# Frontend Navigation Audit — the "opaque click" anti-pattern

> **Status, 2026-08-07. Phases 1–4 and the cross-cutting section are closed except the two chat items.**
> Every finding H1–H5 and M1–M10 is done, void, or decided-and-recorded, and so is every Phase 4 line and
> every cross-cutting line. Two selections that the audit never listed were found afterwards by sweeping
> for `useGlobal<` / `useState` rather than by reading the table — the email folder and the Soulseek
> room/peer rails — and are done too. What remains, and only this:
> **H4** (chat detail reading `sessionId` from `useParams` instead of the `chat:selected-session` channel)
> and the **"New Chat"** button that depends on it. Both are inside the chat nucleus, which has its own
> owner — they are not stalled here, they are somebody else's to land.
>
> Three findings turned out to be wrong on inspection and are marked as such rather than quietly dropped:
> **H3** is void (Projects was deleted, so every `Projects/`, `SELECTED_PROJECT` and `/projects/:id`
> reference below is historical), **M7**'s "every caller inherits the opaque click" was false (it had no
> callers, and the component is deleted), and the **Preview slug** item names an app that does not exist.
> Two components — `Combobox` and `BackButton` — were deleted rather than fixed, having never been used.
>
> The rules in this file are current and authoritative; the findings table is a snapshot.
> **Nothing below has had a runtime click-through.** Every "Needs runtime test" note is still true.


**Date:** 2026-07-30 · **Origin:** written as exploration before any of the routing work was done.

Prep work for the upcoming **full navigation refactor**. This catalogues every place the frontend
navigates to / selects an **addressable entity** using a `<button onClick>` / `<div onClick>` /
imperative `navigate()` / global-channel setter **instead of a real `<Link to>` / `<a href>`**.

> Line numbers were captured on `sidecars-claude` at audit time and may drift as other work lands —
> treat them as anchors, re-grep the symbol if a line looks off.

---

## The anti-pattern (definition)

A clickable element selects/opens something that has (or should have) a URL, but:
- **(a)** the entity id/slug is **not in the DOM** (no `href`, no `data-*`) — it lives only in an onClick closure;
- **(b)** clicking **doesn't change the URL** (or does so only via an indirect state→URL effect);
- **(c)** selection is held in **JS state / a global channel** (`usePanelChannel`, `useGlobal`), not the URL;
- **(d)** **no anchor semantics** — can't cmd/ctrl-click to a new tab, no middle-click, not link-focusable.

**Exemplar (already fixed):** the `/chat` session list. Rows were `<button onClick={() => selectById(id)}>`
(id only in the closure) → converted to `<Link to={`/chat/${session.id}`}>` (committed to master `f35c145`).
That fix is the template for the HIGH items below. **Caveat:** the fix only did the *rows* — the chat
**detail panel** still selects via channel, not the URL (finding **C1**), so `/chat` is the model for both
"done right" (rows) and "still to do" (detail).

## Route map (from `App.tsx`)

**Existing entity routes:** `/chat/:sessionId`, `/jobs/:id`, `/dashboards/:id`, `/email/:emailId`,
`/browser/:tabId`, `/tasks/:dirName`, `/skills/:dirName`, `/processes/:dirName`, `/task-logs/:id`,
`/activity/:id`, `/plans/:name`. (`/projects/:id`
was in this list; the Projects feature was removed end to end on 2026-07-30, so the route is gone with it. H3
and navigate-site 22 below still name it — they are the record of work that happened, not of code that exists.)
**Section routes** (a param that names a view rather than an entity): `/settings/:page/:section`,
`/soulseek/:section`, `/headscale/:section`, `/wallet/:section`, `/system-monitor/:scope`.
**Query-param screens:** `/music?path=`, `/files?path=`, `/code-editor?file=`.
**Genuinely flat, and correctly so:** `/` `/terminal` `/desktop` `/qr-transfer` — none of them selects
anything, so there is nothing to put in an address.
The five settings pages are route **pairs** now, not flat screens — `/settings/{profile,ai,system,integrations,user-management}`
plus a `:section` each (M6). There has never been a `/settings/apps`; that entry was wrong when this list
was written.

**What's already correct** (lean on these in the refactor): the **Dock**, **Header** (logo + mobile sheet),
**UserMenu**, **JobsIndicator** are all real `<Link>`s. Shared `NavLink.tsx` (query-string-appending `<Link>`
wrapper — note: *not* react-router's NavLink, gives no active state) and `BackButton.tsx` (`<Link>` back arrow)
are good building blocks. The **Workspace/Panel framework** contains **zero** route navigation — it's orthogonal.

