MeshTerm/CLAUDE.md

MeshTerm — working notes for Claude

MeshTerm is a full-screen terminal companion for MeshCore LoRa mesh devices. The UI is a prompt_toolkit session rendering Rich content (meshterm/ui/), tools register into a menu (meshterm/tools/), services run in the background (meshterm/services/), and everything heard is recorded to SQLite (meshterm/persistence/).

Run the tests with python -m pytest -q. Screens must stay readable at 72 columns.

Git workflow

Commit directly on main — do not create topic branches unless explicitly asked (this is a solo repo; branches just create divergence to merge back later). Commit freely, but never git push unless explicitly asked in that moment.

UX standards

These are binding. Every new screen, dialog, row, or hint follows them; when you touch an old one that doesn't, bring it along. The enforcement points live in code — build through them instead of hand-rolling:

• ui/menus.py — back_rows, exit_rows, menu_rows, lane_row, section_heading, confirm_discard, fit_cells.
• ui/widgets.py — highlighted_hash (THE key widget — shows a key, lights its hash), format_ago (prose ages), _format_age (column ages), channel_glyph, _NODE_GLYPHS, heard-age heat colouring.
• ui/theme.py — name_style/node_style (per-node hues, hash-derived), snr_style, the you white.

Lexicon — one term per concept

Term	Meaning
node	any device on the mesh — a radio broadcasting packets; roles: client, repeater, room server. The umbrella term
contact	a node your device knows: discovered (heard broadcasting, not yet added) or added (in the contact list, messageable). Every contact is a node; not every node is a contact
heard	received from ("last heard", "first heard") — never "seen" in UX text
key	the full fixed-length value — a node's public key, a channel secret
hash	the short derived id — a key's first path-hash-mode bytes (the slice highlighted_hash lights), a channel hash, a path hop
path	an ordered hop spec you compose or force (a1,3d,…)
route	the concrete node sequence a trace walked or will walk
via	prefix for a packet/message's relay chain
Back	leave the current screen/list (the only exit word on rows)
Quit	leave the app (main menu, device splash) — nowhere else

Node vs contact — the boundary: node is the hardware/participant sense — the map, mesh walk, heard-nodes, relay hops, graph vertices, and node types (client/repeater/room/ sensor) all speak "node". Contact is the saved-identity sense — the Contacts screen, the courier recipient, anything you address. The reception/persistence layer (observations.node, HeardNode, heard_nodes(), trace_hops.node) stays "node"; the sortable list you pick from is contactlist.py (ContactListScreen/ContactRow/ ContactsSort/contacts_table). The contacts tool lists the device's added contacts.

Relative ages: format_ago for prose ("now", "5m ago", "never" — never "now ago"), _format_age for aligned columns ("now", "5m").

Screens and lists

• Every select list ends with the exit group from back_rows() / exit_rows(): exactly one blank Separator(" ") line, then the bare word Back (no arrow, no icon). Editors with staged changes show ✓ Apply n staged changes over ✗ Back — discard staged changes.
• Grouped-list section headings use section_heading("Label") → ── Label ── accent. That is also what makes a heading sticky (it pins to the top row while its section scrolls, and the ^PgUp/^PgDn jumps step by it), so build them through it — a hand-rolled Separator is no landmark. Prose written directly under a heading (a description of what the section holds) is its preamble and pins with it, in order, as each row scrolls off; prose after the section's first row labels nothing and never pins.
• Label + description command rows go through menu_rows (two cell-aligned lanes, description muted). Editor rows (setting/value/description) go through lane_row.
• A row that opens further prompts ends with …; a row that acts immediately doesn't.
• Empty states are lowercase muted, optionally — explanation, never parenthesized.
• Body section headings inside screens: accent title, optional muted · note.

Titles

• Sentence case, always ("Trace — YUL-Poly", "Nodes", "Path width", "Admin login").
• No emoji in any screen or dialog title — icons live in menu/list rows. (A terminal that draws an emoji narrower than Rich measures leaves a content-sized dialog's border short.)
• — (em dash) introduces the subject/qualifier: Feature — subject. · chains status atoms: Map · z12 · 34 nodes · 2.1 km across.

