[Bug] Notifications not working; add E2E coverage #932

Summary

Desktop notifications are effectively broken (no OS toasts / no reliable in-app notification pipeline in real use). We need a root-cause fix across the stack (permissions, Tauri / CEF bridge, socket events from core, Redux, UI) and a proper E2E regression so this cannot ship broken again.

Problem

• User-visible: Users do not get expected native and/or in-app notifications for events that should surface (e.g. core-originated core_notification, chat completion policies, or other product-defined triggers).
• Engineering risk: The path touches multiple layers — app/src/lib/nativeNotifications/ (e.g. core_notification subscription on socketService), Tauri tauri-plugin-notification in app/src-tauri/, CEF notification wiring in app/src-tauri/src/webview_accounts/mod.rs, and core src/openhuman/notifications/ (e.g. bus.rs → socket). Without a working E2E, regressions are likely.

Product ask: “Notifications do not work at all” — treat as P0/P1 until a minimal happy path is proven on CI (Linux) and documented for macOS local.

Scope of the fix (non-exhaustive; triage to define)

1. OS permissions — Request and verify notification permission on supported platforms; fail gracefully with visible UX when denied.
2. Tauri / webview — Ensure showNativeNotification / plugin paths actually fire in the built app (CEF + notification plugin; no silent no-ops).
3. Core → UI — Confirm core_notification (or the canonical event name) is emitted from core and received in the renderer; fix any break in socketService subscription or bus wiring.
4. In-app list — If the product also requires the Notifications page / notificationSlice to update, align with the same event source of truth.
5. Document the supported notification types in one place (what is expected to toast vs in-app only).

E2E requirements (must ship with the fix)

Add an E2E spec (WDIO) that proves at least one end-to-end path, for example:

• Option A (preferred if automatable in CI): Drive the app, trigger a known code path that should emit a notification (e.g. via mock server / admin behavior, or a dev-only E2E hook that dispatches the same payload nativeNotifications expects), then assert a verifiable outcome:
  • DOM / Redux — e.g. a new item in the in-app notification list, or a specific data-testid / text on /notifications or
  • Instrumented check — browser.execute (when supportsExecuteScript() on tauri-driver) to read Redux state or a test-only global the build exposes only under a test flag.
• Option B (macOS-only supplement): If native OS toasts are not assertable in Linux CI, document that and add a smoke step for macOS or keep CI focused on in-app guarantees plus a unit/integration test for the native bridge.

Harness alignment (see docs/E2E-TESTING.md):

• Spec lives under app/test/e2e/specs/, e.g. notifications.spec.ts.
• Run with bash app/scripts/e2e-run-spec.sh test/e2e/specs/<file>.ts <id>; use waitForWebView / helpers from app/test/e2e/helpers/element-helpers.ts as in other flows.
• Use the shared mock backend and isolated OPENHUMAN_WORKSPACE per e2e-run-spec.sh defaults.

Avoid: E2E that only mocks Vitest; we need desktop coverage.

Acceptance criteria

• Repro / root cause documented in the PR (what was broken: permission, event name, dead subscription, Tauri init, etc.).
• Fix merged — At least one reliable notification path works for shipped desktop (define which events in the PR).
• E2E — New or extended WDIO spec committed; CI (Linux) passes; instructions in PR for macOS if different.
• No secrets / flakes — Deterministic waits, mock-only network, no wall-clock flakiness beyond documented harness limits.
• Short doc — Update docs/E2E-TESTING.md or a line in the spec README listing the notifications flow and how to run it.

Related code (starting points)

• app/src/lib/nativeNotifications/service.ts — core_notification listener, socket wiring
• app/src/lib/nativeNotifications/tauriBridge.ts — native showNativeNotification
• app/src-tauri/src/lib.rs — tauri-plugin-notification
• src/openhuman/notifications/bus.rs — core → socket emission
• app/src/pages/Notifications.tsx / app/src/store/notificationSlice.ts — in-app list
• app/test/e2e/ — new spec + helpers