From d194e20db813d1b7aab85d236c11f6d5f01cb16c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Hussain Phalasiya <hussainphalasiya@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2026 21:29:19 +0300
Subject: [PATCH 1/5] fix(a11y): restore dialog invokers and record release
 checklist (VC-322)

---
 .../desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs | 369 ++++++++++++++++++
 apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs   |  72 ++++
 .../board/new-ticket/new-ticket-dialog.tsx    |   3 +
 .../src/components/command-palette.tsx        |  59 ++-
 .../components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx   |  40 ++
 .../src/components/ticket/ticket-title.tsx    |   2 +-
 .../src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx   | 130 ++++++
 .../src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.ts      |  31 ++
 docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md      | 122 ++++++
 9 files changed, 811 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
 create mode 100644 apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs
 create mode 100644 apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx
 create mode 100644 apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx
 create mode 100644 apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.ts
 create mode 100644 docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md

diff --git a/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..76a6784e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,369 @@
+/** VC-322 built-app observational release probe; artifacts stay in the workspace.
+ * Run after pnpm build: node apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
+ * No provider calls, credentials, live profile, clipboard, or VoiceOver automation.
+ */
+import { promises as fs } from "node:fs";
+import { resolve, join } from "node:path";
+import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
+import {
+  launch,
+  assertBuiltRendererLoaded,
+  assertProfileIsolated,
+  seedProjects,
+  makeGitRepo,
+  startTerminalSession,
+} from "./lib/smoke-kit.mjs";
+const output = resolve(
+  process.argv.slice(2).find((arg) => !arg.startsWith("--")) ?? "evidence/vc322",
+);
+const gateFixes = process.argv.includes("--gate-fixes");
+await fs.mkdir(output, { recursive: true });
+const scratch = await fs.mkdtemp(join(output, "run-"));
+const userDataDir = join(scratch, "user-data");
+await fs.mkdir(userDataDir);
+const project = await makeGitRepo(scratch, "project-");
+const app = await launch({
+  dbPath: join(scratch, "volli.db"),
+  userDataDir,
+  extraEnv: { HOME: join(scratch, "home"), VOLLI_AGENT_HOME: join(scratch, "home") },
+});
+const page = await app.firstWindow();
+page.setDefaultTimeout(8000);
+const report = {
+  sha: execFileSync("git", ["rev-parse", "HEAD"], { encoding: "utf8" }).trim(),
+  dirty: execFileSync("git", ["status", "--short"], { encoding: "utf8" }),
+  checks: [],
+  observations: [],
+};
+const active = () =>
+  page.evaluate(() => {
+    const e = document.activeElement,
+      s = getComputedStyle(e);
+    return {
+      tag: e.tagName,
+      role: e.getAttribute("role"),
+      label: e.getAttribute("aria-label"),
+      text: e.textContent?.slice(0, 100),
+      placeholder: e.getAttribute("placeholder"),
+      focusVisible: e.matches(":focus-visible"),
+      outline: s.outline,
+      boxShadow: s.boxShadow,
+      border: s.border,
+      background: s.backgroundColor,
+      dialog: !!e.closest("[role=dialog]"),
+    };
+  });
+async function check(name, fn) {
+  try {
+    const detail = await fn();
+    report.checks.push({ name, ...detail });
+    console.log(JSON.stringify(report.checks.at(-1)));
+  } catch (e) {
+    report.checks.push({ name, pass: false, error: e.message });
+    console.log(name, e.message);
+    await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
+  }
+}
+async function tabTour(name, count = 45) {
+  const steps = [];
+  for (let i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+    await page.keyboard.press("Tab");
+    await page.waitForTimeout(200);
+    steps.push(await active());
+  }
+  report.observations.push({ name, steps });
+}
+try {
+  await page.waitForLoadState("domcontentloaded");
+  assertBuiltRendererLoaded(page);
+  await assertProfileIsolated(app, userDataDir);
+  await app.evaluate(({ BrowserWindow }) =>
+    BrowserWindow.getAllWindows()[0].setContentSize(1440, 900),
+  );
+  await seedProjects(page, [
+    { id: "a11y-project", name: "Accessibility release", path: project, prefix: "AX" },
+  ]);
+  await page.evaluate(async () => {
+    const b = await window.api.data.bootstrap();
+    const p = b.data.projects[0];
+    for (const [title, status] of [
+      ["Keyboard ticket", "todo"],
+      ["Second ticket", "doing"],
+    ])
+      await window.api.tickets.create({
+        projectId: p.id,
+        title,
+        status,
+        priority: "medium",
+        description: "# Release body\n\nKeyboard and contrast fixture.",
+      });
+  });
+  await page.reload();
+  await page.getByRole("button", { name: "New ticket", exact: true }).waitFor();
+  await page.screenshot({ path: join(output, "board.png") });
+  await fs.writeFile(join(output, "board-ax.txt"), await page.locator("body").ariaSnapshot());
+  await tabTour("board keyboard focus");
+  await check("New ticket keyboard entry, trapped focus, Escape and focus return", async () => {
+    const trigger = page.getByRole("button", { name: "New ticket", exact: true });
+    await trigger.focus();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
+    await page.getByRole("dialog").waitFor();
+    const entered = await active();
+    const inside = [];
+    for (let i = 0; i < 18; i++) {
+      await page.keyboard.press("Tab");
+      await page.waitForTimeout(200);
+      inside.push(await active());
+    }
+    report.observations.push({ name: "dialog tab path before Escape", inside });
+    await page.getByPlaceholder("Ticket title").focus();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
+    await page.getByRole("dialog").waitFor({ state: "hidden" });
+    await page.waitForTimeout(250);
+    const returned = await trigger.evaluate((e) => e === document.activeElement);
+    return {
+      pass: entered.dialog && inside.every((e) => e.dialog) && returned,
+      entered,
+      returned,
+      after: await active(),
+      inside,
+    };
+  });
+  await check("Command palette Escape returns keyboard focus", async () => {
+    const trigger = page.getByRole("button", { name: "New ticket", exact: true });
+    await trigger.focus();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Meta+K");
+    await page.getByRole("dialog").waitFor();
+    const entered = await active();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
+    await page.getByRole("dialog").waitFor({ state: "hidden" });
+    await page.waitForTimeout(250);
+    const returned = await trigger.evaluate((e) => e === document.activeElement);
+    return { pass: entered.dialog && returned, entered, returned, after: await active() };
+  });
+  await check("Board card Enter opens ticket; Escape returns to card", async () => {
+    const card = page
+      .locator('[data-board-ticket-slot] > [role="button"]')
+      .filter({ hasText: "AX-1" })
+      .first();
+    await card.focus();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
+    await page.getByRole("tablist", { name: "Ticket tabs" }).waitFor();
+    const opened = await active();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
+    await page.getByRole("tab", { name: "Board", exact: true }).waitFor();
+    await page.waitForTimeout(250);
+    return {
+      pass: await card.evaluate((e) => e === document.activeElement),
+      opened,
+      after: await active(),
+    };
+  });
+  await check("List row keyboard open and return", async () => {
+    await page.getByRole("button", { name: "List view", exact: true }).click();
+    await fs.writeFile(join(output, "list-ax.txt"), await page.locator("body").ariaSnapshot());
+    const row = page.locator('[data-ticket-id="AX-1"]').first();
+    await row.focus();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
+    await page.getByRole("tablist", { name: "Ticket tabs" }).waitFor();
+    await page.screenshot({ path: join(output, "ticket.png") });
+    await fs.writeFile(join(output, "ticket-ax.txt"), await page.locator("body").ariaSnapshot());
+    await tabTour("ticket body comments and rail", 12);
+    await page.keyboard.press("Control+Shift+M");
+    await page.keyboard.press("Tab");
+    report.observations.push({
+      name: "Monaco Tab escape after Control+Shift+M",
+      after: await active(),
+    });
+    await page.getByRole("tablist", { name: "Ticket tabs" }).getByRole("tab").first().focus();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
+    await page.getByRole("button", { name: "List view", exact: true }).waitFor();
+    await page.waitForTimeout(250);
+    return { pass: await row.evaluate((e) => e === document.activeElement), after: await active() };
+  });
+  // Native theme is the app's source of truth in auto mode. No custom canvases.
+  for (const mode of ["dark", "light"]) {
+    await app.evaluate(({ nativeTheme }, m) => {
+      nativeTheme.themeSource = m;
+    }, mode);
+    await page.waitForFunction((m) => document.documentElement.classList.contains(m), mode);
+    await page.getByRole("button", { name: "New ticket", exact: true }).focus();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
+    await page.getByRole("dialog").waitFor();
+    const tokens = await page.evaluate(() => {
+      const root = getComputedStyle(document.documentElement),
+        names = [
+          "background",
+          "card",
+          "popover",
+          "foreground",
+          "muted-foreground",
+          "primary",
+          "primary-foreground",
+          "primary-text",
+          "ring",
+          "border",
+          "destructive",
+          "positive",
+          "attention",
+          "info",
+        ];
+      // Runs in the renderer, not the Node process that owns this probe.
+      // eslint-disable-next-line unicorn/consistent-function-scoping
+      const rgb = (value) => {
+        const e = document.createElement("span");
+        e.style.color = value;
+        document.body.append(e);
+        const c = getComputedStyle(e).color;
+        e.remove();
+        return c;
+      };
+      return Object.fromEntries(names.map((n) => [n, rgb(root.getPropertyValue("--" + n))]));
+    });
+    report.observations.push({ name: `${mode} default canvas tokens`, tokens });
+    report.observations.push({
+      name: `${mode} dialog controls`,
+      controls: await page
+        .getByRole("dialog")
+        .locator("button,input,textarea")
+        .evaluateAll((es) =>
+          es.map((e) => {
+            const s = getComputedStyle(e);
+            return {
+              text: e.textContent,
+              label: e.getAttribute("aria-label"),
+              color: s.color,
+              background: s.backgroundColor,
+              fontSize: s.fontSize,
+              disabled: e.disabled,
+            };
+          }),
+        ),
+    });
+    await page.screenshot({ path: join(output, `${mode}-dialog.png`) });
+    await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
+    await page.getByRole("dialog").waitFor({ state: "hidden" });
+  }
+  for (const reducedMotion of ["no-preference", "reduce"]) {
+    await page.emulateMedia({ reducedMotion });
+    await page.getByRole("button", { name: "New ticket", exact: true }).focus();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
+    await page.getByRole("dialog").waitFor();
+    report.observations.push({
+      name: `motion ${reducedMotion}`,
+      matches: await page.evaluate(() => matchMedia("(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)").matches),
+      animations: await page.evaluate(() =>
+        document.getAnimations().map((a) => ({
+          target: a.effect?.target?.outerHTML.slice(0, 250),
+          timing: a.effect?.getTiming(),
+          keyframes: a.effect?.getKeyframes(),
+          state: a.playState,
+        })),
+      ),
+      styles: await page.getByRole("dialog").evaluate((e) => {
+        const s = getComputedStyle(e);
+        return { animation: s.animation, transition: s.transition };
+      }),
+    });
+    await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
+    await page.getByRole("dialog").waitFor({ state: "hidden" });
+  }
+  for (const zoom of [1.25, 1.5, 2]) {
+    await app.evaluate(
+      ({ BrowserWindow }, z) => BrowserWindow.getAllWindows()[0].webContents.setZoomFactor(z),
+      zoom,
+    );
+    await page.getByRole("button", { name: "New ticket", exact: true }).focus();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
+    await page.getByRole("dialog").waitFor();
+    const bounds = await page.getByRole("dialog").evaluate((e) => {
+      const r = e.getBoundingClientRect();
+      return {
+        x: r.x,
+        y: r.y,
+        width: r.width,
+        height: r.height,
+        viewport: [innerWidth, innerHeight],
+        scrollWidth: e.scrollWidth,
+        clientWidth: e.clientWidth,
+      };
+    });
+    await page.screenshot({ path: join(output, `zoom-${zoom}.png`) });
+    report.checks.push({
+      name: `BrowserWindow zoom ${zoom} dialog fits`,
+      pass:
+        bounds.x >= 0 &&
+        bounds.y >= 0 &&
+        bounds.x + bounds.width <= bounds.viewport[0] + 1 &&
+        bounds.y + bounds.height <= bounds.viewport[1] + 1,
+      bounds,
+    });
+    await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
+    await page.getByRole("dialog").waitFor({ state: "hidden" });
+  }
+
+  await app.evaluate(({ BrowserWindow }) =>
+    BrowserWindow.getAllWindows()[0].webContents.setZoomFactor(1),
+  );
+  for (let step = 0; step < 5; step++) {
+    await app.evaluate(({ BrowserWindow }) =>
+      BrowserWindow.getAllWindows()[0].webContents.send("volli:ui-zoom-command", "in"),
+    );
+    await page.waitForTimeout(250);
+    const scale = await page.evaluate(
+      async () =>
+        JSON.parse((await window.api.data.bootstrap()).data.appState["volli:ui"]).state.uiScale,
+    );
+    if (step >= 1) {
+      await page.screenshot({ path: join(output, `app-zoom-step-${step}.png`) });
+      report.observations.push({ name: "native app zoom command", step, scale });
+    }
+  }
+  await app.evaluate(({ BrowserWindow }) =>
+    BrowserWindow.getAllWindows()[0].webContents.send("volli:ui-zoom-command", "reset"),
+  );
+  await check("Terminal keyboard boundary", async () => {
+    await startTerminalSession(page);
+    const input = page.locator(".xterm-helper-textarea").last();
+    await input.waitFor({ state: "attached" });
+    await input.focus();
+    await page.keyboard.type("printf 'VC322-TERMINAL-OUTPUT\\n'");
+    await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
+    await page.waitForTimeout(800);
+    const steps = [];
+    for (const key of ["Tab", "Shift+Tab", "Escape", "Meta+Alt+Enter", "Meta+Alt+Enter"]) {
+      await page.keyboard.press(key);
+      await page.waitForTimeout(200);
+      steps.push({ key, active: await active() });
+    }
+    const semantics = await page
+      .locator("[data-terminal-renderer]")
+      .last()
+      .evaluate((e) => ({
+        role: e.getAttribute("role"),
+        label: e.getAttribute("aria-label"),
+        tree: e.outerHTML.slice(0, 1200),
+        screenReaderLayer: !!e.querySelector(".xterm-accessibility"),
+      }));
+    await fs.writeFile(join(output, "terminal-ax.txt"), await page.locator("body").ariaSnapshot());
+    return { pass: steps.some((s) => s.active.tag !== "TEXTAREA"), steps, semantics };
+  });
+} finally {
+  await fs.writeFile(join(output, "report.json"), JSON.stringify(report, null, 2));
+  await app.close();
+}
+// The broader release findings are observational and deliberately remain red.
+// Only opt-in fix regression checks determine this probe's process exit code.
+if (gateFixes) {
+  const dialogs = report.checks.slice(0, 2);
+  const title = report.observations
+    .find((item) => item.name === "ticket body comments and rail")
+    ?.steps.find((item) => item.tag === "H1");
+  if (
+    dialogs.length !== 2 ||
+    dialogs.some((item) => !item.pass) ||
+    !title?.focusVisible ||
+    !title.boxShadow.includes("2px")
+  )
+    process.exitCode = 1;
+}
diff --git a/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..157b06cfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/** Built-app VC-301 keyboard-boundary observation. Local fixture only. */
+import { promises as fs } from "node:fs";
+import http from "node:http";
+import { resolve, join } from "node:path";
+import {
+  launch,
+  seedProjects,
+  makeGitRepo,
+  assertBuiltRendererLoaded,
+  assertProfileIsolated,
+} from "./lib/smoke-kit.mjs";
+const out = resolve("evidence/vc322/browser-boundary");
+await fs.mkdir(out, { recursive: true });
+const scratch = await fs.mkdtemp(join(out, "run-"));
+const userDataDir = join(scratch, "user-data");
+await fs.mkdir(userDataDir);
+const server = http.createServer((_req, res) =>
+  res.end(
+    '<!doctype html><title>Keyboard fixture</title><input aria-label="Fixture input" autofocus><button>Page action</button>',
+  ),
+);
+await new Promise((r) => server.listen(0, "127.0.0.1", r));
+const url = `http://127.0.0.1:${server.address().port}/`;
+const app = await launch({
+  dbPath: join(scratch, "volli.db"),
+  userDataDir,
+  extraEnv: { HOME: join(scratch, "home") },
+});
+const results = [];
+try {
+  const page = await app.firstWindow();
+  await page.waitForLoadState("domcontentloaded");
+  assertBuiltRendererLoaded(page);
+  await assertProfileIsolated(app, userDataDir);
+  const path = await makeGitRepo(scratch, "project-");
+  await seedProjects(page, [{ id: "boundary", name: "Boundary", prefix: "KB", path }]);
+  await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Other things to open", exact: true }).click();
+  await page.getByRole("menuitem", { name: "Browser", exact: true }).click();
+  const address = page.getByRole("textbox", { name: "Address", exact: true });
+  await address.fill(url);
+  await address.press("Enter");
+  await page.getByRole("tab", { name: "Keyboard fixture", exact: true }).waitFor();
+  for (const key of [
+    { keyCode: "k", modifiers: ["meta"] },
+    { keyCode: "Escape", modifiers: [] },
+    { keyCode: "Tab", modifiers: ["shift"] },
+  ]) {
+    await app.evaluate(
+      ({ webContents }, input) => {
+        const wc = webContents.getAllWebContents().find((w) => w.getURL() === input.url);
+        wc.focus();
+        wc.sendInputEvent({ type: "keyDown", ...input.key });
+        wc.sendInputEvent({ type: "keyUp", ...input.key });
+      },
+      { url, key },
+    );
+    await page.waitForTimeout(300);
+    results.push({
+      key,
+      dialogs: await page.getByRole("dialog").count(),
+      focus: await app.evaluate(({ webContents }) => {
+        const w = webContents.getFocusedWebContents();
+        return w ? { url: w.getURL(), type: w.getType() } : null;
+      }),
+    });
+  }
+  await fs.writeFile(join(out, "report.json"), JSON.stringify(results, null, 2));
+  console.log(JSON.stringify(results, null, 2));
+} finally {
+  await app.close();
+  await new Promise((r) => server.close(r));
+}
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/board/new-ticket/new-ticket-dialog.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/board/new-ticket/new-ticket-dialog.tsx
index 11242bfcc..ff02a63e9 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/board/new-ticket/new-ticket-dialog.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/board/new-ticket/new-ticket-dialog.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { PROMPT_SURFACE } from "@renderer/components/chat/composer-chrome";
 import { ComposerForm } from "@renderer/components/board/new-ticket/composer-form";
 import { Dialog, DialogContent, DialogTitle } from "@renderer/components/ui/dialog";
 import { useSelectedProject } from "@renderer/hooks/use-selected-project";
+import { useDialogFocusReturn } from "@renderer/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return";
 import { cn } from "@renderer/lib/utils";
 import { useUiStore } from "@renderer/stores/ui";
 
