From 75c5962b7593932d6d0ded6581a0165de93b6683 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Pascal <pascal@pascal.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:31:58 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Stagger new rulers from occupied defaults

---
 Free Ruler/GroupedRulerWindow.swift | 15 ++++++++++++++-
 FreeRulerTests/RulerCoreTests.swift | 20 ++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/Free Ruler/GroupedRulerWindow.swift b/Free Ruler/GroupedRulerWindow.swift
index 88dcf98..5713f06 100644
--- a/Free Ruler/GroupedRulerWindow.swift	
+++ b/Free Ruler/GroupedRulerWindow.swift	
@@ -1693,10 +1693,11 @@ final class RulerManager {
         defaults: RulerSettings = RulerSettings(defaults: prefs),
         screenFrame: NSRect = defaultRulerScreenFrame()
     ) -> GroupedRulerController {
-        let state = RulerInstanceState.createFromDefaults(
+        let defaultState = RulerInstanceState.createFromDefaults(
             defaults: defaults,
             screenFrame: screenFrame
         )
+        let state = staggeredState(from: defaultState)
 
         return addRuler(state: state)
     }
@@ -1793,6 +1794,18 @@ final class RulerManager {
         }
     }
 
+    private func staggeredState(from defaultState: RulerInstanceState) -> RulerInstanceState {
+        var state = defaultState
+        let offset = Ruler.thickness / 2
+
+        while controllers.contains(where: { $0.state.layout.zeroPoint == state.layout.zeroPoint }) {
+            state.layout.zeroPoint.x -= offset
+            state.layout.zeroPoint.y -= offset
+        }
+
+        return state
+    }
+
     private func notifyStateChanged() {
         onStateChanged?(self)
     }
diff --git a/FreeRulerTests/RulerCoreTests.swift b/FreeRulerTests/RulerCoreTests.swift
index c1a9109..c49dac2 100644
--- a/FreeRulerTests/RulerCoreTests.swift
+++ b/FreeRulerTests/RulerCoreTests.swift
@@ -169,6 +169,26 @@ final class RulerCoreTests: XCTestCase {
         XCTAssertEqual(manager.states.map(\.settings.unit), [.inches])
     }
 
+    func testRulerManagerStaggersNewRulersWhenDefaultPositionIsOccupied() {
+        let manager = RulerManager()
+        defer {
+            for controller in manager.controllers {
+                controller.hide()
+            }
+        }
+
+        let screenFrame = NSRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 1000, height: 800)
+        let first = manager.createRuler(screenFrame: screenFrame)
+        let second = manager.createRuler(screenFrame: screenFrame)
+        let third = manager.createRuler(screenFrame: screenFrame)
+        let staggerOffset = Ruler.thickness / 2
+
+        XCTAssertEqual(second.state.layout.zeroPoint.x, first.state.layout.zeroPoint.x - staggerOffset)
+        XCTAssertEqual(second.state.layout.zeroPoint.y, first.state.layout.zeroPoint.y - staggerOffset)
+        XCTAssertEqual(third.state.layout.zeroPoint.x, first.state.layout.zeroPoint.x - (staggerOffset * 2))
+        XCTAssertEqual(third.state.layout.zeroPoint.y, first.state.layout.zeroPoint.y - (staggerOffset * 2))
+    }
+
     func testRulerContextMenuActivatesClickedRulerAndShowsSettingsCommand() {
         withInstalledAppDelegate { appDelegate in
             let manager = appDelegate.rulerManager

From bb396a8762437443a87b25d599c4acead5a83c0e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Pascal <pascal@pascal.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 14:45:04 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Fix new ruler stagger direction

---
 Free Ruler/GroupedRulerWindow.swift | 2 +-
 FreeRulerTests/RulerCoreTests.swift | 4 ++--
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Free Ruler/GroupedRulerWindow.swift b/Free Ruler/GroupedRulerWindow.swift
index 5713f06..2ed0e64 100644
--- a/Free Ruler/GroupedRulerWindow.swift	
+++ b/Free Ruler/GroupedRulerWindow.swift	
@@ -1799,7 +1799,7 @@ final class RulerManager {
         let offset = Ruler.thickness / 2
 
         while controllers.contains(where: { $0.state.layout.zeroPoint == state.layout.zeroPoint }) {
-            state.layout.zeroPoint.x -= offset
+            state.layout.zeroPoint.x += offset
             state.layout.zeroPoint.y -= offset
         }
 
diff --git a/FreeRulerTests/RulerCoreTests.swift b/FreeRulerTests/RulerCoreTests.swift
index c49dac2..2a6d339 100644
--- a/FreeRulerTests/RulerCoreTests.swift
+++ b/FreeRulerTests/RulerCoreTests.swift
@@ -183,9 +183,9 @@ final class RulerCoreTests: XCTestCase {
         let third = manager.createRuler(screenFrame: screenFrame)
         let staggerOffset = Ruler.thickness / 2
 
-        XCTAssertEqual(second.state.layout.zeroPoint.x, first.state.layout.zeroPoint.x - staggerOffset)
+        XCTAssertEqual(second.state.layout.zeroPoint.x, first.state.layout.zeroPoint.x + staggerOffset)
         XCTAssertEqual(second.state.layout.zeroPoint.y, first.state.layout.zeroPoint.y - staggerOffset)
-        XCTAssertEqual(third.state.layout.zeroPoint.x, first.state.layout.zeroPoint.x - (staggerOffset * 2))
+        XCTAssertEqual(third.state.layout.zeroPoint.x, first.state.layout.zeroPoint.x + (staggerOffset * 2))
         XCTAssertEqual(third.state.layout.zeroPoint.y, first.state.layout.zeroPoint.y - (staggerOffset * 2))
     }