feat: configure cursor distance from viewport edges

docs/architecture.md

@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ Comparison views reserve no separate metadata header or native-buffer help foote
 
 Each comparison owns its split/unified mode and split axis; startup defaults apply only when opening a comparison. Source alignment and file-side availability stay independent of presentation. Unified display rows carry a side projection: equal context maps both sources, changed runs emit Before rows followed by After rows, and folds retain aligned coordinates. Native navigation/editing continues to bind source buffers rather than a synthetic unified document. The TUI reuses side-specific syntax/wrap/overlay pipelines in one unified region or the existing axis-based split geometry, exposing only the active logical side for unified hit-testing and directional focus.
 
+`Editor::scroll_distance()` supplies the session-wide optional edge margin. The TUI applies it to document/diff visual rows and unwrapped text columns, and retains independent picker offsets across navigation frames. Picker windows exclude their fixed chrome and align whole multi-row entries. File projections carry a monotonic viewport revision, so catalog/filter/expansion changes invalidate picker identity without hashing the entire catalog on every redraw. Metadata-only status changes do not move the viewport. Explicit LSP/wrap-toggle anchors and detached wheel views retain precedence.
+
 Mouse wheel input uses the last rendered document/panel rectangles for hit-testing. Document offsets and explorer scroll state remain frontend-owned; three-row wheel steps never become document cursor motions. Manual document views persist until logical caret-reveal, caret/selection, mode, revision, or buffer changes; offscreen primary and browsing-selection cursors are not placed. Hover wheel input reuses the existing editor-owned popup scrolling.
 
 Already-ready mouse reports share a redraw: at most 64 reports are applied in their original order before painting, without dropping or summing away wheel steps. Readiness checks do not wait. The first non-mouse event is retained for the next iteration after rendering, so keys, paste, and resizes cannot reuse geometry from before their layout changes. The batch bound keeps continuous mouse input from starving drawing or background polling.

docs/configuration.md

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Vamp.configure do |config|
   config.clipboard_mode = "system"
   config.git_blame = true # false disables current-line attribution
   config.git_gutter = "bar" # or "symbols", "line_numbers", "none"
+  config.scroll_distance = 0 # nonnegative edge distance, or nil to center
   config.file_explorer_side = "right"
   config.file_explorer_view = "tree"
   config.file_picker_view = "tree"
@@ -47,6 +48,10 @@ Plugin paths resolve relative to the config file, not the shell's working direct
 `config.file_explorer_side` defaults to `"right"`; other choices are `"left"`, `"top"`, and `"bottom"`. Independent `file_explorer_view` / `file_picker_view` preferences both default to `"tree"` and accept `"list"` as an alternative. Invalid preference strings report notices and retain defaults while valid bindings still install. Non-string/empty values disable the whole configuration like other Ruby type errors.
 `config.clipboard_mode` accepts `"system"` (default) or `"separate"`. An invalid policy string reports a notice and retains System while valid bindings still install; non-string/empty values reject the whole Ruby configuration.
 
+`config.scroll_distance` defaults to `0`: keep the viewport still until its primary cursor or selected picker entry would leave it. A nonnegative integer reserves that many visible rows above/below the cursor, and terminal-cell columns left/right in unwrapped text. `nil` keeps it centered; integers at least half the current viewport dimension behave the same way until resizing makes that margin usable. The start of content limits centering, while trailing blank space allows centering near the end. Whole two-row picker entries stay aligned, using the nearest entry to the center when exact margins cannot fit.
+
+The setting applies to ordinary and historical buffers, split/unified diff panes, file pickers and explorers, command/buffer palettes, completion lists, and revision selectors. Wrapped text measures visual rows, not source lines; picker distances use result rows, excluding borders, search fields, and help. Manual mouse-wheel scrolling remains detached until keyboard navigation resumes. Only `nil` or integers from `0` through the platform's Rust `usize` maximum (`18446744073709551615` on 64-bit systems) are accepted; other values reject the configuration.
+
 `config.git_blame` defaults to `true`; set it to `false` to disable current-line inline Git blame and its background worker. Only literal Ruby booleans are accepted; other values reject the configuration. Toggle it for the running session with `:git_blame.toggle`, its palette action, or a custom binding such as `config.bind "leader b", config.core.git_blame.toggle`. There is no default shortcut.
 
