[richiemcilroy]

Two idle costs in the GPUI app on macOS: hidden windows kept their display link running, and the target picker repainted every overlay on every 80 ms poll even when nothing changed.

Hidden windows (macOS 27)

platform/macos_occlusion.rs ORs NSWindowOcclusionStateVisible (0x2) into any non-zero occlusionState, which is the macOS 26 repair for gpui's display-link gate. On macOS 27 an ordered-out window reports 0x2000 rather than 0 (a plain NSWindow/NSPanel reports 0x2000 when created, 0x2002 when shown and 0x2000 after orderOut). The shim therefore told gpui every hidden window was visible, and each one kept a CVDisplayLink waking the main thread at the panel refresh rate. That includes the main window parked in the tray, the hidden helper window, and windows hidden for the picker.

// platform/macos_occlusion.rs
if raw != 0 && (!ordered_out_windows_keep_raw_state() || unsafe { is_visible(receiver) }) {
    raw | 0x2
} else {
    raw
}

• ordered_out_windows_keep_raw_state() is kern.osproductversion major >= 27. On macOS 26 and earlier the shim behaves exactly as on main.
• On macOS 27 an ordered-out window keeps its raw state, so gpui stops its link. Visible windows still get the bit.
• show_native, order_front_native and show_window_without_focus re-run gpui's occlusion handler after ordering the window in (the call kick_display_link already makes), so a reshow never depends on AppKit posting an occlusion change.

Target picker (target_overlay.rs)

• The poll now calls refresh_target_overlays only when the cursor's display, the hovered window (id and bounds), the mic meter fill or a fetched app icon changed.
• Each overlay also observes RecordingSession and notifies when the phase changes. The device row's disabled state reads the phase and used to get updated by the constant repaint.
• An overlay is never the active window while the picker is up, and an inactive window may not present a bare notify. So every observer an overlay holds (the picker, the main window, the session phase and the inline camera) now asks for the repaint explicitly (repaint in target_overlay.rs) instead of relying on the 80 ms repaint that used to cover them.

Re-measured on main (ada2be5ac), 2026-10-19

Isolated cap-gpui builds of main and this PR with the same profile, macOS 27, 120 Hz panel, proc_pid_rusage over 15 s after a 12 s settle, 3 interleaved rounds, medians:

State	CPU %, main → PR	Wakeups/s	Instructions/s	Footprint
Tray only	1.441 → 0.007	120 → 0	11.4 M → 0.1 M	76 → 72 MB
Display picker	5.26 → 1.83	136 → 132	45.1 M → 15.2 M	392 → 137 MB
Window picker	5.66 → 4.41	135 → 131	124 M → 97 M	390 → 154 MB
Area picker	21.8 → 22.3	161 → 168	190 M → 189 M	392 → 393 MB
Settings open	1.46 → 1.43	120 → 120	12.2 M → 11.5 M	109 → 105 MB
Camera-only picker, built-in camera	15.3 → 11.0	300 → 294	160 M → 106 M	525 → 517 MB
Display picker, built-in mic live	8.00 → 2.50	139 → 133	87.5 M → 20.9 M	397 → 138 MB

• Screenshots taken 300 ms apart are byte-identical to main for the display, window, area and live-mic pickers. Settings matched main once settled (two early frames had one 1-pixel column off by 1/255).
• The camera-only picker's inline preview keeps changing frame to frame on both builds, and the area picker's hint animation runs on both.
• The area picker's cost is its animation, which this PR does not touch.

Measurements

Isolated cap-gpui perf builds, macOS 27.0, 120 Hz panel, proc_pid_rusage deltas over 15 s after a 12 s settle, 3 interleaved rounds, medians:

State	CPU %	Wakeups/s	Instructions/s	Energy	Footprint
Tray only, main	0.518	120	11.8 M	8.4 mW	53 MB
Tray only, this PR	0.002	0.5	0.06 M	0.04 mW	53 MB
Settings open, main → PR	0.571 → 0.517	120 → 120	12.7 M → 12.3 M	9.9 → 8.7 mW	87.2 → 82.8 MB
Main visible / editor paused	unchanged	unchanged	unchanged	unchanged	unchanged

Picker	CPU %	Instructions/s	Energy	Footprint
Display, main → PR	1.51 → 0.70	44.5 M → 15.4 M	30.8 → 12.2 mW	345 → 110 MB
Window, main → PR	2.85 → 2.04	126 M → 98 M	67 → 49 mW	368 → 133 MB
Display with live mic	3.1-3.6 → 2.2-2.6	51-53 M → 33-35 M	n/a	343 → 343 MB

• Screenshots of the reopened main window, settings, the editor, and the display/window/area overlays are identical to main (SSIM 1.000).
• After reopening from the tray the link restarts (back to 120 wakeups/s).
• The recording bar timer ticks and the mic meter draws, the camera preview paints, the area-picker animation runs, and the picker's mic meter keeps moving across shots 250 ms apart.
• Memory stayed flat over 4 minutes in each state. Closing the editor returns to 66-69 MB within 2 s.

Confidence Score: 5/5

The PR appears safe to merge; no actionable defects were found.

Summary

This PR cuts idle drawing in hidden macOS windows and target pickers.

• Hidden GPUI windows stop waking the main thread on macOS 27 and later.
• The target picker redraws overlays only when their visible state changes.

_{Reviews (3) · Last reviewed commit: "fix(desktop-gpui): repaint target overla..." · Reviewed by Greptile}

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated
cap-status	Ready	Preview	Oct 18, 2026 4:14pm UTC

[richiemcilroy]

hey @greptileai, please re-review the PR

[capy-ai]

Capy found 1 potential issue (1 medium).

View 1 other finding in Capy.

[capy-ai]

Capy found no issues.

View 1 other finding in Capy.

[capy-ai]

Capy found no issues.

[richiemcilroy]

@greptileai review

[capy-ai]

Capy found no issues.