coop/docs/sidebar-tree-redesign.md

Sidebar tree redesign

Status: steps 1-4 implemented (icons, tree primitives, RoomEntry extensions, panel shells); step 5 (search relocation + sidebar render rewrite) not started.

Scope: crates/workspace/src/sidebar (mod.rs, entry.rs, new tree.rs), new panel shells in crates/workspace/src/panels/, and the Command wiring in crates/workspace/src/lib.rs. New icons in crates/ui/src/icon.rs and assets/icons/.

Related: docs/concord-usage.md — Community is placeholder data until a ConcordRegistry exists (that document describes the backend shape; none of it is wired up yet).

1. Goal

Replace the segmented filter (Inbox / Requests) plus flat room list with a collapsible tree, and give the sidebar a nav rail whose items open dock panels.

The sidebar body is always the tree. Search is not part of it: the find input, results, and contacts move to a Search panel (relocation lands here, step 5; the panel is owned separately afterwards).

Target layout:

┌ sidebar ───────────────────────────────┐
│ [avatar] user menu                     │  render_user (unchanged)
│                                        │
│  Inbox                                 │  opens Inbox panel
│  Browse                                │  opens Browse panel
│  Search                                │  opens Search panel
│                                        │
│  ▾ Pinned                     (2)      │  hidden when empty
│     ○ alice                            │
│     ○ team chat                        │
│  ▸ Requests                            │  collapsed by default
│  ▾ Community                           │
│     ○ Coop Contributors                │  1-3 dummy entries
│     ○ Nostr Design                     │
│  ▾ Messages                            │
│     ○ bob                              │  RoomKind::Ongoing
└────────────────────────────────────────┘

2. Current state

Piece	Where
Sidebar view, search, filters, room list	crates/workspace/src/sidebar/mod.rs
Room row element	crates/workspace/src/sidebar/entry.rs (RoomEntry)
Room kinds and lookup	crates/chat/src/lib.rs (ChatRegistry::rooms/count/room), crates/chat/src/room.rs (RoomKind::{Request, Ongoing})
User row, dropdown menu	Sidebar::render_user (keep as is)
Dock panels	crates/workspace/src/panels/ (greeter, profile, contact_list, ...)
Panel opening + commands	crates/workspace/src/lib.rs (Command, Workspace::on_command, add_panel_to_dock)
Panel dedupe/focus	crates/ui/src/dock/mod.rs (add_panel finds by panel_id and moves/focuses)
Buttons, icons, tooltips	crates/ui/src/button.rs, crates/ui/src/icon.rs
Split button / dropdown primitives	crates/ui/src/menu/ (DropdownMenu, PopupMenu, PopupMenuItem)
App settings persistence	crates/settings/src/lib.rs (Settings, setting_accessors!)

Behavior to preserve:

• RoomEntry click emits ChatEvent::OpenRoom through ChatRegistry::emit_room, and shows the screening modal for non-ongoing rooms (entry.rs).
• ChatEvent::Ping sets new_requests = true, drawn as a dot on Requests.
• The dock-facing Panel/Focusable impls on Sidebar stay untouched.
• Search behavior is preserved by moving it, not rewriting it (§7).

3. Decisions and assumptions

#	Question	Decision
1	Nav items	Inbox / Browse / Search dispatch new commands (Command::{ShowInbox, ShowBrowse, ShowSearch}); Workspace::on_command opens each panel with DockPlacement::Center. ui::dock::add_panel already focuses an open panel by panel_id instead of duplicating it.
2	Search in the sidebar	No find input, no results/contacts sections. The existing search/select implementation moves to panels/search.rs as a mechanical relocation (§7, step 5).
3	Panels in this change	Inbox and Browse render empty bodies for now (tab title only); Search gets its body from the search relocation in step 5. Real Inbox/Browse content is follow-up work.
4	Pin storage	UI-local Vec<u64> of room ids, in memory first; persistence is step 8 (optional).
5	Pinned rooms in Messages	Kept in both places; Pinned is a shortcut, not a move.
6	Row height	Uniform h_8 (32px) for every tree row, including RoomEntry (currently h_9). Required by uniform_list, which measures only the first row.
7	Community data	1-3 hardcoded CommunityEntry values with a TODO(concord) pointing at docs/concord-usage.md.
8	Requests default	Collapsed; the folder row still shows the unread dot. Expanding clears new_requests.

4. State model

Sidebar keeps only what the tree needs.

