From a5bbe244445c5c9319d42ede784da8714155f6ae Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Boden Fuller <boden.fuller@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2026 13:08:43 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] perf: parallelize mail inbox queries for ~6x speedup
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The listFromDir function was making 3-6 serial bd subprocess calls
(one per identity variant × status). This caused gt mail inbox to take
~32 seconds in typical setups.

Change to run all queries in parallel using goroutines, reducing
inbox load time to ~5 seconds.

Implementation notes:
- Pre-allocate results slice indexed by query position (no mutex needed)
- Deduplication happens after wg.Wait() in single-threaded collection
- Existing error handling preserved (partial success allowed)

Fixes #705
---
 internal/mail/mailbox.go | 108 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------
 1 file changed, 72 insertions(+), 36 deletions(-)

diff --git a/internal/mail/mailbox.go b/internal/mail/mailbox.go
index e9808d50..7f1e3d20 100644
--- a/internal/mail/mailbox.go
+++ b/internal/mail/mailbox.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"sort"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/steveyegge/gastown/internal/beads"
@@ -107,45 +108,76 @@ func (m *Mailbox) listBeads() ([]*Message, error) {
 	return messages, nil
 }
 
+// queryResult holds the result of a single query.
+type queryResult struct {
+	messages []*Message
+	err      error
+}
+
 // listFromDir queries messages from a beads directory.
 // Returns messages where identity is the assignee OR a CC recipient.
 // Includes both open and hooked messages (hooked = auto-assigned handoff mail).
 // If all queries fail, returns the last error encountered.
+// Queries are parallelized for performance (~6x speedup).
 func (m *Mailbox) listFromDir(beadsDir string) ([]*Message, error) {
+	// Get all identity variants to query (handles legacy vs normalized formats)
+	identities := m.identityVariants()
+
+	// Build list of queries to run in parallel
+	type querySpec struct {
+		filterFlag  string
+		filterValue string
+		status      string
+	}
+	var queries []querySpec
+
+	// Assignee queries for each identity variant in both open and hooked statuses
+	for _, identity := range identities {
+		for _, status := range []string{"open", "hooked"} {
+			queries = append(queries, querySpec{
+				filterFlag:  "--assignee",
+				filterValue: identity,
+				status:      status,
+			})
+		}
+	}
+
+	// CC queries for each identity variant (open only)
+	for _, identity := range identities {
+		queries = append(queries, querySpec{
+			filterFlag:  "--label",
+			filterValue: "cc:" + identity,
+			status:      "open",
+		})
+	}
+
+	// Execute all queries in parallel
+	results := make([]queryResult, len(queries))
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	wg.Add(len(queries))
+
+	for i, q := range queries {
+		go func(idx int, spec querySpec) {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			msgs, err := m.queryMessages(beadsDir, spec.filterFlag, spec.filterValue, spec.status)
+			results[idx] = queryResult{messages: msgs, err: err}
+		}(i, q)
+	}
+
+	wg.Wait()
+
+	// Collect results
 	seen := make(map[string]bool)
 	var messages []*Message
 	var lastErr error
 	anySucceeded := false
 
-	// Get all identity variants to query (handles legacy vs normalized formats)
-	identities := m.identityVariants()
-
-	// Query for each identity variant in both open and hooked statuses
-	for _, identity := range identities {
-		for _, status := range []string{"open", "hooked"} {
-			msgs, err := m.queryMessages(beadsDir, "--assignee", identity, status)
-			if err != nil {
-				lastErr = err
-			} else {
-				anySucceeded = true
-				for _, msg := range msgs {
-					if !seen[msg.ID] {
-						seen[msg.ID] = true
-						messages = append(messages, msg)
-					}
-				}
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	// Query for CC'd messages (open only)
-	for _, identity := range identities {
-		ccMsgs, err := m.queryMessages(beadsDir, "--label", "cc:"+identity, "open")
-		if err != nil {
-			lastErr = err
+	for _, r := range results {
+		if r.err != nil {
+			lastErr = r.err
 		} else {
 			anySucceeded = true
-			for _, msg := range ccMsgs {
+			for _, msg := range r.messages {
 				if !seen[msg.ID] {
 					seen[msg.ID] = true
 					messages = append(messages, msg)
@@ -250,17 +282,21 @@ func (m *Mailbox) listLegacy() ([]*Message, error) {
 
 // ListUnread returns unread (open) messages.
 func (m *Mailbox) ListUnread() ([]*Message, error) {
-	all, err := m.List()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	var unread []*Message
-	for _, msg := range all {
-		if !msg.Read {
-			unread = append(unread, msg)
+	if m.legacy {
+		all, err := m.List()
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
 		}
+		var unread []*Message
+		for _, msg := range all {
+			if !msg.Read {
+				unread = append(unread, msg)
+			}
+		}
+		return unread, nil
 	}
-	return unread, nil
+	// For beads, inbox only returns open (unread) messages
+	return m.List()
 }
 
 // Get returns a message by ID.