From f8ae4ac817661114dcf58dcea1d3d9f5b5c614bc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Amr Gharbeia <amr@gharbeia.net>
Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 17:50:08 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?fix:=20terminal=20cursor=20instead=20of=20softw?=
 =?UTF-8?q?are-drawn=20=E2=96=88?=
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Replaced software cursor (draw-text █ every frame) with native terminal
cursor (position-cursor using cursor-move + cursor-style). Terminal handles
blinking natively at 500ms — no redraw needed for cursor updates.

- position-cursor: computed input insertion point from state, calls
  cursor-move + cursor-style (:block :blink t) + cursor-show.
- Called from main loop every frame after (sleep 0.1), outside
  redraw's begin-sync/end-sync. No flicker.
---
 org/channel-tui-main.org  |  5 ++++-
 org/channel-tui-state.org |  1 +
 org/channel-tui-view.org  | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/org/channel-tui-main.org b/org/channel-tui-main.org
index d69a3a6..c41c28a 100644
--- a/org/channel-tui-main.org
+++ b/org/channel-tui-main.org
@@ -1067,7 +1067,10 @@ Returns T on success, nil on failure. Does NOT wait or retry."
                                                   (format nil "> ~a" (or filter ""))
                                                   (theme-color :input-prompt) bg-p))
                      (cl-tty.backend:end-sync be))
-                  (sleep 0.1)))
+                  (sleep 0.1)
+                  ;; Show terminal cursor at input position every frame
+                  (unless (st :dialog-stack)
+                    (passepartout.channel-tui:position-cursor be w h))))
                (progn (disconnect-daemon)))))
 #+END_SRC
 
diff --git a/org/channel-tui-state.org b/org/channel-tui-state.org
index a5a3585..5642452 100644
--- a/org/channel-tui-state.org
+++ b/org/channel-tui-state.org
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ All state mutation flows through event handlers in the controller.
   (:export :tui-main :st :add-msg :now :input-string
            :queue-event :drain-queue :init-state
             :view-status :view-chat :view-input :redraw
+            :position-cursor
             :input-panel-top
            :on-key :on-daemon-msg :send-daemon
            :connect-daemon :disconnect-daemon
diff --git a/org/channel-tui-view.org b/org/channel-tui-view.org
index a4bcb07..367f47d 100644
--- a/org/channel-tui-view.org
+++ b/org/channel-tui-view.org
@@ -326,6 +326,22 @@ Returns a list of strings, one per line."
       (view-sidebar fb w h))
     (cl-tty.backend:end-sync fb)
     (setf (st :dirty) (list nil nil nil))))
+
+(defun position-cursor (fb w h)
+  "Position terminal cursor at the input insertion point.
+Terminal handles the blinking — we just set position and style once per frame."
+  (let* ((sw (if (sidebar-visible-p w) (or (st :sidebar-width) 42) 0))
+         (cw (- w sw))
+         (hpad 2)
+         (text (input-string))
+         (pos (or (st :cursor-pos) 0))
+         (prompt-w (- cw (* 2 hpad) 2))
+         (display-start (max 0 (- pos (1- prompt-w))))
+         (cx (+ hpad 2 (- pos display-start)))
+         (cy (- h 6)))
+    (cl-tty.backend:cursor-move fb cx cy)
+    (cl-tty.backend:cursor-style fb :block :blink t)
+    (cl-tty.backend:cursor-show fb)))
 #+END_SRC
 
 * Implementation — v0.7.0 additions