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ export function NewTicketDialog() {
   const project = useSelectedProject();
   const newTicketOpen = useUiStore((state) => state.newTicketOpen);
   const open = newTicketOpen && project !== null;
+  const { restoreFocus } = useDialogFocusReturn(open);
   const [expanded, setExpanded] = React.useState(false);
 
   return (
@@ -41,6 +43,7 @@ export function NewTicketDialog() {
     >
       <DialogContent
         data-testid="new-ticket-composer"
+        onCloseAutoFocus={restoreFocus}
         showCloseButton={false}
         className={cn(
           PROMPT_SURFACE,
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/command-palette.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/command-palette.tsx
index 8db01f342..efe7c2000 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/command-palette.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/command-palette.tsx
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ import { ChatCircleIcon } from "@phosphor-icons/react/dist/csr/ChatCircle";
 import { TerminalWindowIcon } from "@phosphor-icons/react/dist/csr/TerminalWindow";
 import { TicketIcon } from "@phosphor-icons/react/dist/csr/Ticket";
 import { Command } from "cmdk";
+import { Dialog as DialogPrimitive } from "radix-ui";
+import { useDialogFocusReturn } from "@renderer/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return";
 import { sessionProvenanceHoverLine } from "@volli/shared";
 
 import { runAutomationOnTicket } from "@renderer/components/automations/run-automation";
@@ -59,6 +61,39 @@ interface CommandPaletteProps {
   onOpenChange(open: boolean): void;
 }
 
