chat: parsed-URL link policy, cached link ranges, history byte budget (Phase 4)

Phase 4 of docs/chat-hardening-plan.md — URL and rendering resilience.
Closes the chat-body half of S14 (bidi override strip).

- sanitize: new is_safe_web_url shared link policy (url crate, promoted to a
  direct dependency): http/https scheme + non-empty host + no userinfo;
  candidates failing it stay plain text (their whole whitespace run, interior
  not re-scanned). Scheme detection is now ASCII-case-insensitive.
- sanitize: linkify() -> link_ranges()/segments(): validated byte ranges
  computed once, exact-roundtrip slicing, at most CHAT_MSG_MAX_LINKS (8)
  clickable links per message; the rest stays selectable plain text.
- sanitize_chat: strips bidi overrides/isolates (U+202A-202E, U+2066-2069)
  from message bodies while keeping ZWJ/ZWNJ/LRM/RLM (S14 chat-body half).
- app: ChatEntry caches its link ranges (filled in push_chat), so redraws
  slice instead of rescanning/re-validating; only link spans allocate.
- app: chat history now also bounded by 512 KiB total sanitized text
  (CHAT_HISTORY_MAX_TEXT_BYTES) alongside the 300-entry cap; the attachment
  byte cache is deliberately untouched by history eviction (own budgets).
- app: AppMessage::OpenUrl re-checks the same parsed policy (defence in
  depth) instead of prefix checks - non-web schemes can never reach the
  opener even if the handler is invoked directly.

571 lib tests green (+3 net); clippy -D warnings + fmt clean.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Cargo.lock

@@ -4894,6 +4894,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "thiserror 2.0.18",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-stream",
+ "url",
  "windows-sys 0.61.2",
 ]
 

Cargo.toml

@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ serde_json = "1.0.150"
 thiserror = "2.0.18"
 tokio = { version = "1.52.3", features = ["full"] }
 tokio-stream = "0.1.18"
+# Chat link policy: parse + validate clickable URL candidates (scheme/host/
+# userinfo checks in `sanitize::is_safe_web_url`). Already in the tree
+# transitively via iroh — this only promotes it to a direct dependency.
+url = "2.5"
 
 # --- Platform-specific dependencies -----------------------------------------
 # Audio and the native file-picker backends differ per OS. Everything else in the

docs/chat-hardening-plan.md

@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
 # Chat hardening — ephemeral implementation plan
 
-**Status (2026-07-18):** Phases 1–3 COMPLETE. Phase 1 = shared text policy in
+**Status (2026-07-18):** Phases 1–4 COMPLETE. Phase 1 = shared text policy in
 `src/sanitize.rs`, ceilings enforced at UI input, sign point, and gossip ingress.
 Phase 2 = roster-bound authorship (`src/core/chatroster.rs`), replay dedup + rate
 limits (`ChatIngressGate` in `src/network/gossip.rs`). Phase 3 = attachment
 cache/serve-store budgets, downscaled previews, auto-fetch byte/request budgets
-(`src/core/fetchbudget.rs`), exact transfers, bounded local reads. All gates
+(`src/core/fetchbudget.rs`), exact transfers, bounded local reads. Phase 4 =
-green each phase. Phases 4–5 not started. This is a temporary scope contract for
+parsed-URL link policy (`is_safe_web_url`/`link_ranges` in `src/sanitize.rs`,
-hardening the existing room chat. Update the checkboxes and decision log as work
+`url` crate), 8-link cap, cached link ranges in `ChatEntry`, 512 KiB history
-lands, then delete this file when the work is complete. Do not add link previews
+text budget, chat-body bidi-override strip (closes S14). All gates green each
-as part of this effort.
+phase. Phase 5 not started. This is a temporary scope contract for hardening
+the existing room chat. Update the checkboxes and decision log as work lands,
+then delete this file when the work is complete. Do not add link previews as
+part of this effort.
 
 ## Goal
 
@@ -257,31 +260,34 @@ unbounded memory, bandwidth, decoder, or task pressure.
 **Target:** keep clickable links without making malformed/deceptive input or many
 small spans an unnecessary UI/launcher surface.
 
