Refactor panes and filesystem; replace FUSE with 9P

Consolidate pane, layout, memory and host code. Serve 9P by default over Unix sockets, with runtime mounts and optional TCP/QUIC transports. Remove FUSE and obsolete proof-of-concept examples.

Fix highlighting and terminal-history performance, expand differential and stress-test infrastructure, sort navigation results while preserving the next occurrence, add syntax-colored Braille minimaps, remove SPC-k, and document 9P interaction as a repository skill.

1 files changed, 329 insertions, 19 deletions

diff --git a/test/snapshot.zig b/test/snapshot.zig
index 5dc2e6e9..a7a1ba48 100644
--- a/test/snapshot.zig
+++ b/test/snapshot.zig
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 //   resize <rows> <cols>
 //   snap <label>              capture grid text + cursor
 //   snapstyle <label>         capture per-cell style runs (fg,bg,attrs)
+//   snap9p <label>            read core cells/styles over the child's 9P socket
 //
 // Any <col> above may be `@Word`, `@Word#2` or `@Word+4` instead of a number:
 // the column of a word on that row of the live grid (see resolveCol). Chrome
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ const std = @import("std");
 const libc = std.c;
 const ghostty_vt = @import("ghostty-vt");
 const eh = @import("e2e_harness.zig");
+const Client = @import("9p_io").Client;
 
 // This harness parses the app's output with its OWN ghostty-vt, which narrates
 // every sequence it does not implement — vaxis's startup capability probes
@@ -74,6 +76,7 @@ pub const std_options: std.Options = .{ .log_level = .err };
 extern "c" fn setenv(name: [*:0]const u8, value: [*:0]const u8, overwrite: c_int) c_int;
 extern "c" fn execvp(file: [*:0]const u8, argv: [*:null]const ?[*:0]const u8) c_int;
 extern "c" fn system(cmd: [*:0]const u8) c_int;
+extern "c" fn mkdtemp(template: [*:0]u8) ?[*:0]u8;
 
 const SNAP_BASE = "/tmp/pardes-snap";
 var trace_stable = false;
@@ -82,6 +85,7 @@ var careful = false;
 /// abs path of the deterministic mock language server the build handed over
 /// (--lspmock=); null leaves the protocol client fully disabled for the run
 var lspmock_bin: ?[:0]const u8 = null;
+var record_dir: ?[]const u8 = null;
 const gpa = std.heap.page_allocator;
 
 pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
@@ -89,6 +93,7 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
     defer arena_state.deinit();
     const arena = arena_state.allocator();
     const args = try init.minimal.args.toSlice(init.arena.allocator());
+    if (args.len == 2 and std.mem.eql(u8, args[1], "--self-test")) return testCli(init);
 
     // argv: exe-under-test, then flags/scripts. All paths made absolute up
     // front because runScript chdirs into a per-script workdir.
@@ -98,6 +103,7 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
 
     var exe: ?[]const u8 = null;
     var update = false;
+    var retry_failures = true;
     // Slight oversubscription: a script spends most of its life waiting on a
     // shell, not computing. Measured on 16 cores: 16 jobs 4.4s, 20 jobs 3.9s,
     // 24 jobs 3.7s but losing the idle-probe bet often enough that the re-run
@@ -109,10 +115,14 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
     for (args[1..]) |a| {
         if (std.mem.eql(u8, a, "--update")) {
             update = true;
+        } else if (std.mem.eql(u8, a, "--no-retry")) {
+            retry_failures = false;
         } else if (std.mem.eql(u8, a, "--trace-stable")) {
             trace_stable = true;
         } else if (std.mem.startsWith(u8, a, "--lspmock=")) {
             lspmock = try absPath(arena, orig_cwd, a["--lspmock=".len..]);
+        } else if (std.mem.startsWith(u8, a, "--record=")) {
+            record_dir = try absPath(arena, orig_cwd, a["--record=".len..]);
         } else if (std.mem.startsWith(u8, a, "--jobs=")) {
             jobs = @max(1, try std.fmt.parseInt(usize, a["--jobs=".len..], 10));
         } else if (exe == null) {
@@ -134,8 +144,10 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
     var saw_exe = false;
     for (args[1..]) |a| {
         if (std.mem.eql(u8, a, "--update") or
+            std.mem.eql(u8, a, "--no-retry") or
             std.mem.eql(u8, a, "--trace-stable") or
             std.mem.startsWith(u8, a, "--lspmock=") or
+            std.mem.startsWith(u8, a, "--record=") or
             std.mem.startsWith(u8, a, "--jobs=")) continue;
         if (!saw_exe) {
             saw_exe = true;
@@ -157,6 +169,16 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
         }.lt);
     }
     if (scripts.len == 0) fatal("no .snap scripts found", .{});
+    for (scripts, 0..) |script, i| for (scripts[0..i]) |previous| {
+        if (std.mem.eql(u8, std.fs.path.stem(script), std.fs.path.stem(previous))) {
+            std.debug.print("snapshot scripts share a work directory: {s} and {s}\n", .{ previous, script });
+            return error.DuplicateScriptName;
+        }
+    };
+    if (record_dir) |dir| {
+        if (update) fatal("--record and --update are separate modes", .{});
+        try mkdir(arena, dir, true);
+    }
 
