app/cli/lib/watchedRepoResolution.ts

 // Shared "which repos am I watching" resolution -- originally `zz

 // top`'s own logic, extracted so `zz work --assist`'s ask picker (which

 // needs this same answer, but must never eagerly clone anything the way

 // `zz work`'s normal body does) can reuse it verbatim instead of

 // drifting out of sync with `zz top`'s own behavior.

 import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";

 import { resolveRepo, isLocallyOnboarded, inferGitHubSlugFromCwd } from "./repo.js";

 import { configuredRepos } from "./config.js";

 import { apiFetch } from "./api.js";

 import { listRunningRepos } from "./processRegistry.js";

 import type { BackendMode } from "./backendMode.js";

 /** No explicit config/--repos, local mode: union whatever other local `zz work`/`zz review` processes are watching with the current directory, if it's an onboarded GitHub-backed repo. Prints onboarding guidance and returns null (meaning "nothing to show, caller should exit/show empty") rather than ever pretending there's something to watch. */

 async function discoverLocalRepos(): Promise<string[] | null> {

  const running = listRunningRepos();

  const cwdSlug = inferGitHubSlugFromCwd();

  const cwdRepo = cwdSlug ? resolveRepo(cwdSlug) : null;

  const cwdOnboarded = cwdRepo ? await isLocallyOnboarded(cwdRepo) : false;

  const repos = cwdOnboarded && cwdSlug ? [...new Set([...running, cwdSlug])] : running;

  if (repos.length > 0) return repos;

  if (cwdSlug && !cwdOnboarded) {

  console.log(`Nothing to show yet. This directory looks like it's "${cwdSlug}" on GitHub, but it isn't onboarded into zz locally. Run:\n\n zz ladder build ${cwdSlug}\n\nthen try again.`);

  } else if (cwdRepo === null && cwdSlugLooksLikeGitRepo()) {

  console.log(`Nothing to show yet. This directory is a git repo, but its origin isn't a GitHub remote -- \`zz ladder build\` (zz's only onboarding path right now) needs one. Run \`zz work --local <owner/repo>\`/\`zz review --local <owner/repo>\` directly on a repo you've already onboarded, or use Explore (local mode browses the filesystem) from a terminal where one is nearby.`);

  } else {

  console.log("Nothing to show yet -- no other local zz process is running, and this directory isn't a git repo. Run `zz work`/`zz review` on a repo, or `zz ladder build owner/repo` to onboard one from GitHub, then try again.");

  }

  return null;

 }

 // A plain git-repo check (no GitHub remote needed) just to pick the

 // right wording above -- inferGitHubSlugFromCwd() returning null is

 // ambiguous between "not a git repo" and "git repo, no GitHub

 // remote," and those two deserve different guidance.

 function cwdSlugLooksLikeGitRepo(): boolean {

  try {

  execFileSync("git", ["rev-parse", "--show-toplevel"], { stdio: "ignore" });

  return true;

  } catch {

  return false;

  }

 }

 /**

  * Priority: --repos (explicit, always wins) > the server's own

  * per-identity list, if logged in (never mixed with a local config file

  * that isn't scoped per-identity -- confirmed live: logging in as a

  * second account still showed the first account's repos, because

  * ~/.zz/config.json was being checked unconditionally before login

  * state at all) > ~/.zz/config.json (the fallback for the two cases

  * with no server-side list to use instead: remote but not logged in, or

  * local mode) > local discovery > empty.

  *

  * Never clones or otherwise touches disk beyond resolving paths --

  * callers that need an actual working tree (zz work's normal body, an

  * assist session once an ask is picked) do that themselves, deliberately

  * separate from "what am I watching" so browsing/picking never triggers

  * it as a side effect.

  *

  * Returns null only for the local-mode "truly nothing to watch" case

  * (discoverLocalRepos already printed onboarding guidance) -- callers

  * that would otherwise render a pointless empty view should treat that

  * as "print nothing more, exit," same as `zz top` always has; an empty

  * array (not logged in remotely, no config) is a normal state worth

  * still rendering a view for.

  */

 export async function resolveWatchedRepoSlugs(mode: BackendMode, options: { repos?: string[] }): Promise<string[] | null> {

  if (options.repos && options.repos.length > 0) return options.repos;

  if (mode.useRemote && mode.identity) {

  return (await apiFetch<{ repos: { slug: string }[] }>("GET", "/api/me/repos")).repos.map((r) => r.slug);

  }

  const configured = configuredRepos();

  if (configured) return configured;

  if (mode.useRemote) return []; // not logged in, no config -- empty dashboard

  return discoverLocalRepos();

 }