we recently changed file linking so the model uses markdown links when
it wants something to be clickable.
This works well across the GUI surfaces because they can render markdown
cleanly and use the full absolute path in the anchor target.
A previous pass hid the absolute path in the TUI (and only showed the
label), but that also meant we could lose useful location info when the
model put the line number or range in the anchor target instead of the
label.
This follow-up keeps the TUI behavior simple while making local file
links feel closer to the old TUI file reference style.
key changes:
- Local markdown file links in the TUI keep the old file-ref feel: code
styling, no underline, no visible absolute path.
- If the hidden local anchor target includes a location suffix and the
label does not already include one, we append that suffix to the visible
label.
- This works for single lines, line/column references, and ranges.
- If the label already includes the location, we leave it alone.
- normal web links keep the old TUI markdown-link behavior
some examples:
- `[foo.rs](/abs/path/foo.rs)` renders as `foo.rs`
- `[foo.rs](/abs/path/foo.rs:45)` renders as `foo.rs:45`
- `[foo.rs](/abs/path/foo.rs:45:3-48:9)` renders as `foo.rs:45:3-48:9`
- `[foo.rs:45](/abs/path/foo.rs:45)` stays `foo.rs:45`
- `[docs](https://example.com/docs)` still renders like a normal web
link
how it looks:
<img width="732" height="813" alt="Screenshot 2026-02-26 at 9 27 55 AM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d51bf236-653a-4e83-96e4-9427f0804471"
/>
## Summary
- hide appended destinations for local path-style markdown links in the
TUI renderer
- keep web links rendering with their visible destination and style link
labels consistently
- add markdown renderer tests and a snapshot for the new file-link
output
## Testing
- just fmt
- cargo test -p codex-tui
<img width="1120" height="968" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/490e8eda-ae47-4231-89fa-b254a1f83eed"
/>
## Summary
Adds syntax highlighting to the TUI for fenced code blocks in markdown
responses and file diffs, plus a `/theme` command with live preview and
persistent theme selection. Uses syntect (~250 grammars, 32 bundled
themes, ~1 MB binary cost) — the same engine behind `bat`, `delta`, and
`xi-editor`. Includes guardrails for large inputs, graceful fallback to
plain text, and SSH-aware clipboard integration for the `/copy` command.
<img width="1554" height="1014" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/38737a79-8717-4715-b857-94cf1ba59b85"
/>
<img width="2354" height="1374" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/25d30a00-c487-4af8-9cb6-63b0695a4be7"
/>
## Problem
Code blocks in the TUI (markdown responses and file diffs) render
without syntax highlighting, making it hard to scan code at a glance.
Users also have no way to pick a color theme that matches their terminal
aesthetic.
## Mental model
The highlighting system has three layers:
1. **Syntax engine** (`render::highlight`) -- a thin wrapper around
syntect + two-face. It owns a process-global `SyntaxSet` (~250 grammars)
and a `RwLock<Theme>` that can be swapped at runtime. All public entry
points accept `(code, lang)` and return ratatui `Span`/`Line` vectors or
`None` when the language is unrecognized or the input exceeds safety
guardrails.
2. **Rendering consumers** -- `markdown_render` feeds fenced code blocks
through the engine; `diff_render` highlights Add/Delete content as a
whole file and Update hunks per-hunk (preserving parser state across
hunk lines). Both callers fall back to plain unstyled text when the
engine returns `None`.
3. **Theme lifecycle** -- at startup the config's `tui.theme` is
resolved to a syntect `Theme` via `set_theme_override`. At runtime the
`/theme` picker calls `set_syntax_theme` to swap themes live; on cancel
it restores the snapshot taken at open. On confirm it persists `[tui]
theme = "..."` to config.toml.
## Non-goals
- Inline diff highlighting (word-level change detection within a line).
- Semantic / LSP-backed highlighting.
- Theme authoring tooling; users supply standard `.tmTheme` files.