     try mkdir(arena, SNAP_BASE, true);
     // one run at a time (this is the flock that used to be typed by hand)
@@ -165,20 +187,23 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
     const codes = try arena.alloc(u8, scripts.len);
     if (update) {
         careful = true;
-        try runBatch(arena, exe_z, toBatch(arena, scripts), true, jobs, codes);
+        try runBatch(arena, exe_z, try toBatch(arena, scripts), true, jobs, codes);
+        var update_failed = false;
+        for (scripts, codes) |script, code| if (code != 0) {
+            update_failed = true;
+            const report = readFileAlloc(arena, try reportPath(arena, script)) catch "child died without a report\n";
+            std.debug.print("{s}", .{report});
+        };
+        if (update_failed) return error.SnapshotRegenerationFailed;
         careful = false;
         std.debug.print("verifying {d} regenerated golden(s)\n", .{scripts.len});
     }
-    try runBatch(arena, exe_z, toBatch(arena, scripts), false, jobs, codes);
+    try runBatch(arena, exe_z, try toBatch(arena, scripts), false, jobs, codes);
 
-    // A failure in the parallel pass is more often contention than regression:
-    // the app can lose a race with a kworker while 20 siblings fight for the
-    // cpu. So a failure is re-run alone before it counts — first at the normal
-    // probe settings, which is usually all an idle machine needs, and only if
-    // it fails AGAIN with the probes widened (beCareful), which is slow but
-    // decides. A wholesale failure is not flakiness, so past a handful there is
-    // nothing to re-check.
-    if (jobs > 1) {
+    const attempts = try arena.alloc(u8, scripts.len);
+    @memset(attempts, 0);
+    var retry_dir: ?[]const u8 = null;
+    if (jobs > 1 and retry_failures) {
         var round: usize = 0;
         while (round < 2) : (round += 1) {
             var retry_count: usize = 0;
@@ -186,10 +211,18 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
                 if (c != 0) retry_count += 1;
             }
             if (retry_count == 0 or retry_count > 10) break;
+            if (retry_dir == null) {
+                var template = "/tmp/pardes-snap-retry-XXXXXX".* ++ [_:0]u8{0};
+                const path = mkdtemp(&template) orelse return error.TempDirectoryFailed;
+                retry_dir = try arena.dupe(u8, std.mem.span(path));
+                std.debug.print("retry captures: {s}\n", .{retry_dir.?});
+            }
             const retry = try arena.alloc(usize, retry_count);
             var retry_i: usize = 0;
             for (codes, 0..) |c, i| {
                 if (c != 0) {
+                    try archiveAttempt(init.io, arena, retry_dir.?, scripts[i], attempts[i]);
+                    attempts[i] += 1;
                     retry[retry_i] = i;
                     retry_i += 1;
                 }
@@ -210,7 +243,11 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
     }
 
     var failed: usize = 0;
-    for (scripts, codes) |script_path, code| {
+    for (scripts, codes, attempts) |script_path, code, attempt| {
+        if (attempt != 0) {
+            try archiveAttempt(init.io, arena, retry_dir.?, script_path, attempt);
+            std.debug.print("{s} required {d} retr{s}\n", .{ std.fs.path.stem(script_path), attempt, if (attempt == 1) "y" else "ies" });
+        }
         const report = readFileAlloc(arena, reportPath(arena, script_path) catch "") catch "";
         std.debug.print("{s}", .{report});
         if (code != 0) {
@@ -230,6 +267,120 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
     std.debug.print("all {d} snapshot scripts ok\n", .{scripts.len});
 }
 
