Problem
Task mode places the project-management/context surface in the primary center area while the actual Task conversation is constrained to the right rail. Blocking questions can be buried in a long admin surface, cancellation lacks a confirmation flow, and artifact review exposes developer-oriented JSON/provenance.
This is separate from prompt-first Task creation in #231.
User impact
Active Tasks feel inverted relative to the rest of Cowork: the conversation is secondary, important questions are easy to miss, and review/cancel actions do not feel safe or polished.
Relevant code
apps/desktop/src/ui/tasks/TaskView.tsxTaskContextSidebar.tsxTaskConversationSidebar.tsxArtifactReviewCard.tsx- Task lifecycle actions
Implementation outline
- Make the active Task conversation the primary center surface.
- Move brief, plan, status, and artifacts into the inspector/right rail.
- Add a sticky blocking-question alert plus top-bar/sidebar badge.
- Confirm cancellation with a clear description of what stops and what is preserved.
- Show pending/complete/error states for review and lifecycle actions.
- Replace raw JSON/diff presentation with human-readable provenance and reuse FilePreview/Canvas where appropriate.
- Preserve selected artifact/review state across background updates.
- Add skeletons/status chips for loading transitions.
Acceptance criteria
- Conversation is the primary Task workspace.
- Blocking input cannot be missed while navigating the Task.
- Cancel requires confirmation and cannot double-submit.
- Artifact provenance and changes are understandable without reading raw JSON.
- Review actions expose pending, success, and failure state.
- Inspector content remains usable at compact widths with #221.
- Task state survives navigation and reconnect.
Required tests
- Active Task layout at target widths.
- Blocking question visibility and navigation.
- Cancel confirmation/success/failure.
- Artifact review for common file types and malformed provenance.
- Background status updates without selection loss.