+/** cmdk's convenience Dialog hides Radix's focus lifecycle callbacks. Keep the
+ * same chrome, but own the scope so keyboard dismissal can restore its invoker.
+ */
+function PaletteDialog({
+  children,
+  open,
+  onOpenChange,
+  onCloseAutoFocus,
+}: CommandPaletteProps & {
+  children: React.ReactNode;
+  onCloseAutoFocus(event: Event): void;
+}) {
+  return (
+    <DialogPrimitive.Root open={open} onOpenChange={onOpenChange}>
+      <DialogPrimitive.Portal>
+        <DialogPrimitive.Overlay className="fixed inset-0 z-50 bg-scrim backdrop-blur-[2px]" />
+        <DialogPrimitive.Content
+          aria-describedby={undefined}
+          onCloseAutoFocus={onCloseAutoFocus}
+          className="fixed top-[18%] left-1/2 z-50 w-[min(640px,calc(100vw-32px))] -translate-x-1/2 overflow-hidden rounded-xl border border-border bg-popover text-foreground shadow-overlay outline-none"
+        >
+          <DialogPrimitive.Title className="sr-only">
+            Search tickets and sessions
+          </DialogPrimitive.Title>
+          <Command label="Search tickets and sessions" filter={commandPaletteFilter} loop>
+            {children}
+          </Command>
+        </DialogPrimitive.Content>
+      </DialogPrimitive.Portal>
+    </DialogPrimitive.Root>
+  );
+}
+
 /** No tickets/sessions to show while closed — keeps the derivation below free. */
 const EMPTY_COMMAND_PALETTE_ITEMS: CommandPaletteItems = { tickets: [], sessions: [] };
 
@@ -132,6 +167,8 @@ function ShowAllRow({ sectionId, total, noun, onExpand }: ShowAllRowProps) {
  * surfaces — narrows the palette to one section.
  */
 export function CommandPalette({ open, onOpenChange }: CommandPaletteProps) {
+  const { restoreFocus, skipFocusReturn } = useDialogFocusReturn(open);
+
   const projects = useProjectsStore((state) => state.projects);
   const selectedProjectId = useProjectsStore((state) => state.selectedProjectId);
   const ticketsByProject = useBoardStore((state) => state.ticketsByProject);
@@ -340,25 +377,15 @@ export function CommandPalette({ open, onOpenChange }: CommandPaletteProps) {
   }, [open, projectIds]);
 
   const finishNavigation = React.useCallback(() => {
+    // Navigation intentionally hands focus to the destination rather than the
+    // palette's invoker. Ordinary dismissal restores after the focus scope closes.
+    skipFocusReturn();
     useUiStore.getState().setSettingsOpen(false);
     onOpenChange(false);
-  }, [onOpenChange]);
+  }, [onOpenChange, skipFocusReturn]);
 
