vscode: next-file / previous-file navigation in a Codev diff session (#1060)

[amrmelsayed]

PIR Review: Cross-file navigation in a Codev View Diff session

Fixes #1060

Summary

Adds two palette + keyboard commands, codev.diffNextFile / codev.diffPreviousFile (Ctrl+Alt+] / Ctrl+Alt+[), that walk a builder's changed-file list and open each file's per-file diff — the keyboard equivalent of clicking the next file row in the Builders sidebar (GitHub PR review's j/k). The implementation deliberately reuses already-shipped machinery (the BuilderDiffCache that backs the sidebar for the ordered list, the diff-inject registry for the current position, and the per-file vscode.diff open path) rather than driving VSCode's multi-file diff editor internals, so there is no change to how codev.viewDiff opens.

Files Changed

• packages/vscode/src/commands/diff-nav.ts (+133 / -0) — new: navigateDiff + pure helpers (orderedRelPaths, computeNavTarget, indexOfRelPath)
• packages/vscode/src/commands/view-diff.ts (+39 / -0) — extracted openBuilderFileDiff(context, args, showOptions?), the shared per-file open seam
• packages/vscode/src/extension.ts (+11 / -14) — registered the two commands; refactored codev.openBuilderFileDiff to call the extracted helper
• packages/vscode/package.json (+18 / -0) — two contributes.commands + two contributes.keybindings entries
• packages/vscode/src/__tests__/diff-nav.test.ts (+103 / -0) — new: unit tests for the pure helpers
• packages/vscode/src/__tests__/contributes-commands.test.ts (+27 / -0) — assert the commands are declared, palette-discoverable, and bound (no function keys)
• codev/resources/lessons-learned.md — two cold-tier lessons (see below)

Commits

• 5bda593a [PIR vscode: next-file / previous-file navigation across files in a Codev View Diff session #1060] Extract openBuilderFileDiff helper, refactor sidebar handler
• 50f7fb25 [PIR vscode: next-file / previous-file navigation across files in a Codev View Diff session #1060] Add diffNextFile/diffPreviousFile cross-file navigation commands
• f9fe8b76 [PIR vscode: next-file / previous-file navigation across files in a Codev View Diff session #1060] Tests for nav helpers + command declarations
• 6649e752 [PIR vscode: next-file / previous-file navigation across files in a Codev View Diff session #1060] Add Ctrl+Alt+] / Ctrl+Alt+[ keybindings (builder-diff scoped)
• (plus thread-log commits)

Test Results

• pnpm compile (check-types + lint + esbuild): ✓ pass
• pnpm test:unit: ✓ pass (438 tests, 11 new in diff-nav.test.ts + 1 extended in contributes-commands.test.ts)
• Manual verification (human, at the dev-approval gate): walked files via the new commands in a running worktree — confirmed working ("File Navigation looks good"). The sidebar-selection-sync gap noticed during this review was spun out to a separate issue (vscode: sync Builders sidebar selection with the active builder-diff file #1066) rather than folded in.

Architecture Updates

No arch changes needed. The feature introduces no new module boundaries: it reuses BuilderDiffCache (changed-file list), the diff-inject registry (getDiffInjectEntry), and the existing per-file diff path. The one structural touch — extracting openBuilderFileDiff from the extension.ts command handler into view-diff.ts — is a same-seam refactor (the sidebar command and the nav commands now share it), not a boundary change, so it doesn't rise to an arch.md / arch-critical.md entry.

Lessons Learned Updates

Two cold-tier lessons added to codev/resources/lessons-learned.md (UI/UX section) — both VSCode-diff-narrow, so COLD not HOT:

1. Programmatic reveal inside VSCode's multi-file diff editor requires the internal _workbench.openMultiDiffEditor (the public vscode.changes synthesizes a random source URI and has no file-granular nav) — but the cheaper, more robust path is to reuse an existing changed-file list + per-file diffs. Check for an existing list before reaching for an internal _workbench.* command.
2. preview: true reuses one tab for a sequential-open walk (but is ignored when the user disabled preview editors — respect that, don't force-close); and scope a nav keybinding to the feature-specific context key (codev.activeEditorIsBuilderFile), not the broad isInDiffEditor, so it can't fire in an unrelated diff and act on stale state.

