iris: a tap on an empty text field left no caret, so typing was silently dropped

TextEditCtx::select compared the tap against the laid-out text's own box
and cleared the selection for anything outside it. An empty field lays
out to a zero-width box, so tapping the composer granted focus and opened
the keyboard with no caret, and insert_str returns early without one --
every keystroke went nowhere and no glyph was ever emitted. Parley clamps
a point outside the layout by itself, and a press reaching select() has
already been hit-tested to the widget, so there was nothing for the
'outside' branch to mean.

insert_str now debug_asserts rather than dropping input silently, and
UiRenderState::draw_started -- a re-entrancy guard whose test was written
after its own remove(), so it could never fire, and which grew by one
entry per widget ever drawn -- is restored to what it was meant to be:
inserted around Widget::draw, removed when it returns, asserted empty at
the top of every update.

docs/IRIS_TODO.md

@@ -162,8 +162,33 @@ agent takes them without colliding with that pass's `bench_client.rs`/
   genuinely new renderer -- see IRIS.md's 2026-09-06 entry and RUST.md's
   P0 box, item 4. Verified on the emulator (home, reopen, screenshot);
   not yet on the phone.
-- [ ] **Composed/typed text never becomes visible at all -- found
+- [x] **Composed/typed text never becomes visible at all -- root-caused
-  2026-09-06, not fixed.** The composer bar stays empty even once the
+  and fixed 2026-09-06.** Not the renderer at all: **the composer's buffer
+  was empty the whole time.** `TextEditCtx::select` (`iris/src/widget/
+  text/edit.rs`) compared the tap against the *laid-out text's* box and
+  set `selection = None` for anything outside it -- and an empty field's
+  layout is a zero-width box, so tapping an empty composer granted focus
+  and opened the keyboard while leaving no caret; `insert_str` returns
+  early with no caret, so every keystroke after that was dropped in
+  silence. Gboard's suggestion strip is its own composing state, not a
+  read of our buffer, which is what made the earlier pass conclude the
+  buffer held the text. Fixed by letting parley clamp a tap outside the
+  layout to the nearest cursor position (a press that reaches `select`
+  has already been hit-tested to the widget, so there is no "outside"),
+  plus a `debug_assert!` in `insert_str` so an insert with no caret fails
+  at the mistake instead of dropping input -- it immediately caught
+  `layout_tests::composing_text_after_a_keyboard_resize_...` typing into
+  an unfocused field. Three new tests in `edit.rs`
+  (`tapping_an_empty_field_places_a_caret_so_typing_lands`,
+  `tapping_past_the_end_of_the_text_clamps_to_the_end`,
+  `dragging_without_a_previous_selection_selects_nothing`); the first
+  fails on the pre-fix code. Emulator evidence: `adb shell input text`
+  after `tap 'Message'` now shows the text in the bar
+  (`/tmp/final-typing.png`) and logs `iris text render: chars=5 ...
+  glyphs=5`, against `glyphs=0` on every keystroke before.
+
+  **The old, superseded diagnosis, kept because it was wrong in an
+  instructive way:** The composer bar stays empty even once the
   buffer genuinely holds the typed text (confirmed indirectly: Gboard's
   own suggestion strip reacts correctly to each keystroke). A new unit
   test proves the widget tree's own layout math resolves the field's

iris/Cargo.toml

@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ wgpu = { workspace = true }
 image = { workspace = true }
 accesskit = { workspace = true }
 tokio = { workspace = true, features = ["sync", "rt", "rt-multi-thread"] }
+# For diagnostics visible through android_logger (or whatever logger the
+# app crate installs) -- this crate never installs one itself. Not in the
+# android-only block below any more: the lines that matter most are in
+# shared widget code, which the host backend compiles too.
+log = "0.4.28"
 
 # winit everywhere except Android; android-view (below) is what stands in
 # for it there. Both backends live in this crate (see `src/android/mod.rs`'s
@@ -53,9 +58,6 @@ accesskit_android = "0.8.0"
 # for `android/insets.rs`'s own id -> state map -- the same reason
 # android-view's own `PEER_MAP` carries one.
 send_wrapper = "0.6.0"
-# For diagnostics visible through android_logger, wherever the app crate
-# installs it -- this crate never installs a logger itself.
-log = "0.4.28"
 
