Open Queue – Message Queue Plugin for OpenCode

Overview

Open Queue solves a critical UX problem in AI-assisted coding: when a user sends a follow-up message while the model is still generating a response, the current message interrupts the ongoing computation, causing context confusion and lost work.

This plugin queues messages during model processing and delivers them sequentially when the model becomes available.

Repository: github.com/0xSero/open-queue

The Problem

When working with AI coding assistants:

User: "Also fix the type error in user.ts"
Assistant: [Thinking... generating response about database migration...]

Without Open Queue:

• The new message interrupts the current response
• Context window loses track of conversation state
• Model produces incoherent follow-up responses
• User loses the partially-generated migration code

With Open Queue:

• Message held in queue until model finishes
• Delivered in order after current response completes
• Both responses preserved, coherent context maintained

Solution

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  OpenCode Interface                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                          │
                          ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Open Queue Plugin                 │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  │
│  │ Message    │  │ Queue      │  │ Status      │  │
│  │ Interceptor│  │ Manager    │  │ Monitor     │  │
│  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                          │
                          ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 Model Processing                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Features

Two Queue Modes:

Commands:

/queue hold       # Enable queueing mode
/queue immediate  # Return to normal
/queue status     # Check current mode

Environment Control:

OPENCODE_MESSAGE_QUEUE_MODE=hold opencode
# Start OpenCode in hold mode by default

Technical Implementation

• TypeScript + JavaScript (62.7% / 37.3%)
• NPM Package: @0xsero/open-queue
• CLI Tool: bun x @0xsero/open-queue
• OpenCode Integration: Plugin auto-registration via opencode.json

Technical Challenges

Message State Management

Challenge: In hold mode, the UI shows the message as "sent" even though it's queued. When the model finishes, the message appears to be sent again.

Impact: Visual glitch where message briefly appears, disappears, then reappears after model finishes.

Status: Known limitation documented in README. The model only receives the message once (after finishing), but the visual feedback is imperfect due to OpenCode plugin API constraints.

Plugin Lifecycle

Challenge: Ensuring the plugin loads before any messages are processed, even on cold starts or restarts.

Solution: The installation script (setup-config.sh / setup-config.ps1) automatically adds the plugin to opencode.json and validates configuration before first run.

Installation

# Direct installation via bun
bun x @0xsero/open-queue

# Or via npx
npx @0xSero/open-queue

The installer automatically:

1. Adds plugin to opencode.json
2. Sets up /queue command
3. Validates configuration

Results

Community Impact

• 75+ GitHub stars from developers frustrated with message interruption
• 3 forks with active community contributions
• 2 contributors including Claude itself

Use Cases

1. Long-running Tasks: When asking follow-ups during code generation
2. Multi-step Refactoring: Queue several changes requests without interrupting
3. Context Preservation: Maintain conversation coherence across complex modifications

Code Quality

• Comprehensive README: Installation, usage, troubleshooting
• Cross-platform Support: macOS/Linux (bash) and Windows (PowerShell)
• MIT License: Free for all use cases
• Version Management: uv tool integration for upgrades/uninstall

Lessons Learned

1. User Experience > Feature Count: A single well-designed feature that solves one problem well outperforms complex alternatives that do many things poorly.

2. Documentation is Infrastructure: Clear installation scripts and troubleshooting guides reduced support requests burden significantly.

3. Platform Constraints: Working within OpenCode's plugin API taught me to design around platform limitations rather than fighting them.

Future Work

• Visual Improvements: Partner with OpenCode team to fix the visual glitch
• Priority Queue: Allow marking certain messages as "urgent" to jump ahead
• Batch Mode: Automatically combine rapid-fire messages into single response

This project demonstrates 0xSero's approach to practical infrastructure—solving real developer pain points with minimal, focused solution.

Explore the code: github.com/0xSero/open-queue