Thinking State

Problem

While an agent works, the user needs to see that something is happening, what it is doing, and how long it has been at it. PDS has StatusIndicator (a dot or spinner with a label) and Spinner, but nothing that shows an agent's activity with an icon, a label and elapsed time. This is a net-new pattern.

Proposal

A small inline status: the agent icon (Zappy by default), a label ("Thinking..."), and the elapsed time in the code font ("17.1s"). While active, the label shimmers and the icon pulses; when finished, the same text sits still.

Source

Erika's screenshot (~/Desktop/Screenshot 2026-10-12 at 5.18.27 PM.png). No Figma or Jira links.