fix: pipe Typos diagnostic now highlights only the broken pipe name.

DIAGNOSTICS.md

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+# Diagnostics
+
+Thor has two diagnostic tiers. This document explains why, and when to use each.
+
+## Tier 1: Rust-style rich diagnostics (mustache engine)
+
+`mustache/diagnostic.odin` implements multi-line source context, caret underlines, ANSI colors (gated on TTY detection), and Levenshtein suggestions. Used exclusively by the mustache engine for template errors:
+
+- Unknown keys in `{{k}}`, `{{{k}}}`, `{{#k}}`, `{{^k}}`
+- Missing partials (`{{> name}}`)
+- Missing parent templates (`{{<name}}`)
+- Unmatched block overrides (`{{$name}}`)
+- Parse-time syntax errors
+
+These benefit from rich diagnostics because **exact source location matters** — templates have complex syntax, and the user often doesn't know *where* the problem is. The diagnostic system operates on `Template.source` with byte offsets, producing output like:
+
+```
+error: unknown key 'titel' in {{page.titel}}
+  --> layouts/page.html:12:22
+   |
+12 |   <h1>{{page.titel}}</h1>
+   |                  ^^^^^
+   |
+   = hint: did you mean 'title'?
+```
+
+## Tier 2: Simple log warnings (content and runtime)
+
+Everything outside the mustache engine uses `log.warnf` — flat one-line messages via `core:log`:
+
+- Missing frontmatter dates (fallback to file mtime)
+- Duplicate menu weights
+- Non-numeric weight values in frontmatter
+- Tree-sitter highlight errors
+- Menu system issues (mixing config/frontmatter menus, etc.)
+
+These are simple, actionable, and cross-file. The problem isn't *location* — it's that two files disagree, or a value is missing. A caret pointing at one file doesn't help; the message already communicates what to fix:
+
+```
+[WARN] --- [menus.odin:290:warn_duplicate_weights()] menus('main'):'Ideas' and 'Stuff' share the same weight (11).
+```
+
+## Why not use rich diagnostics everywhere?
+
+Rust's diagnostic model is built for a single compilation unit with full AST/IR data. Three obstacles prevent reusing it for content warnings:
+
+1. **Source tracking**: The mustache diagnostic system operates on `Template.source` (byte offsets into template strings). Content warnings come from frontmatter in markdown files — different source, different parser, no position tracking. Reusing the system would require building a parallel position-tracking infrastructure for frontmatter.
+
+2. **Cross-file context**: Rust diagnostics point at one location. Weight duplicates are a relationship between two files. Rich diagnostics would need to show *both* file locations, which is more infrastructure for marginal value.
+
+3. **Diminishing returns**: Rust diagnostics shine for syntax/type errors where the user doesn't understand the failure. Content warnings are already self-explanatory — "these two pages share weight 11" doesn't need a caret to be actionable.
+
+## When to upgrade a Tier 2 warning to Tier 1
+
+If a warning's usefulness would significantly improve from showing exact source location (e.g., a frontmatter syntax error where the user needs to see *which line* is malformed), consider extending the diagnostic system to frontmatter. This would require:
+
+1. Position tracking in `frontmatter.odin` (store byte offsets for each parsed field)
+2. A `format_frontmatter_error` proc modeled on `format_render_error`
+3. File path propagation through the page loading pipeline
+
+This is not currently planned — see `TODOS.md`.

PROBLEMS.md

@@ -264,6 +264,29 @@ User's custom layout silently ignored, defaults used.
 (Same as B1 — restated here for the template-authoring perspective.) One bad
 tag → whole page `""`. The most impactful silent failure in the system.
 
+### G3. Pipe errors lack "did you mean?" suggestions — High
+`mustache/pipes.odin:241`
+
+Unknown key errors (`{{tittle}}`), missing partials, and unmatched block
+overrides all get Levenshtein "did you mean?" hints via `suggest_correction`.
+But unknown pipe operations (`{{date | formats}}`) get only `"unknown pipe op
+'formats'"` with no suggestion. The known filter names (`"format"`,
+`"group_by"`) are a small fixed set — perfect for suggestions.
+
+Structural gap: `Error_Body` has no `hint` field, and
+`format_render_error` doesn't pass `hint` to `format_error` (defaults to
+`""`). So even if a suggestion were computed, there's nowhere to put it
+without either appending to `msg` or adding `hint` to `Error_Body`.
+
+### G4. Triple-mustache `{{{` mishandled by `tag_content_base` — Medium
+`mustache/mustache.odin:230`
+
+`tag_content_base` skips `{{` and sigils (`#^/&><$!`) to find where tag
+content begins. But triple-mustache `{{{key}}}` is common — after `{{`,
+the next char is `{`, which is not in the sigil list, so `base` points at
+`{` instead of the actual key content. Any pipe position calculation for
+`{{{key | format}}}` will be off by one byte.
+
 ---
 