-- [ ] Make `url` a direct dependency (already present transitively) and validate
+- [x] Make `url` a direct dependency (already present transitively) and validate
   link candidates with `url::Url`.
-- [ ] A clickable URL must have an `http` or `https` scheme and a valid host.
+- [x] A clickable URL must have an `http` or `https` scheme and a valid host.
-- [ ] Treat URLs containing username/password syntax as plain text, or require an
+- [x] Treat URLs containing username/password syntax as plain text, or require an
   explicit confirmation that shows the parsed destination host. Prefer plain text
   for the first implementation.
-- [ ] Preserve the existing defense-in-depth validation in `AppMessage::OpenUrl`;
+- [x] Preserve the existing defense-in-depth validation in `AppMessage::OpenUrl`;
   replace prefix checks with the shared parsed-URL policy.
-- [ ] Cap clickable candidates at eight per message. Remaining content stays
+- [x] Cap clickable candidates at eight per message. Remaining content stays
   selectable plain text and must still round-trip exactly.
-- [ ] Refactor linkification to return borrowed ranges/offsets or cache link ranges
+- [x] Refactor linkification to return borrowed ranges/offsets or cache link ranges
   in `ChatEntry`, avoiding allocation and rescanning on every redraw.
-- [ ] Bound retained history by total sanitized text bytes as well as 300 entries.
+- [x] Bound retained history by total sanitized text bytes as well as 300 entries.
   Eviction must keep attachment bookkeeping coherent and should not invalidate an
   open Save/Play operation.
-- [ ] Do not add metadata fetching, remote images, Markdown, or link previews.
+- [x] Do not add metadata fetching, remote images, Markdown, or link previews.
+- [x] (Folded in from S14, per the security handoff) Strip bidi
+  overrides/isolates from the chat BODY in `sanitize_chat`, keeping the other
+  expressive format characters (ZWJ/ZWNJ/LRM/RLM).
 
 ### Phase 4 tests
 
-- [ ] Valid HTTP/HTTPS, malformed host, empty host, mixed case, Unicode path/query,
+- [x] Valid HTTP/HTTPS, malformed host, empty host, mixed case, Unicode path/query,
   punctuation, credentials/userinfo, and non-web schemes.
-- [ ] Eight-link boundary and many-link adversarial input.
+- [x] Eight-link boundary and many-link adversarial input.
-- [ ] Segment/range reconstruction exactly reproduces the sanitized message.
+- [x] Segment/range reconstruction exactly reproduces the sanitized message.
-- [ ] Entry-count and total-text-budget history eviction.
+- [x] Entry-count and total-text-budget history eviction.
-- [ ] Opener policy cannot launch a non-web scheme even if called directly.
+- [x] Opener policy cannot launch a non-web scheme even if called directly.
 
 ## Phase 5 — Honest local send status
 
@@ -484,3 +490,31 @@ The plan is complete when:
   explicit length compare; short transfers get the explicit
   `len == declared_size` check. Music fetches ride `fetch_blob`, so they
   inherit exactness for free.
+- **2026-07-18 (Phase 4):** The S14 chat-body half (bidi strip) landed here per
+  the security handoff: `sanitize_chat` strips ONLY bidi overrides/isolates
+  (U+202A–202E, U+2066–2069) — the characters that can visually reorder a
+  rendered line — while ZWJ/ZWNJ (emoji sequences, joining scripts) and the
+  LRM/RLM direction *marks* (which cannot reorder) are kept. Labels/filenames
+  keep the stricter full-format-strip.
+- **2026-07-18 (Phase 4):** A link's href is the exact displayed slice of the
+  message — validation is parse-only, no normalization on open — so what the
+  user sees IS the argv the opener receives. Consequence: WHATWG slash
+  collapsing means `http:///path` parses to host `path` (as in browsers) and is
+  accepted; the empty-host rejects are `http://` and friends that fail parsing.
+- **2026-07-18 (Phase 4):** URLs with userinfo syntax went the plan-preferred
+  plain-text route (no confirmation dialog). A candidate that fails the policy
+  leaves its WHOLE whitespace-delimited run as plain text without re-scanning
+  the interior — `http://a@http://b.com` yields zero links, by design.
+- **2026-07-18 (Phase 4):** Scheme detection became ASCII-case-insensitive
+  (`Http://…` from sentence auto-capitalization now linkifies); the policy
+  check is unaffected since `url` normalizes scheme/host case during parsing.
+- **2026-07-18 (Phase 4):** Cached ranges in `ChatEntry.links`, filled inside
+  `push_chat` (the single history choke point), were chosen over
+  borrowed-return-per-redraw: redraws now slice cached char-boundary ranges,
+  and only link spans allocate (their href String).
+- **2026-07-18 (Phase 4):** History byte-budget eviction (512 KiB, alongside
+  the 300-entry cap) deliberately does NOT touch the attachment byte cache:
+  that cache is bounded by its own Phase 3 budgets, and leaving it alone means
+  an open Save/Play on an evicted line keeps its bytes-in-hand (the save
+  dialog falls back to the generic "download" name). The just-pushed entry is
+  never evicted; a single message's 8 KiB ceiling cannot exceed the budget.

src/app/mod.rs

@@ -319,6 +319,11 @@ struct ChatEntry {
     /// `AppState.attachments` keyed by `(author, attachment.id)`; the entry only
     /// holds the descriptor so history stays cheap.
     attachment: Option<crate::files::ChatAttachment>,
+    /// Byte ranges of `text`'s validated clickable links, computed ONCE by
+    /// [`push_chat`] (construction sites leave it empty) so each redraw slices
+    /// cached ranges instead of rescanning and re-validating every message.
+    /// At most [`crate::sanitize::CHAT_MSG_MAX_LINKS`] entries.
+    links: Vec<std::ops::Range<usize>>,
 }
 
