the count is not. Its `FxDrainState` mirrors the shell's `FxReclaimActivity` name-for-name (a shell header cannot be included here); the shell owns the decision, this owns only the wording, and the two directions word differently because parking and restoring are different acts.
 - `overflow_menu` — pure overflow-menu-button geometry/reserve/hit-test for the top-toolbar More (⋯) button.
 - `mode_enable` — pure opposite-mode enablement predicate: given the active mode, computes per-button live/disabled state for the four Item/Track × Arrange/Design tag buttons.
 - `insert_fx_enable` — pure refusal fold behind the Insert-as-FX verb (one instance holds one capture, so it needs exactly one focused capture AND a destination track), plus the button's live/dead bit derived from that same fold and one sentence per refusal. The payload/destination axes are ordered deliberately because they are knowable at different times — the header states which half the button may speak for.

src/core/ui/footer_bar.cpp

@@ -83,4 +83,15 @@ bool modeSegmentEnabled(bool isActiveSegment, bool transportRunning, bool routab
     return isActiveSegment || (!transportRunning && routable);
 }
 
+std::string footerReadout(FxDrainState drain, int activeModeMembers) {
+    // Enumerated rather than defaulted so a fourth state has to be answered here instead
+    // of inheriting the count by accident.
+    switch (drain) {
+        case FxDrainState::Online:  return kFxRestoringReadout;
+        case FxDrainState::Offline: return kFxParkingReadout;
+        case FxDrainState::Idle:    break;
+    }
+    return std::to_string(activeModeMembers) + (activeModeMembers == 1 ? " track" : " tracks");
+}
+
 } // namespace reasampler::ui

src/core/ui/footer_bar.h

@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 // (computeSegmentRects / hitTestSegment) for per-segment tiling — mode_switch stays the one
 // owner of segment geometry.
 
+#include <string>
+
 #include "core/ui/prune_button.h"  // FooterRect — the shared footer strip input type
 
 namespace reasampler::ui {
@@ -79,4 +81,25 @@ FooterHit hitTestFooterBar(int px, int py, const FooterBarLayout& layout);
 // `core/ui` — stays REAPER-free, exactly as `transportRunning` is.
 bool modeSegmentEnabled(bool isActiveSegment, bool transportRunning, bool routable);
 
+// Which way the background FX drain is moving, as the readout needs to hear it. Declared
+// here rather than taken from the shell's FxReclaimActivity because `core/ui` may not
+// include a shell header; the member names are deliberately the shell's, so the one map
+// between them (panel_input) is a name-for-name switch and a drift shows up as one.
+// Idle is "nothing moving", never "no work queued" — the shell's enum owns that reasoning.
+enum class FxDrainState { Idle, Online, Offline };
+
+// DRAFT wording, pending sign-off. Short on purpose: these share the count box, whose
+// default 64px holds roughly a dozen glyphs at the panel's smallest font before the
+// shell's kit end-ellipsizes it. The two directions read differently because they ARE
+// different acts — Offline takes the inactive modes' chains out, Online brings the
+// entering mode's back.
+inline constexpr const char* kFxParkingReadout   = "parking FX";
+inline constexpr const char* kFxRestoringReadout = "restoring FX";
+
+// The footer's ONE passive readout. A moving FX drain pre-empts the per-mode member count
+// — the drain is transient and the count is not, so it borrows the slot the user already
+// reads rather than earning a second box that this footer's greedy layout would be the
+// first to drop on a narrow panel.
+std::string footerReadout(FxDrainState drain, int activeModeMembers);
+
 } // namespace reasampler::ui

src/shell/panel/CLAUDE.md

@@ -62,6 +62,18 @@ live in `shell/bank_ops`, a sibling directory, not here.
 