 ## Cross-cutting themes

TODOS.md

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 - Polish existing features before moving on to new ones.
 - [ ] Improve diagnostics
+  - [ ] keep track of every error and don't report them more than once.
   - [ ] All Diagnostics should show:
     - [ ] *What* went wrong
     - [ ] *where* (in the file)
@@ -21,6 +22,11 @@
   - [ ] Need to be careful about diagnostics across module boundaries.
     - we don't necessarily want to warn users about theme designers mistakes. (though perhaps we do)
   - [ ] consider reporting duplicate weights outside of menus
+  - [ ] Extend `tag_error` to all render-time errors, not just pipe errors.
+    Currently only pipe errors (4 sites in `render_nodes`) get stamped with
+    the correct template source/path. Other render errors still use the
+    content template's source/path, which can point at the wrong file.
+  - [ ] try to make file paths clickable links.
 - [ ] Load grammars dynamically
 - [ ] starred must be a param.
 - [ ] Documentation
@@ -35,6 +41,7 @@
 - [ ] cleanup `#partial switch`es.
 - [ ] improve json diagnostics.
   - i.e. "Missing quotes around string", etc.
+- [ ] don't use bullshit "sub-tokens", add filters and pipes as proper tokens.
 
 ## Performance
 

menus.odin

@@ -393,4 +393,3 @@ parse_config_menus :: proc(
 
 	return result
 }
-

mustache/diagnostic.odin

@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ format_error :: proc(
 	context_before: int = 2,
 	context_after: int = 2,
 	colorize: bool = false,
+	span: int = 0,
 ) -> string {
 	line, col := line_col(source, pos)
 	total_lines := count_lines(source)
@@ -232,8 +233,11 @@ format_error :: proc(
 	write_gutter(&sb, width, faint, reset)
 
 	// Caret extent for the error line.
-	_, token_start, token_end := context_extent(source, pos)
+	line_start, token_start, token_end := context_extent(source, pos)
-	line_start, _, _ := context_extent(source, pos)
+	if span > 0 {
+		token_start = pos
+		token_end = pos + span
+	}
 	caret_start_col := token_start - line_start + 1
 	caret_end_col := token_end - line_start + 1
 	if caret_end_col <= caret_start_col {
@@ -309,14 +313,18 @@ write_gutter :: proc(sb: ^strings.Builder, width: int, faint: string, reset: str
 
 // format_render_error produces a diagnostic for an Error value using the
 // template's path and source for context. Returns "" for nil errors.
+// If the error carries its own source/path (from tag_error), those are used
+// instead of the passed-in template — this ensures errors inside partials
+// point at the correct file.
 format_render_error :: proc(err: Error, tmpl: Template, colorize: bool = false) -> string {
 	if err == nil {
 		return ""
 	}
-	path := tmpl.path
+	b := body(err)
+	source := b.source != "" ? b.source : tmpl.source
+	path := b.path != "" ? b.path : tmpl.path
 	if path == "" {
 		path = "<input>"
 	}
-	b := body(err)
+	return format_error(path, source, b.pos, b.msg, colorize = colorize, span = b.span)
-	return format_error(path, tmpl.source, b.pos, b.msg, colorize = colorize)
 }

mustache/mustache.odin

@@ -26,9 +26,12 @@ Error_Kind :: enum {
 }
 
 Error_Body :: struct {
-	msg:  string,
+	msg:    string,
-	pos:  int,
+	pos:    int,
-	kind: Error_Kind,
+	kind:   Error_Kind,
+	source: string,
+	path:   string,
+	span:   int,
 }
 
 // Error is nil when no error occurred.
@@ -47,6 +50,21 @@ body :: proc(err: Error) -> Error_Body {
 	}
 }
 