 /// Fetch state of a chat attachment's bytes (session-only). Absence from the
@@ -564,6 +569,12 @@ fn build_preview_handle(bytes: &[u8]) -> Option<PreviewHandle> {
 /// Cap on retained chat history so a long call can't grow it without bound.
 const CHAT_HISTORY_MAX: usize = 300;
 
+/// Cap on TOTAL retained sanitized chat text bytes, enforced alongside
+/// [`CHAT_HISTORY_MAX`] (300 ceiling-length messages would otherwise retain
+/// ~2.4 MiB and make every redraw/selection walk it). The entry cap bounds the
+/// common case; this bounds a max-length-message flood (chat-hardening Phase 4).
+const CHAT_HISTORY_MAX_TEXT_BYTES: usize = 512 * 1024;
+
 /// Which room-screen divider a drag is resizing.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub enum DividerKind {
@@ -2157,6 +2168,7 @@ fn update(state: &mut AppState, message: AppMessage) -> Task<AppMessage> {
                                 mine: false,
                                 from: Some(from),
                                 attachment,
+                                links: Vec::new(),
                             },
                         );
                     }
@@ -3082,6 +3094,7 @@ fn update(state: &mut AppState, message: AppMessage) -> Task<AppMessage> {
                         mine: true,
                         from: Some(state.self_id.clone()),
                         attachment: None,
+                        links: Vec::new(),
                     },
                 );
                 let _ = state.controller.send(CoreCommand::SendChat(text));
@@ -3166,6 +3179,7 @@ fn update(state: &mut AppState, message: AppMessage) -> Task<AppMessage> {
                         mine: true,
                         from: Some(state.self_id.clone()),
                         attachment: Some(att.clone()),
+                        links: Vec::new(),
                     },
                 );
                 let _ = state.controller.send(CoreCommand::SendChatFile {
@@ -3483,16 +3497,19 @@ fn update(state: &mut AppState, message: AppMessage) -> Task<AppMessage> {
             }
         }
         AppMessage::OpenUrl(url) => {
-            // Defence in depth: only ever hand http(s) URLs to the opener. The
+            // Defence in depth: only ever hand policy-clean web URLs to the
-            // link span's href came from `linkify`, which only emits http/https,
+            // opener. The link span's href came from `link_ranges`, which only
-            // but re-check here so this can't be widened into launching arbitrary
+            // emits candidates passing `is_safe_web_url`, but re-check the SAME
-            // schemes/args. Each opener receives the URL as a single argv entry
+            // parsed policy here (http/https scheme + real host + no userinfo)
-            // (no shell), so there's no injection surface:
+            // so this handler can't be widened into launching arbitrary
+            // schemes/args even if called directly. Each opener receives the
+            // URL as a single argv entry (no shell), so there's no injection
+            // surface:
             //   - Unix: `xdg-open <url>`.
             //   - Windows: `rundll32 url.dll,FileProtocolHandler <url>` — opens the
             //     default browser without going through `cmd`/`start`, which would
             //     otherwise re-parse `&` in query strings.
-            if url.starts_with("http://") || url.starts_with("https://") {
+            if crate::sanitize::is_safe_web_url(&url) {
                 let spawned = {
                     #[cfg(unix)]
                     {
@@ -3798,14 +3815,27 @@ fn short_id(id: &str) -> String {
     id.chars().take(8).collect()
 }
 
-/// Append a chat line, trimming the oldest once history exceeds the cap so a long
+/// Append a chat line, computing its cached link ranges, then trimming the
-/// call can't grow the buffer without bound.
+/// oldest entries while history exceeds EITHER the entry cap or the total
-fn push_chat(messages: &mut Vec<ChatEntry>, entry: ChatEntry) {
+/// text-byte budget so a long call (or a max-length-message flood) can't grow
+/// the buffer without bound. The just-pushed entry is never evicted (a single
+/// message's 8 KiB ceiling sits far below the byte budget). Eviction only drops
+/// `ChatEntry` values: the attachment byte cache in `AppState.attachments` is
+/// bounded by its own budgets and is deliberately NOT touched here, so an open
+/// Save/Play on an evicted line keeps its bytes-in-hand (the save dialog then
+/// falls back to the "download" default name).
+fn push_chat(messages: &mut Vec<ChatEntry>, mut entry: ChatEntry) {
+    entry.links = crate::sanitize::link_ranges(&entry.text);
     messages.push(entry);
-    if messages.len() > CHAT_HISTORY_MAX {
+    let mut total: usize = messages.iter().map(|m| m.text.len()).sum();
-        let overflow = messages.len() - CHAT_HISTORY_MAX;
+    let mut overflow = 0;
-        messages.drain(..overflow);
+    while messages.len() - overflow > CHAT_HISTORY_MAX
+        || (total > CHAT_HISTORY_MAX_TEXT_BYTES && messages.len() - overflow > 1)
+    {
+        total -= messages[overflow].text.len();
+        overflow += 1;
     }
+    messages.drain(..overflow);
 }
 