   return (
-    <Command.Dialog
-      open={open}
-      onOpenChange={onOpenChange}
-      label="Search tickets and sessions"
-      filter={commandPaletteFilter}
-      loop
-      // The app's one `--scrim`, plus a blur no other overlay takes. This used
-      // to be a notch heavier than the dialog's — 35/55 against 30/50, a
-      // difference nobody could name behind a backdrop it also blurs, and the
-      // third and fourth spellings of one wash. The blur is what makes this
-      // overlay the exception; the wash is not.
-      overlayClassName="fixed inset-0 z-50 bg-scrim backdrop-blur-[2px]"
-      contentClassName="fixed top-[18%] left-1/2 z-50 w-[min(640px,calc(100vw-32px))] -translate-x-1/2 overflow-hidden rounded-xl border border-border bg-popover text-foreground shadow-overlay outline-none"
-    >
+    <PaletteDialog open={open} onOpenChange={onOpenChange} onCloseAutoFocus={restoreFocus}>
       {/* 36px, matching the footer strip: the header was 48 — a full rung taller
           than any control this app draws — so the field read as a hero banner
           rather than as the search box the rows answer to. `text-ui` is the
@@ -655,6 +682,6 @@ export function CommandPalette({ open, onOpenChange }: CommandPaletteProps) {
         <span>↑↓ navigate</span>
         <span>↵ open</span>
       </div>
-    </Command.Dialog>
+    </PaletteDialog>
   );
 }
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..40d0c8daa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import { renderToStaticMarkup } from "react-dom/server";
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vite-plus/test";
+import type { Ticket } from "@volli/shared";
+
+import { TicketTitle } from "./ticket-title";
+
+vi.mock("@renderer/stores/board", () => ({
+  useBoardStore: () => vi.fn(),
+}));
+
+const ticket: Ticket = {
+  id: "t1",
+  projectId: "p1",
+  ticketNumber: 1,
+  title: "Keyboard focus",
+  body: "",
+  status: "todo",
+  priority: "medium",
+  labels: [],
+  usesWorktree: false,
+  preferredHarnessId: "claude-code",
+  order: 0,
+  worktreePath: null,
+  branch: null,
+  baseBranch: null,
+  prUrl: null,
+  createdAt: 1,
+  updatedAt: 1,
+};
+
+describe("TicketTitle", () => {
+  it("keeps a visible semantic-token focus ring on the keyboard trigger", () => {
+    const html = renderToStaticMarkup(<TicketTitle ticket={ticket} />);
+
+    expect(html).toContain('role="button"');
+    expect(html).toContain("focus-visible:ring-2");
+    expect(html).toContain("focus-visible:ring-ring/45");
+    expect(html).toContain("focus-visible:outline-none");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.tsx
index 5e37b0d77..b504b1177 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.tsx
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export function TicketTitle({ ticket }: { ticket: Ticket }) {
           setEditing(true);
         }
       }}
-      className="cursor-text text-title font-semibold text-foreground outline-none"
+      className="cursor-text text-title font-semibold text-foreground outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-ring/45 focus-visible:outline-none"
     >
       {ticket.title}
     </h1>
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4ad8539e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+// @vitest-environment jsdom
+import * as React from "react";
+import { act } from "react";
+import { createRoot, type Root } from "react-dom/client";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, expect, it, vi } from "vite-plus/test";
+import { useDialogFocusReturn } from "@renderer/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return";
+import { Dialog, DialogContent, DialogTitle, DialogTrigger } from "./dialog";
+
+let root: Root;
+let host: HTMLDivElement;
+beforeEach(() => {
+  vi.stubGlobal("IS_REACT_ACT_ENVIRONMENT", true);
+  host = document.createElement("div");
+  document.body.append(host);
+  root = createRoot(host);
+});
+afterEach(async () => {
+  await act(async () => root.unmount());
+  host.remove();
+  vi.unstubAllGlobals();
+});
+
+async function settle() {
+  await act(async () => {
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 20));
+  });
+}
+function Fixture({
+  trigger = false,
+  override = false,
+  skip = false,
+}: {
+  trigger?: boolean;
+  override?: boolean;
+  skip?: boolean;
+}) {
+  const [open, setOpen] = React.useState(false);
+  const { restoreFocus, skipFocusReturn } = useDialogFocusReturn(open);
+  return (
+    <>
+      <button id="destination">Destination</button>
+      <Dialog open={open} onOpenChange={setOpen}>
+        {trigger ? (
+          <DialogTrigger id="invoker">Open</DialogTrigger>
+        ) : (
+          <button id="invoker" onClick={() => setOpen(true)}>
+            Open
+          </button>
+        )}
+        <DialogContent
+          onCloseAutoFocus={
+            override
+              ? (event) => {
+                  event.preventDefault();
+                  document.getElementById("destination")?.focus();
+                  restoreFocus(event);
+                }
+              : restoreFocus
+          }
+        >
+          <DialogTitle>Fixture</DialogTitle>
+          <input autoFocus aria-label="Inside" />
+          <button
+            id="dismiss"
+            onClick={() => {
+              if (skip) skipFocusReturn();
+              setOpen(false);
+            }}
+          >
+            Dismiss
+          </button>
+        </DialogContent>
+      </Dialog>
+    </>
+  );
+}
+for (const trigger of [false, true])
+  it(`restores keyboard invoker after dismissal (Radix trigger ${trigger})`, async () => {
+    await act(async () => root.render(<Fixture trigger={trigger} />));
+    const invoker = document.getElementById("invoker")!;
+    await act(async () => {
+      invoker.focus();
+      invoker.click();
+    });
+    await settle();
+    expect(document.activeElement?.closest('[role="dialog"]')).not.toBeNull();
+    await act(async () => document.getElementById("dismiss")!.click());
+    await settle();
+    expect(document.activeElement).toBe(invoker);
+  });
+it("honours a caller's explicit focus handoff", async () => {
+  await act(async () => root.render(<Fixture override />));
+  await act(async () => {
+    document.getElementById("invoker")!.focus();
+    document.getElementById("invoker")!.click();
+  });
+  await settle();
+  await act(async () => document.getElementById("dismiss")!.click());
+  await settle();
+  expect(document.activeElement).toBe(document.getElementById("destination"));
+});
+it("does not pull focus back after a navigation selection", async () => {
+  await act(async () => root.render(<Fixture skip />));
+  const invoker = document.getElementById("invoker")!;
+  await act(async () => {
+    invoker.focus();
+    invoker.click();
+  });
+  await settle();
+  const focus = vi.spyOn(invoker, "focus");
+  await act(async () => document.getElementById("dismiss")!.click());
+  await settle();
+  expect(focus).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+});
+it("ignores an invoker removed while the dialog is open", async () => {
+  await act(async () => root.render(<Fixture />));
+  const invoker = document.getElementById("invoker")!;
+  await act(async () => {
+    invoker.focus();
+    invoker.click();
+  });
+  await settle();
+  invoker.remove();
+  const focus = vi.spyOn(invoker, "focus");
+  await act(async () => document.getElementById("dismiss")!.click());
+  await settle();
+  expect(focus).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  // Restore React's host node before teardown.
+  host.append(invoker);
+});
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.ts b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e57cf258
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import * as React from "react";
+
+/** A controlled dialog has no Radix Trigger to restore. Sample its invoker
+ * during the opening render: an autoFocus child has already taken focus by
+ * onOpenAutoFocus. Restore only after Radix releases the closing focus scope.
+ */
+export function useDialogFocusReturn(open: boolean) {
+  const candidate = React.useMemo(() => {
+    const active = open ? document.activeElement : null;
+    return active instanceof HTMLElement ? active : null;
+  }, [open]);
+  const invoker = React.useRef<HTMLElement | null>(null);
+  const skipped = React.useRef(false);
+  React.useLayoutEffect(() => {
+    if (open) {
+      invoker.current = candidate;
+      skipped.current = false;
+    }
+  }, [open, candidate]);
+  const skipFocusReturn = React.useCallback(() => {
+    skipped.current = true;
+  }, []);
+  const restoreFocus = React.useCallback((event: Event) => {
+    const target = invoker.current;
+    invoker.current = null;
+    if (event.defaultPrevented || skipped.current || !target?.isConnected) return;
+    event.preventDefault();
+    target.focus({ preventScroll: true });
+  }, []);
+  return { restoreFocus, skipFocusReturn };
+}
diff --git a/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md b/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..993a888e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+# VC-322 — accessibility/motion candidate checklist
+
+**Release verdict: BLOCKED, not accessibility sign-off.** Focused fixes are ready for review;
+remaining failures and unmeasured native behavior must not be counted as passes.
+Merge order requested by release coordination: **VC-343 → VC-344 → VC-322**.
+This patch does not change terminal shortcuts or terminal source.
+
+## Candidate and method
+
+- Baseline: fetched `origin/main` **3bf58945273ea876fac744f2f50483eec69ab378**, canary.11.
+- `pnpm install` (including native rebuild) and `pnpm run build` passed.
+- Real Electron main/preload and `volli-app://bundle/index.html`, not the UI lab.
+  Disposable database, HOME, project repository, and profile live inside this worktree's
+  ignored `evidence/` directory. Profile and built-renderer identity asserted at runtime.
+- Playwright keyboard events, DOM focus/computed styles, accessibility snapshots, screenshots,
+  actual native-theme changes, and persisted app zoom commands. These are **not VoiceOver speech**.
+- Baseline: `evidence/vc322/baseline/`; fixed build: `evidence/vc322/candidate/`.
+  Reports contain exact focus paths, styles, animation keyframes, and dialog geometry.
+  The initial exploratory `report.json` had an incorrect board locator and sampled focus
+  transitions too early; use `baseline/report.json`, not that initial run.
+
+## Per-surface checklist
+
+| Surface/check | Result | Built evidence / remaining gate |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| Project navigation/chrome | Partial | Tab reaches project tile, Add Project, Home, Automations, Configure, Settings and chrome controls; settled computed focus rings recorded. Full project switching and native folder picker/VoiceOver not tested. |
+| Board/list | **Fail — VC-419** | Enter opens the selected ticket; Escape from its tab returns to board/list. Both entry and return lose focus to BODY, not ticket/selected row. |
+| Ticket title | **Fixed** | Baseline H1 button had no outline/shadow under `:focus-visible`; candidate has a 2px semantic ring. |
+| Ticket body | Partial | Monaco exposes `Ticket description`; Tab inserts indentation. **Control+Shift+M, then Tab** successfully reaches Add a comment. Escape inside Monaco is editor-owned, not a close failure. Human discoverability/VoiceOver still required. |
+| Comments | Partial | Add a comment textarea reachable using Monaco's tab-focus toggle. Submission, async completion announcements, error recovery and edit/delete confirmations not exercised. No claim of full focus-visibility compliance. |
+| New-ticket dialog | **Fixed; tested pass** | Keyboard Enter opens; focus stays inside across sampled Tab path; Escape from title closes and restores the actual New ticket invoker. Baseline returned BODY. |
+| Command palette | **Fixed; tested pass** | Meta+K → input → Escape restores actual pre-open control. Explicit navigation selections skip restoration. |
+| Other overlays/dialogs | **Not verified** | Destructive confirms, permission overlays, nested menus and all focus-return paths require candidate sweep. Shared Radix behavior is not substituted for evidence. |
+| Pending questions / permission cards | **Not verified** | No live provider turn or credentials used. Need seeded/signed candidate with pending ask/approve/deny/cancel/retry states at 320/480/720px and each zoom. |
+| Files | **Incomplete — VC-311** | Existing built smoke: listing and dirty Cancel/Save guard pass; multiple row click timeouts cascade into preview/save/restore failures; refresh also times out. Requires independent triage, not assumed product failure. |
+| Diffs | Partial — VC-311 | 7/8 numbered smoke checks pass: real Monaco diff, keyboard edit/save to disk, shared file/diff model and presentation toggle. Untracked-file refresh check fails. Full keyboard/VoiceOver/narrow matrix not proven. |
+| Embedded browser | **Incomplete — VC-301** | Existing browser smoke 10/10 passes isolation, tab lifecycle and hold behavior, not app-shortcut routing. Separate synthetic Meta+K injection opens no palette, but quiet-window native focused WebContents is null: **inconclusive native-focus evidence**, retain human check. |
+| Terminal | **Fail baseline — VC-344** | Current xterm input is named `Terminal input`. Tab, Shift+Tab, Escape and two Meta+Alt+Enter presses all retain that textarea. Host role/name null; no xterm accessibility layer. No native VoiceOver claim. Re-run after VC-344; this is not a verdict on its pending fix. |
+| Pane resizing / async feedback | **Not verified** | Keyboard divider interaction, selected row retention after refresh, completion announcements and retry focus remain manual/fixture gates. |
+
+## Default-canvas contrast
+
+WCAG 2.x relative luminance, using computed RGB in the built renderer (no custom canvas):
+
+| Pair | Dark | Light | Result |
+| --- | ---: | ---: | --- |
+| foreground/background | 14.46:1 | 15.51:1 | Pass normal text |
+| muted-foreground/card | 9.02:1 | 6.63:1 | Pass normal text |
+| primary-text/background | 8.71:1 | 5.08:1 | Pass normal text |
+| white primary label / #d37550 | **3.27:1** | **3.27:1** | **Fail 4.5:1 at 13px — VC-418** |
+| opaque ring/background | 5.59:1 | **2.57:1** | Light below 3:1; actual 45% rings need composite measurement — VC-418 |
+
+New ticket is an enabled primary control using the failing text pair. Disabled Create & start
+is not used to establish this finding. This table is a sampled semantic-token check, not an
+all-controls contrast audit or a verdict on user-selected colors.
+
+## Motion and zoom
+
+- **Pass, dialog entrance only:** default modal/scrim have 200ms entrance animations;
+  with `prefers-reduced-motion: reduce`, dialog animation computes to `none` and those
+  entrance animations are absent. Preference changes can produce `scale: none → 1`
+  transitions on controls (identical visual scale), not evidence of unwanted movement.
+- No blanket pass for drag, split, streaming, scroll anchoring, exit interruption or delayed
+  async state. These were not comprehensively exercised.
+- Shipped app zoom commands persist **125% → 150% → 150%**: **200% is unavailable**.
+  Recorded on VC-288. Native CSS zoom screenshots retained for 125/150; full per-pane
+  functionality at those settings remains unverified.
+- Exploratory BrowserWindow zoom at 125/150/200 gives in-viewport dialog DOM bounds.
+  **This is not a product 200% pass.** Playwright zoom screenshots can crop differently
+  from measured viewport geometry; do not use those captures as proof of visual fit.
+
+## Focused patch and checks
+
+- New-ticket and palette capture the focused invoker during the opening render, **before**
+  autofocus children take it. Restore using Radix's close-focus lifecycle, after trap teardown.
+  Do not restore a removed invoker or override explicit caller handoff/navigation.
+- Palette keeps its original chrome/command contents, exposing the Radix lifecycle instead
+  of cmdk's convenience Dialog. No shared-dialog global policy change.
+- Ticket title gains a keyboard-only semantic focus ring.
+- Focused unit run: **3 files / 7 tests passed** (dialog focus lifecycle, title, palette order).
+- Focus-hook coverage: **100% statements/branches/functions/lines**, 5 tests passed.
+- Renderer TypeScript check passed. Full monorepo coverage/CI and signed candidate not claimed.
+
+Reproduce (workspace-local artifacts):
+
+```sh
+pnpm install
+pnpm run build
+node apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs evidence/vc322/recheck --gate-fixes
+node apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs
+pnpm -C apps/desktop exec vp test run \
+  src/renderer/src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx \
+  src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx \
+  src/renderer/src/components/command-palette-order.test.tsx \
+  --maxWorkers=$VOLLI_CONCURRENCY_HINT
+pnpm exec tsc --noEmit -p apps/desktop/tsconfig.web.json --composite false
+```
+
+The accessibility probe is observational by default. `--gate-fixes` fails on regression of
+these two dialogs or the title ring; it deliberately does **not** turn the other known release
+failures into a passing gate. The JSON checklist remains the broader verdict.
+
+## Human / signed-candidate handoff (all unchecked)
+
+Record candidate SHA/signature, macOS version, appearance, zoom, person, result and issue per row:
+
+- [ ] VoiceOver: project tile names, board/list ticket names/status/selection; open and return.
+- [ ] Ticket title/body/comment editing, Monaco Control+Shift+M discovery, reading order,
+      persisted submission, error announcement and draft preservation.
+- [ ] Pending question and permission cards: question/options announced, keyboard answer,
+      approve/deny/cancel/retry; no clipped action at 320/480/720px, 125/150/200%.
+- [ ] Every modal/menu/confirm: initial focus, trapped Tab/Shift+Tab, nested Escape,
+      close/cancel/submit and invoker return; no focus behind native browser view.
+- [ ] Browser page input → app search/navigation/close/return, correct pane, page edit keys intact.
+- [ ] VC-344 integrated terminal: read output before/after split/hide/show; advertised escape
+      reaches app controls, Tab reaches terminal again, PTY keys preserved.
+- [ ] File tree/diff names, selected line/change, editor escape, dirty-save guard, inline fallback.
+- [ ] Light/Dark focus visibility and contrast after VC-418; reduced-motion launches and live
+      preference changes, resize, streaming, completion and recoverable failures.
+
+A person must execute these checks; installing a signed candidate or toggling VoiceOver on the
+shared machine was not performed by this pass.

From fcffd228bbaa971a1f7a481f662e4246cceb2baf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Hussain Phalasiya <hussainphalasiya@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2026 21:33:10 +0300
Subject: [PATCH 2/5] docs(a11y): record current-main candidate recheck and
 release hold

---
 docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md | 11 ++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md b/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
index 993a888e8..25072e3d5 100644
--- a/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
+++ b/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ This patch does not change terminal shortcuts or terminal source.
 ## Candidate and method
 
 - Baseline: fetched `origin/main` **3bf58945273ea876fac744f2f50483eec69ab378**, canary.11.
+- Re-synced with `origin/main` **10e8ada5** (VC-412 included), then installed and rebuilt.
+  Clean candidate **3497b6786f3c9fed770a5159862c84732a139405** passed the built
+  `--gate-fixes` rerun; `evidence/vc322/synced/report.json` retains the same remaining
+  board/list/terminal failures and 3.27:1 primary contrast. VC-343/344 are not integrated yet.
 - `pnpm install` (including native rebuild) and `pnpm run build` passed.
 - Real Electron main/preload and `volli-app://bundle/index.html`, not the UI lab.
   Disposable database, HOME, project repository, and profile live inside this worktree's
@@ -79,7 +83,12 @@ all-controls contrast audit or a verdict on user-selected colors.
 - Ticket title gains a keyboard-only semantic focus ring.
 - Focused unit run: **3 files / 7 tests passed** (dialog focus lifecycle, title, palette order).
 - Focus-hook coverage: **100% statements/branches/functions/lines**, 5 tests passed.
-- Renderer TypeScript check passed. Full monorepo coverage/CI and signed candidate not claimed.
+- Renderer TypeScript, changed-file lint and whitespace checks passed after sync.
+- An additional combined composer-form/palette-model/palette-search test invocation timed out
+  at 45s before producing test results; it is not counted as passed. Full monorepo coverage/CI
+  and signed candidate not claimed.
+- Draft PR: https://github.com/hussainph/volli-code/pull/579. CI was pending when submitted;
+  keep merge held for the terminal integration order and rerun the integrated candidate.
 
