tui: keep history recall cursor at line end (#11295)

## Summary
- keep cursor at end-of-line after Up/Down history recall
- allow continued history navigation when recalled text cursor is at
start or end boundary
- add regression tests and document the history cursor contract in
composer docs

## Testing
- just fmt
- cargo test -p codex-tui --lib
history_navigation_leaves_cursor_at_end_of_line
- cargo test -p codex-tui --lib
should_handle_navigation_when_cursor_is_at_line_boundaries
- cargo test -p codex-tui *(fails in existing integration test
`suite::no_panic_on_startup::malformed_rules_should_not_panic` because
`target/debug/codex` is not present in this environment)*

codex-rs/tui/src/bottom_pane/chat_composer.rs

@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 //!
 //! When recalling a local entry, the composer rehydrates text elements and image attachments.
 //! When recalling a persistent entry, only the text is restored.
+//! Recalled entries move the cursor to end-of-line so repeated Up/Down presses keep shell-like
+//! history traversal semantics instead of dropping to column 0.
 //!
 //! # Submission and Prompt Expansion
 //!
@@ -532,9 +534,12 @@ impl ChatComposer {
         self.history.set_metadata(log_id, entry_count);
     }
 
-    /// Integrate an asynchronous response to an on-demand history lookup. If
+    /// Integrate an asynchronous response to an on-demand history lookup.
-    /// the entry is present and the offset matches the current cursor we
+    ///
-    /// immediately populate the textarea.
+    /// If the entry is present and the offset still matches the active history cursor, the
+    /// composer rehydrates the entry immediately. This path intentionally routes through
+    /// [`Self::apply_history_entry`] so cursor placement remains aligned with keyboard history
+    /// recall semantics.
     pub(crate) fn on_history_entry_response(
         &mut self,
         log_id: u64,
@@ -783,6 +788,10 @@ impl ChatComposer {
     /// draft; if callers restore only text and images, mentions can appear
     /// intact to users while resolving to the wrong target or dropping on
     /// retry.
+    ///
+    /// This helper intentionally places the cursor at the start of the restored text. Callers
+    /// that need end-of-line restore behavior (for example shell-style history recall) should call
+    /// [`Self::move_cursor_to_end`] after this method.
     pub(crate) fn set_text_content_with_mention_bindings(
         &mut self,
         text: String,
@@ -857,6 +866,13 @@ impl ChatComposer {
         self.textarea.text().to_string()
     }
 
+    /// Rehydrate a history entry into the composer with shell-like cursor placement.
+    ///
+    /// This path restores text, elements, images, mention bindings, and pending paste payloads,
+    /// then moves the cursor to end-of-line. If a caller reused
+    /// [`Self::set_text_content_with_mention_bindings`] directly for history recall and forgot the
+    /// final cursor move, repeated Up/Down would stop navigating history because cursor-gating
+    /// treats interior positions as normal editing mode.
     fn apply_history_entry(&mut self, entry: HistoryEntry) {
         let HistoryEntry {
             text,
@@ -872,6 +888,7 @@ impl ChatComposer {
             mention_bindings,
         );
         self.set_pending_pastes(pending_pastes);
+        self.move_cursor_to_end();
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn text_elements(&self) -> Vec<TextElement> {
@@ -5973,6 +5990,51 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(text_elements.len(), 1);
         assert_eq!(text_elements[0].placeholder(&text), Some("[Image #1]"));
         assert_eq!(composer.local_image_paths(), vec![path]);
+        assert_eq!(composer.textarea.cursor(), composer.textarea.text().len());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn history_navigation_leaves_cursor_at_end_of_line() {
+        let (tx, _rx) = unbounded_channel::<AppEvent>();
+        let sender = AppEventSender::new(tx);
+        let mut composer = ChatComposer::new(
+            true,
+            sender,
+            false,
+            "Ask Codex to do anything".to_string(),
+            false,
+        );
+        composer.set_steer_enabled(true);
+
+        type_chars_humanlike(&mut composer, &['f', 'i', 'r', 's', 't']);
+        let (result, _needs_redraw) =
+            composer.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Enter, KeyModifiers::NONE));
+        assert!(matches!(result, InputResult::Submitted { .. }));
+
+        type_chars_humanlike(&mut composer, &['s', 'e', 'c', 'o', 'n', 'd']);
+        let (result, _needs_redraw) =
+            composer.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Enter, KeyModifiers::NONE));
+        assert!(matches!(result, InputResult::Submitted { .. }));
+
+        let (_result, _needs_redraw) =
+            composer.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Up, KeyModifiers::NONE));
+        assert_eq!(composer.textarea.text(), "second");
+        assert_eq!(composer.textarea.cursor(), composer.textarea.text().len());
+
+        let (_result, _needs_redraw) =
+            composer.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Up, KeyModifiers::NONE));
+        assert_eq!(composer.textarea.text(), "first");
+        assert_eq!(composer.textarea.cursor(), composer.textarea.text().len());
+
+        let (_result, _needs_redraw) =
+            composer.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Down, KeyModifiers::NONE));
+        assert_eq!(composer.textarea.text(), "second");
+        assert_eq!(composer.textarea.cursor(), composer.textarea.text().len());
+
+        let (_result, _needs_redraw) =
+            composer.handle_key_event(KeyEvent::new(KeyCode::Down, KeyModifiers::NONE));
+        assert!(composer.textarea.is_empty());
+        assert_eq!(composer.textarea.cursor(), composer.textarea.text().len());
     }
 