---

## Consolidated findings — severity ranked

### 🔴 HIGH — addressable route already exists; just needs a `<Link>` / URL-as-source-of-truth

| ID | file:line | Entity | Current impl | Fix |
|----|-----------|--------|--------------|-----|
| H1 | `Screens/Dashboard/Jobs/JobsPage.tsx:108` | a job | `<button onClick={() => navigate(`/jobs/${job.id}`)}>` — id in closure | → `<Link to={`/jobs/${job.id}`}>`. Active-row already keys off `useParams().id`; keep the stop/delete button. **The exact twin of the /chat fix.** |
| H2 | `workspaces/…/apps/Dashboards/DashboardListApp.tsx:133` | a dashboard | `<div onClick={handleClick}>` → `useGlobal(SELECTED_DASHBOARD_KEY)` on-page (**no URL change**), `navigate()` off-page | rows → `<Link to={`/dashboards/${ws.id}`}>`; drop the global as selection source (derive from `useParams`). Header is already a `<Link>` — app is internally inconsistent. |
| H3 | `workspaces/…/apps/Projects/ProjectListApp.tsx:161` | a project | `<div onClick={handleClick}>` → `useGlobal(SELECTED_PROJECT)` on-page (**no URL change**), `navigate()` off-page | identical to H2 → `<Link to={`/projects/${p.id}`}>`; retire `SELECTED_PROJECT` as source of truth. |
| H4 | `workspaces/…/apps/ChatHistory/ChatDetailPanel.tsx:136` | which chat to render | reads `usePanelChannel('chat:selected-session')`, **not** `useParams` | make the route the source of truth: read `sessionId` from `useParams`, fetch by id, retire `chat:selected-session` (or make it a derived cache). **Finishes the /chat fix.** |
| ~~H5~~ | ~~`Screens/Dashboard/Email/EmailList.tsx:336`~~ | ~~an email~~ | ~~`<button data-email-id onClick={setSelectedId}>` + `EMAIL_SELECTED` channel + a state↔URL sync effect (`EmailScreen.tsx:27-33`)~~ | **Done.** Rows are `<Link to={emailPath(msg.id)}>`, list + reader + mobile-panel all read `useSelectedEmailId()` (`Email/shared.ts`), and `EMAIL_SELECTED` plus both sync effects are deleted. Arrow-key browsing navigates with `replace` so a sweep doesn't stack history. |

> ~~**Verify:**~~ **Verified.** Of the four `navigate('/…/:id')` calls flagged here, the two in
> `ProjectPreview` are void (Projects was deleted on 2026-07-30) and one of the two in `DashboardPreview`
> is a genuine post-create redirect. The apps auditor was right and the nav auditor was wrong: exactly one
> — the "Open Dashboard" button in the edit form — was an opaque click, and it is a `<Link>` now.