 /// Pick the default save-dialog filename for an attachment, matched by the FULL
@@ -7275,12 +7305,18 @@ fn view(state: &AppState) -> Element<'_, AppMessage> {
                 let name_color = if m.mine { color_green } else { color_lavender };
                 // Split the (already-sanitized) message into text + URL spans so
                 // links render clickable and open in the system browser (A13).
-                let spans: Vec<_> = crate::sanitize::linkify(&m.text)
+                // The link ranges were validated + cached at push time, so this
+                // only slices borrowed text — no rescanning per redraw.
+                let spans: Vec<_> = crate::sanitize::segments(&m.text, &m.links)
                     .into_iter()
-                    .map(|seg| match seg {
+                    .map(|(piece, is_link)| {
-                        crate::sanitize::Segment::Text(t) => span(t).size(13).color(color_text),
+                        if is_link {
-                        crate::sanitize::Segment::Link(u) => {
+                            span(piece)
-                            span(u.clone()).size(13).color(color_blue).link(u)
+                                .size(13)
+                                .color(color_blue)
+                                .link(piece.to_string())
+                        } else {
+                            span(piece).size(13).color(color_text)
                         }
                     })
                     .collect();
@@ -9479,6 +9515,7 @@ mod tests {
                 kind: crate::files::AttachmentKind::File,
                 id: shared_id,
             }),
+            links: Vec::new(),
         };
         // Attacker's line is FIRST in history, so a bare-id scan would pick it.
         let messages = vec![mk(attacker, "evil.sh"), mk(victim, "report.pdf")];
@@ -9525,6 +9562,7 @@ mod tests {
             mine: false,
             from: Some(peer.to_string()),
             attachment: None,
+            links: Vec::new(),
         });
         state.chat_input = "draft".to_string();
         let att_key = (peer, attachment_id);
@@ -10433,6 +10471,7 @@ mod tests {
             mine: true,
             from: None,
             attachment: None,
+            links: Vec::new(),
         };
         push_chat(&mut messages, entry);
         assert_eq!(messages.len(), 1);
@@ -10454,6 +10493,7 @@ mod tests {
                     mine: i % 2 == 0,
                     from: None,
                     attachment: None,
+                    links: Vec::new(),
                 },
             );
         }
@@ -10484,6 +10524,7 @@ mod tests {
                     mine: i % 2 == 0,
                     from: None,
                     attachment: None,
+                    links: Vec::new(),
                 },
             );
         }
@@ -10501,4 +10542,60 @@ mod tests {
             format!("Msg{}", total_pushes - 1)
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_push_chat_evicts_on_total_text_bytes() {
+        use super::{CHAT_HISTORY_MAX_TEXT_BYTES, ChatEntry, push_chat};
+        // Ceiling-length messages (8 KiB each) hit the 512 KiB byte budget at 64
+        // entries — far below the 300-entry cap.
+        let big = "x".repeat(crate::sanitize::CHAT_MSG_MAX_BYTES);
+        let mut messages = Vec::new();
+        for i in 0..80 {
+            push_chat(
+                &mut messages,
+                ChatEntry {
+                    name: format!("User{}", i),
+                    text: big.clone(),
+                    mine: false,
+                    from: None,
+                    attachment: None,
+                    links: Vec::new(),
+                },
+            );
+            let total: usize = messages.iter().map(|m| m.text.len()).sum();
+            assert!(total <= CHAT_HISTORY_MAX_TEXT_BYTES, "over budget at {i}");
+        }
+        assert_eq!(
+            messages.len(),
+            CHAT_HISTORY_MAX_TEXT_BYTES / crate::sanitize::CHAT_MSG_MAX_BYTES
+        );
+        // Oldest evicted, newest kept.
+        assert_eq!(messages[0].name, "User16");
+        assert_eq!(messages[messages.len() - 1].name, "User79");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_push_chat_caches_validated_link_ranges() {
+        use super::{ChatEntry, push_chat};
+        let mut messages = Vec::new();
+        push_chat(
+            &mut messages,
+            ChatEntry {
+                name: "Alice".to_string(),
+                text: "see https://ok.org and javascript:alert(1) too".to_string(),
+                mine: false,
+                from: None,
+                attachment: None,
+                links: Vec::new(),
+            },
+        );
+        // Ranges are filled at push time (the construction-site value is
+        // ignored) and slicing them yields exactly the validated link.
+        let m = &messages[0];
+        assert_eq!(m.links.len(), 1);
+        assert_eq!(&m.text[m.links[0].clone()], "https://ok.org");
+        let pieces = crate::sanitize::segments(&m.text, &m.links);
+        let rebuilt: String = pieces.iter().map(|(s, _)| *s).collect();
+        assert_eq!(rebuilt, m.text);
+    }
 }

src/sanitize.rs

@@ -12,6 +12,18 @@
 /// the roster readable.
 pub const NAME_MAX_CHARS: usize = 48;
 
