Session Review Cross-Diff Search Plan
One search input for all diffs in the review pane
Goal
Add a single search UI to SessionReview that searches across all diff files in the accordion and supports next/previous navigation across files.
Navigation should auto-open the target accordion item and reveal the active match inside the existing unified File diff viewer.
Non-goals
- Do not change diff rendering visuals, line comments, or file selection behavior.
- Do not add regex, fuzzy search, or replace.
- Do not change
@pierre/diffs internals.
Current behavior
SessionReview renders one File diff viewer per accordion item, but only mounts the viewer when that item is expanded.
- Large diffs may be blocked behind the
MAX_DIFF_CHANGED_LINES gate until the user clicks "render anyway".
File owns a local search engine (createFileFind) with:
- query state
- hit counting
- current match index
- highlighting (CSS Highlight API or overlay fallback)
Cmd/Ctrl+F and Cmd/Ctrl+G keyboard handling
FileSearchBar is currently rendered per viewer.
- There is no parent-level search state in
SessionReview.
UX requirements
- Add one search bar in the
SessionReview header (input, total count, prev, next, close).
- Show a global count like
3/17 across all searchable diffs.
Cmd/Ctrl+F inside the session review pane opens the session-level search.
Cmd/Ctrl+G, Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+G, Enter, and Shift+Enter navigate globally.
- Navigating to a match in a collapsed file auto-expands that file.
- The active match scrolls into view and is highlighted in the target viewer.
- Media/binary diffs are excluded from search.
- Empty query clears highlights and resets to
0/0.
Architecture proposal
Use a hybrid model:
- A session-level match index for global searching/counting/navigation across all diffs.
- The existing per-viewer search engine for local highlighting and scrolling in the active file.
This avoids mounting every accordion item just to search while reusing the existing DOM highlight behavior.
High-level pieces
SessionReview owns the global query, hit list, and active hit index.
File exposes a small controlled search handle (register, set query, clear, reveal hit).
SessionReview keeps a map of mounted file viewers and their search handles.
SessionReview resolves next/prev hits, expands files as needed, then tells the target viewer to reveal the hit.
Data model and interfaces
type SessionSearchHit = {
file: string
side: "additions" | "deletions"
line: number
col: number
len: number
}
type SessionSearchState = {
query: string
hits: SessionSearchHit[]
active: number
}
type FileSearchReveal = {
side: "additions" | "deletions"
line: number
col: number
len: number
}
type FileSearchHandle = {
setQuery: (value: string) => void
clear: () => void
reveal: (hit: FileSearchReveal) => boolean
refresh: () => void
}
type FileSearchControl = {
shortcuts?: "global" | "disabled"
showBar?: boolean
register: (handle: FileSearchHandle | null) => void
}
Integration steps
Phase 1: Expose controlled search on File
- Extend
createFileFind and File to support a controlled search handle.
- Keep existing per-viewer search behavior as the default path.
- Add a way to disable per-viewer global shortcuts when hosted inside
SessionReview.
Acceptance
File still supports local search unchanged by default.
File can optionally register a search handle and accept controlled reveal calls.
Phase 2: Add session-level search state in SessionReview
- Add a single search UI in the
SessionReview header (can reuse FileSearchBar visuals or extract shared presentational pieces).
- Build a global hit list from
props.diffs string content.
- Index hits by file/side/line/column/length.
Acceptance
- Header search appears once for the pane.
- Global hit count updates as query changes.
- Media/binary diffs are excluded.
Phase 3: Wire global navigation to viewers
- Register a
FileSearchHandle per mounted diff viewer.
- On next/prev, resolve the active global hit and:
- expand the target file if needed
- wait for the viewer to mount/render
- call
handle.setQuery(query) and handle.reveal(hit)
Acceptance
- Next/prev moves across files.
- Collapsed targets auto-open.
- Active match is highlighted in the target diff.
Phase 4: Handle large-diff gating
- Lift
render anyway state from local accordion item state into a file-keyed map in SessionReview.
- If navigation targets a gated file, force-render it before reveal.
Acceptance
- Global search can navigate into a large diff without manual user expansion/render.
Phase 5: Keyboard and race-condition polish
- Route
Cmd/Ctrl+F, Cmd/Ctrl+G, Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+G to session search when focus is in the review pane.
- Add token/cancel guards so fast navigation does not reveal stale targets after async mounts.
Acceptance
- Keyboard shortcuts consistently target session-level search.
- No stale reveal jumps during rapid navigation.
Edge cases
- Empty query: clear all viewer highlights, reset count/index.
- No results: keep the search bar open, disable prev/next.
- Added/deleted files: index only the available side.
- Collapsed files: queue reveal until
onRendered fires.
- Large diffs: auto-force render before reveal.
- Split diff mode: handle duplicate text on both sides without losing side info.
- Do not clear line comment draft or selected lines when navigating search results.
Testing plan
Unit tests
- Session hit-index builder:
- line/column mapping
- additions/deletions side tagging
- wrap-around next/prev behavior
File controlled search handle:
setQuery
clear
reveal by side/line/column in unified and split diff
Component / integration tests
- Search across multiple diffs and navigate across collapsed accordion items.
- Global counter updates correctly (
current/total).
- Split and unified diff styles both navigate correctly.
- Large diff target auto-renders on navigation.
- Existing line comment draft remains intact while searching.
Manual verification
Cmd/Ctrl+F opens session-level search in the review pane.
Cmd/Ctrl+G / Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+G navigate globally.
- Highlighting and scroll behavior stay stable with many open diffs.
Risks and rollback
Key risks
- Global index and DOM highlights can drift if line/column mapping does not match viewer DOM content exactly.
- Keyboard shortcut conflicts between session-level search and per-viewer search.
- Performance impact when indexing many large diffs in one session.
Rollback plan
- Gate session-level search behind a
SessionReview prop/flag during rollout.
- If unstable, disable the session-level path and keep existing per-viewer search unchanged.
Open questions
- Should search match file paths as well as content, or content only?
- In split mode, should the same text on both sides count as two matches?
- Should auto-navigation into gated large diffs silently render them, or show a prompt first?
- Should the session-level search bar reuse
FileSearchBar directly or split out a shared non-portal variant?