shell: handle CTRL+BACKSPACE to clear filter (#6307)

* emoji panel: handle CTRL+BACKSPACE to clear filter

* shell: handle CTRL+BACKSPACE to clear filter in all search overlays

* Indentation fix for pull request finding

Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

* menu filters: align keyboard editing with Qt standard shortcuts

* menu filters: extract shared filter-editing helpers

* Potential fix for pull request finding

Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

* potential fix for pull request findings

* Only treat filter edit keys as edits when they change the text

Backspace/Ctrl+U on an empty filter no longer calls setFilter(""),
which was resetting the list selection back to the top. This also lets
the menu's empty-filter Backspace fall through to goBack() with any
modifier held, as it did before the Util extraction.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: David Heinemeier Hansson <david@hey.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

shell/Commons/Util.qml

@@ -77,6 +77,30 @@ QtObject {
     }
   }
 
+  // Standard Qt text-editing keys shared by every searchable panel's filter:
+  //   Backspace       delete previous character
+  //   Ctrl+Backspace  delete previous word (Qt DeleteStartOfWord)
+  //   Ctrl+U          clear the whole field
+  // True only when the event would actually change the text, so an empty
+  // filter never swallows the key — panels keep their own empty-filter
+  // fallbacks (e.g. menu back-navigation) in later branches.
+  function editsFilter(event, text) {
+    if (!text) return false
+    // Alt/Meta-modified sequences belong to other shortcuts — never edit here.
+    if (event.modifiers & (Qt.AltModifier | Qt.MetaModifier)) return false
+    if (event.key === Qt.Key_U)                     // Ctrl+U only (not Ctrl+Shift+U → Unicode input)
+      return event.modifiers === Qt.ControlModifier
+    return event.key === Qt.Key_Backspace           // plain, Shift, or Ctrl Backspace
+  }
+
+  // New filter text after applying an edit key. Assumes editsFilter(event, text).
+  function editedFilter(event, text) {
+    if (event.key === Qt.Key_U) return ""                        // Ctrl+U: clear
+    if (event.modifiers & Qt.ControlModifier)                    // Ctrl+Backspace: word
+      return text.replace(/\s+$/, "").replace(/\S+$/, "")
+    return text.slice(0, -1)                                     // Backspace: char
+  }
+
   // Layout normalization shared by bar config consumers
   // so the two never drift. Entries are deep-cloned to decouple from the
   // input config; consumers can mutate without leaking back to shell.json.

shell/plugins/clipboard/Clipboard.qml

@@ -345,8 +345,8 @@ Item {
             if (root.filterText) root.setFilter("")
             else root.close()
             event.accepted = true
-          } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Backspace) {
+          } else if (Util.editsFilter(event, root.filterText)) {
-            if (root.filterText.length > 0) root.setFilter(root.filterText.slice(0, -1))
+            root.setFilter(Util.editedFilter(event, root.filterText))
             event.accepted = true
           } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Delete) {
             if (event.modifiers & Qt.ShiftModifier) root.requestClearHistory()

shell/plugins/emojis/Emojis.qml

@@ -200,8 +200,8 @@ Item {
             if (root.filterText) root.setFilter("")
             else root.dismiss()
             event.accepted = true
-          } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Backspace) {
+          } else if (Util.editsFilter(event, root.filterText)) {
-            if (root.filterText.length > 0) root.setFilter(root.filterText.slice(0, -1))
+            root.setFilter(Util.editedFilter(event, root.filterText))
             event.accepted = true
           } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Left) {
             root.select(-1)

shell/plugins/image-picker/ImagePicker.qml

@@ -417,9 +417,8 @@ Item {
             } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Return || event.key === Qt.Key_Enter) {
               root.applySelected()
               event.accepted = true
-            } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Backspace && root.filterable) {
+            } else if (root.filterable && Util.editsFilter(event, root.filterText)) {
-              if (root.filterText.length > 0)
+              root.updateFilter(Util.editedFilter(event, root.filterText))
-                root.updateFilter(root.filterText.slice(0, -1))
               event.accepted = true
             } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Left || (event.key === Qt.Key_Tab && event.modifiers & Qt.ShiftModifier) || event.key === Qt.Key_Backtab) {
               root.selectAdjacent(-1)

shell/plugins/launcher/Launcher.qml

@@ -464,8 +464,8 @@ Item {
             if (root.filterText.length > 0) root.setFilter("")
             else root.dismiss()
             event.accepted = true
-          } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Backspace) {
+          } else if (Util.editsFilter(event, root.filterText)) {
-            if (root.filterText.length > 0) root.setFilter(root.filterText.slice(0, -1))
+            root.setFilter(Util.editedFilter(event, root.filterText))
             event.accepted = true
           } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Up) {
             root.select(-1)

shell/plugins/menu/Menu.qml

@@ -837,9 +837,11 @@ Item {
             if (root.filterText) root.setFilter("")
             else root.cancel()
             event.accepted = true
-          } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Backspace) {
+          } else if (Util.editsFilter(event, root.filterText)) {
-            if (root.filterText.length > 0) root.setFilter(root.filterText.slice(0, -1))
+            root.setFilter(Util.editedFilter(event, root.filterText))
-            else root.goBack()
+            event.accepted = true
+          } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Backspace && !root.filterText) {
+            root.goBack()
             event.accepted = true
           } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Up) {
             root.select(-1)

shell/plugins/reminders/ReminderFlow.qml

@@ -135,8 +135,8 @@ Item {
             if (root.filterText) root.setFilter("")
             else root.dismiss()
             event.accepted = true
-          } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Backspace) {
+          } else if (Util.editsFilter(event, root.filterText)) {
-            if (root.filterText.length > 0) root.setFilter(root.filterText.slice(0, -1))
+            root.setFilter(Util.editedFilter(event, root.filterText))
             event.accepted = true
           } else if (event.key === Qt.Key_Return || event.key === Qt.Key_Enter) {
             root.submit()