+/// Bidirectional override/isolate format characters (`General_Category=Cf`, NOT
+/// caught by [`char::is_control`]) that can visually reorder surrounding text.
+/// Stripped even from expressive chat bodies (security finding S14): unlike the
+/// benign zero-width joiners/marks, these let a sender make rendered text read
+/// differently from what was actually sent.
+pub(crate) fn is_bidi_override_char(c: char) -> bool {
+    matches!(c,
+        '\u{202A}'..='\u{202E}'   // LRE, RLE, PDF, LRO, RLO (bidi overrides)
+        | '\u{2066}'..='\u{2069}' // LRI, RLI, FSI, PDI (bidi isolates)
+    )
+}
+
 /// Unicode *format* characters (`General_Category=Cf`) that can spoof or garble a
 /// rendered name even though they are NOT caught by [`char::is_control`]:
 /// bidirectional overrides/isolates (text-direction spoofing) and
@@ -19,13 +31,12 @@ pub const NAME_MAX_CHARS: usize = 48;
 /// explicitly so the sanitizer stays dependency-free (std exposes no category
 /// query). Stripped outright rather than replaced.
 pub(crate) fn is_spoofing_format_char(c: char) -> bool {
-    matches!(c,
+    is_bidi_override_char(c)
-        '\u{200B}'..='\u{200F}'   // zero-width space, ZWNJ, ZWJ, LRM, RLM
+        || matches!(c,
-        | '\u{202A}'..='\u{202E}' // LRE, RLE, PDF, LRO, RLO (bidi overrides)
+            '\u{200B}'..='\u{200F}'   // zero-width space, ZWNJ, ZWJ, LRM, RLM
-        | '\u{2060}'..='\u{2064}' // word joiner .. invisible plus
+            | '\u{2060}'..='\u{2064}' // word joiner .. invisible plus
-        | '\u{2066}'..='\u{2069}' // LRI, RLI, FSI, PDI (bidi isolates)
+            | '\u{FEFF}'              // BOM / zero-width no-break space
-        | '\u{FEFF}'              // BOM / zero-width no-break space
+        )
-    )
 }
 
 /// Max characters kept for a broadcast game-presence label after sanitizing
@@ -86,18 +97,24 @@ pub const CHAT_MSG_MAX_BYTES: usize = 8 * 1024;
 /// Sanitize a chat message body, applied to BOTH our outgoing text (before local
 /// echo, and again at the gossip sign point) and incoming peer text (untrusted —
 /// a buggy/malicious sender could include control characters or an enormous
-/// payload). Single pass: control characters become spaces, any whitespace run
+/// payload). Single pass: bidi overrides/isolates are stripped outright (S14 —
-/// collapses to a single space, the ends are trimmed, and both the character and
+/// they can visually reorder the rendered line), control characters become
-/// UTF-8 byte ceilings are enforced without ever splitting a scalar. Message
+/// spaces, any whitespace run collapses to a single space, the ends are trimmed,
-/// bodies deliberately keep Unicode format characters (ZWJ/ZWNJ etc.) that the
+/// and both the character and UTF-8 byte ceilings are enforced without ever
-/// short-label sanitizers strip — chat is expressive text, not a label. Returns
+/// splitting a scalar. Message bodies deliberately keep the OTHER format
-/// `""` for input with no visible text (callers drop empty messages). Idempotent,
+/// characters (ZWJ/ZWNJ/LRM/RLM etc.) that the short-label sanitizers strip —
-/// so layered application converges on the same result.
+/// chat is expressive text, not a label, and those are needed for emoji
+/// sequences and joining scripts. Returns `""` for input with no visible text
+/// (callers drop empty messages). Idempotent, so layered application converges
+/// on the same result.
 pub fn sanitize_chat(input: &str) -> String {
     let mut out = String::new();
     let mut chars = 0usize;
     let mut pending_space = false;
     for c in input.chars() {
+        if is_bidi_override_char(c) {
+            continue;
+        }
         let c = if c.is_control() { ' ' } else { c };
         if c.is_whitespace() {
             // Trim: only mark a separator once visible text exists; a trailing
@@ -155,14 +172,10 @@ pub fn admit_chat_text(raw: &str, has_attachment: bool) -> Option<String> {
     (!text.is_empty() || has_attachment).then_some(text)
 }
 
