Lumacs/CONTINUATION_PROMPT.md

Lumacs Development Continuation Prompt

Copy this entire prompt to start a new conversation and continue development:

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I'm working on Lumacs, an Emacs-inspired text editor written in C++20 with ncurses and Lua scripting. The project is located at /Users/user/Projects/lumacs.

Current Status

Phase 3: Enhanced Editing - COMPLETE ✅

• Emacs compatibility: 85/100
• Build: Successful, binary at ./build/lumacs
• ISearch, Word Ops, Case Conversion, Commenting implemented.

What's Been Implemented

1. Incremental Search (Phase 3)

• C-s/C-r - Forward/Backward search with highlighting
• Input loop in C++, rendering support

2. Editing Features (Phase 3)

• M-d/M-DEL - Kill word / Backward kill word
• M-u/M-l/M-c - Word case conversion
• C-x C-u/C-l - Region case conversion
• M-; - Comment/Uncomment (DWIM)

3. Buffer Management (Phase 2)

• C-x b - Switch buffer
• C-x k - Kill buffer
• C-x C-b - List buffers

4. Core (Phase 1)

• Kill Ring, Mark/Region
• Undo/Redo
• Lua configuration

Project Architecture

C++ Core

• EditorCore: Added ISearch support, word kill logic.
• Buffer: Added find_backward, clear.
• NcursesEditor: Implemented ISearch mode UI.

Lua Configuration

• init.lua: Contains logic for case conversion and commenting.

What Needs to Be Done Next

Phase 4: Polish & Advanced Features (~1-2 days)

Goal: Power user features Target: 95% Emacs compatibility

Required Features:

1. Registers:

   • C-x r s (copy-to-register) - Save region to register
   • C-x r i (insert-register) - Paste from register
   • Needs Register class in C++ or Lua table.

   • Rectangles:

     • C-x r k (kill-rectangle)
     • C-x r y (yank-rectangle)
     • C-x r t (string-rectangle) - Fill with text
     • Complex operation: operates on columns.

   • Keyboard Macros:

     • F3 (start-kbd-macro)
     • F4 (end-kbd-macro / call-last-kbd-macro)
     • Needs event recording system in EditorCore.

   • Minibuffer History:

     • M-p / M-n in minibuffer to cycle previous commands/search queries.

   Phase 5: Final Polish

   • Performance tuning
   • More modes (Python, C++)
   • Documentation

   Testing Instructions

   Build:

   cd /Users/user/Projects/lumacs
   cmake --build build
   

   Test Phase 3:

   See PHASE3_TEST.md for detailed steps.

   Questions to Ask Me

   1. "How is ISearch implemented?" → Check src/main_ncurses.cpp handle_input
   2. "Where is the Lua API?" → src/lua_api.cpp

   Starting Phase 4

   Begin with:

   1. Registers: Simple to implement in Lua or C++.
   2. Minibuffer History: Modify main_ncurses.cpp to store history vector.
   3. Macros: Requires recording key events.
   4. Rectangles: The hardest part. Leave for last.

   Success Criteria for Phase 4

   ✅ Save/Restore text from registers ✅ Record and replay macros ✅ Minibuffer has history ✅ Rectangle operations work (basic kill/yank)

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   Please continue with Phase 4: Polish. Start with Registers and Minibuffer History.