# Architecture
Go, [Bubble Tea](https://github.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea) (v1),
[Lip Gloss](https://github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss),
[Bubbles](https://github.com/charmbracelet/bubbles) (key, help, spinner),
[bubblezone](https://github.com/lrstanley/bubblezone) (mouse hit areas).
## Package layout
```
cmd/submarine/main.go wiring: choose provider (git or --mock), start the program
internal/submodule/ domain model; NO UI imports
model.go Repo, Submodule, Status, PinInfo, Commit, enums
status.go Issues(), HiddenIssues(), Walk()
provider.go Provider interface; optional Fetcher, Watcher, Locator, Restorer, Switcher
internal/submodule/git/ provider using the git CLI (reads, fetch, watch)
exec.go git runner (environment, errors)
parse.go pure parsers for git output (status, numstat, …)
provider.go Tree, Status, pin → ref resolution
fetch.go Fetch (network), Fetchable
watch.go Watch: polls git metadata for changes
restore.go Restore, RestoreLoss (network: only what is missing)
switch.go Branches, SwitchLoss, Switch (stage the tip, restore, attach the branch)
gitdir.go resolves .git dirs and gitdir: files
internal/submodule/mock/ fixture provider with artificial latency
internal/update/ self-update from the package registry; NO UI imports
internal/tui/ Bubble Tea application
app.go root model: layout, message routing, loading
keys.go key bindings (also feed the help view)
restore.go, switch.go restore / switch flows; a switch reuses restoreState
overlay.go draws the picker over the finished view at the position the picker reports
msgs.go tree/status/fetch/change messages
refresh.go reloader: one load per key, coalesced reruns
theme/ colors, glyphs, issue words, change letters, level styles
tree/ tree component: rows, navigation, mouse, view
detail/ detail pane; changes.go: change preview
header/ header line
branches/ branch picker popup (search line + list)
footer/ key bar (navigation left, global right) and flash messages
```
### Layering rules
- `internal/submodule` knows nothing about the UI. Everything that decides
**what** a state means (issue kinds, levels, hidden issues) lives here.
- `internal/tui/theme` decides **how** it looks: words, colors, symbols.
- Components (`tree`, `detail`, `header`, `footer`) use the theme; they never
define colors or classify states themselves.
- The UI only accesses data through `submodule.Provider`.
## Provider boundary
```go
type Provider interface {
Tree(ctx context.Context) (*Repo, error) // structure only, fast
Status(ctx context.Context, path string) (*Status, error) // per submodule, may be slow
}
```
Optional capabilities; the app type-asserts them:
```go
type Fetcher interface {
Fetchable(path string) bool // initialized? ("" = superproject)
Fetch(ctx context.Context, path string) error
}
type Watcher interface {
Watch(ctx context.Context) <-chan Change // {Path, Local, Structure}
}
```
```go
type Restorer interface {
RestoreLoss(ctx context.Context, path string) (Loss, error) // what a restore would discard
Restore(ctx context.Context, path string) error // may clone/fetch what is missing
}
```
```go
type Switcher interface {
Branches(ctx context.Context, path string) ([]Branch, error) // local + remote, no network
SwitchLoss(ctx context.Context, path string, b Branch) (Loss, error) // as RestoreLoss
Switch(ctx context.Context, path string, b Branch) (string, error) // branch HEAD ends on, "" if detached
}
```
```go
type Locator interface {
Dir(path string) string // absolute directory, "" if unknown
}
```
- `Tree` returns the superproject and all submodules with `Parent` and
`Children` linked. `Status` fields are nil.
- `Status` is called once per submodule, concurrently. It must be safe to
call concurrently and must respect `ctx`.
- `Submodule.Path` (relative to the superproject root) is the unique ID.
The mock provider (`internal/submodule/mock`) covers every state and sleeps
100–800 ms per `Status` call to exercise the loading path.
### Git provider
`internal/submodule/git` shells out to `git -C
…` (see D14).
- Environment: `GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0`, `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS=0` (reads never
take `index.lock`), `LC_ALL=C`. Only `Fetch` uses the network.
- `Tree` reads each repository's `.gitmodules` (`git config -f
.gitmodules`) and recurses into initialized submodules. It records, per
path, the parent repository and the `.gitmodules` branch for `Status`.
`Name` is the last element of `RelPath`.
- `Status` runs about ten small git commands per submodule (see
[state-model.md](state-model.md#git-commands)). At most `runtime.NumCPU()`
`Status` calls run at once; the others wait on a semaphore and still
respect `ctx` (D16).
- Superproject: branch from `symbolic-ref`, ahead/behind against
`@{upstream}`. Its fetch age (mtime of `FETCH_HEAD`) is `Status.FetchedAt`
of the root node, like a submodule's.
- `Fetch`: `git fetch --all --prune --no-recurse-submodules --quiet` (we
fetch every submodule ourselves), at most 8 at once, 2 min timeout each.
To never prompt, `GIT_SSH_COMMAND="ssh -o BatchMode=yes"` is set unless
the user configured `GIT_SSH_COMMAND` or `core.sshCommand`. The error is
git's first line of output.
- `Watch` polls every 2 s (`WatchInterval`) and compares a fingerprint per
repository: names, mtimes and sizes of the git metadata files (D19).
- remote part: `FETCH_HEAD`, `refs/remotes/**`, `refs/tags/**`
- local part: `HEAD`, `index`, `MERGE_HEAD`, `packed-refs`,
`refs/heads/**`, `reftable/**`
- structure: the worktree `.gitmodules`, and whether `.git` exists
Git dirs are resolved from `.git` (directory, or `gitdir:` file for
submodules, plus `commondir` for worktrees) without running git. Our own
reads write nothing (`GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS=0`), so they never trigger a
change. Worktree file edits are not watched (`r` reloads).