+fn testCli(init: std.process.Init) !void {
+    const io = init.io;
+    const arena = init.arena.allocator();
+    const exe = try std.process.executablePathAlloc(io, arena);
+    var template = "/tmp/pardes-snap-selftest-XXXXXX".* ++ [_:0]u8{0};
+    const root = std.mem.span(mkdtemp(&template) orelse return error.TempDirectoryFailed);
+    const prefix = std.fs.path.basename(root);
+    var dir = try std.Io.Dir.cwd().openDir(io, root, .{});
+    defer dir.close(io);
+    var archives: std.ArrayList([]const u8) = .empty;
+    var passed = false;
+    defer {
+        if (passed) {
+            for (archives.items) |path| std.Io.Dir.cwd().deleteTree(io, path) catch {};
+            for ([_][]const u8{ "bad", "good", "error", "unwritable" }) |name| {
+                const work = std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}/{s}-{s}", .{ SNAP_BASE, prefix, name }) catch continue;
+                std.Io.Dir.cwd().deleteTree(io, work) catch {};
+                const report = std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}.report", .{work}) catch continue;
+                std.Io.Dir.cwd().deleteFile(io, report) catch {};
+            }
+            std.Io.Dir.cwd().deleteTree(io, root) catch {};
+        } else std.debug.print("snapshot driver test evidence: {s}\n", .{root});
+    }
+    var scripts: [4][]const u8 = undefined;
+    for ([_][]const u8{ "bad", "good", "error", "unwritable" }, 0..) |name, i| {
+        const path = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}-{s}.snap", .{ prefix, name });
+        try dir.writeFile(io, .{ .sub_path = path, .data = if (i == 2) "run false\n" else "file marker content\n" });
+        scripts[i] = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}/{s}", .{ root, path });
+        const golden = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}-{s}.golden", .{ prefix, name });
+        try dir.writeFile(io, .{ .sub_path = golden, .data = if (i == 0 or i == 3) "expected capture\n" else "" });
+    }
+    try dir.createDir(io, "other", .default_dir);
+    const duplicate = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}/other/{s}", .{ root, std.fs.path.basename(scripts[1]) });
+    try std.Io.Dir.cwd().writeFile(io, .{ .sub_path = duplicate, .data = "file marker content\n" });
+    const stale_actual = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}/{s}-error.actual", .{ root, prefix });
+    try std.Io.Dir.cwd().writeFile(io, .{ .sub_path = stale_actual, .data = "older verification evidence\n" });
+    const unwritable = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}-unwritable.actual", .{prefix});
+    try dir.createDir(io, unwritable, .default_dir);
+    const record_arg = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "--record={s}/recorded", .{root});
+    const fixtures = [_]struct {
+        name: []const u8,
+        args: []const []const u8,
+        status: u8 = 1,
+        message: []const u8,
+        archived: ?usize = null,
+        actual: bool = false,
+    }{
+        .{ .name = "retry", .args = &.{ scripts[0], scripts[1], "--jobs=2" }, .message = "required 2 retries", .archived = 0, .actual = true },
+        .{ .name = "no-retry", .args = &.{ scripts[0], scripts[1], "--jobs=2", "--no-retry" }, .message = "1/2 snapshot scripts FAILED" },
+        .{ .name = "duplicate", .args = &.{ scripts[1], duplicate, "--jobs=2" }, .message = "DuplicateScriptName" },
+        .{ .name = "record", .args = &.{ scripts[2], scripts[1], "--jobs=2", record_arg }, .message = "1/2 snapshot scripts FAILED", .archived = 2 },
+        .{ .name = "update", .args = &.{ scripts[2], "--jobs=2", "--update", "--no-retry" }, .message = "SnapshotRegenerationFailed" },
+        .{ .name = "actual-write", .args = &.{ scripts[3], "--no-retry" }, .message = "cannot write" },
+        .{ .name = "pass", .args = &.{ scripts[1], "--jobs=2" }, .status = 0, .message = "all 1 snapshot scripts ok" },
+    };
+    for (fixtures) |fixture| {
+        const argv = try arena.alloc([]const u8, fixture.args.len + 2);
+        argv[0] = exe;
+        argv[1] = exe;
+        @memcpy(argv[2..], fixture.args);
+        const result = try std.process.run(arena, io, .{
+            .argv = argv,
+            .stdout_limit = .limited(1024 * 1024),
+            .stderr_limit = .limited(1024 * 1024),
+            .timeout = .{ .duration = .{ .clock = .awake, .raw = .fromSeconds(30) } },
