tui: bring the transcript closer to display mode (#4848)

before
<img width="1161" height="836" alt="Screenshot 2025-10-06 at 3 06 52 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7622fd6b-9d37-402f-8651-61c2c55dcbc6"
/>

after
<img width="1161" height="858" alt="Screenshot 2025-10-06 at 3 07 02 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1498f327-1d1a-4630-951f-7ca371ab0139"
/>

Author: nornagon-openai

codex-rs/tui/src/app_backtrack.rs

@@ -134,8 +134,9 @@ impl App {
     /// Useful when switching sessions to ensure prior history remains visible.
     pub(crate) fn render_transcript_once(&mut self, tui: &mut tui::Tui) {
         if !self.transcript_cells.is_empty() {
+            let width = tui.terminal.last_known_screen_size.width;
             for cell in &self.transcript_cells {
-                tui.insert_history_lines(cell.transcript_lines());
+                tui.insert_history_lines(cell.display_lines(width));
             }
         }
     }

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

@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ use crate::bottom_pane::prompt_args::prompt_has_numeric_placeholders;
 use crate::slash_command::SlashCommand;
 use crate::slash_command::built_in_slash_commands;
 use crate::style::user_message_style;
-use crate::terminal_palette;
 use codex_protocol::custom_prompts::CustomPrompt;
 use codex_protocol::custom_prompts::PROMPTS_CMD_PREFIX;
 
@@ -1533,7 +1532,7 @@ impl WidgetRef for ChatComposer {
                 }
             }
         }
-        let style = user_message_style(terminal_palette::default_bg());
+        let style = user_message_style();
         let mut block_rect = composer_rect;
         block_rect.y = composer_rect.y.saturating_sub(1);
         block_rect.height = composer_rect.height.saturating_add(1);

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

@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ use crate::render::RectExt as _;
 use crate::render::renderable::ColumnRenderable;
 use crate::render::renderable::Renderable;
 use crate::style::user_message_style;
-use crate::terminal_palette;
 
 use super::CancellationEvent;
 use super::bottom_pane_view::BottomPaneView;
@@ -350,7 +349,7 @@ impl Renderable for ListSelectionView {
         .areas(area);
 
         Block::default()
-            .style(user_message_style(terminal_palette::default_bg()))
+            .style(user_message_style())
             .render(content_area, buf);
 
         let header_height = self

codex-rs/tui/src/custom_terminal.rs

@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@ where
     /// Last known position of the cursor. Used to find the new area when the viewport is inlined
     /// and the terminal resized.
     pub last_known_cursor_pos: Position,
+
+    use_custom_flush: bool,
 }
 
 impl<B> Drop for Terminal<B>
@@ -158,6 +160,7 @@ where
             viewport_area: Rect::new(0, cursor_pos.y, 0, 0),
             last_known_screen_size: screen_size,
             last_known_cursor_pos: cursor_pos,
+            use_custom_flush: true,
         })
     }
 
@@ -190,15 +193,24 @@ where
     pub fn flush(&mut self) -> io::Result<()> {
         let previous_buffer = &self.buffers[1 - self.current];
         let current_buffer = &self.buffers[self.current];
-        let updates = diff_buffers(previous_buffer, current_buffer);
-        if let Some(DrawCommand::Put { x, y, .. }) = updates
-            .iter()
-            .rev()
-            .find(|cmd| matches!(cmd, DrawCommand::Put { .. }))
-        {
-            self.last_known_cursor_pos = Position { x: *x, y: *y };
+
+        if self.use_custom_flush {
+            let updates = diff_buffers(previous_buffer, current_buffer);
+            if let Some(DrawCommand::Put { x, y, .. }) = updates
+                .iter()
+                .rev()
+                .find(|cmd| matches!(cmd, DrawCommand::Put { .. }))
+            {
+                self.last_known_cursor_pos = Position { x: *x, y: *y };
+            }
+            draw(&mut self.backend, updates.into_iter())
+        } else {
+            let updates = previous_buffer.diff(current_buffer);
+            if let Some((x, y, _)) = updates.last() {
+                self.last_known_cursor_pos = Position { x: *x, y: *y };
+            }
+            self.backend.draw(updates.into_iter())
         }
-        draw(&mut self.backend, updates.into_iter())
     }
 
     /// Updates the Terminal so that internal buffers match the requested area.
@@ -408,11 +420,13 @@ fn diff_buffers<'a>(a: &'a Buffer, b: &'a Buffer) -> Vec<DrawCommand<'a>> {
 
         let x = row
             .iter()
-            .rposition(|cell| cell.symbol() != " " || cell.bg != bg)
+            .rposition(|cell| {
+                cell.symbol() != " " || cell.bg != bg || cell.modifier != Modifier::empty()
+            })
             .unwrap_or(0);
         last_nonblank_column[y as usize] = x as u16;
-        let (x_abs, y_abs) = a.pos_of(row_start + x + 1);
         if x < (a.area.width as usize).saturating_sub(1) {
+            let (x_abs, y_abs) = a.pos_of(row_start + x + 1);
             updates.push(DrawCommand::ClearToEnd {
                 x: x_abs,
                 y: y_abs,

codex-rs/tui/src/diff_render.rs

@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ impl From<DiffSummary> for Box<dyn Renderable> {
             rows.push(Box::new(path));
             rows.push(Box::new(RtLine::from("")));
             rows.push(Box::new(InsetRenderable::new(
-                Box::new(row.change),
+                row.change,
                 Insets::tlbr(0, 2, 0, 0),
             )));
         }

codex-rs/tui/src/exec_cell/render.rs

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ use crate::render::line_utils::push_owned_lines;
 use crate::shimmer::shimmer_spans;
 use crate::wrapping::RtOptions;
 use crate::wrapping::word_wrap_line;
+use crate::wrapping::word_wrap_lines;
 use codex_ansi_escape::ansi_escape_line;
 use codex_common::elapsed::format_duration;
 use codex_protocol::parse_command::ParsedCommand;
@@ -138,17 +139,25 @@ impl HistoryCell for ExecCell {
         }
     }
 
-    fn transcript_lines(&self) -> Vec<Line<'static>> {
+    fn desired_transcript_height(&self, width: u16) -> u16 {
+        self.transcript_lines(width).len() as u16
+    }
+
+    fn transcript_lines(&self, width: u16) -> Vec<Line<'static>> {
         let mut lines: Vec<Line<'static>> = vec![];
-        for call in self.iter_calls() {
-            let cmd_display = strip_bash_lc_and_escape(&call.command);
-            for (i, part) in cmd_display.lines().enumerate() {
-                if i == 0 {
-                    lines.push(vec!["$ ".magenta(), part.to_string().into()].into());
-                } else {
-                    lines.push(vec!["    ".into(), part.to_string().into()].into());
-                }
+        for (i, call) in self.iter_calls().enumerate() {
+            if i > 0 {
+                lines.push("".into());
             }
+            let script = strip_bash_lc_and_escape(&call.command);
+            let highlighted_script = highlight_bash_to_lines(&script);
+            let cmd_display = word_wrap_lines(
+                &highlighted_script,
+                RtOptions::new(width as usize)
+                    .initial_indent("$ ".magenta().into())
+                    .subsequent_indent("    ".into()),
+            );
+            lines.extend(cmd_display);
 
             if let Some(output) = call.output.as_ref() {
                 lines.extend(output.formatted_output.lines().map(ansi_escape_line));
@@ -167,7 +176,6 @@ impl HistoryCell for ExecCell {
                 result.push_span(format!(" • {duration}").dim());
                 lines.push(result);
             }
-            lines.push("".into());
         }
         lines
     }