From 46dcda1d0c56f160575ae00e97fd93a8456094ee Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2026 23:26:42 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: preserve fuzzy ranking in model picker (#1198) (thanks
 @vignesh07)

---
 CHANGELOG.md                                  |  1 +
 .../components/searchable-select-list.test.ts | 15 ++++++
 src/tui/components/searchable-select-list.ts  | 47 +++++++++----------
 3 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f09fb1dd9..00bbb461d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.clawd.bot
 ### Changes
 - Dependencies: update core + plugin deps (grammy, vitest, openai, Microsoft agents hosting, etc.).
 - Onboarding: add allowlist prompts and username-to-id resolution across core and extension channels.
+- TUI: add searchable model picker for quicker model selection. (#1198) — thanks @vignesh07.
 - Docs: clarify allowlist input types and onboarding behavior for messaging channels.
 
 ### Fixes
diff --git a/src/tui/components/searchable-select-list.test.ts b/src/tui/components/searchable-select-list.test.ts
index 596c07f42..80f5e758b 100644
--- a/src/tui/components/searchable-select-list.test.ts
+++ b/src/tui/components/searchable-select-list.test.ts
@@ -92,6 +92,21 @@ describe("SearchableSelectList", () => {
     expect(selected?.value).toContain("gpt");
   });
 
+  it("preserves fuzzy ranking when only fuzzy matches exist", () => {
+    const items = [
+      { value: "xg---4", label: "xg---4", description: "Worse fuzzy match" },
+      { value: "gpt-4", label: "gpt-4", description: "Better fuzzy match" },
+    ];
+    const list = new SearchableSelectList(items, 5, mockTheme);
+
+    for (const ch of "g4") {
+      list.handleInput(ch);
+    }
+
+    const selected = list.getSelectedItem();
+    expect(selected?.value).toBe("gpt-4");
+  });
+
   it("shows no match message when filter yields no results", () => {
     const list = new SearchableSelectList(testItems, 5, mockTheme);
 
diff --git a/src/tui/components/searchable-select-list.ts b/src/tui/components/searchable-select-list.ts
index f84b81cb5..53841acf9 100644
--- a/src/tui/components/searchable-select-list.ts
+++ b/src/tui/components/searchable-select-list.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ export class SearchableSelectList implements Component {
   private maxVisible: number;
   private theme: SearchableSelectListTheme;
   private searchInput: Input;
-  private searchQuery = "";
 
   onSelect?: (item: SelectItem) => void;
   onCancel?: () => void;
@@ -41,7 +40,6 @@ export class SearchableSelectList implements Component {
 
   private updateFilter() {
     const query = this.searchInput.getValue().trim();
-    this.searchQuery = query;
 
     if (!query) {
       this.filteredItems = this.items;
@@ -63,45 +61,45 @@ export class SearchableSelectList implements Component {
    */
   private smartFilter(query: string): SelectItem[] {
     const q = query.toLowerCase();
-    
     type ScoredItem = { item: SelectItem; score: number };
-    const scored: ScoredItem[] = [];
+    const exactLabel: ScoredItem[] = [];
+    const wordBoundary: SelectItem[] = [];
+    const descriptionMatches: SelectItem[] = [];
+    const fuzzyCandidates: SelectItem[] = [];
 
     for (const item of this.items) {
       const label = item.label.toLowerCase();
       const desc = (item.description ?? "").toLowerCase();
-      let score = Infinity;
 
       // Tier 1: Exact substring in label (score 0-99)
       const labelIndex = label.indexOf(q);
       if (labelIndex !== -1) {
         // Earlier match = better score
-        score = labelIndex;
+        exactLabel.push({ item, score: labelIndex });
+        continue;
       }
       // Tier 2: Word-boundary prefix in label (score 100-199)
-      else if (this.matchesWordBoundary(label, q)) {
-        score = 100;
+      if (this.matchesWordBoundary(label, q)) {
+        wordBoundary.push(item);
+        continue;
       }
       // Tier 3: Exact substring in description (score 200-299)
-      else if (desc.indexOf(q) !== -1) {
-        score = 200;
+      if (desc.indexOf(q) !== -1) {
+        descriptionMatches.push(item);
+        continue;
       }
       // Tier 4: Fuzzy match (score 300+)
-      else {
-        const fuzzyResult = fuzzyFilter([item], query, (i) => `${i.label} ${i.description ?? ""}`);
-        if (fuzzyResult.length > 0) {
-          score = 300;
-        }
-      }
-
-      if (score !== Infinity) {
-        scored.push({ item, score });
-      }
+      fuzzyCandidates.push(item);
     }
 
-    // Sort by score (lower = better)
-    scored.sort((a, b) => a.score - b.score);
-    return scored.map((s) => s.item);
+    exactLabel.sort((a, b) => a.score - b.score);
+    const fuzzyMatches = fuzzyFilter(fuzzyCandidates, query, (i) => `${i.label} ${i.description ?? ""}`);
+    return [
+      ...exactLabel.map((s) => s.item),
+      ...wordBoundary,
+      ...descriptionMatches,
+      ...fuzzyMatches,
+    ];
   }
 
   /**
@@ -130,7 +128,8 @@ export class SearchableSelectList implements Component {
 
     // Search input line
     const prompt = this.theme.searchPrompt("search: ");
-    const inputLines = this.searchInput.render(width - 8);
+    const inputWidth = Math.max(1, width - 8);
+    const inputLines = this.searchInput.render(inputWidth);
     const inputText = inputLines[0] ?? "";
     lines.push(`${prompt}${this.theme.searchInput(inputText)}`);
     lines.push(""); // Spacer