fix(desktop): SnapShot shortcut helper no longer adds a Dock icon on macOS

[Gigioxx]

On macOS, the SnapShot modifier-pair shortcut (the default "both Shift keys") runs a JXA osascript poller. Its CGEventSourceFlagsState call connects the process to the window server, and LaunchServices registers it as a foreground app attributed to T3 Code. That shows up as an extra "T3 Code" Dock icon with no window, reported as "not responding", until the app quits. This is the osascript tile diagnosed in #12975.

The poller now sets NSApplicationActivationPolicyProhibited before it touches CoreGraphics, so it registers as a background-only process and never gets a Dock tile. The shortcut polling itself is unchanged.

Validation:

• Before, in the dev desktop app with SnapShots on and the default shortcut: lsappinfo lists the poller under T3 Code (Dev).app as type="Foreground", a second Dock app next to the main process.
• After, same setup: the poller is type="BackgroundOnly", and the main process is the only foreground T3 Code (Dev) entry.
• With the Prohibited policy, CGEventSourceFlagsState still returns normally.
• vp test run apps/desktop/src/snapShot/MacModifierPairShortcutProcess.test.ts passes (3 tests). Targeted vp lint and vp fmt --check pass.

This only affects macOS; Windows and Linux use the Node worker. The other process types in #12975 (backend, accessibility worker) don't create a Dock tile here, so this PR doesn't touch them. No screenshots: the Dock was hidden during testing, so lsappinfo output is the evidence.

Model: Claude Opus 5.5. Harness: Claude Code in T3 Code.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes
  • Modifier-key shortcut monitoring now runs without activating the desktop app or presenting it as a regular app window.

[macroscopeapp]

Approvability

Verdict: Approved at 8ff2f1d

Macroscope's review found this PR approvable — This narrowly scoped macOS fix changes only the helper process's activation policy so it does not create an unwanted Dock icon; shortcut polling and all other platform paths remain unchanged. No product defaults, schemas, deployment settings, or static-analysis directives are modified.

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ℹ️ Recent review info

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between f5ef0dd and 8ff2f1d.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• apps/desktop/src/snapShot/MacModifierPairShortcutProcess.ts

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

POLLER_SCRIPT imports AppKit and sets the shared application’s activation policy to prohibited before its existing CoreGraphics and modifier-polling logic.

Changes

Mac modifier shortcut polling

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Application activation policy apps/desktop/src/snapShot/MacModifierPairShortcutProcess.ts	POLLER_SCRIPT sets NSApplication’s activation policy to prohibited before the existing polling code.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 1 (Trivial) | ~4 minutes

Change: Bug fix

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 8ff2f

The helper is configured as background-only, and macOS documents no foreground-app requirement for its modifier-state query. No actionable merge-blocking risk is established.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: preventing the macOS SnapShot shortcut helper from adding a Dock icon.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description explains what changed, why it was needed, the macOS-only scope, validation results, and the lack of screenshots. It does not use the template headings or checklist, but it provides the…
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 0 functions across 1…
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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