feat(tui): add optional Nerd Font icons

.github/file-size-baseline.txt

@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@
 710 crates/outl-cli/src/cmd/doctor/repair/mod.rs
 798 crates/outl-cli/src/cmd/doctor/tests/mod.rs
 626 crates/outl-cli/src/cmd/page.rs
-730 crates/outl-config/src/schema.rs
+713 crates/outl-config/src/schema.rs
 768 crates/outl-core/src/storage/jsonl/read.rs
 810 crates/outl-core/src/storage/jsonl/tests.rs
-877 crates/outl-core/src/workspace.rs
 725 crates/outl-core/src/workspace/batch.rs
+877 crates/outl-core/src/workspace.rs
 712 crates/outl-core/tests/tree_unit.rs
 1608 crates/outl-desktop/src/components/BlockRow.tsx
 967 crates/outl-desktop/src/components/OutlineView.tsx
@@ -60,13 +60,13 @@
 833 crates/outl-mobile/src/components/BlockRow.tsx
 2071 crates/outl-mobile/src/components/Journal.tsx
 796 crates/outl-plugins/src/engine.rs
-862 crates/outl-plugins/src/host_tests.rs
 830 crates/outl-plugins/src/host.rs
+862 crates/outl-plugins/src/host_tests.rs
 773 crates/outl-shortcuts/src/defaults.rs
 706 crates/outl-shortcuts/src/support.rs
 764 crates/outl-sync-iroh/src/engine_pairing.rs
-736 crates/outl-sync-iroh/src/engine_sync.rs
 870 crates/outl-sync-iroh/src/engine.rs
+736 crates/outl-sync-iroh/src/engine_sync.rs
 1245 crates/outl-sync-iroh/src/pairing.rs
 1022 crates/outl-sync-iroh/src/peers.rs
 821 crates/outl-sync-iroh/tests/chaos.rs
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
 620 crates/outl-tui/src/actions/properties.rs
 661 crates/outl-tui/src/input/normal.rs
 646 crates/outl-tui/src/input/overlay.rs
-688 crates/outl-tui/src/runtime.rs
+697 crates/outl-tui/src/runtime.rs
 983 crates/outl-tui/src/state.rs
-741 crates/outl-tui/src/view/outline.rs
-1179 crates/outl-tui/src/view/overlays.rs
+725 crates/outl-tui/src/view/outline.rs
+1166 crates/outl-tui/src/view/overlays.rs

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,24 @@ Format inspired by [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/); the
 
