drag-pane

Drag-to-Resize Pane Implementation

Overview

Add drag-to-resize support for two-pane plugin layouts (sidebar + main content). Users click and drag the divider between panes to resize them.

Prerequisites

• Plugin already has a two-pane layout (sidebar + main content)
• State persistence functions exist in internal/state/state.go (each plugin has its own getter/setter)
• Familiarity with internal/mouse package

Existing Implementations

Implementation Steps

Step 1: Add Mouse Handler to Plugin Struct

import "github.com/marcus/sidecar/internal/mouse"

type Plugin struct {
    // ... other fields
    mouseHandler *mouse.Handler
    sidebarWidth int  // Current sidebar width (persisted)
}

func New() *Plugin {
    return &Plugin{
        mouseHandler: mouse.NewHandler(),
    }
}

Step 2: Define Hit Region Constants

const (
    regionSidebar     = "sidebar"
    regionMainPane    = "main-pane"
    regionPaneDivider = "pane-divider"
    dividerWidth      = 1  // Visual divider width
)

Step 3: Initialize Width on First Render (NOT in Init)

Important: Do NOT load width in Init() - plugin dimensions (p.width) are not available yet. Initialize lazily on first render:

func (p *Plugin) renderTwoPane() string {
    p.mouseHandler.HitMap.Clear() // CRITICAL: clear every render

    if p.sidebarWidth == 0 {
        p.sidebarWidth = state.GetYourPluginSidebarWidth()
        if p.sidebarWidth == 0 {
            available := p.width - dividerWidth
            p.sidebarWidth = available * 30 / 100 // Default 30%
        }
    }
    // ... rest of render
}

Step 4: Handle MouseMsg in Update

func (p *Plugin) Update(msg tea.Msg) (plugin.Plugin, tea.Cmd) {
    switch msg := msg.(type) {
    case tea.MouseMsg:
        return p.handleMouse(msg)
    }
}

Step 5: Create mouse.go with Handlers

func (p *Plugin) handleMouse(msg tea.MouseMsg) (*Plugin, tea.Cmd) {
    action := p.mouseHandler.HandleMouse(msg)
    switch action.Type {
    case mouse.ActionClick:
        return p.handleMouseClick(action)
    case mouse.ActionDrag:
        return p.handleMouseDrag(action)
    case mouse.ActionDragEnd:
        return p.handleMouseDragEnd()
    }
    return p, nil
}

func (p *Plugin) handleMouseClick(action mouse.MouseAction) (*Plugin, tea.Cmd) {
    if action.Region == nil {
        return p, nil
    }
    switch action.Region.ID {
    case regionSidebar:
        p.activePane = PaneSidebar
    case regionMainPane:
        p.activePane = PaneMain
    case regionPaneDivider:
        p.mouseHandler.StartDrag(action.X, action.Y, regionPaneDivider, p.sidebarWidth)
    }
    return p, nil
}

func (p *Plugin) handleMouseDrag(action mouse.MouseAction) (*Plugin, tea.Cmd) {
    if p.mouseHandler.DragRegion() != regionPaneDivider {
        return p, nil
    }
    startValue := p.mouseHandler.DragStartValue()
    newWidth := startValue + action.DragDX

    // Clamp to bounds
    // NOTE: Offset varies by plugin (border styling differences):
    // GitStatus: -5, FileBrowser: -6, Conversations: -5, Workspace: just dividerWidth
    available := p.width - 5 - dividerWidth
    minWidth := 25
    maxWidth := available - 40
    if newWidth < minWidth {
        newWidth = minWidth
    } else if newWidth > maxWidth {
        newWidth = maxWidth
    }
    p.sidebarWidth = newWidth
    return p, nil
}

func (p *Plugin) handleMouseDragEnd() (*Plugin, tea.Cmd) {
    _ = state.SetYourPluginSidebarWidth(p.sidebarWidth)
    return p, nil
}

Step 6: Register Hit Regions in Render

This is where most bugs occur. Follow this pattern exactly:

func (p *Plugin) renderTwoPane() string {
    p.mouseHandler.HitMap.Clear() // CRITICAL: clear every render

    available := p.width - 5 - dividerWidth
    sidebarWidth := p.sidebarWidth
    if sidebarWidth == 0 {
        sidebarWidth = available * 30 / 100
    }
    if sidebarWidth < 25 {
        sidebarWidth = 25
    }
    if sidebarWidth > available-40 {
        sidebarWidth = available - 40
    }
    mainWidth := available - sidebarWidth
    p.sidebarWidth = sidebarWidth

    // ... render panes and divider ...