-/// A piece of a chat message after URL detection: literal text or a link.
+/// Max clickable links rendered per chat message. Later URL candidates stay
-#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Clone)]
+/// selectable plain text — bounds both the span count a message can force the
-pub enum Segment {
+/// renderer to build and the opener targets one line can carry.
-    /// Plain text to render as-is.
+pub const CHAT_MSG_MAX_LINKS: usize = 8;
-    Text(String),
-    /// A detected URL to render as a clickable link (also its href).
-    Link(String),
-}
 
 /// Trailing characters commonly adjacent to a URL in prose that should NOT be
 /// part of the link (so "see http://x.com." or "(http://x.com)" linkify cleanly).
@@ -173,42 +186,85 @@ fn is_url_trailing_punct(c: char) -> bool {
     )
 }
 
-/// Find the byte index of the earliest `http://` or `https://` scheme in `s`,
+/// Find the byte index of the earliest `http://` or `https://` scheme in `s`
+/// (ASCII-case-insensitive, so a sentence-capitalized "Http://…" still counts),
 /// scanning only on char boundaries so slicing is always safe.
 fn find_scheme(s: &str) -> Option<usize> {
     s.char_indices().find_map(|(i, _)| {
         let tail = &s[i..];
-        (tail.starts_with("http://") || tail.starts_with("https://")).then_some(i)
+        let matches_prefix = |p: &str| {
+            tail.get(..p.len())
+                .is_some_and(|t| t.eq_ignore_ascii_case(p))
+        };
+        (matches_prefix("http://") || matches_prefix("https://")).then_some(i)
     })
 }
 
-/// Split an (already chat-sanitized) message into plain-text and URL [`Segment`]s
+/// The clickable-link policy, shared by link detection ([`link_ranges`]) and the
-/// for rendering. **Conservative on purpose:** only `http://` / `https://` runs
+/// opener's defence-in-depth re-check (`AppMessage::OpenUrl`): the candidate must
-/// are treated as links, each ending at the first whitespace, with trailing prose
+/// parse as a URL with an `http`/`https` scheme, a non-empty host, and NO
-/// punctuation peeled back into the following text. Concatenating every segment's
+/// username/password syntax (`http://user@host` reads as a credential but is a
-/// inner string reproduces the input exactly (no characters added or dropped), so
+/// classic destination-spoof — such text stays plain, never clickable).
-/// it's purely a presentational split. Linkify AFTER sanitizing so control/format
+pub fn is_safe_web_url(s: &str) -> bool {
-/// chars are already gone (the URL can't smuggle them). Pure → unit-testable.
+    let Ok(u) = url::Url::parse(s) else {
-pub fn linkify(input: &str) -> Vec<Segment> {
+        return false;
+    };
+    matches!(u.scheme(), "http" | "https")
+        && u.host_str().is_some_and(|h| !h.is_empty())
+        && u.username().is_empty()
+        && u.password().is_none()
+}
+
+/// Detect clickable links in an (already chat-sanitized) message, returning the
+/// byte range of each — computed ONCE when a message enters history and cached
+/// on its entry, so redraws slice instead of rescanning. **Conservative on
+/// purpose:** only `http://` / `https://` runs count, each ending at the first
+/// whitespace with trailing prose punctuation peeled off, and only candidates
+/// passing [`is_safe_web_url`] become links — a failing candidate's whole
+/// whitespace-delimited run stays plain text (its interior is not re-scanned).
+/// At most [`CHAT_MSG_MAX_LINKS`] ranges; ranges are ascending, non-overlapping,
+/// and always on char boundaries. The href is exactly the displayed slice, so
+/// what the user sees IS what the opener receives.
+pub fn link_ranges(text: &str) -> Vec<std::ops::Range<usize>> {
     let mut out = Vec::new();
-    let mut rest = input;
+    let mut base = 0usize;
-    while !rest.is_empty() {
+    while out.len() < CHAT_MSG_MAX_LINKS {
-        let Some(start) = find_scheme(rest) else {
+        let Some(start) = find_scheme(&text[base..]) else {
-            out.push(Segment::Text(rest.to_string()));
             break;
         };
-        if start > 0 {
+        let run_start = base + start;
-            out.push(Segment::Text(rest[..start].to_string()));
+        let run = &text[run_start..];
+        let run_end = run.find(char::is_whitespace).unwrap_or(run.len());
+        // Peel trailing punctuation back out of the candidate; a run is at least
+        // the 7-byte scheme long, so `base` always advances.
+        let candidate = run[..run_end].trim_end_matches(is_url_trailing_punct);
+        if is_safe_web_url(candidate) {
+            out.push(run_start..run_start + candidate.len());
+            base = run_start + candidate.len();
+        } else {
+            base = run_start + run_end;
         }
-        let after = &rest[start..];
+    }
-        let end = after.find(char::is_whitespace).unwrap_or(after.len());
+    out
-        let candidate = &after[..end];
+}
-        // Peel trailing punctuation back out of the link.
+
-        let url = candidate.trim_end_matches(is_url_trailing_punct);
+/// Split `text` into `(slice, is_link)` pieces from cached [`link_ranges`]
-        out.push(Segment::Link(url.to_string()));
+/// output. Concatenating the slices reproduces `text` exactly (purely a
-        // Continue past just the URL; any peeled punctuation + the rest (incl. the
+/// presentational split — no characters added or dropped). Borrows, so a redraw
-        // whitespace) is reconsidered as ordinary text on the next iteration.
+/// allocates nothing for plain text. `ranges` must come from [`link_ranges`] on
-        rest = &after[url.len()..];
+/// this same `text` (ascending, non-overlapping, char-boundary ranges).
+pub fn segments<'a>(text: &'a str, ranges: &[std::ops::Range<usize>]) -> Vec<(&'a str, bool)> {
+    let mut out = Vec::new();
+    let mut pos = 0usize;
+    for r in ranges {
+        if r.start > pos {
+            out.push((&text[pos..r.start], false));
+        }
+        out.push((&text[r.clone()], true));
+        pos = r.end;
+    }
+    if pos < text.len() {
+        out.push((&text[pos..], false));
     }
     out
 }
@@ -416,93 +472,80 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
-    // --- linkify -----------------------------------------------------------
+    #[test]
+    fn chat_strips_bidi_overrides_but_keeps_benign_format_chars() {
+        // Overrides and isolates are removed outright (S14) …
+        assert_eq!(sanitize_chat("pay \u{202E}gpj.exe now"), "pay gpj.exe now");
+        assert_eq!(sanitize_chat("a\u{2066}b\u{2069}c"), "abc");
+        assert_eq!(
+            sanitize_chat("\u{202A}\u{202B}\u{202C}\u{202D}\u{202E}"),
+            ""
+        );
+        // … while the expressive format characters chat promises to keep — ZWJ
+        // (emoji sequences), ZWNJ (joining scripts), LRM/RLM (bidi *marks*, which
+        // cannot reorder text) — survive.
+        for kept in ['\u{200D}', '\u{200C}', '\u{200E}', '\u{200F}'] {
+            let msg = format!("a{kept}b");
+            assert_eq!(sanitize_chat(&msg), msg, "stripped benign {kept:?}");
+        }
+    }
 
