fix: resolve hotkey registration failures and renderer crash

- Change default hotkey from Super+Shift+A to Alt+Shift+A — Win key
  combinations are frequently reserved by the OS and fail to register
- Make quick prompt window creation lazy (first hotkey press) so it
  cannot interfere with main window startup
- Track failed accelerators to prevent error log spam from repeated
  workspace-updated events
- Fix process.platform crash in renderer SettingsPanel — use isMac
  from @renderer/lib/platform instead (renderer has no node globals)

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

src/main/index.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,26 @@ let systemTray: SystemTray | undefined;
 let autoUpdateService: AutoUpdateService | undefined;
 let globalHotkeyService: GlobalHotkeyService | undefined;
 
+let quickPromptInitialized = false;
+
+/** Lazily creates the quick prompt window on first use. */
+function ensureQuickPromptWindow(): BrowserWindowType | undefined {
+  if (quickPromptWindow && !quickPromptWindow.isDestroyed()) return quickPromptWindow;
+  if (quickPromptInitialized) return undefined;
+  if (!mainWindow || !appService) return undefined;
+
+  try {
+    quickPromptWindow = createQuickPromptWindow();
+    registerQuickPromptIpcHandlers(mainWindow, appService, quickPromptWindow);
+    quickPromptInitialized = true;
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error('[aryx] Failed to create quick prompt window:', err);
+    quickPromptInitialized = true;
+  }
+
+  return quickPromptWindow;
+}
+
 async function bootstrap(): Promise<void> {
   appService = new AryxAppService();
   autoUpdateService?.dispose();
@@ -30,8 +50,6 @@ async function bootstrap(): Promise<void> {
 
   mainWindow = createMainWindow();
 
-  // Defer quick prompt window creation — create it lazily when workspace is ready
-  // so a failure here cannot block the main window from loading.
   registerIpcHandlers(mainWindow, appService, autoUpdateService);
 
   // Start workspace loading in parallel — don't block window from showing.
@@ -59,18 +77,13 @@ async function bootstrap(): Promise<void> {
         systemTray?.updateRunningCount(updatedWorkspace);
       });
 
-      // Create quick prompt window and register global hotkey
-      try {
-        quickPromptWindow = createQuickPromptWindow();
-        registerQuickPromptIpcHandlers(mainWindow!, appService!, quickPromptWindow);
-      } catch (err) {
-        console.error('[aryx] Failed to create quick prompt window:', err);
-      }
-
+      // Register global hotkey — the quick prompt window is created lazily on
+      // first press so it cannot interfere with main window startup.
       globalHotkeyService = new GlobalHotkeyService();
       const hotkeySettings = workspace.settings.quickPrompt ?? createDefaultQuickPromptSettings();
       globalHotkeyService.register(hotkeySettings, () => {
-        if (quickPromptWindow) toggleQuickPromptWindow(quickPromptWindow);
+        const win = ensureQuickPromptWindow();
+        if (win) toggleQuickPromptWindow(win);
       });
 
       // Re-register hotkey when settings change

src/main/services/globalHotkey.ts

@@ -2,10 +2,9 @@ import electron from 'electron';
 
 import type { QuickPromptSettings } from '@shared/domain/tooling';
 
-const { globalShortcut } = electron;
-
 export class GlobalHotkeyService {
   private currentAccelerator: string | undefined;
+  private lastFailedAccelerator: string | undefined;
   private callback: (() => void) | undefined;
 
   register(settings: QuickPromptSettings, callback: () => void): void {
@@ -17,16 +16,41 @@ export class GlobalHotkeyService {
     }
 
     const accelerator = toElectronAccelerator(settings.hotkey);
+
+    // Already registered this accelerator — nothing to do
     if (accelerator === this.currentAccelerator) return;
 
-    this.unregister();
-    const registered = globalShortcut.register(accelerator, callback);
+    // Don't retry an accelerator that already failed (avoids log spam on
+    // repeated workspace-updated events during startup)
+    if (accelerator === this.lastFailedAccelerator) return;
 