 Reproduce (workspace-local artifacts):
 

From f8b1926e6b73ed7d69efa99ca7f259446b6f6a5e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Hussain Phalasiya <hussainphalasiya@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2026 23:28:51 +0300
Subject: [PATCH 3/5] fix(a11y): guard SSR focus sampling and reconcile merged
 release fixes

---
 .../desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs | 31 ++++++++++++++++--
 apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs   | 32 +++++++++++++++----
 .../components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx   |  3 +-
 .../src/components/ticket/ticket-title.tsx    |  2 +-
 .../use-dialog-focus-return.node.test.tsx     | 22 +++++++++++++
 .../src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.ts      |  5 ++-
 6 files changed, 84 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.node.test.tsx

diff --git a/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
index 76a6784e1..bd4912e41 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
+++ b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
   seedProjects,
   makeGitRepo,
   startTerminalSession,
+  closeAppBounded,
 } from "./lib/smoke-kit.mjs";
 const output = resolve(
   process.argv.slice(2).find((arg) => !arg.startsWith("--")) ?? "evidence/vc322",
@@ -336,6 +337,23 @@ try {
       await page.waitForTimeout(200);
       steps.push({ key, active: await active() });
     }
+    // VC-344 deliberately preserves PTY Tab bytes by default. Test the
+    // advertised focus-navigation mode, rather than calling raw Tab a trap.
+    await input.focus();
+    await page.keyboard.press("Control+Shift+M");
+    const navigation = [];
+    for (const key of ["Tab", "Shift+Tab"]) {
+      await input.focus();
+      await page.keyboard.press(key);
+      await page.waitForTimeout(200);
+      navigation.push({
+        key,
+        outsideTerminal: await page.evaluate(
+          () => !document.activeElement?.closest("[data-terminal-renderer]"),
+        ),
+        active: await active(),
+      });
+    }
     const semantics = await page
       .locator("[data-terminal-renderer]")
       .last()
@@ -346,11 +364,20 @@ try {
         screenReaderLayer: !!e.querySelector(".xterm-accessibility"),
       }));
     await fs.writeFile(join(output, "terminal-ax.txt"), await page.locator("body").ariaSnapshot());
-    return { pass: steps.some((s) => s.active.tag !== "TEXTAREA"), steps, semantics };
+    return {
+      pass:
+        navigation.every((step) => step.outsideTerminal) &&
+        semantics.role === "region" &&
+        Boolean(semantics.label) &&
+        semantics.screenReaderLayer,
+      steps,
+      navigation,
+      semantics,
+    };
   });
 } finally {
   await fs.writeFile(join(output, "report.json"), JSON.stringify(report, null, 2));
-  await app.close();
+  await closeAppBounded(app);
 }
 // The broader release findings are observational and deliberately remain red.
 // Only opt-in fix regression checks determine this probe's process exit code.
diff --git a/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs
index 157b06cfa..1327dd8af 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs
+++ b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs
@@ -8,15 +8,23 @@ import {
   makeGitRepo,
   assertBuiltRendererLoaded,
   assertProfileIsolated,
+  closeAppBounded,
 } from "./lib/smoke-kit.mjs";
-const out = resolve("evidence/vc322/browser-boundary");
+const nativeWindow = process.argv.includes("--native-window");
+const out = resolve(
+  process.argv.slice(2).find((arg) => !arg.startsWith("--")) ?? "evidence/vc322/browser-boundary",
+);
 await fs.mkdir(out, { recursive: true });
 const scratch = await fs.mkdtemp(join(out, "run-"));
 const userDataDir = join(scratch, "user-data");
 await fs.mkdir(userDataDir);
 const server = http.createServer((_req, res) =>
   res.end(
-    '<!doctype html><title>Keyboard fixture</title><input aria-label="Fixture input" autofocus><button>Page action</button>',
+    `<!doctype html><title>Keyboard fixture</title>
+     <input aria-label="Fixture input" autofocus><button>Page action</button>
+     <script>window.fixtureKeys=[];document.addEventListener('keydown',event=>{
+       window.fixtureKeys.push({key:event.key,meta:event.metaKey,target:event.target.tagName});
+     });</script>`,
   ),
 );
 await new Promise((r) => server.listen(0, "127.0.0.1", r));
@@ -24,7 +32,10 @@ const url = `http://127.0.0.1:${server.address().port}/`;
 const app = await launch({
   dbPath: join(scratch, "volli.db"),
   userDataDir,
-  extraEnv: { HOME: join(scratch, "home") },
+  extraEnv: {
+    HOME: join(scratch, "home"),
+    VOLLI_QUIET_WINDOWS: nativeWindow ? "0" : "1",
+  },
 });
 const results = [];
 try {
@@ -46,17 +57,26 @@ try {
     { keyCode: "Tab", modifiers: ["shift"] },
   ]) {
     await app.evaluate(
-      ({ webContents }, input) => {
+      ({ webContents, BrowserWindow }, input) => {
+        if (input.nativeWindow) BrowserWindow.getAllWindows()[0].focus();
         const wc = webContents.getAllWebContents().find((w) => w.getURL() === input.url);
         wc.focus();
         wc.sendInputEvent({ type: "keyDown", ...input.key });
         wc.sendInputEvent({ type: "keyUp", ...input.key });
       },
-      { url, key },
+      { url, key, nativeWindow },
     );
     await page.waitForTimeout(300);
     results.push({
       key,
+      nativeWindow,
+      // The fixture is authored above: prove delivery, not just a missing modal.
+      delivery: await app.evaluate(async ({ webContents }, fixtureUrl) => {
+        const wc = webContents.getAllWebContents().find((w) => w.getURL() === fixtureUrl);
+        return wc.executeJavaScript(
+          "({keys:window.fixtureKeys,active:document.activeElement.tagName})",
+        );
+      }, url),
       dialogs: await page.getByRole("dialog").count(),
       focus: await app.evaluate(({ webContents }) => {
         const w = webContents.getFocusedWebContents();
@@ -67,6 +87,6 @@ try {
   await fs.writeFile(join(out, "report.json"), JSON.stringify(results, null, 2));
   console.log(JSON.stringify(results, null, 2));
 } finally {
-  await app.close();
+  await closeAppBounded(app);
   await new Promise((r) => server.close(r));
 }
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx
index 40d0c8daa..8090588eb 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ describe("TicketTitle", () => {
 
     expect(html).toContain('role="button"');
     expect(html).toContain("focus-visible:ring-2");
-    expect(html).toContain("focus-visible:ring-ring/45");
+    expect(html).toContain("focus-visible:ring-ring");
+    expect(html).not.toContain("focus-visible:ring-ring/");
     expect(html).toContain("focus-visible:outline-none");
   });
 });
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.tsx
index b504b1177..441dc4f31 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.tsx
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export function TicketTitle({ ticket }: { ticket: Ticket }) {
           setEditing(true);
         }
       }}
-      className="cursor-text text-title font-semibold text-foreground outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-ring/45 focus-visible:outline-none"
+      className="cursor-text text-title font-semibold text-foreground outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-ring focus-visible:outline-none"
     >
       {ticket.title}
     </h1>
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.node.test.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.node.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..886b2c8fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.node.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+// @vitest-environment node
+import { renderToStaticMarkup } from "react-dom/server";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vite-plus/test";
+
+import { useDialogFocusReturn } from "./use-dialog-focus-return";
+
+function Fixture({ open }: { open: boolean }) {
+  useDialogFocusReturn(open);
+  return <span>{open ? "open" : "closed"}</span>;
+}
+
+describe("dialog focus return without a DOM", () => {
+  for (const open of [false, true]) {
+    it(`renders with open=${open} without reading browser globals`, () => {
+      expect(typeof document).toBe("undefined");
+      expect(typeof HTMLElement).toBe("undefined");
+      expect(renderToStaticMarkup(<Fixture open={open} />)).toBe(
+        `<span>${open ? "open" : "closed"}</span>`,
+      );
+    });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.ts b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.ts
index 0e57cf258..f4bfdddb9 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-dialog-focus-return.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,10 @@ import * as React from "react";
  */
 export function useDialogFocusReturn(open: boolean) {
   const candidate = React.useMemo(() => {
-    const active = open ? document.activeElement : null;
+    // The chrome is also rendered by Node-only static-markup tests. A closed
+    // palette needs no invoker, and server rendering cannot supply one.
+    if (!open || typeof document === "undefined") return null;
+    const active = document.activeElement;
     return active instanceof HTMLElement ? active : null;
   }, [open]);
   const invoker = React.useRef<HTMLElement | null>(null);

From fc00c628c9a26646db0ad0327a10f691fdf7ac5b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Hussain Phalasiya <hussainphalasiya@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2026 23:45:28 +0300
Subject: [PATCH 4/5] test(a11y): verify integrated focus gates and record
 release blockers

