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Implement hint mode: configurable patterns, multi-pattern select, Select action#1917

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christianparpart merged 6 commits intomasterfrom
feature/hint-mode-gaps-1-2-3
Mar 21, 2026
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Implement hint mode: configurable patterns, multi-pattern select, Select action#1917
christianparpart merged 6 commits intomasterfrom
feature/hint-mode-gaps-1-2-3

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@christianparpart christianparpart commented Mar 21, 2026

  • Add user-configurable hint_patterns in profile YAML config (with HintPatternConfig struct, YAML parsing, documentation, and serialization). User patterns with the same name as a builtin override it; new names are appended.
  • Support pipe-separated multi-pattern selection in HintMode action (e.g. patterns: 'filepath|git_hash'), using crispy::split and std::erase_if for idiomatic filtering.
  • Implement HintAction::Select to enter vi visual mode with the matched range pre-selected, replacing the previous TODO/clipboard-copy fallback. Extended onHintSelected interface to pass match coordinates.
  • Added error handling for invalid user regex (try/catch with log warning), warning on unrecognized pattern names, and std::move optimization for HintMatch.

Partial fix for #1864 (remaining: wrapped/logical line handling, scope parameter).

@christianparpart
Implement hint mode: user-configurable patterns, multi-pattern select…
9f99f5a 
…ion, Select action

Address three remaining acceptance criteria from issue #1864:

1. User-configurable hint patterns via `hint_patterns` in profile YAML config.
   Users can define custom regex patterns or override builtins by name.

2. Pipe-separated multi-pattern selection (e.g. `patterns: 'filepath|git_hash'`)
   using crispy::split and std::erase_if for idiomatic filtering.

3. HintAction::Select now enters vi visual mode with the match range
   pre-selected, replacing the previous TODO/clipboard-copy fallback.

Also includes: try/catch for invalid user regex in config, warning log
on unrecognized pattern names, and std::move optimization for HintMatch.

Signed-off-by: Christian Parpart <christian@parpart.family>
@christianparpart christianparpart added the no changelog Tells the CI to not require a changelog entry label Mar 21, 2026
@github-actions github-actions bot added VT: Backend Virtual Terminal Backend (libterminal API) frontend Contour Terminal Emulator (GUI frontend) test Unit tests labels Mar 21, 2026
@christianparpart
Apply clang-format to TerminalSession.cpp
261ea7d 
Signed-off-by: Christian Parpart <christian@parpart.family>
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Pull request overview

Adds a more capable “hint mode” by allowing user-configurable regex patterns, multi-pattern selection via patterns (pipe-separated), and a new HintAction::Select that transitions into vi visual mode with the match pre-selected.

Changes:

  • Extend HintModeHandler::Executor::onHintSelected to include match coordinates (start/end).
  • Merge profile hint_patterns with built-ins and support multi-pattern selection in TerminalSession.
  • Implement HintAction::Select to enter vi visual mode and select the matched range.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 6 comments.

Show a summary per file
File Description
src/vtbackend/Terminal.h Updates HintModeExecutor::onHintSelected signature to include match coordinates.
src/vtbackend/Terminal.cpp Implements HintAction::Select behavior using vi visual mode and cursor movement.
src/vtbackend/HintModeHandler_test.cpp Updates mock executor to capture start/end coordinates.
src/vtbackend/HintModeHandler.h Documents the extended onHintSelected contract (text + coordinates).
src/vtbackend/HintModeHandler.cpp Passes moved HintMatch (including coordinates) into onHintSelected.
src/contour/TerminalSession.cpp Merges user patterns with built-ins and filters patterns by pipe-separated names.
src/contour/ConfigDocumentation.h Adds documentation block for hint_patterns.
src/contour/Config.h Introduces HintPatternConfig, wires it into TerminalProfile, and adds serialization.
src/contour/Config.cpp Loads hint_patterns from YAML into profile configuration.

