From 69cab3d8085d0731574f4498864ced901e55c8b0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nolin McFarland <nolin.mcfarland@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 17 May 2026 11:26:32 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] feat: select needle when reading from pasteboard

---
 .../Ghostty/Surface View/OSSurfaceView.swift  |  5 ++
 .../Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView.swift    |  6 ++-
 macos/Sources/Helpers/Backport.swift          | 46 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../SurfaceView+SearchStateTests.swift        | 12 +++++
 4 files changed, 68 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/OSSurfaceView.swift b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/OSSurfaceView.swift
index 3af562744..d9c01b089 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/OSSurfaceView.swift	
+++ b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/OSSurfaceView.swift	
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import Foundation
 import GhosttyKit
+import SwiftUI
 
 extension Ghostty {
     class OSSurfaceView: OSView, ObservableObject {
@@ -125,6 +126,9 @@ extension Ghostty.OSSurfaceView {
         @Published var selected: UInt?
         @Published var total: UInt?
 
+        /// The range of the needle's text selection in the find bar.
+        @Published var needleSelection: Range<String.Index>?
+
         init(
             from startSearch: Ghostty.Action.StartSearch,
             pasteboard: OSPasteboard = OSPasteboard(name: .find)
@@ -142,6 +146,7 @@ extension Ghostty.OSSurfaceView {
             let pasteboardNeedle = pasteboard.string(forType: .string)
             if let pasteboardNeedle, pasteboardNeedle != needle {
                 needle = pasteboardNeedle
+                needleSelection = needle.startIndex..<needle.endIndex
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView.swift b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView.swift
index 52b39b074..825927323 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView.swift	
+++ b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView.swift	
@@ -377,7 +377,11 @@ extension Ghostty {
         var body: some View {
             GeometryReader { geo in
                 HStack(spacing: 4) {
-                    TextField("Search", text: $searchState.needle)
+                    BackportSelectionTextField(
+                        "Search",
+                        text: $searchState.needle,
+                        selection: $searchState.needleSelection
+                    )
                     .textFieldStyle(.plain)
                     .frame(width: 180)
                     .padding(.leading, 8)
diff --git a/macos/Sources/Helpers/Backport.swift b/macos/Sources/Helpers/Backport.swift
index e2afb5b0c..37c2c8089 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Helpers/Backport.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/Helpers/Backport.swift
@@ -131,3 +131,49 @@ enum BackportNSGlassStyle {
     }
     #endif
 }
+
+/// Backported `TextField` that supports text selection on macOS 15 and up. The `selection` has no
+/// effect on versions below macOS 15.
+struct BackportSelectionTextField: View {
+    private let titleKey: LocalizedStringKey
+    @Binding private var text: String
+    @Binding private var textSelection: Range<String.Index>?
+
+    init(
+        _ titleKey: LocalizedStringKey,
+        text: Binding<String>,
+        selection: Binding<Range<String.Index>?>
+    ) {
+        self.titleKey = titleKey
+        self._text = text
+        self._textSelection = selection
+    }
+
+    var body: some View {
+        if #available(macOS 15, *) {
+            TextField(
+                titleKey,
+                text: _text,
+                selection: Binding(
+                    get: {
+                        if let textSelection {
+                            TextSelection(range: textSelection)
+                        } else {
+                            nil
+                        }
+                    },
+                    set: { selection in
+                        if let selection,
+                           case .selection(let range) = selection.indices {
+                            self.textSelection = range
+                        } else {
+                            self.textSelection = nil
+                        }
+                    }
+                )
+            )
+        } else {
+            TextField(titleKey, text: _text)
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/macos/Tests/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView+SearchStateTests.swift b/macos/Tests/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView+SearchStateTests.swift
index 7b3c1942e..00a37f67f 100644
--- a/macos/Tests/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView+SearchStateTests.swift	
+++ b/macos/Tests/Ghostty/Surface View/SurfaceView+SearchStateTests.swift	
@@ -84,4 +84,16 @@ import Testing
         sut.readPasteboardNeedle()
         #expect(sut.needle == "pb")
     }
+
+    @Test func readPasteboardNeedle_setsNeedleSelectionRange() {
+        let sut = SearchState(
+            from: StartSearch(c: .init(needle: nil)),
+            pasteboard: pasteboard
+        )
+        sut.needle = "sut"
+        sut.readPasteboardNeedle()
+
+        let expected = "pb".startIndex..<"pb".endIndex
+        #expect(sut.needleSelection == expected)
+    }
 }