UX Design: Search for Next Occurrence of Current Selection

Feature Request Summary

GitHub Issue #489: Allow searching for the next occurrence of the currently selected text using a keyboard shortcut, without opening the find panel.

Research: How Other Editors Implement This

Visual Studio (Original)

• Ctrl+F3: Find Next Selected - searches for the next occurrence of selected text
• Ctrl+Shift+F3: Find Previous Selected - searches for the previous occurrence
• The selected text becomes the active search term
• Subsequent F3/Shift+F3 navigates through matches

VSCode

VSCode has two related but distinct features:

1. Ctrl+F3 (editor.action.nextSelectionMatchFindAction):

   • Searches for next occurrence of selection
   • Always finds partial word matches
   • Targeted at users coming from Visual Studio

2. Ctrl+D (editor.action.addSelectionToNextFindMatch):

   • Adds a cursor at the next occurrence (multi-cursor)
   • Context-dependent matching:
     • With explicit selection: finds partial matches
     • With cursor on word (no selection): finds whole-word matches only
   • Targeted at users coming from Sublime Text

3. Ctrl+Shift+L (editor.action.selectHighlights):

   • Selects ALL occurrences at once

Sublime Text

• Ctrl+D (quick_add_next): Selects word under cursor, then finds/selects next occurrence
• Ctrl+K, Ctrl+D: Skip current occurrence, find next
• Alt+F3: Select ALL occurrences
• The find behavior is tied to the find panel internally

IntelliJ IDEA

• F3 / Cmd+G: Find Next Occurrence (after Ctrl+F search)
• Ctrl+G / Alt+J: Add Selection for Next Occurrence (multi-cursor)
• Whole-word matching is context-dependent

Proposed Design for Fresh Editor

Overview

Implement a "quick find" feature that searches for the current selection without opening the find panel. The search term integrates with the existing search system so subsequent F3/Shift+F3 navigation works seamlessly.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action	Description
Ctrl+F3	find_selection_next	Find next occurrence of selection
Ctrl+Shift+F3	find_selection_previous	Find previous occurrence of selection

These shortcuts align with Visual Studio, VS Code, and the user's expectations mentioned in the issue.

Detailed Behavior

1. Basic Flow

User selects text → Presses Ctrl+F3 → Cursor jumps to next occurrence
                                    → Selection text becomes search term
                                    → Status bar shows "Match X of Y"

2. Initial State Requirements

Condition	Behavior
Has selection	Use selected text as search term
No selection, cursor on word	Auto-expand to word under cursor (like Ctrl+D in VSCode)
No selection, cursor on whitespace/punctuation	Show status message "No text to search"

3. Search Options

The quick find should use sensible defaults that differ from the search panel:

Option	Default for Ctrl+F3	Rationale
Case Sensitive	OFF	Most "quick find" use cases are case-insensitive
Whole Word	OFF	User selected exactly what they want to find
Regex	OFF	Literal text search (escape special chars)
Wrap	ON	Seamless navigation through document

Note: If the user had previously used the search panel with specific options (e.g., case-sensitive ON), those options should be preserved. Ctrl+F3 only sets the search term, not the options.

4. Integration with Existing Search

After using Ctrl+F3:

• The search term is stored in SearchState.query
• All matches are computed and stored in SearchState.matches
• F3 and Shift+F3 continue to navigate through matches
• Ctrl+F opens the find panel pre-filled with the search term
• The search term is added to search history

This matches the behavior described in the feature request:

"once you searched a 'selection occurrence', the text of the selection will be treated as if you searched for text regularly"

5. Cursor and Selection After Search

Action	Cursor Position	Selection
Find next (Ctrl+F3)	Start of match	Match is selected
Find previous (Ctrl+Shift+F3)	Start of match	Match is selected

Selecting the match allows the user to:

• Immediately see what was found
• Press Ctrl+F3 again to continue (selection is maintained)
• Start typing to replace the match
• Press Escape to deselect and continue editing