 - **No external UI framework.** iPlug2 / JUCE / VSTGUI are rejected (DS-1). LICE +
   reused WDL pieces are the toolkit; reject any path that pulls in a new framework.
+- **The FX-drain indicator asks `fxReclaimActivity()` and decides nothing itself.**
+  `panel_input` polls it once per tick into `g_panel.fxDrain`; the footer readout and the
+  `WM_SETCURSOR` busy cursor both read that cached state, so paint and cursor cannot
+  disagree within a tick. The transport gate, the park debounce and the open-undo-block
+  stand-off are all already folded into that answer, against the reclaim queue's own pinned
+  project — do not re-evaluate any of them here, and never drive this off `fxReclaimPending`
+  (true throughout the debounce, when only the opposite direction is eligible).
+  The indicator reaches only our own window: over REAPER's arrange or mixer the cursor is
+  REAPER's, and the SDK exposes nothing host-wide. A global `SetSystemCursor` or a message
+  hook would reach further and is rejected — do not reintroduce either. `IDC_APPSTARTING`
+  is Windows-only (SWELL ships no equivalent), so on mac/Linux the readout is the whole
+  indicator.
 - **No hit-test geometry in untestable shell code.** Even when reusing a WDL piece
   (e.g. a `vwnd` control for a long scroll list), layout/hit-test math stays in pure
   CTest-covered modules — do not import a WDL control's retained-mode object model

src/shell/panel/panel_input.cpp

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "core/view/view_mode_model.h"  // autoTagNewContent / NewItem / AutoTag
 #include "shell/capture/item_read.h"    // itemGuid / itemLaneName — shared item-read seam
 #include "shell/capture/track_guid.h"   // guidString — canonical track GUID key
+#include "shell/view/fx_reclaim.h"      // fxReclaimActivity — the drain-direction read
 #include "shell/view/view.h"            // transportBlocksModeSwitch
 #include "shell/view/view_lanes.h"      // mintManagedLanes
 
@@ -476,6 +477,17 @@ int translateAccel(MSG* msg, accelerator_register_t* /*ctx*/) {
 accelerator_register_t g_accel{translateAccel, true, nullptr};
 bool g_accelRegistered = false;
 
+// The ONE map from the reclaimer's answer to the pure readout's vocabulary. Name-for-name
+// so a divergence reads as one; the decision itself is entirely fxReclaimActivity's.
+FxDrainState drainStateNow() {
+    switch (fxReclaimActivity()) {
+        case FxReclaimActivity::Online:  return FxDrainState::Online;
+        case FxReclaimActivity::Offline: return FxDrainState::Offline;
+        case FxReclaimActivity::Idle:    break;
+    }
+    return FxDrainState::Idle;
+}
+
 }  // namespace
 
 void registerAccel() {
@@ -530,6 +542,15 @@ void bankPanelRefresh() {
         InvalidateRect(panel::g_panel.hwnd, nullptr, FALSE);
     }
 
+    // The drain finishes without a callback, so its direction is polled here alongside the
+    // transport and repainted only on an edge.
+    const panel::FxDrainState drain = panel::drainStateNow();
+    if (drain != panel::g_panel.fxDrain) {
+        panel::g_panel.fxDrain = drain;
+        panel::refreshBusyCursor();
+        InvalidateRect(panel::g_panel.hwnd, nullptr, FALSE);
+    }
+
     // The custom hover-delay tooltip is driven off this poll tick (no dedicated timer) — if
     // a toolbar button has rested under the pointer past the delay, latch + repaint it.
     panel::maybeShowTooltip();

src/shell/panel/panel_render.cpp

@@ -147,13 +147,15 @@ void drawFooter(LICE_IBitmap* bmp, int w, int h) {
         }
     }
 
-    // Per-mode member count, a compact dim readout beside the toggle. Passive text, not a control.
+    // The one passive readout beside the toggle: a moving FX drain, else the per-mode member
+    // count (footerReadout owns which). Passive text, not a control. The drain draws
+    // text/primary against the count's text/dim so a transient state reads as one.
     if (!fb.count.empty()) {
-        const int members = activeModeMemberCount();
-        const std::string countLabel =
-            std::to_string(members) + (members == 1 ? " track" : " tracks");
+        const bool draining = g_panel.fxDrain != FxDrainState::Idle;
+        const std::string label = footerReadout(g_panel.fxDrain, activeModeMemberCount());
         kitText(bmp, KitBox{fb.count.x, fb.count.y, fb.count.width, fb.count.height},
-                countLabel.c_str(), Font::Micro, Role::TextDim, Align::Center);
+                label.c_str(), Font::Micro,
+                draining ? Role::TextPrimary : Role::TextDim, Align::Center);
     }
 
