Remove live-reload watcher to keep the panel PR focused

Per review on #1289: the filesystem watcher is an independently
reviewable feature and moves to its own PR (recursive-watch semantics
differ per platform). The panel keeps its refresh-on-open and
refresh-after-delete behavior, which covers installs and edits without
any watcher. Also drops ponytail-compat.test.ts (external dependency,
no CI signal).

🤖 Generated with Codebuff
Co-Authored-By: Codebuff <noreply@codebuff.com>

Author: lab1207

cli/src/chat.tsx

@@ -557,9 +557,9 @@ export const Chat = ({
   const askUserState = useChatStore((state) => state.askUserState)
 
   // Get loaded skills for slash commands. Keyed on the registry version so a
-  // live-reload (watcher or /skills refresh) swaps the list without a
-  // restart — the registry object itself is mutated in place, which zustand
-  // and useMemo would never notice.
+  // mid-session change (delete via the panel, edit on disk + reopen) swaps the
+  // list without a restart — the registry object itself is mutated in place,
+  // which zustand and useMemo would never notice.
   const skillsVersion = useSyncExternalStore(
     subscribeToSkillsVersion,
     getSkillsVersion,
@@ -1270,8 +1270,7 @@ export const Chat = ({
   }, [closeSkillsPanel, setInputFocused, inputRef])
 
   // Refresh the registry when the /skills panel opens, so a skill installed
-  // moments ago shows up even if the watcher missed it (e.g. directory
-  // created and populated before the watcher could arm on it).
+  // or edited moments ago shows up without restarting the CLI.
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!skillsPanelOpen) return
     void refreshSkillRegistry()

cli/src/components/skills-panel.tsx

@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@ export const SkillsPanel: React.FC<SkillsPanelProps> = ({
     try {
       await rm(skillDir, { recursive: true })
       // Refresh the registry right away: the version bump re-renders the
-      // panel with the refreshed list (the watcher would also catch it, but
-      // a whole-skills-directory delete deserves instant feedback).
+      // panel with the refreshed list instead of waiting for the
+      // refresh-on-open.
       void refreshSkillRegistry()
       // Dropping the row moves the cursor to whatever fills the vacancy.
       const successor = filtered[selectedIndex + 1] ?? filtered[selectedIndex - 1]

cli/src/index.tsx

@@ -47,10 +47,7 @@ import {
 } from './utils/renderer-cleanup'
 import { startTerminalWatchdog } from './utils/terminal-watchdog'
 import { installTerminalProtocolController } from './utils/terminal-protocol-controller'
-import {
-  initializeSkillRegistry,
-  startSkillDirWatcher,
-} from './utils/skill-registry'
+import { initializeSkillRegistry } from './utils/skill-registry'
 import { detectTerminalTheme } from './utils/terminal-color-detection'
 import { setOscDetectedTheme } from './utils/theme-system'
 
@@ -266,11 +263,6 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
   // Initialize skill registry (loads skills from .agents/skills)
   await initializeSkillRegistry()
 
-  // Claude Code parity: watch skill directories so skills installed, edited,
-  // or deleted mid-session appear without a restart. A no-op when none of the
-  // directories exist yet.
-  startSkillDirWatcher()
-
   // Handle publish command before rendering the app
   if (isPublishCommand) {
     const publishIndex = process.argv.indexOf('publish')

cli/src/utils/__tests__/ponytail-compat.test.ts

@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import {
   getSkillsVersion,
   initializeSkillRegistry,
   refreshSkillRegistry,
-  startSkillDirWatcher,
   subscribeToSkillsVersion,
 } from '../skill-registry'
 
