fix(buffer): make generated buffers survive undo

Review round 2, P1. Undo could empty the "read-only" snapshot.

`render_snapshot` wrote with bypass_intercept, which leaves ordinary
undo history behind, and `Buffer::undo` reaches the rope through
`ensure_writable` without ever consulting the intercept chain. So a
single `C-/` — or `M-x buffer.undo`, which needs no keymap at all —
replaced a freshly rendered snapshot with an empty buffer.
`set_round_trip_input` does not help: it routes the key into the daemon
command path, which is exactly where undo runs.

Rebinding the undo chords buffer-locally would not have closed this,
and `compile.lua` already says so in a comment: "command/menu undo
stays dispatchable". `*compilation*` and listview panels therefore
carry the same latent defect today.

Adds `Buffer::set_generated_contents` (Lua:
`pmacs.buffer.set_generated_contents`): lift `read_only`, replace the
contents skipping intercepts, discard the resulting history, re-assert
`read_only`. This ships the framing's deferred immutability lane as ONE
primitive rather than exposing the setter — a bare `set_read_only`
would let a caller lock a buffer it can no longer refresh, which is
precisely why that lane was deferred. Discarding history is
load-bearing twice: it removes what undo would replay, and it stops a
periodically refreshed buffer accumulating rope clones that `read_only`
guarantees nothing can ever pop.

New acceptance 16c drives the real M-x path
(`command.invoke_interactive`), the chord, and redo, and asserts the
owner's own refresh still works — the operation plain `read_only` would
have broken. Acceptance 16b flips from asserting `is_read_only()` is
false to true, because the property it documented is the one that was
wrong. Three `buffer.rs` unit tests cover the primitive directly,
including that ten refreshes leave an empty undo stack.

Bite: restoring the delete+insert render reproduces the report exactly
— `left: Some("")` against the full snapshot — failing 16c and 16b.

Still open, and now named in the framing, COHERENCE.md §14 and the
ledger: `*compilation*` and listview have not adopted the primitive and
remain emptiable by `M-x buffer.undo`; a streaming-friendly variant is
needed for the append case. In CRDT mode `read_only` is what refuses
undo, since loro's UndoManager exposes no clear through `CrdtState`.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_016gGQC6eqHJVbZJ5Hg7aLer

COHERENCE.md

@@ -1214,7 +1214,16 @@ Primitive-by-primitive against the list above:
   rebindable (§6's counter-example).
 - **Output channel** ✓ — the compile-mode `*compilation*` model
   (streamed, intercept-read-only, error-rule parsing), reused by grep
-  and shell-command.
+  and shell-command. **Caveat found in terminal copy mode's review
+  (Stage 2): "intercept-read-only" is not read-only.** `Buffer::undo`
+  reaches the rope through `ensure_writable` without consulting the
+  intercept chain, so `M-x buffer.undo` empties such a buffer — and
+  rebinding the undo *chords* buffer-locally does not close it, as
+  `compile.lua`'s own comment admits ("command/menu undo stays
+  dispatchable"). `Buffer::set_generated_contents` (write + discard
+  history + assert `read_only`, in one authorized call) now fixes this
+  for the terminal snapshot; `*compilation*` and listview panels have
+  not yet adopted it and remain emptiable.
 - **Diagnostics collection** ✓ — `DiagnosticStore` + signs + unified
   `error.next` source.
 - **Transient selector** ✓ — the minibuffer (though its `source`

builtin/runtime/terminal.lua

@@ -319,12 +319,18 @@ end
 -- drift between the two.
 local function render_snapshot(record)
   local text = raw_copy_retained(record.terminal) or ""
-  local buf = record.buffer
+  -- The owner-authorized write, and the ONLY one this buffer accepts.
-  local len = buf:len()
+  --
-  -- Snapshot writes bypass the read-only intercept; everything else is
+  -- Not `delete`+`insert` with `bypass_intercept` (review round 2): that
-  -- rejected by it.
+  -- leaves the buffer writable at the rope, and it leaves undo history
-  if len > 0 then buf:delete(0, len, { bypass_intercept = true }) end
+  -- behind. `Buffer::undo` reaches the rope through `ensure_writable`
-  if #text > 0 then buf:insert(0, text, { bypass_intercept = true }) end
+  -- without consulting the intercept chain, so a single `C-/` — or
+  -- `M-x buffer.undo`, which no buffer-local rebinding can take away —
+  -- replaced a freshly rendered snapshot with an empty buffer.
+  -- `set_generated_contents` writes, discards the history, and leaves
+  -- `read_only` asserted, so undo/redo and remote CRDT imports are all
+  -- refused at the rope.
+  pmacs.buffer.set_generated_contents(record.buffer, text)
 end
 