### 🟠 MEDIUM — navigable entity with **no route yet** (add a route, then link)

| ID | file:line | Entity | Proposed route | Note |
|----|-----------|--------|----------------|------|
| ~~M1~~ | ~~`Screens/Dashboard/CapabilityPage.tsx:431`~~ | task / skill / process | `/tasks/:dirName`, `/skills/:dirName`, `/processes/:dirName` | **Done.** One component backed three screens, so one change covered all of them. The auto-select-`items[0]` effect is gone — the bare route is now the list with an empty detail pane. `editing`/`isNew` moved to `?edit=1` / `?new=1` because a `<Link>` row cannot imperatively reset them. |
| ~~M2~~ | ~~`Screens/Dashboard/TaskLogs/index.tsx:104`~~ | a task-log run | `/task-logs/:id` | **Done.** As predicted — the detail fetch already keyed off the id, so only its source changed. `showDetail` is gone; the mobile swap and both back arrows derive from the param. |
| ~~M3~~ | ~~`Screens/Dashboard/Activity/ActivityScreen.tsx:63,73`~~ | background task / detached job | `/activity/:id` | **Done.** One param for both row kinds; the screen looks the id up in the polled registry and derives `task=`/`path=` from the row. The SSE effect now depends on that derived *string*, so the 3s poll no longer risks re-opening the stream. An id that has left the registry says so instead of hanging on "waiting for output". |
| ~~M4~~ | ~~`FileBrowser/.../useFileBrowserApp.ts:269`~~, `FileItem.tsx:516`, ~~`Breadcrumb.tsx:16`~~ | a folder | `/files?path=<dir>` | **Partly done — the rest is an owner decision, not a defect.** `currentPath` is `?path=` on `/files`, so back/forward and linking a folder work, and the crumbs are `<Link>`s. Two things the audit line did not know: `?view=` is *ephemeral* (wiped on mount by `useFileViewerPanels`), so `path` is the screen's first durable param, and four `setSearchParams({…})` calls replaced the whole query string — opening any file would have silently reset the folder. They go through a `setViewerParams` helper now that keeps `path`. Opt-in via the parsed `WorkspaceIdentity` (`screens/files`), because a dashboard can hold two browsers and one shared param would move both. **Folder *items* stay buttons:** ⌘/Ctrl/Shift-click is already bound to multi-select in `FileItem.tsx` and open is double-click, so anchor semantics collide with an existing gesture. |
| ~~M5~~ | ~~`CodeEditor/FileTree.tsx:59`, `EditorTabs.tsx:33`~~ | open source file / active tab | `/code-editor?file=<path>` | **Done, minus `open=`.** The active file is `?file=`; tree *file* rows and tabs are `<Link>`s. **The tab set stays local** — it is a working session, not an address: it grows without bound, each entry costs a read on load, and nobody links someone else to a tab bar. A `?file=` naming a file that is not open now *opens* it, which is what makes a pasted link work; a path that fails to read is remembered so a bad link errors once instead of once per render, and the address is left alone rather than rewritten. **Tree folder rows stay buttons** — unlike the M4 case this needs no owner call, because expanding a directory is disclosure, not navigation. Two things fixed in passing: the tab close control was a `role="button"` span *nested inside* the tab (invalid then, a nested interactive inside an anchor now) and is a sibling `<button>` with an `aria-label`; and `closeFile` computed the next-active file *inside* a `setFiles` updater, which is exactly the impurity React double-invokes to catch. |
| ~~M6~~ | `Settings/SettingsPanel.tsx` | a settings sub-section | `/settings/:page/:section` | **Done.** `<NavLink>` + `useParams`, five `*_SELECTED` globals gone, one `SettingsRoute` guard per page. The "one change covers all settings pages" claim was *almost* right: Integrations builds its own sidebar and did not go through `createSettingsPanelComponents`, and it also held the Enterprise/Personal tab in a second global — derived from the section key now, which is what fixes deep-linking a Personal section. |
| ~~M7~~ | ~~`workspaces/components/Combobox.tsx:53`~~ | caller-supplied route | — | **Deleted, not fixed.** "Every caller inherits the opaque click" was the reason this ranked MEDIUM, and it is wrong: `Combobox` has **no callers**. Nothing has imported it since the initial commit, there is no barrel export, and nothing anywhere sets `href` on a `SelectOption` — so the navigate, the separator that only showed for `href` options, and the `href` field on both declarations of the type were all unreachable. Writing anchor semantics into a component that is never rendered is building, not fixing. Its `Command` primitives stay; `AIHarnessesSection` uses them. |
| ~~M8~~ | `Layout/Header/UserMenu.tsx` | — | — | **Done.** Removed rather than routed: nothing had ever been built behind `/settings/resources`, so the item was a bounce to `/` dressed as navigation. Its `header.userMenu.resources` locale keys went with it. |
| ~~M9~~ | `Screens/Dashboard/Plans/index.tsx` | a plan document | `/plans/:name` | **Done.** Route pair, no `Navigate` guard — the bare route means "no plan open", which is a real state, so the auto-select-first effect was deleted rather than turned into a redirect. The `<select>` navigates instead of setting state; it stays a `<select>` on purpose (chrome for one document, not a master list) and therefore genuinely has no cmd-click — a native `<option>` cannot be an anchor. A name that no longer exists gets the empty pane, not a rewritten URL. Reading the server route for this also turned up a **path traversal**: hono percent-decodes route params, so `GET /api/plans/..%2F..%2Fsecret` reached `join(plansDir, '../../secret.md')`. Now `basename()`d. |
| ~~M10~~ | `SystemMonitor/ScopeList.tsx` | monitor scope (btop/pm2/docker) | `/system-monitor/:scope` | **Done.** Route pair + `Navigate` guard; the scope buttons are `NavLink`s and `useMonitorScope` reads `useParams` instead of the channel. The Dock's highlight survives the redirect — it was a `startsWith` then and is a `NavLink` ancestor match now, so the conclusion is unchanged. |