/// Collapsible tree sections; declaration order is render order.
#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord, Hash)]
enum TreeSection {
    Pins,
    Requests,
    Community,
    Messages,
}

New fields:

expanded: BTreeSet<TreeSection>,
pinned_rooms: Vec<u64>, // room ids in pin order

Defaults: expanded = {Community, Messages} (Requests intentionally absent; Pins only matters when non-empty and starts expanded).

New methods:

fn toggle_section(&mut self, section: TreeSection, cx: &mut Context<Self>);
fn is_expanded(&self, section: TreeSection) -> bool;
fn pin_room(&mut self, room_id: u64, cx: &mut Context<Self>);
fn unpin_room(&mut self, room_id: u64, cx: &mut Context<Self>);
fn is_pinned(&self, room_id: u64) -> bool;
fn tree_rows(&self, cx: &App) -> Vec<SidebarRow>; // see §5

toggle_section(Requests) clears new_requests.

Removed from Sidebar (all search-related, carried to the Search panel in step 5): filter: Entity<RoomKind>, current_filter, set_filter, show_find_panel, find_input, find_debouncer, finding, find_focused, find_results, find_task, has_search, contact_list, selected_pkeys, and methods get_contact_list, set_contact_list, debounced_search, search, set_results, set_finding, set_input_focus, reset, select, is_selected, get_selected, create_room, render_results, render_contacts. Nothing is deleted from the codebase: step 5 moves it into the Search panel.

5. Row model and flattening

The tree body is one uniform_list, so all rows must be the same height (h_8) and the flattened order must be precomputed per frame.

New file crates/workspace/src/sidebar/tree.rs:

/// One rendered tree row, in flattened order.
enum SidebarRow {
    Section { section: TreeSection, count: usize },
    Room { room: Entity<Room>, depth: u8, pinned: bool },
    Community { entry: &'static CommunityEntry, depth: u8 },
    Hint { text: SharedString, depth: u8 },
}

struct CommunityEntry {
    name: &'static str,
    // Rendered as a 20px circle with the first letter; no backend yet.
}

fn dummy_communities() -> &'static [CommunityEntry]; // TODO(concord)

/// Folder/file row. One element for section headers, community rows and hints.
#[derive(IntoElement)]
struct TreeRow { /* id, depth, caret, icon, avatar, label, count, dot, selected, on_click */ }

Sidebar::tree_rows:

// Pins (only when a pinned id resolves to a live room), in pin order
// Requests -> chat.rooms(&RoomKind::Request, cx)
// Community -> dummy_communities()
// Messages -> chat.rooms(&RoomKind::Ongoing, cx)
//
// Each section emits Section first, then children when expanded,
// then a Hint row when expanded and empty.

Render integration:

let rows = Rc::new(self.tree_rows(cx));

uniform_list("sidebar-tree", rows.len(), cx.processor(move |this, range, _window, cx| {
    this.render_rows(range, &rows, cx)
}))
.track_scroll(&self.scroll_handle)

render_rows matches on SidebarRow and builds either a TreeRow (sections, communities, hints) or a RoomEntry (rooms). Element ids: room rows use the flattened index (RoomEntry::new(ix)); non-room rows use ElementId::NamedInteger("tree-row".into(), ix as u64).

Why a flattened list instead of gpui_base::Tree / VirtualList: sections are few and fixed, rows are heterogeneous, and the crate already uses uniform_list + Scrollbar::vertical. The base Tree/VirtualList primitives remain available if variable row heights are ever needed.

6. Rendering spec

6.1 Nav rail

Three full-width Buttons, ghost_alt, small, dispatching actions:

Button::new("nav-inbox")
    .icon(IconName::Inbox)
    .label("Inbox")
    .w_full()
    .justify_start()
    .on_click(|_ev, _window, cx| {
        cx.dispatch_action(&Command::ShowInbox);
    })

Icons: Inbox, Compass (new, Browse), Search. Command is already imported in sidebar/mod.rs, and dispatching actions from a button listener is the existing greeter.rs pattern.

Nav rows carry no selected state: the sidebar does not know which panel the dock is showing. Highlighting the active destination is a follow-up if the dock API exposes it.

6.2 Section (folder) row

• h_8, pl/pr matching the list padding, rounded(theme.radius), full width, hover ghost_element_hover.
• Caret: CaretDown when expanded, CaretRight when collapsed.
• Icon 16px (small()), text_muted.
• Label: text_xs, font_semibold, text_muted; flex_1.
• Trailing: count (text_xs, text_placeholder) for Requests/Pins, and the unread dot (size_1().rounded_full().bg(theme.cursor)) when new_requests && section == Requests.
• Click toggles the section.