3-Way Consultation (single advisory pass)

• Claude — APPROVE (HIGH, no issues). Confirmed the refactor is behavior-preserving and called the keybindings a "good deviation."
• Codex — REQUEST_CHANGES (HIGH), two findings, both addressed:
  1. Keybindings deviate from plan decision The Gestalt Problem - Features Developed in Isolation Without System Awareness #1 (palette-only). Disposition: authorized, plan amended. The keybindings were added at the human's explicit direction during the dev-approval gate (reversing the original lean, avoiding function keys); dev-approval was granted afterward. Plan decision The Gestalt Problem - Features Developed in Isolation Without System Awareness #1 is now updated to record the amendment so the artifact matches the code. No code change.
  2. Navigation can't be initiated from a deleted/binary file diff opened directly. Disposition: real defect, fixed + regression test. Deleted/binary files have no file: right side, so registerFileInjectSession skips them and getDiffInjectEntry can't resolve them; with lastPosition unset, next/prev bailed. Fix: seed the nav anchor on every open via recordDiffNavPosition (called from the codev.openBuilderFileDiff handler), not just after a navigation step — so a subsequent next/prev resolves through the fallback. Regression coverage: diff-nav.test.ts now tests the record/peek/reset anchor and that a deleted file resolves in the list. Commit <see PR>.
• Gemini — no usable verdict. The agy/Antigravity run misfired: it went off investigating a "--sandbox" prompt and never reviewed the diff (output in codev/projects/1060-*/1060-review-iter1-gemini.txt). Not re-run (PIR consultation is single-pass advisory); flagged for the human.

Things to Look At During PR Review

• navigateDiff current-position resolution (diff-nav.ts): it reads the active editor's fsPath via the diff-inject registry, with a module-level lastPosition fallback for when the active editor isn't a tracked diff file. Worth a look that the fallback + the no-op status messages (no session / file-not-in-list / at-edge) cover the cases sensibly.
• openBuilderFileDiff behavior preservation: the sidebar command (codev.openBuilderFileDiff) now calls the helper with no showOptions, so it runs vscode.diff(left, right, title) with no 4th arg — byte-identical to the pre-refactor call. Only navigation passes { preview: true }. Confirm the refactor didn't change the sidebar-click path.
• Keybinding when clause: I used codev.activeEditorIsBuilderFile rather than the generic isInDiffEditor shown in the plan-gate option, to avoid the chord firing in unrelated diffs (where it would fall back to a stale position). Flagging the deliberate deviation.
• Navigation order: canonical git --name-status order (matches the View Diff file list and the sidebar's flat-list mode). In the sidebar's file-tree mode the visual order differs (folders-first/alphabetical) — documented as a plan decision, not a bug.

How to Test Locally

For reviewers pulling the branch:

• Run dev server: VSCode sidebar → right-click builder pir-1060 → Run Dev Server, or afx dev pir-1060
• What to verify:
  • Open a builder file diff (sidebar click or View Diff), run Codev: Go to Next File in Diff (or Ctrl+Alt+]) repeatedly → steps through files in list order, reusing one tab; at the last file a status-bar message ("last file in diff"), no wrap. Previous (Ctrl+Alt+[) walks back; at the first, "first file in diff".
  • Within-file hunk nav (F7 / Shift+F7) still works on each opened file.
  • Open a second builder's file; navigation stays within whichever builder's file is currently shown (isolation).
  • Works with the Builders sidebar collapsed/hidden.

Changelog

Per the established workflow, packages/vscode/CHANGELOG.md and docs/releases/UNRELEASED.md are not touched on this branch — they live on the divergent docs/vscode-changelog branch (worktrees/changelog/) and are added by the architect post-cleanup. Flagged in the architect notification.