feat: add nohup parameter for background shell job execution

crates/forge_app/src/fmt/fmt_input.rs

@@ -100,11 +100,14 @@ impl FormatContent for ToolCatalog {
                 let display_path = display_path_for(&input.path);
                 Some(TitleFormat::debug("Undo").sub_title(display_path).into())
             }
-            ToolCatalog::Shell(input) => Some(
-                TitleFormat::debug(format!("Execute [{}]", env.shell))
-                    .sub_title(&input.command)
-                    .into(),
-            ),
+            ToolCatalog::Shell(input) => {
+                let action = if input.nohup { "Spawned" } else { "Execute" };
+                Some(
+                    TitleFormat::debug(format!("{action} [{}]", env.shell))
+                        .sub_title(&input.command)
+                        .into(),
+                )
+            }
             ToolCatalog::Fetch(input) => {
                 Some(TitleFormat::debug("GET").sub_title(&input.url).into())
             }

crates/forge_app/src/git_app.rs

@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ where
 
         let commit_result = self
             .services
-            .execute(commit_command, cwd, false, true, None, None)
+            .execute(commit_command, cwd, false, true, None, None, false)
             .await
             .context("Failed to commit changes")?;
 
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@ where
                 true,
                 None,
                 None,
+                false,
             ),
             self.services.execute(
                 "git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD".into(),
@@ -240,6 +241,7 @@ where
                 true,
                 None,
                 None,
+                false,
             ),
         );
 
@@ -259,6 +261,7 @@ where
                 true,
                 None,
                 None,
+                false,
             ),
             self.services.execute(
                 "git diff".into(),
@@ -267,6 +270,7 @@ where
                 true,
                 None,
                 None,
+                false,
             )
         );
 

crates/forge_app/src/orch_spec/orch_runner.rs

@@ -231,6 +231,7 @@ impl ShellService for Runner {
         _silent: bool,
         _env_vars: Option<Vec<String>>,
         _description: Option<String>,
+        _nohup: bool,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<ShellOutput> {
         let mut outputs = self.test_shell_outputs.lock().await;
         if let Some(output) = outputs.pop_front() {

crates/forge_app/src/services.rs

@@ -482,6 +482,7 @@ pub trait ShellService: Send + Sync {
         silent: bool,
         env_vars: Option<Vec<String>>,
         description: Option<String>,
+        nohup: bool,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<ShellOutput>;
 }
 
@@ -908,9 +909,18 @@ impl<I: Services> ShellService for I {
         silent: bool,
         env_vars: Option<Vec<String>>,
         description: Option<String>,
+        nohup: bool,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<ShellOutput> {
         self.shell_service()
-            .execute(command, cwd, keep_ansi, silent, env_vars, description)
+            .execute(
+                command,
+                cwd,
+                keep_ansi,
+                silent,
+                env_vars,
+                description,
+                nohup,
+            )
             .await
     }
 }

crates/forge_app/src/snapshots/forge_app__compact__tests__render_summary_frame_snapshot.snap

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ Now update the `From<&TextMessage>` implementation to handle optional call_id:
 ````
 Now let's run the tests to verify everything works:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 cargo test --package forge_domain --lib compact::summary
 ```
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Now let me read the test section and fix the remaining tests:
 ````
 Now I need to remove the old tests and update the ones that need fixing. Let me first check how many lines the file has:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 wc -l crates/forge_domain/src/compact/summary.rs
 ```
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ Let me remove the last test that uses the old struct-based API:
 ````
 Now let me run the tests again to see if there are any remaining issues:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 cargo test --package forge_domain --lib compact::summary 2>&1 | head -100
 ```
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ Good! Now let me fix the test helpers:
 ````
 Now I need to update all the test cases. Due to the large number of changes needed, let me run the tests first to see the current errors, then I'll provide a summary of what was accomplished:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 cargo test --package forge_domain --lib compact::summary 2>&1 | head -50
 ```
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ Now let me update the transformer files to use the non-optional `tool_call_succe
 ````
 Good! Now let me run the tests to see the current status:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 cargo test --package forge_domain --lib compact::summary 2>&1 | head -100
 ```
@@ -256,15 +256,15 @@ Now let me search for all other uses of `Block::read`, `Block::update`, and `Blo
 ````
 There are many more uses. Let me use a more efficient approach and fix them all at once with a replace_all operation:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 sed -i '' 's/Block::read("/Block::read(None, "/g' crates/forge_domain/src/compact/transformers/strip_working_dir.rs
 ```
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 sed -i '' 's/Block::update("/Block::update(None, "/g' crates/forge_domain/src/compact/transformers/strip_working_dir.rs
 ```
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 sed -i '' 's/Block::remove("/Block::remove(None, "/g' crates/forge_domain/src/compact/transformers/strip_working_dir.rs
 ```
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ I've successfully added comprehensive tests for `crates/forge_domain/src/compact
 
