[binlecode]

Behavior change

Every single-letter keybinding was dead on startup — l, g, c, p, s, t, and q. Pressing l typed an l into an invisible regex box instead of cycling the layout preset. A user in that state could not even quit with q.

Root cause

Not the layout code — the key never reached it. Two facts combined:

• Textual's default screen AUTO_FOCUS = "*" focuses the first focusable widget (screen.py:1493 falls back to app.AUTO_FOCUS).
• display = False does not make a widget unfocusable — visible tracks the visibility style, not display.

So the hidden #filter-input was a legitimate focus candidate, won the focus on mount, and consumed every printable key.

Reproduced by pressing l g c p s on a mounted app and reading the filter box back: value == 'lgcps'.

Fix

• AUTO_FOCUS = None on ActopApp.
• New _focus_default_widget(): focuses the process table when shown (its cursor wants the arrow keys), else the non-focusable dashboard. Called from on_mount, from action_toggle_processes (so p hands over the arrow keys), and from _close_filter_input (which previously duplicated the branch).
• DataTable.BINDINGS claims only navigation keys — no letters, no space — so the app bindings stay live while it holds focus.

Tests

Five TUI tests had been working around this with app.set_focus(None), blaming "the headless harness" for what was a real production bug — which is why the suite stayed green while l was dead for users. All the workarounds are removed, so test_pressing_l_cycles_the_dashboard_layout_preset now genuinely guards this.

Validation

Tested on macOS Darwin 25.5.0 + Apple M4 Max (4E+12P+40GPU).

.venv/bin/ruff check --fix . && .venv/bin/ruff format .   # clean
.venv/bin/python -m actop.actop --help                    # OK
.venv/bin/pytest -q                                       # 153 passed

An interactive sweep over the real app (34/34) covered all seven letter bindings, space, /, ?, escape, enter, arrow-key table navigation, --layout grid|stack, --show-processes, help open/close, and quit. Confirmed the fix does not invert the problem: typing in an open filter still inserts text and does not fire bindings.

Real-TTY pass (tmux, 200 cols): grid on startup → l gives a single full-width column → c shows per-core panels → / accepts python and the table filters to Python processes → escape closes → ? opens help → q quits cleanly.

Non-TUI surfaces unaffected (they never construct the App): --json and --json-processes NDJSON export verified.

Sample of the failure, before/after, on a mounted app:

before:  press 'l' -> preset=grid  filter box value='l'
after:   press 'l' -> preset=stack filter box value=''

🤖 Generated with Claude Code