CHANGELOG.md

@@ -188,6 +188,8 @@ ensuring data is stored with proper parameter values.
 
 - **A2A module rename BDD test suite** (#8615): Comprehensive Behave tests validating that the ACP→A2A module rename is complete — verifying all 22 A2A symbols are properly exported, no legacy ACP references remain in `.py` files under `cleveragents.a2a/`, and the module docstring uses current A2A naming. The step definitions include self-contained symbol lookups to avoid cross-scenario dependency failures.
 
+- **TUI preset cycling keybinding corrected to ctrl+tab and persona tab-cycling added** (#9442): Changed the argument preset cycling shortcut from ``ctrl+t`` to ``ctrl+tab`` to avoid conflicts with terminal session managers that also use ``ctrl+t`` for alternate file sender. Added a new ``shift+tab`` binding to cycle through available personas in the registry, automatically resetting the preset to ``default`` when switching personas. Help panel now reflects both keybindings under Main Screen context.
+
 - Fixed `ReactiveEventBus.emit()` exception handler to log the full exception
   message (`str(exc)`) and enable traceback forwarding (`exc_info=True`).
   Previously the handler logged only the exception type name (e.g.

CONTRIBUTORS.md

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ Below are some of the specific details of various contributions.
 
 * Jeffrey Phillips Freeman has acted as Lead Developer, daily contributor, and Project Owner.
 * Jeffrey Phillips Freeman has contributed the invariant merge precedence fix (#9126): restored the missing ACTION scope in ``merge_invariants()`` and ``InvariantSet.merge()``, corrected all module docstrings from ``plan > project > global`` to the spec-compliant ``plan > action > project > global``, and added comprehensive BDD test coverage for four-tier merge precedence.
+* HAL 9000 has contributed the TUI preset cycling keybinding fix (PR #9442): corrected the argument preset cycling shortcut from ``ctrl+t`` to ``ctrl+tab`` for safer terminal compatibility, added a ``shift+tab`` binding to cycle through available personas in the registry with automatic preset reset to ``default`` on switch, and updated the help panel overlay to document both new bindings under Main Screen context.
 * Brent E. Edwards has contributed quality assurance, test coverage, and CI pipeline improvements.
 * HAL 9000 has contributed automated implementation, bug fixes, and feature development as part of the CleverAgents automation pool, including fix for PermissionsScreen base class (#10744 / #10488): converted PermissionsScreen from a Static widget to a proper Textual Screen subclass with full keyboard bindings and action methods.
 * HAL 9000 has contributed concurrency safety improvements, including thread-safe context tier management (issue #7547) for parallel plan execution.

features/steps/tui_app_coverage_steps.py

@@ -683,3 +683,9 @@ def step_slash_overlay_all_commands(context) -> None:
     # (set_commands with empty query calls hide(), clearing _text and _commands)
     assert not overlay._visible, "Slash overlay should be hidden after reset"
     assert overlay._text == "", "Slash overlay text should be empty after reset"
+
+
+# action_cycle_persona (new)
+@when("I call action_cycle_persona on the app")
+def step_call_action_cycle_persona(context):
+    context._tui_app.action_cycle_persona()

