From 68b8d1518163d09f463ea5d784aba2344f9cf535 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: pdxlocations <benlipsey@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2026 21:36:46 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Add emoji normalization utility and integrate into message
 rendering

---
 contact/ui/contact_ui.py         |  3 +-
 contact/utilities/emoji_utils.py | 54 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 56 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 contact/utilities/emoji_utils.py

diff --git a/contact/ui/contact_ui.py b/contact/ui/contact_ui.py
index bdf10dd..f4d8a3a 100644
--- a/contact/ui/contact_ui.py
+++ b/contact/ui/contact_ui.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from contact.ui.colors import get_color
 from contact.utilities.db_handler import get_name_from_database, update_node_info_in_db, is_chat_archived
 from contact.utilities.input_handlers import get_list_input
 from contact.utilities.i18n import t
+from contact.utilities.emoji_utils import normalize_message_text
 import contact.ui.default_config as config
 import contact.ui.dialog
 from contact.ui.nav_utils import move_main_highlight, draw_main_arrows, get_msg_window_lines, wrap_text
@@ -865,7 +866,7 @@ def draw_messages_window(scroll_to_bottom: bool = False) -> None:
 
         row = 0
         for prefix, message in messages:
-            full_message = f"{prefix}{message}"
+            full_message = normalize_message_text(f"{prefix}{message}")
             wrapped_lines = wrap_text(full_message, messages_win.getmaxyx()[1] - 2)
             msg_line_count += len(wrapped_lines)
             messages_pad.resize(msg_line_count, messages_win.getmaxyx()[1])
diff --git a/contact/utilities/emoji_utils.py b/contact/utilities/emoji_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84e7ce0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contact/utilities/emoji_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+"""Helpers for normalizing emoji sequences in width-sensitive message rendering."""
+
+# Strip zero-width and presentation modifiers that make terminal cell width inconsistent.
+EMOJI_MODIFIER_REPLACEMENTS = {
+    "\u200d": "",
+    "\u20e3": "",
+    "\ufe0e": "",
+    "\ufe0f": "",
+    "\U0001F3FB": "",
+    "\U0001F3FC": "",
+    "\U0001F3FD": "",
+    "\U0001F3FE": "",
+    "\U0001F3FF": "",
+}
+
+_EMOJI_MODIFIER_TRANSLATION = str.maketrans(EMOJI_MODIFIER_REPLACEMENTS)
+_REGIONAL_INDICATOR_START = ord("\U0001F1E6")
+_REGIONAL_INDICATOR_END = ord("\U0001F1FF")
+
+
+def _regional_indicator_to_letter(char: str) -> str:
+    return chr(ord("A") + ord(char) - _REGIONAL_INDICATOR_START)
+
+
+def _normalize_flag_emoji(text: str) -> str:
+    """Convert flag emoji built from regional indicators into ASCII country codes."""
+    normalized = []
+    index = 0
+
+    while index < len(text):
+        current = text[index]
+        current_ord = ord(current)
+
+        if _REGIONAL_INDICATOR_START <= current_ord <= _REGIONAL_INDICATOR_END and index + 1 < len(text):
+            next_char = text[index + 1]
+            next_ord = ord(next_char)
+            if _REGIONAL_INDICATOR_START <= next_ord <= _REGIONAL_INDICATOR_END:
+                normalized.append(_regional_indicator_to_letter(current))
+                normalized.append(_regional_indicator_to_letter(next_char))
+                index += 2
+                continue
+
+        normalized.append(current)
+        index += 1
+
+    return "".join(normalized)
+
+
+def normalize_message_text(text: str) -> str:
+    """Strip modifiers and rewrite flag emoji into stable terminal-friendly text."""
+    if not text:
+        return text
+
+    return _normalize_flag_emoji(text.translate(_EMOJI_MODIFIER_TRANSLATION))