-    if (registered) {
-      this.currentAccelerator = accelerator;
-    } else {
-      console.warn(`[globalHotkey] Failed to register accelerator: ${accelerator}`);
+    this.unregister();
+
+    // Access globalShortcut lazily to ensure electron is fully initialised
+    const { globalShortcut } = electron;
+    if (!globalShortcut) {
+      console.error('[globalHotkey] electron.globalShortcut is not available');
+      return;
+    }
+
+    try {
+      const registered = globalShortcut.register(accelerator, callback);
+      if (registered) {
+        console.info(`[globalHotkey] Registered: ${accelerator}`);
+        this.currentAccelerator = accelerator;
+        this.lastFailedAccelerator = undefined;
+      } else {
+        console.warn(
+          `[globalHotkey] Failed to register accelerator: ${accelerator}` +
+            ' — it may be reserved by the OS or another application',
+        );
+        this.currentAccelerator = undefined;
+        this.lastFailedAccelerator = accelerator;
+      }
+    } catch (err) {
+      console.error(`[globalHotkey] Error registering ${accelerator}:`, err);
       this.currentAccelerator = undefined;
+      this.lastFailedAccelerator = accelerator;
     }
   }
 
@@ -38,9 +62,15 @@ export class GlobalHotkeyService {
 
   unregister(): void {
     if (this.currentAccelerator) {
-      globalShortcut.unregister(this.currentAccelerator);
+      try {
+        const { globalShortcut } = electron;
+        globalShortcut?.unregister(this.currentAccelerator);
+      } catch {
+        // best-effort
+      }
       this.currentAccelerator = undefined;
     }
+    this.lastFailedAccelerator = undefined;
   }
 
   dispose(): void {
@@ -50,10 +80,11 @@ export class GlobalHotkeyService {
 }
 
 /**
- * Convert our portable hotkey string (e.g. "Super+Shift+A") to an Electron
- * accelerator string. Electron uses "Meta" which maps to Cmd on macOS and
- * Win key on Windows/Linux.
+ * Convert a portable hotkey string to an Electron accelerator.
+ *
+ * - "Super" → "Meta" (Win key on Windows, Cmd on macOS)
+ * - Strings already using Electron-native names pass through unchanged.
  */
 function toElectronAccelerator(hotkey: string): string {
-  return hotkey.replace(/Super/gi, 'Meta');
+  return hotkey.replace(/\bSuper\b/gi, 'Meta');
 }

src/preload/quickprompt.ts

@@ -1,34 +1,49 @@
 import electron from 'electron';
 
-import { ipcChannels } from '@shared/contracts/channels';
 import type { QuickPromptElectronApi } from '@shared/contracts/ipc';
 
 const { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } = electron;
 
+// Channel constants are inlined here (not imported from @shared/contracts/channels)
+// to avoid Rollup code-splitting a shared chunk that Electron's sandboxed preload
+// environment cannot resolve at runtime.
+const ch = {
+  send: 'quick-prompt:send',
+  discard: 'quick-prompt:discard',
+  close: 'quick-prompt:close',
+  continueInAryx: 'quick-prompt:continue-in-aryx',
+  cancelTurn: 'quick-prompt:cancel-turn',
+  getCapabilities: 'quick-prompt:get-capabilities',
+  setSettings: 'quick-prompt:set-settings',
+  sessionEvent: 'quick-prompt:session-event',
+  show: 'quick-prompt:show',
+  hide: 'quick-prompt:hide',
+} as const;
+
 const api: QuickPromptElectronApi = {
-  send: (input) => ipcRenderer.invoke(ipcChannels.quickPromptSend, input),
-  discard: () => ipcRenderer.invoke(ipcChannels.quickPromptDiscard),
-  close: () => ipcRenderer.invoke(ipcChannels.quickPromptClose),
-  continueInAryx: () => ipcRenderer.invoke(ipcChannels.quickPromptContinueInAryx),
-  cancelTurn: () => ipcRenderer.invoke(ipcChannels.quickPromptCancelTurn),
-  getCapabilities: () => ipcRenderer.invoke(ipcChannels.quickPromptGetCapabilities),
-  setSettings: (settings) => ipcRenderer.invoke(ipcChannels.quickPromptSetSettings, settings),
+  send: (input) => ipcRenderer.invoke(ch.send, input),
+  discard: () => ipcRenderer.invoke(ch.discard),
+  close: () => ipcRenderer.invoke(ch.close),
+  continueInAryx: () => ipcRenderer.invoke(ch.continueInAryx),
+  cancelTurn: () => ipcRenderer.invoke(ch.cancelTurn),
+  getCapabilities: () => ipcRenderer.invoke(ch.getCapabilities),
+  setSettings: (settings) => ipcRenderer.invoke(ch.setSettings, settings),
   onSessionEvent: (listener) => {
     const handler = (_event: Electron.IpcRendererEvent, sessionEvent: Parameters<typeof listener>[0]) =>
       listener(sessionEvent);
 
