submarine/docs/ux-guide.md

UX guide

Principles

1. Attention follows severity. Healthy submodules are quiet, problems are loud, dangers are loudest. Users should be able to scan a long list and only see what needs action.
2. One word per row. At most one state word in the tree (+n for more); the detail pane lists everything.
3. Words over symbols. States are short words that need no legend. Symbols are only used where they are conventional (↑↓, ▸▾).
4. Meaning never depends on color alone (every state has a word).
5. Follow the user's terminal theme. Use ANSI 16 colors for meaning.

Layout

 ~/coding/my_project  main      13 submodules · 1 unpushed · 1 missing · 2 off pin · …   fetched 2m ago
   docs                                  origin/main                     │ src/
 misc/tools/                                                             │ my_submodule_3
     my_submodule_1                      origin/main                     │
     my_submodule_2       missing        a1b2c3d                         │ unpushed  pin not pushed to any remote
 src/                                                                    │
     my_submodule_1       off pin        origin/main                     │ Ref       origin/main ↑1
   ▸ my_submodule_2 [2]   changed ·2     origin/main                     │           via checked out branch
     my_submodule_3       unpushed       origin/main    ↑1               │ Pinned    b7c8d9e Hotfix null pointer
 libs/                                                                   │ Checkout  b7c8d9e Hotfix null pointer
     logging                             origin/main    ↓3               │ Tip       6f5e4d3 Release 2.1.0
 ↑/↓ move • ←/→ collapse/expand • space toggle • u checkout pin • … • ? help • q quit

Area	Height / width
Header	1 line
Tree	Remaining width
Detail pane	40% of the width, at least 36 columns; hidden below 90 columns
Footer	1 line (more with full help)

Tree row

indent ▸ name [n]   status          ref             delta

Column	Width	Content
indent	2 per depth
toggle	3	▸ collapsed, ▾ expanded, blank for leaves
name	fits the widest visible name	name, [n] = direct children (collapsed only)
status	14	issue word, +n, ·k hidden issues; muted in sync without issues; spinner while loading
ref	widest ref, max 22	resolved ref; muted short SHA if unresolved
delta	6	↑n, ↓n, ↑n↓m

• The name column is only as wide as needed, so states stay close to names.
• Directory headers (src/, modules/) are muted and not selectable.
• Rows without issues: name and ref muted (except the selected row), status in sync in muted grey. An empty status cell would look like missing data; the muted word confirms the check ran without drawing attention.

Detail pane

1. Directory (muted) and name (bold)
2. One line per issue: word (colored, 10 columns) + explanation; in sync nothing to do if there are none; staged and detached HEAD on pin as information
3. Changes (only with uncommitted changes), see Change preview
4. Ref with distance and via <rule>; Fetched <age> of the submodule; fetch failed: <git's message> (yellow word) if the last fetch failed
5. Pinned, Checkout, Tip: SHA + subject; the checkout SHA is yellow if it differs from the pin
6. "Pin is n commits behind/ahead of …" / "Pin and … have diverged": commit list
7. Children (count and issues below), URL

Change preview

Changes   5 files · 2M 1A 1D 1R · +37 −12
          ──────────────────────────────────────
          M  render.go  src/render/  +20 −4  3d ago
          M  README.md                +3 −1  20m ago
          A  notes.md  docs/           +14  2h ago
          D  old.go  src/               −8
          R  new.go  ← old.go                1d ago
          ?  scratch.txt                     5m ago
          …  3 more (2M 1?)

