`[2026-07-06]` **Web UI now RENDERS the seeded first-message (`v0.19.9`) — operator-reported "i don't see Sindra's greeting on the web ui".** Diagnosis: the auto-seed WORKED (greeting was in the ledger at seq-0), but the web SPA never fetched a session's EXISTING history — NO `/api/sessions/{id}/messages` route (GET /messages was originally deferred out-of-scope; sessions used to start empty so it never mattered) and `startSession()` went straight from create → persona/tools/admin hydration, so the transcript only filled from the live turn stream + user echoes. Fix: (1) NEW web proxy route `GET /api/sessions/{id}/messages` → `get_session_messages` (mirrors the tools/bifrost proxies; status-preserving `session_messages_unavailable` envelope); (2) SPA `loadTranscript(sessionId)` — fetches the route on open, renders assistant items as `.response .md-body` (markdownSafe, same escape-first path as appendResponse) + user items as `.prompt-echo` (textContent), called in `startSession` after the workspace opens; best-effort (swallows failures). Contract `web_debug_surface.contract.md` amended (server endpoint + loadTranscript entries). TDD (2 web route tests, suite 617 green) + **Playwright DOM check PROVED the render** (drove the real UI: pick sindra → open → her greeting bubble appears — the JS-render lens unit tests can't reach; [[feedback_debug_surface_uses_canonical_surface_only]] cousin lesson). Web restarted on the fix. **FOOT-GUN (self-inflicted): `pkill -f "ratatoskr-web --host"` SELF-MATCHES the bash command running it → exit 144, killed its own restart mid-flight — kill the web by PID, never `pkill -f` on a pattern your own command contains.** **FOOT-GUN: uvicorn hangs on SIGTERM with an open admin-events SSE → needed SIGKILL.** **Playwright: python module absent from the venv; use node + `executablePath=/opt/ms-playwright/chromium-1223/chrome-linux64/chrome` — the shared browser is build 1223, npm-latest playwright wants 1228 (version-mismatch), so pin executablePath instead of letting playwright resolve.**
