Fix #64: Render copilot conversations including Markdown tables in SWT web browser widget

.github/skills/ui-action/REFERENCE.md

@@ -34,6 +34,29 @@ The module-only shortcut can fail dependency resolution or reuse stale bundles,
 especially after source edits. If widget markers or other code changes appear to
 be ignored, run the root `clean verify` command.
 
+### Selecting the chat renderer
+
+The plugin ships two chat renderers behind the `useBrowserBasedChatRenderer`
+preference, and probes can target either one via the `-Dprobe.renderer` launch
+property (read once by `ProbeRunner` before the ChatView opens):
+
+- omit it, or pass `-Dprobe.renderer=styledtext`, to run against the seasoned
+  StyledText renderer (the production default). These probes assert the SWT
+  widget tree (`user-turn`, `copilot-turn`, `model-info-label`).
+- pass `-Dprobe.renderer=browser` to run against the browser-based (HTML)
+  renderer. Its conversation content lives in an SWT `Browser` DOM that is opaque
+  to SWTBot widget locators, so those probes assert the `Browser` widget exists
+  and fall back to `sleep` + `screenshot` for visual verification.
+
+Because the renderer is chosen per launch, cover both by running the two probes:
+
+```bash
+# StyledText renderer (default)
+./mvnw clean verify -Dprobe.script=probe-scripts/chat-send-receive-001.json
+# Browser renderer
+./mvnw clean verify -Dprobe.script=probe-scripts/chat-send-receive-browser-001.json -Dprobe.renderer=browser
+```
+
 Platform notes:
 
 - Linux headless: prefix the command with `xvfb-run -a`.

base.target

@@ -15,6 +15,19 @@
 			<unit id="org.eclipse.egit.feature.group" version="0.0.0"/>
 			<unit id="org.eclipse.jgit" version="0.0.0"/>
 		</location>
+		<location type="InstallableUnit" includeConfigurePhase="true" includeMode="planner" includeSource="true">
+			<repository location="https://download.eclipse.org/tools/orbit/simrel/orbit-aggregation/2025-03/"/>
+			<unit id="org.commonmark" version="0.0.0"/>
+			<unit id="org.commonmark-gfm-tables" version="0.0.0"/>
+			<unit id="org.commonmark-task-list-items" version="0.0.0"/>
+			<unit id="org.commonmark-gfm-strikethrough" version="0.0.0"/>
+			<unit id="org.commonmark.source" version="0.0.0"/>
+			<unit id="org.commonmark-gfm-tables.source" version="0.0.0"/>
+			<unit id="org.commonmark-task-list-items.source" version="0.0.0"/>
+			<unit id="org.commonmark-gfm-strikethrough.source" version="0.0.0"/>
+			<unit id="com.google.guava" version="0.0.0"/>
+			<unit id="com.google.guava.failureaccess" version="0.0.0"/>
+		</location>
 		<location includeAllPlatforms="false" includeConfigurePhase="false" includeMode="planner" includeSource="true" type="InstallableUnit">
 			<repository location="https://download.eclipse.org/technology/swtbot/releases/latest/"/>
 			<unit id="org.eclipse.swtbot.eclipse.feature.group" version="0.0.0"/>

com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.core/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/core/Constants.java

@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ private Constants() {
   public static final String AUTO_BREAKPOINT_RESPONSE = "autoBreakpointResponse";
   public static final String GITHUB_JOBS_VIEW_ID = "com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.jobs.JobsView";
   public static final String SUPPRESS_TERMINAL_DEPENDENCY_DIALOG = "suppressTerminalDependencyDialog";
+  public static final String USE_BROWSER_BASED_CHAT_RENDERER = "useBrowserBasedChatRenderer";
 
   // Auto-Approve settings
   public static final String AUTO_APPROVE_TERMINAL_RULES = "autoApproveTerminalRules";

com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.swtbot.test/probe-scripts/chat-send-receive-browser-001.json