6. Wrap-Around Behavior

• When reaching the last match, Ctrl+F3 wraps to the first match
• Status bar shows: "Match 1 of N (wrapped)"
• When reaching the first match, Ctrl+Shift+F3 wraps to the last match

7. Edge Cases

Scenario	Behavior
Selection contains newlines	Use full selection (multi-line search)
Selection is empty string	Treat as "no selection" - expand to word
No matches found	Show "No matches for 'text'" in status bar
Single match (the selection itself)	Show "This is the only match"
Very long selection (>100 chars)	Still search, but truncate in status messages

User Interface Feedback

Status Bar Messages

Searching...                          (brief, during search)
Match 3 of 15                         (normal navigation)
Match 1 of 15 (wrapped)               (wrapped around)
No matches for 'searchterm'           (no results)
This is the only match                (single occurrence)
No text to search                     (no selection/word)

Visual Feedback

1. Highlight all matches in the viewport (using existing search highlight system)
2. Current match uses a distinct "current match" color (same as existing search)
3. Smooth scroll to center the match in the viewport if off-screen

Implementation Notes

New Actions Required

// In src/input/keybindings.rs - Action enum
FindSelectionNext,      // Ctrl+F3
FindSelectionPrevious,  // Ctrl+Shift+F3

Core Functions

// In src/app/render.rs or similar

/// Finds next occurrence of current selection or word under cursor
fn find_selection_next(&mut self) {
    // 1. Get search text from selection or word-at-cursor
    // 2. Escape regex special characters (literal search)
    // 3. Call perform_search() with the text
    // 4. Call find_next() to move to next match
    // 5. Select the match
}

/// Finds previous occurrence of current selection or word under cursor
fn find_selection_previous(&mut self) {
    // Similar to above, but calls find_previous()
}

Integration with Existing Code

The implementation should reuse existing search infrastructure:

1. SearchState - Store the query and matches (already exists)
2. perform_search() - Compute all matches (already exists)
3. find_next() / find_previous() - Navigate matches (already exists)
4. update_search_highlights() - Visual feedback (already exists)

The only new code needed is:

• The action handlers that extract selection/word and call existing functions
• Keybinding entries in default.json

Keybinding Configuration

Add to /keymaps/default.json:

{
  "comment": "Quick find - search selection next",
  "key": "F3",
  "modifiers": ["ctrl"],
  "action": "find_selection_next",
  "args": {},
  "when": "normal"
},
{
  "comment": "Quick find - search selection previous",
  "key": "F3",
  "modifiers": ["ctrl", "shift"],
  "action": "find_selection_previous",
  "args": {},
  "when": "normal"
}

Comparison with Existing Ctrl+D

Fresh already has Ctrl+D bound to add_cursor_next_match (multi-cursor). The proposed Ctrl+F3 is complementary:

Shortcut	Action	Multi-cursor?
Ctrl+D	Add cursor at next match	Yes (cumulative)
Ctrl+F3	Jump to next match	No (navigation only)

Both features are useful:

• Ctrl+D: When you want to edit multiple occurrences simultaneously
• Ctrl+F3: When you want to review/navigate occurrences one by one

Future Considerations

1. Ctrl+Shift+L - Select all occurrences (like VSCode) - could be added later
2. Configurable defaults - User setting for case-sensitivity default
3. Search history integration - Ctrl+F3 searches could appear in search history

Summary

This design provides:

• Standard keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+F3 / Ctrl+Shift+F3) matching user expectations
• Seamless integration with existing search (F3/Shift+F3 navigation)
• Smart defaults (word expansion when no selection)
• Clear status feedback
• Minimal new code by reusing existing search infrastructure

Sources

• VSCode Default Keyboard Shortcuts Reference
• VSCode Issue #76960: Find Next Selection behavior inconsistency
• Sublime Text Multiple Selection with Keyboard
• Visual Studio Default Keyboard Shortcuts
• Common Shortcuts in IntelliJ IDEA