 ### Added
 
+- **Monochrome Nerd Font icons in the TUI, opt-in via `[tui] icons = "nerd-font"`.**
+  Every TUI icon — footer chips, fold markers, sidebar glyphs, palette/property/command glyphs — used to render as a colour emoji, with no way to turn that off.
+  Some terminals (alacritty without `font-emoji`, kitty in some configs, most tmux setups) either render them as broken boxes, double them with the surrounding text, or pick a fallback that disagrees with the rest of the UI's typography.
+  There was no supported way to get a compact monochrome outline.
+
+  `[tui] icons` now selects between two sets shipped from one `IconSet` in `outl-tui::icons`:
+  `"emoji"` (the default, byte-for-byte what the TUI rendered before) and `"nerd-font"` (Font Awesome 4 + Material Design codepoints from any patched font).
+  The selection is read once at boot in `runtime::run`, propagated to `App::icons`, and threaded through every view module that renders a glyph.
+  `property_glyph`, `category_glyph`, `command_glyph` and `fold_span` are now methods on `IconSet`, so a per-view "which glyph does this role take" question can no longer be answered twice.
+
+  **Emoji mode is pinned to upstream's literals by an exhaustive test** (`emoji_preserves_the_pre_iconset_glyphs`) that asserts every field value AND every `property_glyph` / `category_glyph` / `command_glyph` arm returns the byte sequence the pre-IconSet code returned.
+  The `📅`/`📆` and `🕐`/`🕒` pairs are split into `calendar`/`week` and `clock`/`stamp` fields for exactly that reason — the Emoji set must keep them distinct (the upstream `/week*` and `/stamp` commands render different glyphs from `/date*` and `/time*`), even though Nerd Font collapses each pair to one codepoint.
+  The mirror test (`nerd_font_uses_only_pua_glyphs`) walks every nerd field and refuses anything outside the three Unicode PUA planes, so a future contributor cannot quietly drop a colour emoji back into the Nerd Font set.
+  The same exhaustive `match` shape on a new Tauri command or wire DTO is what makes those safe; this is the same discipline applied to glyphs.
+
+  The desktop settings modal had a sibling defect on the way out — saving it stomped the `[tui]` block out of the global config because `TuiCfg` was not part of its round-trip.
+  The same hole existed for `[snapshot]` and `[storage]`, neither of which the modal models either: a save silently reset a hand-set boot-cache policy or op-log LRU cap to the defaults.
+  All three are now restored from disk on save, pinned by the extended `save_restores_the_sections_the_desktop_never_models` test.
 - **"Open With → outl" on the desktop — a `.md` or `.txt` from anywhere becomes a page.**
   Right-click a file in Finder / Explorer / a Linux file manager, pick outl, and the file lands as a page titled `open-in/<file name>`, built out of ordinary ops like everything else. `bundle.fileAssociations` registers the four extensions with `role: "Viewer"` and `rank: "Alternate"` — outl **imports a copy and never writes back to the file**, and it must not quietly become the system handler for every `.txt` on the machine.
 

crates/outl-config/CLAUDE.md

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ transport = "iroh"                # "iroh" (P2P, default) | "file" (iCloud/fs op
 relay_url = ""                    # optional; empty = outl's default relay (use1-1.relay.avelino.outl.iroh.link)
 
 [tui]
+icons = "emoji"                  # "emoji" (default) | "nerd-font"
 mouse_capture = false             # opt-in: enables mouse wheel + click + drag-to-copy in the TUI
 
 [display]
@@ -94,6 +95,7 @@ It exists for environments where the OS clock lies about the zone — containers
 `SyncConfig::transport` is a [`SyncTransportKind`] enum (`File` | `Iroh`, serde `lowercase`); missing `[sync]` falls back to `Iroh` (P2P is outl's primary sync), and `transport = "file"` is the explicit iCloud/filesystem opt-out.
 `SyncConfig::relay_url()` treats an empty string as `None`, which the iroh transport resolves to outl's default relay (`use1-1.relay.avelino.outl.iroh.link`; see [`docs/relay.md`](../../docs/relay.md)).
 `TuiCfg::mouse_capture` (default `false`) is read by the TUI at boot in `runtime.rs` to decide whether to call `EnableMouseCapture` and listen for `Event::Mouse`; the desktop ignores this section entirely.
+`TuiCfg::icons` (default `emoji`) is read by the TUI at boot in `runtime.rs`; `nerd-font` is an explicit opt-in for terminals with a Nerd Font installed.
 `DisplayCfg::backlinks_order` is a [`BacklinksOrder`] enum (`Newest` | `Oldest`, serde `lowercase`, default `Newest`) — a pure display preference, same "never converges between devices" policy as `theme.preset` (root `CLAUDE.md` invariant #7).
 `ThemeCfg` (RFC 0022) models a light/dark preset *pair*, not a single preset.
 `preset` is the light side, `preset_dark: Option<String>` is the dark side, and `mode` is a [`ThemeMode`] enum (`Light` | `Dark` | `Auto`, serde `lowercase`, default `Auto`).
@@ -146,6 +148,7 @@ If the field **must converge between devices**, it doesn't belong in TOML at all
 | `editor.font_size` | Desktop only | `crates/outl-desktop/src-tauri/src/settings.rs` |
 | `calendar.timezone` | Every client at boot, via `outl_actions::clock::init` (resolves the IANA name once into the process-wide clock) | `crates/outl-tui/src/runtime.rs`, `crates/outl-cli/src/main.rs`, `crates/outl-desktop/src-tauri/src/lib.rs`, `crates/outl-mobile/src-tauri/src/lib.rs` |
 | `sync.transport` / `sync.relay_url` | TUI peer-sync wiring | `crates/outl-tui/src/actions/lifecycle/peer_sync.rs::wire_sync_transport` (config-driven; replaces the `OUTL_IROH=1` env gate) |
+| `tui.icons` | TUI chrome icon set | `crates/outl-tui/src/runtime.rs` |
 | `tui.mouse_capture` | TUI only | `crates/outl-tui/src/runtime.rs` (conditionally emits `EnableMouseCapture` and arms the `Event::Mouse` branch) |
 | `display.backlinks_order` | TUI at boot (`runtime.rs`, applied post-construction); GUI clients on every `build_page_view` call | `crates/outl-tui/src/runtime.rs`, `crates/outl-tauri-shared/src/helpers.rs::build_page_view` (desktop + mobile share this reader) |
 | `assets.max_bytes` | Every file-import path: CLI `outl asset add`, MCP `outl_asset_add`, desktop/mobile "Attach file" + drag-drop, TUI `/upload` + paste-a-path | `crates/outl-cli/src/cmd/asset.rs`, `crates/outl-tauri-shared/src/commands/asset.rs`, `crates/outl-tui/src/commands/builtins/asset.rs` + `crates/outl-tui/src/actions/paste.rs` (all route through `outl_actions::asset::import_asset(root, source, max_bytes)`) |

