René's URL Explorer Experiment

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"Add a \"Chat text size\" setting (Small / Default / Large) to Appearance","articleBody":"## Problem or Motivation\n\nOpenWork lets you change the app **theme**, **color theme**, **font family**,\n**language**, **reduce motion** and (in-flight) conversation width — but there is\n**no way to change how large the conversation text is**.\n\nThe only lever today is the OS-level app zoom wired to the View menu\n(`menu.ZOOM_IN/OUT/RESET` → `webContents.setZoomFactor`, see\n`apps/electron/src/main/handlers/system.ts`). That scales the **entire UI** —\nsidebar, toolbar, composer, icons, spacing — not just the reading text, and it\nis a transient window zoom, not a persisted appearance preference.\n\nThis is a recurring, unmet ask across comparable desktop clients. Users\nspecifically want a text-size control that adjusts **typographic size — body\ncopy, message content — while leaving the app chrome at its native scale**:\n\n- **Claude Desktop** — Appearance exposes a \"Chat font\" control, and there are\n  standing feature requests (anthropics/claude-code #50543, #48887) for a\n  text-size control that scales *only* message typography, not the whole UI.\n- **ChatGPT desktop** — long-standing user requests for a chat font-size option\n  (the app currently has none, driving users to browser extensions).\n\nOpenWork's otherwise rich Appearance → Interface section (rich tool\ndescriptions, reduce motion) is missing this common accessibility/readability\naffordance.\n\n## Proposed Solution\n\nAdd a **\"Chat text size\"** segmented control to **Settings → Appearance →\nInterface**, right below the existing \"Reduce motion\" toggle, with three options:\n\n- **Small** — 0.9× the current text size,\n- **Default** — the current size (1×, no visual change for existing users),\n- **Large** — 1.15× for easier reading.\n\nBehavior (mirrors the merged `ReduceMotionContext` pattern — renderer-only, no\nbackend / qwen-code change):\n\n- A new `ChatTextSizeProvider` persists the choice in `localStorage`\n  (`craft-chat-text-size`) and reflects it onto `\u003chtml\u003e` as\n  `data-chat-text-size=\"small|medium|large\"`.\n- Global CSS in `index.css` maps that attribute to a `--chat-font-scale` custom\n  property (`0.9` / `1` / `1.15`).\n- The chat transcript container in `ChatDisplay.tsx` carries a `chat-text-scope`\n  class whose `font-size: calc(1em * var(--chat-font-scale))` multiplies the\n  **inherited** message text size. Because it is `em`-relative it is exactly\n  neutral at Default and scales the conversation body copy up/down without\n  touching the sidebar, top bar, composer, or icons.\n- New i18n keys added across all 7 locales.\n\n## Feasibility\n\n**Frontend-only.** No qwen-code backend involvement: it is a renderer preference\n(localStorage) applied via an `\u003chtml\u003e` data attribute + a CSS variable consumed\nby the transcript container, following the exact idiom already shipped for\nReduce motion (#50/#51). Nothing about message content, streaming, or the agent\nruntime changes.\n\n## Acceptance criteria (what the CDP assertion will verify)\n\nDriving the real UI over CDP (Settings → Appearance → Chat text size control),\nwith no seeded session:\n\n1. The segmented control renders and starts on **Default** (`aria-checked`).\n2. Selecting **Large** sets `data-chat-text-size=\"large\"` on `\u003chtml\u003e`, persists\n   `\"large\"` to `localStorage['craft-chat-text-size']`, and resolves\n   `--chat-font-scale` to `1.15`.\n3. A probe element carrying the real `chat-text-scope` class has its **computed\n   `font-size` measurably larger at Large than at Default** (proving the CSS the\n   transcript uses produces a real pixel-level text-size change, not just an\n   attribute flip).\n4. Selecting **Small** → scale `0.9` and a computed font-size smaller than\n   Default; selecting **Default** reverts the attribute/scale — proving apply,\n   change, and revert.\n","author":{"url":"https://github.com/DragonnZhang","@type":"Person","name":"DragonnZhang"},"datePublished":"2026-07-07T01:24:37.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":0},"url":"https://github.com/64/openwork/issues/64"}