fix(0.2.1): sidecar autosave + close/open UX prompts (Phase 2 + 3) by hartsock · Pull Request #103 · hartsock/scrybe

hartsock · 2026-05-28T22:11:42Z

Summary

Phases 2 and 3 of the 0.2.1 tab-reload bugfix series, stacked into one
PR for review.

Phase 2 (a5aed07): autosave writes to <path>.scrybe-buffer
sidecar instead of the real file. Real file changes only on explicit
save (Ctrl+S, 💾, CLI `scrybe save`, MCP `save`).
Phase 3 (0c74538): save-on-close prompt for dirty tabs and
restore-on-open prompt when a leftover sidecar is found. Both use a
shared 3-button modal (Primary / Secondary / Cancel) added in
`index.html`.

Together these close the bug class that bit Shawn's daily-driver
workflow on 2026-05-28 (open tab clobbering external edits via
autosave self-write filter race).

Phase 1 already merged in #102 stops programmatic loads from
triggering self-write events. Phase 2 makes autosave physically
incapable of clobbering external edits. Phase 3 keeps the user
informed when buffer and disk diverge.

What changes

Phase 2 — backend (`src-tauri/src/lib.rs`)

New save_buffer(path, content): writes `.scrybe-buffer`
New clear_buffer(path): cleanup; wired into remove_backup
New read_buffer_if_exists(path): returns Some(buffer) when a
non-empty sidecar exists AND differs from disk
save_file clears the sidecar after a successful write
File watcher filters by watched membership (sidecar writes can
never emit scrybe://file-changed)
9 new unit tests covering all sidecar lifecycle paths

Phase 2 — frontend (`src/main.ts`)

Autosave debounce calls save_buffer (no more note_autosave,
no more markClean on autosave — tab stays dirty until explicit
save)
Explicit-save paths (Ctrl+S, CLI, MCP) unchanged

Phase 3 — UI scaffolding (`index.html`)

New #modal-overlay with title, message, 3 buttons. Enter triggers
primary, Escape returns cancel.

Phase 3 — frontend (`src/main.ts`)

showModal(title, message, primary, secondary) reusable helper
closeTab split into a prompt wrapper + doCloseTab (the existing
tear-down). Dirty tabs prompt "Save changes to ?" with
Save / Discard / Cancel; save failure aborts close; cancel keeps tab
open.
openFileByPath calls read_buffer_if_exists after read_file. If
a recoverable buffer exists, the modal prompts "Restore unsaved
edits?" with Restore / Discard / Cancel. Restored buffers are
flagged dirty so the dirty indicator + save-on-close fire correctly.

Phase 3 — state (`src/state.ts`)

New markDirty(id) for the restore-then-flag-dirty flow

Misc

.gitignore adds *.scrybe-buffer
package-lock.json reflects the 0.3.0 → 0.2.1-dev bump that npm
install regenerated

Out of scope

The 3-button modal isn't yet used by scrybe://cli-quit (still uses
window.confirm). Can be unified later.
No three-way merge UI for buffer-vs-disk conflicts — the existing
conflict bar ("Keep mine / Take theirs") handles the dirty-on-disk-
change case at the user level.

Test plan

cargo fmt -- --check — passes
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings — passes
cargo test --package scrybe-app — 16/16 pass
npx tsc --noEmit — passes
Manual: open a file, type, observe <path>.scrybe-buffer
appears but <path> is unchanged
Manual: close dirty tab → modal appears. Save / Discard /
Cancel all behave correctly
Manual: force-quit Scrybe with a dirty tab, reopen file →
restore-on-open modal appears. Restore / Discard / Cancel all
behave correctly
Manual: Restore → tab opens dirty, save-on-close fires next
time

