Owner decisions this wave: a centered modal over everything (not a page
— a settings column in the main area next to the session list would read
as two sidebars), left section nav in the dialog, modal-only (the
/settings URL redirects to /chat/new), light mode deferred to its own
wave (the mode control stays honestly disabled). An actual OS window is
an Electron-round feature — the sections are surface-agnostic (API +
localStorage only), so the shell re-mounts there with near-zero churn.
- components/settings/settings-dialog.tsx: SettingsDialogProvider at
the AppShell level (portal-rendered dialog, z-50 over the dock/graph
chrome). ~920×620 centered frame, 60px header with the quiet CMU
title + ✕, w-44 text-only nav (session-list mono language, active =
bg-accent, no icons), one scrolling content column mounting one
section at a time. Escape / backdrop / ✕ all close. 150ms fade+2%
settle scale (settings-pop), reduced-motion honored. The record +
single write seam moved here from the thin page: one record instance
per dialog, section switches never refetch, appearance writes still
restyle the app LIVE behind the dialog.
- Entry points rewired: the sidebar Settings row is a button calling
open(); the mod+, chord opens the dialog instead of routing.
- app/settings/page.tsx: redirect to /chat/new (nothing links into a
dead page).
- SettingsDialogBody exported without the portal — the SSR-testable
frame (portals render nothing under renderToStaticMarkup).
Live-verified: exact centering, all three close paths, chord open,
appearance prose-size restyles the chat behind the open dialog
(16→20px), section switching retains the record, keyboard section
renders all 21 rows, no console errors. Gates: typecheck, lint,
701/701 (5 new dialog tests), build.