Footer hints

• ≤72 cells. Sentence shape: navigation keys, then action keys, Esc last.
• Esc verb by surface: Esc back leaves a screen · Esc close dismisses a read-only floating view · Esc cancel abandons a prompt/dialog · Esc keep leaves a value picker unchanged · Esc quit only at the main menu.
• Enter verb by action: Enter open when the row pushes a screen or dialog · Enter select when it picks a value or action row · Enter set in a value picker. A more specific committing verb (Enter adopt path, Enter add) is fine; a synonym of the generic three (pick, choose, commit) is not. The filter atom is always type to filter.
• Key notation: ↑↓ move (include the verb), ^R/^End for Ctrl chords, ⌫ for backspace, ⇧ for shift.

Dialogs

• Modal popups over the pushed backdrop (never full-screen replacements).
• Buttons are reverse-video chips ( Label , selected style): safe way out on the left, the committing verb on the right and default, so Enter commits and Esc backs out. Two escalating caution tiers theme the frame: danger=True (amber) for a disruptive choice — discard edits, reboot, show private key — and destructive=True (the reserved red) for irreversible data loss, so a delete confirm reads red like its typed_confirm sibling. Bulk or irreversible deletions gate behind typed_confirm (also red); a single-record delete is a red Cancel/Delete confirm.
• Confirms are Cancel/Verb button dialogs, not Yes/No. Prompt lines that ask for input end with a colon.
• Dialog title is short; the question/instruction goes in prompt.

Marks and icons — one glyph per concept

• Status marks (single-width, themed): ✓ ok · ✗ err · ⚠/? warn · ● unread/ unacked (err) · ○ acked/empty (muted). Never ✔, ✖, ✅, ❌ as status.
• Node types (shared with the map): ★ you (yellow) · ● node · ▲ repeater · ■ room · ◉ sensor · ○ unknown.
• Concept icons: 📡 advert · 🕒 clock/sync · 🔄 reboot · 💾 backup · 📂 restore · 🔑 channel/credential key · 🔐 identity/auth secret · 🗑 clear/delete · ✎ compose/edit · ⚙ parameter · # count · ▶ run · ⚡ explore/probe · ★ best/winner · ⭐ watch · 📤 send now · 📨 courier/queue · 💬 chat · 🔔 notify · 🔕 mute (notifications off) · 📱 QR · 🔗 link · ↻ re-read · ↕ reorder · ⇄ reverse (flip a path's direction) · 🏆 trophy case/record · ⌨ command line · 🚪 quit. Packet-class icons (feed/viewer lane): 📢 advert · 📊 telemetry · 📦 packet · 💬 message · ✅ ack. Raw payload classes (PAYLOAD_ICONS): 📻 channel text · 💽 channel data · 📩 direct message (overheard) · 📥 request · 📮 response · 🎭 anon request · 🧭 path · 🎯 trace · 🧩 multipart · 🧰 control · ❔ unknown — raw advert/ack reuse 📢/✅.

Colour

• Node names are always coloured: name_style(name, key) palette hue, derived from the node's key (its first byte — any known prefix agrees) so a rename keeps the colour. A surface holding only a name resolves it first (make_name_key_resolver); a name no known node carries stays muted — colour is reserved for keyed identities, never seeded from a name's characters. Our own node is the pure-white you style; a context colouring (chart quality) may still win. Recency heat colours heard/first-heard ages, never names. A key lane (via highlighted_hash) lights its hash in the same key-derived hue; the rest of the key, and any key standing in as a name, stays muted. UX text says "key" for the lane and "hash" only for the short derived id — never "hash" for a truncated key.
• SNR always through snr_style; timelines oldest→now left-to-right, grey baseline = 0, drawn via ui/braillechart only.

Layout

• Wrapped labelled rows hang under their value block (two-column grid), never column 0.
• Dialogs anchor slightly above true centre, sized for their populated state.
• Radio traffic: single transmissions or a user-chosen sample count with cooldown pacing — never bursts.