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Switch the 1 s debounced autosave from `save_file(path, content)` to `save_buffer(path, content)`. The sidecar lives at `<path>.scrybe-buffer` and accumulates unsaved keystrokes; the real file is committed only by explicit save (Ctrl+S, 💾 toolbar button, `scrybe save <path>` CLI, or the MCP save tool). Why --- Phase 1 stopped programmatic loads from triggering a self-write window in the OS file watcher. That fixed the immediate "edit-while-tab-open clobber" bug but left the fundamental coupling intact: every keystroke still raced the watcher's 2 s self-write filter. With this change the autosave path never touches the real file, so external edits and our own keystrokes are physically segregated — the bug class goes away by construction, not by timing. What changes ------------ Backend (`src-tauri/src/lib.rs`): - New `save_buffer(path, content)`: writes the in-progress edits to `<path>.scrybe-buffer`. The real file is untouched. - New `clear_buffer(path)`: removes the sidecar; silent no-op when absent. Wired into `remove_backup` so tab close cleans up. - New `read_buffer_if_exists(path)`: returns `Some(buffer)` only when a non-empty sidecar exists AND differs from the real file. The caller decides whether to restore — Phase 3 will surface this as a "recover unsaved edits?" prompt. - `save_file` now removes the sidecar after a successful write (the buffer is now stale once committed to disk). - File watcher event loop now filters by `watched` membership, so sidecar writes (sibling file in the same dir) cannot accidentally emit `scrybe://file-changed`. The macOS watcher is directory-grained so this guard matters even though notify is configured non-recursive. Frontend (`src/main.ts`): - Autosave debounce calls `save_buffer`, drops `note_autosave` and `markClean` (tab stays `isDirty: true` until explicit save flushes the sidecar to disk). - Explicit save (`saveActiveTabNow`, `Ctrl+S`, CLI `scrybe save`) and MCP-driven save are unchanged: still `save_file` + `note_autosave` + `markClean`. Tests (`src-tauri/src/lib.rs::tests`): - 9 new unit tests using `tempfile::tempdir` covering: sidecar write vs real file, save_file clears sidecar, clear_buffer (present and absent), read_buffer (none / matches / differs / empty), remove_backup cleans both files. `.gitignore`: add `*.scrybe-buffer` so autosave artifacts can't be committed. Out of scope for this PR ------------------------ - Recovery-on-open prompt: `read_buffer_if_exists` is wired but no caller surfaces a prompt yet. That's Phase 3. - Dirty-on-close prompt: closing a dirty tab still discards the buffer silently. Also Phase 3. - Three-way merge UI for buffer vs disk conflicts. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Phase 2 made autosave write to a `<path>.scrybe-buffer` sidecar instead of the real file, but two UX gaps were left for Phase 3: 1. Closing a dirty tab silently dropped the buffer. 2. Opening a file with a leftover sidecar (e.g., from a crash or force-close) ignored it. This commit lands both prompts behind a small 3-button modal that returns "primary" | "secondary" | "cancel". UI scaffolding -------------- `index.html` adds a generic modal overlay (`#modal-overlay`) with a title, message, primary button (blue), secondary button (red/danger), and cancel button. Enter triggers primary, Escape returns cancel. Frontend (`src/main.ts`) ------------------------ - New `showModal(title, message, primaryLabel, secondaryLabel)`: returns a Promise<ModalChoice>. Reusable across all 3-button prompts. - `closeTab` is now split into a prompt wrapper + the existing tear- down (now in `doCloseTab`). When the tab is dirty, the modal asks "Save changes to <file>?" with Save / Discard / Cancel. Save on failure aborts the close so the user can retry. Cancel keeps the tab open. - `openFileByPath` calls `read_buffer_if_exists` after `read_file`. If the backend returns a non-null buffer (sidecar exists, non-empty, differs from disk), the modal asks "Restore unsaved edits?" with Restore / Discard / Cancel. Cancel aborts the open entirely. - Restored buffers flag the new tab dirty via `state.markDirty` so the user sees the dirty indicator and gets the save-on-close prompt next time around. Discard calls `clear_buffer` so the prompt doesn't fire again on subsequent opens. State (`src/state.ts`) ---------------------- - New `markDirty(id)` for the restore-then-flag-dirty flow. Lock-file hygiene ----------------- `package-lock.json` had 0.3.0 left over from the pre-Phase 1 npm install; npm refreshed it to 0.2.1-dev on the next run. Bundled here to keep the repo state clean (no behavior change). Out of scope ------------ The 3-button modal is local-only — it doesn't replace the window.confirm() prompt in the `scrybe://cli-quit` handler. That remains a separate concern (whole-app quit vs per-tab close) and can be unified later if we want consistent UX. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

hartsock and others added 2 commits May 28, 2026 18:11

hartsock changed the title ~~fix(autosave): write to sidecar buffer instead of real file (Phase 2)~~ fix(0.2.1): sidecar autosave + close/open UX prompts (Phase 2 + 3) May 28, 2026

hartsock merged commit 687e8d1 into main May 29, 2026
6 checks passed

hartsock deleted the fix/0.2.1-phase2-sidecar-buffer branch May 29, 2026 19:42

hartsock mentioned this pull request May 29, 2026

feat(app): tab path bar, theme sync, view cycle, vim toggle, Word export + MCP parity #105

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fix(0.2.1): sidecar autosave + close/open UX prompts (Phase 2 + 3)#103

fix(0.2.1): sidecar autosave + close/open UX prompts (Phase 2 + 3)#103
hartsock merged 2 commits into
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fix/0.2.1-phase2-sidecar-buffer

hartsock commented May 28, 2026 •

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hartsock commented May 28, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Summary

What changes

Phase 2 — backend (src-tauri/src/lib.rs)

Phase 2 — frontend (src/main.ts)

Phase 3 — UI scaffolding (index.html)

Phase 3 — frontend (src/main.ts)

Phase 3 — state (src/state.ts)

Misc

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Test plan

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hartsock commented May 28, 2026 •

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Phase 2 — backend (`src-tauri/src/lib.rs`)

Phase 2 — frontend (`src/main.ts`)

Phase 3 — UI scaffolding (`index.html`)

Phase 3 — frontend (`src/main.ts`)

Phase 3 — state (`src/state.ts`)