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paseo/docs/explorer-sidebar.md
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Mohamed Boudra 174055a63c feat(app): give compact Changes an overview and a straight rail (#4861)
* feat(app): give compact Changes an overview and a straight rail

Three fixes to the Explorer's Changes tab on phones, where there is no
tree rail and the diff is the only view of what changed.

No placeholder stat while the sidebar slides in. `useCheckoutDiffQuery`
reported `isLoading` only when the query was enabled and connected, so an
inactive retained panel settled on `files: []`. The comparison toolbar
summed that into "+0 -0" and the body rendered "No changes" for a diff
nobody had fetched yet, both replaced a moment later by real numbers. The
result now derives from the payload alone: no payload means loading,
whatever the query is doing. Callers already handle loading correctly, so
nothing downstream needed a special case.

Jump to file. A floating action button over the diff opens a sheet with
the same changed-files tree the desktop rail renders; tapping a file
closes the sheet and scrolls the diff there. `ChangedFilesTree` moved out
of `diff-pane.tsx` into its own module so both surfaces own one tree, and
its list is now the sheet-aware one so it scrolls with the sheet gesture
on native. `DiffDocument` takes a `contentInsetBottom` so the button
never traps the last line.

Rails on the compact header. The tab labels sat at 20dp and the close X
at 16dp while every toolbar row below them used 12dp leading and 8dp
trailing. The close button was also a hand-rolled Pressable rather than a
ToolbarButton. `paneContentToolbarTrailingPadding` now takes whether the
row's last control is a bare glyph or a framed one: a glyph's hitbox
overhangs its ink so the row pads by less than the rail, but the compact
git-actions trigger paints its own frame and was landing flush against
the screen edge. The commits header chevron moved to the depth-0 tree
rail. Desktop geometry is unchanged.

* fix(app): preserve Explorer touch targets and reset file overview

* fix(app): preserve diff selections across repaints

Header typography refreshes and height resizes changed the repaint callback
and inadvertently cleared active source selections. Keep selection updates
stable while retaining explicit source and selection-layout invalidation.

* test(app): express diff copy regression as user actions

* test(app): express file overview flows as user actions
2026-09-15 00:30:35 +02:00

5.2 KiB

Explorer sidebar and side pane

The Explorer sidebar and the side pane share panel implementations, but they have different shell contracts.

Surface Purpose Lifecycle
Explorer sidebar Files and Changes navigation Cmd+E shows or hides the dedicated dock
Side pane Ordinary workspace content Created and closed like any workspace pane

Panel host contract

Every desktop panel registers its supported PaneHost values and presentation. Launchers derive fixed-target labels and icons from that registration, filter by host, and never substitute one panel type for another. Tab moves reject unsupported destinations, and placement resolves only to a compatible pane.

Files and Changes are the Explorer defaults and its singleton navigation views. Other compatible tabs, including agents, terminals, files, and diffs, can move between Explorer and main panes. Keep panel implementations independent of either shell. WorkspacePanelHost owns mounting and retention, while each shell owns its tabs, focus, dragging, resizing, and shortcuts.

Explorer sidebar

packages/app/src/workspace-tabs/explorer-sidebar.ts owns show, hide, toggle, and view selection. On desktop, the shell is rendered outside the workspace split canvas so it divides the full workspace, including the header. It has its own persisted width and resize handle. Main-pane splits never read or modify that width.

packages/app/src/workspace-tabs/open-supporting-view.ts owns semantic Changes and pull-request opens. Compact and wide native layouts select the matching Explorer tab. Desktop Changes opens follow the shared diff preference. Desktop pull requests use their Main panel, On the side, or Explorer sidebar setting. Callers request the content and never choose the shell. The composer Changes pill is a two-stage desktop action: it first reveals Explorer on Changes, then routes later presses to the working diff through the shared diff preference.

The persisted layout still contains the Explorer pane so tabs survive reloads. The renderer removes that pane from the workspace split tree and docks it separately. Persisted identifiers retain the literal "explorer" pane id and explorerPaneIdByWorkspace key for compatibility.

The tab rail has no inline add or close controls. Its context menu opens a New Tab launcher and toggles Files, Changes, and Explorer-compatible workspace-scoped plugin panels from the shared launch catalog. Individual tab menus close instances or move compatible tabs to main. Explorer tabs can be reordered, but the dock cannot be split. Selecting an Explorer tab does not change workspace focus.

Cmd+E shows or hides Explorer without changing its selected view. Compact layouts use the combined full-screen Explorer overlay for Changes, Files, and pull requests, and close it after a file opens. Compact Changes has no tree rail; its overview is the Jump to file action (packages/app/src/git/jump-to-file/), a sheet over the same changed-files tree the desktop rail renders. Wide native layouts without pane splits use the same combined content in a resizable inline dock; opening a file leaves that dock visible. Both presentations keep their selection in the panel store and reuse the layout store's per-workspace Explorer width. They do not create a second Explorer lifecycle.

Side pane

packages/app/src/workspace-tabs/open-beside.ts owns content opened beside the user's work. The layout store remembers one ordinary pane per workspace. The first side open creates a full-height right split around the workspace root; later side opens reuse it.

Closing the pane or moving away its final tab removes it normally and clears the remembered id. A later side open creates a new pane. There is no hidden side-pane lifecycle.

Placement intent still controls existing tabs:

Mode New target Existing target
pane opens in the requested pane moves to the requested pane
prefer opens in the requested pane stays where the user placed it
focused opens in the focused pane focuses it where it already lives
ambient opens in a compatible pane focuses it where it already lives

Explicit Open to Side uses pane. Implicit opens use prefer, so a preference affects only a new target and never yanks an existing tab out of a user-selected pane.

Routing preferences

Desktop Settings → Layout → Open location has independent Main panel or On the side choices for Explorer Files, diffs, chat files, files opened from diffs, and subagents. They default to Main panel. Mobile ignores them.

Pull requests have a three-way open location: Main panel, On the side, or Explorer sidebar. Explorer sidebar is the default. Compact layouts always open pull requests in Explorer regardless of this desktop preference.

Panels request an implicit open through the narrow openPreferredTarget(target, source) pane contract. Entry points outside panels use openPreferredWorkspaceTarget. Do not branch on a specific shell inside a panel.