New Session path field: cursor hidden behind inline autocomplete — can't see what you're editing

[xuan-w]

Summary

In the New Session dialog, the path input shows a recent-path autocomplete inline. While editing, the cursor is rendered behind (or in the same cell as) the autocomplete ghost text, so it's invisible. You can only see what you've typed once the typed text diverges from the autocomplete suggestion. Until then, editing is effectively blind.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open the New Session dialog.
2. Tab into the path field — pre-filled with current working dir, autocomplete suggestion shown.
3. Press ← / → to position the cursor, then try to edit a few characters.
4. Observe: the cursor is not visible; you can't tell where you are in the text.
5. Keep typing — the moment your input no longer matches the autocomplete prefix, the suggestion disappears and the cursor + your edits become visible.

Expected

The cursor should always be visible while the field has focus, regardless of whether an inline autocomplete suggestion is being rendered. Common fixes:

• Render the cursor over the ghost text (cursor wins the cell).
• Dim/grey out the autocomplete so the cursor color contrasts.
• Don't render the ghost text under the cursor cell.

Actual

Cursor is fully shadowed by the inline autocomplete until typed input diverges from the suggestion. Arrow keys, backspace, and typing all work — they're just invisible.

Notes

This appears to be a UI regression of the type-to-filter / inline-autocomplete UX added in #240 / PR #239. Functionally everything works; it's purely a rendering issue that makes the field feel broken.

Environment

• agent-deck version: v1.7.69
• OS: macOS 26.4.1 (build 25E253)
• Reproduces in: macOS Terminal.app and WezTerm

[asheshgoplani]

Hi @xuan-w — looked into this, partial findings:

Setup: internal/ui/newdialog.go configures pathInput.ShowSuggestions = false (line 268) so Bubble Tea's native inline-suggestion isn't the source. Recent paths show in a separate dropdown overlay rendered at d.suggestionsLineOffset after the dialog (line 1939). The 'ghost text' you're seeing is likely the soft-select preselect at line 1607 — when the field gains focus the entire pre-filled value is rendered with reverse colors (Background(ColorAccent).Foreground(ColorBg)) as a static string, not via pathInput.View(). That static-string render has no cursor. The state clears on first keystroke or arrow press but until then the cursor is genuinely missing from the render.

Need a careful pass that I haven't gotten to yet:

1. When pathSoftSelected is true AND user is actively editing (probably needs a separate pathEditing state since soft-select is currently only a 'press anything to overwrite' affordance), render pathInput.View() instead of the styled static string. Loses the visual highlight but restores the cursor.
2. OR move the highlight to a background cell-by-cell render under pathInput.View() so cursor wins. Lipgloss layering, more work.

Marking medium priority — rendering bug, full functionality works, workaround exists (type one character beyond the suggestion to break out). Will pick this up in a focused TUI-render session when there's a quiet window.