**Music** (M-music) and **Soulseek** (M-slsk) are whole-workspace channel apps — pulled out below because each
is **one design decision** that cascades across many files:

- ~~**Music**~~ — **done.** The library location is `/music?path=<rel>` (`rel` relative to the `Music` root);
  `music:cwd` is deleted. Each panel calls `useMusicCwd()` and reads the param itself, so `MusicBrowser`,
  `MusicDetail` and `FavoritesView` no longer tell each other anything. Every drill-in is a `<Link>` — library
  rows, folder rows, album/artist cards, both "up" affordances, the favorites rows, and the dock's now-playing
  tile. Track rows stay `<button>`s: they play, which is a mutation. Two things that were channel-shaped and
  stayed channels: `music:favorites` (a view toggle over this one panel) and `music:resync` (a refresh signal).
  A query param rather than `/music/*` because the location is only one of the things this screen holds — the
  lyrics split and the favorites view are the others — and because a splat has to be a route's last segment.
  **Needs runtime test.**
- ~~**Soulseek**~~ — **mostly done.** The section is `/soulseek/:section` (nav entries are `NavLink`s, the
  view panel reads the same URL), the peer is `?user=<name>`, and the past-search was already `?search=<id>`.
  The `soulseek:section` and `soulseek:user` channels are deleted; `soulseek:refresh` stays, which is a
  signal and not selection. The peer went in the query string rather than `/soulseek/users/:name` as
  sketched here, because the section nav has to stay a one-segment `NavLink` — a second path segment would
  need a nested route just to keep the highlight, and the query string is what `?search=` already uses.
  Still on `useState`: rooms (`SoulseekRooms`) and conversations (`SoulseekChat`).

### 🟡 LOW / borderline

- ~~**Dock / Header active styling**~~ (`Dock.tsx` · `Header.tsx`) — **done.** Both are react-router
  `<NavLink>`s now and the two copies of `isActive` are gone, along with the `useLocation` each needed.
  One behavioural difference, deliberate: the hand-rolled version was a string `startsWith`, so `/task-logs`
  would also have matched a hypothetical `/task-logsomething`; `NavLink` matches by path *segment*, which
  is what was meant. `end` is set for Home only — without it `NavLink` treats `/` as an ancestor of every
  route; with it on the others, a detail route (`/plans/x`, `/system-monitor/btop`) would lose its highlight.
- ~~**Browser tabs**~~ (`Browser/TabList.tsx:93`) — **done, against this file's own advice.** The objection
  was that a CDP target id is ephemeral, so a durable `/browser/:tabId` is dubious. True of *bookmarking*,
  and irrelevant to everything else the URL buys: the id was in an onClick closure, three components read a
  `BROWSER_SELECTED_TAB` global, and the row could not be cmd-clicked. Staleness is handled where it
  actually shows up — the preview now distinguishes "no tab open" from "that tab is no longer attached"
  by checking the polled target list, which it gets from the same React Query key the list uses, so it
  costs no extra request. En route: the row's Focus and Close buttons were nested *inside* the row
  `<button>`, which is invalid HTML and only worked because of two `stopPropagation` calls; they are
  siblings of the anchor now. And its "Set up in Integrations" was a raw `<a href>` that reloaded the SPA.
- **Jobs step/iteration** (`Jobs/JobDetail.tsx`) — **decided: skipped, and it is not an anti-pattern.**
  Measured rather than assumed: `selectedKey` is plain `useState` behind a context, not a channel and not a
  global, so it breaks none of the rules this document sets. What it lacks is anchor semantics, and the only
  thing that buys is a `/jobs/:id/:stepKey` deep link — a feature nobody has asked for, on keys that are
  array indexes and iteration labels. Building it is a product call, not a fix. **Owner's if he wants it.**
- ~~**Preview slug**~~ (`Preview/PreviewApp.tsx:23`) — **void.** There is no Preview app. Nothing in the tree
  matches `PreviewApp`, and it is in no registry. It went with the Projects removal on 2026-07-30, or earlier.
- **FileBrowser widget** (`FileBrowserWidget/.../BrowseTab.tsx`) — **decided: stays local**, and M4 turned
  the shrug into a rule. A widget sits on dashboards next to other browsers, and one shared `?path=` would
  drive all of them; only a workspace guaranteed to host exactly one browser may own the address bar, which
  is why the widget passes no `searchForPath` and its breadcrumb stays buttons. Same test, same answer.
- **Music favorites view** — the channel is `music:favorites`, not `music:fav`. **Decided: it stays a channel.**
  It is a view of the detail panel rather than a location, it survives no reload worth surviving, and the one
  case where its being off-URL shows is handled explicitly: going Home or opening a favorite closes it by hand,
  because navigating to where you already are fires no route change. (**SystemMonitor scope** was listed here
  as the same kind of thing and was not — it is M10, and it is in the URL.)
- **"New Chat" button** (`ChatHistory/SessionList.tsx:68`) — a create-action that also `navigate('/chat/new')`; could be `<Link to="/chat/new">` if the state-set moves into the route. Its `chat:selected-session` write is part of the H4 cleanup.