+        });
+        try dir.writeFile(io, .{ .sub_path = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}.log", .{fixture.name}), .data = result.stderr });
+        if (result.term != .exited or result.term.exited != fixture.status or std.mem.indexOf(u8, result.stderr, fixture.message) == null) {
+            std.debug.print("snapshot CLI fixture {s}:\n{s}\n", .{ fixture.name, result.stderr });
+            return error.SnapshotDriverTestFailed;
+        }
+        const archive_marker = "retry captures: ";
+        const archive_start = std.mem.indexOf(u8, result.stderr, archive_marker);
+        if (fixture.archived) |script| {
+            const rest = result.stderr[(archive_start orelse return error.MissingRetryArchive) + archive_marker.len ..];
+            const archive = rest[0 .. std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, rest, '\n') orelse return error.MissingRetryArchive];
+            const archive_prefix = "/tmp/pardes-snap-retry-";
+            if (!std.mem.startsWith(u8, archive, archive_prefix) or archive.len == archive_prefix.len or
+                std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, archive[archive_prefix.len..], '/') != null)
+                return error.IncorrectRetryArchive;
+            try archives.append(arena, archive);
+            if (std.mem.count(u8, result.stderr, "re-running ") != 2) return error.IncorrectRetryCount;
+            for (0..3) |attempt| {
+                const report = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}/{s}.{d}.report", .{ archive, std.fs.path.stem(scripts[script]), attempt });
+                const report_bytes = try std.Io.Dir.cwd().readFileAlloc(io, report, arena, .limited(1024 * 1024));
+                const failure = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "FAIL {s}:", .{std.fs.path.stem(scripts[script])});
+                if (std.mem.indexOf(u8, report_bytes, failure) == null) return error.MissingAttemptReport;
+                const actual = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}/{s}.{d}.actual", .{ archive, std.fs.path.stem(scripts[script]), attempt });
+                const actual_bytes = std.Io.Dir.cwd().readFileAlloc(io, actual, arena, .limited(1024 * 1024)) catch |err| {
+                    if (err == error.FileNotFound and !fixture.actual) continue;
+                    return err;
+                };
+                if (!fixture.actual or actual_bytes.len != 0) return error.IncorrectAttemptActual;
+            }
+        } else if (archive_start != null or std.mem.indexOf(u8, result.stderr, "re-running ") != null) return error.UnexpectedRetry;
+        if (std.mem.eql(u8, fixture.name, "update") and std.mem.indexOf(u8, result.stderr, "verifying ") != null)
+            return error.VerifiedFailedRegeneration;
+        if (std.mem.eql(u8, fixture.name, "actual-write") and std.mem.indexOf(u8, result.stderr, "actual written") != null)
+            return error.FalseActualReport;
+        if (std.mem.eql(u8, fixture.name, "retry") or std.mem.eql(u8, fixture.name, "no-retry")) {
+            const good = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "PASS {s}", .{std.fs.path.stem(scripts[1])});
+            if (std.mem.indexOf(u8, result.stderr, good) == null) return error.OmittedPassingScript;
+        }
+        if (std.mem.eql(u8, fixture.name, "record")) {
+            const good = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "RECORDED {s}", .{std.fs.path.stem(scripts[1])});
+            if (std.mem.indexOf(u8, result.stderr, good) == null) return error.OmittedPassingScript;
+            const stale = try std.Io.Dir.cwd().readFileAlloc(io, stale_actual, arena, .limited(1024));
+            if (!std.mem.eql(u8, stale, "older verification evidence\n")) return error.ChangedStaleActual;
+        }
+    }
+    passed = true;
+    std.debug.print("snapshot driver: {d} CLI regression fixtures passed\n", .{fixtures.len});
+}
+
 /// Run `scripts` `jobs` at a time, one forked child each, filling `codes` with
 /// their exit codes. Forking rather than threading because runScript owns
 /// process-global state — chdir into its workdir, HOME/TERM/PARDES_DUMP in the
@@ -243,8 +394,8 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
 // re-run pass costs more than the tail ever did (13-20s runs). Left alone.
 const Idx = struct { path: []const u8, code_idx: usize };
 