---
 .../desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs |   7 +-
 .../src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx   |  15 +++
 docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md      |   4 +
 docs/vc322-integration-results.md             | 122 ++++++++++++++++++
 4 files changed, 145 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 docs/vc322-integration-results.md

diff --git a/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
index bd4912e41..d01289107 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
+++ b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
@@ -169,6 +169,9 @@ try {
     await page.getByRole("tablist", { name: "Ticket tabs" }).waitFor();
     await page.screenshot({ path: join(output, "ticket.png") });
     await fs.writeFile(join(output, "ticket-ax.txt"), await page.locator("body").ariaSnapshot());
+    await page.locator('h1[role="button"]').focus();
+    await page.waitForTimeout(200);
+    report.observations.push({ name: "ticket title focus", state: await active() });
     await tabTour("ticket body comments and rail", 12);
     await page.keyboard.press("Control+Shift+M");
     await page.keyboard.press("Tab");
@@ -383,9 +386,7 @@ try {
 // Only opt-in fix regression checks determine this probe's process exit code.
 if (gateFixes) {
   const dialogs = report.checks.slice(0, 2);
-  const title = report.observations
-    .find((item) => item.name === "ticket body comments and rail")
-    ?.steps.find((item) => item.tag === "H1");
+  const title = report.observations.find((item) => item.name === "ticket title focus")?.state;
   if (
     dialogs.length !== 2 ||
     dialogs.some((item) => !item.pass) ||
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx
index 4ad8539e5..9e80d8fe8 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx
@@ -88,6 +88,21 @@ for (const trigger of [false, true])
     await settle();
     expect(document.activeElement).toBe(invoker);
   });
+it("leaves default close focus alone when no HTML invoker exists", async () => {
+  const close = new Event("closeAutoFocus", { cancelable: true });
+  function NoInvoker() {
+    const { restoreFocus } = useDialogFocusReturn(true);
+    React.useLayoutEffect(() => restoreFocus(close), [restoreFocus]);
+    return null;
+  }
+  const active = vi.spyOn(document, "activeElement", "get").mockReturnValue(null);
+  try {
+    await act(async () => root.render(<NoInvoker />));
+    expect(close.defaultPrevented).toBe(false);
+  } finally {
+    active.mockRestore();
+  }
+});
 it("honours a caller's explicit focus handoff", async () => {
   await act(async () => root.render(<Fixture override />));
   await act(async () => {
diff --git a/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md b/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
index 25072e3d5..6575b6790 100644
--- a/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
+++ b/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # VC-322 — accessibility/motion candidate checklist
 
+> **Historical baseline:** merged terminal, contrast and navigation fixes supersede
+> several failures below. See [the integrated release results](vc322-integration-results.md)
+> for the latest evidence and outstanding gates. The human checklist below still applies.
+
 **Release verdict: BLOCKED, not accessibility sign-off.** Focused fixes are ready for review;
 remaining failures and unmeasured native behavior must not be counted as passes.
 Merge order requested by release coordination: **VC-343 → VC-344 → VC-322**.
diff --git a/docs/vc322-integration-results.md b/docs/vc322-integration-results.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5e2b93b77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/vc322-integration-results.md
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+# VC-322 — integrated release pass
+
+**Verdict: BLOCKED for accessibility sign-off. PR #579 remains draft; do not merge.**
+This supersedes the original baseline verdicts in
+[`vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md`](vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md).
+
+## CI failure and focused fix
+
+PR #579's original Check + Test job failed one test, `chrome-bar.test.tsx`:
+`ReferenceError: HTMLElement is not defined` in `use-dialog-focus-return.ts`.
+The palette renders closed in a Node-only static-markup test; `null instanceof
+HTMLElement` still resolves the absent browser constructor.
+
+Added a Node-environment regression fixture for **both open and closed** hook
+renders. Both failed before the fix. The hook now returns no invoker when closed
+or when `document` is absent, without changing browser focus restoration.
+The ticket-title ring also adopts VC-418's opaque semantic ring instead of the
+old 45% ring. Terminal source/shortcuts and navigation-focus code stay owned by
+VC-344 and VC-419.
+
+## Integrated built evidence
+
+First integration base: `origin/main` **31002471**, including VC-343, VC-344 and
+VC-418. These runs used merged commit `095f4730` plus the focus-hook/title changes
+subsequently committed as `f8b1926e`. The probe records the dirty state explicitly.
+The desktop pipeline was rebuilt before the accepted measurements.
+
+| Gate | Result | Evidence |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| New-ticket Escape + focus return | Pass | Real built Electron; returns to New ticket button after trap teardown. |
+| Command palette Escape + focus return | Pass | Actual pre-open control restored. |
+| Ticket-title keyboard focus | Pass | Computed 2px opaque semantic ring. |
+| Terminal keyboard + Chromium/native macOS AX | **35/35 pass** | PID-scoped native AX trusted and exposes parsed PTY markers in named terminal regions, before/after focus, focus mode, hide/show and both split panes. |
+| Terminal default PTY behavior | Pass | Tab/Shift+Tab remain PTY input by design. Control+Shift+M enables Tab/Shift+Tab focus navigation; navigation emits no PTY bytes. |
+| Default primary-control contrast | Pass | Enabled New ticket rest/hover text **4.5056:1** in Light and Dark; focused ring/offset **5.0797:1 Light**, **8.7074:1 Dark**. |
+| Dialog reduced-motion entrance | Pass, limited | Modal entrance animation becomes `none`. Not an all-motion sign-off. |
+| Native browser → app keyboard boundary | **Fail — VC-301** | Focused Browser WebContents URL is the local fixture; fixture logs Meta+K delivered to INPUT; app dialogs remain 0. Escape stays in page; Shift+Tab traverses the page. |
+| Product zoom 200% | **Unavailable** | App zoom ladder caps at 150%. BrowserWindow zoom injection is not a product acceptance pass. |
+| Spoken VoiceOver and interactive reading | **Not performed** | Native AX exposure is not speech, reading-order, rotor, or scrollback-navigation acceptance. |
+
+Raw workspace-local evidence:
+
+- `evidence/vc322/integration/terminal-rebuilt/record.json` and six `mac-ax-*.json` dumps.
+- `evidence/vc322/integration/candidate/report.json` (focus, motion, zoom, terminal).
+- `evidence/vc418/post-Z9wlZ2/report.json` (composited contrast and focus screenshots).
+- `evidence/vc322/integration/browser-native/report.json` (native focus plus delivered keys).
+
+An initial delegated terminal run in `integration/terminal/` is **invalid as
+integration evidence**: it started at 20:21:39Z, while the new renderer was not
+built until 20:23:52Z. It measured stale assets. It was not used to file a new
+terminal regression. The post-build `terminal-rebuilt/` run is the accepted one.
+
+## Latest-main integration and quality gates
+
+Integrated `origin/main` **69855470** as **a4181520**, including VC-419 (#585)
+and VC-413 (#581). Rebuilt the desktop pipeline successfully. The built VC-419
+navigation probe passes **9/9**: board/list entry and return, back shortcut,
+filtered origin, filtered-out neighbour, moved-column origin and virtualized
+origin restoration. Evidence: `integration/latest-navigation/report.json`.
+The general candidate probe also now reports board/list return focus passing;
+all eight reported checks pass (three are injected BrowserWindow zoom geometry,
+not product zoom acceptance). Its title-ring gate passes after sampling the
+heading explicitly rather than relying on the old tab-order position.
+
+On this exact build, terminal keyboard/native AX repeats **35/35 passing**, and
+Light/Dark contrast repeats passing with the ratios above. Accepted latest
+artifacts are `integration/latest-candidate/report.json`,
+`integration/latest-terminal/record.json`, and
+`evidence/vc418/post-DAxYOJ/report.json`. Probe/document changes are recorded as
+dirty; the app source was clean at a4181520. None of these replaces VoiceOver
+speech acceptance. The native-window Browser probe repeats VC-301's failure:
+`integration/latest-browser-native/report.json` again records Meta+K reaching
+the page INPUT, focused fixture WebContents and zero app dialogs.
+
+- Focused lifecycle/Node SSR/title/ChromeBar tests: **10/10 pass**, hook-only
+  coverage **100% statements, branches, functions and lines**. The first focused
+  run exposed an untested null-invoker branch (92.3% branches); a regression test
+  now verifies that no-HTML-invoker leaves default close focus untouched.
+  Log: `integration/latest-focused-complete.log`. This scoped coverage command
+  is not a substitute for the full protected coverage gate.
+- `pnpm exec vp check` and `pnpm typecheck`: **pass** after integration.
+- All eleven current CI design/compliance commands: **pass** (workspace licenses,
+  excluded dependencies, notices, theme CSS, design tokens, Node version,
+  vendored themes, dependency licenses, notice inputs, LGPL source, library
+  validation). Logs: `integration/latest-*.log`.
+- Website and docs builds including font/license checks: **pass** on f8b1926e.
+- The original SSR exception is gone in CI. The f8b1926e run **35391689247**
+  passed boot and all three smoke shards, but Check + Test **failed** seven
+  five-second timeouts in `agent-dispatch.test.ts` and `db/migrations.test.ts`.
+  No timeout or coverage threshold was relaxed. Latest integration CI must
+  independently pass; this earlier run is not green.
+- Full local recursive coverage with workspace-contained `TMPDIR`: **failed**,
+  three packages failing / six passing. Agent-runtime: seven sidecar migration
+  failures (**VC-420**, fixture encoding disagrees with Pi on `.volli` paths).
+  CLI: eleven Unix-socket failures. Desktop: 23 failed / 10,130 passed / two
+  skipped, plus two unhandled errors. Failures include overlong Unix socket
+  paths, filesystem/path assertions, git directory enumeration, and one worker
+  startup timeout. Full details: `integration/coverage-all.log`. These failures
+  are retained, not excluded or claimed as accessibility regressions.
+- The first compliance run found stale `apca-w3` / `colorparsley` directories
+  in reused generated dependencies. `pnpm prune --ignore-scripts --yes` removed
+  them; all compliance gates above then passed without policy exceptions.
+
+## Human / signed candidate gates still required
+
+Use the detailed human checklist in the baseline report. Record candidate SHA,
+macOS version, appearance, zoom, operator and a pass/fail per surface:
+
+- VoiceOver speech/rotor/reading order across project navigation, board/list,
+  ticket body/comments and file/diff editors.
+- Terminal output reading and scrollback traversal in both split panes;
+  discovery/announcement of Control+Shift+M, hide/show and focus return.
+- Pending questions/permission cards, approve/deny/cancel/retry, asynchronous
+  completion/error announcements and draft preservation.
+- All dialogs/nested menus/destructive confirmations and focus return; native
+  browser escape to app navigation (VC-301).
+- Narrow panes and the complete 125/150/200% matrix, keyboard resizing and
+  selection retention; all non-essential motion under Reduce Motion.
+
+These are not signed off by source inspection, jsdom tests, or AX dumps.
+No real user profile, provider credential, clipboard or global VoiceOver setting
+was used or modified by these probes.

