21 KiB
Hellion Chat — Roadmap
Planned work after the v1.0.0 standalone cut. This list is intentionally high-level: concrete specs, size estimates and
repro steps live in the internal backlog. External tracking runs via
Gitea Issues with the roadmap label once an
item is scheduled for a cycle.
Order reflects priority, not a guarantee. Items may shift or be dropped entirely if they turn out to be a poor fit for the plugin's privacy-first scope during brainstorming.
Next Cycle (v1.5.0)
DI-container adoption. Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting plus ILogger<T> modelled on Lightless's PluginHostFactory
pattern. The v1.4.x Polish-Sweep series is closed; v1.5.0 starts the structural cycle that the smaller F12.x indirection
shims (IPluginLogProxy, IPlatformUtil) were paving the way for. After that, the Wine/Linux scroll-rubber-band spike
deferred from v1.4.10 (Reserve-A cancelled — Windows users never saw it) plus the First-Run-Wizard rework that lets users
opt into the curated defaults instead of just picking a privacy profile.
v1.4.10 — Symbol-Picker and Tell-History Fix (released 2026-05-16)
Eleventh and final sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. Symbol picker for the chat input — popup with two tabs
(161 FFXIV PUA glyphs via Dalamud's SeIconChar plus 97 server-verified BMP symbols probed through /echo and /say in
a four-round whitelist build) — cursor-aware splice, multi-insert, recent-used strip across both tabs, Settings toggle
in Chat → Message behaviour. Mid-cycle hotfix for pinned auto-tell tabs: PreloadHistory used to cap the SQL scan at
500 rows regardless of the user's AutoTellTabsHistoryPreload setting, so active users with many partners lost the
backlog of less-frequent pinned partners; the cap is gone, the (Receiver, Date) index keeps SQL fast, the client-side
loop respects the user setting as the upper bound. Slash-command teardown cleanup wires the v1.4.9 wrappers through
private fields so dispose detaches the live registration instead of re-registering with identical args. The original
Reserve-A ImGuiListClipper refactor for DrawMessages was cancelled after cross-platform smoke showed the scroll
rubber-band is a Wine/Linux render-pipeline quirk, not universal — Windows-side testing on v1.4.9 confirmed no lag.
Migration v17 stays.
v1.4.9 — Plugin-Load Render Polish (released 2026-05-15)
Tenth sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. First-frame HITCH drops from ~127 ms median to ~76 ms median (4-reload
sample), comfortably under Dalamud's 100 ms warning threshold. Mechanism: a single _firstFrameDone flag inside
ChatLogWindow defers six non-essential rendering sections (bottom status bar, channel-name SeString chunks, window
bounds check, v0.6.1 hint banner, autocomplete, input-preview calculation) from frame 0 to frame 1. User sees those
sections ~17 ms (60 fps) later, invisible inside the ~2.5 s font-atlas build window after every reload. Slash-command
registration moved from individual window constructors to a central SetupCommands / TearDownCommands pair in
Plugin.cs — /hellion, /hellionView, /hellionSeString and /hellionDebugger work before their target windows are
opened the first time, and Dalamud's plugin-manager OpenConfigUi / OpenMainUi buttons hang on the same path.
Plugin-load profiling logs (auto-translate warmup, MessageStore.Connect, MessageStore.Migrate, FilterAllTabs) stay
on at Information level as a regression tripwire. The release also ships a ChatTwo IPC compatibility layer: HellionChat
mirrors ChatTwo's full IPC surface (GetChatInputState, ChatInputStateChanged, Register, Unregister, Available,
Invoke) under the ChatTwo.* namespace in addition to our existing HellionChat.* provider gates, so third-party
integrations that only subscribe to ChatTwo's IPC (Artisan, AllaganTools) keep working without a code change on their
side. Conflict detection prevents ChatTwo from loading in parallel, so there is no slot-collision risk at runtime.