features/steps/tui_persona_state_coverage_steps.py

@@ -353,3 +353,87 @@ def step_verify_effective_arguments(context):
     assert context.result_eff_args["model"] == "gpt-4"
     assert context.result_eff_args["temp"] == 0.7
     assert context.result_eff_args["speed"] == "fast"
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Scenario: cycle_persona cycles through available personas
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+@given('personas "{persona_csv}" are available in the registry')
+def step_personas_available(context, persona_csv):
+    """Set up a registry with multiple personas."""
+    persona_names = [n.strip() for n in persona_csv.split(",")]
+    personas = {name: _make_persona(name, actor=f"ns/{name}") for name in persona_names}
+
+    registry = MagicMock()
+    registry.list_personas.return_value = list(personas.values())
+    registry.get.side_effect = lambda name: personas.get(name)
+    default_persona = None
+    for n in ("default", "worker"):
+        if n in personas:
+            default_persona = personas[n]
+            break
+    if default_persona is None:
+        default_persona = _make_persona("default")
+    registry.ensure_default.return_value = default_persona
+    registry.set_last_persona = MagicMock()
+
+    context.mock_registry = registry
+    context.state = PersonaState(registry=registry)
+    context.available_personas = personas
+
+
+@given('session "{session_id}" has active persona "{name}"')
+def step_session_has_persona(context, session_id, name):
+    """Set a session to have a specific active persona."""
+    context.state.active_by_session[session_id] = name
+
+
+@when('I cycle the persona for session "{session_id}"')
+def step_cycle_persona(context, session_id):
+    """Call cycle_persona and store the result."""
+    context.result_cycled_persona = context.state.cycle_persona(session_id)
+    context.last_session_id = session_id
+
+
+@then('the cycled persona should be "{expected}"')
+def step_verify_cycled_persona(context, expected):
+    """Verify the cycled persona name."""
+    assert context.result_cycled_persona == expected
+
+
+@given("no personas are available in the registry")
+def step_no_personas_available(context):
+    """Set up a registry with no personas."""
+    registry = MagicMock()
+    registry.list_personas.return_value = []
+    default_persona = _make_persona("default")
+    registry.ensure_default.return_value = default_persona
+    registry.get.return_value = default_persona
+    registry.set_last_persona = MagicMock()
+
+    context.mock_registry = registry
+    context.state = PersonaState(registry=registry)
+
+
+@given('session "{session_id}" has active persona "{name}" with preset "{preset}"')
+def step_session_has_persona_with_preset(context, session_id, name, preset):
+    """Set a session to have a specific persona and preset."""
+    context.state.active_by_session[session_id] = name
+    context.state.preset_by_session[session_id] = preset
+
+
+@then("the registry last persona should be set to {persona}")
+def step_verify_last_persona_set(context, persona):
+    """Verify the registry's set_last_persona was called."""
+    assert context.mock_registry.set_last_persona is not None
+    calls = context.mock_registry.set_last_persona.call_args_list
+    assert len(calls) > 0
+    assert calls[-1][0][0] == persona[1:-1]  # strip quotes
+
+
+@then('the preset for session "{session_id}" should be "default"')
+def step_verify_preset_reset(context, session_id):
+    """Verify the preset was reset to default after persona switch."""
+    assert context.state.preset_by_session[session_id] == "default"

features/tui_app_coverage.feature

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ Feature: TUI App Coverage
     Given a mock command router and persona state
     When I instantiate the Textual TUI app
     Then the app class should have CSS_PATH set to "cleveragents.tcss"
-    And the app class should have 4 key bindings
+    And the app class should have 5 key bindings
 
   # --- compose method (lines 102-112) ---
 
@@ -269,3 +269,12 @@ Feature: TUI App Coverage
     And I trigger on_input_changed with empty text
     Then the slash overlay should be reset to all commands
     And the reference picker should be reset to empty
+
+  # --- action_cycle_persona method (new) ---
+
+  Scenario: action_cycle_persona cycles the persona and refreshes the bar
+    Given a mock command router and persona state
+    When I instantiate the Textual TUI app
+    And I call on_mount on the app
+    And I call action_cycle_persona on the app
+    Then the persona bar content should be refreshed

features/tui_persona_state_coverage.feature

@@ -66,3 +66,34 @@ Feature: TUI Persona State Coverage
     Given a persona with base arguments and presets is active for session "sess-11"
     When I request the effective arguments for session "sess-11"
     Then the effective arguments should merge base and preset overrides
+
+  Scenario: cycle_persona cycles through available personas
+    Given personas "alice,bob,charlie" are available in the registry
+    And session "sess-12" has active persona "alice"
+    When I cycle the persona for session "sess-12"
+    Then the cycled persona should be "bob"
+    AND the registry last persona should be set to "bob"
+
+  Scenario: cycle_persona wraps around to first persona
+    Given personas "alice,bob,charlie" are available in the registry
+    And session "sess-13" has active persona "charlie"
+    When I cycle the persona for session "sess-13"
+    Then the cycled persona should be "alice"
+
+  Scenario: cycle_persona handles single persona
+    Given personas "only-one" are available in the registry
+    And session "sess-14" has active persona "only-one"
+    When I cycle the persona for session "sess-14"
+    Then the cycled persona should be "only-one"
+
+  Scenario: cycle_persona resets preset to default when switching personas
+    Given personas "alice,bob" are available in the registry
+    AND session "sess-15" has active persona "alice" with preset "turbo"
+    When I cycle the persona for session "sess-15"
+    Then the cycled persona should be "bob"
+    AND the preset for session "sess-15" should be "default"
+
+  Scenario: cycle_persona handles empty persona list
+    Given no personas are available in the registry
+    When I cycle the persona for session "sess-16"
+    Then the cycled persona should be "default"

