From ec1645a5baab456f6d025ee4eb9560ebb718e838 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brooklyn Nicholson <brooklyn.bb.nicholson@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2026 07:12:29 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] fix(desktop): stay on the tab that fills a closed slot
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Closing an active layout tab always selected the previous neighbor, so
focus jumped left every time. Prefer the right neighbor instead (left
only at the end) — same rule terminals and the preview rail already use.
---
 .../src/components/pane-shell/tree/model.ts   |  9 ++--
 .../pane-shell/tree/remove-pane.test.ts       | 41 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 46 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/remove-pane.test.ts

diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/model.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/model.ts
index 5d1c39206e6..0834360b0a2 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/model.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/model.ts
@@ -184,9 +184,9 @@ export function normalize(node: LayoutNode): LayoutNode | null {
   return { ...node, children, weights }
 }
 
-/** Remove a pane wherever it lives. Closing the ACTIVE tab activates its
- *  previous neighbor (the next one when it was first) — browser-tab feel,
- *  never a jump to the strip's start. */
+/** Remove a pane wherever it lives. Closing the ACTIVE tab leaves selection on
+ *  the neighbor that fills its slot (right; left when it was last) — same rule
+ *  as terminals and the preview rail. */
 export function removePane(node: LayoutNode, paneId: string): LayoutNode | null {
   const walk = (n: LayoutNode): LayoutNode => {
     if (n.type === 'group') {
@@ -198,7 +198,8 @@ export function removePane(node: LayoutNode, paneId: string): LayoutNode | null
 
       const panes = n.panes.filter(p => p !== paneId)
 
-      return { ...n, panes, active: n.active === paneId ? panes[Math.max(0, at - 1)] : n.active }
+      // After splice, `at` indexes the old right neighbor (clamp left at end).
+      return { ...n, panes, active: n.active === paneId ? (panes[Math.min(at, panes.length - 1)] ?? '') : n.active }
     }
 
     return { ...n, children: n.children.map(walk) }
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/remove-pane.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/remove-pane.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b91b3af4f80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/remove-pane.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+import { findGroup, group, removePane, split } from './model'
+
+describe('removePane close-neighbor selection', () => {
+  it('closing a middle active tab keeps you on the tab that slides into its slot', () => {
+    // [a, b, c] active=b → close b → [a, c] active=c (was right of b), not a
+    const next = removePane(group(['a', 'b', 'c'], { active: 'b', id: 'g' }), 'b')
+
+    expect(next).toMatchObject({ type: 'group', panes: ['a', 'c'], active: 'c' })
+  })
+
+  it('closing the first active tab still advances to the former next tab', () => {
+    const next = removePane(group(['a', 'b', 'c'], { active: 'a', id: 'g' }), 'a')
+
+    expect(next).toMatchObject({ type: 'group', panes: ['b', 'c'], active: 'b' })
+  })
+
+  it('closing the last active tab falls back to its left neighbor', () => {
+    const next = removePane(group(['a', 'b', 'c'], { active: 'c', id: 'g' }), 'c')
+
+    expect(next).toMatchObject({ type: 'group', panes: ['a', 'b'], active: 'b' })
+  })
+
+  it('closing a non-active tab leaves the selection alone', () => {
+    const next = removePane(group(['a', 'b', 'c'], { active: 'c', id: 'g' }), 'b')
+
+    expect(next).toMatchObject({ type: 'group', panes: ['a', 'c'], active: 'c' })
+  })
+
+  it('walks nested splits so session stacks still get the slot rule', () => {
+    const tree = split('row', [
+      group(['workspace'], { active: 'workspace', id: 'main' }),
+      group(['tile:1', 'tile:2', 'tile:3'], { active: 'tile:2', id: 'stack' })
+    ])
+    const next = removePane(tree, 'tile:2')
+    const stack = next ? findGroup(next, 'stack') : null
+
+    expect(stack).toMatchObject({ panes: ['tile:1', 'tile:3'], active: 'tile:3' })
+  })
+})