PostieDay 22 · 21 September 2026
Chapter 1 · 13 days to the chapter deadline
- Improved Keyboard Navigation Across Mail App
While working on the different "display views" today whether "preview pane" or "full width" I reworked how keyboard hotkeys help across the site. I had already started using Tanstack Hotkeys on the original "preview pane" view it made sense that make the flow consistent I needed to make sure this up/down, left/right, select worked acorss the different display renders and the settings modal.
Finally got it working to a state I like through a lot of trial and error and tears. Bouncing between modals and different focus areas and behaviours is complex. I need to remember when I add a new settings menu that things actually work and don't regress.
Still need to do the admin area but I'm now happy that at least the Mail App is flows nicely. I'll do the admin area in earnest when I switch things over to the new Postie-specific segmented Cloudflare account...
- Improved Worktree Creation / Setup
When I originally constructed the automated "Worktree Creation Workflow" it worked well but I realised the agents couldn't first test things on the "local server" leading for them to say features were completed and working without any verification. This was because the worktree didn't copy over the untracked files (most notably the .env.local file which incldued the WorkOS preview creds).
I have added a new "worktree-creation.sh" script which runs after package install which copies over the ".env.local" creds, applys migrations for the local d1 database and seeds it with fake data. Now the agent needs to just run "npm run dev" without wasting extra time/tokens doing the provisioning steps.
"Work smarter, not harder" applies as much to Agents as it does ot Humans
- Made Settings Modal Stable and Completed Display Settings
Since creating the settings modal on the 17th I haven't really been able to touch it until today. I have made the experience more fluid completing the email display settings giving users the option to display things that works for them.
Now there are two display specific settings where you can choose from. First on the main mail page you can choose "comfortable" vs "compact" message list presentation. Think of it like "easier to see" vs "see more".
I have also added "Reading Options" to allow choice between having the preview pane in this main message list view (like Outlook) or a "full width" message viewing style where there's no preview pane and email conversations open up in full window (like gmail).
Still more settings to flesh out like forwareding and filters but they will come in due time. Small progress is still progress!