world: solid team + project orbs, hide ROOT, per-topic repo landmarks

Three fixes to the Live viz per user feedback:

1) Hide the ROOT sentinel — it was rendering at the origin as a red disc
   with no label. It's a physics anchor, not a real orb. Skipping it in
   nodes/edges/labels loops removes the mystery red circle.

2) Emit `repo:<topic_id>` project orbs for active research topics from
   the world SSE loop. Labeled with the topic title, tier "repo" gets its
   own soft sky-blue palette and a landmark radius (r=11 between company
   and team). Assigned agents get a low-weight (0.15) convergence touch
   so pawns cluster around their project's orb even at rest — no wait
   for a file op to see the affiliation.

3) Solid at rest, bloom on interaction. Two engine changes:
   - Structural + repo orbs now have a soft 0.08 glow at heat=0 (down
     from 0.22 ambient) so the disc reads as solid until agents heat it.
   - `world.touch` heat is now weight-scaled (`+w*0.6`) instead of a
     flat `+0.5` regardless of intent. Soft convergence stays soft;
     file ops still explode.

Click a `repo:` orb → the existing Commit F focus mode already treats
that prefix as a subtree root, so users drop straight into the
Gource-style repo detail view with only the files their agents are
touching.

Follow-ups queued: teardown of repo orbs when a topic reaches 'published'
(currently they persist until the SSE loop's status filter drops them,
which is correct); loops equivalent (loop:<id> landmark orbs).

crates/cm-api/src/routes/world.rs

@@ -61,6 +61,37 @@ async fn active_runs(pool: &PgPool, ws: WorkspaceId) -> Vec<(String, String)> {
         .collect()
 }
 
+/// Active research topics + their assigned agents. Each returned row is a
+/// `(topic_id, title, agent_id)` — one row per (topic, agent) pair. Emitted
+/// from the SSE loop as `repo:<topic_id>` project orbs so the World shows a
+/// clickable, labeled landmark for every in-flight R&D initiative — no need
+/// for a file touch to land first.
+async fn active_research_topics(
+    pool: &PgPool,
+    ws: WorkspaceId,
+) -> Vec<(String, String, String)> {
+    let rows = sqlx::query(
+        "SELECT t.id::text AS topic_id, t.title AS title, ra.agent_id::text AS agent_id
+           FROM research_topics t
+           JOIN research_topic_agents ra ON ra.topic_id = t.id
+          WHERE t.workspace_id = $1
+            AND t.status IN ('processing', 'reviewing', 'publishing')",
+    )
+    .bind(ws.as_uuid())
+    .fetch_all(pool)
+    .await
+    .unwrap_or_default();
+    rows.into_iter()
+        .map(|r| {
+            (
+                r.get::<String, _>("topic_id"),
+                r.get::<String, _>("title"),
+                r.get::<String, _>("agent_id"),
+            )
+        })
+        .collect()
+}
+
 /// A short human label for a tool's input (for the tool-call target).
 fn summarize_input(input: &Value) -> String {
     for k in ["target", "path", "url", "query", "name", "file", "command"] {
@@ -361,6 +392,27 @@ pub async fn world_live(State(state): State<AppState>, Authed(user): Authed) ->
                 }
             }
 
+            // Active research topics → landmark project orbs. One `repo:<id>`
+            // per topic, labeled with the topic title so users can click it
+            // and drop into the repo-focus (Gource) view before any files are
+            // touched. Assigned agents gently converge on their topic's orb
+            // so the affinity is visible even in idle windows.
+            let research = active_research_topics(&pool, ws).await;
+            let mut seen_topics = std::collections::HashSet::new();
+            for (topic_id, title, agent_id) in &research {
+                let node_id = format!("repo:{topic_id}");
+                if seen_topics.insert(topic_id.clone()) {
+                    yield sse(
+                        "node.activity",
+                        json!({ "nodeId": node_id, "label": title, "kind": "service", "heat": 0.0 }),
+                    );
+                }
+                yield sse(
+                    "world.touch",
+                    json!({ "agentId": agent_id, "nodeId": node_id, "kind": "service", "weight": 0.15 }),
+                );
+            }
+
             // Real convergence: each running agent beams toward its active-run node.
             for (run_id, agent_id) in &runs {
                 let node_id = format!("run:{}", &run_id[..run_id.len().min(8)]);

