humanish 0.131.0 → 0.131.1

package/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -8,6 +8,17 @@ The Unreleased section holds the full notes for the next version until it is tag
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+## 0.131.1: Hosted desktops keep their screens on while participants wait (2026-10-13)
+
+humanish 0.131.1 keeps a hosted desktop's screen on while a participant waits without input.
+About 1 in 8 stock E2B desktops started with a screen saver that turned the screen black after 5
+minutes, and a participant then spent its turns keeping the screen awake: one live hour cost
+$17.70 where its pair cost $2.03. humanish now turns the screen saver off once the participant's
+browser or terminal has opened. The refusal of an out-of-range `actor.maxWaitMs` also now says the
+field caps a turn of only waits.
+
+[Release notes](https://github.com/danielgwilson/humanish/releases/tag/v0.131.1)
+
 ## 0.131.0: Participants that wait watch the screen and wake when it changes (2026-10-13)
 
 humanish 0.131.0 watches the screen while a computer-use or shared-world participant waits. A

package/dist/actors/computer-use/wait.js

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ function defaultMaxWaitMs(speechEnabled) {
     return speechEnabled ? CUA_WAIT_LIMITS.stepMs : CUA_WAIT_LIMITS.defaultMaxMs;
 }
 const FIELDS = [
-    ["maxWaitMs", "the longest one wait action lasts", CUA_WAIT_LIMITS.mostMaxMs],
+    ["maxWaitMs", "the longest one wait or one turn of only waits lasts", CUA_WAIT_LIMITS.mostMaxMs],
     [
         "idleWaitMs",
         "how long a wait with no duration lasts while the participant only waits",
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ export function waitFieldsReason(fields, prefix, maxPrefix = prefix) {
     }
     const { maxWaitMs, idleWaitMs } = fields;
     if (typeof maxWaitMs === "number" && typeof idleWaitMs === "number" && idleWaitMs > maxWaitMs)
-        return `${prefix}idleWaitMs (${idleWaitMs}) is longer than ${maxPrefix}maxWaitMs (${maxWaitMs}), the longest one wait action lasts. Lower ${prefix}idleWaitMs or raise ${maxPrefix}maxWaitMs.`;
+        return `${prefix}idleWaitMs (${idleWaitMs}) is longer than ${maxPrefix}maxWaitMs (${maxWaitMs}), the longest one wait or one turn of only waits lasts. Lower ${prefix}idleWaitMs or raise ${maxPrefix}maxWaitMs.`;
     return null;
 }
 /**

package/dist/routes/computer-use/e2b-desktop/desktop.js

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { createE2BDesktopExecutor } from "../../../substrates/e2b/desktop-execut
 import { participantInbox, planParticipantComms } from "./comms.js";
 import { participantBrowserStateObserver } from "./fidelity.js";
 import { acquireParticipantDesktop, placeParticipantFiles, provisionParticipantSubject, verifyParticipantScreen, } from "./prepare.js";
-import { openParticipantSurface, startParticipantMedia, startParticipantStream } from "./start.js";
+import { keepParticipantScreenOn, openParticipantSurface, startParticipantMedia, startParticipantStream, } from "./start.js";
 import { desktopEvidenceOf, newParticipantState } from "./state.js";
 import { finishE2BDesktop } from "./teardown.js";
 import { participantServeUrl } from "../types.js";
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ export function createE2BParticipantDesktop(spec, deps, warnings) {
         await provisionParticipantSubject(ctx, state, desktop);
         await startParticipantMedia(ctx, state, desktop);
         await openParticipantSurface(ctx, state, desktop);
+        await keepParticipantScreenOn(ctx, desktop);
         prepared = true;
     }
     async function openSession() {

package/dist/routes/computer-use/e2b-desktop/start.d.ts

@@ -8,6 +8,15 @@ export declare function startParticipantMedia(ctx: E2BParticipantContext, state:
  * desktop's panel clock in it; a clock that cannot be set is a warning, and it shows UTC.
  */
 export declare function openParticipantSurface(ctx: E2BParticipantContext, state: E2BParticipantState, desktop: E2BDesktopSandbox): Promise<void>;
+/**
+ * Turn the desktop's screen saver off, so the screen stays on while the participant waits without
+ * input. The XFCE session sets the screen saver's timeout in its first seconds, and the last write
+ * wins. Nothing waits for those writes: this runs after the browser or terminal has opened and the
+ * desktop has waited DESKTOP_SETTLE_MS, and on 16 fresh desktops the last write came within 2.5 s
+ * of a command sent as soon as the desktop was created. A screen saver that cannot be turned off
+ * is a warning.
+ */
+export declare function keepParticipantScreenOn(ctx: E2BParticipantContext, desktop: E2BDesktopSandbox): Promise<void>;
 /**
  * Measure the browser window and start the live stream. A stream that cannot start is a warning;
  * unusable browser geometry fails the participant before any action.

