---
created: 2026-03-30T13:51:30.277Z
title: "Fix broken pending message count in owl list"
area: tooling
files:
  - src/owl/list.rs
---

## Problem

`$OWL list` (and possibly related commands) displays an incorrect or broken pending message count for perches. The count shown next to each active owl may not reflect the actual number of unread messages in the inbox directory or SQLite spool.

## Solution

TBD -- investigate how `list.rs` computes the pending count (filesystem inbox files vs SQLite spool entries), identify the mismatch, and fix the counting logic.