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KN-86 Deckline

writeroom-mode

What it is

Section titled “What it is”

writeroom-mode is an Emacs minor mode that turns the current buffer into a distraction-free writing environment: full-screen takeover (mode line, menu bar, scroll bars, fringe all hidden), text centered in the viewport with a configurable horizontal width (default 80 columns), background dimmed, sibling windows hidden. The user toggles in with M-x writeroom-mode and out with the same. The mode is highly customizable (width, font, hooks for entering/leaving, what specifically to hide).

For KN-86 this is a directly relevant interaction reference because the device’s primary display can accommodate exactly this kind of deliberately narrow focus mode — and a focus mode is the right affordance for sustained reading / writing tasks inside a cart.

Key takeaways for KN-86

Section titled “Key takeaways for KN-86”
  • A focus / zen mode is a sanctioned KN-86 affordance. writeroom-mode is the cleanest single contemporary reference for the pattern. KN-86 carts that present long-form text (CIPHER fragments at length, a Zork-style narrative cart, the F1-context-help corpus from l123) should support a focus mode that hides Row 0 and Row 24, centers the text, and presents the cart-content area in a deliberately narrower column for readability. Default activation: a single keystroke (TERM + something, or a function key bound to ZEN).
  • Mechanism: hide the chrome, narrow the column, dim or omit the periphery. KN-86 already has the chrome (Row 0, Row 24) and the cart-content area (Rows 1–23). Focus mode means: hide rows 0 and 24, optionally narrow the content area to a reduced column count (say 60 columns instead of 80), center it horizontally inside the otherwise-empty Rows 1–23. The “hidden chrome” rows draw nothing — black on the panel, indistinguishable from the case bezel.
  • Hooks on enter / leave. writeroom-mode runs configurable hooks when entering and leaving. For KN-86 the analog is save/restore behavior — when entering focus mode, save the current chrome state and any cart-side periphery state; when leaving, restore. Important for the Esc round-trip back to the original surface.
  • The auxiliary display question. Does focus mode silence the CIPHER-LINE OLED as well, or does CIPHER continue to scroll? Open question. Best directional guess: CIPHER continues, because it’s a separate visual channel and the operator’s attention to it is non-conflicting; but the animation profile of the CIPHER ticker dims (slower scroll, dimmer phosphor mode) to match the focus-mode posture. Worth scoping in the cipher-voice-style-guide.
  • GPL note. No vendoring. The reference is pattern-level.

Image

Section titled “Image”

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Notes

Section titled “Notes”
  • Promote item: Add focus / zen mode to the v0.1 ship list. Triggered by a single keystroke, hides Row 0 + Row 24, centers the content area in a configurable narrower column, dims (not silences) the CIPHER-LINE OLED. Modeled on writeroom-mode. Worth one short ADR.
  • Cross-link l123.md — l123’s F1 context help is full-screen takeover by another name. Same pattern, different purpose.
  • Cross-link aethertune.md — AetherTune’s CRT boot + power-off animations are identity branding applied as full-screen takeover; writeroom-mode is focus discipline applied the same way. Same mechanism, different intent.
  • Cross-link exwm.md — focus mode is, in a sense, “EXWM but for a single buffer.” The unifying principle is “remove every screen affordance that isn’t the task.” KN-86 inherits this.