+// tag_error stamps an Error with the source/path of the template where it
+// originated, so diagnostics point at the correct file (e.g. a partial).
+tag_error :: proc(err: Error, tmpl: Template) -> Error {
+	if err == nil do return nil
+	b := body(err)
+	return Error_Body {
+		msg    = b.msg,
+		pos    = b.pos,
+		span   = b.span,
+		kind   = b.kind,
+		source = tmpl.source,
+		path   = tmpl.path,
+	}
+}
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Node tree
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -209,6 +227,22 @@ parse_tokens :: proc(
 	return
 }
 
+// tag_content_base returns the absolute byte offset in source where the
+// trimmed tag content begins (after {{, optional sigil, and whitespace).
+tag_content_base :: proc(source: string, tag_pos: int) -> int {
+	base := tag_pos + 2 // skip {{
+	if base < len(source) {
+		switch source[base] {
+		case '#', '^', '/', '&', '>', '<', '$', '!':
+			base += 1
+		}
+	}
+	for base < len(source) && (source[base] == ' ' || source[base] == '\t') {
+		base += 1
+	}
+	return base
+}
+
 parse_section :: proc(
 	tokens: []Token,
 	pos: ^int,
@@ -229,7 +263,7 @@ parse_section :: proc(
 		case .Variable:
 			idx := len(nodes)
 			append(nodes, Node{kind = .Variable})
-			pipe_key, perr := parse_pipeline(tok.value, &nodes[idx].filters, tok.pos)
+			pipe_key, perr := parse_pipeline(tok.value, &nodes[idx].filters, tok.pos, tag_content_base(source, tok.pos))
 			if perr != nil {
 				return Error_Body {
 					msg = fmt.tprintf("pipe parse error in '{{{{%s}}}}': %v", tok.value, perr),
@@ -243,7 +277,7 @@ parse_section :: proc(
 		case .Unescaped:
 			idx := len(nodes)
 			append(nodes, Node{kind = .Unescaped})
-			pipe_key, perr := parse_pipeline(tok.value, &nodes[idx].filters, tok.pos)
+			pipe_key, perr := parse_pipeline(tok.value, &nodes[idx].filters, tok.pos, tag_content_base(source, tok.pos))
 			if perr != nil {
 				return Error_Body {
 					msg = fmt.tprintf("pipe parse error in '{{{{&%s}}}}': %v", tok.value, perr),
@@ -263,7 +297,7 @@ parse_section :: proc(
 			content_start := 0
 			if pos^ < len(tokens) {content_start = tokens[pos^].pos}
 			append(nodes, Node{kind = .Section, pos = tok.pos})
-			pipe_key, perr := parse_pipeline(tok.value, &nodes[idx].filters, tok.pos)
+			pipe_key, perr := parse_pipeline(tok.value, &nodes[idx].filters, tok.pos, tag_content_base(source, tok.pos))
 			if perr != nil {
 				return Error_Body {
 					msg = fmt.tprintf("pipe parse error in '{{{{#%s}}}}': %v", tok.value, perr),
@@ -284,7 +318,7 @@ parse_section :: proc(
 			content_start := 0
 			if pos^ < len(tokens) {content_start = tokens[pos^].pos}
 			append(nodes, Node{kind = .Inverted, pos = tok.pos})
-			pipe_key, perr := parse_pipeline(tok.value, &nodes[idx].filters, tok.pos)
+			pipe_key, perr := parse_pipeline(tok.value, &nodes[idx].filters, tok.pos, tag_content_base(source, tok.pos))
 			if perr != nil {
 				return Error_Body {
 					msg = fmt.tprintf("pipe parse error in '{{{{^%s}}}}': %v", tok.value, perr),
@@ -585,7 +619,7 @@ render_nodes :: proc(
 			if len(node.filters) > 0 {
 				transformed, perr := apply_pipeline(val, node.filters[:], node.pos, ctx[:])
 				if perr != nil {
-					return perr
+					return tag_error(perr, current)
 				}
 				val = transformed
 			}
@@ -627,7 +661,7 @@ render_nodes :: proc(
 			if len(node.filters) > 0 {
 				transformed, perr := apply_pipeline(val, node.filters[:], node.pos, ctx[:])
 				if perr != nil {
-					return perr
+					return tag_error(perr, current)
 				}
 				val = transformed
 			}
@@ -665,7 +699,7 @@ render_nodes :: proc(
 			if len(node.filters) > 0 {
 				transformed, perr := apply_pipeline(val, node.filters[:], node.pos, ctx[:])
 				if perr != nil {
-					return perr
+					return tag_error(perr, current)
 				}
 				val = transformed
 			}
@@ -729,7 +763,7 @@ render_nodes :: proc(
 			if len(node.filters) > 0 {
 				transformed, perr := apply_pipeline(val, node.filters[:], node.pos, ctx[:])
 				if perr != nil {
-					return perr
+					return tag_error(perr, current)
 				}
 				val = transformed
 			}

mustache/pipes.odin

@@ -17,8 +17,9 @@ MAX_PIPE_ARGS :: 2
 DEFAULT_DATE_FORMAT :: "2 Jan 2006"
 