---

## Channel-based selection map (the core of the refactor)

Every place an **addressable entity** is selected through a global channel / global state instead of the URL.
This is the primary surface to convert to URL-driven selection.

| Channel / global key | Entity held | Should map to | Files |
|----------------------|-------------|---------------|-------|
| `chat:selected-session` | open chat session | `/chat/:sessionId` | `ChatDetailPanel.tsx:136`, `SessionList.tsx:16` (H4) |
| `chat:active-cwd` | chat working dir | query param on `/chat` | `ChatDetailPanel.tsx:102`, `SessionList.tsx:14` |
| `SELECTED_DASHBOARD_KEY` (`useGlobal`) | selected dashboard | `/dashboards/:id` | `DashboardListApp.tsx:36`, `DashboardPreview.tsx:287` (H2) |
| ~~`SELECTED_PROJECT` (`useGlobal`)~~ | ~~selected project~~ | — | **void.** Projects was deleted 2026-07-30; H3 was a finding about code that no longer exists |
| ~~`EMAIL_FOLDER` (`useGlobal`)~~ | mailbox folder | `/email?folder=` | **done** — `EmailList.tsx`. Not in the original map; found by sweeping for `useGlobal<` after the listed rows were closed, which is the only reason it is here |
| ~~local `useState` selections~~ | search / room / conversation / peer / open file / preview slug | respective nested routes | **done** — `SearchView` (`?search=`), `SoulseekRooms` (`?room=`), `SoulseekChat` (`?peer=`), `SoulseekUsers` (`?user=`), `CodeEditor/useEditorState` (`?file=`). "Preview slug" named `PreviewProvider`, which is not in the repo — the finding was wrong |

**Excluded — event-bus / refresh signals, NOT selection:** `files:refresh-signal`,
`SLSKD_REFRESH_CHANNEL`, `MUSIC_RESYNC_CHANNEL`.
(`FILE_VIEWER_CHANNEL` was listed here too; it had no publisher and has been deleted — the file viewer
reads `?view=` from the URL. `preview:refresh` and `chat:active-session` were also listed, and
`preview:refresh` was cited above as the exemplar of a *legitimate* channel — but both have a publisher
in `ChatPanelWrapper` and **no subscriber at all**, and `preview:refresh`'s reader, `PreviewProvider`, is
no longer in the repo. They are declared in `officerdev/src/channels.ts` with that stated; deleting the
publishers means changing the chat panel, which is another agent's, so it is written up in
`COMMS/chat-agent-handoff-2026-08-07.md` instead. Use `files:refresh-signal` as the exemplar.)

---

## Appendix A — all `navigate()` call sites (whole frontend, 25)

"Link?" = a `<Link>`/`<NavLink>` is the right refactor.