frontend/src/components/world/WorldCanvas.tsx

@@ -681,6 +681,9 @@ export function WorldCanvas({ roots, selectedId, onSelect, expanded, onToggleExp
       // nodes (solid disc + additive glow sprite)
       const liveNodeIds = new Set<string>();
       for (const n of engine.nodes.values()) {
+        // The physics-anchor ROOT sentinel is never a real orb — hiding it
+        // removes the mysterious unlabeled red disc at the origin.
+        if (n.tier === "root") continue;
         if (visibleNodes && !visibleNodes.has(n.id)) continue;
         liveNodeIds.add(n.id);
         let m = nodeMeshes.get(n.id);
@@ -710,7 +713,12 @@ export function WorldCanvas({ roots, selectedId, onSelect, expanded, onToggleExp
         g.scale.set(gs, gs, 1);
         const gm = g.material as THREE.SpriteMaterial;
         gm.color.set(n.color);
-        gm.opacity = (n.tier === "root" ? 0.5 : 0.22 + n.heat * 0.8) * n.alpha;
+        // Structural + project landmarks: solid at rest (soft 0.08 halo)
+        // and bloom on heat. Services/events keep their permanent 0.22
+        // ambient glow since they *are* activity signals.
+        const struct =
+          n.tier === "org" || n.tier === "company" || n.tier === "team" || n.tier === "repo";
+        gm.opacity = (struct ? 0.08 + n.heat * 0.9 : 0.22 + n.heat * 0.8) * n.alpha;
         if (effects && n.heat > 0.35 && Math.random() < n.heat * dt * 8) {
           const a = Math.random() * Math.PI * 2;
           const sp = 18 + Math.random() * 30;
@@ -726,12 +734,10 @@ export function WorldCanvas({ roots, selectedId, onSelect, expanded, onToggleExp
           }
           n.burst = 0;
         }
-        if (n.tier !== "root") {
+        minX = Math.min(minX, n.x - r);
-          minX = Math.min(minX, n.x - r);
+        minY = Math.min(minY, n.y - r);
-          minY = Math.min(minY, n.y - r);
+        maxX = Math.max(maxX, n.x + r);
-          maxX = Math.max(maxX, n.x + r);
+        maxY = Math.max(maxY, n.y + r);
-          maxY = Math.max(maxY, n.y + r);
-        }
       }
       for (const [id, m] of nodeMeshes) {
         if (!liveNodeIds.has(id)) {
@@ -752,9 +758,10 @@ export function WorldCanvas({ roots, selectedId, onSelect, expanded, onToggleExp
       const epos: number[] = [];
       for (const n of engine.nodes.values()) {
         if (!n.parentId) continue;
+        if (n.tier === "root") continue;
         if (visibleNodes && !visibleNodes.has(n.id)) continue;
         const p = engine.nodes.get(n.parentId);
-        if (!p) continue;
+        if (!p || p.tier === "root") continue; // no dangling edges into ROOT
         if (visibleNodes && !visibleNodes.has(p.id)) continue;
         epos.push(n.x, n.y, 0, p.x, p.y, 0);
       }
@@ -872,8 +879,14 @@ export function WorldCanvas({ roots, selectedId, onSelect, expanded, onToggleExp
       // hidden nodes so they don't leak past the culling.
       const wantLabels = new Map<string, { x: number; y: number; text: string; color: string; big: boolean }>();
       for (const n of engine.nodes.values()) {
+        if (n.tier === "root") continue;
         if (visibleNodes && !visibleNodes.has(n.id)) continue;
-        const struct = n.tier === "org" || n.tier === "company" || n.tier === "team";
+        // Structural + repo landmarks are ALWAYS labeled — the team's name
+        // and the project's title should read at rest, before any activity
+        // heats them up. Services/events (tool: file:) only label once they
+        // actually see traffic or are selected.
+        const struct =
+          n.tier === "org" || n.tier === "company" || n.tier === "team" || n.tier === "repo";
         const hot = (n.tier === "service" || n.tier === "event") && (n.heat > 0.12 || n.id === selectedRef.current);
         if (struct || hot)
           wantLabels.set(n.id, { x: n.x, y: n.y - n.r - 6, text: n.label, color: n.color, big: n.tier === "org" });

