Enum BufferData 

pub enum BufferData {
    Document(DocumentEntry),
    FileTree(DocumentEntry),
    Help(DocumentEntry),
    Oil(DocumentEntry),
    Terminal(TerminalBuffer),
    Messages(DocumentEntry),
    Multibuffer(DocumentEntry),
    Dashboard(DocumentEntry),
}

Variants

Document(DocumentEntry)

FileTree(DocumentEntry)

Hierarchical filesystem tree.

DL.4: storage is now identical to BufferData::Document — an actor-backed synthetic Document — exactly as Help converged at PU.1a. The discriminator stays so :ls, mode lookup and BufferKind::is_read_only can still tell a tree from a file.

It was its own struct with its own rope, which is why document_handle() returned None for it and the generic pane path could not render it at all — the reason four bespoke paint functions existed (CV.5, CV.6).

Help(DocumentEntry)

Help / log / picker-listing buffers placed into a pane (DESIGN.md §5.9, §5.11). The transient overlay path (App.popup_buffer) remains for popup-style displays (hover, doc lookups, error toasts); persistent help views (:lsp-log, :lsp-server-log, :lsp-trace-log, :describe-*, :diagnostics) route here so they live in a real pane, can be split, switched, listed via :ls, and updated live when their backing source emits events.

PU.1a (2026-06-27): storage is now identical to BufferData::Document (a DocumentEntry carrying Arc<dyn Document>) — help content is an actor-backed synthetic Document, exactly like BufferData::Messages. The discriminator stays so help-mode behaviours (links, anchors, dismiss-on-Esc, the markdown major) and :ls / introspection can tell a help view apart from a file. The help title lives in BufferEntry::name; per-buffer metadata (links / anchors / highlights) lives in buffer_locals.

Oil(DocumentEntry)

Flat editable directory listing (oil.nvim-style).

DL.5: storage is a DocumentEntry like every other kind — the last one to converge. Its rope is an actor-backed Document, and the directory snapshot :w diffs against lives in the OilSnapshotLocal buffer-local. Oil is writable, so it needs no owner-write bypass: edits go through the ordinary document path.

Terminal(TerminalBuffer)

Messages(DocumentEntry)

The editor’s *messages* audit transcript. Storage is identical to BufferData::Document (same DocumentEntry); the discriminator exists so :ls, modeline, and introspection paths can tell the transcript apart from a user-edited file. The subsystem owns content; messages-mode contributes ReadOnly + NoFile.

Multibuffer(DocumentEntry)

H.1 (2026-05-31): composed multibuffer view buffer (lattice-multibuffer). Storage is identical to BufferData::Document (the DocumentEntry’s handle: Arc<dyn Document> is a MultibufferDocumentHandle impl). The discriminator exists so :ls / picker display / mode lookup can distinguish a composed view from a regular Document. MultibufferMode (M.2.b.2) is the major mode; H.3’s Event::BufferOpened dispatch activates it.

Dashboard(DocumentEntry)

The *dashboard* launch page (DB.2). Storage is identical to BufferData::Document (same DocumentEntry); the discriminator exists so :ls / introspection tell the dashboard apart from a file, and so the follow / dismiss gates group it with help-style buffers. dashboard-mode is the major mode; it contributes ReadOnly + NoFile. See docs/dev/architecture/dashboard.md §9.2.

Trait Implementations

impl Debug for BufferData

fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> Result<(), Error>

Formats the value using the given formatter.