Report generation progress indicator in Chat UI

[willvelida]

Summary

Show a Claude-style progress indicator with elapsed timer in the Chat UI when report generation is in progress. Currently, the user sees only three bouncing dots for 30-120+ seconds during the entire report generation flow (data fetch → report generation → status polling → reviewer validation), with no visual distinction between "thinking", "fetching data", or "generating report".

Research Document: .copilot-tracking/research/2026-04-06/report-generation-progress-indicator-research.md

Problem

When a user requests a report via the chat interface, the Chat.Api agent:

1. Fetches health data via MCP tools (5-15s)
2. Calls RequestReport tool → POST to Reporting.Api → 202 Accepted (1-2s)
3. Polls GetReportStatus tool while report generates in background (20-90s)
4. Runs a reviewer agent to validate (5-10s)
5. Streams the final response with charts and download links

During this entire 30-120+ second flow, the user sees only the generic typing indicator (three bouncing dots) — the same animation shown for a 2-second response.

Goal

Replace the generic typing indicator with a contextual progress indicator that shows:

• Pulsing spinner (RadzenProgressBarCircular, indeterminate)
• Contextual label ("Generating report...")
• Elapsed timer counting up in Xs or m:ss format

Similar to Claude's "Thinking..." / "Analyzing..." indicator that shows transparency during long-running operations.

Implementation Approaches

Three approaches were researched and evaluated. Each approach is tracked as a sub-issue:

Approach	Effort	Files	Projects	Status
A: AGUI-Stream-Only (recommended)	2-4h, ~50 LOC	3	UI only	Selected
B: Chat.Api Proxy + UI Polling	8-12h, ~200 LOC	10-13	UI + Chat.Api + Infra	Available as upgrade
C: AGUI Custom Events	15-25h	4-5	Chat.Api + UI	Rejected (high risk)

Key Research Findings

1. TOOL_CALL_RESULT confirmed emitted — Source code from microsoft/agent-framework confirms MapAGUI emits TOOL_CALL_RESULT events in the SSE stream, carrying tool return content
2. AGUIEvent model needs 3 properties — Content, ToolCallId, ToolCallName are missing; tool result data is silently discarded during JSON deserialization
3. UI cannot call Reporting.Api directly — all endpoints require ChatApiAgent authorization (azp claim)
4. APIM uses explicit operations — new routes require Bicep additions (~15 lines), but API-level policy auto-applies
5. Blob enumeration concern — GetMetadataAsync does O(N) scan; relevant if Approach B is pursued
6. Approach A is fully additive — doesn't block adding B later

Acceptance Criteria

• Report generation shows contextual progress indicator instead of generic typing dots
• Elapsed timer counts up during report generation
• Indicator dismisses when report completes or stream ends
• Accessibility: aria-label on progress component, not color-only
• Mobile responsive (works at 320px viewport)
• Existing unit tests pass
• New timer logic properly disposed on component disposal

References

• Research: .copilot-tracking/research/2026-04-06/report-generation-progress-indicator-research.md
• Subagent research: .copilot-tracking/research/subagents/2026-04-06/ (5 documents)
• AG-UI Protocol: https://docs.ag-ui.com/concepts/events
• Microsoft Agent Framework source: https://github.com/microsoft/agent-framework