refactor: pin the details stack views instead of seeding its frame

dafi · Sep 26, 2026 · Sep 7, 2026 · Sep 7, 2026 · Sep 7, 2026 · Sep 12, 2026
commit 535cdb33fd034862a8e0bedba6cb345cebe859b7
diff --git a/Sources/Features/FilesCompare/Controller/FilesWindowController+UICreation.swift b/Sources/Features/FilesCompare/Controller/FilesWindowController+UICreation.swift
@@ -6,11 +6,6 @@
 //  Copyright (c) 2025 visualdiffer.com
 //
 
-// the stack view is a pane of the console splitter, so its frame is still the seed one when
-// the constraints are first evaluated and it must already clear the height its content needs,
-// or that first pass is unsatisfiable and causes AppKit to log a conflict
-private let detailsStackSeedHeight: CGFloat = 400.0
-
 extension FilesWindowController {
     func createDifferenceCounters() -> DifferenceCounters {
         let view = DifferenceCounters(frame: .zero)
@@ -112,11 +107,18 @@ extension FilesWindowController {
     func createLineDetailsStackWithViews(_ views: [NSView]) -> NSStackView {
         let view = NSStackView(views: views)
 
-        view.frame = NSRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 1, height: detailsStackSeedHeight)
         view.orientation = .vertical
         view.alignment = .width
         view.distribution = .fill
 
+        // the arranged views are pinned directly to the stack to avoid cross-hierarchy constraints
+        for arrangedView in views {
+            NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
+                arrangedView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leadingAnchor),
+                arrangedView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.trailingAnchor),
+            ])
+        }
+
         return view
     }
 
@@ -153,6 +155,7 @@ extension FilesWindowController {
         topView.addSubview(leftView)
         topView.addSubview(rightView)
 
+        // the thumbnail is sized and positioned by the top view that owns it
         NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
             leftView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topView.leadingAnchor),
             leftView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topView.topAnchor, constant: 18),

diff --git a/Sources/Features/FilesCompare/Controller/FilesWindowController+UISetup.swift b/Sources/Features/FilesCompare/Controller/FilesWindowController+UISetup.swift
@@ -76,11 +76,6 @@ extension FilesWindowController: ComparisonActivityDisplayable {
             consoleSplitter.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.trailingAnchor),
             consoleSplitter.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: differenceCounters.topAnchor, constant: -2),
 
-            // the stack view is laid out by the splitter, pinning the thumbnail to it joins
-            // the panels it contains to the constraint system
-            fileThumbnail.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: detailsStackView.leadingAnchor),
-            fileThumbnail.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 15),
-
             // linesDetailView has a fixed height
             linesDetailView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 46),
         ])

diff --git a/Sources/SharedUI/Components/ConsoleDisplayable.swift b/Sources/SharedUI/Components/ConsoleDisplayable.swift
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@
 //  Copyright (c) 2026 visualdiffer.com
 //
 
+// the console pane is laid out by the splitter, so its frame is still the seed one when the
+// constraints are first evaluated and it must already clear the height its own content needs,
+// or that first pass is unsatisfiable and causes AppKit to log a conflict
+private let consoleSeedHeight: CGFloat = 120.0
+
 // the log console pane, shared by the file and the folder window so the two cannot drift apart
 @MainActor
 protocol ConsoleDisplayable: ConsoleViewDelegate {
@@ -20,7 +25,7 @@ protocol ConsoleDisplayable: ConsoleViewDelegate {
 
 extension ConsoleDisplayable {
     func createConsoleView() -> ConsoleView {
-        let view = ConsoleView(frame: NSRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 1, height: 0))
+        let view = ConsoleView(frame: NSRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 1, height: consoleSeedHeight))
         view.delegate = self
 
         return view