crates/outl-config/src/lib.rs

@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@
 //! transport = "iroh"   # "iroh" (P2P, default) | "file" (iCloud/fs opt-out)
 //! relay_url = ""        # optional; empty = outl's default relay (use1-1.relay.avelino.outl.iroh.link)
 //!
+//! [tui]
+//! icons = "emoji"        # "emoji" (default) | "nerd-font"
+//!
 //! [snapshot]
 //! enabled = true        # default; long-lived clients write a snapshot periodically
 //! op_threshold = 10000  # write after this many applied ops
@@ -61,13 +64,14 @@
 
 mod paths;
 mod schema;
+mod tui;
 
 pub use paths::{config_dir, config_path};
 pub use schema::{
     AssetsCfg, BacklinksOrder, BackupCfg, CalendarCfg, Config, DisplayCfg, EditorCfg, RemindersCfg,
-    SnapshotCfg, StorageCfg, SyncConfig, SyncTransportKind, ThemeCfg, ThemeMode, TuiCfg,
-    WorkspaceCfg,
+    SnapshotCfg, StorageCfg, SyncConfig, SyncTransportKind, ThemeCfg, ThemeMode, WorkspaceCfg,
 };
+pub use tui::{TuiCfg, TuiIconStyle};
 
 use std::fs;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};

crates/outl-config/src/schema.rs

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
+use crate::tui::TuiCfg;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize};
 
 /// Root config — three sections that map cleanly to "which client
@@ -141,24 +142,6 @@ pub struct DisplayCfg {
     pub backlinks_order: BacklinksOrder,
 }
 
-/// TUI-only preferences (the desktop ignores this section).
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
-#[serde(default)]
-pub struct TuiCfg {
-    /// Capture the mouse so the app owns selection: drag across blocks
-    /// selects a range and copies it as clean markdown on release, the
-    /// scroll wheel moves the selection, a click selects a block.
-    ///
-    /// Default `false`, and deliberately opt-in: capturing the mouse
-    /// **disables the terminal's own text selection** (selecting a URL,
-    /// copying a single word, dragging across panes), which is muscle
-    /// memory for many terminal users. Turn it on only if you want
-    /// mouse-driven copy inside outl more than the terminal's native
-    /// selection. The keyboard yank (`yy` / `Y` / Visual `y`) copies
-    /// markdown to the clipboard regardless of this flag.
-    pub mouse_capture: bool,
-}
-
 /// Workspace section — primarily where the desktop remembers the
 /// last opened directory so the next launch skips the picker.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Default, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]