 local function claim_snapshot(term_buf)

docs/active-work.md

@@ -738,6 +738,39 @@ If it does not, stop and repair the remote/fetch configuration.
   18a *and* 18b; restoring name-keyed identity fails 18b; making
   `render_snapshot` a no-op fails **both** 18 and 19 (the vacuity,
   demonstrated); and forcing the view off the tail fails 20.
+- **Review round 2 — one P1, and its fix retires half a named deferral.**
+  **Undo emptied the "read-only" snapshot.** `render_snapshot` wrote with
+  `bypass_intercept`, leaving ordinary undo history, and **`Buffer::undo`
+  reaches the rope through `ensure_writable` without ever consulting the
+  intercept chain** — so `C-/` *or* `M-x buffer.undo` replaced a freshly
+  rendered snapshot with an empty buffer. `set_round_trip_input` does not
+  help: it routes the key into the daemon command path, which is where
+  undo runs.
+  - **Rebinding the undo chords would NOT have fixed it**, and
+    `compile.lua` already says so in a comment — "command/menu undo stays
+    dispatchable". `*compilation*` and listview panels therefore carry the
+    same latent defect today.
+  - Fixed with `Buffer::set_generated_contents` (Lua
+    `pmacs.buffer.set_generated_contents`): lift `read_only`, replace
+    skipping intercepts, **discard history**, re-assert `read_only`. This
+    ships the deferred lane's two halves *as one primitive* — a bare
+    `set_read_only` would let a caller lock a buffer it can no longer
+    refresh, which is exactly why that lane was deferred. Clearing history
+    also stops a periodically refreshed buffer accumulating rope clones
+    nothing can ever pop.
+  - New pins: **acc16c** drives the real M-x path
+    (`command.invoke_interactive`), the chord, and redo, and asserts the
+    owner's refresh still works; **acc16b** flipped from asserting
+    `is_read_only()` is *false* to *true*, because the property it
+    described is the one that was fixed; plus three `buffer.rs` unit tests.
+  - Bite: restoring the `delete`+`insert` render reproduces the report
+    exactly — `left: Some("")` against the full snapshot — failing acc16c
+    and acc16b.
+  - **Still open:** `*compilation*` and listview remain emptiable by
+    `M-x buffer.undo`; the primitive they need now exists and is proven,
+    so the remainder is adoption plus a streaming-friendly variant. In
+    CRDT mode `read_only` is what refuses undo, since loro's `UndoManager`
+    exposes no clear through `CrdtState`.
 - Load-bearing decisions, each forced by scouted ground truth:
   - profiles are a **raw Lua table** — `ConfigValue` is four scalars with
     no table kind, so they join `pmacs.lsp.config` / `pmacs.pair.sets`;

docs/terminal-config-and-copy-mode-framing.md

@@ -508,6 +508,35 @@ additive, on its own binding, and does not replace scroll-and-select.
   "skip the intercepts". Naming only the setter would have made it look like a
   one-line follow-up.
 
+  **PARTIALLY RETIRED in Stage 2, because review round 2 turned it from a
+  nice-to-have into a defect.** An intercept guards the dispatch path only,
+  and `Buffer::undo` reaches the rope through `ensure_writable` without ever
+  consulting the intercept chain — so a single `C-/` replaced a freshly
+  rendered snapshot with an empty buffer. Rebinding the undo chords
+  buffer-locally, which is `*compilation*`'s existing idiom, does **not**
+  close it: `compile.lua` says so itself ("command/menu undo stays
+  dispatchable"), and `M-x buffer.undo` needs no keymap.
+
+  The fix ships the deferral's two halves together as **one** primitive
+  rather than exposing the setter: `Buffer::set_generated_contents` (Lua:
+  `pmacs.buffer.set_generated_contents`) lifts `read_only`, replaces the
+  contents skipping intercepts, **discards the history**, and re-asserts
+  `read_only`. Pairing the lock with the write is precisely what makes it
+  safe — a bare `set_read_only` would let a caller lock a buffer it can no
+  longer refresh, which is why the lane was deferred in the first place.
+  Discarding history is load-bearing twice: it removes the entries undo
+  would replay, and it stops a periodically refreshed buffer accumulating
+  rope clones that `read_only` guarantees nothing can ever pop.
+
+  **What remains of the lane:** `*compilation*` and listview panels still
+  rely on intercept-plus-round-trip and are still emptiable by
+  `M-x buffer.undo`. The primitive they need now exists and is proven, so
+  the remaining work is adoption plus a streaming-friendly variant
+  (`*compilation*` appends rather than replacing wholesale). The CRDT half
+  is also still open: `set_generated_contents` clears the v0.1 stacks, and
+  in CRDT mode `read_only` is what refuses undo, since loro's
+  `UndoManager` has no clear exposed through `CrdtState`.
+
 ## Acceptance
 