     // Tail BUTTON — a real kit button with rest/hover states; its click cycles the tail

src/shell/panel/panel_state.h

@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ using ui::FooterBarLayout;
 using ui::FooterBarSpec;
 using ui::FooterHit;
 using ui::FooterRect;
+using ui::FxDrainState;
 using ui::GridSpec;
 using ui::InteractionState;
 using ui::KitBox;
@@ -127,6 +128,7 @@ using ui::cueForDropClass;
 using ui::cursorForGesture;
 using ui::decideCardGesture;
 using ui::decideDropClass;
+using ui::footerReadout;
 using ui::formatBarsBeats;
 using ui::formatSecondsMs;
 using ui::hitTestActionBar;
@@ -322,6 +324,12 @@ struct PanelState {
     // within a tick.
     bool modeSwitchBlocked = false;
 
+    // Which direction the background FX reclaimer is MOVING, polled on the same tick as
+    // modeSwitchBlocked. The footer readout and the busy cursor both read THIS rather than
+    // polling again, so the pixel the user saw and the cursor under their pointer cannot
+    // disagree within a tick.
+    FxDrainState fxDrain = FxDrainState::Idle;
+
     BankPanelFullHeight fullHeight = BankPanelFullHeight::Split;
 
     // The named bank the banks region shows — distinct from the active/capture-target
@@ -442,6 +450,11 @@ inline void invalidatePanel() {
 
 // Cross-seam contract, grouped by owning TU; all plain free functions.
 
+// panel_window.cpp — re-resolves the pointer's cursor after g_panel.fxDrain changed. The
+// window answers WM_SETCURSOR from that state, but the OS only re-asks on pointer
+// movement, so a drain that starts or ends under a still pointer needs this nudge.
+void refreshBusyCursor();
+
 // panel_bank_ops.cpp — book/bank accessors + the bank-CRUD verbs + menus.
 BankBook* book();
 const BankModel* indexForRegion(Region r);

src/shell/panel/panel_window.cpp

@@ -94,8 +94,39 @@ void handleDropFiles(HDROP hDrop) {
     if (!paths.empty()) ingestDroppedFiles(paths);
 }
 
+// IDC_APPSTARTING — arrow plus hourglass, "busy in the background, still usable" — is the
+// exact reading for the FX reclaimer's drain, and IDC_WAIT is not: nothing here blocks.
+// SWELL defines neither anywhere in vendor/WDL/WDL/swell, so on mac/Linux there is no busy
+// cursor at all and the footer readout carries the state alone. The cursor reaches OUR
+// windows only; REAPER's arrange and mixer answer their own WM_SETCURSOR and the SDK
+// exposes nothing host-wide to ask for. A global SetSystemCursor or a message hook would
+// reach further and is deliberately not done.
+#ifdef _WIN32
+HCURSOR busyCursor() { return LoadCursor(nullptr, IDC_APPSTARTING); }
+#else
+HCURSOR busyCursor() { return nullptr; }
+#endif
+
+// A pure read of the polled drain state at query time, never a latched mode — which is what
+// makes it clear itself on every path the drain can end by. A live card drag outranks it:
+// that cue tells the user what a release will DO, and is the more urgent read.
+bool busyCursorApplies() {
+    return busyCursor() && g_panel.fxDrain != FxDrainState::Idle && !g_panel.dragArmed &&
+           !g_panel.dragging;
+}
+
 WDL_DLGRET dlgProc(HWND hwnd, UINT msg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam) {
     switch (msg) {
+        case WM_SETCURSOR:
+            // Claiming the message (non-zero) is what stops the default arrow from being
+            // reapplied underneath us — on Win32 via DefDlgProc, on SWELL via the same
+            // return test in swell-wnd-generic.cpp. Falling through leaves every other
+            // cursor decision exactly where it was (panel_drag's per-move SetCursor).
+            if (busyCursorApplies()) {
+                SetCursor(busyCursor());
+                return 1;
+            }
+            return 0;
         case WM_DROPFILES:
             handleDropFiles(reinterpret_cast<HDROP>(wParam));
             return 0;
@@ -146,6 +177,9 @@ WDL_DLGRET dlgProc(HWND hwnd, UINT msg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam) {
             resetDragState();
             g_panel.hovered = Hover{};
             g_panel.tooltipShown = false;
+            // Nothing polls the drain while the panel is closed, so a stale non-Idle here
+            // would be the first thing a reopened panel painted.
+            g_panel.fxDrain = FxDrainState::Idle;
             g_panel.hwnd = nullptr;
             g_panel.open = false;
             return 0;
@@ -205,6 +239,16 @@ void closePanel() {
 