6.3 File rows

• Rooms reuse RoomEntry with two additions: .depth(u8) (left padding px(6. + depth * 14.)) and an optional .trailing(AnyElement) slot for the hover ellipsis; height becomes h_8.
• Community rows use TreeRow with a 20px element_background circle and the first letter, text_sm label.
• Indent guide (optional polish): 1px border_variant vertical line at the child indent, drawn by the child row.

6.4 Fixed chrome

render_user unchanged. The loading pill stays positioned as today. The "Create DM" floating button and the screening flow move with search to the Search panel. Only the tree body scrolls.

7. Search leaves the sidebar (hidden, not removed)

Search is now a panel, not a sidebar mode:

• Command::ShowSearch opens panels/search.rs in the dock center.
• The current implementation moves there intact — same input, debounce (DebouncedDelay + FIND_DELAY), NostrRegistry::search, contact list, multi-select, create-DM flow, and the RoomEntry selection/screening behavior. The move is mechanical; no search logic is rewritten or dropped.
• The sidebar renders no input and no results/contacts sections, and keeps no copy of the state (a dormant copy would be dead code).
• The Search panel is a separate workstream from the tree: it owns the module after the relocation and evolves independently.

8. Pin folder

• Pin state: pinned_rooms: Vec<u64> in Sidebar, order = pin order.
• UI: hover ellipsis (IconName::Ellipsis, ghost_alt, xsmall, compact) on each room row, opening a DropdownMenu with Pin / Unpin (PopupMenuItem::new(...).on_click(...)). Verify the trigger click does not also fire the row's emit_room click; if it does, cx.stop_propagation() in the menu trigger's on_click. (There is no right-click menu pattern in the codebase yet; a context menu is a follow-up.)
• Pinned folder is hidden when no pinned room resolves to a live room; otherwise expanded by default, showing pinned rooms in pin order.
• A pinned room remains listed under Messages.

9. Requests

• Folder always rendered, collapsed by default (expanded does not contain Requests).
• Count badge = chat.count(&RoomKind::Request, cx).
• Expanding the folder clears new_requests.
• Children are the same RoomKind::Request rooms the old Requests filter showed, with the same RoomEntry screening behavior.

10. Community (dummy data)

• dummy_communities() returns 2 entries for now (Coop Contributors, Nostr Design) so the folder has content; 1-3 is the range the sketch asks for.
• Rows do not navigate anywhere yet; clicking is a no-op. Add // TODO(concord): replace with ConcordRegistry communities, see docs/concord-usage.md.
• Folder expanded by default.

11. Messages

• RoomKind::Ongoing rooms, using the existing render_list_items logic (display name/avatar/member pubkey/kind/created_at, emit_room on click).
• Expanded by default.
• When empty and expanded, show a Hint row ("No conversations yet") instead of the current large dashed card; the card is removed.

12. Implementation steps

Steps 1-4 are additive and compile on their own. Step 5 is one atomic change set: the search relocation and the sidebar render rewrite depend on each other, because removing the search fields breaks the old render and rewriting the render orphans the search code. Helpers added in earlier steps may warn as unused until step 5 consumes them. Run the checks in §15 after each step.

• Step 1 — icons. Add assets/icons/folder.svg, compass.svg, message.svg (24x24 viewBox, stroke="currentColor", stroke-width="1.5", matching existing files); add Folder, Compass, Message variants to IconName and its path() match in crates/ui/src/icon.rs.
• Step 2 — tree primitives. Add crates/workspace/src/sidebar/tree.rs with TreeSection, SidebarRow, CommunityEntry, dummy_communities(), and the TreeRow element; declare mod tree; in sidebar/mod.rs.
• Step 3 — RoomEntry. Add .depth(u8) and .trailing(AnyElement); change h_9 to h_8.
• Step 4 — panel openers. Add Command::{ShowInbox, ShowBrowse, ShowSearch} and panels/{inbox,browse,search}.rs shells (init, Panel, Focusable, EventEmitter<PanelEvent>, empty Render, following greeter.rs); register them in panels/mod.rs; handle the commands in Workspace::on_command with add_panel_to_dock(..., DockPlacement::Center, ...). All three render empty bodies for now; the Search body is filled in step 5.
• Step 5 — relocation + render rewrite (atomic, separate workstream handoff). Move the search/select implementation out of Sidebar into panels/search.rs (inventory in §7), wiring the input, results, contacts, selection, and create-DM button exactly as they are today; at the same time rewrite the sidebar render (nav rail dispatching the three commands, flattened tree list, scrollbar, render_user, loading pill), add expanded/pinned_rooms/tree_rows, and delete filter, current_filter, set_filter, and the sidebar's search state. The search workstream owns the relocated module afterwards.
• Step 6 — pin UI. Build the per-row ellipsis dropdown, wire pin_room/unpin_room.
• Step 7 — community section. Render dummy entries and hint; add the TODO(concord) marker.
• Step 8 (optional) — persistence. Add #[serde(default)] pinned_rooms: Vec<u64> (and optionally expanded_sections: Vec<String>) to settings::Settings, register accessors in setting_accessors!, and load/save from Sidebar. The #[serde(default)] attribute is required: Settings has no defaults today, so a new field without it breaks parsing of existing .settings files.
• Step 9 — cleanup. cargo fmt, remove dead imports/helpers, run clippy.