crates/outl-config/src/tui.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+//! TUI-only preferences and icon selection.
+
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+
+/// TUI-only preferences (the desktop ignores this section).
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(default)]
+pub struct TuiCfg {
+    /// Chrome icon set. Emoji is portable across ordinary terminal fonts;
+    /// Nerd Font glyphs are available as an explicit opt-in.
+    pub icons: TuiIconStyle,
+
+    /// Capture the mouse so the app owns selection: drag across blocks
+    /// selects a range and copies it as clean markdown on release, the
+    /// scroll wheel moves the outline selection, a click selects a block.
+    ///
+    /// Default `false`, and deliberately opt-in: capturing the mouse
+    /// **disables the terminal's own text selection** (selecting a URL,
+    /// copying a single word, dragging across panes), which is muscle
+    /// memory for many terminal users. Turn it on only if you want
+    /// mouse-driven copy inside outl more than the terminal's native
+    /// selection. The keyboard yank (`yy` / `Y` / Visual `y`) copies
+    /// markdown to the clipboard regardless of this flag.
+    pub mouse_capture: bool,
+}
+
+/// Icon set used by TUI chrome.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize, Default)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "kebab-case")]
+pub enum TuiIconStyle {
+    /// Unicode emoji and symbols supported by ordinary terminal fonts.
+    #[default]
+    Emoji,
+    /// Font Awesome / Material Design glyphs from a Nerd Font.
+    NerdFont,
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn tui_icon_style_parses_and_defaults_to_emoji() {
+        let c: crate::Config = toml::from_str("[tui]\nicons = \"nerd-font\"\n").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(c.tui.icons, TuiIconStyle::NerdFont);
+
+        let c: crate::Config = toml::from_str("[theme]\npreset = \"nord\"\n").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(c.tui.icons, TuiIconStyle::Emoji);
+    }
+}

