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Client shell vocabulary

Why this page exists​

The Gnostikon client uses a small, deliberate set of names for the chrome surfaces of its UI — the persistent navigation rail, the contextual top bar, the on-demand inspector, the day's briefing, the knowledge workspace and its tabs, and so on. This page is the citable source for those names.

The intended audience is anyone authoring docs or blog copy that mentions the client UI: contributors editing a use-case page, writers drafting a release-note, reviewers cross-checking that a guide hasn't drifted back to old vocabulary after a client redesign. It is not an exhaustive UI manual, a route map, or a state-shape document — for those, follow the source links on each entry back into gnostikon-client.

Surface map​

The shell is composed of a persistent navigation surface (the Rail), a contextual top surface (the TopBar), an on-demand right-side detail pane (the Inspector), and a small set of overlays (Command Palette, Profile Drawer, Scope Switcher). Inside the chrome, the application renders one of a few primary surfaces — Today briefing at the home route, the Knowledge workspace under /knowledge, and so on. The per-surface entries below give the name, the legacy synonyms to avoid, and a pointer to where each lives in the client source.

Rail​

The persistent left-side navigation surface in the redesigned shell. Holds the primary destinations (Today, Knowledge, Chat, Governance) and renders in two variants depending on viewport (desktop and tablet).

Legacy synonyms to avoid: drawer · hamburger menu · sidebar · module launcher.

Where in the client: src/components/ui/chrome/desktop-rail.tsx and src/components/ui/chrome/tablet-rail.tsx, mounted via src/components/ui/chrome/chrome-router.tsx.

TopBar​

The contextual top-of-screen surface. Shows the active scope, the page title, and surface-specific actions (search, Command Palette trigger). Renders in two variants — desktop-topbar and mobile-topbar — picked by viewport mode.

Legacy synonyms to avoid: app bar · header bar.

Where in the client: src/components/ui/chrome/desktop-topbar.tsx and src/components/ui/chrome/mobile-topbar.tsx, mounted via the same chrome router as the Rail.

Inspector​

The right-side detail pane that opens on-demand to show contextual information for the active selection (a gnosis, a conflict, an event). Toggled by direct action; state lives in a dedicated hook so the open/closed condition is observable across the chrome.

Legacy synonyms to avoid: detail drawer · side panel · context drawer.

Where in the client: src/components/ui/overlays/inspector.tsx, with state in src/hooks/use-inspector-state.ts.

Today briefing​

The default home surface that replaces the old module launcher. Composes a small set of cards (decisions, continue list, pulse strip) that summarize the day's state. Reached at the bare / route.

Legacy synonyms to avoid: dashboard home · module launcher · launcher page.

Where in the client: src/components/dashboard/today-briefing/today-screen.tsx, mounted at app/index.tsx.

Knowledge workspace​

The application surface for working with the knowledge corpus. Wraps four tabs — Index, Graph, Missing, Builder — in a horizontal tab strip rendered by a single layout. The active tab is derived from the URL via a dedicated hook.

Legacy synonyms to avoid: knowledge index page (when used to mean the whole workspace) · knowledge area · knowledge section.

Where in the client: the workspace layout itself is app/knowledge/_layout.tsx; the four tabs are app/knowledge/index.tsx → index-screen.tsx, app/knowledge/graph.tsx → graph-screen.tsx, app/knowledge/missing.tsx → missing-target-screen.tsx, and app/knowledge/builder.tsx → builder-screen.tsx.

Connections view​

A sub-pane inside the Knowledge workspace that renders the inbound and outbound links of a selected gnosis. Not a standalone destination — it appears inside the Index and Graph tabs as a detail surface for a focused gnosis.

Legacy synonyms to avoid: links panel · related-notes drawer.

Where in the client: src/components/knowledge/connections/connections-view.tsx.

Command Palette​

The keyboard-first command surface. Opens centered as a modal on desktop and as a full-screen sheet on smaller viewports. Reachable via the global ⌘K / Ctrl-K shortcut on web; from the TopBar action on mobile.

Legacy synonyms to avoid: quick-actions dialog · search bar (the palette is broader than search — it dispatches commands as well as matches them).

Where in the client: src/components/ui/overlays/command-palette.tsx.

Profile Drawer​

An on-demand pane for account-level actions: signed-in identity, theme choice, sign out. Opens from the Rail or TopBar avatar and overlays from the right.

Not to be confused with the legacy navigation drawer (now: Rail); the Profile Drawer is a small, focused overlay specifically for account context, not for primary navigation.

Legacy synonyms to avoid: account menu · user drawer · settings drawer.

Where in the client: src/components/ui/overlays/profile-drawer.tsx.

Routes worth knowing​

A short tour of the routes that the chrome vocabulary above implies. Full routing lives in gnostikon-client/app/; the entries here are the ones docs and blog copy are most likely to need.

  • / — the home route, which renders the Today briefing by default. The legacy module launcher remains reachable via the ?legacy=1 query flag on this same route as a one-release fallback; the chrome emits a chrome.legacy_home_used telemetry event on every hit so the fallback's usage is observable. Source: app/index.tsx.
  • /knowledge — the Knowledge workspace root. The bare URL resolves to the Index tab because the workspace layout uses app/knowledge/index.tsx as its default child; treat /knowledge and /knowledge/index as the same surface for documentation purposes. Source layout: app/knowledge/_layout.tsx.
  • /knowledge/{graph,missing,builder} — the other three workspace tabs. Each is a sibling route under the same _layout, so they share the workspace tab strip and the Inspector behavior.
  • /builder — a top-level parallel-legacy route that mounts the same BuilderScreen as /knowledge/builder. Both routes work today; new copy should prefer /knowledge/builder as the canonical path. The parallel route is scheduled for removal in a follow-up client task. Source: app/builder.tsx.