feat: add cursor positioning and selection to InputPrompt by gaburn · Pull Request #639 · github/squad

gaburn · 2026-03-26T18:51:09Z

Summary

Overhauls the InputPrompt shell component from an append-only text input to a full cursor-aware editor.

New capabilities

Cursor navigation — Arrow keys for character movement, Ctrl+Arrow for word-boundary jumps, Home/End
Text selection — Shift+Arrow to select, Ctrl+A to select all
Selection-aware editing — Typing, backspace, and delete respect active selections
Visual feedback — Cursor shown as inverse character, selection shown with inverse highlighting

Code quality (from deep review)

Extracted \getSelectionStateSnapshot()\ helper to eliminate 3-way duplication
Fixed delete key at end-of-line incorrectly performing backspace
Removed dead code branch in delete handler
Removed unused \prompt\ prop from interface
Routed Ctrl+A through \�pplyInputState\ for consistency

Testing

23 new unit tests for word boundaries, insert, delete, and selection logic
All 151 InputPrompt-related tests passing (repl-ux, multiline-paste, cursor)

Files changed

\packages/squad-cli/src/cli/shell/components/InputPrompt.tsx\ — cursor/selection overhaul
\packages/squad-cli/src/cli/shell/components/index.ts\ — export new helpers
\ est/input-prompt-cursor.test.ts\ — new test file

Add full cursor navigation to the shell input prompt: - Arrow keys for character-by-character movement - Ctrl+Arrow for word-boundary navigation - Home/End for line start/end - Shift+Arrow for text selection - Ctrl+A to select all - Selection-aware typing, backspace, and delete - Visual cursor and selection rendering (inverse highlighting) Export getPrevWordBoundary and getNextWordBoundary helpers for testing. Add 23 unit tests covering word boundaries, insert, delete, and selection logic. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

- Fix delete key at end-of-line incorrectly doing backspace (now no-op) - Remove dead isBackspaceChar branch inside key.delete block - Remove unused prompt prop from InputPromptProps interface - Extract getSelectionStateSnapshot() to eliminate 3-way duplication - Route Ctrl+A through applyInputState for consistency Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

bradygaster · 2026-03-28T13:51:47Z

@gaburn appreciate the pull request - as mentioned in #665 we're going to remove the REPL soon. Appreciate the pull request but, if you're into building REPL, we'd love to see if you'd be keen to help when we get going with an improved one?

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR upgrades the CLI’s Ink InputPrompt from an append-only input to a cursor-aware editor with word navigation and selection support.

Changes:

Added cursor position + selection tracking, plus rendering for cursor/selection highlighting in InputPrompt.
Introduced word-boundary helpers (getPrevWordBoundary, getNextWordBoundary) and re-exported them from the components barrel.
Added a new unit test file intended to cover word boundaries and editing/selection behaviors.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

File	Description
`packages/squad-cli/src/cli/shell/components/InputPrompt.tsx`	Adds cursor/selection state management, word-boundary navigation, selection-aware insert/delete, and updated rendering.
`packages/squad-cli/src/cli/shell/components/index.ts`	Re-exports the new word-boundary helpers from `InputPrompt`.
`test/input-prompt-cursor.test.ts`	Adds tests for word-boundary helpers and (currently) local-only edit/selection helper logic.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

packages/squad-cli/src/cli/shell/components/InputPrompt.tsx:12

prompt was removed from InputPromptProps, but there are still callers passing it (e.g. test/repl-ux.test.ts calls h(InputPrompt, { …, prompt: 'squad> ' })). This will cause TypeScript compilation/test failures unless those call sites are updated or the prop is kept (even if ignored).

interface InputPromptProps {
  onSubmit: (value: string) => void;
  disabled?: boolean;
  agentNames?: string[];
  /** Number of messages exchanged so far — drives progressive hint text. */
  messageCount?: number;
}

Copilot · 2026-03-28T13:58:25Z

  const [history, setHistory] = useState<string[]>([]);
  const [historyIndex, setHistoryIndex] = useState(-1);


history and historyIndex React state are no longer read anywhere in this component (navigation uses historyRef/historyIndexRef instead). Keeping unused state adds confusion and risks drift between the ref and state; consider removing the unused state vars (and corresponding setHistoryIndex calls) or switching back to state reads consistently.

