fix: pause thought counter during idle periods without user input

Track last user input time in ThinkingEngine and skip thinking cycles
when no user interaction has occurred within the idle timeout (default
60 minutes). Prompted thoughts (CLI journal) bypass the idle check.

Fixes #317

src/config.py

@@ -245,6 +245,7 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     thinking_distill_every: int = 10  # distill facts from thoughts every Nth thought
     thinking_issue_every: int = 20  # file Gitea issues from thoughts every Nth thought
     thinking_memory_check_every: int = 50  # check memory status every Nth thought
+    thinking_idle_timeout_minutes: int = 60  # pause thoughts after N minutes without user input
 
     # ── Gitea Integration ─────────────────────────────────────────────
     # Local Gitea instance for issue tracking and self-improvement.

src/dashboard/routes/agents.py

@@ -85,6 +85,14 @@ async def chat_agent(request: Request, message: str = Form(...)):
 
         raise HTTPException(status_code=422, detail="Message too long")
 
+    # Record user activity so the thinking engine knows we're not idle
+    try:
+        from timmy.thinking import thinking_engine
+
+        thinking_engine.record_user_input()
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
     timestamp = datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M:%S")
     response_text = None
     error_text = None

src/dashboard/routes/chat_api.py

@@ -79,6 +79,14 @@ async def api_chat(request: Request):
     if not last_user_msg:
         return JSONResponse(status_code=400, content={"error": "No user message found"})
 
+    # Record user activity so the thinking engine knows we're not idle
+    try:
+        from timmy.thinking import thinking_engine
+
+        thinking_engine.record_user_input()
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
     timestamp = datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M:%S")
 
     try:

src/timmy/thinking.py

@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ class ThinkingEngine:
     def __init__(self, db_path: Path = _DEFAULT_DB) -> None:
         self._db_path = db_path
         self._last_thought_id: str | None = None
+        self._last_input_time: datetime = datetime.now(UTC)
 
         # Load the most recent thought for chain continuity
         try:
@@ -220,6 +221,17 @@ class ThinkingEngine:
             logger.debug("Failed to load recent thought: %s", exc)
             pass  # Fresh start if DB doesn't exist yet
 
+    def record_user_input(self) -> None:
+        """Record that a user interaction occurred, resetting the idle timer."""
+        self._last_input_time = datetime.now(UTC)
+
+    def _is_idle(self) -> bool:
+        """Return True if no user input has occurred within the idle timeout."""
+        timeout = settings.thinking_idle_timeout_minutes
+        if timeout <= 0:
+            return False  # Disabled — never idle
+        return datetime.now(UTC) - self._last_input_time > timedelta(minutes=timeout)
+
     async def think_once(self, prompt: str | None = None) -> Thought | None:
         """Execute one thinking cycle.
 
@@ -237,6 +249,14 @@ class ThinkingEngine:
         if not settings.thinking_enabled:
             return None
 
+        # Skip idle periods — don't count internal processing as thoughts
+        if not prompt and self._is_idle():
+            logger.debug(
+                "Thinking paused — no user input for %d minutes",
+                settings.thinking_idle_timeout_minutes,
+            )
+            return None
+
         memory_context = self._load_memory_context()
         system_context = self._gather_system_snapshot()
         recent_thoughts = self.get_recent_thoughts(limit=5)