Migration v17 stays (no schema bump). Hypothesis-triage falsified
three of four candidate root causes (font-atlas sync fallback, theme-apply ABGR-cache init, multiple-window render via
lazy-init) — actual cost distributes evenly across ~10 ImGui sections inside ChatLogWindow, so structural rewrite is
deferred to v1.5.x DI-container cycle.
v1.4.8 — Hook-Layer and Polish Quick-Wins (released 2026-05-14)
Ninth sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. Database Viewer gains an optional FTS5 full-text search across the
full chat history, built asynchronously on first run after the update with a progress toast; the local page-filter
remains the default mode. Custom theme files auto-reload when edited while the theme is active (1 Hz disk-stat throttle,
so per-frame cost is free). Retention sweep no longer blocks the framework thread — Framework.Run(...).Wait() is
replaced by Framework.RunOnTick(...), removing the ~194 ms hitch per sweep. Status-bar height is now derived from
GetTextLineHeightWithSpacing() plus a DPI-aware spacer so the bar renders correctly at Windows display scaling above
100 %. Receive-suppressed-tells routing was investigated and postponed to v1.5.x: when other plugins suppress tells
via CheckMessageHandled, FFXIV's chat-pipeline skips the RaptureLogModule.AddMsgSourceEntry path, which means the
ContentIdResolverHook does not fire and tell-partner identification breaks. The fix belongs next to the planned ad-block
hook layer where the same patch surface comes up anyway. Migration v17 stays (no schema bump). H3 leaves a foundation
note in the Vault (Projekte/FFXIV/Hellion Chat/v1.5.x Ad-Block Foundation.md) covering the NoSoliciting filter +
bubble-layer hook pattern as a ready-made template for the v1.5.x cycle.
v1.4.7 — Backlog Cleanup and Mid-Features (released 2026-05-13)
Eighth sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. First user-visible feature bundle since v1.4.5. TempTell tabs can
now be pinned via right-click; pinned tabs survive plugin reload and character logout, keep their conversation history
(loaded on demand from the message store on rehydrate), and stay bound to the same /tell partner. A hard cap of 5
pinned tabs lives in a pool separate from the 15-tab auto-tell pool, total ceiling 20. The sidebar groups pinned tabs
into their own section with a divider header, and the sidebar width itself is now configurable in Theme & Layout
between 44 and 160 px. Honorific glow outlines render when the title carries a Glow colour, opt-in via Settings →
Integrations → Render glow outlines (Honorific) (default off). Honorific's gradient (Color3 / GradientColourSet / Wave
/ Pulse) is parsed but rendered statically — a later cycle will port the full animation algorithm or land an upstream
IPC PR for the resolved frame colour. Configuration.UpdateFrom now preserves the runtime CurrentChannel across the
persistent-tab merge, and TabSwitched deep-clones the seeded channel instead of sharing the previous tab's
UsedChannel — together they fix a Settings-Save regression where the chat input could pop back to
/tell <pinned-partner> after touching settings on a Party or Linkshell tab. Internal items: IPluginLogProxy
indirection over Dalamud's IPluginLog routes all ~91 Plugin.Log call sites through a testable proxy, closing the
F12.1 test-isolation gap (MessageStore.Migrate0 runs in xUnit now). TempTab counter switched from Interlocked cached
field to derived Tabs.Count(predicate). Migration v16 → v17 is additive (new Tab.IsPinned flag). Build-Suite floor
688 → 710 (+22 tests across Pin-lifecycle predicates, pool limits, Tab.Clone roundtrip, MessageStore Migrate0
construction, and Honorific TitleData JSON roundtrip).