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@christianparpart
Address code review feedback
e4e2772 
- TerminalSession.cpp: Preserve merged user+builtin patterns as fallback
  when no requested names match, instead of dropping user patterns
- Config.h: Fix YAML serialization to use writer indentation and escape
  single quotes in regex strings
- Config.cpp: Improve log message for skipped hint patterns to include
  name and regex for easier debugging, remove trailing newline
- HintModeHandler.h: Clarify docstring that coordinates are viewport-relative
  (line 0 = first visible line), not absolute grid coordinates
- HintModeHandler_test.cpp: Add coordinate assertions to ProgressiveFiltering
  test to verify start/end are forwarded correctly
- Terminal.cpp: Fix HintAction::Select to convert viewport-relative coordinates
  to grid-relative using scroll offset, and clear existing selection before
  entering visual mode to prevent stale anchor reuse

Signed-off-by: Christian Parpart <christian@parpart.family>
@christianparpart
Resolve relative filepaths to absolute in hint mode actions
505258a 
Add an optional transformer function to HintPattern that rewrites matched
text before storing in HintMatch. The overlay still shows the original
terminal text, but Copy/Open/Paste actions use the transformed (absolute)
path.

In Terminal::activateHintMode, extract the path resolution logic into a
shared lambda used by both the validator (filesystem existence check) and
the new transformer (relative-to-absolute conversion). This ensures that
copying a filepath hint like "src/foo.cpp" yields the full path
"/home/user/project/src/foo.cpp", and opening it passes a resolvable
absolute path to the system's URL handler.

Signed-off-by: Christian Parpart <christian@parpart.family>
@christianparpart
Fix ~/path regression, avoid pattern deep-copy, guard filesystem::exists
8de1b40 
- Terminal.cpp: Restore old behavior for ~/ paths when HOME is unset:
  the validator lets them through unvalidated, and the transformer
  returns the match unchanged. Fixes regression where ~/ hints were
  silently suppressed in environments without HOME.
- Terminal.cpp: Use std::error_code overload of std::filesystem::exists
  to prevent exceptions on permission errors during hint scanning.
- TerminalSession.cpp: Avoid unconditional deep-copy of all patterns
  (including compiled regex objects) for the rare fallback case. Check
  whether any name matches before erasing, skip mutation if none match.

Signed-off-by: Christian Parpart <christian@parpart.family>
@github-actions github-actions bot added the documentation Improvements or additions to documentation label Mar 21, 2026
@christianparpart
Document custom hint patterns, pipe syntax, and path resolution
cf128b3 
- docs/demo/hint-mode.md: Add "Custom Patterns" section explaining
  hint_patterns profile config with YAML examples. Add "Path Resolution"
  section explaining that relative paths are resolved to absolute for
  Copy/Open actions. Document pipe-separated multi-pattern syntax
  (e.g. 'filepath|githash'). Update Select action description to
  reflect the now-implemented vi visual mode pre-selection.
- ConfigDocumentation.h: Add HintMode to the InputMappingsConfig action
  list with parameters documentation. It was the only action missing
  from the generated config comments.

Signed-off-by: Christian Parpart <christian@parpart.family>
@christianparpart christianparpart force-pushed the feature/hint-mode-gaps-1-2-3 branch from cb3ff69 to cf128b3 Compare March 21, 2026 09:56
@github-actions github-actions bot added the CI GitHub Actions & CI label Mar 21, 2026
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data-man commented Mar 21, 2026

I'd suggest using SRELL instead of std::regex.
I maintain the mirror at https://github.com/ZimProjects/SRELL.

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christianparpart commented Mar 21, 2026

I'd suggest using SRELL instead of std::regex. I maintain the mirror at https://github.com/ZimProjects/SRELL.

this sounds like an amazing regex implementation. I definitely prefer stdlib over custom 3rdparties, however, they actually have a value (Unicode) over stdlib. Maybe we do that at a later stage. :)

@christianparpart christianparpart merged commit f3806b2 into master Mar 21, 2026
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@christianparpart christianparpart deleted the feature/hint-mode-gaps-1-2-3 branch March 21, 2026 15:43
@christianparpart christianparpart mentioned this pull request Mar 21, 2026
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