fix(search): fall back to TSV when gum table rejects input (#148)

.mise/tasks/list

@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ require_readable_notes_state "$notes_dir"
 
 python3 - "$REPO_DIR" "$notes_dir" "${usage_json:-false}" "${usage_recent:-}" "${usage_tag:-}" "${usage_type:-}" "${usage_status:-}" <<'PY'
 import json
-import subprocess
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -35,6 +34,7 @@ status_filter = sys.argv[7]
 
 sys.path.insert(0, str(repo_dir / "lib"))
 from frontmatter import filter_notes, iter_notes  # noqa: E402
+from table_output import print_table  # noqa: E402
 
 rows = [
     note.row()
@@ -69,13 +69,17 @@ elif not rows:
     else:
         print("No notes found.")
 else:
-    table = "Title\tType\tStatus\tTags\tUpdated\n" + "\n".join(
-        f"{row['title']}\t{row['type']}\t{row['status']}\t{', '.join(row['tags'])}\t{row['date']}" for row in rows
-    )
-    subprocess.run(
-        ["gum", "table", "--print", "--separator", "\t"],
-        input=table,
-        text=True,
-        check=True,
+    print_table(
+        ["Title", "Type", "Status", "Tags", "Updated"],
+        [
+            [
+                row["title"],
+                row["type"],
+                row["status"],
+                ", ".join(row["tags"]),
+                row["date"],
+            ]
+            for row in rows
+        ],
     )
 PY

.mise/tasks/search

@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ require_readable_notes_state "$notes_dir"
 
 python3 - "$REPO_DIR" "$notes_dir" "${usage_query:-}" "${usage_json:-false}" "${usage_tag:-}" "${usage_type:-}" "${usage_status:-}" "${usage_limit:-50}" <<'PY'
 import json
-import subprocess
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -37,6 +36,7 @@ limit = sys.argv[8]
 
 sys.path.insert(0, str(repo_dir / "lib"))
 from frontmatter import filter_notes, iter_notes  # noqa: E402
+from table_output import print_table  # noqa: E402
 
 try:
     limit_count = int(limit)
@@ -96,13 +96,17 @@ elif not rows:
     suffix = f" with {' '.join(filters)}" if filters else ""
     print(f"No notes found matching: {query}{suffix}")
 else:
-    table = "Title\tType\tStatus\tUpdated\tMatches\n" + "\n".join(
-        f"{row['title']}\t{row['type']}\t{row['status']}\t{row['date']}\t{' | '.join(row['matches'][:2])}" for row in rows
-    )
-    subprocess.run(
-        ["gum", "table", "--print", "--separator", "\t"],
-        input=table,
-        text=True,
-        check=True,
+    print_table(
+        ["Title", "Type", "Status", "Updated", "Matches"],
+        [
+            [
+                row["title"],
+                row["type"],
+                row["status"],
+                row["date"],
+                " | ".join(row["matches"][:2]),
+            ]
+            for row in rows
+        ],
     )
 PY

README.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 **Collective memory, encrypted.**
 
-[![tests: 475](https://img.shields.io/badge/tests-475-brightgreen?style=flat)](test/)
+[![tests: 478](https://img.shields.io/badge/tests-478-brightgreen?style=flat)](test/)
 ![lints: 8](https://img.shields.io/badge/lints-8-blue?style=flat)
 [![license: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue?style=flat)](LICENSE)
 

lib/table_output.py

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+"""Shared table presentation for human-facing Notes commands."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import subprocess
+from collections.abc import Iterable, Sequence
+
+
+def sanitize_cell(value: object) -> str:
+    return str(value).replace("\t", " ").replace("\n", "⏎")
+
+
+def format_tsv(headers: Sequence[object], rows: Iterable[Sequence[object]]) -> str:
+    lines = ["\t".join(sanitize_cell(value) for value in headers)]
+    lines.extend("\t".join(sanitize_cell(value) for value in row) for row in rows)
+    return "\n".join(lines)
+
+
+def print_table(headers: Sequence[object], rows: Iterable[Sequence[object]]) -> None:
+    table = format_tsv(headers, rows)
+    gum = os.environ.get("GUM", "gum")
+
+    try:
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            [gum, "table", "--print", "--separator", "\t"],
+            input=f"{table}\n",
+            text=True,
+            check=True,
+            capture_output=True,
+        )
+    except (OSError, subprocess.CalledProcessError):
+        print(table)
+        return
+
+    print(result.stdout, end="")

test/list.bats

@@ -41,6 +41,29 @@ setup() {
   echo "$output" | python3 -c "import sys, json; data = json.load(sys.stdin); assert data[0]['tags'] == ['alpha', 'beta', 'gamma']"
 }
 
+@test "list falls back to TSV when gum is unavailable" {
+  notes new -- --slug alpha --title "Alpha Note" --tags "testing" --updated "2026-03-14"
+  export GUM="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/missing-gum"
+
+  run notes list
+
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *$'Title\tType\tStatus\tTags\tUpdated'* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *$'Alpha Note\t'* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *$'testing\t2026-03-14'* ]]
+}
+
+@test "list --json bypasses gum presentation" {
+  notes new -- --slug beta --title "Beta Note" --tags "testing" --updated "2026-03-15"
+  make_failing_gum
+
+  run notes list -- --json
+
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [ ! -e "$GUM_LOG" ]
+  echo "$output" | python3 -c "import sys, json; assert json.load(sys.stdin)[0]['title'] == 'Beta Note'"
+}
+
 @test "list --recent limits output" {
   notes new -- --slug old --title "Old Note" --tags "test" --updated "2026-03-10"
   notes new -- --slug mid --title "Mid Note" --tags "test" --updated "2026-03-15"

test/search.bats

@@ -84,3 +84,35 @@ EOF
   [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
   [[ "$output" == *"No notes found matching: absent"* ]]
 }
+
+@test "search falls back to sanitized TSV when gum table fails" {
+  python3 <<'PY'
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+
+notes_dir = Path(os.environ["NOTES_CALLER_PWD"]) / "notes"
+(notes_dir / "unusual.md").write_text(
+    "---\n"
+    'title: "Tab\tTitle"\n'
+    "type: note\n"
+    "status: active\n"
+    "tags: [test]\n"
+    "created: 2026-01-01\n"
+    "updated: 2026-01-02\n"
+    "---\n\n"
+    "# Tab\tTitle\n"
+    "Body with\ta\ttab\ttoo.\n",
+    encoding="utf-8",
+)
+PY
+  make_failing_gum
+
+  run notes search Tab
+
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [ -s "$GUM_LOG" ]
+  [[ "$output" == *$'Title\tType\tStatus\tUpdated\tMatches'* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *"Tab Title"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *"# Tab Title"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" != *"partial gum output"* ]]
+}

test/test_helper.bash

@@ -46,6 +46,19 @@ SH
 }
 export -f make_failing_xargs_overlay
 
+make_failing_gum() {
+  export GUM="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/failing-gum"
+  export GUM_LOG="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/gum.log"
+  cat > "$GUM" <<'SH'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+printf 'called\n' >> "${GUM_LOG:?}"
+printf 'partial gum output\n'
+exit 71
+SH
+  chmod +x "$GUM"
+}
+export -f make_failing_gum
+
 # rudi() wrapper — calls rudi against the same target repo.
 rudi() {
   if [ -z "${NOTES_CALLER_PWD:-}" ]; then