ADR-0060: Current-line highlight

• Status: Accepted
• Date: 2026-09-04
• Deciders: jka
• Decision: D60

Context

Most editors tint the line holding the caret, which helps locate the caret at a glance.

Decision

The editor tints the logical line containing the caret with a faint full-width band. It is on by default and can be turned off from View ▸ Highlight Current Line or the Preferences window, which share one variable and applier (ADR-0058).

• It is a display tag (curline) spanning the line including its newline, so the band covers the full width and every display row of a wrapped line.
• It is per editor group and recomputed wherever the caret can move.
• Its colour is the theme role editor.currentline; a theme without the role gets a faint blend of the editor background towards the foreground.
• The tag has the lowest priority, so syntax colours, selection, find matches and column bands draw over it.

Consequences

• Nothing is added to the buffer; the feature is presentation only.
• Themes control the band like any other role.