## Tradeoffs
| Decision | Upside | Downside |
| ------------------------------------------------ |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| syntect over tree-sitter / arborium | ~1 MB binary increase for ~250
grammars + 32 themes; battle-tested crate powering widely-used tools
(`bat`, `delta`, `xi-editor`). tree-sitter would add ~12 MB for 20-30
languages or ~35 MB for full coverage. | Regex-based; less structurally
accurate than tree-sitter for some languages (e.g. language injections
like JS-in-HTML). |
| Global `RwLock<Theme>` | Enables live `/theme` preview without
threading Theme through every call site | Lock contention risk
(mitigated: reads vastly outnumber writes, single UI thread) |
| Skip background / italic / underline from themes | Terminal BG
preserved, avoids ugly rendering on some themes | Themes that rely on
these properties lose fidelity |
| Guardrails: 512 KB / 10k lines | Prevents pathological stalls on huge
diffs or pastes | Very large files render without color |
## Architecture
```
config.toml ─[tui.theme]─> set_theme_override() ─> THEME (RwLock)
│
┌───────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
markdown_render ─── highlight_code_to_lines(code, lang) ─> Vec<Line>
diff_render ─── highlight_code_to_styled_spans(code, lang) ─> Option<Vec<Vec<Span>>>
│
│ (None ⇒ plain text fallback)
│
/theme picker ─── set_syntax_theme(theme) // live preview swap
─── current_syntax_theme() // snapshot for cancel
─── resolve_theme_by_name(name) // lookup by kebab-case
```
Key files:
- `tui/src/render/highlight.rs` -- engine, theme management, guardrails
- `tui/src/diff_render.rs` -- syntax-aware diff line wrapping
- `tui/src/theme_picker.rs` -- `/theme` command builder
- `tui/src/bottom_pane/list_selection_view.rs` -- side content panel,
callbacks
- `core/src/config/types.rs` -- `Tui::theme` field
- `core/src/config/edit.rs` -- `syntax_theme_edit()` helper
## Observability
- `tracing::warn` when a configured theme name cannot be resolved.
- `Config::startup_warnings` surfaces the same message as a TUI banner.
- `tracing::error` when persisting theme selection fails.
## Tests
- Unit tests in `highlight.rs`: language coverage, fallback behavior,
CRLF stripping, style conversion, guardrail enforcement, theme name
mapping exhaustiveness.
- Unit tests in `diff_render.rs`: snapshot gallery at multiple terminal
sizes (80x24, 94x35, 120x40), syntax-highlighted wrapping, large-diff
guardrail, rename-to-different-extension highlighting, parser state
preservation across hunk lines.
- Unit tests in `theme_picker.rs`: preview rendering (wide + narrow),
dim overlay on deletions, subtitle truncation, cancel-restore, fallback
for unavailable configured theme.
- Unit tests in `list_selection_view.rs`: side layout geometry, stacked
fallback, buffer clearing, cancel/selection-changed callbacks.
- Integration test in `lib.rs`: theme warning uses the final
(post-resume) config.
## Cargo Deny: Unmaintained Dependency Exceptions
This PR adds two `cargo deny` advisory exceptions for transitive
dependencies pulled in by `syntect v5.3.0`:
| Advisory | Crate | Status |
|----------|-------|--------|
| RUSTSEC-2024-0320 | `yaml-rust` | Unmaintained (maintainer
unreachable) |
| RUSTSEC-2025-0141 | `bincode` | Unmaintained (development ceased;
v1.3.3 considered complete) |
**Why this is safe in our usage:**
- Neither advisory describes a known security vulnerability. Both are
"unmaintained" notices only.
- `bincode` is used by syntect to deserialize pre-compiled syntax sets.
Again, these are **static vendored artifacts** baked into the binary at
build time. No user-supplied bincode data is ever deserialized. - Attack
surface is zero for both crates; exploitation would require a
supply-chain compromise of our own build artifacts.
- These exceptions can be removed when syntect migrates to `yaml-rust2`
and drops `bincode`, or when alternative crates are available upstream.
Also, simplify the streaming behavior.
This fixes a number of display issues with streaming markdown, and paves
the way for better markdown features (e.g. customizable styles, syntax
highlighting, markdown-aware wrapping).
Not currently supported:
- footnotes
- tables
- reference-style links
pash-openai ·
Felipe Coury ·
Jeremy Rose ·