 Pipe_Filter :: struct {
-	op:   string,
+	op:     string,
-	args: [dynamic; MAX_PIPE_ARGS]string,
+	args:   [dynamic; MAX_PIPE_ARGS]string,
+	op_pos: int,
 }
 
 Group :: struct {
@@ -77,6 +78,7 @@ parse_pipeline :: proc(
 	content: string,
 	filters_out: ^[dynamic; MAX_PIPES]Pipe_Filter,
 	pos: int,
+	content_base: int,
 ) -> (
 	key: string,
 	err: Error,
@@ -86,14 +88,13 @@ parse_pipeline :: proc(
 		return key, nil
 	}
 
-	segments := strings.split(content, "|", allocator = context.temp_allocator)
+	// Count pipes to validate against MAX_PIPES.
-
+	pipe_count := strings.count(content, "|")
-	filter_count := len(segments) - 1
+	if pipe_count > MAX_PIPES {
-	if filter_count > MAX_PIPES {
 		return "", Error_Body {
 			msg = fmt.tprintf(
 				"pipe expression has %d filters, max is %d",
-				filter_count,
+				pipe_count,
 				MAX_PIPES,
 			),
 			pos = pos,
@@ -101,21 +102,38 @@ parse_pipeline :: proc(
 		}
 	}
 
-	key = strings.trim_space(segments[0])
+	// Key is everything before the first |.
+	first_pipe := strings.index(content, "|")
+	key = strings.trim_space(content[:first_pipe])
 	if len(key) == 0 {
 		return "", Error_Body{msg = "pipe expression missing key", pos = pos, kind = .Syntax}
 	}
 
-	if filter_count == 0 {
+	if pipe_count == 0 {
 		return key, nil
 	}
 
-	for i in 0 ..< filter_count {
+	// Walk pipe-delimited segments, tracking byte offsets within content.
-		seg := strings.trim_space(segments[i + 1])
+	seg_start := first_pipe + 1 // offset in content, just after |
+	for seg_start <= len(content) {
+		next_pipe := strings.index(content[seg_start:], "|")
+
+		// Raw segment text (may have leading/trailing whitespace).
+		seg_end := seg_start + next_pipe if next_pipe >= 0 else len(content)
+		raw_seg := content[seg_start:seg_end]
+
+		// Count leading whitespace to find op offset within content.
+		ws := 0
+		for ws < len(raw_seg) && is_pipe_space(raw_seg[ws]) {
+			ws += 1
+		}
+		seg := strings.trim_space(raw_seg)
 		if len(seg) == 0 {
 			return "", Error_Body{msg = "empty filter", pos = pos, kind = .Syntax}
 		}
 
+		op_offset_in_content := seg_start + ws
+
 		tokens, terr := tokenize_fields(seg, pos)
 		if terr != nil {
 			delete(tokens)
@@ -140,13 +158,19 @@ parse_pipeline :: proc(
 		}
 
 		filter := Pipe_Filter {
-			op = tokens[0],
+			op     = tokens[0],
+			op_pos = content_base + op_offset_in_content,
 		}
 		for j in 1 ..< len(tokens) {
 			append(&filter.args, tokens[j])
 		}
 		append(filters_out, filter)
 		delete(tokens)
+
+		if next_pipe < 0 {
+			break
+		}
+		seg_start = seg_end + 1
 	}
 
 	return key, nil
@@ -239,8 +263,9 @@ apply_filter :: proc(value: any, filter: ^Pipe_Filter, pos: int, ctx: []any) ->
 
 	case:
 		return nil, Error_Body {
-			msg = fmt.tprintf("unknown pipe op '%s'", filter.op),
+			msg  = fmt.tprintf("unknown pipe op '%s'", filter.op),
-			pos = pos,
+			pos  = filter.op_pos,
+			span = len(filter.op),
 			kind = .Data,
 		}
 	}