 [features]
 # RUST.md's I5 "Where iris's frame time goes" diagnosis: forces the Android

iris/android-app/src/bench_client.rs

@@ -281,8 +281,7 @@ impl AndroidAppState for BenchClient {
             top_bar,
             report_display
                 .pad(dp(8))
-                .max_height(dp(REPORT_MAX_HEIGHT_DP))
+                .max_height(dp(REPORT_MAX_HEIGHT_DP)),
-                .scrollable(),
             content.height(rest(1)),
         )
             .span(Dir::DOWN)
@@ -555,47 +554,43 @@ impl BenchClient {
     /// text is currently shown -- `last_report` is what `copy_report` reads,
     /// so it's set here too rather than adding a second copy path.
     fn show_diagnostics(&mut self, rsc: &mut Rsc) {
+        let report = self.diagnostics_text(rsc);
+        self.report_display.edit(rsc).set(&report);
+        self.last_report = Some(report);
+    }
+
+    /// The diagnostics report as text, with no side effect on what is on
+    /// screen -- shared by the `Diagnostics` button (which shows it) and
+    /// the keyboard-open capture (which only logs it), so the two can
+    /// never drift into reporting different things.
+    fn diagnostics_text(&self, rsc: &mut Rsc) -> String {
         let font = rsc.ui.text.font_diagnostics();
         let frame_report = match self.android_state().frame_report.report() {
             Some(stats) => format!("{stats}"),
             None => "no frames recorded yet".to_string(),
         };
-        let report = match &self.android_state().renderer {
+        match &self.android_state().renderer {
             Some(renderer) => renderer.diagnostics_report(&font, &frame_report),
             None => "iris diagnostics: no renderer yet (no surface)".to_string(),
-        };
+        }
-        self.report_display.edit(rsc).set(&report);
-        self.last_report = Some(report);
     }
 
     /// The keyboard's own diagnostics capture -- see `on_insets_changed`'s
-    /// doc comment. Reuses `show_diagnostics`'s exact report (so it is the
+    /// doc comment. **Logged only.** It used to also copy the report to
-    /// same text the on-screen `Diagnostics` button produces, plus the
+    /// the clipboard unprompted and put it in the shell's overlay view,
-    /// per-frame log `FrameReport` already keeps around the resize --
+    /// from when the keyboard-inset callback was not firing at all and a
-    /// `frame_report.report()` above covers "the frames around the
+    /// report could not be got off the phone any other way. Both are gone
-    /// resize" without a second accounting mechanism), then does three
+    /// as of 2026-09-06: the callback fires reliably now (edge-to-edge,
-    /// things the button does not: logs it (so a `logcat` pull gets it
+    /// `MainActivity.java`), and the overlay covered the whole screen on
-    /// even if nothing on screen does), copies it to the clipboard
+    /// *every* keyboard open with its own Copy/Close buttons underneath
-    /// unprompted, and shows it in the shell's plain overlay view, which
+    /// the keyboard, so it could not be dismissed -- an interruption for
-    /// draws independently of iris's own renderer -- the whole point,
+    /// something nobody asked for, over an app you are trying to type
-    /// since the renderer is exactly what might be in the wiped state
+    /// into (UI_RULES.md). The named `Diagnostics` button still shows the
-    /// this exists to report on.
+    /// same text on demand, and `iris surface:`/`iris insets:` (view.rs)
+    /// carry the lifecycle a `logcat` pull actually needs.
     fn capture_keyboard_diagnostics(&mut self, rsc: &mut Rsc) {
-        self.show_diagnostics(rsc);
+        let report = self.diagnostics_text(rsc);
-        let Some(report) = self.last_report.clone() else {
-            return;
-        };
         log::info!("iris keyboard diagnostics:\n{report}");
-        let Some(platform) = &self.platform else {
-            log::info!("iris keyboard diagnostics: no platform handle, can't reach the shell");
-            return;
-        };
-        if platform.copy_to_clipboard("iris keyboard diagnostics", &report) {
-            log::info!("iris keyboard diagnostics: copied to clipboard");
-        } else {
-            log::info!("iris keyboard diagnostics: clipboard copy failed");
-        }
-        platform.show_diagnostics_overlay(&report);
     }
 
     fn copy_report(&mut self) {

iris/core/src/ui/render_state.rs

@@ -18,6 +18,18 @@ pub struct UiRenderState {
 
     old_root: Option<WidgetId>,
     resized: bool,
+    /// The widgets whose `Widget::draw` is on the stack right now -- so
+    /// [`Self::redraw`] can tell "this widget needs drawing again" from
+    /// "an ancestor is drawing it at this very moment", where a second
+    /// draw would leave the first one's primitives behind with nothing
+    /// owning them. An id is inserted immediately before `draw` is called
+    /// and removed the moment it returns (both in `draw_inner`), so this
+    /// is empty between frames -- asserted at the end of `update`.
+    ///
+    /// It used to only ever be inserted into, and `redraw` removed the id
+    /// *before* testing for it, which made the test constant `false`: the
+    /// guard could never fire and the set grew by one entry per widget
+    /// ever drawn and was never emptied.
     draw_started: HashSet<WidgetId>,
 
