helder/OVERNIGHT.md

Overnight work log

Autonomous session continuing the Helder build while you slept. Everything kept compiling (npm run build), type-checking (npm run typecheck) and — new this session — passing tests (npm run test). Git left uncommitted for you to review.

Plan

1. Packaging (electron-builder)
2. Automated test suite (vitest)
3. Lint + format (eslint + prettier)
4. Robustness + feature polish
5. Developer README

Progress

1. Packaging — done

• Added electron-builder.yml (appId com.blijnder.helder, mac dmg+zip / win nsis / linux AppImage, unsigned local build).
• Scripts: npm run pack (--dir), npm run dist, npm run dist:mac.
• Made the bundled ripgrep path asar-safe (redirect to app.asar.unpacked).
• asarUnpack for node-pty + @vscode/ripgrep so the native .node and rg binary load at runtime.
• Verified: npm run pack produced dist/mac-arm64/Helder.app (245 MB) with pty.node + rg correctly unpacked. Unsigned (ad-hoc), default icon. dist/ gitignored.

2. Automated tests — done (vitest)

• Added vitest + vitest.config.ts; scripts npm run test / test:watch. 38 tests, all green.
• test/diff.test.ts — LCS diff: no-change, single change, new/deleted file, side marks, split alignment, trailing-newline.
• test/fuzzy.test.ts — subsequence matcher (extracted to src/renderer/src/fuzzy.ts).
• test/highlight.test.ts — ext/lang/label/icon/escape + Prism php highlighting (confirms markup-templating load order).
• test/config.test.ts — .helder defaults regen, sparse deep-merge, theme.css not overwritten.
• test/fs.test.ts — tree dirs-first + ignore dirs, content index skips binaries/node_modules, read/write round-trip.
• test/git.test.ts — classify unit + real temp-repo integration (modified/untracked/staged, HEAD-vs-worktree text).

3. Lint + format — done

• ESLint flat config (eslint.config.js): typescript-eslint recommended + react-hooks, prettier-disables, sensible ignores. npm run lint = 0 errors (8 intentional exhaustive-deps warnings).
• Fixed real no-unused-expressions violations (short-circuit/ternary-as-statement).
• .prettierrc.json added (style: no-semi, single-quote, width 140). Not auto-applied to avoid churn.

4. Robustness + feature polish — done

• Fixed a real discard bug: git checkout can't remove a new/untracked file. discard now reverts modified→HEAD, restores deleted, and removes new/untracked (staged or not). Covered by new git tests.
• Close-tab guard: confirms before closing a tab with unsaved edits (× / middle-click / ⌘W), and clears its buffer on close. Reads fresh state via refs so the ⌘W path is correct too.
• ErrorBoundary around the whole app — a render fault shows a dark, recoverable panel (with the message + Reload) instead of a blank window.
• editor.tabSize wired into the editable buffer (textarea + highlighted pre) and the status bar — config now visibly does something.
• Layout persistence: the three column widths + the terminal split fraction persist across launches via localStorage (persist.ts), making the README's "positions persist across launches" claim true.

5. Developer docs + icon — done

• README.md updated from "greenfield" to the real working build: getting-started, scripts table, repository layout.
• App icon generated from Helder's spark mark → build/icon.png (1024²); electron-builder embeds icon.icns in the packaged app (verified).

6. Renderer component tests + CI — done

• Added jsdom + @testing-library/react; the terminals (xterm) are mocked so tests stay deterministic.
• test/app.test.tsx — workbench renders, open changed file → diff tab, edit → dirty tab, content search returns hits.
• test/app-interactions.test.tsx — Pass-on-to-Agent emits exactly "<note> <path:line>" via the agentPaste event; stage → commit toasts.
• test/editor-modes.test.tsx — Updated mode is editable / Original is read-only; Split opens the two-pane overlay and Esc collapses it.
• 49 tests total, all green.
• .github/workflows/ci.yml — runs typecheck · lint · test · build on push/PR.

7. Finish to the DESIGN.md spec — done

Audited DESIGN.md section by section and closed every remaining behavioral gap:

• Session restore (session.restoreOnLaunch, §9) — open tabs, active tab, and per-tab view modes are restored per project (persisted in localStorage, keyed by root); splitter layout already persisted.
• Close-dirty tab (§5) — now a real Save / Don't Save / Cancel native dialog (was discard-or-cancel). ⌘S save unchanged.
• Unsaved indicator (§5) — a dot in place of the close control (× returns on hover), matching the spec exactly (was a dot after the name).
• New config keys, all wired: git.confirmStage / git.confirmUnstage (default off, prompt when on), git.defaultDiffMode (drives the starting mode), files.exclude + files.followGitignore, session.restoreOnLaunch.
• Unified file source: rg --files is now the single source for the Explorer tree + content index + search, so gitignore and files.exclude are honored consistently everywhere (fs-walk fallback when ripgrep is absent). Dotfiles (.env, .gitignore) included via --hidden.
• ⌘P aliases the unified search — no separate Go-to-File overlay, per the resolved decision (CLAUDE.md/README).
• Tests now 51 (added buildTreeFromPaths, gitignore-in-repo, updated dirty-tab class).

8. Live-run bugfix (found by running npm run dev)

• Symptom: the real Electron window showed mock "console" data and both terminals said "not available in browser preview" — i.e. window.helder was undefined in the actual app, so the renderer fell back to mock mode.
• Cause: electron-vite built the preload as out/preload/index.mjs, but main/index.ts loaded ../preload/index.js (wrong extension) → Electron silently loaded no preload → no bridge.
• Fix: build the preload as CommonJS index.cjs (loads synchronously before the page, so contextBridge is exposed by the time React mounts) and point main at ../preload/index.cjs. Verified the built index.cjs exposes helder and main references it. Re-run npm run dev to confirm the live window now loads the real project + terminals.

Final state (all green)

• npm run typecheck ✓ · npm run lint ✓ (0 errors, 8 intentional warnings) · npm test ✓ (51) · npm run build ✓ · npm run pack ✓ (Helder.app with icon + unpacked native binaries)
• DESIGN.md is now fully implemented (the only intentional exception is the separate Go-to-File overlay, replaced by ⌘P→unified-search per the resolved decision).
• Everything left uncommitted for your review (laptop is read-only on git).
• The only thing not exercisable in this headless session remains the live Electron GUI — npm run dev to see it.