## Loading flow
1. `Init` runs `Tree()` → `treeLoadedMsg`.
2. The app indexes submodules by path and starts one `tea.Cmd` per submodule
calling `Status()` → `statusLoadedMsg`.
3. Each result is stored on the submodule (`Status` or `Err`); the view
updates incrementally, including parents' hidden-issue counts.
4. After the first tree: the watcher starts (`changeMsg`). Nothing is
fetched until the user presses `f`, which starts one `tea.Cmd` per
fetchable repository (`fetchDoneMsg`).
5. The spinner ticks only while something loads or fetches.
### Fetch and refresh are decoupled (D20)
```
Fetch (network) ──writes refs──▶ .git/… ◀──writes refs── user's shell
│
Watch (polls every 2 s)
│ Change{Path, Local, Structure}
▼
app reloads Status / Tree
```
- `fetchDoneMsg` only updates the progress and `Submodule.FetchErr`; it
never reloads anything. The watcher sees the new refs and triggers the
reload, exactly as for a fetch made in another shell.
- `changeMsg`:
- submodule, remote only → reload its `Status`
- submodule, local → reload it and its direct children (their pins live
in its index)
- superproject, or `.gitmodules` anywhere → reload the tree; if local,
also every status
- A reloaded tree carries the old `Status`, `Err` and `FetchErr` over by
path, and `tree.ReplaceRoots` keeps expansion and the cursor, so a reload
doesn't flash spinners or move the selection.
- The `reloader` runs at most one load per key (a submodule path, or the
tree). A request during a load marks it dirty; it runs once more
afterwards. Results therefore never arrive out of order and bursts of
changes (a fetch writing many refs) coalesce.
## Tree component
- State: roots, `expanded map[path]bool`, cursor (a `*Submodule`), scroll
offset, size.
- `rows()` flattens the visible tree into directory-header rows and
submodule rows. Directory grouping uses `path.Dir(RelPath)` and keeps the
order of first appearance.
- Navigation methods (`Up`, `Down`, `Left`, `Right`, `Toggle`,
`CollapseAll`, `ExpandAll`, `Home`, `End`, `PageUp`, `PageDown`) are plain
methods without Bubble Tea dependencies, so they are unit-tested directly.
- Key mapping happens in `app.go`; the tree only handles mouse messages.
- Mouse zones: `toggle:` and `row:`, prefixed per instance.
## Rendering notes
- Each segment of a row is rendered with the row's `base` style
(background), because an inner style's reset would otherwise clear the
outer background.
- Widths are measured with `lipgloss.Width`; truncation uses
`ansi.Truncate`, which keeps escape sequences and bubblezone markers intact.
- `zone.Scan` runs once, on the root view.
## Distribution
No CI runner: releases are built and published from a developer machine.
- `make dist` cross-compiles `CGO_ENABLED=0` binaries for linux/darwin ×
amd64/arm64 into `dist/` plus `checksums.txt`; the version comes from
`git describe` and is baked in with `-X main.version`.
- `make release` with `GITEA_TOKEN` set, e.g. in `.env` (copy `.env.template`; token needs `write:package`; HEAD must be a
clean `vX.Y.Z` tag) runs tests, builds and uploads to the Gitea generic
registry `https://git.simon-franken.de/api/packages/simonfranken/generic`:
- `submarine//submarine__` and `checksums.txt`
- `submarine-latest/latest/VERSION`, replaced **last**, so a failed upload
never advertises a broken version.
- The `release` skill (`.claude/skills/release/SKILL.md`) drives a release:
latest tag → next semver from the commits since → check (`vet`, `test`,
`gofmt`, `make dist`) → tag and push → the developer runs `make release` →
the skill verifies the registry's `VERSION` and creates the Gitea release
with MCP (notes only; the binaries stay in the registry).
- `install.sh` (`curl -fsSL …/raw/branch/main/install.sh | sh`) detects
OS/arch, verifies the sha256, installs `submarine` and a `sub` symlink to
`~/.local/bin` (`SUBMARINE_INSTALL_DIR`, `SUBMARINE_VERSION`,
`SUBMARINE_BASE_URL` override).
- `submarine update [--check] [--force]` (package `internal/update`) reads
`VERSION`, downloads the asset for the running platform, verifies the
checksum and atomically replaces the real executable (symlinks resolved,
so `sub` works too). `SUBMARINE_UPDATE_URL` overrides the registry.
- On every start the TUI looks for a newer release in the background (3 s
timeout, no cache, no blocking). `main` passes `tui.WithUpdateCheck` and
the TUI gets the result as a message; the footer then offers `q quit and
update to vX`. That key quits, and `main` installs the release once the
terminal is restored (the same code as `submarine update`). The check is off
for dev builds, `--mock` and `SUBMARINE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1`.
## Testing
```sh
go vet ./...
go test ./...
```
- `internal/submodule`: issue classification and hidden-issue aggregation.
- `internal/submodule/git`: parser unit tests, and integration tests
against a fixture repository built by `scripts/make-fixture.sh` (skipped
if `git` is not installed). Fetch and watch tests build their own
fixture, since they change it; the fixture's remotes are local bare
repositories, so fetching works offline.
- `internal/tui`: `reloader`.
- `internal/tui/tree`: navigation rules. Tests need `zone.NewGlobal()` (see
`TestMain`).
Manual check in a headless terminal:
```sh
scripts/make-fixture.sh /tmp/subfix # superproject with every state
go build -o /tmp/submarine ./cmd/submarine
tmux new-session -d -s sub -x 130 -y 24 "/tmp/submarine /tmp/subfix/super"
tmux send-keys -t sub Down Right
tmux capture-pane -pt sub # add -e to see colors
tmux kill-session -t sub
```