 ### Stage 1 — `terminal-config`
@@ -577,6 +606,15 @@ additive, on its own binding, and does not replace scroll-and-select.
     them for selection copy.
 15. isearch over the snapshot finds content that is **only in scrollback**
     (scrolled off the visible screen), with no change to `src/search.rs` (B1).
+16c. **Undo cannot empty the snapshot, by chord OR by command** (review
+    round 2). `Buffer::undo` bypasses the intercept chain entirely, so the
+    snapshot must be `read_only` at the rope. Pinning only the chords would
+    be a false pass: `M-x buffer.undo` and the menu reach the command with
+    no keymap involved, which is why `*compilation*`'s chord-rebinding idiom
+    does not close this. Pinned through **`invoke_interactive`**, the real
+    M-x path, plus the chord, plus redo — and paired with an assertion that
+    the owner's own refresh still works, since that is what plain
+    `read_only` would have broken.
 16. **Ungated, runs in CI:** focusing the snapshot buffer makes
     `dispatch_idle_for` report **false**. This is the whole mechanism Q#TC6a
     depends on, it needs no CRDT, and it fails the moment

src/buffer.rs

@@ -504,6 +504,55 @@ impl Buffer {
         self.read_only = read_only;
     }
 
+    /// Replace a generated buffer's entire contents on behalf of its owner,
+    /// and leave it genuinely immutable.
+    ///
+    /// This is the **owner-authorized update path** that genuine
+    /// immutability for generated buffers requires. A snapshot, panel or
+    /// `*compilation*` buffer must reject ordinary edits, **undo, redo**,
+    /// and remote CRDT imports alike — and only [`read_only`] does that.
+    /// An edit intercept is not enough: it guards the dispatch/edit path
+    /// only, while [`Buffer::undo`] reaches the rope through
+    /// `ensure_writable` without ever consulting the intercept chain. A
+    /// buffer protected by an intercept alone can therefore be emptied by
+    /// `C-/`, by `M-x buffer.undo`, or by the menu — the command is
+    /// reachable even where the chords are rebound to no-ops.
+    ///
+    /// But `read_only` also blocks the owner's own refresh, which is the
+    /// operation such buffers exist for. So the owner needs exactly one
+    /// door, and this is it: lift the flag, replace the contents skipping
+    /// intercepts, **discard the resulting history**, re-assert the flag.
+    ///
+    /// Discarding history is not tidiness. Without it every refresh pushes
+    /// undo entries holding full rope clones that nothing can ever pop —
+    /// `read_only` guarantees they are unreachable — so a periodically
+    /// refreshed buffer would grow without bound.
+    ///
+    /// [`read_only`]: Self::set_read_only
+    pub fn set_generated_contents(&mut self, bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<(), BufferError> {
+        self.read_only = false;
+        let result = self.replace_whole_buffer(bytes);
+        // Cleared even on failure: a partial replace must not leave a
+        // half-applied edit reachable through an undo the owner cannot see.
+        self.undo.clear();
+        self.redo.clear();
+        self.read_only = true;
+        result
+    }
+
+    fn replace_whole_buffer(&mut self, bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<(), BufferError> {
+        let len = self.len();
+        if len > 0 {
+            self.apply_edit_skip_intercepts(EditOp::Delete {
+                range: Range::new(0, len),
+            })?;
+        }
+        if !bytes.is_empty() {
+            self.apply_edit_skip_intercepts(EditOp::Insert { pos: 0, bytes })?;
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     fn ensure_writable(&self) -> Result<(), BufferError> {
         if self.read_only {
             Err(BufferError::ReadOnly {
@@ -1955,6 +2004,72 @@ mod tests {
         }
     );
 