v1.4.6 — Code Hygiene and Refactor (released 2026-05-12)
Seventh sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. Maintenance patch — no user-visible behaviour changes; tightens the
development feedback loop and pulls in two ChatTwo upstream bugfixes. scripts/preflight.sh gains a csharpier reflow
check (Block E) and a markdownlint pass (Block F), so style drift and markdown violations are blocked at the pre-push
gate. FontManager.AddFontWithFallback catch-filter now spans InvalidOperationException and ArgumentException on
top of the existing IO triad, with the exception type name in the warning log so the diagnostic path can see which
atlas-toolkit throw triggered the fallback. BrandingLinks and IntegrationLinks run a [ModuleInitializer] URL
validation pass on plugin load; a typo in a future URL rotation now throws at startup instead of failing silently when a
user clicks the broken button. Cherry-picked from ChatTwo upstream f35b7d3: Chat.SetChannel no longer leaks the
native Utf8String when the linkshell check rejects the channel (rename to IsChannelOrExistingLinkshell plus
wrap-not-return), and Tab.Clone now deep-clones UsedChannel and TellTarget (the previous reference copy let PopOut
and Temp tabs mutate each other's channel state). The ChatLogWindow active-tab underline pill scales with
ImGuiHelpers.GlobalScale and rounds to physical pixels for crisp rendering above 100 % DPI. Internal items:
HellionStyle ChildBgAlpha extracted to a testable helper, Plugin.SaveConfig clones only the temp-tab subset in the
snapshot path, SettingsOverview caches the draw-list per frame, Dalamud.Utility.Util static surface routed through
an IPlatformUtil indirection (MessageStore's IsWine probe is now testable in isolation). No schema bump, no
migration.
v1.4.5 — UX and Robustness (released 2026-05-12)
Sixth sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. User-visible robustness polish plus two doc/test polish items from
the audit backlog. Chat-log draw failures now surface as a one-shot notification instead of failing silently. The
first-run wizard splits accept from close: OnClose no longer silently sets FirstRunCompleted, and a new footer
"Later — keep defaults" button is the explicit path to dismiss without picking a profile. InputHistoryService clears
on plugin dispose so the previous session's typed commands don't bleed into the next load. FontManager falls back to
the system font path if the embedded Hellion font resource is missing (broken-csproj / dev-build only). The status bar
hides the version slot when the chat window is too narrow to fit all five slots without overlap. Plus
Plugin.cs:167-168 gains an explicit session-only Auto-Tell-Tab invariant comment with a TempTabCounter.InitFromList
pin in the Build-Suite. No schema bump, no migration.
v1.4.4 — Threading and IPC Safety Polish (released 2026-05-12)
Fifth sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. AutoTellTabsService.ActiveTempTabCount switches from a
lock-protected LINQ Count to an Interlocked counter kept in sync from inside the existing mutation paths;
Initialize() seeds from the persisted Tabs list and SaveConfig's snapshot-restore path calls a new
ResyncTempTabCounter() after the mid-step RemoveAll. HonorificService carries per-method threading banners and
TryUnsubscribe's log level moves from Debug to Warning. AutoTranslate.PreloadCache is marked IsBackground = true
so plugin unload no longer waits for it. Configuration.IsAllowedForStorage logs once per unknown ChatType via a
NonSerialized HashSet, and PrivacyPersistUnknownChannels default flips to true for new installs. No schema bump,
no migration.
v1.4.3 — Plugin-Load Async-Init + Repo-Cutover (released 2026-05-08)
Fourth and largest sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. Plugin migrated to Dalamud's IAsyncDalamudPlugin API:
the constructor handles only bootstrap essentials (config load, language init, conflict detection); migrations, service
allocations, window construction and hook subscription move to LoadAsync. Schema gate replaces the v9 → v16 migration
chain; configs on schema v16+ load directly, older configs trigger an "install v1.4.2 first" error.
