From 9d347648153f1076ccaaf3380b3596b2ca1f578f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: rootiest <chris@rootiest.com>
Date: Sat, 30 May 2026 23:40:53 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] feat(watcher): add scrollback history logging on window/pane
 close
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Introduces watcher.py — a kitty Python watcher that captures terminal
scrollback to ~/.terminal_history/ whenever any window or pane is closed
via Ctrl+D, keybind, or full kitty quit. Works alongside the fish
smart_exit function, which handles graceful shell exits and sets a
user var flag to prevent duplicate logs.

Fixes the kitty.conf watcher directive (removed invalid --type=global
prefix that caused a FileNotFoundError on every kitty startup).
---
 README.md  | 12 ++++++++
 kitty.conf |  4 +++
 watcher.py | 81 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 97 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 watcher.py

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ac455dd..77682a9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ The rootiest kitty configuration you will ever see!
 - Smart key bindings with NeoVim-aware passthrough
 - Integration with NeoVim (kitty-scrollback.nvim for in-editor scrollback)
 - Integration with fish shell
+- Automatic scrollback history logging on every window/pane close
 - Catppuccin Mocha theme with 85% background opacity and blur
 - Cursor trail effect for enhanced visibility
 - Highly-tuned Iosevka Rootiest v2 font with custom OpenType features
@@ -81,6 +82,17 @@ The rootiest kitty configuration you will ever see!
 - Session saving (F11) and config reload (F12)
 - Integrates cleanly with other Rootiest projects
 
+## Configuration
+
+### Scrollback History
+
+Terminal scrollback is automatically saved to `~/.terminal_history/` whenever a window or pane is closed (including `Ctrl+D`, closing a pane via keybind, or quitting kitty). The fish `smart_exit` function handles graceful shell exits; `watcher.py` catches all other close events.
+
+| Variable | Default | Description |
+|---|---|---|
+| `SCROLLBACK_HISTORY_DIR` | `~/.terminal_history` | Directory where scrollback logs are written |
+| `SCROLLBACK_HISTORY_MAX_FILES` | `100` | Maximum number of log files to retain |
+
 ## Companion Tools
 
 [Rootiest Fish](https://github.com/rootiest/rootiest-fish) -
diff --git a/kitty.conf b/kitty.conf
index 98a6358..8dd580a 100644
--- a/kitty.conf
+++ b/kitty.conf
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ notify_on_cmd_finish never
 copy_on_select yes
 # }}}
 
+# {{{ Watcher
+watcher watcher.py
+# }}}
+
 # {{{ Window
 remember_window_size no
 initial_window_width 150c
diff --git a/watcher.py b/watcher.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a76f943
--- /dev/null
+++ b/watcher.py
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# Copyright (C) 2026 Rootiest
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+
+import datetime
+import os
+import re
+from kitty.boss import Boss
+from kitty.window import Window
+
+_logged_windows: set[int] = set()
+
+
+def save_scrollback_safely(window: Window) -> None:
+    if window.user_vars.get("logged_by_shell") == "true":
+        return
+    if window.id in _logged_windows:
+        return
+
+    home = os.path.expanduser("~")
+    snapshot_dir = os.environ.get(
+        "SCROLLBACK_HISTORY_DIR", os.path.join(home, ".terminal_history")
+    )
+    max_files_str = os.environ.get("SCROLLBACK_HISTORY_MAX_FILES", "100")
+
+    try:
+        max_files = int(max_files_str)
+    except ValueError:
+        max_files = 100
+
+    os.makedirs(snapshot_dir, exist_ok=True)
+
+    # Safety filter: prevent TUI capture if an editor is focused
+    try:
+        foreground_processes = window.child.foreground_processes
+        if foreground_processes:
+            cmdline = foreground_processes[-1].get("cmdline") or [""]
+            base_app = os.path.basename(cmdline[0])
+            if re.match(r"^(nvim|vim|vi|nano|emacs|tmux)$", base_app):
+                return
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+    text = window.as_text(as_ansi=True, add_history=True)
+    if not text.strip():
+        return
+
+    text_cleaned = re.sub(r"^\x1b\[38;2;[0-9;]*m", "", text)
+
+    timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S")
+    filename = os.path.join(snapshot_dir, f"scrollback_{timestamp}.log")
+
+    try:
+        with open(filename, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            f.write(text_cleaned)
+    except IOError:
+        return
+
+    _logged_windows.add(window.id)
+
+    try:
+        files = sorted(
+            os.path.join(snapshot_dir, f)
+            for f in os.listdir(snapshot_dir)
+            if f.startswith("scrollback_") and f.endswith(".log")
+        )
+        for old in files[: max(0, len(files) - max_files)]:
+            os.remove(old)
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+
+def on_close(boss: Boss, window: Window, data: dict) -> None:
+    save_scrollback_safely(window)
+
+
+def on_quit(boss: Boss, window: Window, data: dict) -> None:
+    if not data.get("confirmed"):
+        return
+    for win in boss.all_windows:
+        save_scrollback_safely(win)