13. Files touched

File	Change
crates/workspace/src/sidebar/mod.rs	State, flattening, render rewrite; search code moves out
crates/workspace/src/sidebar/tree.rs	New: sections, rows, TreeRow, dummy data
crates/workspace/src/sidebar/entry.rs	depth, trailing, height
crates/workspace/src/panels/{inbox,browse,search}.rs	New panel modules
crates/workspace/src/panels/mod.rs	Module registration
crates/workspace/src/lib.rs	Command variants + on_command arms
crates/ui/src/icon.rs	New icon variants
assets/icons/{folder,compass,message}.svg	New assets
crates/settings/src/lib.rs	Optional step 8 only

14. Edge cases

• Uniform height. uniform_list measures the first row and reuses that height; every row must be h_8. If a section row ever needs a different height, switch to gpui_base::VirtualList instead of mixing.
• Panel dedupe. Clicking a nav item whose panel is already open focuses and moves it (ui::dock::add_panel looks up panel_id); no duplicate tabs.
• Stale pins. A pinned id whose room is gone is skipped at flatten time (and pruned on the next pin/unpin).
• Empty sections. Expanded + empty renders a Hint row; collapsed sections render nothing.
• Logged out. NostrRegistry::current_user() is None: render_user keeps its import-identity prompt; sections resolve to empty and show hints.
• Loading. Sections may be empty; the loading pill stays.
• New requests while collapsed. The dot shows on the collapsed Requests folder; expanding clears it.
• Image cache. Keep retain_all("sidebar") on the root.
• Element ids. Flattened index for room rows, NamedInteger for others, so expansion/collapse does not smuggle state between rows.

15. Validation

• cargo fmt --check (workspace rustfmt.toml).
• cargo check -p workspace and cargo clippy -p workspace --all-targets.
• Manual QA checklist:
  • Inbox/Browse/Search each open their panel; clicking the same nav item again focuses the existing panel instead of duplicating it;
  • the sidebar has no search input and no results/contacts sections;
  • the Search panel keeps the old behavior (debounced search, contacts, multi-select, create DM, Enter to search);
  • each folder toggles and keeps its state across re-renders and room updates;
  • Requests starts collapsed; the dot appears on ChatEvent::Ping and clears when expanded;
  • pin/unpin from the row menu updates the Pinned folder without opening the room; clicking a pinned row opens it;
  • Messages lists ongoing rooms and still opens the screening modal for non-ongoing rooms;
  • empty states at 0 ongoing and 0 requests.
• There is no GPUI test infrastructure in the repo (no #[gpui::test] anywhere), so tests are limited to pure helpers (TreeSection defaults, pin ordering) if they are extracted as free functions; cargo check plus the manual checklist is the baseline.

16. Open questions

1. Persistence. Persist pins and folder state, or keep them session-local?
2. Row density. h_8 vs the current h_9; SIDEBAR_WIDTH stays 240px for now, one indent level fits.
3. Community entries. Preferred dummy names/branding before the real registry lands.

17. Out of scope / follow-ups

• Inbox/Browse panel content (empty bodies in this change).
• Search panel development beyond the relocation; any search UI changes happen in that workstream.
• Real Concord integration (ConcordRegistry, subscriptions, member lists) — tracked in docs/concord-usage.md.
• Drag-to-reorder pins, pin folders/groups beyond the single Pinned folder.
• Unread counts per room, nav-item active highlighting.
• Variable-height rows or nested subfolders.