From 25e5cc8de0696d1e50844d449912d9d8181b92c2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: digital-garbage <133010426+digital-garbage@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:49:16 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] feat: timed phrases use square brackets so shortcut
 parentheses can sit inside

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 conditioning.py                   |  2 +-
 h3_token_weights.py               | 10 +++++-----
 movie_editor/frontend/composer.js |  6 +++---
 tests/test_h3_token_weights.py    | 12 ++++++------
 4 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/conditioning.py b/conditioning.py
index ac0aec63..b192ff49 100644
--- a/conditioning.py
+++ b/conditioning.py
@@ -4456,7 +4456,7 @@ class FunPackVideoRefinerV2(FunPackVideoRefiner):
                 self._v2_tally_encode(purpose, 0.0, cached=True)
                 return cached
         _encode_started = time.perf_counter()
-        # Timed phrases `(walks left@2.0-3.5)` are a sampler instruction, not prompt text.
+        # Timed phrases `[walks left@2.0-3.5]` are a sampler instruction, not prompt text.
         # Stripped for EVERY encoder (Qwen or Gemma would read them as punctuation); only H3
         # can act on them, and the sampler says so when it cannot.
         try:
diff --git a/h3_token_weights.py b/h3_token_weights.py
index 10e68a7a..697bf5db 100644
--- a/h3_token_weights.py
+++ b/h3_token_weights.py
@@ -66,11 +66,11 @@ def parse(text: str):
     return "".join(out), spans
 
 
-# (phrase@2.0-3.5) / (phrase:1.5@2.0-3.5): a TIMED phrase. Seconds from the scene start.
-# The phrase may contain `:` and `@` (shortcut replacements do): only a `:number` directly
-# before the `@t0-t1)` tail is a weight. Parentheses inside the phrase are still not allowed.
+# [phrase@2.0-3.5] / [phrase:1.5@2.0-3.5]: a TIMED phrase. Seconds from the scene start.
+# Square brackets so a shortcut replacement's parentheses and colons can sit inside; only a
+# `:number` directly before the `@t0-t1]` tail is a weight.
 _TIMED = re.compile(
-    r"(?<!\\)\(([^()]*?)(?::\s*(-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?))?\s*@\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*-\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*\)")
+    r"(?<!\\)\[([^\[\]]*?)(?::\s*(-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?))?\s*@\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*-\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*\]")
 # H3's latent time grid: latent frame k spans FRAME_PER_TOKEN[k % 5] pixel frames at 24 fps.
 FPS = 24
 FRAME_PER_TOKEN = (1, 4, 4, 4, 4)
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ FRAME_PER_TOKEN = (1, 4, 4, 4, 4)
 def parse_timed(text: str):
     """Strip timed-phrase syntax. -> (clean_text, [(start_char, end_char, weight, t0, t1)]).
 
-    The model must never see `@2.0-3.5`: Qwen would read it as punctuation. Spans index
+    The model must never see `[…@2.0-3.5]`: Qwen would read it as punctuation. Spans index
     into `clean_text` (same contract as `parse`). A window with t1 <= t0 is dropped.
     """
     if not text or "@" not in text:
diff --git a/movie_editor/frontend/composer.js b/movie_editor/frontend/composer.js
index a28e08a8..3fb7d039 100644
--- a/movie_editor/frontend/composer.js
+++ b/movie_editor/frontend/composer.js
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@
   let composeTextarea = null;
   let varsOpen = false;          // Variables panel expanded?
   let varHintEl = null;          // undeclared / cycle hint line under the prompt
-  let timedHintEl = null;        // timed phrases `(walks left@2.0-3.5)` found in the prompt
+  let timedHintEl = null;        // timed phrases `[walks left@2.0-3.5]` found in the prompt
 
   // ── templates bar (above the global prompt) ─────────────────────────────────────
   const TPL_NONE = "__none__";
@@ -438,9 +438,9 @@
     return cycles;
   }
 
-  // Timed phrases: `(phrase@t0-t1)` / `(phrase:w@t0-t1)`, seconds from the scene start. Mirrors
+  // Timed phrases: `[phrase@t0-t1]` / `[phrase:w@t0-t1]`, seconds from the scene start. Mirrors
   // h3_token_weights._TIMED — the phrase is only allowed to shape the video inside its window.
-  const TIMED_RE = /(?<!\\)\(([^()]*?)(?::\s*(-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?))?\s*@\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*-\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*\)/g;
+  const TIMED_RE = /(?<!\\)\[([^\[\]]*?)(?::\s*(-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?))?\s*@\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*-\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*\]/g;
   function updateTimedHint() {
     if (!timedHintEl) return;
     const txt = composeTextarea ? composeTextarea.value : "";
diff --git a/tests/test_h3_token_weights.py b/tests/test_h3_token_weights.py
index ea7818ae..162a3f51 100644
--- a/tests/test_h3_token_weights.py
+++ b/tests/test_h3_token_weights.py
@@ -801,13 +801,13 @@ def test_variability_out_of_range_is_clamped_not_inverted(refiner, monkeypatch):
 # --- timed phrases -----------------------------------------------------------------
 
 def test_timed_syntax_is_stripped_and_windows_kept():
-    clean, spans = tw.parse_timed("a man (walks left@1.0-2.5) then (waves:1.5 @ 3-4) (x:1.2)")
+    clean, spans = tw.parse_timed("a man [walks left@1.0-2.5] then [waves:1.5 @ 3-4] (x:1.2)")
     assert clean == "a man walks left then waves (x:1.2)"
     assert spans == [(6, 16, 1.0, 1.0, 2.5), (22, 27, 1.5, 3.0, 4.0)]
 
 
 def test_an_empty_window_is_dropped():
-    assert tw.parse_timed("(walks@2-2)")[1] == []
+    assert tw.parse_timed("[walks@2-2]")[1] == []
 
 
 def test_a_window_maps_to_whole_latent_frames():
@@ -869,7 +869,7 @@ def test_timed_and_untimed_spans_stack_and_a_window_weight_is_a_boost():
     assert outside[0, 0, 0, 4] == tw.MASKED_BIAS
 
 
-def test_a_phrase_may_contain_colons_and_at_signs():
-    clean, spans = tw.parse_timed("(camera: slow push-in, mail@x.com @1-2) (fast:0.5@2-3)")
-    assert clean == "camera: slow push-in, mail@x.com fast"
-    assert spans == [(0, 32, 1.0, 1.0, 2.0), (33, 37, 0.5, 2.0, 3.0)]
+def test_a_phrase_may_contain_parentheses_colons_and_at_signs():
+    clean, spans = tw.parse_timed("[camera: (slow) push-in, mail@x.com @1-2] [fast:0.5@2-3]")
+    assert clean == "camera: (slow) push-in, mail@x.com fast"
+    assert spans == [(0, 34, 1.0, 1.0, 2.0), (35, 39, 0.5, 2.0, 3.0)]