feat(web): open right panel tab menu with Mod+T

[Bil0000]

Problem

Choosing a new right-panel tab requires clicking +.

Change

In the desktop app and installed PWAs, Cmd+T on macOS or Ctrl+T on Windows/Linux opens that menu while the panel is open and the terminal does not have focus. The shortcut is configurable as rightPanel.new and works in chat, the narrow-screen sheet, and the PR page. It uses the existing menu and keyboard selection.

Regular Chrome and Firefox tabs reserve Cmd/Ctrl+T for opening a browser tab, so this default does not open the panel menu there.

Scope and approval

One default shortcut change. Maintainer approval of direction and scope is still pending.

Verification

162 focused tests, web and shared typechecks, targeted lint, and formatting checks pass. The new Windows/Linux terminal-focus cases failed before the guard and pass with it.

Earlier real-app checks on macOS confirmed menu opening, Terminal selection, and Escape. Browser-native keys and focused embedded browser pages remain unverified.

Visual proof

Full app with an isolated backend and test project. Before uses the previous tab component; after uses the PR code. The 12-second clip uses automated Cmd+T → T events to open a Terminal tab.

t3-mod-t-real-keyboard-flow.mp4

Model: GPT-6.1 Sol, high reasoning effort. Harness: Codex in T3 Code.

[macroscopeapp]

Approvability

Verdict: Not approved

Macroscope's review found this PR not approvable — This PR adds a new default Mod+T behavior that opens the right-panel surface menu across chat, sheet, and pull-request views, backed by global keyboard handling. Because it changes product defaults and affects existing keyboard behavior, maintainer review is required.

^{You can add or adjust custom eligibility rules. Learn more.}

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 4ee6bfd and e3fbfb4.

📒 Files selected for processing (7)

• apps/web/src/components/ChatView.tsx
• apps/web/src/components/RightPanelTabs.keyboard.test.tsx
• apps/web/src/components/RightPanelTabs.test.tsx
• apps/web/src/components/RightPanelTabs.tsx
• apps/web/src/routes/_chat.pull-requests.tsx
• packages/contracts/src/keybindings.ts
• packages/shared/src/keybindings.ts

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

RightPanelTabs now supports a configured shortcut to open its add-surface menu. The default binding is mod+t while the right panel is open. Panel instances receive keybindings and a shortcut-context getter.

Changes

Right panel shortcut

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Register the shortcut packages/contracts/src/keybindings.ts, packages/shared/src/keybindings.ts	The static command list includes rightPanel.new. The default keybindings map mod+t to that command when the right panel is open.
Handle the shortcut and menu state apps/web/src/components/RightPanelTabs.tsx, apps/web/src/components/RightPanelTabs.keyboard.test.tsx, apps/web/src/components/RightPanelTabs.test.tsx	RightPanelTabs matches the configured shortcut while the panel is open. It ignores prevented or composing events and blocking overlays unless the menu is already open. On a matching non-repeat keydown, it focuses the menu trigger and opens the menu. The menu closes when the panel closes and renders even when no surfaces exist. Tests cover platform bindings, custom bindings, event handling, focus, and sheet-mode menu behavior.
Pass shortcut settings to panel instances apps/web/src/components/ChatView.tsx, apps/web/src/routes/_chat.pull-requests.tsx	The inline, sheet-mode, and pull-request route instances pass keybindings and the shortcut-context getter to RightPanelTabs.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~20 minutes

Change: Feature

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant User
  participant RightPanelTabs
  participant ShortcutContext
  participant AddSurfaceMenu
  User->>RightPanelTabs: Press configured rightPanel.new shortcut
  RightPanelTabs->>ShortcutContext: Get shortcut match context
  RightPanelTabs->>AddSurfaceMenu: Focus trigger and open menu

Loading

Suggested reviewers: juliusmarminge

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to e3fbf

The right-panel shortcut is ready for normal merge checks; browser-native and embedded-page behavior has not been verified in the running app.

