owlry/docs/superpowers/specs/2026-03-28-config-editor-design.md

Config Editor — Design Spec

Goal

A built-in provider in owlry-core that lets users browse and modify their configuration directly from the launcher UI, without opening a text editor.

Scope

Editable settings (curated)

Provider toggles (boolean):

• applications, commands, calculator, converter, system
• websearch, ssh, clipboard, bookmarks, emoji, scripts, files
• media, weather, pomodoro
• uuctl (systemd user units)

Appearance (text input + selection):

• theme (selection from available themes)
• font_size (numeric input)
• width, height (numeric input)
• border_radius (numeric input)

Search (text input + selection):

• search_engine (selection: google, duckduckgo, bing, startpage, brave, ecosia)
• frecency (boolean toggle)
• frecency_weight (numeric input, 0.0–1.0)

Profiles (CRUD):

• List existing profiles
• Create new profile (name input + mode checklist)
• Edit profile (rename, edit modes, delete)

Not in scope

• Weather API key / location (sensitive, better in config file)
• Pomodoro durations (niche, config file)
• Plugin disabled list (covered by provider toggles)
• use_uwsm / terminal_command (advanced, config file)

UX Flow

Entry point

Type :config or select the "Settings" item that appears for queries like "settings", "config", "preferences".

Top-level categories

:config →
  ┌─ Providers          Toggle providers on/off
  ├─ Appearance          Theme, font size, dimensions
  ├─ Search              Search engine, frecency
  └─ Profiles            Manage named mode sets

Each category is a submenu item. Selecting one opens its submenu.

Provider toggles

Providers →
  ┌─ ✓ Applications     [toggle]
  ├─ ✓ Commands          [toggle]
  ├─ ✓ Calculator        [toggle]
  ├─ ✓ Converter         [toggle]
  ├─ ✓ System            [toggle]
  ├─ ✗ Weather           [toggle]
  ├─ ...

Selecting a row toggles it. The ✓/✗ prefix updates immediately. Change is written to config.toml and hot-applied where possible.

Appearance settings

Appearance →
  ┌─ Theme: owl                    [select]
  ├─ Font Size: 14                 [edit]
  ├─ Width: 850                    [edit]
  ├─ Height: 650                   [edit]
  └─ Border Radius: 12             [edit]

Selection fields (theme): Selecting opens a submenu with available options. Current value is marked with ✓.

Text/numeric fields (font size, width, etc.): Selecting a row enters edit mode — the search bar clears and shows a placeholder like "Font Size (current: 14)". User types a new value and presses Enter. The value is validated (numeric, within reasonable range), written to config, and the submenu re-displays with the updated value.

Search settings

Search →
  ┌─ Search Engine: duckduckgo     [select]
  ├─ Frecency: enabled             [toggle]
  └─ Frecency Weight: 0.3          [edit]

Same patterns — selection for engine, toggle for frecency, text input for weight.

Profile management

Profiles →
  ┌─ dev (app, cmd, ssh)           [submenu]
  ├─ media (media, emoji)          [submenu]
  └─ ➕ Create New Profile         [action]

Select existing profile → submenu:

Profile: dev →
  ┌─ Edit Modes                    [submenu → checklist]
  ├─ Rename                        [text input]
  └─ Delete                        [confirm action]

Edit Modes → checklist (same as provider toggles but for the profile's mode list):

Edit Modes: dev →
  ┌─ ✓ app
  ├─ ✓ cmd
  ├─ ✗ calc
  ├─ ✗ conv
  ├─ ✓ ssh
  ├─ ...

Toggle to include/exclude. Changes saved on submenu exit (Escape).

Create New Profile:

1. Search bar becomes name input (placeholder: "Profile name...")
2. User types name, presses Enter
3. Opens mode checklist (all unchecked)
4. Toggle desired modes, press Escape to save

Delete: Selecting "Delete" removes the profile from config and returns to the profiles list.

Architecture

Provider type

Built-in static provider in owlry-core. Uses ProviderType::Plugin("config") with prefix :config.

Provider classification

Static — the top-level items (Providers, Appearance, Search, Profiles) are populated at refresh time. But it also needs submenu support — each category opens a submenu with actions.

This means the config provider needs to handle ?SUBMENU: queries to generate submenu items dynamically, and !ACTION: commands to execute changes.

Command protocol

Actions use the existing plugin action system (PluginAction IPC request):

• CONFIG:toggle:providers.calculator — toggle a boolean
• CONFIG:set:appearance.font_size:16 — set a value
• CONFIG:set:providers.search_engine:google — set a string
• CONFIG:profile:create:dev — create a profile
• CONFIG:profile:delete:dev — delete a profile
• CONFIG:profile:rename:dev:development — rename
• CONFIG:profile:mode:dev:toggle:ssh — toggle a mode in a profile

Config persistence

All changes write to ~/.config/owlry/config.toml via the existing Config::save() method.

Hot-apply behavior

Setting	Hot-apply	Notes
Provider toggles	Yes	Daemon re-reads config, enables/disables providers
Theme	Yes	UI reloads CSS
Frecency toggle/weight	Yes	Next search uses new value
Search engine	Yes	Next web search uses new engine
Font size	Restart	CSS variable, needs reload
Width/Height	Restart	GTK window geometry set at construction
Border radius	Restart	CSS variable, needs reload
Profiles	Yes	Config file update, available on next --profile launch

Settings that require restart show a "(restart to apply)" hint in the description.

Submenu integration

The config provider uses the existing submenu system:

• Top-level items have SUBMENU:config:{category} commands
• Categories return action items via ?SUBMENU:{category}
• Actions execute via CONFIG:* commands through execute_plugin_action

This keeps the implementation within the existing provider/submenu architecture without new IPC message types.