| # | file:line | what | target | Link? | note |
|---|-----------|------|--------|-------|------|
| 1 | `Jobs/JobsPage.tsx:109` | job list row | `/jobs/:id` | **YES** | H1 |
| 2 | `Dashboards/DashboardListApp.tsx:90` | dashboard row (off-page) | `/dashboards/:id` | YES | H2 |
| 3 | `Dashboards/DashboardListApp.tsx:114` | inside "New Dashboard" | `/dashboards` | ~ | create action |
| ~~4~~ | `Dashboards/DashboardPreview.tsx` (create) | open dashboard | `/dashboards/:id` | no | **stays.** post-create redirect — a link cannot write the row first |
| ~~5~~ | `Dashboards/DashboardPreview.tsx` (edit form) | open dashboard | `/dashboards/:id` | YES | **done** — `<Button asChild><Link>` |
| 6 | `Projects/ProjectListApp.tsx:116` | project row (off-page) | `/projects/:id` | YES | H3 |
| 7 | `Projects/ProjectListApp.tsx:142` | inside "New Project" | `/projects` | ~ | create action |
| ~~8~~ | ~~`Projects/ProjectPreview.tsx:430`~~ | — | — | — | void: Projects deleted 2026-07-30 |
| ~~9~~ | ~~`Projects/ProjectPreview.tsx:457`~~ | — | — | — | void: Projects deleted 2026-07-30 |
| ~~10~~ | `Jobs/JobDetail.tsx` | back button | `/jobs` | YES | **done** — `<Link>`; `BackButton` was dead and is deleted |
| 11 | `ChatHistory/SessionList.tsx:70` | "New Chat" | `/chat/new` | ~ | borderline (LOW) |
| ~~12~~ | ~~`components/Combobox.tsx:54`~~ | nav combobox option | `option.href` | — | M7 — file deleted, it had no callers |
| ~~13~~ | `MusicPlayer/MusicPlayerHost.tsx:251` | open current album (setCwd+nav) | `/music` | ~ | **Done** — the side-effect was the `setCwd`; with the location in the URL the tile is a plain `<Link>` to `musicPath(albumRel)`. |
| 14 | `FileBrowserWidget/useFileBrowserWidget.ts:53` | open folder in Files | `/files?view=…` | ~ | query nav |
| 15 | `FileBrowserApp/useFileBrowserApp.ts:401` | create dashboard from folder | `/dashboards/new?…` | ~ | action-nav |
| 16 | `FileBrowserApp/useFileBrowserApp.ts:427` | create dashboard from files | `/dashboards/new?…` | ~ | action-nav |
| 17 | `FileBrowserApp/.../TaskRunnerModal.tsx:1168` | after starting job | `/jobs` `/jobs/:id` | NO | post-submit |
| 18 | `FileBrowserApp/.../TaskRunnerModal.tsx:1649` | after starting pipeline | `/jobs/:id` | NO | post-submit |
| ~~19~~ | ~~`Email/EmailScreen.tsx:29`~~ | ~~sync selection → URL (effect)~~ | — | — | deleted (H5) |
| ~~20~~ | ~~`Email/EmailScreen.tsx:31`~~ | ~~clear selection → URL (effect)~~ | — | — | deleted (H5); the mobile Back button navigates to `/email` instead |
| 21 | `ChatHistory/index.tsx:107` | redirect when no id | `/chat` | NO | guard |
| 22 | `Projects/ProjectListScreen.tsx:66` | clear/redirect | `/projects` | NO | guard |
| 23 | `Authentication/ForgotPassword/useResetPassword.ts:48` | post-reset redirect | `/` | NO | action result |
| 24 | `Authentication/LandingPage/Bootstrap.tsx:34` | post-bootstrap redirect | `/` | NO | action result |
| 25 | `hooks/useQueryState/useQueryState.ts:39` | generic query-state writer | dynamic | NO | infra hook |

---

## ✅ TO-DO — ordered for tomorrow

> **Progress — 2026-07-30, branch `navigation-refactor` (off master; NOT yet runtime-tested):**
> H1, H2, H3 implemented and tsgo-clean. **Design correction for H2/H3:** the naive "row → `<Link to="/dashboards/:id">`"
> would destroy the *preview-on-list* feature (that route is the full page). The faithful fix — which is what
> was implemented — moves selection out of the `SELECTED_*` global into a **`?selected=<id>` URL param** read by
> the list, the screen (mobile panel), and the preview; rows are real `<Link>`s (`/…?selected=id` on-page,
> `/…/:id` off-page) with the action buttons kept as **siblings** of the anchor, not nested inside it. Same
> approach will suit any future "master list + live preview" screen. **Must verify on next restart:** preview,
> create/edit/delete(/publish), and mobile-panel flows on `/dashboards` and `/projects`.