Security Architecture Review

Security architecture risk: 🔵 Low · up to e3fbf

The shortcut opens an existing menu and preserves its action availability checks rather than directly launching privileged actions. No material security regression was established, but browser-native and embedded-page keyboard behavior remains unverified.

Retained concerns
No architecture-level concerns identified.

Security review details

Security Blast Radius

• inferred — The demonstrated new reachability is to menu presentation in an open host panel. Selection uses the same caller-bound actions and environment context; the inspected route does not demonstrate expanded tenant, credential, service, or data-store authority.

Trust Boundaries and Controls

• inferred — The inspected shortcut path operates on host-document keyboard events and does not directly invoke a privileged operation. Its menu-opening controls and retained selection checks do not establish whether embedded content can relay events into that document; browser-native and embedded-page interception is explicitly unverified in the PR description.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 6 functions across 7 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely identifies the main change: opening the right-panel tab menu with Mod+T.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description covers the problem, change, verification, and visual evidence. The scope section says maintainer approval is pending but does not provide an issue or approval discussion, or explain wh…

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[Bil0000]

Reviewed both bot comments against e3fbfb4 and the contribution policy on current main.

• Macroscope: confirmed that the new shipped default shortcut needs maintainer approval. Added the missing Scope and approval section, explicitly stating that prior approval is not linked and is still required. This is not a claim of an approval exception.
• CodeRabbit: no actionable code findings or inline review comments. The description now includes scope and approval status. The docstring coverage warning does not establish a documentation need for this focused UI change, so no source comments were added for that metric.

All 8 required checks passed on e3fbfb4. The existing visual proof and full-app verification limits remain in the description. The remaining requirement is maintainer approval of direction and scope.

[juliusmarminge]

Note

This review was posted by Julius' agent.

Reviewed at 8d399eb. Small, focused, and it reuses the existing menu. One change before this can land:

mod+t takes Ctrl+T away from the terminal on Linux and Windows. The default binding (packages/shared/src/keybindings.ts#L28) has no !terminalFocus guard. The listener runs in the document's capture phase and calls preventDefault/stopPropagation (RightPanelTabs.tsx#L812-L832), and it overrides the context with rightPanelOpen: true. As a result, whenever the right panel is open, Ctrl+T in a focused terminal opens the tab menu instead of reaching the shell. That breaks readline's transpose-characters. macOS is unaffected because Cmd+T never reaches the shell. Changing when to rightPanelOpen && !terminalFocus fixes it, matching mod+w and mod+d. Please add a test case with the terminal focused.

Not blocking:

• In a regular browser, Chrome and Firefox keep Cmd/Ctrl+T for opening a new tab, so this default only works in the desktop app and installed PWAs. That's fine, but say so in the PR, since the description presents it as cross-platform.
• The scope approval mentioned in the description is still pending. Collect it alongside this fix.

The focused tests pass locally (160 across three files).

[Bil0000]

Fixed in eaca7aff512612ec312c97754ce9fa4fc8b1c9d8. Updated the default binding to rightPanelOpen && !terminalFocus and added a regression test with the terminal focused. Ctrl+T now reaches the terminal on Linux and Windows.

Both Windows/Linux regression cases failed before the guard. All 162 focused tests, web/shared typechecks, targeted lint, and formatting pass.

The description now states that this default works in the desktop app and installed PWAs. Regular Chrome and Firefox tabs reserve Cmd/Ctrl+T for opening a browser tab.

@juliusmarminge Please review the fix and confirm approval of the direction and scope: add the configurable rightPanel.new shortcut, defaulting to Mod+T, to open the existing right-panel tab menu when the panel is open and the terminal does not have focus.

[juliusmarminge]

Note

This review was posted by Julius' agent.

Approving at eaca7af. Julius approved the scope: a configurable rightPanel.new shortcut, default Mod+T, that opens the existing tab menu while the panel is open and the terminal is not focused.

The terminal blocker is fixed. The default is now rightPanelOpen && !terminalFocus, and the Windows/Linux regression tests confirm that Ctrl+T reaches a focused terminal. The description now notes that regular browser tabs keep Cmd/Ctrl+T for themselves.

CI is green, and the focused tests pass locally (162).