-fn toBatch(arena: std.mem.Allocator, scripts: []const []const u8) []const Idx {
-    const out = arena.alloc(Idx, scripts.len) catch return &.{};
+fn toBatch(arena: std.mem.Allocator, scripts: []const []const u8) ![]const Idx {
+    const out = try arena.alloc(Idx, scripts.len);
     for (scripts, out, 0..) |path, *o, i| o.* = .{ .path = path, .code_idx = i };
     return out;
 }
@@ -304,14 +455,20 @@ fn runOne(arena: std.mem.Allocator, exe_z: [:0]const u8, script_path: []const u8
     // before it starts; a new mismatch below writes it back.
     const actual_path = std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}.actual", .{base_path}) catch return 1;
     const actual_path_z = arena.dupeZ(u8, actual_path) catch return 1;
-    _ = libc.unlink(actual_path_z);
-    const golden: ?[]u8 = readFileAlloc(arena, golden_path) catch null;
+    if (record_dir == null) _ = libc.unlink(actual_path_z);
+    const golden: ?[]u8 = if (record_dir == null) readFileAlloc(arena, golden_path) catch null else null;
     const started = eh.nowMs();
     const out = runScript(arena, exe_z, script_path, stem) catch |e| {
-        std.debug.print("FAIL {s}: script error {s}\n", .{ stem, @errorName(e) });
+        std.debug.print("FAIL {s}: script error {s} ({d}ms)\n", .{ stem, @errorName(e), eh.nowMs() - started });
         return 1;
     };
     const took = eh.nowMs() - started;
+    if (record_dir) |dir| {
+        const path = std.fmt.allocPrintSentinel(arena, "{s}/{s}.snapshot", .{ dir, stem }, 0) catch return 1;
+        eh.writeFile(path, out) catch return 1;
+        std.debug.print("RECORDED {s}\n", .{stem});
+        return 0;
+    }
     if (update) {
         eh.writeFile(arena.dupeZ(u8, golden_path) catch return 1, out) catch return 1;
         std.debug.print("UPDATED {s} ({d} bytes)\n", .{ stem, out.len });
@@ -325,8 +482,12 @@ fn runOne(arena: std.mem.Allocator, exe_z: [:0]const u8, script_path: []const u8
         std.debug.print("PASS {s} ({d}ms)\n", .{ stem, took });
         return 0;
     }
-    eh.writeFile(arena.dupeZ(u8, actual_path) catch return 1, out) catch {};
-    std.debug.print("FAIL {s}: differs from golden (actual written to {s})\n", .{ stem, actual_path });
+    eh.writeFile(arena.dupeZ(u8, actual_path) catch return 1, out) catch |err| {
+        std.debug.print("FAIL {s}: differs from golden; cannot write {s}: {s} ({d}ms)\n", .{ stem, actual_path, @errorName(err), took });
+        printFirstDiff(golden.?, out);
+        return 1;
+    };
+    std.debug.print("FAIL {s}: differs from golden (actual written to {s}, {d}ms)\n", .{ stem, actual_path, took });
     printFirstDiff(golden.?, out);
     return 1;
 }
@@ -335,6 +496,25 @@ fn reportPath(arena: std.mem.Allocator, script_path: []const u8) ![]const u8 {
     return std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}/{s}.report", .{ SNAP_BASE, std.fs.path.stem(script_path) });
 }
 
