feat: add cut cells command (#7423) #8019

charliegiang · 2026-01-28T08:27:10Z

📝 Summary

Added the ability to cut cells in command mode, which copies cells to clipboard and deletes them.

Partially addresses #7423
nits / super nits encouraged 🙂

🔍 Description of Changes

cut.cells.mp4

cutCells function copies cell data (code, name, config) to the clipboard
useDeleteManyCellsSilentCallback hook and deleteCellSilent reducer action to delete cells without pushing to the undo stack.
createNewCell extended to accept optional name and config parameters so that pasted cells retain their original names and configurations.

📋 Checklist

I have read the contributor guidelines.
For large changes, or changes that affect the public API: this change was discussed or approved through an issue, on Discord, or the community discussions (Please provide a link if applicable).
Tests have been added for the changes made.
Documentation has been updated where applicable, including docstrings for API changes.
Pull request title is a good summary of the changes - it will be used in the release notes.

vercel · 2026-01-28T08:27:15Z

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github-actions · 2026-01-28T08:27:20Z

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charliegiang · 2026-01-28T08:29:36Z

frontend/src/components/editor/navigation/clipboard.ts

-// NOTE: We don't support Cut yet. We can wait for feedback before implementing.
-// It is a bit more complex as will need to:
-// - include id, outputs, and name
-// - delete the existing cell, but don't place on the undo stack


throughout my testing this actually felt a bit unintuitive. should users be able to undo a cut?

charliegiang · 2026-01-28T08:34:33Z

frontend/src/components/editor/navigation/clipboard.ts

-// It is a bit more complex as will need to:
-// - include id, outputs, and name
-// - delete the existing cell, but don't place on the undo stack
-// - don't want to invalidate downstream cells


I think this is unavoidable in my current implementation.

What might be worth considering though is a "pending" state where we grey out the cell -> paste -> use dropCellOverCell to preserve cellId ? thoughts?

charliegiang · 2026-01-28T08:36:25Z

I have read the CLA Document and I hereby sign the CLA

mscolnick · 2026-01-28T14:18:20Z

we originally held off on cut since deleting cells can be super destructive (and cause re-runs).

what is the use-case? it is solely to move cells to another place?

charliegiang · 2026-01-29T01:48:41Z

we originally held off on cut since deleting cells can be super destructive (and cause re-runs).

what is the use-case? it is solely to move cells to another place?

Yeah i think the main benefit would be for bulk moving cells.

How about something like this?

cut.cells.pending.mp4

non-destructive
doesn't invalidate downstream cells
easy to move cells far apart
can move multiple cells at once

mscolnick · 2026-01-29T02:02:32Z

@charliegiang that is a pretty nice interaction. What do you think @manzt @Light2Dark r.e. UX?

Light2Dark · 2026-01-29T09:59:32Z

That looks pretty good imo @charliegiang, I'm guessing just a styling change to mark the cell as 'cut'. And on refresh or cell runs it would be as normal. I think there should be a way to remove the cut as well (maybe Esc)

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charliegiang · 2026-01-30T07:44:17Z

That looks pretty good imo @charliegiang, I'm guessing just a styling change to mark the cell as 'cut'. And on refresh or cell runs it would be as normal. I think there should be a way to remove the cut as well (maybe Esc)

Yeah I agree, how's this?

Unmark cells for cut with esc -> esc

unmark.cell.for.cut.mp4

Undo cut -> paste cells

cut.cells.and.undo.mp4

manzt · 2026-01-30T16:46:59Z

This is a really nice interaction, and I appreciate the thoughtfulness in evolving it to be non-destructive!

Yeah i think the main benefit would be for bulk moving cells.

Since the original use case mentioned is moving cells around, I just wanted to point out that we do have bulk move in "command mode." You can select multiple cells and use move up/down or send to top/bottom.

Screen.Recording.2026-01-30.at.11.38.21.AM.mov

That said, I think cut really shines for moving cells between notebooks or applications, where the clipboard-based approach makes a lot of sense.

Light2Dark · 2026-01-30T17:19:55Z

frontend/src/components/editor/navigation/clipboard.ts

    const { before = false } = opts ?? {};
+
+    // Check if we have pending cut cells (internal move)
+    if (pendingCutState.cellIds.size > 0) {


Maybe copyCells should clear pendingCutState? To overwrite the cut

great suggestion, will do

Light2Dark · 2026-01-30T17:21:57Z

frontend/src/components/editor/navigation/clipboard.ts

+const toastCutSuccess = (cellLength: number) => {
+  const cellText = cellLength === 1 ? "Cell" : `${cellLength} cells`;
+  toast({
+    title: `${cellText} marked for cut`,
+    description: `${cellText} will be moved on paste.`,
+  });
+};
+
+const toastPasteSuccess = (cellLength: number) => {
+  const cellText = cellLength === 1 ? "Cell" : `${cellLength} cells`;
+  toast({
+    title: `${cellText} moved`,
+    description: `${cellText} ${cellLength === 1 ? "has" : "have"} been moved.`,
+  });
+};
+


Better to remove these toasts? It's quite visual that the cut & move took place I think

thanks, wanted to keep it inline with the other interactions but i agree here 👍

Light2Dark · 2026-01-30T17:37:14Z

frontend/src/core/cells/cells.ts

    const newCellId = action.newCellId || CellId.create();
    const insertionIndex = before ? cellIndex : cellIndex + 1;

+    // Merge provided config with hideCode setting


Suggested change

// Merge provided config with hideCode setting

Light2Dark · 2026-01-30T17:53:29Z

frontend/src/core/cells/cells.ts

+    // Merge provided config with hideCode setting
+    const mergedConfig = createCellConfig({
+      ...config,
+      hide_code: Boolean(hideCode || config?.hide_code),


This would return true if hideCode is set to false but config is true. Not sure if there are side effects of that 🤔. Or at the call site (createNewCell clipboard), pass in hideCode.

Light2Dark · 2026-01-30T18:00:55Z

frontend/src/components/editor/navigation/clipboard.ts

+      const clipboardData: ClipboardCellData = {
+        cells: cells.map((cell) => ({
+          code: cell.code,
+          name: cell.name,
+          config: cell.config,
+        })),
+        version: "1.0",
+      };
+
+      // Create plain text representation (joined by newlines)
+      const plainText = cells.map((cell) => cell.code).join("\n\n");
+
+      // Create clipboard item with both custom mimetype and plain text
+      const clipboardItem = new ClipboardItemBuilder()
+        .add(MARIMO_CELL_MIMETYPE, clipboardData)
+        .add("text/plain", plainText)
+        .build();


I think there's some repeated code with copyCells? Makes sense to do this there too imo.

yep nice callout. i meant to go back and DRY this up, slipped my mind. thanks for the reminder 👍

charliegiang requested review from Light2Dark and manzt as code owners January 28, 2026 08:27

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charliegiang commented Jan 28, 2026

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charliegiang added 2 commits January 29, 2026 18:40

feat: add cut cells command (marimo-team#7423)

572cb04

feat: undo cut cells (marimo-team#7423)

1b48033

charliegiang force-pushed the charlie/command-mode-options branch from 90b5709 to 1b48033 Compare January 30, 2026 07:35

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