     /// The widget currently holding exclusive pointer input, if any --
@@ -115,6 +127,11 @@ impl UiRenderState {
             );
         }
         let root = root.into();
+        debug_assert!(
+            self.draw_started.is_empty(),
+            "a previous frame left {} widget(s) marked as mid-draw",
+            self.draw_started.len(),
+        );
         if self.needs_redraw_all(root) {
             self.redraw_all(root, rsc);
             self.old_root = root.map(|r| r.id());
@@ -213,7 +230,12 @@ impl UiRenderState {
         }
 
         // draw widget
-        self.draw_started.insert(id);
+        let reentrant = !self.draw_started.insert(id);
+        debug_assert!(
+            !reentrant,
+            "widget {id:?} is being drawn while its own draw is already on the stack; \
+             the second draw's primitives would orphan the first's"
+        );
 
         let move_slot = match old_move_slot {
             // Reused across a real redraw of the same id: the fresh
@@ -259,6 +281,7 @@ impl UiRenderState {
         painter.state.draw_count += 1;
         let size = widget.draw(&mut painter);
         drop(widget);
+        painter.state.draw_started.remove(&id);
 
         let Painter {
             state: _,
@@ -535,7 +558,10 @@ impl UiRenderState {
     /// redraws a widget that's currently active (drawn)
     pub fn redraw(&mut self, id: WidgetId, rsc: &mut dyn UiRsc) {
         rsc.widgets_mut().needs_redraw.remove(&id);
-        self.draw_started.remove(&id);
+        // An ancestor is drawing this widget right now, and that draw is
+        // about to write fresh primitives for it. Drawing it a second time
+        // here would leave one of the two copies on screen with nothing
+        // owning it -- see `draw_started`'s own doc.
         if self.draw_started.contains(&id) {
             return;
         }
@@ -561,7 +587,6 @@ impl UiRenderState {
             Some(active.move_slot),
             rsc,
         );
-
         // If this widget's own reported size changed, its parent's layout
         // (which placed it using the old size) is now stale and needs to
         // relay out too. Checked after the real draw, not before it --

iris/src/layout_tests.rs

@@ -226,6 +226,14 @@ fn composing_text_after_a_keyboard_resize_lands_in_the_bars_own_region() {
 
     render.resize((1080.0, 2298.0));
     render.update(&root, &mut rsc);
+    // Focusing a field is what places its caret on a real tap
+    // (`attr.rs`'s `on_press` -> `TextEditCtx::select`), and an insert
+    // with no caret is a routing bug rather than a state to simulate --
+    // `insert_str`'s own `debug_assert!` says so, and caught this test
+    // typing into an unfocused field when it was added.
+    field
+        .edit(&mut rsc)
+        .select(vec2(40.0, 2250.0), vec2(1080.0, 2298.0), false, false);
     field.edit(&mut rsc).insert("a");
     render.update(&root, &mut rsc);
 

iris/src/widget/text/edit.rs

@@ -246,7 +246,21 @@ impl<'a> TextEditCtx<'a> {
         self.clear_span();
         let at = match self.text.selection {
             Some(sel) => sel.focus().index(),
-            None => return,
+            // No caret means nowhere to put the text, so this drops the
+            // keystroke -- which is invisible, and was the whole of the
+            // "typed text never appears" defect (see `select`'s comment).
+            // A field the IME is talking to has been focused, and focusing
+            // one places a caret, so reaching here is a bug in whoever
+            // routed the input rather than something to recover from.
+            None => {
+                debug_assert!(
+                    false,
+                    "insert into a text field with no caret: '{}' was given input \
+                     without being focused, so the keystroke would be dropped silently",
+                    text,
+                );
+                return;
+            }
         };
         let at = at.min(self.text.view.buf.text().len());
         self.text.view.buf.edit().insert_str(at, text);
@@ -368,14 +382,28 @@ impl<'a> TextEditCtx<'a> {
 
