Harden action-click behavior and tighten extension smoke coverage

Author: baboonzero

background/action-click.js

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+export async function executeActionClick({
+  getFocusedWindowId,
+  openPanelForWindow,
+  openPanelForAllWindows,
+  openDashboardTab
+}) {
+  let focusedWindowId = null;
+  try {
+    focusedWindowId = await getFocusedWindowId();
+  } catch {
+    focusedWindowId = null;
+  }
+
+  let openedFromFocusedWindow = false;
+  if (typeof focusedWindowId === "number") {
+    openedFromFocusedWindow = await openPanelForWindow(focusedWindowId);
+  }
+
+  if (openedFromFocusedWindow) {
+    // Best-effort global open to honor the global side panel requirement.
+    await openPanelForAllWindows().catch(() => {});
+    return {
+      ok: true,
+      mode: "panel_focused_window",
+      focusedWindowId
+    };
+  }
+
+  const openedAnyWindow = await openPanelForAllWindows();
+  if (openedAnyWindow) {
+    return {
+      ok: true,
+      mode: "panel_all_windows",
+      focusedWindowId
+    };
+  }
+
+  await openDashboardTab();
+  return {
+    ok: true,
+    mode: "dashboard_fallback",
+    focusedWindowId
+  };
+}

background/service-worker.js

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import {
   updateSettings,
   upsertTabSnapshot
 } from "../shared/db.js";
+import { executeActionClick } from "./action-click.js";
+import { configureOpenOnActionClick } from "./side-panel-behavior.js";
 import { createSessionEngine } from "./session-engine.js";
 import { extractDomain, isExcludedDomain, isTrackableUrl, readableTitle } from "../shared/url.js";
 
@@ -28,7 +30,10 @@ const state = {
   paused: false,
   excludedDomains: [],
   retentionDays: 30,
-  theme: "dark"
+  theme: "dark",
+  openPanelOnActionClick: null,
+  lastActionClickResult: null,
+  lastOpenSidePanelResult: null
 };
 
 const sessionEngine = createSessionEngine({
@@ -326,19 +331,22 @@ async function openPanelForAllWindows() {
   }
 
   const windows = await chrome.windows.getAll({ populate: false });
+  let openedCount = 0;
+
   await Promise.all(
     windows
       .filter((windowEntry) => typeof windowEntry.id === "number")
       .map(async (windowEntry) => {
         try {
           await chrome.sidePanel.open({ windowId: windowEntry.id });
+          openedCount += 1;
         } catch {
           // Ignore non-supported window types or gesture mismatches.
         }
       })
   );
 
-  return true;
+  return openedCount > 0;
 }
 
 async function openPanelForWindow(windowId) {
@@ -355,17 +363,14 @@ async function openPanelForWindow(windowId) {
 }
 
 async function initializeSidePanelBehavior() {
-  if (!chrome.sidePanel?.setPanelBehavior) {
+  const result = await configureOpenOnActionClick(chrome.sidePanel?.setPanelBehavior?.bind(chrome.sidePanel));
+  state.openPanelOnActionClick = result.ok;
+
+  if (result.ok || result.reason === "not_supported") {
     return;
   }
 
-  try {
-    await chrome.sidePanel.setPanelBehavior({
-      openPanelOnActionClick: false
-    });
-  } catch (error) {
-    console.warn("Unable to configure side panel behavior", error);
-  }
+  console.warn("Unable to configure side panel behavior", result.error || result.reason);
 }
 
 async function initializeExtension(reason) {
@@ -396,32 +401,30 @@ chrome.runtime.onStartup.addListener(() => {
 });
 