### Phase 1 — Quick wins (routes already exist; mechanical, high value)
- [x] **H1** Jobs rows → `<Link to={`/jobs/${job.id}`}>` (`JobsPage.tsx`). Done — `46482f3`. (active-row highlight already keyed off `useParams().id`.)
- [x] **H2** Dashboards rows → `<Link>`; `SELECTED_DASHBOARD_KEY` global replaced by `?selected=` URL param across `DashboardListApp`/`DashboardsScreen`/`DashboardPreview`. Done — `01365cb`. **Needs runtime test.** (The constant itself outlived its last reader by four months and has now been deleted; its siblings in `Dashboards/constants.ts` are dialog form state, not selection, and stay.)
- [x] **H3** Projects rows → `<Link>`; `SELECTED_PROJECT` global replaced by `?selected=` URL param across `ProjectListApp`/`ProjectListScreen`/`ProjectPreview`. Done — `2aaacc8`. **Needs runtime test.**
- [ ] **H4** Chat detail: read `sessionId` from `useParams`, retire `chat:selected-session` as source of truth (`ChatDetailPanel.tsx:136`) — **finishes the /chat fix**. *Deferred: overlaps the in-flight `sidecars-*` chat-comms work; do after that lands.*
- [x] **H5** Email rows → `<Link>` driven by `useParams().emailId`; the `EMAIL_SELECTED` global and both state↔URL sync effects are gone. **Needs runtime test.** (`EMAIL_FOLDER` stays a `useGlobal` for now — it is read in one component and is view state, not selection; putting the folder in `?folder=` is a separate, smaller item.)
- [x] **M8** Dead `/settings/resources` menu item removed from `UserMenu.tsx`, along with its now-orphaned `en`/`pt` locale keys. **Needs runtime test.**
- [x] Verified + converted the preview "open" navigates. Four were listed; **one** was real. The two
      `ProjectPreview` lines are void — Projects was deleted end to end on 2026-07-30. Of the two in
      `DashboardPreview`, the create path (`navigate` after writing the dashboard) is a genuine
      post-mutation redirect and stays; only the "Open Dashboard" button in the edit form was pure
      navigation, and it is now `<Button asChild><Link …>`. The big click-through overlay on the preview
      was already a `<Link>`. `DashboardListApp`'s "New Dashboard" also stays a button: it sets six pieces
      of form state and only *then* conditionally navigates.

### Phase 2 — Add a route, then link (per-entity, medium effort)
- [x] **M6** Settings sub-sections → `/settings/:page/:section`; `SectionButton` is now a `SectionLink` (`<NavLink>`), the five `*_SELECTED` globals and `INTEGRATIONS_SETTINGS_TAB` are gone, and each page renders one `SettingsRoute` guard that canonicalises the bare route and a bogus section. **Needs runtime test.**
- [x] **M1** Capabilities → `/tasks|skills|processes/:dirName`, rows → `<Link>`; `CapabilityPage` takes an explicit `basePath` (not reused from `endpoint`, which only happens to match). Selection is `useParams`, the mobile pane swap and back arrow are derived from it, delete navigates to the bare route, and the two per-item modes are `?edit=1` / `?new=1`. No `<Navigate>` guard: an unknown `dirName` gets the empty detail pane. **Needs runtime test.**
- [x] **M2** TaskLogs → `/task-logs/:id`; rows are `<Link>`s, `showDetail` deleted. **Needs runtime test.**
- [x] **M3** Activity → `/activity/:id`; the `{label, query}` selection object is gone — the id is the URL and the stream query is derived from the registry row. `/activity` also had no `usePageTitle` rule (it read "Officer"); added. **Needs runtime test.**
- [x] **M4** FileBrowser folders → `/files?path=`; breadcrumbs are `<Link>`s. Folder *rows* deliberately still buttons — ⌘-click is multi-select, open is double-click; converting them needs an owner call on the gesture.
- [x] **M5** CodeEditor active file → `/code-editor?file=`; tree file rows and tabs are `<Link>`s. The open-tab *set* stays local state, on purpose — see the findings row.
- [x] **M7** Combobox — **deleted instead**. Zero callers since the initial commit; `href` on `SelectOption` was never set by anything, so the whole branch was unreachable.

### Phase 3 — Whole-workspace routing decisions (needs a design call first)
- [x] **Music** — `/music?path=<rel>`; `music:cwd` deleted; every drill-in (including the dock's now-playing tile, navigate-site 13) is a `<Link>`. `music:favorites` and `music:resync` stay — a view toggle and a refresh signal. **Needs runtime test.**
- [x] **Soulseek** — `/soulseek/:section` with the peer in `?user=` and the search already in `?search=`; the two selection channels are deleted. Rooms and conversations are still `useState`. **Needs runtime test.**
- [x] **M10** SystemMonitor scope → `/system-monitor/:scope`; `monitor:scope` channel deleted. **Needs runtime test.**
- [x] **M9** Plans → `/plans/:name`; the auto-select-first effect is gone (the bare route is a real state: no plan open), and the `<select>` navigates instead of setting state. It stays a `<select>` — a native `<option>` cannot be an anchor, so this one has no cmd-click and the doc should not pretend otherwise; it is chrome for a single document, not a master list. Reading the route also turned up a path traversal in `GET /api/plans/:name` (hono percent-decodes params, so `..%2F..%2Fx` walked out of `plansDir`) — fixed with `basename()`. **Needs runtime test.**