• A flat list, no group headers: IDEs (VS Code, JetBrains) do the same, and headers would use up the few lines the preview has. The letter is the meaning, the color only supports it (N4).
• Letters and colors: ! red bold, M yellow, A green, D red, R cyan, ? muted. Line counts: green +n, red −n; bin for binary files, submodule for a moved nested pin, nothing for untracked files.
• Order: kind (!, M, A, D, R, ?), then changed lines, largest first, because the biggest edits are the ones people remember.
• Budget: 10 files. Every kind that occurs gets at least one line, the rest is filled in sort order. … n more (<kinds>) summarizes the hidden files. With 11 files all are shown: "1 more" would take the same line as the file itself.
• The Changes line summarizes all files: count, files per kind, line totals. Everything below it describes one file per line, so no line can be mistaken for a file's detail. In a narrow pane the line totals are dropped rather than cut.
• A muted rule (─, - in ASCII mode) separates the summary from the files. It starts in the value column and is as wide as the summary or the file table, whichever is wider.
• The age (muted) is the file's modification time, so the most recently touched files stand out. Removed files have no age.
• The list starts in the value column (under 5 files), like every other value in the pane.
• File name bold, directory muted. Counts form a right-aligned column directly after the widest path (max 48 columns), not at the pane's edge, so they stay next to their file in wide panes. If space is short the age column goes first, then the directory is cut from the left (…ernal/client/), the name last. For renames the muted part is ← old/path.
• Untracked directories are shown as one entry (tmp/).

Header

path branch ↑↓ · n submodules · <count> <issue>… · n pin staged · n loading · <fetch>

Issue counts are ordered by severity (unpushed, conflict, missing, off pin, changed), each in its level color. Zero counts are omitted. A detached superproject shows (detached) as its branch.

<fetch> on the right:

State	Shows
fetching	spinner + fetching 12/174 (repositories done / total)
done	fetched just now, then the age (fetched 5m ago)
some failed	fetched just now · 3 failed (count in yellow)
never fetched	fetched never

The age is the newer of the superproject's FETCH_HEAD and the end of the application's own fetch.

Colors

All colors are defined in internal/tui/theme/theme.go. Never hard-code colors in components.

Role	Color	Used for
Danger	ANSI 1 red, bold	unpushed, conflict, error, ↑n of an unpushed pin
Warn	ANSI 3 yellow	missing, off pin, changed, differing checkout SHA
Info	ANSI 4 blue	staged
Primary	ANSI 6 cyan	branch names, commit hashes, spinner
Muted	ANSI 8 grey	quiet rows, directory headers, arrows, labels
Text	terminal default	normal text
Border	ANSI 8 grey	pane and help separators
Bar	adaptive 254 (light) / 235 (dark)	header background
Selected	adaptive 253 (light) / 237 (dark)	selected row background

• Background shades have no ANSI-16 equivalent, so they use AdaptiveColor. The background is detected once in main before Bubble Tea starts.
• Styles that render on a background (header, selected row) take a base style (LevelStyle(level, base), Delta(pin, base)), so inner segments keep the background.

Wording

Word	Detail pane text
unpushed	pin not pushed to any remote
conflict	merge conflict
missing	not initialized / directory missing
off pin	checkout differs from pin
changed	uncommitted changes / untracked files
staged	pin change staged, not committed
in sync	nothing to do

Navigation

Key	Behavior
↑ / k, ↓ / j	Previous / next submodule; directory headers are skipped
space	Toggle expand/collapse of the selected submodule
→ / l	Collapsed with children: expand and select the first child. Expanded: select the first child. Leaf: nothing
← / h	Expanded: collapse it (stays selected). Otherwise: collapse the parent and select it. Top level: nothing
ctrl+→	Expand all; then follow the first child from the selection down to a submodule without children
ctrl+←	Collapse all (resets remembered expansion); select the top-level ancestor
home / g, end / G	First / last submodule
pgup, pgdn	Move by one screen
?	Toggle full help
q, ctrl+c	Quit
f	Fetch all repositories (does nothing while a fetch runs)
r	Reload everything (e.g. after editing files)
u, b, /, !	Planned actions (see requirements)

"First child" always means the first child as displayed (children are grouped by directory).

Collapsing an ancestor of the selection moves the selection to that ancestor. The view scrolls so the selection is always visible; when the first submodule is selected, headers above it are shown too.

Mouse

• Click a row: select it.
• Click ▸ / ▾: select and toggle.
• Scroll wheel: move the selection.

Accessibility and terminals

• SUBMARINE_ASCII=1: ASCII symbols (^ v > v . *) instead of Unicode.
• Some terminals or multiplexers capture ctrl+←/→; letter aliases can be added if needed.