[Bug]: Clicking to focus the terminal opens log output in the editor as a file path

[tris203]

Before submitting

• I searched existing issues and did not find a duplicate.
• I included enough detail to reproduce or investigate the problem.

Area

apps/web

Steps to reproduce

1. Run a link-heavy process in the integrated terminal. A Next.js dev server with tRPC is a good example: it logs a request line per call, such as GET /api/trpc/post.list,user.me?batch=1&input=%7B%220%22%3A... 200 in 34ms.
2. Make the terminal narrow so those request lines wrap across several rows.
3. Move focus elsewhere (the composer, for example).
4. Click anywhere in the terminal output to focus it, then press Ctrl+C to stop the server.

Expected behavior

The click focuses the terminal and Ctrl+C stops the process. Nothing opens.

Actual behavior

The focus click frequently opens the preferred editor (VS Code here) on a path that is not a file, such as /api/trpc/post.list,user.me?batch=1&input=.... It looks like Ctrl+C caused it, but the click did.

From reading the code at main @ 18b21325c3:

• Since fix(web): honor terminal link browser overrides #10060, an unmodified single left click on a detected terminal link activates it (onPointerDown / onPointerUp in apps/web/src/terminal/ghostty/surface.ts). Before that PR it required Ctrl/Cmd.
• FILE_PATH_PATTERN in apps/web/src/terminal-links.ts treats any token starting with /, and any word/word token, as a path. A logged request route like /api/trpc/...?batch=1&input=... matches in full, query string included.
• Path links go straight to openInPreferredEditor from handleLinkActivate in apps/web/src/components/ThreadTerminalDrawer.tsx, with no check that the file exists.
• A wrapped link is one hit target across all of its rows, so a long tRPC URL at narrow width can cover most of the visible terminal.

Together these leave very little terminal area that is safe to click for focus while such a server is running.

Impact

Minor bug or occasional failure

Version or commit

main @ 18b2132

Environment

Linux, VS Code as preferred editor, Next.js dev server with tRPC in the integrated terminal

Workaround

Shift+click to focus (Shift never activates a link), click on blank space, or drag slightly before releasing. There is no setting that disables plain-click activation for paths; "Open links in" only affects URLs.

Possible directions

Leaving the choice to maintainers, but the options I can see:

• Require Ctrl/Cmd for path links again and keep plain click for URLs.
• Do not activate a link on the click that gives the terminal focus.
• Tighten path detection, for example by not treating tokens with a query string as paths, or by checking the file exists before opening the editor.

[juliusmarminge]

Note

Grok responding on behalf of Julius.

Triage

Thanks for the careful write-up, @tris203! The code walk-through and the workarounds made this easy to confirm.

What I found

Confirmed on current main (4ee6bfd). The cited files haven't changed since 18b21325c3.

• The click opens the editor, not Ctrl+C. A plain left click focuses the terminal. If it lands on a detected link and doesn't turn into a drag, it also activates that link on pointer release. This is onPointerDown / onPointerUp in apps/web/src/terminal/ghostty/surface.ts, and it's been the behavior since fix(web): honor terminal link browser overrides #10060. Shift+click, a drag past the threshold, and a second click already opt out.
• Request-log routes are detected as paths. In apps/web/src/terminal-links.ts, FILE_PATH_PATTERN treats any token starting with / as a path up to the next whitespace. So /api/trpc/post.list,user.me?batch=1&input=... becomes one path link, query string included.
• A wrapped link covers every row it spans. Soft-wrapped rows form a single hit target (terminalLinkAtPositionWithRange), so in a narrow pane most of the visible output can be clickable.
• The editor opens without checking the file exists. handleLinkActivate in apps/web/src/components/ThreadTerminalDrawer.tsx passes the string straight to openInPreferredEditor.
• Chat links already reject these. looksLikePosixFilesystemPath in packages/client-runtime/src/markdownLinks.ts only accepts absolute paths under real filesystem roots, or names that look like files, and deliberately doesn't treat app routes as files. Terminal detection doesn't use that check.
• The link setting doesn't apply. "Open links in" only affects http(s) URLs, not path links.

Likely fix area

Some options:

• Tighten terminal path detection.
  • Reject tokens with a ? query string, which covers the reported log line.
  • Reuse the same file-path check as chat links, which would also skip bare routes like /api/trpc/....
  • Real paths (src/main.ts:12, ~/project/file, C:\repo\file.ts) would keep opening on a plain click.
  • A case for a query-string route in the extractTerminalLinks tests would guard it.
• Require Ctrl/Cmd for path links again, or ignore the click that first focuses the terminal. These are broader changes that would also affect legitimate path links.

A maintainer will decide on the fix direction.