src/cleveragents/tui/app.py

@@ -272,7 +272,8 @@ if _TEXTUAL_AVAILABLE:
         BINDINGS: ClassVar[list[tuple[str, str, str]]] = [
             ("ctrl+q", "quit", "Quit"),
             ("f1", "help", "Help"),
-            ("ctrl+t", "cycle_preset", "Cycle Preset"),
+            ("ctrl+tab", "cycle_preset", "Cycle Preset"),
+            ("shift+tab", "cycle_persona", "Cycle Persona"),
             ("escape", "escape", "Close Overlay"),
         ]
 
@@ -354,6 +355,10 @@ if _TEXTUAL_AVAILABLE:
             self._persona_state.cycle_preset(self._session.session_id)
             self._refresh_persona_bar()
 
+        def action_cycle_persona(self) -> None:
+            self._persona_state.cycle_persona(self._session.session_id)
+            self._refresh_persona_bar()
+
         def action_escape(self) -> None:
             prompt = self.query_one("#prompt", PromptInput)
 

src/cleveragents/tui/persona/state.py

@@ -81,31 +81,38 @@ class PersonaState:
         self.preset_by_session[session_id] = next_name
         return next_name
 
-    def cycle_persona(self, session_id: str) -> Persona:
-        """Cycle to the next persona in cycle_order sequence.
+    def cycle_persona(self, session_id: str) -> str:
+        """Cycle to the next available persona.
 
-        Only personas with cycle_order > 0 are included in the cycle.
-        If no cyclic personas exist, returns the current active persona.
+        Returns the name of the newly active persona.
         """
         personas = self.registry.list_personas()
-        cyclic = sorted(
-            [p for p in personas if p.cycle_order > 0], key=lambda p: p.cycle_order
-        )
-
-        if not cyclic:
-            return self.active_persona(session_id)
+        if not personas:
+            # No personas available, ensure default exists
+            default = self.registry.ensure_default()
+            self.active_by_session[session_id] = default.name
+            return default.name
 
+        # Get list of persona names, sorted for consistent ordering
+        names = sorted([p.name for p in personas])
         current = self.active_name(session_id)
-        current_names = [p.name for p in cyclic]
 
-        if current not in current_names:
-            # Current persona is not in cycle, start from first
-            next_persona = cyclic[0]
-        else:
-            idx = current_names.index(current)
-            next_persona = cyclic[(idx + 1) % len(cyclic)]
+        # If current persona is not in the list, start with the first one
+        if current not in names:
+            self.active_by_session[session_id] = names[0]
+            self.registry.set_last_persona(names[0])
+            # Reset preset when switching personas
+            self.preset_by_session[session_id] = "default"
+            return names[0]
 
-        return self.set_active_persona(session_id, next_persona.name)
+        # Cycle to the next persona
+        idx = names.index(current)
+        next_name = names[(idx + 1) % len(names)]
+        self.active_by_session[session_id] = next_name
+        self.registry.set_last_persona(next_name)
+        # Reset preset when switching personas
+        self.preset_by_session[session_id] = "default"
+        return next_name
 
     def effective_arguments(self, session_id: str) -> dict[str, object]:
         persona = self.active_persona(session_id)

src/cleveragents/tui/widgets/help_panel_overlay.py

@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ _GLOBAL_ITEMS = (
 _CONTEXT_ITEMS: dict[str, tuple[tuple[str, str], ...]] = {
     "Main Screen": (
         ("enter", "Submit prompt"),
-        ("ctrl+t", "Cycle to next argument preset"),
+        ("ctrl+tab", "Cycle to next argument preset"),
+        ("shift+tab", "Cycle personas in registry"),
         ("@", "Open Reference Picker overlay"),
         ("/", "Open Slash Command overlay"),
         ("! / $", "Activate shell mode"),