     #[test]

codex-rs/tui/src/bottom_pane/chat_composer_history.rs

@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@ pub(crate) struct ChatComposerHistory {
 
     /// The text that was last inserted into the composer as a result of
     /// history navigation. Used to decide if further Up/Down presses should be
-    /// treated as navigation versus normal cursor movement.
+    /// treated as navigation versus normal cursor movement, together with the
+    /// "cursor at line boundary" check in [`Self::should_handle_navigation`].
     last_history_text: Option<String>,
 }
 
@@ -136,8 +137,16 @@ impl ChatComposerHistory {
         self.last_history_text = None;
     }
 
-    /// Should Up/Down key presses be interpreted as history navigation given
+    /// Returns whether Up/Down should navigate history for the current textarea state.
-    /// the current content and cursor position of `textarea`?
+    ///
+    /// Empty text always enables history traversal. For non-empty text, this requires both:
+    ///
+    /// - the current text exactly matching the last recalled history entry, and
+    /// - the cursor being at a line boundary (start or end).
+    ///
+    /// This boundary gate keeps multiline cursor movement usable while preserving shell-like
+    /// history recall. If callers moved the cursor into the middle of a recalled entry and still
+    /// forced navigation, users would lose normal vertical movement within the draft.
     pub fn should_handle_navigation(&self, text: &str, cursor: usize) -> bool {
         if self.history_entry_count == 0 && self.local_history.is_empty() {
             return false;
@@ -147,10 +156,11 @@ impl ChatComposerHistory {
             return true;
         }
 
-        // Textarea is not empty – only navigate when cursor is at start and
+        // Textarea is not empty – only navigate when text matches the last
-        // text matches last recalled history entry so regular editing is not
+        // recalled history entry and the cursor is at a line boundary. This
-        // hijacked.
+        // keeps shell-like Up/Down recall working while still allowing normal
-        if cursor != 0 {
+        // multiline cursor movement from interior positions.
+        if cursor != 0 && cursor != text.len() {
             return false;
         }
 
@@ -378,4 +388,16 @@ mod tests {
             history.navigate_up(&tx)
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn should_handle_navigation_when_cursor_is_at_line_boundaries() {
+        let mut history = ChatComposerHistory::new();
+        history.record_local_submission(HistoryEntry::new("hello".to_string()));
+        history.last_history_text = Some("hello".to_string());
+
+        assert!(history.should_handle_navigation("hello", 0));
+        assert!(history.should_handle_navigation("hello", "hello".len()));
+        assert!(!history.should_handle_navigation("hello", 1));
+        assert!(!history.should_handle_navigation("other", 0));
+    }
 }

docs/tui-chat-composer.md

@@ -144,6 +144,10 @@ Local history entries capture:
 Persistent history entries only restore text. They intentionally do **not** rehydrate attachments
 or pending paste payloads.
 
+For non-empty drafts, Up/Down navigation is only treated as history recall when the current text
+matches the last recalled history entry and the cursor is at a boundary (start or end of the
+line). This keeps multiline cursor movement intact while preserving shell-like history traversal.
+
 ### Draft recovery (Ctrl+C)
 
 Ctrl+C clears the composer but stashes the full draft state (text elements, image paths, and
@@ -157,6 +161,7 @@ ranges and local image paths. Pending paste payloads are cleared during submissi
 placeholders are expanded into their full text before being recorded. This means:
 
 - Up/Down recall of a submitted message restores image placeholders and their local paths.
+- Recalled entries place the cursor at end-of-line to match typical shell history editing.
 - Large-paste placeholders are not expected in recalled submitted history; the text is the
   expanded paste content.