 Let me run the tests to see the current status:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 cargo test --package forge_domain --lib compact::summary::tests 2>&1 | tail -30
 ```
@@ -320,14 +320,14 @@ Let me fix those mutable warnings and then run the actual summary tests:
 ````
 Now let me run just the summary tests to verify they work:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 cargo test --package forge_domain --lib summary::tests -- --nocapture 2>&1 | grep -A 5 "test result"
 ```
 ````
 Let me check if there are still compilation errors:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 cargo build --package forge_domain --lib 2>&1 | head -50
 ```
@@ -338,14 +338,14 @@ Let me fix the strip_working_dir.rs import and type issues:
 ````
 Now let me try building again:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 cargo test --package forge_domain --lib compact::summary::tests 2>&1 | tail -20
 ```
 ````
 The remaining errors are all in the `trim_context_summary.rs` tests which use the old API extensively. Let me format and lint what we have so far:
 ````
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 cargo +nightly fmt --all && cargo +nightly clippy --fix --allow-staged --allow-dirty --package forge_domain 2>&1 | tail -30
 ```

crates/forge_app/src/snapshots/forge_app__compact__tests__template_engine_renders_summary_frame.snap

@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ Search for TODO comments
 
 ### 8. Assistant
 
-**Execute:** 
+**Execute:**
 ```
 cargo test
 ```

crates/forge_app/src/snapshots/forge_app__tool_registry__all_rendered_tool_descriptions.snap

@@ -153,6 +153,13 @@ Bad example:
 
 Returns complete output including stdout, stderr, and exit code for diagnostic purposes.
 
+Background execution:
+  - Set `nohup: true` to run long-running processes (like web servers) in the background.
+  - When nohup is true, the command runs via `nohup <command> > /tmp/<log>.log 2>&1 &`
+  - Returns the log file path and process ID instead of waiting for completion.
+  - Use the read tool to check the log file for output.
+  - IMPORTANT: The log file path is preserved during context compaction so you can always access it.
+
 ---
 
 ### fetch

crates/forge_app/src/system_prompt.rs

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ impl<S: SkillFetchService + ShellService> SystemPrompt<S> {
                 true,
                 None,
                 None,
+                false,
             )
             .await
             .ok()?;

crates/forge_app/src/tool_executor.rs

@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@ impl<
                         false,
                         input.env.clone(),
                         input.description.clone(),
+                        input.nohup,
                     )
                     .await?;
                 output.into()

crates/forge_app/src/transformers/trim_context_summary.rs

@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ fn to_op(tool: &SummaryTool) -> Operation<'_> {
         SummaryTool::FileUpdate { path } => Operation::File(path),
         SummaryTool::FileRemove { path } => Operation::File(path),
         SummaryTool::Undo { path } => Operation::File(path),
-        SummaryTool::Shell { command } => Operation::Shell(command),
+        SummaryTool::Shell { command, .. } => Operation::Shell(command),
         SummaryTool::Search { pattern } => Operation::Search(pattern),
         SummaryTool::SemSearch { queries } => Operation::CodebaseSearch { queries },
         SummaryTool::Fetch { url } => Operation::Fetch(url),