AutoTranslate.PreloadCache moved off the load path. FontManager.BuildFonts runs sync at the start of LoadAsync;
Dalamud rebuilds the font atlas on its own pipeline. Custom-repo URL cut over to gitea.hellion-forge.cloud; the GitHub
repo remains as a frozen v1.4.2 snapshot. Plugin load time sits at ~3.7 s median (5 reloads), comparable to v1.4.2 — the
async migration is a foundation for v1.4.4 lazy-init optimisations rather than an immediate user-perceived win.
v1.4.2 — ChatLog Frame-Hot-Path (released 2026-05-08)
Third sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. Per-frame allocations eliminated from the ChatLogWindow render path
and the settings status bar. Card-mode border loop in DrawMessages hoists five invariants into a pre-loop hoist;
AutoTellTabTint gets a per-tab cache via TabTintCache (separate validation keys per cache, no cross-invalidation);
status bar moves the cache-gate check before the aggregation and replaces LINQ Sum+Count with a single-pass foreach.
v1.4.1 — Theme Engine Performance (released 2026-05-08)
Second sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. ABGR cache pre-computed on theme records; HellionStyle.PushGlobal
reads from the cache instead of converting per slot per frame. ~13 % render-time recovery in smoke tests (plan
estimate of 2–6 % was conservative; real result ~10–15 %). Custom-theme hot-reload survives transient file locks via
last-known-good snapshot. Plus: Synthwave Sunset as the tenth built-in, author credits consolidated under Hellion Forge,
Mint Grove + Forge Merchantman credited to Carla Beleandis as a community thanks.
v1.4.0 — Critical Lifecycle Fixes (released 2026-05-07)
First sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. Seven P0 findings from audit passes 3 and 4 resolved: async-void
loads, missing IsBackground flags, GC.Collect in Dispose, deferred-save race and pre-v13 backup lookup for
WindowOpacity. No schema bumps, no user-facing behaviour changes other than reload and shutdown running noticeably
cleaner.
v1.3.0 — Plugin Integrations: Honorific (released 2026-05-07)
First cycle of the plugin integrations roadmap. Honorific custom titles displayed in the chat header with auto-detect and silent fallback. New Integrations settings tab. Pattern-setter for the five following cycles (Context Menu, NotificationMaster, RP Status Block, ExtraChat, XIVIM).
Spec: Plugin Integrations Overview
v1.2.3 — Theme Expansion (released 2026-05-06)
Four new built-in themes: Night Blue, Indigo Violet, Forge Merchantman, Hellion Spectrum (Deuteran/Protan-safe). No
engine changes. See docs/CHANGELOG.md.
(v1.2.2 was burned because the repo.json manifest was not bumped in sync on the first push — re-released as v1.2.3
with full manifest synchronisation.)
v1.2.1 — Settings Cleanup (released 2026-05-06)
Settings re-sorted thematically (9 cards), 4 dead settings removed, auto-migration v15 → v16 without data loss.
v1.2.0 — Layout Refresh (released 2026-05-05)
Top tabs refresh, sidebar tab icons, bottom status bar, card rows as default message render, auto-tell tab hashing.
v1.1.0 — Theme Foundation (released 2026-05-05)
Theme engine with five built-in themes, settings card grid, custom themes via JSON, theme authoring docs. Plugin icon
updated to Hellion Forge hammer. See docs/CHANGELOG.md for details.
Items from the original v1.1.0 plan (ad-block / spam filter, receive-suppressed-tells toggle) were deferred in favour of the theme engine — both items live on in the mid-term block.
Mid-Term (v1.4.x+)
- Plugin Integrations Roadmap (Cycles 2–6) — six plugin integrations planned; Honorific (Cycle 1) is live, followed by Context Menu, NotificationMaster, RP Status Block, ExtraChat and XIVIM in their own cycles. Spec and cycle order in Plugin Integrations Overview.
- Ad-Block / Spam Filter — hybrid concept combining a lightweight built-in filter with optional
NoSolicitingIPC integration. Addresses ad-spam in public channels and tells. Deferred from the v1.1.0 plan. - Receive-Suppressed-Tells Toggle — auto-tell tabs trigger even when a third-party plugin (e.g. XIVMessenger) globally suppresses /tell display. Same hook layer as ad-block, so they are bundled.
- Database Viewer Inline Search — full-text search in the DB viewer via SQLite FTS5. Currently only date and channel filters are available.