 chrome.action.onClicked.addListener(() => {
-  // Keep icon-click predictable: open current window panel first, then best-effort global open.
-  chrome.windows
-    .getLastFocused()
-    .then(async (windowEntry) => {
-      const focusedWindowId = typeof windowEntry?.id === "number" ? windowEntry.id : null;
-      let opened = false;
-
-      if (focusedWindowId !== null) {
-        opened = await openPanelForWindow(focusedWindowId);
-      }
-
-      if (!opened) {
-        opened = await openPanelForAllWindows();
-      }
-
-      if (!opened) {
-        await chrome.tabs.create({ url: getDashboardUrl() });
-        return;
-      }
-
-      openPanelForAllWindows().catch(() => {
-        // Ignore follow-up global open failures.
-      });
+  executeActionClick({
+    getFocusedWindowId: async () => {
+      const windowEntry = await chrome.windows.getLastFocused();
+      return typeof windowEntry?.id === "number" ? windowEntry.id : null;
+    },
+    openPanelForWindow,
+    openPanelForAllWindows,
+    openDashboardTab: async () => chrome.tabs.create({ url: getDashboardUrl() })
+  })
+    .then((result) => {
+      state.lastActionClickResult = {
+        ...result,
+        source: "action-click",
+        at: Date.now()
+      };
     })
-    .catch(async () => {
-      await chrome.tabs.create({ url: getDashboardUrl() });
+    .catch((error) => {
+      state.lastActionClickResult = {
+        ok: false,
+        source: "action-click",
+        at: Date.now(),
+        error: String(error)
+      };
+      console.error("Failed to handle action click", error);
     });
 });
 
@@ -548,11 +551,48 @@ chrome.runtime.onMessage.addListener((message, _sender, sendResponse) => {
 
   if (message?.type === "open-side-panel") {
     openPanelForAllWindows()
-      .then(() => sendResponse({ ok: true }))
+      .then((opened) => {
+        state.lastOpenSidePanelResult = {
+          ok: opened,
+          opened,
+          at: Date.now()
+        };
+        sendResponse({ ok: opened, opened });
+      })
       .catch((error) => sendResponse({ ok: false, error: String(error) }));
     return true;
   }
 
+  if (message?.type === "debug-trigger-action-click") {
+    executeActionClick({
+      getFocusedWindowId: async () => {
+        const windowEntry = await chrome.windows.getLastFocused();
+        return typeof windowEntry?.id === "number" ? windowEntry.id : null;
+      },
+      openPanelForWindow,
+      openPanelForAllWindows,
+      openDashboardTab: async () => chrome.tabs.create({ url: getDashboardUrl() })
+    })
+      .then((result) => {
+        state.lastActionClickResult = {
+          ...result,
+          source: "debug-trigger-action-click",
+          at: Date.now()
+        };
+        sendResponse(result);
+      })
+      .catch((error) => {
+        state.lastActionClickResult = {
+          ok: false,
+          source: "debug-trigger-action-click",
+          at: Date.now(),
+          error: String(error)
+        };
+        sendResponse({ ok: false, error: String(error) });
+      });
+    return true;
+  }
+
   if (message?.type === "get-runtime-status") {
     const runtimeState = sessionEngine.readState();
     sendResponse({
@@ -562,7 +602,11 @@ chrome.runtime.onMessage.addListener((message, _sender, sendResponse) => {
       retentionDays: state.retentionDays,
       idleState: state.idleState,
       theme: state.theme,
-      meaningfulThresholdSec: FOCUS_MEANINGFUL_THRESHOLD_SEC
+      meaningfulThresholdSec: FOCUS_MEANINGFUL_THRESHOLD_SEC,
+      sidePanelApiAvailable: Boolean(chrome.sidePanel?.open),
+      openPanelOnActionClick: state.openPanelOnActionClick,
+      lastActionClickResult: state.lastActionClickResult,
+      lastOpenSidePanelResult: state.lastOpenSidePanelResult
     });
     return false;
   }

background/side-panel-behavior.js

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+export async function configureOpenOnActionClick(setPanelBehavior) {
+  if (typeof setPanelBehavior !== "function") {
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      reason: "not_supported"
+    };
+  }
+
+  try {
+    await setPanelBehavior({
+      openPanelOnActionClick: true
+    });
+
+    return {
+      ok: true,
+      reason: "configured"
+    };
+  } catch (error) {
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      reason: "set_panel_behavior_failed",
+      error: String(error)
+    };
+  }
+}

project-history.md

@@ -160,6 +160,13 @@ Chronological execution log:
     - All tabs proof: `count=6`, `never-focused=4`
     - Artifacts: `artifacts/validation/20260226-192909/`
 
