Recents

recents is broken. let's start over

I Want the app to

• Remember what i grab or when i change the focus
• Go backwards and forwards through history
• History is circular (after the last is the first)
• Remove current recent by typing "/"
• Unlimited length
• Mode to ignore all grabs (record but skip during navigation)

Entry Structure — Single source of truth

type S_Recent = {
    focus: Ancestry,
    si_grabs: S_Items<Ancestry>,
    depth: number
}

si_recents = new S_Items<Recent>([])

Single source of truth:

• si_recents.item.focus — current focus
• si_recents.item.si_grabs.items — current grabs
• si_recents.item.si_grabs.index — current grab index
• si_recents.item.depth — current depth level

New entry when: focus, grabs, or depth changes. Snapshot the whole state.

Navigation: Move index, apply the snapshot. No replay logic.

Derived stores:

w_focus = derived(si_recents.w_item, item => item?.focus)
w_grabs = derived(si_recents.w_item, item => item?.si_grabs.items)
w_depth = derived(si_recents.w_item, item => item?.depth)

No separate si_grabs, no separate w_ancestry_focus. Just si_recents.

Final manual regression testing

Area	Steps	Expected
Focus
	Click widget	Widget becomes focus, tree recenters
	Click breadcrumb	grabOnly that ancestor
	Double-click widget	Focus changes, children expand
Grabs
	Click widget	Single grab, highlighted
	Shift-click another	Multi-grab, both highlighted
	Click elsewhere	Previous grabs cleared
	Click grabbed widget	Ungrab (if toggle behavior)
History
	Make 5 focus/grab changes	History accumulates
	Press back 3 times	Each state restores correctly
	Press forward 2 times	States restore correctly
	Press back past start	Wraps to most recent (circular)
	Press "/"	Current entry removed from history
Search
	Grab A, then open search	A stays grabbed
	Type query, get results	Grabs unchanged
	Arrow through results	Details updates, grabs unchanged
	Press Enter on result	Result becomes focus+grab, search closes
	Press Escape	Search closes, original grabs intact
Details
	Grab single widget	Details shows that widget
	Multi-grab A, B, C	Details shows one (per grabIndex)
	Press next/prev in details	Cycles through grabbed items
Modes
	Do all above in tree mode	Works
	Switch to radial mode	Grabs preserved
	Do all above in radial mode	Works
Depth
	Change depth slider	History entry created
	Navigate back	Previous depth restored

Completed

Date: 2025-01-21

Verdict: ✅ x.si_recents IS the single source of truth for both focus and grabs

Current implementation:

Store	Role
x.si_recents	SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH
x.w_ancestry_focus	Derived from si_recents.w_item?.focus
x.w_grabs	Derived from si_recents.w_item?.si_grabs?.items
x.w_grabIndex	Derived from si_recents.w_item?.si_grabs?.index

Key changes from old system:

• No separate x.si_grabs exists
• All derived stores read from si_recents.w_item
• Every mutation (grab, ungrab, grabOnly, becomeFocus) creates a NEW S_Recent snapshot with CLONED grabs
• Fixes the "reference vs copy" problem identified above

The analysis in this document is now historical — it describes the old architecture that has been replaced.