frontend/src/components/world/engine.ts

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 import type { TaxonomyEvents } from "@/lib/live/taxonomy";
 
 export type Formation = "hierarchy" | "flat" | "live";
-export type Tier = "root" | "org" | "company" | "team" | "service" | "event";
+export type Tier = "root" | "org" | "company" | "team" | "repo" | "service" | "event";
 
 export interface GNode {
   id: string;
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ const LEVEL_COLOR: Record<string, string> = {
   org: "#c98af0",
   company: "#8a9af0",
   team: "#6fd0c0",
+  repo: "#8ec5ff", // R&D projects — soft sky-blue, distinct landmark tone
   service: "#5ec8d8",
   event: "#ff8a7a",
   root: "#ff6f61",
@@ -175,7 +176,7 @@ export class WorldEngine {
         y: (parent?.y ?? 0) + Math.sin(ang) * rad * 0.4,
         vx: 0,
         vy: 0,
-        r: tier === "org" ? 15 : tier === "company" ? 12 : tier === "team" ? 9 : 7,
+        r: tier === "org" ? 15 : tier === "company" ? 12 : tier === "repo" ? 11 : tier === "team" ? 9 : 7,
         color: LEVEL_COLOR[tier] ?? "#9a9aa2",
         heat: 0,
         burst: 0,
@@ -261,24 +262,30 @@ export class WorldEngine {
       }
       label = segs[segs.length - 1] || path;
     }
-    const node = this.ensureNode(
+    // Repo landmarks keep their `repo` tier so we can render them as solid
-      e.nodeId,
+    // project orbs (see LEVEL_COLOR and the label rules in WorldCanvas).
-      e.kind === "event" ? "event" : "service",
+    const tier: Tier = e.nodeId.startsWith("repo:")
-      label,
+      ? "repo"
-      parentId,
+      : e.kind === "event"
-      depth,
+        ? "event"
-    );
+        : "service";
+    const node = this.ensureNode(e.nodeId, tier, label, parentId, depth);
     const p = this.ensurePawn(e.agentId);
     p.targetId = e.nodeId;
     p.idle = 0;
     p.retime = 1.2 + Math.random() * 1.6;
     const w = e.weight ?? 0.5;
-    node.heat = Math.min(1, node.heat + 0.5);
+    // Heat is now weight-scaled: a soft convergence touch (w=0.15) barely
+    // lifts the orb; a file op (w=1.0) blooms it. Old behavior was a hard
+    // +0.5 per touch which turned every repeatedly-touched node into a
+    // permanent hot spot regardless of intent.
+    node.heat = Math.min(1, node.heat + w * 0.6);
     node.burst = Math.max(node.burst, w); // file ops (weight 1) → explosive burst
-    // activity type → signal colour: file=coral, tool=cyan, run=green
+    // activity type → signal colour: file=coral, tool=cyan, run=green, repo=sky
     if (e.nodeId.startsWith("tool:")) p.fireColor = w >= 0.9 ? "#ff6f61" : "#5ec8d8";
     else if (e.nodeId.startsWith("run:")) p.fireColor = "#5fd08a";
     else if (e.nodeId.startsWith("file:")) p.fireColor = "#ff8a7a";
+    else if (e.nodeId.startsWith("repo:")) p.fireColor = "#8ec5ff";
   }
 
   /** A reasoning token from an agent — marks it active and tints its signals. */
@@ -320,7 +327,15 @@ export class WorldEngine {
     }
   }
   onNodeActivity(e: TaxonomyEvents["node.activity"]) {
-    const node = this.ensureNode(e.nodeId, e.kind === "event" ? "event" : "service", e.label ?? e.nodeId, ROOT, 1);
+    // Preserve the `repo` tier when the SSE stream marks a landmark project
+    // orb — otherwise everything collapses back to service/event and the
+    // World loses the distinct color+radius treatment for R&D projects.
+    const tier: Tier = e.nodeId.startsWith("repo:")
+      ? "repo"
+      : e.kind === "event"
+        ? "event"
+        : "service";
+    const node = this.ensureNode(e.nodeId, tier, e.label ?? e.nodeId, ROOT, 1);
     if (e.label) node.label = e.label;
     if (e.heat != null) node.heat = Math.max(node.heat, e.heat);
   }