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+[
+  { "action": "waitForIdle" },
+  { "action": "screenshot", "id": "01-startup" },
+
+  { "action": "showView", "idRef": "com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.chat.ChatView" },
+  { "action": "waitForIdle" },
+  { "action": "screenshot", "id": "02-chat-open" },
+
+  { "action": "assertExists",
+    "locator": { "by": "viewId", "id": "com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.chat.ChatView" } },
+
+  { "action": "waitFor",
+    "locator": { "by": "widgetClass", "value": "Browser" },
+    "timeoutSec": 30 },
+
+  { "action": "waitFor",
+    "locator": { "by": "styledText" },
+    "timeoutSec": 30 },
+
+  { "action": "click", "locator": { "by": "styledText" } },
+  { "action": "clearElement", "locator": { "by": "styledText" } },
+  { "action": "typeIn", "locator": { "by": "styledText" }, "text": "hello" },
+  { "action": "screenshot", "id": "03-typed" },
+
+  { "action": "dumpUi",     "id": "03b-pre-model-poll" },
+  { "action": "screenshot", "id": "03c-pre-model-poll" },
+
+  { "action": "waitForMethod",
+    "locator": { "by": "widgetId", "value": "model-picker" },
+    "method": "getSelectedItemId",
+    "timeoutSec": 60 },
+
+  { "action": "waitFor",
+    "locator": { "by": "buttonWithTooltip", "tooltip": "Send" },
+    "timeoutSec": 30 },
+  { "action": "click", "locator": { "by": "buttonWithTooltip", "tooltip": "Send" } },
+
+  { "action": "sleep", "timeoutSec": 5 },
+  { "action": "screenshot", "id": "04-user-message-sent" },
+
+  { "action": "sleep", "timeoutSec": 90 },
+  { "action": "screenshot", "id": "05-agent-response" },
+  { "action": "dumpUi", "id": "06-final" }
+]

com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.swtbot.test/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/swtbot/test/probe/ProbeRunner.java

@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 @RunWith(SWTBotJunit4ClassRunner.class)
 public class ProbeRunner {
   private static final String SYSPROP = "probe.script";
+  private static final String RENDERER_SYSPROP = "probe.renderer";
   private static final Path RESULTS_DIR = Paths.get("target", "probe-results");
   private static final String UI_BUNDLE_ID = "com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui";
 
@@ -77,6 +78,13 @@ private static void suppressNuisancePreferences() {
       prefs.putBoolean(Constants.AUTO_SHOW_WHAT_IS_NEW, false);
       prefs.put(Constants.LAST_USED_COPILOT_PLUGIN_VERSION, currentUiBundleMajorMinor());
       prefs.putBoolean(Constants.SUPPRESS_TERMINAL_DEPENDENCY_DIALOG, true);
+      // Select the chat renderer per launch so the same probe flow can be run against both
+      // renderers: pass -Dprobe.renderer=browser for the browser-based (HTML) renderer, or
+      // omit it (or -Dprobe.renderer=styledtext) for the seasoned StyledText renderer. The
+      // default matches production (StyledText), so plain runs exercise the SWT widget tree.
+      boolean useBrowserRenderer =
+          "browser".equalsIgnoreCase(System.getProperty(RENDERER_SYSPROP, "styledtext"));
+      prefs.putBoolean(Constants.USE_BROWSER_BASED_CHAT_RENDERER, useBrowserRenderer);
       prefs.flush();
     } catch (BackingStoreException | RuntimeException e) {
       System.err.println("[ProbeRunner] Failed to preset nuisance-dialog preferences: " + e);

com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.terminal.api/build.properties

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 source.. = src/
-output.. = bin/
 bin.includes = META-INF/,\
                .,\
                scripts/

com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.jobs/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.compliance=17
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.assertIdentifier=error
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.enablePreviewFeatures=disabled
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.enumIdentifier=error
-org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.forbiddenReference=warning
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.forbiddenReference=error
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.reportPreviewFeatures=warning
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.release=enabled
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.source=17

com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.jobs/build.properties

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 source.. = src/
-output.. = bin/
 bin.includes = META-INF/,\
                .,\
                plugin.xml,\

com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.test/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF

@@ -29,4 +29,5 @@ Require-Bundle: org.mockito.mockito-core;bundle-version="5.14.2",
  org.eclipse.e4.core.services;bundle-version="2.4.200",
  org.osgi.service.event,
  com.google.gson,
- com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.terminal.api;bundle-version="0.20.0"
+ com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.terminal.api;bundle-version="0.20.0",
+ org.eclipse.e4.ui.css.swt.theme;bundle-version="0.14.500"

com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.test/plugin.xml

@@ -23,4 +23,29 @@
             name="Editor for Refactor Rename Tests"/>
    </extension>
 
+   <extension
+         point="org.eclipse.ui.commands">
+      <command
+            id="copilot.test.compareRenderers"
+            name="Compare Chat View Rendering Alternatives"/>
+   </extension>
+
+   <extension
+         point="org.eclipse.ui.handlers">
+      <handler
+            class="com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.chat.ConversationRendererVisualDemoSideBySide"
+            commandId="copilot.test.compareRenderers"/>
+   </extension>
+
+   <extension
+         point="org.eclipse.ui.menus">
+      <menuContribution
+            locationURI="menu:com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.menuBar?after=additions">
+         <command
+               commandId="copilot.test.compareRenderers"
+               label="Compare Chat View Rendering Alternatives"
+               style="push"/>
+      </menuContribution>
+   </extension>
+
 </plugin>