stop background flash on tab switches, unblock Audit/Usage demos (#6562)

frontend/editor/src/core/components/shared/AppConfigModal.tsx

@@ -30,12 +30,26 @@ interface AppConfigModalProps {
   onClose: () => void;
 }
 
+// Extract section from URL path (e.g., /settings/people -> people)
+const getSectionFromPath = (pathname: string): NavKey | null => {
+  const match = pathname.match(/\/settings\/([^/]+)/);
+  if (match && match[1]) {
+    const section = match[1] as NavKey;
+    return VALID_NAV_KEYS.includes(section as NavKey) ? section : null;
+  }
+  return null;
+};
+
 const AppConfigModalInner: React.FC<AppConfigModalProps> = ({
   opened,
   onClose,
 }) => {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
-  const [active, setActive] = useState<NavKey>("general");
+  // Initialize from the URL so a deep link (`/settings/people`) lands on the
+  // right tab without a one-frame "general" flicker.
+  const [active, setActive] = useState<NavKey>(
+    () => getSectionFromPath(window.location.pathname) ?? "general",
+  );
   const isMobile = useIsMobile();
   const navigate = useNavigate();
   const location = useLocation();
@@ -44,17 +58,10 @@ const AppConfigModalInner: React.FC<AppConfigModalProps> = ({
   const { confirmIfDirty } = useUnsavedChanges();
   const closeButtonRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement>(null);
 
-  // Extract section from URL path (e.g., /settings/people -> people)
-  const getSectionFromPath = (pathname: string): NavKey | null => {
-    const match = pathname.match(/\/settings\/([^/]+)/);
-    if (match && match[1]) {
-      const section = match[1] as NavKey;
-      return VALID_NAV_KEYS.includes(section as NavKey) ? section : null;
-    }
-    return null;
-  };
-
-  // Sync active state with URL path
+  // Sync active state with URL path. Runs on open, on external URL changes,
+  // and on the redirect path below - NOT on intra-modal tab clicks, because
+  // those update the URL via `history.replaceState` directly and never push
+  // a new React Router location.
   useEffect(() => {
     const section = getSectionFromPath(location.pathname);
     if (opened && section) {
@@ -76,18 +83,41 @@ const AppConfigModalInner: React.FC<AppConfigModalProps> = ({
     }
   }, [opened]);
 
-  // Handle custom events for backwards compatibility.
-  // Use replace when already on /settings/* so external tab-switches
-  // don't pile up history entries that would break close-by-back.
+  // Switch tab without forcing every `useLocation()` subscriber (HomePage and
+  // its FileSidebar/Workbench/RightSidebar/FileManager tree) to re-render.
+  //
+  // First entry into /settings/* still goes through React Router so HomePage's
+  // location-watching effect opens the modal and pushes a real history entry -
+  // so the back button can close us. Subsequent tab clicks bypass React Router
+  // and mutate the URL bar via `history.replaceState`. The browser sees the
+  // URL update (deep-link / refresh still work) but React Router never fires a
+  // location change, so the layer behind the Mantine overlay never repaints
+  // and the backdrop-filter blur stops flashing.
+  const switchSection = useCallback(
+    (key: NavKey) => {
+      setActive(key);
+      const alreadyInSettings =
+        window.location.pathname.startsWith("/settings");
+      if (alreadyInSettings) {
+        window.history.replaceState(
+          window.history.state,
+          "",
+          `/settings/${key}`,
+        );
+      } else {
+        navigate(`/settings/${key}`);
+      }
+    },
+    [navigate],
+  );
+
+  // Backwards-compat: external `appConfig:navigate` events route through the
+  // same switchSection path so they get the no-flash treatment too.
   useEffect(() => {
     const handler = (ev: Event) => {
       const detail = (ev as CustomEvent).detail as { key?: NavKey } | undefined;
       if (detail?.key) {
-        const alreadyInSettings =
-          window.location.pathname.startsWith("/settings");
-        navigate(`/settings/${detail.key}`, {
-          replace: alreadyInSettings,
-        });
+        switchSection(detail.key);
       }
     };
     window.addEventListener("appConfig:navigate", handler as EventListener);
@@ -96,7 +126,7 @@ const AppConfigModalInner: React.FC<AppConfigModalProps> = ({
         "appConfig:navigate",
         handler as EventListener,
       );
-  }, [navigate]);
+  }, [switchSection]);
 
   const colors = useMemo(
     () => ({
@@ -165,23 +195,9 @@ const AppConfigModalInner: React.FC<AppConfigModalProps> = ({
     async (key: NavKey) => {
       const canProceed = await confirmIfDirty();
       if (!canProceed) return;
-
-      setActive(key);
-      // First in-modal nav (when current path isn't `/settings/*` yet) must
-      // PUSH so the originating page stays in history and close-by-back can
-      // return to it. Subsequent tab switches REPLACE so they don't pile up
-      // history entries that handleClose's navigate(-1) can't unwind.
-      //
-      // Read window.location.pathname directly (not the React hook's
-      // location.pathname) so rapid successive clicks pick up the URL
-      // change from the previous click immediately. The hook snapshot is
-      // stale between render cycles - relying on it lets a second click
-      // PUSH again before React re-renders, producing a history pile-up.
-      const alreadyInSettings =
-        window.location.pathname.startsWith("/settings");
-      navigate(`/settings/${key}`, { replace: alreadyInSettings });
+      switchSection(key);
     },
-    [confirmIfDirty, navigate],
+    [confirmIfDirty, switchSection],
   );
 
   return (

frontend/editor/src/core/tests/stubbed/settings.spec.ts

@@ -121,6 +121,81 @@ test.describe("Settings dialog", () => {
     await restored.click();
   });
 