Suggested change

const [history, setHistory] = useState<string[]>([]);

const [historyIndex, setHistoryIndex] = useState(-1);

Copilot · 2026-03-28T13:58:25Z

@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { getNextWordBoundary, getPrevWordBoundary } from '@bradygaster/squad-cli/shell/components';


This import path likely won’t resolve: @bradygaster/squad-cli has an exports map, but it doesn’t currently include a ./shell/components subpath. Either add that export (and ensure it points at dist/cli/shell/components/index.js) or import these helpers from a subpath that is already exported.

Suggested change

import { getNextWordBoundary, getPrevWordBoundary } from '@bradygaster/squad-cli/shell/components';

import { getNextWordBoundary, getPrevWordBoundary } from '@bradygaster/squad-cli';

Copilot · 2026-03-28T13:58:25Z

+import { getNextWordBoundary, getPrevWordBoundary } from '@bradygaster/squad-cli/shell/components';
+
+type Selection = { start: number; end: number };
+
+function insertText(value: string, cursorPos: number, text: string): { value: string; cursorPos: number } {
+  const nextValue = value.slice(0, cursorPos) + text + value.slice(cursorPos);
+  return { value: nextValue, cursorPos: cursorPos + text.length };
+}
+
+function replaceSelection(
+  value: string,
+  selection: Selection,
+  replacement: string,
+): { value: string; cursorPos: number } {
+  const nextValue = value.slice(0, selection.start) + replacement + value.slice(selection.end);
+  return { value: nextValue, cursorPos: selection.start + replacement.length };
+}
+
+function backspace(value: string, cursorPos: number): { value: string; cursorPos: number } {
+  if (cursorPos === 0) return { value, cursorPos };
+  const nextValue = value.slice(0, cursorPos - 1) + value.slice(cursorPos);
+  return { value: nextValue, cursorPos: cursorPos - 1 };
+}
+
+function del(value: string, cursorPos: number): { value: string; cursorPos: number } {
+  if (cursorPos >= value.length) return { value, cursorPos };
+  const nextValue = value.slice(0, cursorPos) + value.slice(cursorPos + 1);
+  return { value: nextValue, cursorPos };
+}
+
+function deleteSelection(value: string, selection: Selection): { value: string; cursorPos: number } {
+  const nextValue = value.slice(0, selection.start) + value.slice(selection.end);
+  return { value: nextValue, cursorPos: selection.start };
+}
+


Most of the new “cursor edit behavior” tests exercise locally-defined helper functions (insertText, backspace, del, etc.) rather than the actual InputPrompt implementation or exported editor helpers. That means these tests can still pass even if the real component logic regresses. Consider extracting the edit/selection logic into exported pure functions and testing those, or drive the component via ink-testing-library to validate real behavior.

Suggested change

import { getNextWordBoundary, getPrevWordBoundary } from '@bradygaster/squad-cli/shell/components';

type Selection = { start: number; end: number };

function insertText(value: string, cursorPos: number, text: string): { value: string; cursorPos: number } {

const nextValue = value.slice(0, cursorPos) + text + value.slice(cursorPos);

return { value: nextValue, cursorPos: cursorPos + text.length };

}

function replaceSelection(

value: string,

selection: Selection,

replacement: string,

): { value: string; cursorPos: number } {

const nextValue = value.slice(0, selection.start) + replacement + value.slice(selection.end);

return { value: nextValue, cursorPos: selection.start + replacement.length };

}

function backspace(value: string, cursorPos: number): { value: string; cursorPos: number } {

if (cursorPos === 0) return { value, cursorPos };

const nextValue = value.slice(0, cursorPos - 1) + value.slice(cursorPos);

return { value: nextValue, cursorPos: cursorPos - 1 };

}

function del(value: string, cursorPos: number): { value: string; cursorPos: number } {

if (cursorPos >= value.length) return { value, cursorPos };

const nextValue = value.slice(0, cursorPos) + value.slice(cursorPos + 1);

return { value: nextValue, cursorPos };

}

function deleteSelection(value: string, selection: Selection): { value: string; cursorPos: number } {

const nextValue = value.slice(0, selection.start) + value.slice(selection.end);

return { value: nextValue, cursorPos: selection.start };

}

import {

getNextWordBoundary,

getPrevWordBoundary,

insertText,

replaceSelection,

backspace,

del,

deleteSelection,

} from '@bradygaster/squad-cli/shell/components';

type Selection = { start: number; end: number };