- TempTell Persistence — pin toggle on TempTell tabs so selected tells survive a relog. Tester request from Jingliu.
- FontManager Async Refactor — move
LoadGameSymFontAsyncout of the blocking plugin constructor. Fix cold-start hitching on first plugin load (low severity; plugin is functional). - Separate Opacity Active vs. Inactive — second slider for inactive window opacity. Upstream declines this; we can decide differently here.
- Failed-Tell Notification — visible message on /tell failure (offline, restricted instance, blacklisted, world-mismatch) instead of silent failure.
- Per-Tab Sound Notification — sound toggle and optionally a custom .wav per tab, with mute-in-combat option.
Long-Term (v1.x+)
Storage Backends (three-stage confirmation)
- MySQL/MariaDB backend for multi-device setups
- PostgreSQL backend
- AES-256 encryption for sensitive channels with a local key
Linux-Specific
- WireGuard network detection as an optional filter trigger
- libnotify integration for native Linux toasts
- XDG compliance (complex under Wine)
UX and Tab Management
- Regex Tab Routing — route plugin output spam into dedicated tabs, auto-sort tells from specific people. Clearly scoped against ad-block: routing sorts into views, blocking hides globally.
- Auto-Detect Duties — tab switch on duty start via condition flag.
- UX Bundle — vertical tab bar as a layout option, Shift+Mousewheel to scroll tab headers without activating them, global hotkey to close the active tab.
- Configure Tab Title — configurable tab title format (name / name + abbreviated world / full name / custom), overridable per tab.
- Name Display Options — analogous to FFXIV vanilla (full name, first name abbreviated, initials), per-channel override possible.
- Item & Flag Linking — outgoing: Shift-click on an item/flag sends it to the focused plugin input. Incoming: item links and map coordinates are clickable.
- Color Currently Selected Input Channel — tint the channel-selector button in the input bar with the current channel colour.
- Plugin-Disclosure Pre-Send Filter — configurable word/regex list blocks sending with a pre-send confirmation. Protects against accidentally mentioning plugins in public channels.
- Chat Clear on Name Change — on character name change, migrate or wipe local history; default is wipe for maximum privacy.
- Hide Plugin Window on NG+ Screen — extend hide logic to cover additional addon names.
- Kick from Novice Network — mentor niche; context menu entry with confirmation.
- Text-to-Speech for /tell — incoming tells via TTS, optionally per sender, with channel filter and mute-in-combat. Low priority.
Distribution and Branding
- Hand-drawn Hellion logo (currently a placeholder from the Hellion Online Media brand repo)
- GitHub Action for automatic
repo.jsonsync after tag push - Submission to the Dalamud main plugin repository (in addition to the custom repo)
Bug Verifications
Carried over from the upstream issue tracker; not yet reproduced or verified in Hellion Chat 1.0.0. Will be tested against the current state when opportunity allows.
- Right-Click Whisper Error in Field Ops / Special Instances (Eureka, Bozja, Occult Crescent, DRS) — upstream
#168. Reply helper appears to swallow the
@Worldsuffix. - FPS Drops with Plugin Active — upstream #145. 10–20 % drop since upstream v1.29.19.0. v1.0.0 includes several fixes on the suspected paths; repro test against the current state is open.
- Add Blacklist from Plugin Window — upstream #140. Right-click add-to-blacklist throws "Cannot locate character with that name"; works via vanilla chat.
- DB Viewer Column Sort — State column sorts lexicographically instead of numerically (10 before 2). XIVIM #82; repro in Hellion Chat open.
Licence Boundary
Hellion Chat is licensed under EUPL-1.2. Concept imports from AGPL-3.0 plugins (e.g. XIV Instant Messenger) are
architectural inspiration only — no code was ported. Code imports from the upstream codebase are complete as of v1.4.x
because Chat 2 is undergoing a fundamental rework and selective patches are no longer cleanly portable. Status and
rationale in UPSTREAM_SYNC.md.