commit 095f1cbe955bbb38c49fc5c9e195a1fe1783773d
from: Brett Fisher <code@brettfisher.xyz>
date: Sat Jul  4 04:04:11 2026 UTC

aestel/display.lua, aestel/menu.lua, aestel/navigate.lua: Move
header rendering to display module.

  - Add display.write_header(title, cwd) returning lines written.
  - Add empty_message parameter to menu.menu.
  - Remove refresh_headers from navigate.lua and use
    display.write_header.

commit - 9192f9e6bc31960f2056c2d174b5f447246617bf
commit + 095f1cbe955bbb38c49fc5c9e195a1fe1783773d
blob - 94d6649fac47a28aff2989f0eb08a42bfc495535
blob + 1299751ba0bb185628edcb3c9f6ed5ba77854e49
--- aestel/display.lua
+++ aestel/display.lua
@@ -40,5 +40,28 @@ function M.color_for_type(item_type)
     return TYPE_COLORS[item_type] or colors.WHITE
 end
 
+-- Write a header block at the top of the terminal:
+--   line 1: bold title (or omitted if title is empty)
+--   line 2: "Current Path: <cwd>"
+--   line 3: blank separator (only when title is present)
+-- Returns the number of lines written, for callers to position
+-- a menu immediately below the header.
+function M.write_header(title, cwd)
+	M.clear_and_position(1, 1)
+	local lines = 0
+	if title and title ~= "" then
+		io.write(colors.BOLD .. title .. colors.RESET .. "\n")
+		lines = lines + 1
+	end
+	io.write("Current Path: " .. (cwd or "") .. "\n")
+	lines = lines + 1
+	if title and title ~= "" then
+		io.write("\n")
+		lines = lines + 1
+	end
+	io.flush()
+	return lines
+end
+
 return M
 
blob - d19e4d35a47d917ab3ddcfaca8f32c88beab67c2
blob + 19e7bb342806b143f3703a356c106db4ae0cd171
--- aestel/menu.lua
+++ aestel/menu.lua
@@ -26,8 +26,26 @@ end
 
 -- Display a key-navigated menu and return the selected index
 -- (1-based, 0 for "up", or nil (quit))
-function M.menu(title, options, start_row, header_lines)
+function M.menu(title, options, start_row, header_lines, empty_message)
 	if not options or #options == 0 then
+		if empty_message then
+			start_row = start_row or 1
+			local terminal_height = input.get_terminal_height()
+			input.enable_raw()
+
+			-- Write the empty message on the last terminal line
+			io.write(string.format("\27[%d;1H\27[K", terminal_height))
+			io.write(colors.REVERSE .. empty_message .. colors.RESET)
+			io.flush()
+
+			local key = read_key_full()
+			input.disable_raw()
+
+			if key == "h" or key == "left" then
+				return 0  -- Signal "go up"
+			end
+			return nil  -- Quit
+		end
 		return nil
 	end
 
blob - 1411ce481537f6985960169eaa58eb33fd347748
blob + 894793b05cbb9fca0d8a49e212031dbecb680f58
--- aestel/navigate.lua
+++ aestel/navigate.lua
@@ -64,27 +64,9 @@ local function change_dir(cur, target, base_dir)
 	return new_path
 end
 
--- UPDATED refresh_headers: Debug print for title/cwd; simplified title, extra flushes
-local function refresh_headers(title, cwd, start_row)
-	display.clear_and_position(1, 1)
-	title = title or ""  -- Ensure string
---	io.stderr:write("DEBUG refresh: title='" .. title .. "', cwd='" .. cwd .. "'\n")
-	io.stderr:flush()
-	if title ~= "" then
-		io.write(colors.BOLD .. title .. colors.RESET .. "\n")
-		io.flush()
-	end
-	io.write("Current Path: " .. cwd .. "\n")
-	io.flush()
-	if title ~= "" then
-		io.write("\n")  -- Empty line for title case
-		io.flush()
-	end
-end
-
 -- handle_empty_dir (unchanged)
 local function handle_empty_dir(title, cwd, base_dir)
-	refresh_headers(title, cwd, nil)
+	display.write_header(title, cwd)
 	local height = input.get_terminal_height()
 	io.write(string.format("\27[%d;1H\27[K", height))
 	io.write("Empty directory. Press 'q' to quit or 'h' to go up.\n")
@@ -149,7 +131,7 @@ function M.browse(start_dir, base_dir, start_row, titl
 	local cwd = normalize_path(start_dir or lfs.currentdir() or home_dir)
 	local header_lines = title ~= "" and 3 or 1
 
-	refresh_headers(title, cwd, nil)
+	display.write_header(title, cwd)
 
 	local running = true
 	local selected_file = nil
@@ -160,7 +142,7 @@ function M.browse(start_dir, base_dir, start_row, titl
 			local empty_result = handle_empty_dir(title, cwd, base_dir)
 			if type(empty_result) == "string" then
 				cwd = empty_result
-				refresh_headers(title, cwd, nil)
+				display.write_header(title, cwd)
 			else
 				running = false
 			end
@@ -173,9 +155,9 @@ function M.browse(start_dir, base_dir, start_row, titl
 				local new_cwd, err = change_dir(cwd, "..", base_dir)
 				if new_cwd then
 					cwd = new_cwd
-					refresh_headers(title, cwd, nil)
+					display.write_header(title, cwd)
 				else
-					refresh_headers(title, cwd, nil)
+					display.write_header(title, cwd)
 					local height = input.get_terminal_height()
 					io.write(string.format("\27[%d;1H\27[K", height))
 					io.write("Error: " .. (err or "unknown") .. "\n")
@@ -190,9 +172,9 @@ function M.browse(start_dir, base_dir, start_row, titl
 					local new_cwd, err = change_dir(cwd, sel.name, base_dir)
 					if new_cwd then
 						cwd = new_cwd
-						refresh_headers(title, cwd, nil)
+						display.write_header(title, cwd)
 					else
-						refresh_headers(title, cwd, nil)
+						display.write_header(title, cwd)
 						local height = input.get_terminal_height()
 						io.write(string.format("\27[%d;1H\27[K", height))
 						io.write("Error: " .. (err or "unknown") .. "\n")