Allow native hyperlink passthrough without disabling Herdr mouse controls

[kehwar]

idea / problem

My workflow is local terminal → SSH → remote host → Herdr → Pi.

Pi can display OSC8 hyperlinks using vscode:// and winscp-sftp://. My local terminal handles Ctrl-click and opens VS Code or WinSCP on my local computer.

Before 0.9.4, these links worked alongside Herdr’s mouse controls. Since the change in #5064, application links no longer open with mouse capture enabled.

I tested ui.mouse_capture = false, it restores link activation, but also disables Herdr’s mouse controls for tabs, menus, and split resizing.

Related: #5272 acknowledges this tradeoff as intentional. Discussion #1959 also mentions the 0.9.4 change.

requested change

Allow native OSC8 hyperlink passthrough to be enabled independently of Herdr’s mouse controls.

The current plugin-first behavior could remain the default. An opt-in terminal-native mode would preserve tab clicks, menus, and split resizing while allowing the connecting terminal to handle hyperlink activation.

why you want this

I regularly use both herdr’s mouse navigation and clickable file links. These worked together before 0.9.4; now I must choose between them.

Because I connect over SSH, the links need to reach my local terminal and its registered application handlers. Launching VS Code or WinSCP on the remote host through a herdr plugin would not restore this workflow.

I want an opt-in way to recover the previous behavior without removing plugin precedence for users who need it.

[mpazik]

I have a similar workflow. Had to roll back herdr due to the breaking change. Would love a way to opt out of the changed link behaviour

[rdrf2838]

I can see the intent of @JJLiebig 's change - basically make the config option mouse_capture represent herdr owning all mouse events

However I believe it accidentally couples the different kinds of mouse events together:

• inbound - e.g. right-click passthrough, dragging
• outbound - whether osc8 emitted to outer terminal

I think a maintainable solution would be to have a config option for each category of mouse events. I propose adding one in [ui] mouse_output_capture or something conveying the different meaning. Happy to implement !

[tlshaheen]

Similar flow here: Ghostty on macOS, SSH to a Linux host, herdr 0.9.5. With capture on, an OSC 8 link printed in a pane (printf '\e]8;;https://example.com\e\\link\e]8;;\e\\\n') does not open with Shift+Cmd-click. I'd like the opt-in passthrough too.

A separate, related point for that mode: plain-text URLs that wrap across pane rows. Shift+Cmd-click on a wrapped URL opens only the part on the first row, because my local terminal sees each row separately. herdr treats a wrapped URL as one link for its own Ctrl-click, but that opens it on the host running herdr. It would help if URLs herdr recognizes reached the local terminal as whole links.

Related: #2780 (open links on the client in remote mode; its first option was handing the URL to the client terminal).

[sparkling]

This is terrible, it makes Herdr unusable for me. I am downgrading to the version before they messed this up, and staying there until they fix it, or I find another solution

[JJLiebig]

Could you write out exactly the UX you would prefer?

We tried to fix various issues with links inside nested sessions with the previous workarounds, so it would help loads to understand what the idea behaviour is and where exactly that breaks.

Would an approach like here #5347 (comment) be an option?

[sparkling]

Of course, its a great product overall. My ask is really simple: I must be able to apple-click any link, markdown or pure url, and have it open up the webpage. I do this a lot. I must also be able to highlight text, and copy it to my buffer. If a link is multiple lines, it should act as a single link, and the hover effect should highlight the entire multi line link (it never did that), and a click should open the entire multiline link (there might be a bug with that, not sure). And I must be able to interact with the herdr controls and menus. A bonus would be if I am able to drag the left pane wider, because it cuts off text of the session descriptions.

It would be great if that worked out of the box, without tweaking configs. Problem with configs, people don't know they exist, and if the do, don't know how to et them to achieve the above.

I use Codex in herdr in iterms 2.

Hope that helps! Thanks for a great product.

[JJLiebig]

That helps a ton, let's move all discussion into #5272

I have a behaviour matrix posted in that thread, could you check if that makes sense?

[JJLiebig]

Consolidating discussion in: #5272

Very happy to hear feedback about that

[akbash-bot]

Could you try JJ’s test build from PR #5457 (commit 87c4378c) and share feedback before merge? It should restore native opening of explicit hyperlinks not claimed by an enabled, available plugin, without disabling Herdr’s mouse controls.

For the SSH workflows here, please check that vscode://, winscp-sftp://, or labeled web links open on your local computer using your terminal’s usual shortcut, and that tab clicks and split dragging still work. Wrapped explicit OSC 8 labels are covered; native detection of wrapped plain-text URLs is not changed.

Download choices and safe test-session instructions are on the PR. This is experimental, not a release. Keep mouse capture enabled; both client and server need this build. For terminal → SSH → Herdr, run the host artifact in the SSH shell rather than changing your local terminal.

Please leave your terminal/version, setup, gesture, and result on issue #5272 so the test feedback stays together.