 }  // namespace
 
+void refreshBusyCursor() {
+    if (!g_panel.hwnd) return;
+    POINT pt{};
+    GetCursorPos(&pt);  // SWELL's returns void, so its result is deliberately not tested
+    // Only when our own window is the one under the pointer: a menu or another window
+    // covering the panel owns the cursor there, and setting one from here would fight it.
+    if (WindowFromPoint(pt) != g_panel.hwnd) return;
+    SetCursor(busyCursorApplies() ? busyCursor() : LoadCursor(nullptr, IDC_ARROW));
+}
+
 }  // namespace reasampler::panel
 
 namespace reasampler {

tests/test_footer_bar.cpp

@@ -12,10 +12,13 @@
 //   * countWidth <= 0 hides the count label and the Tail sits right after the toggle.
 //   * Hit-test: Toggle / Tail returned for in-bounds points, None outside AND on the count
 //     label (a passive readout, never a control); half-open bounds; suppressed box claims none.
+//   * Readout: the count and its pluralization at Idle, each drain direction's pre-emption
+//     of it, the two directions reading differently, and both strings fitting the box.
 
 #include "../src/core/ui/footer_bar.h"
 
 #include <cstdio>
+#include <string>
 
 using namespace reasampler;
 using namespace reasampler::ui;
@@ -259,6 +262,49 @@ static void testActiveSegmentStaysLiveEvenWhenUnroutable() {
     CHECK(modeSegmentEnabled(/*isActiveSegment=*/true, /*transportRunning=*/false, /*routable=*/false));
 }
 
+// --- The readout: count, and the drain's pre-emption of it -------------------
+
+static void testIdleReadsTheCountAndNeitherDrainString() {
+    // Idle is the whole no-work-moving family — an empty queue, an item inside its park
+    // debounce, one held by the transport, one held by an open undo block. The readout
+    // cannot tell them apart and must show the count in every one of them.
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Idle, 0) == "0 tracks");
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Idle, 1) == "1 track");
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Idle, 2) == "2 tracks");
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Idle, 4) != kFxParkingReadout);
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Idle, 4) != kFxRestoringReadout);
+}
+
+static void testEachDirectionPreEmptsTheCount() {
+    // The drain wins the slot at every count, including the singular that would otherwise
+    // read differently — a caller cannot land on the count text while one is moving.
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Online, 0) == kFxRestoringReadout);
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Online, 1) == kFxRestoringReadout);
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Offline, 1) == kFxParkingReadout);
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Offline, 7) == kFxParkingReadout);
+    // Independent of what the constants happen to say: neither direction may render the
+    // idle box, or the indicator would be invisible however they are later reworded.
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Online, 1) != footerReadout(FxDrainState::Idle, 1));
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Offline, 4) != footerReadout(FxDrainState::Idle, 4));
+}
+
+static void testTheTwoDirectionsReadDifferently() {
+    // Restoring the entering mode's chains and parking the leaving mode's are different
+    // acts; one shared word for both would misname whichever it was not written for.
+    CHECK(footerReadout(FxDrainState::Online, 3) != footerReadout(FxDrainState::Offline, 3));
+}
+
+static void testDrainReadoutsFitTheCountBox() {
+    // They borrow the count box, so neither may be long enough to make the kit's
+    // end-ellipsis the normal case. Twelve glyphs is the default 64px box's rough capacity
+    // at the panel's smallest font; a longer string wants a wider box, not a silent
+    // truncation.
+    CHECK(std::string(kFxParkingReadout).size() <= 12);
+    CHECK(std::string(kFxRestoringReadout).size() <= 12);
+    CHECK(!std::string(kFxParkingReadout).empty());
+    CHECK(!std::string(kFxRestoringReadout).empty());
+}
+
 int main() {
     testWideFooterAllPlaced();
     testOffsetFooterAnchorsLeft();
@@ -277,6 +323,10 @@ int main() {
     testActiveSegmentStaysLiveWhileTheTransportRuns();
     testInactiveSegmentGoesDeadWhenUnroutable();
     testActiveSegmentStaysLiveEvenWhenUnroutable();
+    testIdleReadsTheCountAndNeitherDrainString();
+    testEachDirectionPreEmptsTheCount();
+    testTheTwoDirectionsReadDifferently();
+    testDrainReadoutsFitTheCountBox();
 
     if (g_fail == 0) std::printf("footer_bar: all tests passed\n");
     else std::printf("footer_bar: %d CHECK(s) FAILED\n", g_fail);