Navigation and breakpoints

Tenet navigates a finished execution history. Continue, step and break operations search the existing timeline; they never resume the target process. The Tauri desktop application (Desktop) and TUI use the same backend state semantics, but their interaction surfaces are not identical.

Direct navigation

• Instruction ID: jump to one exact execution occurrence.
• Runtime PC: jump to an executed code location.
• Function: jump to an observed invocation or entry.
• Search: locate instruction text, symbols or known strings.
• History: move backward/forward through prior navigation decisions.
• Bookmark: persist an investigation landmark in the trace index for recovery in a later session.

Repeated execution and XRefs

The xref pass maps each PC to all matching instruction IDs. Execution count is observed frequency, not a static reachability estimate.

• TUI: x / X directly selects the next/previous XRef occurrence, moving among loop iterations, repeated calls or shared handlers while restoring exact state at each occurrence.
• Desktop: the Goto dialog uses the XRef index to resolve an address or function and jumps to its first matching occurrence. The current Web frontend has no direct previous/next XRef control or XRef result list equivalent to the TUI operation.

Calls and returns

The function pass pairs observed calls and returns and reconstructs the dynamic call stack.

• TUI: direct Follow Call / Follow Return shortcuts jump to the dynamic callee’s first instruction and the corresponding call site, respectively.
• Desktop: frames in the Call Stack panel are clickable and navigate to their call sites; the Functions panel lists discovered functions. The current Web frontend has no shortcut equivalent to the TUI Follow Call/Return operations.

Breakpoints on a static timeline (TUI)

These operations are provided by the static-timeline BreakpointEngine wired into the TUI. The current Desktop instruction context menu cannot set breakpoints or watchpoints.

Type	Match source	Best use
PC breakpoint	XRef PC→instruction IDs	Next/previous execution of code
Write watchpoint	Memory-write index	Find when a buffer or field changes
Conditional breakpoint	Predicate evaluated while scanning	Stop on a state-dependent event

TUI forward/reverse continue selects the next/previous matching occurrence. Because no program executes, reverse continue needs no checkpoint restore or target replay.

Value-oriented navigation

• Register Timeline: the backend reg_timeline pass records each register write’s instruction location and before/after values; the TUI result view can display those old/new fields. The current Desktop RegTimeline panel instead plots and lists the current value at each sample, with click-to-navigate, and does not show a per-row old/new comparison.
• Memory Write History: all writes overlapping an address range.
• Last Writer: nearest earlier write contributing the selected byte/region.
• Backward Taint: transitive producer chain from a register sink.
• Taint navigation: move among propagation events after a taint run; the available entry point depends on the frontend.

Runtime versus static addresses

UI navigation uses runtime addresses. When carrying an address to IDA or Ghidra, subtract module_slide; when bringing a static address back, add it.