package/dist/routes/computer-use/e2b-desktop/start.js

@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 // The second half of an E2B desktop participant's preparation, and the start of its session: speech and
-// recording, then the browser or terminal the participant sees, then the live stream. Each step
-// fills the participant's state.
+// recording, then the browser or terminal the participant sees, then the screen saver turned off,
+// then the live stream. Each step fills the participant's state.
 import { redactText, toErrorMessage } from "../../../evidence/redaction.js";
 import { CHROME_DEVTOOLS_PORT, DESKTOP_SETTLE_MS, openDesktopBrowserTarget, openDesktopTerminal, startDesktopStream, } from "../../../substrates/e2b/desktop-browser.js";
 import { setPanelClockZone } from "../../../substrates/e2b/desktop-clock.js";
 import { captureDesktopBrowserGeometry } from "../../../substrates/e2b/desktop-geometry.js";
 import { prepareDesktopMedia, startE2BDesktopMedia, } from "../../../substrates/e2b/desktop-media.js";
 import { startE2BDesktopRecording } from "../../../substrates/e2b/desktop-recording.js";
+import { turnOffScreenSaver } from "../../../substrates/e2b/desktop-screen.js";
 import { applyParticipantMobileFidelity, mobileLaunchFlags } from "./fidelity.js";
 /** Start the declared speech worker and screen recording. A recording that cannot start is a warning. */
 export async function startParticipantMedia(ctx, state, desktop) {
@@ -101,6 +102,20 @@ export async function openParticipantSurface(ctx, state, desktop) {
         warnings,
     });
 }
+/**
+ * Turn the desktop's screen saver off, so the screen stays on while the participant waits without
+ * input. The XFCE session sets the screen saver's timeout in its first seconds, and the last write
+ * wins. Nothing waits for those writes: this runs after the browser or terminal has opened and the
+ * desktop has waited DESKTOP_SETTLE_MS, and on 16 fresh desktops the last write came within 2.5 s
+ * of a command sent as soon as the desktop was created. A screen saver that cannot be turned off
+ * is a warning.
+ */
+export async function keepParticipantScreenOn(ctx, desktop) {
+    const { spec, deps, warnings } = ctx;
+    await turnOffScreenSaver(desktop, deps.requestTimeoutMs).catch((error) => {
+        warnings.push(`The desktop's screen saver for participant ${spec.planned.id} could not be turned off, so its screen may go black after 5 minutes without input: ${redactText(deps.scrubKnownValues(toErrorMessage(error)))}`);
+    });
+}
 /**
  * DevTools answering later than this after launch is recorded as a warning on the participant. Six live
  * launches answered in 4.8-7.7 s; without this wait the reads it guards give up at about 11 s.

package/dist/study/plan-participants.d.ts

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export interface DesktopParticipant extends Participant {
         readonly dwell?: DwellWindow;
         readonly reasoningEffort?: ReasoningEffort;
         readonly maxOutputTokens?: number;
-        /** actor.maxWaitMs: the longest one wait action lasts. */
+        /** actor.maxWaitMs: the longest one wait or one turn of only waits lasts. */
         readonly maxWaitMs?: number;
         /**
          * The participant's idleWaitMs, else actor.idleWaitMs: how long a wait with no duration lasts

package/dist/substrates/e2b/desktop-screen.d.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import type { E2BDesktopSandbox } from "./sdk.js";
+/**
+ * Turn the desktop's X screen saver off with `xset s off`. Nothing here waits for the three
+ * writers, so a call holds only when it comes after their last write: on 16 fresh desktops that
+ * write came 1.6 to 2.5 s after a command sent as soon as the desktop was created, and none came
+ * in the following 27 s. After that, xfce4-screensaver and xfce4-power-manager write the timeout
+ * again only when the xfconf settings of either one change, which setting the panel clock does not
+ * do. A desktop without xset is left as it is. Throws with xset's error output when xset fails.
+ */
+export declare function turnOffScreenSaver(desktop: E2BDesktopSandbox, requestTimeoutMs: number): Promise<void>;

package/dist/substrates/e2b/desktop-screen.js

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+// The hosted desktop's X screen saver. The stock template's XFCE session has three writers of its
+// timeout, each acting in the session's first seconds: xfce4-screensaver sets its idle delay
+// (300 s), xfce4-power-manager sets its blank-on-ac time (600 s), and an autostart entry runs
+// `xset s off`. The last write wins. A timeout left at 300 s turns the screen black after 5 minutes
+// without input, so a participant waiting on a page sees a black screen. The desktop runs on Xvfb,
+// which has no display power management extension, so the screen saver is the only thing that
+// blanks it.
+import { e2bShell } from "./shell.js";
+/**
+ * Turn the desktop's X screen saver off with `xset s off`. Nothing here waits for the three
+ * writers, so a call holds only when it comes after their last write: on 16 fresh desktops that
+ * write came 1.6 to 2.5 s after a command sent as soon as the desktop was created, and none came
+ * in the following 27 s. After that, xfce4-screensaver and xfce4-power-manager write the timeout
+ * again only when the xfconf settings of either one change, which setting the panel clock does not
+ * do. A desktop without xset is left as it is. Throws with xset's error output when xset fails.
+ */
+export async function turnOffScreenSaver(desktop, requestTimeoutMs) {
+    const result = await e2bShell(desktop).run([
+        'export DISPLAY="${DISPLAY:-:0}"',
+        "command -v xset >/dev/null 2>&1 || exit 0",
+        "xset s off",
+    ].join("\n"), { requestTimeoutMs, timeoutMs: 15_000 });
+    if (result.exitCode !== 0)
+        throw new Error(result.stderr.trim() || `xset exited ${result.exitCode}`);
+}

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "humanish",
-  "version": "0.131.0",
+  "version": "0.131.1",
   "description": "Synthetic user research for apps, CLIs, and agent-facing product flows.",
   "keywords": [
     "cli",