+30. Hardened action-click validation and fixed testing blind spot after user-reported regression:
+    - extracted action-click flow to `background/action-click.js`
+    - corrected all-windows panel open success criteria (`openedCount > 0`)
+    - added side-panel behavior module + tests (`background/side-panel-behavior.js`, `tests/unit/side-panel-behavior.test.js`)
+    - switched native side-panel behavior to `openPanelOnActionClick: true`
+    - extended smoke assertions to require side-panel API availability and configured action-click behavior
+
 ## 4. What Were The Decisions That We Took?
 
 ### Product/Architecture Decisions
@@ -172,6 +179,7 @@ Chronological execution log:
 6. **UI model:** Global side panel + full dashboard + settings.
 7. **Default work view:** `Meaningful` (`focused time > 10s`) with toggles for `All tabs` and `Most recent`.
 8. **Theme policy:** Dark mode default with one shared setting across side panel/full dashboard.
+9. **Action-click reliability:** Enable native side-panel open-on-action-click and treat fallback-only behavior as a test smell.
 
 ### Engineering Decisions
 
@@ -271,6 +279,7 @@ Not in MVP (intentionally out of scope):
 - `npm run test:all`: passing
 - `npm run test:smoke:extension`: passing
 - Long-duration headed validation: passing (`runId=20260226-192909`, `allTabsCount=6`, `neverFocused=4`, `retentionDays=30`, `theme=dark`)
+- Action-click config check: passing (`sidePanelApiAvailable=true`, `openPanelOnActionClick=true`)
 
 ### Branch/History Status
 
@@ -291,6 +300,8 @@ Primary commits:
 - `manifest.json`
 - `background/service-worker.js`
 - `background/session-engine.js`
+- `background/action-click.js`
+- `background/side-panel-behavior.js`
 - `shared/db.js`
 - `shared/time.js`
 - `shared/url.js`
@@ -315,6 +326,8 @@ Primary commits:
 
 - `tests/unit/session-engine.test.js`
 - `tests/unit/db.test.js`
+- `tests/unit/action-click.test.js`
+- `tests/unit/side-panel-behavior.test.js`
 - `tests/e2e/dashboard.spec.js`
 - `playwright.config.mjs`
 

scripts/extension-smoke-test.mjs

@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ async function run() {
     const status = await dashboardPage.evaluate(async () =>
       chrome.runtime.sendMessage({ type: "get-runtime-status" })
     );
+    const actionClickSimulation = await dashboardPage.evaluate(async () =>
+      chrome.runtime.sendMessage({ type: "debug-trigger-action-click" })
+    );
 
     const panelPage = await context.newPage();
     await panelPage.goto(panelUrl, { waitUntil: "domcontentloaded" });
@@ -52,9 +55,12 @@ async function run() {
       activityListPresent: activityListCount > 0,
       defaultViewActive: defaultViewActive > 0,
       panelViewToggleCount: panelViewCount,
+      actionClickSimulation,
       runtimeStatusOk: status?.ok === true,
       retentionDays: status?.retentionDays,
       paused: status?.paused,
+      sidePanelApiAvailable: status?.sidePanelApiAvailable,
+      openPanelOnActionClick: status?.openPanelOnActionClick,
       settingsHeading
     };
 
@@ -65,7 +71,11 @@ async function run() {
       !result.activityListPresent ||
       !result.defaultViewActive ||
       result.panelViewToggleCount < 3 ||
+      !result.actionClickSimulation?.ok ||
+      !["panel_focused_window", "panel_all_windows", "dashboard_fallback"].includes(result.actionClickSimulation?.mode) ||
       result.runtimeStatusOk !== true ||
+      result.sidePanelApiAvailable !== true ||
+      result.openPanelOnActionClick !== true ||
       result.settingsHeading !== "Settings"
     ) {
       process.exitCode = 1;