crates/outl-desktop/src-tauri/src/settings.rs

@@ -188,8 +188,9 @@ impl From<Settings> for Config {
                 relay_url: None,
             },
             // `[tui]` is TUI-only; the desktop doesn't model it. `save`
-            // restores it from disk so a hand-set `mouse_capture` survives
-            // a settings write (same pattern as `[calendar]`).
+            // restores it from disk so hand-set `mouse_capture` or
+            // `icons` survive a settings write (same pattern as
+            // `[calendar]`).
             tui: outl_config::TuiCfg::default(),
             // `[snapshot]` is core-managed; the desktop doesn't model it.
             // `save` restores it from disk so a hand-set policy survives a
@@ -255,6 +256,18 @@ fn restore_unmodeled_sections(cfg: &mut Config, on_disk: &Config) {
     // edit).
     cfg.sync.relay_url = on_disk.sync.relay_url.clone();
     cfg.calendar = on_disk.calendar.clone();
+    // `[tui]` is TUI-only (`mouse_capture`, `icons`); the desktop doesn't
+    // model it. Restore it so a modal save can't wipe a hand-set icon
+    // style or mouse-capture toggle (the `into()` conversion leaves
+    // `TuiCfg::default()`, and a default here silently means "emoji").
+    cfg.tui = on_disk.tui.clone();
+    // `[snapshot]` (boot-cache policy) and `[storage]` are core-managed and
+    // not modeled in the flat Settings; restore them so a modal save can't
+    // silently flip a hand-set snapshot toggle/threshold or storage choice
+    // back to the defaults — the same `[tui]`-style loss these restores exist
+    // to prevent.
+    cfg.snapshot = on_disk.snapshot.clone();
+    cfg.storage = on_disk.storage.clone();
     // `[theme]` (all three fields: `preset`, `preset_dark`, `mode`) is now
     // FULLY modeled in `Settings` — the modal owns the whole pair. Do NOT
     // add a restore-from-disk line for any of them here: that was the
@@ -400,4 +413,49 @@ mod tests {
             "[calendar] is still unmodelled by Settings and must still be restored from disk"
         );
     }
+
+    /// Regression pin for the `[tui]` section.
+    ///
+    /// The `into()` conversion hardcodes `TuiCfg::default()`, whose
+    /// `icons` is `Emoji`, and the desktop never models `[tui]`. Without
+    /// a restore line in `restore_unmodeled_sections`, every settings
+    /// save silently rewrote a hand-set `icons = "nerd-font"` (and
+    /// `mouse_capture`) back to the defaults — the exact loss the
+    /// `[calendar]` / `[backup]` restores exist to prevent, and worse
+    /// here because the default reads as the user's own opt-in.
+    #[test]
+    fn save_restores_the_sections_the_desktop_never_models() {
+        use outl_config::TuiIconStyle;
+
+        let mut on_disk = Config::default();
+        on_disk.tui.icons = TuiIconStyle::NerdFont;
+        on_disk.tui.mouse_capture = true;
+        on_disk.snapshot.enabled = false;
+        on_disk.snapshot.op_threshold = 500;
+        on_disk.storage.lru_cap = 5_000;
+
+        let mut cfg: Config = Settings::fresh().into();
+        assert_eq!(
+            cfg.tui,
+            outl_config::TuiCfg::default(),
+            "into() must leave [tui] at defaults — the modal does not model it"
+        );
+        restore_unmodeled_sections(&mut cfg, &on_disk);
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            cfg.tui, on_disk.tui,
+            "[tui] is unmodelled by Settings and must be restored from disk — \
+             dropping it wipes the user's icon style and mouse-capture opt-in"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            cfg.snapshot, on_disk.snapshot,
+            "[snapshot] is unmodelled by Settings and must be restored from disk — \
+             dropping it silently flips the boot-cache policy back to the defaults"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            cfg.storage, on_disk.storage,
+            "[storage] is unmodelled by Settings and must be restored from disk — \
+             dropping it silently flips the op-log LRU cap back to the default"
+        );
+    }
 }

crates/outl-tui/src/actions/autocomplete.rs

@@ -656,7 +656,7 @@ mod tests {
         let ws =
             Workspace::open_with_storage(actor, Box::new(storage), Some(dir.path().to_path_buf()))
                 .unwrap();
-        let app = crate::state::App::new(
+        let app = crate::state::App::new_for_tests(
             dir.path().to_path_buf(),
             ws,
             actor,

crates/outl-tui/src/actions/block/metadata.rs

@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ mod property_edit_tests {
         let dir = TempDir::new().unwrap();
         let actor = ActorId::new();
         let ws = Workspace::open_in_memory(actor).unwrap();
-        let app = App::new(
+        let app = App::new_for_tests(
             dir.path().to_path_buf(),
             ws,
             actor,

crates/outl-tui/src/actions/block/template.rs

@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ mod tests {
         let ws =
             Workspace::open_with_storage(actor, Box::new(storage), Some(dir.path().to_path_buf()))
                 .unwrap();
-        let app = crate::state::App::new(
+        let app = crate::state::App::new_for_tests(
             dir.path().to_path_buf(),
             ws,
             actor,

crates/outl-tui/src/actions/exec.rs

@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ mod tests {
         let ws =
             Workspace::open_with_storage(actor, Box::new(storage), Some(dir.path().to_path_buf()))
                 .unwrap();
-        let app = crate::state::App::new(
+        let app = crate::state::App::new_for_tests(
             dir.path().to_path_buf(),
             ws,
             actor,

crates/outl-tui/src/actions/lifecycle/clock_seed_tests.rs

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ fn workspace_logged_at(actor: ActorId, ms: u64, seed: &str) -> Workspace {
 
 fn app_over(ws: Workspace, actor: ActorId) -> (App, TempDir) {
     let dir = TempDir::new().expect("tempdir");
-    let app = App::new(
+    let app = App::new_for_tests(
         dir.path().to_path_buf(),
         ws,
         actor,