From 818a8a41f965b8fef822592c9a75cde3e76bf79e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Steve Yegge <steve.yegge@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2025 02:07:23 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] Clear tmux scrollback on handoff
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
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Adds ClearHistory method to tmux package and calls it before
respawn-pane during handoff. This resets copy-mode display
from [0/N] to [0/0] for a clean session start.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 internal/cmd/handoff.go | 14 ++++++++++++++
 internal/tmux/tmux.go   |  8 ++++++++
 2 files changed, 22 insertions(+)

diff --git a/internal/cmd/handoff.go b/internal/cmd/handoff.go
index 8808e5e9..690f04aa 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/handoff.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/handoff.go
@@ -137,10 +137,17 @@ func runHandoff(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 
 	// Dry run mode - show what would happen
 	if handoffDryRun {
+		fmt.Printf("Would execute: tmux clear-history -t %s\n", pane)
 		fmt.Printf("Would execute: tmux respawn-pane -k -t %s %s\n", pane, restartCmd)
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	// Clear scrollback history before respawn (resets copy-mode from [0/N] to [0/0])
+	if err := t.ClearHistory(pane); err != nil {
+		// Non-fatal - continue with respawn even if clear fails
+		fmt.Printf("%s Warning: could not clear history: %v\n", style.Dim.Render("⚠"), err)
+	}
+
 	// Use exec to respawn the pane - this kills us and restarts
 	return t.RespawnPane(pane, restartCmd)
 }
@@ -395,6 +402,7 @@ func handoffRemoteSession(t *tmux.Tmux, targetSession, restartCmd string) error
 
 	// Dry run mode
 	if handoffDryRun {
+		fmt.Printf("Would execute: tmux clear-history -t %s\n", targetPane)
 		fmt.Printf("Would execute: tmux respawn-pane -k -t %s %s\n", targetPane, restartCmd)
 		if handoffWatch {
 			fmt.Printf("Would execute: tmux switch-client -t %s\n", targetSession)
@@ -402,6 +410,12 @@ func handoffRemoteSession(t *tmux.Tmux, targetSession, restartCmd string) error
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	// Clear scrollback history before respawn (resets copy-mode from [0/N] to [0/0])
+	if err := t.ClearHistory(targetPane); err != nil {
+		// Non-fatal - continue with respawn even if clear fails
+		fmt.Printf("%s Warning: could not clear history: %v\n", style.Dim.Render("⚠"), err)
+	}
+
 	// Respawn the remote session's pane
 	if err := t.RespawnPane(targetPane, restartCmd); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("respawning pane: %w", err)
diff --git a/internal/tmux/tmux.go b/internal/tmux/tmux.go
index 6955435f..d7163848 100644
--- a/internal/tmux/tmux.go
+++ b/internal/tmux/tmux.go
@@ -582,6 +582,14 @@ func (t *Tmux) RespawnPane(pane, command string) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+// ClearHistory clears the scrollback history buffer for a pane.
+// This resets copy-mode display from [0/N] to [0/0].
+// The pane parameter should be a pane ID (e.g., "%0") or session:window.pane format.
+func (t *Tmux) ClearHistory(pane string) error {
+	_, err := t.run("clear-history", "-t", pane)
+	return err
+}
+
 // SwitchClient switches the current tmux client to a different session.
 // Used after remote recycle to move the user's view to the recycled session.
 func (t *Tmux) SwitchClient(targetSession string) error {