+fn archiveAttempt(io: std.Io, arena: std.mem.Allocator, dir: []const u8, script_path: []const u8, attempt: u8) !void {
+    const stem = std.fs.path.stem(script_path);
+    for ([_][]const u8{ "report", "actual" }) |suffix| {
+        if (record_dir != null and std.mem.eql(u8, suffix, "actual")) continue;
+        const source = if (std.mem.eql(u8, suffix, "report"))
+            try reportPath(arena, script_path)
+        else
+            try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}.actual", .{script_path[0 .. script_path.len - ".snap".len]});
+        const bytes = std.Io.Dir.cwd().readFileAlloc(io, source, arena, .limited(64 * 1024 * 1024)) catch |err| {
+            if (err == error.FileNotFound) continue;
+            return err;
+        };
+        const path = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s}/{s}.{d}.{s}", .{ dir, stem, attempt, suffix });
+        const file = try std.Io.Dir.cwd().createFile(io, path, .{ .exclusive = true });
+        defer file.close(io);
+        try file.writeStreamingAll(io, bytes);
+    }
+}
+
 /// Exclusive flock on `path`, announcing the wait if someone else holds it.
 /// The fd is deliberately leaked: the lock lives until the process exits.
 ///
@@ -383,7 +563,7 @@ fn runScript(arena: std.mem.Allocator, exe_z: [:0]const u8, script_path: []const
     // a hostname and whose greeting carries a version, so a golden taken
     // against it would be a golden for this machine. Every script here runs
     // bash — the .bashrc above pins its prompt to `$ ` — and the fish path is
-    // covered by shell_bin.zig's unit tests instead. This is an ordinary
+    // covered by host_io.Shell's unit tests instead. This is an ordinary
     // config init going through the ordinary startup-config path, so it also
     // proves `Shell <name>` is dispatchable from one.
     try mkdir(arena, config_home, false);
@@ -538,6 +718,8 @@ fn runScript(arena: std.mem.Allocator, exe_z: [:0]const u8, script_path: []const
             try appendChunk(chunks, &chunk_len, try snapText(arena, live(&h), tok.rest(), &prev));
         } else if (std.mem.eql(u8, cmd, "snapstyle")) {
             try appendChunk(chunks, &chunk_len, try snapStyle(arena, live(&h), tok.rest(), &prev));
+        } else if (std.mem.eql(u8, cmd, "snap9p")) {
+            try appendChunk(chunks, &chunk_len, try snap9p(arena, live(&h), tok.rest(), &prev));
         } else {
             std.debug.print("unknown command {s}\n", .{cmd});
             return error.BadScript;
@@ -556,6 +738,7 @@ fn countCaptures(src: []const u8) usize {
         const cmd = tok.next().?;
         if (std.mem.eql(u8, cmd, "snap") or
             std.mem.eql(u8, cmd, "snapstyle") or
+            std.mem.eql(u8, cmd, "snap9p") or
             std.mem.eql(u8, cmd, "snapfile")) count += 1;
     }
     return count;
@@ -921,14 +1104,141 @@ fn wordByte(c: u8) bool {
 const Prev = struct {
     snap: []const []const u8 = &.{},
     style: []const []const u8 = &.{},
+    ninep: []const []const u8 = &.{},
     // per kind: one shared width let a `snapstyle` between a `resize` and the
     // next `snap` re-arm the guard, and the post-resize frame then came out as
     // a delta against rows of the old width - dropping every row whose text is
     // width-invariant, which is every left-aligned chrome row there is.
     snap_cols: u16 = 0,
     style_cols: u16 = 0,
+    ninep_cols: u16 = 0,
+};
+
+const Screen9p = struct {
+    cols: u16,
+    rows: u16,
+    cursor: ?struct { x: u16, y: u16, bar: bool },
+    cells: []const struct { []const u8, usize },
+    styles: []const struct {
+        fg: Color,
+        bg: Color,
+        bold: bool,
+        dim: bool,
+        italic: bool,
+        blink: bool,
+        reverse: bool,
+        invisible: bool,
+        strikethrough: bool,
+        ul: enum { off, single, double, curly, dotted, dashed },
+        font_role: enum { body, tagline },
+    },
+
+    const Color = union(enum) {
+        default,
+        index: u8,
+        rgb: [3]u8,
+
+        fn text(color: Color, buf: *[16]u8) []const u8 {
+            return switch (color) {
+                .default => "d",
+                .index => |index| std.fmt.bufPrint(buf, "p{d}", .{index}) catch unreachable,
+                .rgb => |rgb| std.fmt.bufPrint(buf, "#{x:0>2}{x:0>2}{x:0>2}", .{ rgb[0], rgb[1], rgb[2] }) catch unreachable,
+            };
+        }
+    };
 };
 