-    /// Concatenating every segment's inner text must reproduce the input exactly.
+    // --- link policy ---------------------------------------------------------
-    fn reassemble(segs: &[Segment]) -> String {
+
-        segs.iter()
+    /// Concatenating every segment's slice must reproduce the input exactly.
-            .map(|s| match s {
+    fn reassemble(text: &str) -> String {
-                Segment::Text(t) | Segment::Link(t) => t.as_str(),
+        segments(text, &link_ranges(text))
-            })
+            .iter()
+            .map(|(s, _)| *s)
+            .collect()
+    }
+
+    /// The link slices of a message, in order.
+    fn links(text: &str) -> Vec<&str> {
+        segments(text, &link_ranges(text))
+            .into_iter()
+            .filter_map(|(s, is_link)| is_link.then_some(s))
             .collect()
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn linkify_plain_text_has_no_links() {
+    fn url_policy_accepts_only_wellformed_web_urls() {
-        let segs = linkify("just a normal message, nothing here");
+        for ok in [
-        assert_eq!(
+            "http://example.com",
-            segs,
+            "https://a.test/path?q=1&w=2",
-            vec![Segment::Text("just a normal message, nothing here".into())]
+            "HTTP://EXAMPLE.COM",             // mixed case scheme+host
-        );
+            "https://x.com:8443/p",           // explicit port
+            "https://d.com/路径?q=世界#frag", // unicode path/query/fragment
+            // WHATWG parsing (what browsers do) collapses the extra slash into
+            // host "path" — a valid, if odd, destination; not an empty host.
+            "http:///path",
+        ] {
+            assert!(is_safe_web_url(ok), "rejected {ok:?}");
+        }
+        for bad in [
+            "",
+            "example.com",             // no scheme
+            "http://",                 // empty host
+            "ftp://x.com",             // non-web scheme
+            "file:///etc/passwd",      // no host, wrong scheme
+            "javascript:alert(1)",     // opener must never see this
+            "http://user@good.com",    // userinfo → destination spoof risk
+            "http://user:pw@good.com", // credentials
+            "http://exa mple.com",     // malformed host
+        ] {
+            assert!(!is_safe_web_url(bad), "accepted {bad:?}");
+        }
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn linkify_detects_http_and_https() {
+    fn link_ranges_detects_http_and_https_with_exact_roundtrip() {
+        assert_eq!(links("see http://example.com now"), ["http://example.com"]);
         assert_eq!(
-            linkify("see http://example.com now"),
+            links("a http://one.com b https://two.com c"),
-            vec![
+            ["http://one.com", "https://two.com"]
-                Segment::Text("see ".into()),
-                Segment::Link("http://example.com".into()),
-                Segment::Text(" now".into()),
-            ]
         );
-        assert_eq!(
+        // Sentence-capitalized scheme still detected; href = the displayed slice.
-            linkify("https://a.test/path?q=1"),
+        assert_eq!(links("go to Http://example.com"), ["Http://example.com"]);
-            vec![Segment::Link("https://a.test/path?q=1".into())]
-        );
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn linkify_peels_trailing_punctuation() {
-        // Sentence-final period is not part of the link.
-        assert_eq!(
-            linkify("go to https://x.com."),
-            vec![
-                Segment::Text("go to ".into()),
-                Segment::Link("https://x.com".into()),
-                Segment::Text(".".into()),
-            ]
-        );
-        // Parenthesized URL.
-        assert_eq!(
-            linkify("(https://x.com)"),
-            vec![
-                Segment::Text("(".into()),
-                Segment::Link("https://x.com".into()),
-                Segment::Text(")".into()),
-            ]
-        );
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn linkify_handles_multiple_urls() {
