tui: double-press Ctrl+C/Ctrl+D to quit (#8936)

## Problem

Codex’s TUI quit behavior has historically been easy to trigger
accidentally and hard to reason
about.

- `Ctrl+C`/`Ctrl+D` could terminate the UI immediately, which is a
common key to press while trying
  to dismiss a modal, cancel a command, or recover from a stuck state.
- “Quit” and “shutdown” were not consistently separated, so some exit
paths could bypass the
  shutdown/cleanup work that should run before the process terminates.

This PR makes quitting both safer (harder to do by accident) and more
uniform across quit
gestures, while keeping the shutdown-first semantics explicit.

## Mental model

After this change, the system treats quitting as a UI request that is
coordinated by the app
layer.

- The UI requests exit via `AppEvent::Exit(ExitMode)`.
- `ExitMode::ShutdownFirst` is the normal user path: the app triggers
`Op::Shutdown`, continues
rendering while shutdown runs, and only ends the UI loop once shutdown
has completed.
- `ExitMode::Immediate` exists as an escape hatch (and as the
post-shutdown “now actually exit”
signal); it bypasses cleanup and should not be the default for
user-triggered quits.

User-facing quit gestures are intentionally “two-step” for safety:

- `Ctrl+C` and `Ctrl+D` no longer exit immediately.
- The first press arms a 1-second window and shows a footer hint (“ctrl
+ <key> again to quit”).
- Pressing the same key again within the window requests a
shutdown-first quit; otherwise the
  hint expires and the next press starts a fresh window.

Key routing remains modal-first:

- A modal/popup gets first chance to consume `Ctrl+C`.
- If a modal handles `Ctrl+C`, any armed quit shortcut is cleared so
dismissing a modal cannot
  prime a subsequent `Ctrl+C` to quit.
- `Ctrl+D` only participates in quitting when the composer is empty and
no modal/popup is active.

The design doc `docs/exit-confirmation-prompt-design.md` captures the
intended routing and the
invariants the UI should maintain.

## Non-goals

- This does not attempt to redesign modal UX or make modals uniformly
dismissible via `Ctrl+C`.
It only ensures modals get priority and that quit arming does not leak
across modal handling.
- This does not introduce a persistent confirmation prompt/menu for
quitting; the goal is to keep
  the exit gesture lightweight and consistent.
- This does not change the semantics of core shutdown itself; it changes
how the UI requests and
  sequences it.

## Tradeoffs

- Quitting via `Ctrl+C`/`Ctrl+D` now requires a deliberate second
keypress, which adds friction for
  users who relied on the old “instant quit” behavior.
- The UI now maintains a small time-bounded state machine for the armed
shortcut, which increases
  complexity and introduces timing-dependent behavior.

This design was chosen over alternatives (a modal confirmation prompt or
a long-lived “are you
sure” state) because it provides an explicit safety barrier while
keeping the flow fast and
keyboard-native.

## Architecture

- `ChatWidget` owns the quit-shortcut state machine and decides when a
quit gesture is allowed
  (idle vs cancellable work, composer state, etc.).
- `BottomPane` owns rendering and local input routing for modals/popups.
It is responsible for
consuming cancellation keys when a view is active and for
showing/expiring the footer hint.
- `App` owns shutdown sequencing: translating
`AppEvent::Exit(ShutdownFirst)` into `Op::Shutdown`
  and only terminating the UI loop when exit is safe.

This keeps “what should happen” decisions (quit vs interrupt vs ignore)
in the chat/widget layer,
while keeping “how it looks and which view gets the key” in the
bottom-pane layer.

## Observability

You can tell this is working by running the TUIs and exercising the quit
gestures:

- While idle: pressing `Ctrl+C` (or `Ctrl+D` with an empty composer and
no modal) shows a footer
hint for ~1 second; pressing again within that window exits via
shutdown-first.
- While streaming/tools/review are active: `Ctrl+C` interrupts work
rather than quitting.
- With a modal/popup open: `Ctrl+C` dismisses/handles the modal (if it
chooses to) and does not
arm a quit shortcut; a subsequent quick `Ctrl+C` should not quit unless
the user re-arms it.

Failure modes are visible as:

- Quits that happen immediately (no hint window) from `Ctrl+C`/`Ctrl+D`.
- Quits that occur while a modal is open and consuming `Ctrl+C`.
- UI termination before shutdown completes (cleanup skipped).

## Tests

- Updated/added unit and snapshot coverage in `codex-tui` and
`codex-tui2` to validate:
  - The quit hint appears and expires on the expected key.
- Double-press within the window triggers a shutdown-first quit request.
- Modal-first routing prevents quit bypass and clears any armed shortcut
when a modal consumes
    `Ctrl+C`.

These tests focus on the UI-level invariants and rendered output; they
do not attempt to validate
real terminal key-repeat timing or end-to-end process shutdown behavior.

