From 146944accb5852c548e25c7194b2865531e67cbb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Gabriel Schneider <gbrls@0x4200.cafe>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 05:35:09 -0300
Subject: argv positionals: bare pardes boots the shell pane in tty mode, a
 FILE arg (file:LINE works) opens it focused in the left column with a
 greeting terminal on the launch dir at right, a DIRECTORY arg chdirs so
 shells spawn there. New argv.snap; boot/restore.snap pin -n 1 to keep the
 classic boot.

---
 src/main.zig   | 28 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 src/pardes.zig | 20 +++++++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 45 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

(limited to 'src')

diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 5275ea28..2e75de3d 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ pub const debug = if (is_emscripten) struct {} else struct {
 };
 
 const help_text =
-    \\Usage: pardes [options]
+    \\Usage: pardes [options] [file|dir]
+    \\
+    \\With no arguments the shell pane starts in tty mode. A FILE argument
+    \\(optionally file:LINE) opens it focused beside a terminal on the launch
+    \\directory; a DIRECTORY argument becomes the cwd shells spawn in.
     \\
     \\Options:
     \\  --tty                  start as one shell pane already in tty mode
@@ -77,7 +81,10 @@ fn webMain() !void {
 
 fn nativeMain(init: std.process.Init) !void {
     var opts: pardes.Options = .{};
-    const args = try init.minimal.args.toSlice(init.arena.allocator());
+    const arena = init.arena.allocator();
+    const args = try init.minimal.args.toSlice(arena);
+    if (args.len == 1) opts.tty_only = true; // bare `pardes` boots straight into tty mode
+    var positional = false;
     var i: usize = 1;
     while (i < args.len) : (i += 1) {
         const a = args[i];
@@ -100,6 +107,23 @@ fn nativeMain(init: std.process.Init) !void {
         } else if (std.mem.eql(u8, a, "-h") or std.mem.eql(u8, a, "--help")) {
             try std.Io.File.stdout().writeStreamingAll(init.io, help_text);
             return;
+        } else if (a.len > 0 and a[0] != '-' and !positional) {
+            // one positional: a directory becomes the cwd shells spawn in
+            // (chdir succeeds only on dirs); anything else resolves as a file
+            positional = true;
+            if (std.c.chdir(a.ptr) != 0) {
+                var cwdbuf: [4096]u8 = undefined;
+                const cwd = std.c.getcwd(&cwdbuf, cwdbuf.len) orelse return error.BadArgs;
+                var realbuf: [4096]u8 = undefined;
+                switch (@import("look.zig").resolve(a, std.mem.span(@as([*:0]u8, @ptrCast(cwd))), &realbuf)) {
+                    .file => |t| {
+                        opts.file = try arena.dupe(u8, t.path);
+                        opts.file_line = t.line;
+                    },
+                    .image => |t| opts.file = try arena.dupe(u8, t.path),
+                    else => return error.BadArgs,
+                }
+            }
         } else {
             return error.BadArgs;
         }
diff --git a/src/pardes.zig b/src/pardes.zig
index 0219d474..fc216b24 100644
--- a/src/pardes.zig
+++ b/src/pardes.zig
@@ -670,6 +670,10 @@ pub const Options = struct {
     tty_only: bool = false,
     /// initial shell panes: 1 (default) or 3 for the classic two-column boot
     shells: u8 = 1,
+    /// argv FILE (resolved absolute): boot with it focused as a doc pane in
+    /// the left column, a terminal on the launch directory in the right
+    file: ?[]const u8 = null,
+    file_line: usize = 0,
     tty_toggle: u21 = 'b',
     /// load a dump of another instance instead of spawning shells (acme -l)
     load_path: ?[]const u8 = null,
@@ -749,7 +753,21 @@ pub const Pardes = struct {
         syntax.compileStartupQueries();
         const p = try gpa.create(Pardes);
         p.* = .{ .gpa = gpa, .opts = opts, .screen_w = opts.cols, .screen_h = opts.rows, .scratch = .init(gpa) };
-        if (opts.tty_only) {
+        if (opts.file) |path| {
+            // FILE argv boot: the doc focused in the left column, a terminal
+            // on the launch directory in the right (files left, shells right)
+            _ = if (look.isImagePath(path))
+                try p.openImageView(0, path, !p.kitty_ok)
+            else
+                try p.openFileView(0, path, opts.file_line);
+            const sh = try p.newPane(1);
+            sh.greet = true;
+            p.ncol = 2;
+            p.col_n[0] = 1;
+            p.col_terms[0][0] = 0;
+            p.col_n[1] = 1;
+            p.col_terms[1][0] = 1;
+        } else if (opts.tty_only) {
             _ = try p.newPane(0);
             p.panes[0].?.mode = .tty;
             p.ncol = 1;
-- 
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