From 17f85997572d0b604b7815de51f2ec34f0dda3d0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Hussain Phalasiya <hussainphalasiya@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:12:49 +0300
Subject: [PATCH 5/5] fix(a11y): gate focus regressions and remove internal
 release notes

---
 .../desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs |  10 +-
 .../src/components/command-palette.tsx        |   6 +-
 docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md      | 135 ------------------
 docs/vc322-integration-results.md             | 122 ----------------
 4 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 262 deletions(-)
 delete mode 100644 docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
 delete mode 100644 docs/vc322-integration-results.md

diff --git a/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
index d01289107..cfeb1b9a0 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
+++ b/apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
-/** VC-322 built-app observational release probe; artifacts stay in the workspace.
+/** Built-app dialog focus and title-ring regression probe.
  * Run after pnpm build: node apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs
+ * Broader accessibility measurements are observational, not release sign-off.
+ * --observe disables the focus/title gate for exploratory measurements.
  * No provider calls, credentials, live profile, clipboard, or VoiceOver automation.
  */
 import { promises as fs } from "node:fs";
@@ -17,7 +19,7 @@ import {
 const output = resolve(
   process.argv.slice(2).find((arg) => !arg.startsWith("--")) ?? "evidence/vc322",
 );
-const gateFixes = process.argv.includes("--gate-fixes");
+const gateFixes = !process.argv.includes("--observe");
 await fs.mkdir(output, { recursive: true });
 const scratch = await fs.mkdtemp(join(output, "run-"));
 const userDataDir = join(scratch, "user-data");
@@ -382,8 +384,8 @@ try {
   await fs.writeFile(join(output, "report.json"), JSON.stringify(report, null, 2));
   await closeAppBounded(app);
 }
-// The broader release findings are observational and deliberately remain red.
-// Only opt-in fix regression checks determine this probe's process exit code.
+// The broader accessibility measurements remain observational. The CI runner
+// invokes probes without flags, so focus/title regressions must fail by default.
 if (gateFixes) {
   const dialogs = report.checks.slice(0, 2);
   const title = report.observations.find((item) => item.name === "ticket title focus")?.state;
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/command-palette.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/command-palette.tsx
index d0e16ccd7..e92d21445 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/command-palette.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/command-palette.tsx
@@ -105,7 +105,11 @@ function PaletteDialog({
           <DialogPrimitive.Title className="sr-only">
             Search tickets, sessions, and commands
           </DialogPrimitive.Title>
-          <Command label="Search tickets, sessions, and commands" filter={commandPaletteFilter} loop>
+          <Command
+            label="Search tickets, sessions, and commands"
+            filter={commandPaletteFilter}
+            loop
+          >
             {children}
           </Command>
         </DialogPrimitive.Content>
diff --git a/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md b/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 6575b6790..000000000
--- a/docs/vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,135 +0,0 @@
-# VC-322 — accessibility/motion candidate checklist
-
-> **Historical baseline:** merged terminal, contrast and navigation fixes supersede
-> several failures below. See [the integrated release results](vc322-integration-results.md)
-> for the latest evidence and outstanding gates. The human checklist below still applies.
-
-**Release verdict: BLOCKED, not accessibility sign-off.** Focused fixes are ready for review;
-remaining failures and unmeasured native behavior must not be counted as passes.
-Merge order requested by release coordination: **VC-343 → VC-344 → VC-322**.
-This patch does not change terminal shortcuts or terminal source.
-
-## Candidate and method
-
-- Baseline: fetched `origin/main` **3bf58945273ea876fac744f2f50483eec69ab378**, canary.11.
-- Re-synced with `origin/main` **10e8ada5** (VC-412 included), then installed and rebuilt.
-  Clean candidate **3497b6786f3c9fed770a5159862c84732a139405** passed the built
-  `--gate-fixes` rerun; `evidence/vc322/synced/report.json` retains the same remaining
-  board/list/terminal failures and 3.27:1 primary contrast. VC-343/344 are not integrated yet.
-- `pnpm install` (including native rebuild) and `pnpm run build` passed.
-- Real Electron main/preload and `volli-app://bundle/index.html`, not the UI lab.
-  Disposable database, HOME, project repository, and profile live inside this worktree's
-  ignored `evidence/` directory. Profile and built-renderer identity asserted at runtime.
-- Playwright keyboard events, DOM focus/computed styles, accessibility snapshots, screenshots,
-  actual native-theme changes, and persisted app zoom commands. These are **not VoiceOver speech**.
-- Baseline: `evidence/vc322/baseline/`; fixed build: `evidence/vc322/candidate/`.
-  Reports contain exact focus paths, styles, animation keyframes, and dialog geometry.
-  The initial exploratory `report.json` had an incorrect board locator and sampled focus
-  transitions too early; use `baseline/report.json`, not that initial run.
-
-## Per-surface checklist
-
-| Surface/check | Result | Built evidence / remaining gate |
-| --- | --- | --- |
-| Project navigation/chrome | Partial | Tab reaches project tile, Add Project, Home, Automations, Configure, Settings and chrome controls; settled computed focus rings recorded. Full project switching and native folder picker/VoiceOver not tested. |
-| Board/list | **Fail — VC-419** | Enter opens the selected ticket; Escape from its tab returns to board/list. Both entry and return lose focus to BODY, not ticket/selected row. |
-| Ticket title | **Fixed** | Baseline H1 button had no outline/shadow under `:focus-visible`; candidate has a 2px semantic ring. |
-| Ticket body | Partial | Monaco exposes `Ticket description`; Tab inserts indentation. **Control+Shift+M, then Tab** successfully reaches Add a comment. Escape inside Monaco is editor-owned, not a close failure. Human discoverability/VoiceOver still required. |
-| Comments | Partial | Add a comment textarea reachable using Monaco's tab-focus toggle. Submission, async completion announcements, error recovery and edit/delete confirmations not exercised. No claim of full focus-visibility compliance. |
-| New-ticket dialog | **Fixed; tested pass** | Keyboard Enter opens; focus stays inside across sampled Tab path; Escape from title closes and restores the actual New ticket invoker. Baseline returned BODY. |
-| Command palette | **Fixed; tested pass** | Meta+K → input → Escape restores actual pre-open control. Explicit navigation selections skip restoration. |
-| Other overlays/dialogs | **Not verified** | Destructive confirms, permission overlays, nested menus and all focus-return paths require candidate sweep. Shared Radix behavior is not substituted for evidence. |
-| Pending questions / permission cards | **Not verified** | No live provider turn or credentials used. Need seeded/signed candidate with pending ask/approve/deny/cancel/retry states at 320/480/720px and each zoom. |
-| Files | **Incomplete — VC-311** | Existing built smoke: listing and dirty Cancel/Save guard pass; multiple row click timeouts cascade into preview/save/restore failures; refresh also times out. Requires independent triage, not assumed product failure. |
-| Diffs | Partial — VC-311 | 7/8 numbered smoke checks pass: real Monaco diff, keyboard edit/save to disk, shared file/diff model and presentation toggle. Untracked-file refresh check fails. Full keyboard/VoiceOver/narrow matrix not proven. |
-| Embedded browser | **Incomplete — VC-301** | Existing browser smoke 10/10 passes isolation, tab lifecycle and hold behavior, not app-shortcut routing. Separate synthetic Meta+K injection opens no palette, but quiet-window native focused WebContents is null: **inconclusive native-focus evidence**, retain human check. |
-| Terminal | **Fail baseline — VC-344** | Current xterm input is named `Terminal input`. Tab, Shift+Tab, Escape and two Meta+Alt+Enter presses all retain that textarea. Host role/name null; no xterm accessibility layer. No native VoiceOver claim. Re-run after VC-344; this is not a verdict on its pending fix. |
-| Pane resizing / async feedback | **Not verified** | Keyboard divider interaction, selected row retention after refresh, completion announcements and retry focus remain manual/fixture gates. |
-
-## Default-canvas contrast
-
-WCAG 2.x relative luminance, using computed RGB in the built renderer (no custom canvas):
-
-| Pair | Dark | Light | Result |
-| --- | ---: | ---: | --- |
-| foreground/background | 14.46:1 | 15.51:1 | Pass normal text |
-| muted-foreground/card | 9.02:1 | 6.63:1 | Pass normal text |
-| primary-text/background | 8.71:1 | 5.08:1 | Pass normal text |
-| white primary label / #d37550 | **3.27:1** | **3.27:1** | **Fail 4.5:1 at 13px — VC-418** |
-| opaque ring/background | 5.59:1 | **2.57:1** | Light below 3:1; actual 45% rings need composite measurement — VC-418 |
-
-New ticket is an enabled primary control using the failing text pair. Disabled Create & start
-is not used to establish this finding. This table is a sampled semantic-token check, not an
-all-controls contrast audit or a verdict on user-selected colors.
-
-## Motion and zoom
-
-- **Pass, dialog entrance only:** default modal/scrim have 200ms entrance animations;
-  with `prefers-reduced-motion: reduce`, dialog animation computes to `none` and those
-  entrance animations are absent. Preference changes can produce `scale: none → 1`
-  transitions on controls (identical visual scale), not evidence of unwanted movement.
-- No blanket pass for drag, split, streaming, scroll anchoring, exit interruption or delayed
-  async state. These were not comprehensively exercised.
-- Shipped app zoom commands persist **125% → 150% → 150%**: **200% is unavailable**.
-  Recorded on VC-288. Native CSS zoom screenshots retained for 125/150; full per-pane
-  functionality at those settings remains unverified.
-- Exploratory BrowserWindow zoom at 125/150/200 gives in-viewport dialog DOM bounds.
-  **This is not a product 200% pass.** Playwright zoom screenshots can crop differently
-  from measured viewport geometry; do not use those captures as proof of visual fit.
-
-## Focused patch and checks
-
-- New-ticket and palette capture the focused invoker during the opening render, **before**
-  autofocus children take it. Restore using Radix's close-focus lifecycle, after trap teardown.
-  Do not restore a removed invoker or override explicit caller handoff/navigation.
-- Palette keeps its original chrome/command contents, exposing the Radix lifecycle instead
-  of cmdk's convenience Dialog. No shared-dialog global policy change.
-- Ticket title gains a keyboard-only semantic focus ring.
-- Focused unit run: **3 files / 7 tests passed** (dialog focus lifecycle, title, palette order).
