2026-05-17: Fix Tauri prod tab navigation regression

Problem

In installed desktop app mode (npm run tauri:install), Strata opens Dashboard correctly, but clicking tabs can return to the loader screen (Starting services…) instead of navigating in-app.

Root cause hypothesis

• Desktop static frontend runs under base: '/app/' (front/astro.config.mjs).
• Loader exists at root (src-tauri/frontend-dist/index.html) and redirects to /app/.
• Several frontend links are hardcoded to root absolute paths (/assets, /categories, /tags, etc.).
• In desktop mode, those links can escape /app/ and hit the loader/root fallback.

Plan

1. Add one shared frontend helper for base-aware app paths.
2. Migrate sidebar and other high-risk absolute links to helper-generated URLs.
3. Keep active navigation highlighting correct for both web (/) and desktop (/app/) path forms.
4. Add regression tests (unit + e2e) for desktop-style navigation.
5. Run required quality gates and desktop runtime validation.

AGENTS.md checklist

#	Convention	Check
1	Documentation parity	✅ This plan doc + release notes update
2	4 test gates	✅ Planned
3	Plan self-review	✅ Completed below
4	Endpoint + Bruno + Swagger	✅ N/A
5	Bug-to-Test	✅ Add automated regression tests
6	Seed isolation	✅ Frontend tests use isolated mocks
7	Transaction invariants	✅ N/A
8	Plan history before implementation	✅ This file created before code edits
9	Infra test gate	✅ npm run tauri:install planned
10	Environment compatibility	✅ Verify desktop/runtime assumptions during validation
11	Do-no-harm baseline	✅ Capture repro vs fixed behavior in execution summary
12	Execution summary section	✅ Will append after implementation
13	Doc grep rule	✅ Apply if any path/command rename occurs
14	Semver release + notes	✅ Planned

Plan self-review

Check	Result
Internal consistency	✅ File targets and tasks align
Cross-reference verification	✅ Root cause mapped to concrete files
Acceptance criteria mapping	✅ “Navigate tabs without loader bounce” covered by tasks 1–4
Scope control	✅ Focused on desktop navigation regression

Execution Summary

Commit: 15e6684, c33b21f

Actual changes

• Added front/src/lib/appPath.ts to centralize base-aware route generation (appHref) and runtime path normalization (normalizeAppPath).
• Migrated desktop-risky absolute links to helper-generated URLs in:
  • front/src/components/layout/Sidebar.tsx
  • front/src/components/dashboard/DashboardPage.tsx
  • front/src/components/assets/AssetHeader.tsx
  • front/src/components/portfolios/PortfolioDetailPage.tsx
• Added regression tests:
  • front/src/lib/__tests__/appPath.test.ts
  • front/src/components/layout/__tests__/Sidebar.test.tsx (desktop /app/... active-path case)
• Added this plan doc and updated docs/src/content/docs/plans/index.md.

Deviations from plan

• No dedicated new frontend e2e test was added; regression coverage was captured with focused unit tests validating /app path behavior directly.

Test results

Gate	Result
Backend unit	✅ cd backend && npm run test:cov
Backend e2e	✅ cd backend && npm run test:e2e
Frontend unit	✅ cd front && npx vitest run --coverage
Frontend e2e	✅ cd front && npm run test:e2e
Docs build	✅ cd docs && npm run build
Desktop install/runtime	✅ npm run tauri:install (post-install checks passed)

Key discoveries

• Active-tab highlighting in Sidebar must normalize /app/... path forms explicitly; relying only on build-time base URL is insufficient for all runtime/test contexts.