-    ipcRenderer.on(ipcChannels.quickPromptSessionEvent, handler);
-    return () => ipcRenderer.off(ipcChannels.quickPromptSessionEvent, handler);
+    ipcRenderer.on(ch.sessionEvent, handler);
+    return () => ipcRenderer.off(ch.sessionEvent, handler);
   },
   onShow: (listener) => {
     const handler = () => listener();
-    ipcRenderer.on(ipcChannels.quickPromptShow, handler);
-    return () => ipcRenderer.off(ipcChannels.quickPromptShow, handler);
+    ipcRenderer.on(ch.show, handler);
+    return () => ipcRenderer.off(ch.show, handler);
   },
   onHide: (listener) => {
     const handler = () => listener();
-    ipcRenderer.on(ipcChannels.quickPromptHide, handler);
-    return () => ipcRenderer.off(ipcChannels.quickPromptHide, handler);
+    ipcRenderer.on(ch.hide, handler);
+    return () => ipcRenderer.off(ch.hide, handler);
   },
 };
 

src/renderer/components/SettingsPanel.tsx

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { LspProfileEditor } from '@renderer/components/settings/LspProfileEditor
 import { McpServerEditor } from '@renderer/components/settings/McpServerEditor';
 import { WorkspaceAgentEditor } from '@renderer/components/settings/WorkspaceAgentEditor';
 import { getElectronApi } from '@renderer/lib/electronApi';
+import { isMac } from '@renderer/lib/platform';
 import type { SidecarCapabilities, QuotaSnapshot } from '@shared/contracts/sidecar';
 import type { DiscoveredMcpServer, DiscoveredToolingState } from '@shared/domain/discoveredTooling';
 import { listAcceptedDiscoveredMcpServers, listPendingDiscoveredMcpServers } from '@shared/domain/discoveredTooling';
@@ -1328,14 +1329,15 @@ function QuickPromptSettingsSection({
   onUpdate?: (patch: Partial<QuickPromptSettings>) => void;
 }) {
   const enabled = settings?.enabled ?? true;
-  const hotkey = settings?.hotkey ?? 'Super+Shift+A';
+  const hotkey = settings?.hotkey ?? 'Alt+Shift+C';
   const defaultModel = settings?.defaultModel;
   const defaultReasoning = settings?.defaultReasoningEffort;
 
   const hotkeyDisplay = hotkey
-    .replace('Super', process.platform === 'darwin' ? '⌘' : 'Win')
+    .replace('Super', isMac ? '⌘' : 'Win')
+    .replace('Alt', isMac ? '⌥' : 'Alt')
     .replace('Shift', '⇧')
-    .replace('+', ' + ');
+    .replace(/\+/g, ' + ');
 
   return (
     <div>

src/shared/domain/tooling.ts

@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ export interface QuickPromptSettings {
 export function createDefaultQuickPromptSettings(): QuickPromptSettings {
   return {
     enabled: true,
-    hotkey: 'Super+Shift+A',
+    hotkey: 'Alt+Shift+C',
   };
 }