Speak dialog choices in plain English, not renderable names

Accepting a settings or approval dialog echoed its internal overlay
kind and label straight to the transcript: "overlay    chose
(settings): compaction    summarize ‹ drop ›". The word "overlay"
named a renderable no operator knows, the "chose (kind): label"
shape read as a state transition, and a cycled field's own selection
markers survived into the line.

Build the echo from the field's id and the value that actually won,
worded as a sentence a person would say, and use the overlay's kind
as its meta column instead of the literal word "overlay". The same
path serves settings, permissions, and operator dialogs.

Also stop labelling the goal/task/agents visibility toggles with the
internal "chrome" zone name in their transcript text and meta.

Author: TheGreatAxios

src/tui-opentui/command-surfaces.test.ts

@@ -166,6 +166,27 @@ describe("settings surface", () => {
     })
   })
 
+  test("choosing a cycled row writes a plain-English transcript line, not the internal echo", async () => {
+    await withShell(async (shell) => {
+      const { deps } = settingsDeps()
+      openCommandSurface(shell, "settings", deps)
+      await Promise.resolve()
+      await Promise.resolve()
+
+      cycleOverlaySelection(shell, 1)
+      await Promise.resolve()
+      await Promise.resolve()
+      acceptOverlaySelection(shell)
+
+      const row = shell.streamLog.at(-1)
+      expect(row?.text).toBe("Set compaction to drop.")
+      expect(row?.meta).not.toBe("overlay")
+      expect(row?.text).not.toContain("‹")
+      expect(row?.text).not.toContain("›")
+      expect(row?.text).not.toContain("overlay")
+    })
+  })
+
   test("session mode scope switch honours a local write", async () => {
     await withShell(async (shell) => {
       const { deps, calls } = settingsDeps()

src/tui-opentui/overlays.test.ts

@@ -223,7 +223,8 @@ describe("model / provider picker", () => {
 
           await h.renderOnce()
           frame = h.captureCharFrame()
-          expect(frame).toContain("chose (model_picker)")
+          expect(frame).toContain("model picker")
+          expect(frame).toMatch(/Chose /)
         } finally {
           shell.dispose()
         }

src/tui-opentui/shell.ts

@@ -3347,7 +3347,7 @@ export function handleOverlayAnswerKey(
     appendStreamRow(shell, {
       role: "system",
       text: `answered: ${text}`,
-      meta: "overlay",
+      meta: overlayKindWord(shell.overlayKind ?? "operator"),
     })
     // Deliberate submit, not a dismiss — closeInsetOverlay must not also fire
     // the Esc/cancel path.
@@ -3735,14 +3735,33 @@ export function acceptOverlaySelection(shell: AppShell): void {
   if (bag?.overlayEchoChoice !== false) {
     appendStreamRow(shell, {
       role: "system",
-      text: `chose (${kind}): ${label}`,
-      meta: "overlay",
+      text: overlayChoiceText(label, id),
+      meta: overlayKindWord(kind),
     })
   }
   closeInsetOverlay(shell)
   dispatchOverlayAccept(shell, selection, perOpen)
 }
 
+/**
+ * Plain-English echo of an accepted choice. A cycled settings field's label
+ * carries every option with `‹ ›` around the active one (list-painting detail,
+ * not something an operator asked for) — name the field by its id and report
+ * only the value that won. A plain list item has no such markers, so it is
+ * quoted as-is.
+ */
+function overlayChoiceText(label: string, id: string | undefined): string {
+  const active = label.match(/‹\s*(.+?)\s*›/)
+  if (active === null) return `Chose ${label.trim()}.`
+  const field = id === undefined ? "setting" : id.replace(/[-_]/g, " ")
+  return `Set ${field} to ${active[1]}.`
+}
+
+/** Internal overlay kinds read as words in the transcript, not identifiers. */
+function overlayKindWord(kind: PrimaryOverlayKind): string {
+  return kind.replace(/_/g, " ")
+}
+
 /**
  * Dispatch a selected palette item after the palette has closed.
  * - residual → `runPaletteAction` (overlays / chrome)
@@ -3843,8 +3862,8 @@ export function runPaletteAction(
       })
       appendStreamRow(shell, {
         role: "system",
-        text: on ? "goal chrome off" : "goal chrome on",
-        meta: "chrome",
+        text: on ? "goal banner off" : "goal banner on",
+        meta: "goal",
       })
       return
     }
@@ -3856,8 +3875,8 @@ export function runPaletteAction(
       })
       appendStreamRow(shell, {
         role: "system",
-        text: on ? "task chrome off" : "task chrome on",
-        meta: "chrome",
+        text: on ? "task banner off" : "task banner on",
+        meta: "task",
       })
       return
     }
@@ -3870,7 +3889,7 @@ export function runPaletteAction(
       appendStreamRow(shell, {
         role: "system",
         text: on ? "agents strip off" : "agents strip on",
-        meta: "chrome",
+        meta: "agents",
       })
       return
     }