Show modeline icon immediately on chime-mode enable

Previously chime-modeline-string was nil until the first async check
completed (~10-15 seconds after startup). Now the icon appears
instantly with a "waiting for first event check" tooltip.

On validation or async failure, the icon stays visible and the
tooltip updates to show the error state instead of going blank.

2 files changed, 92 insertions, 11 deletions

diff --git a/chime.el b/chime.el
index 49e6428..ae1078c 100644
--- a/chime.el
+++ b/chime.el
@@ -1763,7 +1763,8 @@ Does nothing if a check is already in progress."
                              (chime--debug-log-async-error (cdr events)))
                            (chime--log-silently "Chime: Async error: %s"
                                                (error-message-string (cdr events)))
-                           (chime--maybe-warn-persistent-failures))
+                           (chime--maybe-warn-persistent-failures)
+                           (chime--set-modeline-error-state "Event check failed — check *Messages* buffer"))
                        ;; Success - process events normally
                        (setq chime--consecutive-async-failures 0)
                        (when (featurep 'chime-debug)
@@ -1776,7 +1777,8 @@ Does nothing if a check is already in progress."
                     (chime--debug-log-async-error err))
                   (chime--log-silently "Chime: Error processing events: %s"
                                       (error-message-string err))
-                  (chime--maybe-warn-persistent-failures)))))))))
+                  (chime--maybe-warn-persistent-failures)
+                  (chime--set-modeline-error-state "Event check failed — check *Messages* buffer")))))))))
 
 (defun chime--log-silently (format-string &rest args)
   "Append formatted message to *Messages* buffer without echoing.
@@ -1799,17 +1801,25 @@ Returns nil if validation failed and check should be skipped."
           (progn
             (setq chime--validation-retry-count (1+ chime--validation-retry-count))
             (if (> chime--validation-retry-count chime-validation-max-retries)
-                (let ((errors (cl-remove-if-not (lambda (i) (eq (car i) :error)) issues)))
-                  (chime--log-silently "Chime: Configuration validation failed with %d error(s) after %d retries:"
-                                       (length errors)
-                                       chime--validation-retry-count)
-                  (dolist (err errors)
-                    (chime--log-silently "")
-                    (chime--log-silently "ERROR: %s" (cadr err)))
-                  (message "Chime: Configuration errors detected (see *Messages* buffer for details)"))
+                (progn
+                  (let ((errors (cl-remove-if-not (lambda (i) (eq (car i) :error)) issues)))
+                    (chime--log-silently "Chime: Configuration validation failed with %d error(s) after %d retries:"
+                                         (length errors)
+                                         chime--validation-retry-count)
+                    (dolist (err errors)
+                      (chime--log-silently "")
+                      (chime--log-silently "ERROR: %s" (cadr err))))
+                  (message "Chime: Configuration errors detected (see *Messages* buffer for details)")
+                  ;; Update modeline tooltip to show error state
+                  (chime--set-modeline-error-state "Configuration error — check *Messages* buffer"))
               (message "Chime: Waiting for org-agenda-files to load... (attempt %d/%d)"
                        chime--validation-retry-count
-                       chime-validation-max-retries))
+                       chime-validation-max-retries)
+              ;; Update modeline tooltip to show waiting state
+              (chime--set-modeline-error-state
+               (format "Waiting for org-agenda-files... (attempt %d/%d)"
+                       chime--validation-retry-count
+                       chime-validation-max-retries)))
             nil)
         (setq chime--validation-done t)
         (setq chime--validation-retry-count 0)
@@ -1848,6 +1858,30 @@ Does nothing if a check is already in progress in the background."
    (lambda (events)
      (chime--update-modeline events))))
 
