Use nui.nvim to open the chat window to the furthest edge of the editor

[abiencourt]

I realized that the plugin does not open the chat window all the way to the left/right of the editor, but of the current window you are in. I personally find this annoying, see recording below describing my issue, the chat window gets opened in the middle...

I'd love this plugin to have a way to always display the chat to the furthest edge of the editor. I know neo-tree.nvim does it to always display the tree to the most right/left window and investing their code, I found out that they use nui.nvim Split command.

I forked your project and created a POC commit of the changes required to use nui.nvim. Here is a demo of these changes.

I know these changes require adding an extra dependency to the plugin, which is not ideal, but I personally think this would be a great QoL. Let me know your thoughts.

[olimorris]

Firstly, thanks for taking the effort to investigate this so thoroughly and present it comprehensively.

I actually expected to say no to anything that resulted in another dependency and more UI components to manage. But...your initial commit is incredibly simple and potentially opens the door to much more UI customization which I know some people would love.

I would be happy to accept a PR for this, however I would l ask for a couple of things:

1. We make this feature "opt-in" in the config
2. We have a separate section in the README dedicated to the UI customisation (I'll be happy to write that)
3. We have a nui_ui.lua file to house all of the nui logic - I'm anticipating that others may wish to make PRs for this so would be sensible to separate this into its own file
4. We add a test specifically for nui. I want to ensure we can still add new features quickly to the plugin and be confident we're not breaking the UI

[bassamsdata]

Hello @abiencourt, I have a suggestion. If I understand your intention correctly by opening the chat buffer at the edge, isn’t this as simple as using capital letters in wincmd in chat/ui.lua

• For vertical splits: Use wincmd H and wincmd L.
• For horizontal splits: Use wincmd K and wincmd J.

Feel free to disregard this suggestion if it’s irrelevant, or if nui approach would be better or more flexible.

[abiencourt]

Thanks for the suggestion, I just tested it and it does indeed send the chat window to the "edge" of the editor.

@olimorris what are you thoughts on this approach? As you mentioned in your comment, implementing nui.nvim would allow some nice UI customization, but it will require quite some changes to the codebase. The wincmd H solution adds the functionality in a much simpler way and less invasive way.
I am happy to draft a PR for any approach you decide.

[olimorris]

My initial thought, is I can extend the CodeCompanionChatOpened event to work when a chat buffer has been toggled. This will allow wincmd H and the like to be called. Does that seem sensible to you?

I'm also still keen on implementing nui so would welcome a PR on that based on my comments in #592 (comment)