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+# CLI paste slowness: root cause analysis
+
+## Problem
+
+simplex-chat CLI is slow when copy-pasting text to the terminal.
+
+## Root cause
+
+The input loop processes exactly one key event per iteration and performs a full terminal redraw after each, with no mechanism to batch pending events.
+
+`src/Simplex/Chat/Terminal/Input.hs:161`:
+```haskell
+forever $ getKey >>= liftIO . processKey >> withTermLock ct (updateInput ct)
+```
+
+For every single key event the loop:
+1. Reads ONE event from a capacity-1 `TMVar` channel
+2. Processes it (updates `TerminalState`)
+3. Performs a full terminal redraw (`updateInput`) -- hide cursor, set position, rewrite entire input string char by char, erase, restore cursor, show cursor, flush
+
+When pasting N characters, the loop runs N times, each time redrawing the growing input string. This is **O(N^2)** total work.
+
+## Redraw path
+
+Each `updateInput` call (`Output.hs:308-327`) does:
+```haskell
+hideCursor
+setCursorPosition ...
+putStyled $ Styled [SetColor Foreground Dull White] acPfx
+putString $ prompt <> inputString ts <> " "
+eraseInLine EraseForward
+setCursorPosition ...
+showCursor
+flush
+```
+
+`putString` (`TerminalT.hs:67-68`) writes each character individually:
+```haskell
+putString cs = forM_ cs (command . T.PutText . Text.singleton)
+```
+
+Each character generates a separate `Text.hPutStr IO.stdout` call via `termCommand`. For an input string of length K, that's K handle lock/unlock cycles and K `Text.singleton` allocations per redraw.
+
+Since the input grows from 1 to N characters over N redraws, total characters rendered: **N(N+1)/2**.
+
+## Contributing factors
+
+### 1. TMVar event channel has capacity 1
+
+`Platform.hsc:64`:
+```haskell
+events <- liftIO newEmptyTMVarIO
+```
+
+The input reader thread blocks after producing each event until the consumer finishes its full redraw cycle. Producer and consumer are in strict lock-step with no pipelining.
+
+### 2. Double events for common characters
+
+The decoder (`Decoder.hs:20-35`) combined with `specialChar` (`Platform.hsc:102-110`) produces TWO events for space, tab, newline, backspace, and delete:
+
+- Space: `CharKey ' '` + `SpaceKey`
+- Tab: `CharKey 'I' ctrlKey` + `TabKey`
+- Newline: `CharKey 'J' ctrlKey` + `EnterKey`
+
+The first event is typically a no-op in `updateTermState` (ctrl-modified CharKey falls to `otherwise -> pure ts`), but still triggers a full `updateInput` redraw.
+
+Every space in pasted text = 2 full redraws instead of 1.
+
+### 3. Tab triggers blocking DB queries
+
+If pasted text contains tab characters, each `TabKey` event runs autocomplete SQL queries synchronously (`Input.hs:237-246`):
+```haskell
+TabKey -> do
+  (pfx, vs) <- autoCompleteVariants user_  -- DB queries here
+```
+
+`autoCompleteVariants` calls `getNameSfxs_` (`Input.hs:328-330`) which runs `withTransaction` against the chat database, blocking the entire input loop.
+
+### 4. No bracketed paste mode
+
+The terminal library does not enable bracketed paste mode (`ESC[?2004h`). If the terminal emulator sends bracket sequences (`ESC[200~` / `ESC[201~`), the decoder silently consumes them with no events. The application has no way to detect paste and handle it as a batch.
+
+## Impact estimate for paste of 500 chars (~20% spaces)
+
+| Metric | Value |
+|--------|-------|
+| Loop iterations | ~600 (500 chars + ~100 extra SpaceKey events) |
+| Total chars written to terminal | ~150,000 (O(N^2)) |
+| `hFlush` syscalls | ~600 |
+| `Text.singleton` allocations | ~150,000 |
+| Handle lock/unlock cycles | ~150,000 |
+
+## Fix
+
+Batch pending events before redrawing: drain all available events from the channel, apply all state updates, then redraw once. This turns O(N^2) paste into O(N).
+
+Concretely:
+1. Replace `TMVar` with `TBQueue` (or use `tryTakeTMVar` loop) to allow reading multiple pending events
+2. After `getKey`, loop with `tryTakeTMVar` to collect all pending events before calling `updateInput`
+3. Apply all collected events to `TerminalState` in sequence, then redraw once
+
+Optional further improvements:
+- Use `putText` instead of `putString` in `updateInput` to avoid per-character `Text.singleton` overhead -- `putText` sends the whole `Text` as a single `PutText` command
+- Filter out no-op events (e.g. `SpaceKey`, ctrl-modified CharKeys that fall through to `pure ts`) before they trigger redraws
+- Enable bracketed paste mode to detect paste and handle it as a single insert operation