crates/forge_domain/src/compact/summary.rs

@@ -101,7 +101,17 @@ impl SummaryToolCall {
     pub fn shell(command: impl Into<String>) -> Self {
         Self {
             id: None,
-            tool: SummaryTool::Shell { command: command.into() },
+            tool: SummaryTool::Shell { command: command.into(), log_file: None },
+            is_success: true,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Creates a Shell tool call with a log file for nohup background
+    /// processes.
+    pub fn shell_with_log(command: impl Into<String>, log_file: impl Into<String>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            id: None,
+            tool: SummaryTool::Shell { command: command.into(), log_file: Some(log_file.into()) },
             is_success: true,
         }
     }
@@ -180,19 +190,47 @@ impl SummaryToolCall {
 #[derive(Clone, PartialEq, Debug, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 #[serde(rename_all = "snake_case")]
 pub enum SummaryTool {
-    FileRead { path: String },
-    FileUpdate { path: String },
-    FileRemove { path: String },
-    Shell { command: String },
-    Search { pattern: String },
-    SemSearch { queries: Vec<SearchQuery> },
-    Undo { path: String },
-    Fetch { url: String },
-    Followup { question: String },
-    Plan { plan_name: String },
-    Skill { name: String },
-    Mcp { name: String },
-    TodoWrite { changes: Vec<TodoChange> },
+    FileRead {
+        path: String,
+    },
+    FileUpdate {
+        path: String,
+    },
+    FileRemove {
+        path: String,
+    },
+    Shell {
+        command: String,
+        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+        log_file: Option<String>,
+    },
+    Search {
+        pattern: String,
+    },
+    SemSearch {
+        queries: Vec<SearchQuery>,
+    },
+    Undo {
+        path: String,
+    },
+    Fetch {
+        url: String,
+    },
+    Followup {
+        question: String,
+    },
+    Plan {
+        plan_name: String,
+    },
+    Skill {
+        name: String,
+    },
+    Mcp {
+        name: String,
+    },
+    TodoWrite {
+        changes: Vec<TodoChange>,
+    },
     TodoRead,
 }
 
@@ -283,7 +321,7 @@ impl From<&Context> for ContextSummary {
                 .push(SummaryBlock { role: current_role, contents: std::mem::take(&mut buffer) });
         }
 
-        // Update tool call success status based on results
+        // Update tool call success status and extract nohup log file paths
         messages
             .iter_mut()
             .flat_map(|message| message.contents.iter_mut())
@@ -293,6 +331,19 @@ impl From<&Context> for ContextSummary {
                     && let Some(result) = tool_results.get(call_id)
                 {
                     tool_data.is_success = !result.is_error();
+
+                    // For nohup shell commands, extract the log file path from
+                    // the tool result output so it is preserved through
+                    // compaction.
+                    if let SummaryTool::Shell { log_file, .. } = &mut tool_data.tool
+                        && let Some(output_str) = result.output.as_str()
+                            && let Some(path) = output_str
+                                .lines()
+                                .find(|line| line.starts_with("Log file: "))
+                                .map(|line| line.trim_start_matches("Log file: ").trim())
+                            {
+                                *log_file = Some(path.to_string());
+                            }
                 }
             });
 
@@ -342,7 +393,10 @@ fn extract_tool_info(call: &ToolCallFull, current_todos: &[Todo]) -> Option<Summ
             ToolCatalog::Write(input) => Some(SummaryTool::FileUpdate { path: input.file_path }),
             ToolCatalog::Patch(input) => Some(SummaryTool::FileUpdate { path: input.file_path }),
             ToolCatalog::Remove(input) => Some(SummaryTool::FileRemove { path: input.path }),
-            ToolCatalog::Shell(input) => Some(SummaryTool::Shell { command: input.command }),
+            ToolCatalog::Shell(input) => Some(SummaryTool::Shell {
+                command: input.command,
+                log_file: None, // Will be populated from tool result for nohup commands
+            }),
             ToolCatalog::FsSearch(input) => {
                 // Use glob, file_type, or pattern as the search identifier
                 let pattern = input.glob.or(input.file_type).unwrap_or(input.pattern);
@@ -911,7 +965,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let expected = Block::ToolCall(SummaryToolCall {
             id: None,
-            tool: SummaryTool::Shell { command: "cargo build".to_string() },
+            tool: SummaryTool::Shell { command: "cargo build".to_string(), log_file: None },
             is_success: true,
         });