Decide on a paste action for --upper-action #7

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opened 2026-09-19 16:33:42 +09:00 by natsukium · 0 comments

natsukium commented

2026-09-19 16:33:42 +09:00

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Summary

Add paste as an --action / --upper-action value: put the picked value into the terminal's
input rather than the clipboard.

Why

Action is Print | Copy | Open | Command. docs/research.md "Edge-case handling" records that
both wezterm and foot bind uppercase = paste — it is the standard second action, and
--upper-action was built precisely to offer a second action from one binding.

Today the closest thing is --action 'tmux send-keys {}'-style command, which only works under
one specific producer and is not injection-symmetric with the built-ins.

Open question

There is no portable way to push text into the foreground program's input from outside it. The
options:

OSC 52 + bracketed paste is not it — OSC 52 sets the clipboard; pasting is still a
keystroke.
Writing to /dev/tty with TIOCSTI is the classic trick and is disabled on modern kernels
(dev.tty.legacy_tiocsti), so it is not a foundation.
Which leaves: the producer pastes. spoor prints the value (already the default Print) and
the key binding does the pasting — tmux send-keys, felis' own paste action, kitty remote
control.

If that is the answer, then paste is documentation, not code: a README recipe per producer
showing the binding that pastes what spoor printed. Worth deciding explicitly and recording it
in docs/design.md "Rejected alternatives" if we decline the flag, since the competitors have the
feature and its absence will otherwise look like an oversight.

## Summary Add `paste` as an `--action` / `--upper-action` value: put the picked value into the terminal's input rather than the clipboard. ## Why `Action` is `Print | Copy | Open | Command`. `docs/research.md` "Edge-case handling" records that both wezterm and foot bind **uppercase = paste** — it is the standard second action, and `--upper-action` was built precisely to offer a second action from one binding. Today the closest thing is `--action 'tmux send-keys {}'`-style command, which only works under one specific producer and is not injection-symmetric with the built-ins. ## Open question There is no portable way to push text into the foreground program's input from outside it. The options: - **OSC 52 + bracketed paste** is not it — OSC 52 sets the clipboard; pasting is still a keystroke. - Writing to `/dev/tty` with `TIOCSTI` is the classic trick and is disabled on modern kernels (`dev.tty.legacy_tiocsti`), so it is not a foundation. - Which leaves: the producer pastes. `spoor` prints the value (already the default `Print`) and the key binding does the pasting — `tmux send-keys`, felis' own paste action, kitty remote control. If that is the answer, then `paste` is **documentation, not code**: a README recipe per producer showing the binding that pastes what `spoor` printed. Worth deciding explicitly and recording it in `docs/design.md` "Rejected alternatives" if we decline the flag, since the competitors have the feature and its absence will otherwise look like an oversight.

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2026-09-19 16:34:33 +09:00