    // CRITICAL: Register in priority order (last = highest priority)
    p.mouseHandler.HitMap.AddRect(regionSidebar, 0, 0, sidebarWidth, p.height, nil)
    mainX := sidebarWidth + dividerWidth
    p.mouseHandler.HitMap.AddRect(regionMainPane, mainX, 0, mainWidth, p.height, nil)
    // Divider LAST = highest priority
    dividerX := sidebarWidth
    dividerHitWidth := 3 // Wider than visual for easier clicking
    p.mouseHandler.HitMap.AddRect(regionPaneDivider, dividerX, 0, dividerHitWidth, p.height, nil)

    return content
}

Step 7: Render Visible Divider

func (p *Plugin) renderDivider(height int) string {
    dividerStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
        Foreground(styles.BorderNormal).
        MarginTop(1) // Aligns with pane content (below top border)

    var sb strings.Builder
    for i := 0; i < height; i++ {
        sb.WriteString("|")
        if i < height-1 {
            sb.WriteString("\n")
        }
    }
    return dividerStyle.Render(sb.String())
}

Step 8: Add State Persistence

Add plugin-specific functions to internal/state/state.go:

// In State struct
YourPluginSidebarWidth int `json:"yourPluginSidebarWidth,omitempty"`

// Getter
func GetYourPluginSidebarWidth() int {
    mu.RLock()
    defer mu.RUnlock()
    if current == nil { return 0 }
    return current.YourPluginSidebarWidth
}

// Setter
func SetYourPluginSidebarWidth(width int) error {
    mu.Lock()
    if current == nil { current = &State{} }
    current.YourPluginSidebarWidth = width
    mu.Unlock()
    return Save()
}

Critical Rules

Rule 1: Never Reset Width in View()

WRONG:

func (p *Plugin) View(width, height int) string {
    p.sidebarWidth = width * 30 / 100 // BUG: Overwrites drag changes every render!
}

CORRECT: Width is only set when sidebarWidth == 0. All other code paths must not unconditionally overwrite it.

Rule 2: Hit Region X Coordinates

Divider X position = sidebarWidth, NOT sidebarWidth + borderWidth.

When lipgloss renders Width(sidebarWidth), the pane occupies columns 0 to sidebarWidth-1. The divider starts at column sidebarWidth.

Rule 3: Hit Region Priority (Registration Order)

HitMap.Test() checks regions in reverse order - last added = checked first.

The divider region MUST be registered LAST so it takes priority over overlapping pane regions.

// CORRECT ORDER:
p.mouseHandler.HitMap.AddRect(regionSidebar, ...)      // Lowest priority
p.mouseHandler.HitMap.AddRect(regionMainPane, ...)     // Medium priority
p.mouseHandler.HitMap.AddRect(regionPaneDivider, ...)  // HIGHEST priority (last)

Rule 4: Divider Hit Width

Use dividerHitWidth := 3 (wider than the visual 1-character divider) to make clicking easier.

Rule 5: Height for Hit Regions

Use p.height for hit region height, not paneHeight or paneHeight + 2.

Performance Optimization: Hit Region Caching

For plugins with many hit regions, use a dirty flag to avoid rebuilding every render:

type Plugin struct {
    hitRegionsDirty bool
    prevWidth       int
    prevHeight      int
    prevScrollOff   int
}

func (p *Plugin) renderTwoPane() string {
    if p.width != p.prevWidth || p.height != p.prevHeight {
        p.hitRegionsDirty = true
        p.prevWidth = p.width
        p.prevHeight = p.height
    }
    if p.scrollOffset != p.prevScrollOff {
        p.hitRegionsDirty = true
        p.prevScrollOff = p.scrollOffset
    }

    // ... render content ...

    if p.hitRegionsDirty {
        p.mouseHandler.HitMap.Clear()
        // Register all hit regions...
        p.hitRegionsDirty = false
    }
    return content
}

Also mark hitRegionsDirty = true when:

• View mode changes (toggling list/detail)
• Content changes (items loaded, expanded/collapsed)
• Sidebar visibility toggles

See internal/plugins/conversations/view_layout.go and plugin_input.go for a complete implementation.

Debugging

If drag is not working, add temporary logging:

func (p *Plugin) handleMouseClick(action mouse.MouseAction) (*Plugin, tea.Cmd) {
    log.Printf("CLICK x=%d y=%d region=%v", action.X, action.Y, action.Region)
}

Common issues:

• Region is nil or wrong pane: Check X coordinate calculation and registration order
• Drag starts but width does not change: Check that handleMouseDrag is being called
• Width resets after drag: Search for code that sets sidebarWidth unconditionally