## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source control plane people use to manage AI
agents, work, and company context.
> - The board UI sidebar is the main way operators keep orientation
across companies, projects, agents, issues, and settings.
> - The existing fixed expanded sidebar competes with route-specific
navigation, especially company settings and plugin routes that bring
their own contextual sidebar.
> - A collapsible primary rail preserves global navigation while giving
contextual pages more horizontal room.
> - This pull request adds a persisted collapsed rail, hover/focus peek,
keyboard toggle, and a secondary sidebar takeover model for settings and
plugin `routeSidebar` surfaces.
> - The benefit is a denser board shell that keeps the app rail
available without replacing it when a route needs its own navigation.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
Paperclip issue: PAP-10638 Create collapsible sidebar branch.
Related GitHub PR found during duplicate search: #3838
(`feat/collapsible-sidebar`) covers a similar sidebar area but is a
different head branch and implementation. This PR intentionally packages
the work from `PAP-10638-collapsable-sidebar` into one reviewable
branch.
Problem description:
The board shell needs a first-class collapsed sidebar mode. Contextual
surfaces such as company settings and plugin route sidebars should not
replace the global app sidebar; they should collapse the app sidebar to
a rail and render their contextual navigation beside it.
## What Changed
- Added desktop collapsed/sidebar-peek state to `SidebarContext`,
including persisted user pins, route collapse requests, and forced
collapse for secondary-sidebar routes.
- Replaced the old resizable sidebar pane with `SidebarShell`, which
supports a fixed 64px rail, persisted expanded width, keyboard/pointer
resizing, and hover/focus peek overlay behavior.
- Updated `Sidebar`, sidebar nav items, project/agent sections, badges,
and account/company menu presentation for expanded, collapsed, and
peeking states.
- Added `RequestCollapsedSidebar` and `SecondarySidebar` so routes and
plugin `routeSidebar` slots can request contextual sidebar layouts
without replacing the primary app sidebar.
- Wired company settings and plugin route sidebars into the
secondary-pane takeover model.
- Added focused Vitest coverage for sidebar state precedence, shell
sizing, nav item rail rendering, keyboard shortcuts, layout takeover
behavior, and route collapse requests.
- Updated plugin authoring docs/spec references for route sidebar
behavior.
## Verification
Targeted local verification passed:
```sh
NODE_ENV=test pnpm run preflight:workspace-links && NODE_ENV=test pnpm exec vitest run ui/src/context/SidebarContext.test.tsx ui/src/components/SidebarShell.test.tsx ui/src/components/Sidebar.test.tsx ui/src/components/Layout.test.tsx ui/src/components/RequestCollapsedSidebar.test.tsx ui/src/components/SidebarNavItem.test.tsx ui/src/components/SidebarAgents.test.tsx ui/src/components/SidebarProjects.test.tsx ui/src/components/KeyboardShortcutsCheatsheet.test.tsx ui/src/hooks/useKeyboardShortcuts.test.tsx
```
Result: 10 test files passed, 88 tests passed.
Additional follow-up verification passed after review fixes:
```sh
NODE_ENV=test pnpm run preflight:workspace-links && NODE_ENV=test pnpm exec vitest run ui/src/components/Layout.test.tsx ui/src/context/SidebarContext.test.tsx && pnpm --filter /ui typecheck
```
Result: 2 test files passed, 28 tests passed, and UI typecheck passed.
Latest PR-head remote checks: Paperclip PR workflow, Snyk, Socket, and
Greptile are green; commitperclip `review` is cancelled in its
security-gate step after filing a non-blocking neutral `security-review`
check.
Notes:
- A direct run without `NODE_ENV=test` loads React's production build in
this workspace, where `act` is unavailable; the command above matches
the repo stable runner's test environment.
- I did not run Playwright/browser e2e or full workspace build/typecheck
in this PR-creation heartbeat.
- QA screenshots are attached in
https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/7824#issuecomment-4661968387
for expanded, collapsed rail, hover peek, and settings secondary-sidebar
states.
## Risks
- Medium UI layout risk: this changes the board shell and primary
sidebar composition across many routes.
- Local storage migration risk is low: new collapsed state uses a new
key and existing width storage remains scoped to the sidebar width.
- Plugin route risk: plugin `routeSidebar` slots now render as secondary
panes on desktop, so plugin authors should confirm their route sidebar
content fits a 240px contextual pane.
- Mobile risk appears low because mobile keeps the drawer model and
gates collapsed/peek behavior to desktop.
> For core feature work, check [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md) first and
discuss it in `#dev` before opening the PR. Feature PRs that overlap
with planned core work may need to be redirected — check the roadmap
first. See `CONTRIBUTING.md`.
## Model Used
OpenAI Codex coding agent based on GPT-5, with local shell/git/GitHub
CLI tool use. Exact service-side model identifier and context window
were not exposed in this runtime.
## Checklist
- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have searched GitHub for duplicate or related PRs and linked
them above
- [x] I have either (a) linked existing issues with `Fixes: #` / `Closes
#` / `Refs #` OR (b) described the issue in-PR following the relevant
issue template
- [x] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [x] If this change affects the UI, I have included before/after
screenshots
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [ ] All Paperclip CI gates are green
- [x] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
Dotta
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