Copilot · 2026-03-28T13:58:25Z

+    const isBackspaceChar = input === '\u007f' || input === '\b';
+    // Some terminal/input stacks report Backspace as `key.delete=true` with empty input.
+    // Treat that specific end-of-line shape as backspace compatibility handling.
+    const isLikelyBackspaceViaDeleteKey =
+      key.delete &&
+      !key.backspace &&
+      !input &&
+      cursorPosRef.current > 0 &&
+      cursorPosRef.current === valueRef.current.length;
+


Backspace/Delete detection here is not reliable with Ink useInput: many terminals send Backspace as DEL (0x7f), and Ink reports that as key.delete (with input often blanked). With the current branching, Backspace-in-the-middle can be misinterpreted as forward-delete, and the special-case can also reintroduce “Delete at end acts like Backspace”. Consider treating key.delete as backspace-like delete-left (Ink’s common approach), or switch to raw stdin parsing if you need distinct forward-delete semantics.

bradygaster · 2026-03-28T14:18:06Z

@copilot apply changes based on the comments in this thread

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Copilot · 2026-03-28T15:31:49Z

  const [history, setHistory] = useState<string[]>([]);
  const [historyIndex, setHistoryIndex] = useState(-1);
  const [spinFrame, setSpinFrame] = useState(0);


history and historyIndex state values are no longer read anywhere (only the setters are used), since the handlers now consult historyRef/historyIndexRef. This is dead state and can be confusing; it may also trip lint rules. Either remove these useState variables entirely and rely on refs, or start using the state values consistently and keep the refs in sync via an effect.

Copilot · 2026-03-28T15:31:50Z

+        selectionAnchorRef.current = null;
+        setCursorPos(0);
+        setSelectionAnchor(null);


In the disabled→enabled restore effect, the else branch clears valueRef.current but never updates the value state (only cursor/selection state). If value was non-empty before disabling, the UI can re-render with stale text while the cursor is reset to 0. Update the value state (and any other relevant state) in this branch to keep refs and state consistent.

Suggested change

selectionAnchorRef.current = null;

setCursorPos(0);

setSelectionAnchor(null);

selectionAnchorRef.current = null;

bufferRef.current = '';

setValue('');

setCursorPos(0);

setSelectionAnchor(null);

setBufferDisplay('');

Copilot · 2026-03-28T15:31:50Z

    <Box flexDirection="column">
      <Box>
        <Text color={noColor ? undefined : 'cyan'} bold>{narrow ? 'sq> ' : '◆ squad> '}</Text>
-        <Text>{value}</Text>
-        <Text color={noColor ? undefined : 'cyan'} bold>▌</Text>
+        {hasSelection ? (


The prompt is now hard-coded to sq> /◆ squad> and the prompt prop was removed. There is at least one existing test (test/repl-ux.test.ts) that expects a custom prompt prop to change what is rendered; with this change that behavior will fail. Either keep supporting prompt (even if only for tests) or update the test/any callers and remove the now-stale expectations.

gaburn and others added 3 commits March 26, 2026 11:50

Merge branch 'main' into squad/input-prompt-cursor-improvements

46116c6

bradygaster requested a review from Copilot March 28, 2026 13:47

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of bradygaster March 28, 2026 13:47

View session

Copilot AI reviewed Mar 28, 2026

View reviewed changes

bradygaster requested a review from Copilot March 28, 2026 15:28

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of bradygaster March 28, 2026 15:28

View session

Copilot AI reviewed Mar 28, 2026

View reviewed changes

bradygaster closed this Mar 28, 2026

diberry mentioned this pull request Mar 30, 2026

docs: contributor guide improvements proposal #702

Merged

1 of 2 tasks

Navigation Menu

Repository navigation

feat: add cursor positioning and selection to InputPrompt - #639

feat: add cursor positioning and selection to InputPrompt#639
gaburn wants to merge 3 commits into
github:mainfrom
gaburn:squad/input-prompt-cursor-improvements

gaburn commented Mar 26, 2026

Uh oh!

bradygaster commented Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

bradygaster commented Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Uh oh!

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

3 participants

		const [history, setHistory] = useState<string[]>([]);
		const [historyIndex, setHistoryIndex] = useState(-1);

		@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
		import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
		import { getNextWordBoundary, getPrevWordBoundary } from '@bradygaster/squad-cli/shell/components';

Conversation

gaburn commented Mar 26, 2026

Summary

New capabilities

Code quality (from deep review)

Testing

Files changed

Uh oh!

bradygaster commented Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Reviewed changes

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

bradygaster commented Mar 28, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 28, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Uh oh!

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

3 participants