### Phase 4 — Polish + borderline decisions
- [x] Dock + Header + mobile sheet → react-router `<NavLink>`; both `isActive` helpers and their `useLocation`s deleted. `end` on Home only. **Needs runtime test.**
- [ ] "New Chat" → `<Link to="/chat/new">` (`SessionList.tsx:68`) once H4's channel cleanup lands.
- [x] Jobs back button → `<Link to="/jobs">`, and `useNavigate` dropped from `PipelineJobDetail` (it had no
      other caller). **Not** the shared `BackButton`, which turned out to be the second dead component this
      audit has found: zero importers since the initial commit, no barrel entry, and a label-plus-underline
      shape that fits none of the icon-only back controls in the app. Adopting it would have been a visual
      redesign of the Jobs header dressed up as a navigation fix, so it is deleted instead. The two sibling
      panes (`ScriptJobDetail`, `DownloadJobDetail`) were already `<Link to="/jobs">`; this was the odd one out.
- [x] Decided/skipped: Jobs step deep-link (a feature, not a fix — owner's call), Preview slug (**void**: no such app), FileBrowser widget (stays local, on M4's rule). Reasoning for each in the LOW section. (Browser tabs: **done** — see the LOW section. Monitor scope: **done** as M10, it was not a view toggle. Music favorites: **decided** — stays a channel, reasoning in the LOW section.)

### Cross-cutting for the refactor itself
- [x] Standardise a URL-as-source-of-truth pattern for panel selection (replace the `usePanelChannel`/`useGlobal`
      selection channels in the map above with `useParams`/`useSearchParams`, keeping channels only for
      genuine signals/refresh buses). Done except `chat:selected-session` (H4), which is the chat agent's.
      The pattern that came out of it, in order of preference: a **path segment** when the thing is what
      the page is about (`/plans/:name`, `/jobs/:id`); a **query param** when it is a lens onto a page that
      is about something else (`?folder=`, `?room=`, `?file=`) or when a master list needs a live preview
      (`?selected=`). A **control that writes and then navigates stays a `<button>`** — a link cannot
      express the "and then" — and only pure navigation becomes a `<Link>`.
      Sweep to re-check this later: `grep -rn "usePanelChannel\|useGlobal<" src/workspaces/officerdev/src src/apps/officer-web`.
      Everything it returns today is a registry, a refresh bus, a form draft, a connection state or a
      preference — no selections.
- [x] Adopt `<NavLink>` (real react-router) for all nav chrome so active state stops being JS-derived.
      Done — `39125b5`. Note `end={item.to === '/'}`: without it NavLink treats `/` as an ancestor of
      every route, and with it on the rest a detail route would lose its tile.
- [x] Keep `NavLink.tsx` (query-string wrapper) as a standard building block. **`BackButton.tsx` is not one
      — it had zero importers, was unchanged since `9ab0940`, and has been deleted.** The Jobs back control
      is a plain `<Link to="/jobs">`, which is what the other two job panes already did.

---

## Coverage

- **Area 1 — Dashboard screens** (`Screens/Dashboard/**`, excl. Settings/Layout): 9 findings (2 HIGH, 4 MEDIUM, 3 LOW) + spillover to `officerdev` apps.
- **Area 2 — Workspace panel apps** (`workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/**`): 22 findings (4 HIGH, ~15 MEDIUM, 3 LOW); 11 distinct channel-selection sites.
- **Area 3 — Global nav / Layout / Settings / shared components**: 6 findings (0 HIGH — chrome is already links; 3 MEDIUM, 3 LOW) + the 25-site `navigate()` map.

Raw per-area findings (with full impl / id-in-DOM / URL-change / coverage notes) were produced in the
audit run; this document is the consolidated, de-duplicated synthesis. The three HIGH clusters
(Jobs · Dashboards · Projects) plus the two chat halves (rows done, detail = H4) are the direct siblings of
the `/chat` fix and the highest-value starting point.