-- Focus-hook coverage: **100% statements/branches/functions/lines**, 5 tests passed.
-- Renderer TypeScript, changed-file lint and whitespace checks passed after sync.
-- An additional combined composer-form/palette-model/palette-search test invocation timed out
-  at 45s before producing test results; it is not counted as passed. Full monorepo coverage/CI
-  and signed candidate not claimed.
-- Draft PR: https://github.com/hussainph/volli-code/pull/579. CI was pending when submitted;
-  keep merge held for the terminal integration order and rerun the integrated candidate.
-
-Reproduce (workspace-local artifacts):
-
-```sh
-pnpm install
-pnpm run build
-node apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-accessibility-smoke.mjs evidence/vc322/recheck --gate-fixes
-node apps/desktop/e2e/vc322-browser-boundary.mjs
-pnpm -C apps/desktop exec vp test run \
-  src/renderer/src/components/ui/dialog-focus.test.tsx \
-  src/renderer/src/components/ticket/ticket-title.test.tsx \
-  src/renderer/src/components/command-palette-order.test.tsx \
-  --maxWorkers=$VOLLI_CONCURRENCY_HINT
-pnpm exec tsc --noEmit -p apps/desktop/tsconfig.web.json --composite false
-```
-
-The accessibility probe is observational by default. `--gate-fixes` fails on regression of
-these two dialogs or the title ring; it deliberately does **not** turn the other known release
-failures into a passing gate. The JSON checklist remains the broader verdict.
-
-## Human / signed-candidate handoff (all unchecked)
-
-Record candidate SHA/signature, macOS version, appearance, zoom, person, result and issue per row:
-
-- [ ] VoiceOver: project tile names, board/list ticket names/status/selection; open and return.
-- [ ] Ticket title/body/comment editing, Monaco Control+Shift+M discovery, reading order,
-      persisted submission, error announcement and draft preservation.
-- [ ] Pending question and permission cards: question/options announced, keyboard answer,
-      approve/deny/cancel/retry; no clipped action at 320/480/720px, 125/150/200%.
-- [ ] Every modal/menu/confirm: initial focus, trapped Tab/Shift+Tab, nested Escape,
-      close/cancel/submit and invoker return; no focus behind native browser view.
-- [ ] Browser page input → app search/navigation/close/return, correct pane, page edit keys intact.
-- [ ] VC-344 integrated terminal: read output before/after split/hide/show; advertised escape
-      reaches app controls, Tab reaches terminal again, PTY keys preserved.
-- [ ] File tree/diff names, selected line/change, editor escape, dirty-save guard, inline fallback.
-- [ ] Light/Dark focus visibility and contrast after VC-418; reduced-motion launches and live
-      preference changes, resize, streaming, completion and recoverable failures.
-
-A person must execute these checks; installing a signed candidate or toggling VoiceOver on the
-shared machine was not performed by this pass.
diff --git a/docs/vc322-integration-results.md b/docs/vc322-integration-results.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 5e2b93b77..000000000
--- a/docs/vc322-integration-results.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,122 +0,0 @@
-# VC-322 — integrated release pass
-
-**Verdict: BLOCKED for accessibility sign-off. PR #579 remains draft; do not merge.**
-This supersedes the original baseline verdicts in
-[`vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md`](vc322-accessibility-release-pass.md).
-
-## CI failure and focused fix
-
-PR #579's original Check + Test job failed one test, `chrome-bar.test.tsx`:
-`ReferenceError: HTMLElement is not defined` in `use-dialog-focus-return.ts`.
-The palette renders closed in a Node-only static-markup test; `null instanceof
-HTMLElement` still resolves the absent browser constructor.
-
-Added a Node-environment regression fixture for **both open and closed** hook
-renders. Both failed before the fix. The hook now returns no invoker when closed
-or when `document` is absent, without changing browser focus restoration.
-The ticket-title ring also adopts VC-418's opaque semantic ring instead of the
-old 45% ring. Terminal source/shortcuts and navigation-focus code stay owned by
-VC-344 and VC-419.
-
-## Integrated built evidence
-
-First integration base: `origin/main` **31002471**, including VC-343, VC-344 and
-VC-418. These runs used merged commit `095f4730` plus the focus-hook/title changes
-subsequently committed as `f8b1926e`. The probe records the dirty state explicitly.
-The desktop pipeline was rebuilt before the accepted measurements.
-
-| Gate | Result | Evidence |
-| --- | --- | --- |
-| New-ticket Escape + focus return | Pass | Real built Electron; returns to New ticket button after trap teardown. |
-| Command palette Escape + focus return | Pass | Actual pre-open control restored. |
-| Ticket-title keyboard focus | Pass | Computed 2px opaque semantic ring. |
-| Terminal keyboard + Chromium/native macOS AX | **35/35 pass** | PID-scoped native AX trusted and exposes parsed PTY markers in named terminal regions, before/after focus, focus mode, hide/show and both split panes. |
-| Terminal default PTY behavior | Pass | Tab/Shift+Tab remain PTY input by design. Control+Shift+M enables Tab/Shift+Tab focus navigation; navigation emits no PTY bytes. |
-| Default primary-control contrast | Pass | Enabled New ticket rest/hover text **4.5056:1** in Light and Dark; focused ring/offset **5.0797:1 Light**, **8.7074:1 Dark**. |
-| Dialog reduced-motion entrance | Pass, limited | Modal entrance animation becomes `none`. Not an all-motion sign-off. |
-| Native browser → app keyboard boundary | **Fail — VC-301** | Focused Browser WebContents URL is the local fixture; fixture logs Meta+K delivered to INPUT; app dialogs remain 0. Escape stays in page; Shift+Tab traverses the page. |
-| Product zoom 200% | **Unavailable** | App zoom ladder caps at 150%. BrowserWindow zoom injection is not a product acceptance pass. |
-| Spoken VoiceOver and interactive reading | **Not performed** | Native AX exposure is not speech, reading-order, rotor, or scrollback-navigation acceptance. |
-
-Raw workspace-local evidence:
-
-- `evidence/vc322/integration/terminal-rebuilt/record.json` and six `mac-ax-*.json` dumps.
-- `evidence/vc322/integration/candidate/report.json` (focus, motion, zoom, terminal).
-- `evidence/vc418/post-Z9wlZ2/report.json` (composited contrast and focus screenshots).
-- `evidence/vc322/integration/browser-native/report.json` (native focus plus delivered keys).
-
-An initial delegated terminal run in `integration/terminal/` is **invalid as
-integration evidence**: it started at 20:21:39Z, while the new renderer was not
-built until 20:23:52Z. It measured stale assets. It was not used to file a new
-terminal regression. The post-build `terminal-rebuilt/` run is the accepted one.
-
-## Latest-main integration and quality gates
-
-Integrated `origin/main` **69855470** as **a4181520**, including VC-419 (#585)
-and VC-413 (#581). Rebuilt the desktop pipeline successfully. The built VC-419
-navigation probe passes **9/9**: board/list entry and return, back shortcut,
-filtered origin, filtered-out neighbour, moved-column origin and virtualized
-origin restoration. Evidence: `integration/latest-navigation/report.json`.
-The general candidate probe also now reports board/list return focus passing;
-all eight reported checks pass (three are injected BrowserWindow zoom geometry,
-not product zoom acceptance). Its title-ring gate passes after sampling the
-heading explicitly rather than relying on the old tab-order position.
-
-On this exact build, terminal keyboard/native AX repeats **35/35 passing**, and
-Light/Dark contrast repeats passing with the ratios above. Accepted latest
-artifacts are `integration/latest-candidate/report.json`,
-`integration/latest-terminal/record.json`, and
-`evidence/vc418/post-DAxYOJ/report.json`. Probe/document changes are recorded as
-dirty; the app source was clean at a4181520. None of these replaces VoiceOver
-speech acceptance. The native-window Browser probe repeats VC-301's failure:
-`integration/latest-browser-native/report.json` again records Meta+K reaching
-the page INPUT, focused fixture WebContents and zero app dialogs.
-
-- Focused lifecycle/Node SSR/title/ChromeBar tests: **10/10 pass**, hook-only
-  coverage **100% statements, branches, functions and lines**. The first focused
-  run exposed an untested null-invoker branch (92.3% branches); a regression test
-  now verifies that no-HTML-invoker leaves default close focus untouched.
-  Log: `integration/latest-focused-complete.log`. This scoped coverage command
-  is not a substitute for the full protected coverage gate.
-- `pnpm exec vp check` and `pnpm typecheck`: **pass** after integration.
-- All eleven current CI design/compliance commands: **pass** (workspace licenses,
-  excluded dependencies, notices, theme CSS, design tokens, Node version,
-  vendored themes, dependency licenses, notice inputs, LGPL source, library
-  validation). Logs: `integration/latest-*.log`.
-- Website and docs builds including font/license checks: **pass** on f8b1926e.
-- The original SSR exception is gone in CI. The f8b1926e run **35391689247**
-  passed boot and all three smoke shards, but Check + Test **failed** seven
-  five-second timeouts in `agent-dispatch.test.ts` and `db/migrations.test.ts`.
-  No timeout or coverage threshold was relaxed. Latest integration CI must
-  independently pass; this earlier run is not green.
-- Full local recursive coverage with workspace-contained `TMPDIR`: **failed**,
-  three packages failing / six passing. Agent-runtime: seven sidecar migration
-  failures (**VC-420**, fixture encoding disagrees with Pi on `.volli` paths).
-  CLI: eleven Unix-socket failures. Desktop: 23 failed / 10,130 passed / two
-  skipped, plus two unhandled errors. Failures include overlong Unix socket
-  paths, filesystem/path assertions, git directory enumeration, and one worker
-  startup timeout. Full details: `integration/coverage-all.log`. These failures
-  are retained, not excluded or claimed as accessibility regressions.
-- The first compliance run found stale `apca-w3` / `colorparsley` directories
-  in reused generated dependencies. `pnpm prune --ignore-scripts --yes` removed
-  them; all compliance gates above then passed without policy exceptions.
-
-## Human / signed candidate gates still required
-
-Use the detailed human checklist in the baseline report. Record candidate SHA,
-macOS version, appearance, zoom, operator and a pass/fail per surface:
-
-- VoiceOver speech/rotor/reading order across project navigation, board/list,
-  ticket body/comments and file/diff editors.
-- Terminal output reading and scrollback traversal in both split panes;
-  discovery/announcement of Control+Shift+M, hide/show and focus return.
-- Pending questions/permission cards, approve/deny/cancel/retry, asynchronous
-  completion/error announcements and draft preservation.
-- All dialogs/nested menus/destructive confirmations and focus return; native
-  browser escape to app navigation (VC-301).
-- Narrow panes and the complete 125/150/200% matrix, keyboard resizing and
-  selection retention; all non-essential motion under Reduce Motion.
-
-These are not signed off by source inspection, jsdom tests, or AX dumps.
-No real user profile, provider credential, clipboard or global VoiceOver setting
-was used or modified by these probes.