+fn snap9p(arena: std.mem.Allocator, h: *eh.Harness, label: []const u8, prev: *Prev) ![]u8 {
+    var dial_buf: [24]u8 = undefined;
+    const dial = try std.fmt.bufPrint(&dial_buf, "{d}", .{h.pid});
+    const bytes = try Client.read(gpa, dial, "/self/screen", "/self/screen");
+    defer gpa.free(bytes);
+    const parsed = try std.json.parseFromSlice(Screen9p, gpa, bytes, .{});
+    defer parsed.deinit();
+    const screen = parsed.value;
+    if (screen.cols != h.cols or screen.rows != h.rows or screen.cols == 0 or screen.rows == 0 or
+        screen.cells.len != @as(usize, screen.cols) * screen.rows or screen.styles.len == 0)
+        return error.Screen9pDimensions;
+    if (screen.cursor) |cursor| {
+        if (cursor.x >= screen.cols or cursor.y >= screen.rows) return error.Screen9pCursor;
+    }
+    for (screen.cells) |cell| {
+        if (cell[1] >= screen.styles.len or !std.unicode.utf8ValidateSlice(cell[0])) return error.Screen9pCell;
+    }
+
+    const keys = try arena.alloc([]const u8, screen.styles.len);
+    for (screen.styles, keys) |style, *key| {
+        var flags: [8]u8 = undefined;
+        var len: usize = 0;
+        inline for (.{ "bold", "dim", "italic", "blink", "reverse", "invisible", "strikethrough" }, "bfikrvx") |field, flag| {
+            if (@field(style, field)) {
+                flags[len] = flag;
+                len += 1;
+            }
+        }
+        if (style.ul != .off) {
+            flags[len] = switch (style.ul) {
+                .off => unreachable,
+                .single => 'u',
+                .double => 'U',
+                .curly => '~',
+                .dotted => '.',
+                .dashed => '-',
+            };
+            len += 1;
+        }
+        var fg_buf: [16]u8 = undefined;
+        var bg_buf: [16]u8 = undefined;
+        key.* = try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{s},{s},{s},{s}", .{
+            style.fg.text(&fg_buf), style.bg.text(&bg_buf), flags[0..len], @tagName(style.font_role),
+        });
+    }
+
+    var out: std.ArrayList(u8) = .empty;
+    try out.appendSlice(arena, try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "== 9p {s} grid={d}x{d} cursor=", .{ label, screen.cols, screen.rows }));
+    try out.appendSlice(arena, if (screen.cursor) |c|
+        try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "{d},{d},{s}\n", .{ c.x, c.y, if (c.bar) "bar" else "block" })
+    else
+        "none\n");
+
+    const rows = try arena.alloc([]const u8, screen.rows);
+    const delta = prev.ninep.len == rows.len and prev.ninep_cols == screen.cols;
+    for (rows, 0..) |*row, y| {
+        var text_row: std.ArrayList(u8) = .empty;
+        const cells = screen.cells[y * screen.cols ..][0..screen.cols];
+        for (cells) |cell| try text_row.appendSlice(arena, cell[0]);
+        var capture: std.ArrayList(u8) = .empty;
+        const trimmed = std.mem.trimEnd(u8, text_row.items, " ");
+        try capture.appendSlice(arena, if (trimmed.len == 0)
+            try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "|{d}:\n", .{y})
+        else
+            try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "|{d}: {s}\n", .{ y, trimmed }));
+        var annotated = false;
+        for (cells, 0..) |cell, x| {
+            if (cell[0].len == 1) continue;
+            if (!annotated) try capture.appendSlice(arena, try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "+{d}:", .{y}));
+            const glyph = try std.json.Stringify.valueAlloc(arena, cell[0], .{});
+            try capture.appendSlice(arena, try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, " {d}={s}", .{ x, glyph }));
+            annotated = true;
+        }
+        if (annotated) try capture.append(arena, '\n');
+        try capture.appendSlice(arena, try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, "@{d}:", .{y}));
+        var start: usize = 0;
+        for (1..cells.len + 1) |x| {
+            const key = keys[cells[start][1]];
+            if (x != cells.len and std.mem.eql(u8, key, keys[cells[x][1]])) continue;
+            try capture.appendSlice(arena, try std.fmt.allocPrint(arena, " {d}-{d} {s}", .{ start, x - 1, key }));
+            start = x;
+        }
+        try capture.append(arena, '\n');
+        row.* = capture.items;
+        if (!delta or !std.mem.eql(u8, row.*, prev.ninep[y])) try out.appendSlice(arena, row.*);
+    }
+    prev.ninep = rows;
+    prev.ninep_cols = screen.cols;
+    return out.items;
+}
+
 /// `== snap <label> grid=CxR cursor=X,Y` then either the whole screen as
 /// `|<row text>` (first capture of a script, or after a resize) or just the
 /// rows that changed as `|<n>: <row text>`. An indexed row is a patch against