read only history (proof of concept included)

[fommil]

I often accidentally delete or edit the history of the buffer when scrolling through it, so I implemented this hook to mark the whole buffer (except the next input prompt) as read-only.

I'm happy to package this up as a PR if you want it (this is the kind of thing that could accumulate as clutter over time, and it's untested), otherwise, I'm just leaving it here as a recipe for anybody who wants similar.

(defun gptel--mark-history-read-only (_beg _end)
  "Mark all text above the current input area as read-only."
  (when gptel-mode
    (let ((inhibit-read-only t))
      (save-excursion
        (goto-char (point-max))
        (when (search-backward (gptel-prompt-prefix-string) nil t)
          (let ((end (point)))
            (when (> end (point-min))
              (put-text-property (point-min) end 'read-only t)
              (put-text-property (1- end) end
                                 'rear-nonsticky '(read-only)))))))))

(add-hook 'gptel-post-response-functions #'gptel--mark-history-read-only 80)

and this is needed to let context to be used at user level (when editing gptel, obviously, this can just go into the function no need to advise)

(defun gptel-fommil--inhibit-read-only (orig-fn &rest args)
  (let ((inhibit-read-only t))
    (apply orig-fn args)))
(advice-add 'gptel-send :around #'gptel-fommil--inhibit-read-only)

[karthink]

gptel buffers are meant to be editable -- this is the main things that separates them from the more tranditional chat-box or shell interfaces.

I suggest adding this to the wiki, though, folks might find it useful.