---
Screenshot:
<img width="912" height="740" alt="Screenshot 2026-01-13 at 1 05 28 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/18f3d22e-2557-47f2-a369-ae7a9531f29f"
/>
This commit is contained in:
Josh McKinney
2026-01-14 09:42:52 -08:00
committed by GitHub
parent 92472e7baa
commit 4283a7432b
25 changed files with 932 additions and 199 deletions

View File

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
use super::*;
use crate::app_event::AppEvent;
use crate::app_event::ExitMode;
use crate::app_event_sender::AppEventSender;
use crate::test_backend::VT100Backend;
use crate::tui::FrameRequester;
@@ -430,6 +431,8 @@ async fn make_chatwidget_manual(
queued_user_messages: VecDeque::new(),
suppress_session_configured_redraw: false,
pending_notification: None,
quit_shortcut_expires_at: None,
quit_shortcut_key: None,
is_review_mode: false,
pre_review_token_info: None,
needs_final_message_separator: false,
@@ -1104,19 +1107,58 @@ async fn streaming_final_answer_keeps_task_running_state() {
Ok(Op::Interrupt) => {}
other => panic!("expected Op::Interrupt, got {other:?}"),
}
assert!(chat.bottom_pane.ctrl_c_quit_hint_visible());
assert!(chat.bottom_pane.quit_shortcut_hint_visible());
}
#[tokio::test]
async fn ctrl_c_shutdown_ignores_caps_lock() {
let (mut chat, _rx, mut op_rx) = make_chatwidget_manual(None).await;
let (mut chat, mut rx, _op_rx) = make_chatwidget_manual(None).await;
chat.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Char('C'), KeyModifiers::CONTROL));
match op_rx.try_recv() {
Ok(Op::Shutdown) => {}
other => panic!("expected Op::Shutdown, got {other:?}"),
}
assert_matches!(rx.try_recv(), Err(TryRecvError::Empty));
chat.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Char('c'), KeyModifiers::CONTROL));
assert_matches!(rx.try_recv(), Ok(AppEvent::Exit(ExitMode::ShutdownFirst)));
}
#[tokio::test]
async fn ctrl_d_double_press_quits_without_prompt() {
let (mut chat, mut rx, _op_rx) = make_chatwidget_manual(None).await;
chat.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Char('d'), KeyModifiers::CONTROL));
assert_matches!(rx.try_recv(), Err(TryRecvError::Empty));
let width = 100;
let height = chat.desired_height(width);
let mut terminal =
ratatui::Terminal::new(VT100Backend::new(width, height)).expect("create terminal");
terminal.set_viewport_area(Rect::new(0, 0, width, height));
terminal
.draw(|f| chat.render(f.area(), f.buffer_mut()))
.expect("draw after ctrl+d");
assert!(
terminal
.backend()
.vt100()
.screen()
.contents()
.contains("ctrl + d again to quit")
);
chat.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Char('d'), KeyModifiers::CONTROL));
assert_matches!(rx.try_recv(), Ok(AppEvent::Exit(ExitMode::ShutdownFirst)));
}
#[tokio::test]
async fn ctrl_d_with_modal_open_does_not_quit() {
let (mut chat, mut rx, _op_rx) = make_chatwidget_manual(None).await;
chat.open_approvals_popup();
chat.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Char('d'), KeyModifiers::CONTROL));
assert_matches!(rx.try_recv(), Err(TryRecvError::Empty));
}
#[tokio::test]
@@ -1135,7 +1177,7 @@ async fn ctrl_c_cleared_prompt_is_recoverable_via_history() {
chat.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Char('c'), KeyModifiers::CONTROL));
assert!(chat.bottom_pane.composer_text().is_empty());
assert_matches!(op_rx.try_recv(), Err(TryRecvError::Empty));
assert!(chat.bottom_pane.ctrl_c_quit_hint_visible());
assert!(chat.bottom_pane.quit_shortcut_hint_visible());
chat.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Up, KeyModifiers::NONE));
let restored_text = chat.bottom_pane.composer_text();
@@ -1144,7 +1186,7 @@ async fn ctrl_c_cleared_prompt_is_recoverable_via_history() {
"expected placeholder {placeholder:?} after history recall"
);
assert!(restored_text.starts_with("draft message "));
assert!(!chat.bottom_pane.ctrl_c_quit_hint_visible());
assert!(!chat.bottom_pane.quit_shortcut_hint_visible());
let images = chat.bottom_pane.take_recent_submission_images();
assert!(
@@ -1487,7 +1529,7 @@ async fn slash_quit_requests_exit() {
chat.dispatch_command(SlashCommand::Quit);
assert_matches!(rx.try_recv(), Ok(AppEvent::ExitRequest));
assert_matches!(rx.try_recv(), Ok(AppEvent::Exit(ExitMode::ShutdownFirst)));
}
#[tokio::test]
@@ -1496,7 +1538,7 @@ async fn slash_exit_requests_exit() {
chat.dispatch_command(SlashCommand::Exit);
assert_matches!(rx.try_recv(), Ok(AppEvent::ExitRequest));
assert_matches!(rx.try_recv(), Ok(AppEvent::Exit(ExitMode::ShutdownFirst)));
}
#[tokio::test]