@@ -37,8 +36,6 @@ const writeSkill = (
   return skillDir
 }
 
-const wait = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms))
-
 beforeEach(() => {
   tmpRoot = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'skill-registry-'))
   setProjectRoot(tmpRoot)
@@ -138,28 +135,6 @@ describe('skill-registry refresh', () => {
     await refreshSkillRegistry()
     expect(onChange).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   })
-
-  test('watcher picks up an install without restart', async () => {
-    // The skills directory must exist BEFORE the watcher arms on it — fs.watch
-    // cannot watch a directory that does not exist. (A directory created and
-    // populated later is caught by the refresh-on-panel-open instead.)
-    fs.mkdirSync(path.join(tmpRoot, '.agents', 'skills'), { recursive: true })
-    startSkillDirWatcher()
-
-    await initializeSkillRegistry()
-    expect(getSkillCountForTest()).toBe(0)
-
-    writeSkill('project', 'deploy', {
-      name: 'deploy',
-      description: 'Deploy the app',
-    })
-
-    // Watcher debounce is 300ms; give it room on slow CI.
-    await wait(900)
-
-    expect(getSkillsVersion()).toBeGreaterThan(0)
-    expect(getLoadedSkills()['deploy']).toBeDefined()
-  })
 })
 
 function getSkillCountForTest(): number {

cli/src/utils/__tests__/skill-registry.test.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import os from 'os'
-import { watch, type FSWatcher } from 'fs'
 
-import { loadSkills as sdkLoadSkills, resolveSkillsDirs } from '@codebuff/sdk'
+import { loadSkills as sdkLoadSkills } from '@codebuff/sdk'
 
 import { getProjectRoot, tryGetProjectRoot } from '../project-files'
 import { logger } from './logger'
@@ -93,62 +92,11 @@ export async function refreshSkillRegistry(): Promise<boolean> {
 }
 
 // ============================================================================
-// Live reload (Claude Code parity)
+// Live reload
 // ============================================================================
-// Claude Code watches skill directories and picks up add/edit/delete within
-// the running session. Without this, a skill installed mid-session is
-// invisible until restart — the "install every time" complaint.
-
-const SKILLS_WATCH_DEBOUNCE_MS = 300
-
-let skillWatchers: FSWatcher[] = []
-
-/**
- * Start watching the resolved skill directories (global + project, Claude
- * locations included). Idempotent. A directory that does not exist yet is
- * skipped — installs that create it later are caught by the refresh when the
- * /skills panel opens.
- */
-export function startSkillDirWatcher(): void {
-  if (skillWatchers.length > 0) return
-
-  const cwd = skillsCwd()
-  const homeDir = os.homedir()
-  const dirs = resolveSkillsDirs({ cwd, homeDir })
-
-  let debounceTimer: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null
-  const scheduleRefresh = () => {
-    if (debounceTimer) clearTimeout(debounceTimer)
-    debounceTimer = setTimeout(() => {
-      debounceTimer = null
-      void refreshSkillRegistry()
-    }, SKILLS_WATCH_DEBOUNCE_MS)
-  }
-
-  for (const dir of dirs) {
-    try {
-      const watcher = watch(dir, { persistent: false }, () => {
-        // Filter nothing: skill installs create directories AND write
-        // SKILL.md inside them, whole-skill deletes only touch the dir name,
-        // and the refresh itself is a debounced handful of stat+read calls.
-        // Simpler and correct beats a filename heuristic that misses cases.
-        scheduleRefresh()
-      })
-      watcher.on('error', (error) => {
-        logger.warn({ error }, `Skill watcher error for ${dir}`)
-      })
-      skillWatchers.push(watcher)
-    } catch {
-      // Directory does not exist (e.g. no ~/.agents/skills yet). Nothing to
-      // watch; installs create it fresh and a restart picks them up.
-    }
-  }
-}
-
-export function stopSkillDirWatcher(): void {
-  for (const watcher of skillWatchers) watcher.close()
-  skillWatchers = []
-}
+// Implemented on feat/skills-reload — deliberately not here. Watching skill
+// directories is an independently reviewable feature (recursive watch
+// semantics differ per platform) and lives in its own PR.
 
 /**
  * Initialize the skill registry by loading skills via the SDK.
@@ -237,7 +185,6 @@ export function getLoadedSkillsMessage(): string | null {
 export function __resetSkillRegistryForTests(): void {
   skillsCache = {}
   skillsVersion = 0
-  stopSkillDirWatcher()
 }
 
 /**