kandev/docs/plans/dockview-responsive-right-width/plan.md

spec, created, status

spec	created	status
docs/specs/ui/task-layout-profiles.md	2026-07-28	completed

Implementation Plan: Responsive Dockview Right-Column Width

Overview

Separate the right column's automatically calculated default from an explicit desktop sash resize. Existing environment layouts contain only serialized Dockview geometry, so their right width must be treated as responsive by default. A new environment-scoped manual-width marker will preserve a raw user-requested right width across reloads and display changes.

Confirmed Root Cause

Every persisted right-column size is currently forwarded from the serialized environment layout to resolveRightTarget. That value wins over the ratio default, so a 450px automatic large-display width is restored unchanged on a laptop. The live-width synchronizers also place automatic widths in pinnedWidths, making later layout operations treat them as overrides.

Frontend

Manual-width persistence

• Add a versioned, session-scoped companion key in apps/web/lib/local-storage.ts for a raw manual right-column width per environment. Legacy layouts have no marker and therefore remain responsive.
• Record the marker only after the existing genuine right-sash mouseup path in apps/web/components/task/dockview-layout-setup.ts. Do not record it for ResizeObserver, api.layout, restore, or programmatic layout changes.

Restore and resize resolution

• Update apps/web/lib/state/dockview-layout-builders.ts, apps/web/lib/state/dockview-env-switch.ts, and apps/web/lib/state/dockview-store.ts so the right target is the manual marker when present; otherwise it is getPinnedWidth for the current measured Dockview width.
• On container resize, recalculate the automatic target before enforcing it. Keep a manual raw width stored even when it is temporarily clamped by the laptop cap, so it returns on a larger display.
• Keep task-specific panel structure, user layout profiles, the global left sidebar preference, and the existing runtime caps unchanged.

Tests

• What: a serialized legacy/automatic 450px right column resolves to the current ratio rather than 450px. Files: apps/web/lib/state/dockview-layout-builders-fixups.test.ts and apps/web/lib/state/dockview-env-switch-pinned.test.ts.
• What: a genuine right-sash resize creates a manual marker and that marker wins across restore and fast environment switches. Files: apps/web/components/task/dockview-layout-setup.test.ts (or a focused new sibling test) plus apps/web/lib/local-storage.test.ts.
• What: automatic layout events do not become manual overrides. Files: apps/web/lib/state/dockview-store.test.ts.

E2E Tests

• Scenario: a fresh desktop task moves large → laptop → large and the right Files/Changes/Terminal column follows the default ratio at each width. File: apps/web/e2e/tests/layout/pane-resize-right.spec.ts.
• Scenario: a manually resized right column moves large → laptop → large; it is clamped only on the laptop and returns to the requested width on the large display. File: apps/web/e2e/tests/layout/pane-resize-right.spec.ts.

Mobile and Tablet

TaskLayout selects SessionMobileLayout and SessionTabletLayout before the desktop Dockview workbench. No phone or tablet geometry or interaction changes. The nearest mobile exemplar is apps/web/components/task/mobile/session-mobile-layout.tsx; it keeps its existing single-panel navigation and scroll ownership. The desktop browser tests are the rendered verification for this desktop-only path.

Implementation Waves

Wave 1 (sequential):

• task-01-responsive-right-width

Verification

cd apps && pnpm --filter @kandev/web test -- --run \
  lib/state/dockview-layout-builders-fixups.test.ts \
  lib/state/dockview-env-switch-pinned.test.ts \
  lib/state/dockview-store.test.ts
cd apps/web && pnpm e2e:run tests/layout/pane-resize-right.spec.ts
cd apps/web && pnpm run typecheck

Risks

• Automatic layout changes must never create a manual marker, or a monitor switch will become sticky again.
• The raw manual width must survive a temporary cap without persisting the capped value as the user preference.
• Legacy persisted layouts lack intent metadata; treating them as automatic is required to repair the reported issue, but it deliberately changes their prior width-restoration behavior.

Documentation Impact

No public documentation changes are required. The affected internal product spec is updated in docs/specs/ui/task-layout-profiles.md. This is a local layout-persistence repair, so no ADR is warranted.