+    /// The whole point of the primitive: after an owner write the buffer
+    /// is immutable, and `undo` — which never consults the intercept
+    /// chain — cannot reach back past it.
+    #[test]
+    fn set_generated_contents_writes_then_locks_and_leaves_nothing_to_undo() {
+        let mut buf = Buffer::new(BufferId::next(), "*generated*");
+        buf.set_generated_contents(b"first render").expect("write");
+
+        assert_eq!(buf.len(), 12);
+        assert!(buf.is_read_only(), "the buffer ends immutable");
+        assert!(
+            matches!(buf.undo(), Err(BufferError::ReadOnly { .. })),
+            "undo must be refused at the rope, not merely at dispatch"
+        );
+        assert!(matches!(buf.redo(), Err(BufferError::ReadOnly { .. })));
+
+        // Even with the lock lifted there is no history to replay — the
+        // protection does not depend on the flag alone.
+        buf.set_read_only(false);
+        assert!(matches!(buf.undo(), Err(BufferError::NothingToUndo)));
+        assert!(matches!(buf.redo(), Err(BufferError::NothingToRedo)));
+    }
+
+    /// Refreshing repeatedly must not accumulate unreachable history.
+    /// Each render would otherwise push entries holding full rope clones
+    /// that `read_only` guarantees nothing can ever pop.
+    #[test]
+    fn repeated_generated_writes_do_not_accumulate_history() {
+        let mut buf = Buffer::new(BufferId::next(), "*generated*");
+        for i in 0..10 {
+            buf.set_generated_contents(format!("render {i}").as_bytes())
+                .expect("write");
+        }
+        let mut bytes = vec![0u8; buf.len() as usize];
+        buf.snapshot_rope().slice(0, buf.len(), &mut bytes);
+        assert_eq!(String::from_utf8(bytes).expect("utf8"), "render 9");
+
+        buf.set_read_only(false);
+        assert!(
+            matches!(buf.undo(), Err(BufferError::NothingToUndo)),
+            "ten renders must leave an empty undo stack, not ten entries"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// An ordinary edit is still refused after a generated write, so the
+    /// primitive does not quietly leave the buffer writable.
+    #[test]
+    fn set_generated_contents_still_refuses_ordinary_edits() {
+        let mut buf = Buffer::new(BufferId::next(), "*generated*");
+        buf.set_generated_contents(b"content").expect("write");
+        assert!(matches!(
+            buf.apply_edit(EditOp::Insert {
+                pos: 0,
+                bytes: b"x"
+            }),
+            Err(BufferError::ReadOnly { .. })
+        ));
+        assert!(matches!(
+            buf.apply_edit_skip_intercepts(EditOp::Insert {
+                pos: 0,
+                bytes: b"x"
+            }),
+            Err(BufferError::ReadOnly { .. })
+        ));
+    }
+
     #[cfg(feature = "crdt")]
     #[test]
     fn read_only_rejects_remote_crdt_before_import_and_allows_empty_bootstrap() {

src/lua_bindings/mod.rs

@@ -3065,6 +3065,29 @@ fn install_buffer_module(lua: &Lua, registry: &SharedRegistry) -> mlua::Result<T
         )?;
     }
 
+    {
+        let reg = registry.clone();
+        buffer.set(
+            // Replace a generated buffer's contents and leave it genuinely
+            // immutable — the one authorized door through `read_only`.
+            //
+            // Deliberately NOT an exposed `set_read_only`: that would let a
+            // caller lock a buffer with no way to refresh it, which is the
+            // failure mode that kept generated-buffer immutability deferred.
+            // Pairing the lock with the write in a single call is what makes
+            // it safe to ship.
+            "set_generated_contents",
+            lua.create_function(move |_, (id, text): (BufferIdLua, mlua::String)| {
+                let mut registry = reg.borrow_mut();
+                let buffer = registry.get_mut(id.0).map_err(mlua::Error::external)?;
+                buffer
+                    .set_generated_contents(&text.as_bytes())
+                    .map_err(mlua::Error::external)?;
+                Ok(())
+            })?,
+        )?;
+    }
+
     {
         let reg = registry.clone();
         buffer.set(

tests/terminal_copy_mode_acceptance.rs

@@ -333,10 +333,10 @@ fn acc16_dispatch_idle_is_false_while_the_snapshot_is_focused() {
 }
 
 /// Acceptance 16 (the other half): the intercept rejects ordinary edits,
-/// and — the fact that makes round-trip load-bearing rather than defence
+/// and the buffer is genuinely `read_only` at the rope boundary, so the
-/// in depth — the buffer is **not** `read_only` at the rope boundary.
+/// protection does not depend on which key or command was used.
 #[test]
-fn acc16b_the_intercept_rejects_edits_but_is_not_rope_level_protection() {
+fn acc16b_the_snapshot_is_immutable_at_the_rope_not_merely_intercepted() {
     let mut state = EditorState::new();
     let terminal = open_fill_terminal(&mut state);
     focus_terminal(&state, terminal);
@@ -347,10 +347,6 @@ fn acc16b_the_intercept_rejects_edits_but_is_not_rope_level_protection() {
     let after = buffer_text_by_name(&state, SNAPSHOT_NAME).expect("snapshot");
     assert_eq!(before, after, "the read-only intercept rejects self-insert");
 
