Sidebar Navigation

Support-facing summary of the current sidebar structure and behavior.

• Top area:
• organization switcher
• search button
• quick HQ tool buttons
• Today the only visible quick HQ button is `Chats`.
• Main nav merges organization, admin, and system tools and inserts `Home` in the regular tier. Active organization-defined links appear before the built-in tools; collapsed navigation shows their titles in tooltips. The personal `Hide admin sidebar items` setting hides the entire built-in main-nav tool list, including regular, admin, and developer links, but keeps custom links and the top and bottom sidebar controls. This browser-local display preference does not revoke access to routes or alter organization navigation configuration.
• Bottom menu includes operator status plus static user-menu links/actions.
• On mobile portal routes, the desktop sidebar is replaced by a shared bottom bar plus a full-width `Menu` sheet.

• Org switcher always shows the current org.
• The dropdown appears only when the user belongs to more than one org.
• Orgs are grouped as system orgs first, then regular orgs. A normal organization switch opens the selected organization's home. On a missing shared Docs/Storage path recovery screen, its organization switcher keeps the requested URL path so the link can be retried in the selected organization.
• Search opens the command palette, not a dedicated `/search` page. It keeps built-in commands above organization search results grouped as `Database records`, `Files`, `Knowledge`, and `Related by meaning`. A result opens its record in a saved card view or its file/note in Docs. Enter at least three characters to search; results can include matching excerpts and a partial-results notice. See `organization-search.md` for scope and response behavior.
• Search shortcut label is platform-aware: `Cmd+K` on macOS, `Ctrl+K` elsewhere.

• Regular tier:
• `Home` (`/home`)
• `Omni Hub` (`/omni`)
• `Staff` (`/staff`)
• `Storage` (`/storage`)
• `Databases` (`/databases`) for structured data that teammates and AI can query
• `Workflows` (`/workflows`)
• `Docs` (`/docs`)
• `Variables` (`/variables`)
• `Mcps` (`/mcps`)
• `Integrations` (`/integrations`)
• `Settings` (`/org-settings`)
• Admin tier:
• `Logs` (`/logs`)
• Developer tier:
• `Admin` (`/admin`)
• `Models` (`/models`)
• `Prompts` (`/prompts`)
• `Voices` (`/voices`)
• `Defaults` (`/defaults`)

• The user identity uses the provider-independent `name` and `picture` fields from the current user payload.
• Expanded sidebar mode shows the profile image, display name, email, and current status indicator.
• Collapsed sidebar mode shows the profile image and status indicator; its tooltip shows the display name and email.
• If `name` is absent, the email is used as the display name and avatar fallback. If `picture` is absent, the avatar component uses that text fallback.
• Status selector:
• `Active`
• other operator-status options from `STATUS_OPTIONS`
• Static items:
• `Invite people` -> `/staff?tab=invites&invite=true`
• `Upgrade` -> toast placeholder, not a real modal yet
• `Website` -> `https://alloy.cx`
• `Portal` -> `/`
• `Toggle Theme`
• `Sign Out`

• Hidden items are filtered out before render.
• `Home` is always inserted as the first regular nav item. An organization admin can also designate one active custom link as `Use as home page`. Opening the portal root redirects to that same-origin internal page; if it is unavailable or invalid, the existing fallback is used (`/home` on desktop, Docs chat history on mobile). An external URL, `/`, `/login`, or `/logout` cannot be the Home destination. Turning off `Show in sidebar` also prevents that link from being used as Home.
• Organization-defined links can point to internal paths or full HTTP(S) URLs, optionally open in a new tab, and appear in admin-defined order. Disabled links are omitted from the sidebar. Same-origin navigation uses the app navigation guard; external destinations use the browser.
• Role grouping uses `splitToolsByRole()`:
• regular: no role gate
• admin: `isOrgAdmin` or `isOrgOwner`
• developer: `isDeveloper`
• Developers bypass org-role gates.
• A tool marked both developer and org-role gated appears only in the developer tier.
• Separators render only between non-empty tiers.
• `Notifications` stays hidden.
• `Search` exists in the manifest but is rendered as the top search control instead of a nav item.
• `Admin` comes from the `(sys)` route group and is flagged `isDeveloper: true` in the generated sidebar manifest.

• `GET /api/organizations/{organization_id}/navigation-items` lists links for organization members. Owners and admins can `POST` to the same route, `PATCH` or `DELETE /{navigation_item_id}`, and `PUT /order` with `navigation_item_ids`. The records include title, URL, icon, position, `open_in_new_tab`, `is_active`, and `is_home`; create defaults to visible, same-tab, not Home. The general AI organization-action tool can read navigation items and submit create, update, reorder, or delete actions, but an AI-initiated manage action is authorized only when the initiating organization user is an owner or admin; requests without an authorized initiating user are denied.

• The old sidebar Ally entry is now labeled `Chats`.
• Clicking sidebar `Chats` opens internal chat directly through an action item instead of navigating to a dedicated `/ai` route.
• Global shortcut: `Alt+C`.
• On macOS, `Alt+C` is ignored while focus is inside an editable field; on other platforms it still fires.
• The mobile Docs menu uses the same direct-open `Chats` action.
• The shared mobile bottom bar uses `Menu`, `Files`, `Omni`, `Home`, `Chats`.
• Mobile `Chats` routes to `/docs?coworkPanel=history`; mobile `Files` routes to `/docs?coworkPanel=tree`.
• Inside the `/docs` workspace itself, the mobile bottom bar is labeled `Docs panels` for assistive tech.
• The mobile menu sheet is full width, sits above the bottom bar, closes on route change, and includes org switcher, search, visible tools, full nav, and user menu.
• `Staff` behavior:
• desktop + active AI teammates -> hover/focus quick launcher with `Staff` plus direct teammate chat shortcuts
• mobile, or no active AI teammates -> plain nav link

• Expanded width is persisted in local storage.
• Width bounds:
• min `175px`
• max `270px`
• default `225px`
• Collapse threshold: dragging below `130px` switches to icon-only mode.
• Collapsed desktop width is `80px`.
• Collapsed desktop mode removes the expanded card chrome, keeps the sidebar fully visible, shortens separators, and uses smaller compact icons.
• In collapsed desktop mode, the old footer expand toggle is no longer shown.
• Collapsed desktop mode instead exposes a thin right-edge `Expand sidebar` hit area.
• Collapsed desktop mode uses tooltips for non-`Staff` items, including the `Alt+C` hint on `Chats`.