+(defun chime--set-modeline-error-state (error-message)
+  "Update modeline icon tooltip to show ERROR-MESSAGE.
+Keeps the icon visible so the user knows chime is running but has a problem."
+  (when chime-modeline-no-events-text
+    (let ((map (make-sparse-keymap)))
+      (define-key map [mode-line mouse-1] #'chime--open-calendar-url)
+      (setq chime-modeline-string
+            (propertize chime-modeline-no-events-text
+                        'help-echo (format "Chime: %s" error-message)
+                        'mouse-face 'mode-line-highlight
+                        'local-map map))
+      (force-mode-line-update t))))
+
+(defun chime--make-initial-modeline-string ()
+  "Create the initial modeline string shown before the first check completes.
+Uses `chime-modeline-no-events-text' with a loading tooltip."
+  (when chime-modeline-no-events-text
+    (let ((map (make-sparse-keymap)))
+      (define-key map [mode-line mouse-1] #'chime--open-calendar-url)
+      (propertize chime-modeline-no-events-text
+                  'help-echo "Chime: waiting for first event check..."
+                  'mouse-face 'mode-line-highlight
+                  'local-map map))))
+
 ;;;###autoload
 (define-minor-mode chime-mode
   "Toggle org notifications globally.
@@ -1861,6 +1895,8 @@ if needed."
         ;; Add modeline string to global-mode-string
         (when (and chime-enable-modeline
                    (> chime-modeline-lookahead-minutes 0))
+          ;; Set icon immediately so the user sees chime is active
+          (setq chime-modeline-string (chime--make-initial-modeline-string))
           (if global-mode-string
               (add-to-list 'global-mode-string 'chime-modeline-string 'append)
             (setq global-mode-string '("" chime-modeline-string)))))
diff --git a/tests/test-integration-chime-mode.el b/tests/test-integration-chime-mode.el
index 0f19330..69ad176 100644
--- a/tests/test-integration-chime-mode.el
+++ b/tests/test-integration-chime-mode.el
@@ -65,5 +65,50 @@ and set it to nil."
     ;; Timer should be nil after disable
     (should (null chime--timer))))
 
+(ert-deftest test-integration-chime-mode-enable-sets-modeline-string-immediately ()
+  "Enabling chime-mode should set chime-modeline-string to a non-nil value
+immediately, before the first async check completes."
+  (let ((chime-enable-modeline t)
+        (chime-modeline-lookahead-minutes 120)
+        (chime-modeline-no-events-text " ⏰"))
+    (unwind-protect
+        (progn
+          (chime-mode 1)
+          ;; Should be non-nil right away, not after startup delay
+          (should chime-modeline-string)
+          (should (stringp chime-modeline-string)))
+      (chime-mode -1))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-integration-chime-mode-enable-immediate-string-has-tooltip ()
+  "The immediate modeline string should have a help-echo tooltip."
+  (let ((chime-enable-modeline t)
+        (chime-modeline-lookahead-minutes 120)
+        (chime-modeline-no-events-text " ⏰"))
+    (unwind-protect
+        (progn
+          (chime-mode 1)
+          (should (get-text-property 0 'help-echo chime-modeline-string)))
+      (chime-mode -1))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-integration-chime-mode-validation-failure-keeps-icon-visible ()
+  "When validation fails, modeline should still show the icon with error info
+in the tooltip, not go blank."
+  (let ((chime-enable-modeline t)
+        (chime-modeline-lookahead-minutes 120)
+        (chime-modeline-no-events-text " ⏰")
+        (org-agenda-files nil)
+        (chime--validation-done nil)
+        (chime--validation-retry-count 0)
+        (chime-validation-max-retries 0))
+    (unwind-protect
+        (progn
+          (chime-mode 1)
+          ;; Force a check that will fail validation
+          (chime-check)
+          ;; Icon should still be visible, not nil
+          (should chime-modeline-string)
+          (should (stringp chime-modeline-string)))
+      (chime-mode -1))))
+
 (provide 'test-integration-chime-mode)
 ;;; test-integration-chime-mode.el ends here