-    // Q#TC6a, stated as a test so the next reader does not mistake the
-    // intercept for real immutability: no Lua binding sets
-    // `Buffer::read_only`, so this buffer accepts rope/CRDT mutation and
-    // only the round-trip mark above keeps a replica from producing one.
     let core = state.core.borrow();
     let registry = core.registry.borrow();
     let ids = registry.ids();
@@ -364,18 +360,87 @@ fn acc16b_the_intercept_rejects_edits_but_is_not_rope_level_protection() {
         })
         .expect("snapshot buffer id");
     assert!(
-        !registry
+        registry
             .get(snapshot)
             .expect("snapshot buffer")
             .is_read_only(),
-        "the Lua intercept does NOT set Buffer::read_only — this is why \
+        "an intercept guards the dispatch path only; `Buffer::undo` reaches \
-         set_round_trip_input is the guard and not hardening"
+         the rope through `ensure_writable` without consulting it, so the \
+         snapshot must be read-only at the rope"
     );
     drop(registry);
     drop(core);
     state.process_supervisor.borrow_mut().shutdown();
 }
 
+/// Acceptance 16c (review round 2, P1): **undo cannot empty the snapshot**,
+/// through the chord *or* through the command.
+///
+/// The chord half alone would be a false pass. `M-x buffer.undo` and the
+/// menu reach `Buffer::undo` without passing through any buffer-local
+/// keymap, so rebinding `C-/` to a no-op — the existing `*compilation*`
+/// idiom, which documents that "command/menu undo stays dispatchable" —
+/// leaves the buffer emptiable. Only rope-level `read_only` closes both.
+#[test]
+fn acc16c_undo_cannot_empty_the_snapshot_by_chord_or_by_command() {
+    let mut state = EditorState::new();
+    let terminal = open_fill_terminal(&mut state);
+    focus_terminal(&state, terminal);
+    exec(&state, "pmacs.terminal.copy_mode(TERM_BUF)");
+
+    let rendered = buffer_text_by_name(&state, SNAPSHOT_NAME).expect("snapshot");
+    assert!(
+        rendered.contains("LINE200"),
+        "precondition: the snapshot has content to lose"
+    );
+
+    // The command path — reachable regardless of any buffer-local binding.
+    let _: Value = state
+        .lua_host
+        .lua()
+        .load(r"return pcall(pmacs.command.invoke_interactive, 'buffer.undo')")
+        .eval()
+        .expect("invoke_interactive is callable");
+    assert_eq!(
+        buffer_text_by_name(&state, SNAPSHOT_NAME).as_deref(),
+        Some(rendered.as_str()),
+        "M-x buffer.undo must not empty the snapshot"
+    );
+
+    // The chord path.
+    press(&mut state, KeyCode::Char('/'), KeyModifiers::CONTROL);
+    assert_eq!(
+        buffer_text_by_name(&state, SNAPSHOT_NAME).as_deref(),
+        Some(rendered.as_str()),
+        "C-/ must not empty the snapshot"
+    );
+
+    // Redo is the same door.
+    let _: Value = state
+        .lua_host
+        .lua()
+        .load(r"return pcall(pmacs.command.invoke_interactive, 'buffer.redo')")
+        .eval()
+        .expect("invoke_interactive is callable");
+    assert_eq!(
+        buffer_text_by_name(&state, SNAPSHOT_NAME).as_deref(),
+        Some(rendered.as_str()),
+        "buffer.redo must not alter the snapshot either"
+    );
+
+    // ...and the owner's own refresh still works, which is the whole
+    // reason plain `read_only` was not enough on its own.
+    emit_into_child(&mut state, terminal, "STILLREFRESHES");
+    exec(&state, "pmacs.terminal.copy_mode(TERM_BUF)");
+    assert!(
+        buffer_text_by_name(&state, SNAPSHOT_NAME)
+            .expect("snapshot")
+            .contains("STILLREFRESHES"),
+        "the owner-authorized write path must survive immutability"
+    );
+    state.process_supervisor.borrow_mut().shutdown();
+}
+
 /// Acceptance 18: re-invoking refreshes in place, and the lifecycle runs
 /// both directions.
 #[test]