-        let segs = linkify("a http://one.com b https://two.com c");
-        assert_eq!(
-            segs,
-            vec![
-                Segment::Text("a ".into()),
-                Segment::Link("http://one.com".into()),
-                Segment::Text(" b ".into()),
-                Segment::Link("https://two.com".into()),
-                Segment::Text(" c".into()),
-            ]
-        );
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn linkify_only_matches_http_schemes() {
-        // Non-web schemes and bare domains are NOT linkified (conservative).
-        let segs = linkify("email me@x.com or ftp://x.com or visit x.com");
-        assert_eq!(
-            segs,
-            vec![Segment::Text(
-                "email me@x.com or ftp://x.com or visit x.com".into()
-            )]
-        );
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn linkify_preserves_input_exactly() {
         for msg in [
             "",
             "no urls at all",
@@ -510,12 +553,67 @@ mod tests {
             "pre http://a.com/x?y=z&w=1 mid https://b.org/p, end!",
             "weird))) http://c.com]]] tail",
             "unicode 世界 http://d.com/路径 more 世界",
+            "bad http:// and http://user@x.com around https://ok.org here",
         ] {
-            assert_eq!(
+            assert_eq!(reassemble(msg), msg, "roundtrip failed for {msg:?}");
-                reassemble(&linkify(msg)),
-                msg,
-                "roundtrip failed for {msg:?}"
-            );
         }
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn link_ranges_peels_trailing_punctuation() {
+        assert_eq!(links("go to https://x.com."), ["https://x.com"]);
+        assert_eq!(links("(https://x.com)"), ["https://x.com"]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn link_ranges_leaves_invalid_candidates_as_plain_text() {
+        // Non-web schemes and bare domains never linkify (conservative).
+        assert_eq!(
+            links("email me@x.com or ftp://x.com or visit x.com"),
+            [] as [&str; 0]
+        );
+        // A malformed/deceptive candidate stays text WITHOUT eating a later
+        // valid link.
+        assert_eq!(links("http:// then https://ok.org"), ["https://ok.org"]);
+        assert_eq!(
+            links("http://user:pw@evil.com vs https://good.com"),
+            ["https://good.com"]
+        );
+        // An invalid run's interior is not re-scanned for nested schemes.
+        assert_eq!(links("http://a@http://b.com"), [] as [&str; 0]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn link_ranges_caps_clickable_links_per_message() {
+        let many = (0..CHAT_MSG_MAX_LINKS + 4)
+            .map(|i| format!("https://site{i}.test"))
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+            .join(" ");
+        let ranges = link_ranges(&many);
+        assert_eq!(ranges.len(), CHAT_MSG_MAX_LINKS);
+        // The 9th+ URLs remain, but as plain selectable text.
+        assert_eq!(reassemble(&many), many);
+        let l = links(&many);
+        assert_eq!(l.last(), Some(&"https://site7.test"));
+        // Exactly at the cap: all clickable.
+        let at_cap = (0..CHAT_MSG_MAX_LINKS)
+            .map(|i| format!("https://site{i}.test"))
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+            .join(" ");
+        assert_eq!(link_ranges(&at_cap).len(), CHAT_MSG_MAX_LINKS);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn link_ranges_survives_adversarial_many_link_input() {
+        // A ceiling-length message packed with minimal URLs: bounded output,
+        // exact reconstruction, and every range on char boundaries.
+        let flood = "http://a.io ".repeat(CHAT_MSG_MAX_BYTES / 12 + 1);
+        let msg = sanitize_chat(&flood);
+        let ranges = link_ranges(&msg);
+        assert_eq!(ranges.len(), CHAT_MSG_MAX_LINKS);
+        for r in &ranges {
+            assert!(msg.is_char_boundary(r.start) && msg.is_char_boundary(r.end));
+        }
+        assert_eq!(reassemble(&msg), msg);
+    }
 }