#111 - tui: configurable navigation presets — arrow+Enter vs vim-style - charles/loom

No milestone

No project

No assignees

1 participant

Notifications

Due date

The due date is invalid or out of range. Please use the format "yyyy-mm-dd".

No due date set.

Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference

charles/loom#111

claude-desktop commented

2026-04-12 18:10:08 +00:00

Collaborator

User story

As a user who is not familiar with vim keybindings, I want to navigate loom-tui entirely with arrow keys and Enter, so that the TUI is accessible without memorizing hjkl mnemonics and single-letter shortcuts.

Problem

Arrow keys work inconsistently:

In some screens, j/k and arrows both work for list navigation
Global mnemonics (g=Gallery, s=Settings, e=Entities, p=Presets) consume single-letter keys that screens also use, causing unpredictable behavior depending on focus state
There is no Enter-to-select flow for the sidebar — screen switching requires memorizing letter shortcuts or using the command palette (Ctrl+P)
Arrow keys have no effect on the sidebar (it's display-only)

Acceptance criteria

tui.toml supports a navigation_preset field: "vim" (default, current behavior) or "standard"
"standard" preset:
- Arrow keys navigate all lists, grids, and form fields
- Enter selects/confirms the focused item
- Sidebar is focusable — Up/Down arrows switch screens when sidebar is focused
- Tab cycles focus between sidebar → main content → overlays
- Escape goes back / closes overlay / unfocuses
- No single-letter global mnemonics (no g/s/e/p hijacking)
- F-keys for actions: F1=help, F5=generate, etc.
"vim" preset: current behavior preserved exactly
Preset is applied at startup via the keybinds system (keybinds::defaults() vs keybinds::standard())

Sidebar items are selectable with Up/Down when sidebar is focused
Enter on a sidebar item navigates to that screen
Visual highlight shows the focused sidebar item
Tab/Shift-Tab cycles focus between sidebar and main content

Key conflict resolution

In "standard" mode, no single-letter key is bound globally — all single letters go to the active screen
In "vim" mode, global mnemonics only fire when the active screen doesn't consume the key (screen gets priority)
Document both presets in docs/keybindings.md

Out of scope

Custom per-key rebinding (already supported via tui.toml [keybinds] section)
Mouse navigation (separate ticket)
Gamepad/controller input

References

crates/loom-tui/src/keybinds.rs — keybind system, defaults() function
crates/loom-tui/src/config.rs — tui.toml parsing
crates/loom-tui/src/app.rs — process_event() dispatch chain, handle_global_key()
crates/loom-tui/src/components/mod.rs — Sidebar widget

## User story As a user who is not familiar with vim keybindings, I want to navigate loom-tui entirely with arrow keys and Enter, so that the TUI is accessible without memorizing `hjkl` mnemonics and single-letter shortcuts. ## Problem Arrow keys work inconsistently: - In some screens, `j`/`k` and arrows both work for list navigation - Global mnemonics (`g`=Gallery, `s`=Settings, `e`=Entities, `p`=Presets) consume single-letter keys that screens also use, causing unpredictable behavior depending on focus state - There is no Enter-to-select flow for the sidebar — screen switching requires memorizing letter shortcuts or using the command palette (`Ctrl+P`) - Arrow keys have no effect on the sidebar (it's display-only) ## Acceptance criteria ### Navigation presets - [ ] `tui.toml` supports a `navigation_preset` field: `"vim"` (default, current behavior) or `"standard"` - [ ] `"standard"` preset: - Arrow keys navigate all lists, grids, and form fields - Enter selects/confirms the focused item - Sidebar is focusable — Up/Down arrows switch screens when sidebar is focused - Tab cycles focus between sidebar → main content → overlays - Escape goes back / closes overlay / unfocuses - No single-letter global mnemonics (no `g`/`s`/`e`/`p` hijacking) - F-keys for actions: F1=help, F5=generate, etc. - [ ] `"vim"` preset: current behavior preserved exactly - [ ] Preset is applied at startup via the keybinds system (`keybinds::defaults()` vs `keybinds::standard()`) ### Sidebar navigation (both presets) - [ ] Sidebar items are selectable with Up/Down when sidebar is focused - [ ] Enter on a sidebar item navigates to that screen - [ ] Visual highlight shows the focused sidebar item - [ ] Tab/Shift-Tab cycles focus between sidebar and main content ### Key conflict resolution - [ ] In `"standard"` mode, no single-letter key is bound globally — all single letters go to the active screen - [ ] In `"vim"` mode, global mnemonics only fire when the active screen doesn't consume the key (screen gets priority) - [ ] Document both presets in `docs/keybindings.md` ## Out of scope - Custom per-key rebinding (already supported via `tui.toml` `[keybinds]` section) - Mouse navigation (separate ticket) - Gamepad/controller input ## References - `crates/loom-tui/src/keybinds.rs` — keybind system, `defaults()` function - `crates/loom-tui/src/config.rs` — `tui.toml` parsing - `crates/loom-tui/src/app.rs` — `process_event()` dispatch chain, `handle_global_key()` - `crates/loom-tui/src/components/mod.rs` — `Sidebar` widget

claude-desktop added this to the loom-tui v0.1.0 milestone

claude-desktop added the

type:user-story

area:config

area:navigation

labels

claude-desktop referenced this issue

2026-04-12 18:12:30 +00:00

refactor(tui): add lib.rs, test harness, and image rendering fixes #113

charles referenced this issue from a commit

2026-04-12 18:21:31 +00:00

feat(tui): configurable navigation presets with sidebar arrow nav