         // The layout borrows `self`, so the whole decision is made in here and
         // only the answer escapes.
+        //
+        // **A press that reaches here has already been hit-tested to this
+        // widget, so there is no "outside" to clear the selection for.**
+        // This used to compare `pos` against the *laid-out text's* box and
+        // set `selection = None` for anything beyond it -- but the laid-out
+        // text is smaller than the field (padding, and for an empty field a
+        // box of literally zero width), so tapping an **empty** composer
+        // granted focus, opened the keyboard, and left `selection` at
+        // `None` -- and `insert_str` returns early on `None`, so every
+        // keystroke after that was silently dropped and nothing ever
+        // appeared. That is RUST.md's P0 box item 2, "composed text never
+        // becomes visible at all": the buffer was empty the whole time, and
+        // Gboard's suggestion strip (its own composing state, not ours) is
+        // what made it look otherwise. Parley's `from_point`/
+        // `extend_to_point` already clamp a point outside the layout to the
+        // nearest cursor position, which is what a tap in a field's padding
+        // should do anyway. Losing focus is a separate path
+        // (`TextEditCtx::deselect`, called from the backend's focus
+        // handling), not this one.
         let outcome = {
             let layout = self.layout();
-            let inside =
+            if drag {
-                pos.x >= 0.0 && pos.y >= 0.0 && pos.x <= layout.width() && pos.y <= layout.height();
-
-            if !inside {
-                if drag { None } else { Some((None, None)) }
-            } else if drag {
                 prev_sel.map(|sel| (Some(sel.extend_to_point(layout, pos.x, pos.y)), prev_hit))
             } else {
                 let hit = Selection::from_point(layout, pos.x, pos.y);
@@ -669,6 +697,39 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(t.selection.unwrap().focus().index(), 0);
     }
 
+    /// The defect itself: an empty field's laid-out text is a zero-sized
+    /// box, so a tap anywhere in it used to land "outside" and clear the
+    /// selection -- leaving a focused composer that silently swallowed
+    /// every keystroke (RUST.md's P0 box item 2).
+    #[test]
+    fn tapping_an_empty_field_places_a_caret_so_typing_lands() {
+        let (mut t, mut d) = edit("", EditMode::MultiLine);
+        ctx(&mut t, &mut d).select(vec2(40.0, 20.0), vec2(1080.0, 2400.0), false, false);
+        assert!(t.selection.is_some(), "a tap must leave a caret behind");
+        ctx(&mut t, &mut d).insert("hi");
+        assert_eq!(content(&t), "hi");
+    }
+
+    /// The half the fix had no reason to touch: a field that *does* hold
+    /// text, tapped past the end of it (a multi-line composer's padding
+    /// below the last line) keeps a caret rather than losing the one it
+    /// had, and the caret lands at the nearest position -- the end.
+    #[test]
+    fn tapping_past_the_end_of_the_text_clamps_to_the_end() {
+        let (mut t, mut d) = edit("abc", EditMode::MultiLine);
+        ctx(&mut t, &mut d).select(vec2(9000.0, 9000.0), vec2(1080.0, 2400.0), false, false);
+        assert_eq!(t.selection.unwrap().focus().index(), 3);
+    }
+
+    /// A drag still needs something to extend: with no previous selection
+    /// there is nothing to drag from, and one must not be invented.
+    #[test]
+    fn dragging_without_a_previous_selection_selects_nothing() {
+        let (mut t, mut d) = edit("abc", EditMode::MultiLine);
+        ctx(&mut t, &mut d).select(vec2(10.0, 10.0), vec2(1080.0, 2400.0), true, false);
+        assert!(t.selection.is_none());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn a_single_line_field_refuses_newlines() {
         let (mut t, mut d) = edit("", EditMode::SingleLine);

iris/src/widget/text/mod.rs

@@ -69,6 +69,12 @@ impl TextView {
         }
         self.width = width;
         let tex = painter.render_text(&mut self.buf, &self.attrs, width);
+        log::debug!(
+            "iris text render: chars={} width={width:?} glyphs={} size={:?}",
+            self.buf.text().chars().count(),
+            tex.glyphs.len(),
+            tex.size,
+        );
         self.tex = Some(tex.clone());
         self.attrs.changed = false;
         self.buf.changed = false;

iris/transcript-ui/src/composer.rs

@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ where
     let content = field
         .pad(dp(FIELD_PAD_DP))
         .max_height(dp(APPROX_LINE_HEIGHT_DP * MAX_LINES + FIELD_PAD_DP * 2.0))
-        .scrollable()
         .width(rest(1))
         .background(rect(UiColor::new(40, 40, 46, 255)))
         .add(rsc);