+  test("intra-modal tab switching updates URL via replaceState, never pushState", async ({
+    page,
+  }) => {
+    // Mechanism test for the "background flash" fix. Before the fix, every
+    // tab click called `navigate(...)` which fired React Router's location
+    // subscribers - HomePage, QuickAccessBar, FileManagerView, ... - and the
+    // layer behind the Mantine overlay repainted, causing backdrop-filter
+    // blur to recompute and visibly flash. After the fix, only the very
+    // first nav into /settings/* is allowed to go through React Router (so
+    // HomePage's location-watching effect opens the modal and the back
+    // button has a real history entry to pop). Every subsequent tab click
+    // updates the URL bar via raw `window.history.replaceState`, which
+    // React Router does NOT subscribe to. We assert this directly by
+    // counting calls.
+    await page.addInitScript(() => {
+      const w = window as unknown as {
+        __historyOps: { push: number; replace: number };
+      };
+      w.__historyOps = { push: 0, replace: 0 };
+      const origPush = window.history.pushState.bind(window.history);
+      const origReplace = window.history.replaceState.bind(window.history);
+      window.history.pushState = function (...args) {
+        w.__historyOps.push++;
+        return origPush(
+          ...(args as Parameters<typeof window.history.pushState>),
+        );
+      };
+      window.history.replaceState = function (...args) {
+        w.__historyOps.replace++;
+        return origReplace(
+          ...(args as Parameters<typeof window.history.replaceState>),
+        );
+      };
+    });
+
+    await page.goto("/", { waitUntil: "domcontentloaded" });
+    await openSettings(page);
+
+    const generalNav = page.locator('[data-tour="admin-general-nav"]').first();
+    const hotkeysNav = page.locator('[data-tour="admin-hotkeys-nav"]').first();
+    await expect(generalNav).toBeVisible({ timeout: 5_000 });
+
+    // First nav into /settings/* takes the React Router path (push). We
+    // snapshot both counters AFTER this to isolate the intra-modal delta.
+    await generalNav.click();
+    await page.waitForURL(/\/settings\/general/, { timeout: 5_000 });
+    const baseline = await page.evaluate(() => {
+      const w = window as unknown as {
+        __historyOps: { push: number; replace: number };
+      };
+      return { ...w.__historyOps };
+    });
+
+    // Now do 4 round-trips between two tabs - 8 intra-modal clicks total.
+    for (let i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
+      await hotkeysNav.click();
+      await page.waitForURL(/\/settings\/hotkeys/, { timeout: 5_000 });
+      await generalNav.click();
+      await page.waitForURL(/\/settings\/general/, { timeout: 5_000 });
+    }
+
+    const after = await page.evaluate(() => {
+      const w = window as unknown as {
+        __historyOps: { push: number; replace: number };
+      };
+      return { ...w.__historyOps };
+    });
+
+    // Zero pushes during 8 intra-modal clicks - the regression would show
+    // up here as `after.push - baseline.push >= 1`.
+    expect(after.push - baseline.push).toBe(0);
+    // Exactly 8 replaces - one per click.
+    expect(after.replace - baseline.replace).toBe(8);
+  });
+
   test("close returns to origin URL even after switching tabs (no history pile-up)", async ({
     page,
   }) => {

frontend/editor/src/proprietary/components/shared/config/configNavSections.tsx

@@ -71,10 +71,6 @@ export const useConfigNavSections = (
       "settings.tooltips.enableLoginFirst",
       "Enable login mode first",
     );
-    const requiresEnterpriseTooltip = t(
-      "settings.tooltips.requiresEnterprise",
-      "Requires Enterprise license",
-    );
 
     // Workspace
     sections.push({
@@ -199,10 +195,10 @@ export const useConfigNavSections = (
           label: t("settings.licensingAnalytics.audit", "Audit"),
           icon: "fact-check-rounded",
           component: <AdminAuditSection />,
-          disabled: !runningEE || requiresLogin,
-          disabledTooltip: requiresLogin
-            ? enableLoginTooltip
-            : requiresEnterpriseTooltip,
+          // Non-Enterprise users can still click in: AdminAuditSection
+          // renders a demo preview when `!hasEnterpriseLicense`.
+          disabled: requiresLogin,
+          disabledTooltip: requiresLogin ? enableLoginTooltip : undefined,
         },
         {
           key: "adminUsage",
@@ -212,10 +208,9 @@ export const useConfigNavSections = (
           ),
           icon: "analytics-rounded",
           component: <AdminUsageSection />,
-          disabled: !runningEE || requiresLogin,
-          disabledTooltip: requiresLogin
-            ? enableLoginTooltip
-            : requiresEnterpriseTooltip,
+          // Same demo-preview story as adminAudit above.
+          disabled: requiresLogin,
+          disabledTooltip: requiresLogin ? enableLoginTooltip : undefined,
         },
       ],
     });
@@ -441,20 +436,22 @@ export const createConfigNavSections = (
           label: "Audit",
           icon: "fact-check-rounded",
           component: <AdminAuditSection />,
-          disabled: !runningEE || requiresLogin,
+          // Non-Enterprise users can click in to see the demo preview.
+          disabled: requiresLogin,
           disabledTooltip: requiresLogin
             ? "Enable login mode first"
-            : "Requires Enterprise license",
+            : undefined,
         },
         {
           key: "adminUsage",
           label: "Usage Analytics",
           icon: "analytics-rounded",
           component: <AdminUsageSection />,
-          disabled: !runningEE || requiresLogin,
+          // Non-Enterprise users can click in to see the demo preview.
+          disabled: requiresLogin,
           disabledTooltip: requiresLogin
             ? "Enable login mode first"
-            : "Requires Enterprise license",
+            : undefined,
         },
       ],
     });