 `config.git_gutter` defaults to `"bar"`: a fat `▌` with one blank column between the line number and marker and another before the text. `"symbols"` uses `+` / `-` / `~` with the same spacing. Added, removed, and modified lines use green, red, and yellow respectively. `"line_numbers"` colors the existing numbers without adding a marker column; the current line retains its cyan/bold caret highlight. `"none"` hides line-gutter repository indicators, not line numbers or picker file statuses. Other modes retain diagnostic number colors independently of repository markers. Unsupported strings, empty strings, and non-string values reject the configuration.

docs/editing.md

@@ -202,6 +202,10 @@ Live file buffers automatically check disk metadata every 250 ms, including buff
 
 Paste is backend input: it is ignored in Normal, Command, Search, and Visual modes, and inserts literal text in Insert mode, with CRLF/CR normalization and a 4 MiB limit. Pasted text is one undo action, separate from typing before and after it. Rejected paste reports an error without changing text, cursor, mode, or pending insert history. Internal clipboard actions are separate from `Input::Paste` and use already-validated buffer text.
 
+## Cursor-following scrolling
+
+[Configure `scroll_distance`](configuration.md#preferences) to reserve space between the primary cursor or picker selection and the viewport edges. `0` (default) scrolls only to keep it visible; an integer reserves that many visual rows, and columns for unwrapped document text. `nil`, or a margin too large for the current viewport, centers it as far as the start of content permits. This policy applies to documents, historical/diff panes, file explorers, palettes, completion lists, and revision pickers. Reversing direction inside the margin does not move the viewport; resizing recalculates the usable margin.
+
 ## Mouse wheel scrolling
 
 Mouse-wheel up/down scrolls the document view three display rows per event without moving the primary or secondary carets, changing selections, or editing text. The caret may scroll offscreen; its terminal cursor is hidden until visible again. Navigation (including a motion blocked at the document boundary), editing, or buffer navigation restores caret-following. Idle updates preserve a wheel-scrolled view, clamped to the document; resizing preserves unwrapped views and restores caret-following in ordinary wrapped buffers.
@@ -386,7 +390,7 @@ Text panes use normal buffer interaction regardless of writability: motions and
 
 **LSP definition, hover, and diagnostics work normally in focused Before and After text panes**, including historical snapshots. Each snapshot is served with its immutable revision text and its own document URI, not the current disk contents. Completion and completion edits are available only in writable After; they use the shared buffer's normal undo history. Revision selectors and the changed-file explorer are not document-action targets.
 
-Accepted LSP definitions center the selection's caret row once in the destination pane, including wrapped visual rows and revealed diff excerpts. Centering uses the focused pane's actual height in either split orientation or unified view. The next motion does not recenter; failed or superseded definitions preserve the current logical viewport.
+Accepted LSP definitions center the selection's caret row once in the destination pane, including wrapped visual rows and revealed diff excerpts. Centering uses the focused pane's actual height in either split orientation or unified view. Subsequent motions resume the configured `scroll_distance` policy; failed or superseded definitions preserve the current logical viewport.
 
 A definition whose source range **overlaps an actual added, removed, or replaced line** stays in the same comparison and selects the correct file and side, loading file details on demand. For a location link, the symbol's full target range determines overlap and its selection range determines the caret: an unchanged declaration with a changed body still belongs in the comparison. Source coordinates belong to that side, including old paths for renames; navigation reveals the exact selection row, even when previously omitted, never the nearest excerpt. A wholly unchanged target opens a **new ordinary tab**, even when it is visible context or omitted text in a changed file. Files outside the comparison's changes also open in a new tab. The original comparison, pane layout, source caret, excerpts, and dirty buffers remain intact. Loaded targets share their existing text and undo history rather than reloading disk; references to snapshot URIs retain the historical text and read-only identity in the new tab, even after the comparison closes. Unreadable files, invalid UTF-8, invalid source ranges, and unsupported remote URIs do not create a tab or disturb the source.