fix(desktop-browser): keep the chat caret while the agent works and route reload/back to the browser tab

[waleedlatif1]

Summary

• Agent work no longer steals the keyboard from the chat composer: tab views set focusOnNavigation: false (fresh views and page-opened popups), and a hidden or not-yet-listed tab that Chromium focuses anyway (a target=_blank link opened without an opener) hands focus back to Sim
• Focus moves into a page only on explicit user actions: omnibox Enter, opening a URL in a new tab, and foreground links the user opens; a page not yet on screen takes focus when it is first shown
• Cmd/Ctrl+R, Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+R, F5, Shift/Ctrl+F5 typed in a page reload that page from its own keystroke instead of relying on the app menu's focus guess (which could reload all of Sim); F5 is now bound in the menu too
• Clicking from browser chrome into the page no longer wipes the page's shortcut claim (setPanelFocused(false) keeps a claim the native page still holds)
• Browser shortcuts (Cmd+T, reload, zoom, tab switching) work while a renderer-drawn New Tab or error page hides the native view
• Back (Cmd+[) and new Forward (Cmd+]) move through the focused tab's history instead of navigating the Sim window
• Cmd/middle-click and "Open Link in New Tab" open background tabs, like Chrome
• Omnibox focus on a new blank tab is requested explicitly by the resource strip and claimed once that exact tab is on screen, so blank agent tabs never take the caret
• Omnibox Escape backs out one step at a time (highlight, then edited text, then blur); omnibox and find bar ignore keys during IME composition
• Error pages only move focus to their heading when the failed page held focus, never away from a field the user is typing in

Type of Change

• Bug fix

Testing

• New apps/desktop/e2e/browser-focus.spec.ts (Playwright _electron, writes a JSON check report to DESKTOP_BROWSER_FOCUS_REPORT_PATH): composer keeps the caret across agent open/navigate/open-tab and a target=_blank popup; omnibox navigation focuses the page; reload keys reload only the page; the page keeps its claim after chrome blur; Back/Forward move tab history; New Tab works from renderer chrome. Fails on staging at the first check, passes on this branch (3/3 repeats)
• Real-Electron probe of the same behaviors: staging 4/13, this branch 13/13; reverting the hidden-tab focus handback turns the popup check red
• Existing browser-tools e2e: no new failures vs staging (the viewport-screenshot test is flaky on both)
• vitest desktop (875) and sim browser/resource suites (200), type-check both apps, bun run lint, check-block-registry, bun run check:audits, docs-manifest:check

Checklist

• Code follows project style guidelines
• Self-reviewed my changes
• Tests added/updated and passing (new tests pass the test-audit authoring gate)
• No new warnings introduced
• I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms outlined in the Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

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1 Skipped Deployment

Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated
docs	Skipped		Sep 29, 2026 8:28pm UTC

[greptile-apps]

Confidence Score: 5/5

[Medium risk] Browser tab focus and keyboard shortcut routing in the desktop app.

The PR appears safe to merge based on the reviewed focus and shortcut changes.

Summary

The PR keeps agent-driven browser activity from taking the chat caret and routes browser focus, reload, and history actions to the appropriate tab. Since the previous review, it adds visible-view gating for deferred focus and restores popup focus to the page the user was using.

Diagram

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
  A[Browser focus request] --> B{Explicit user action?}
  B -- No --> C[Keep current keyboard focus]
  B -- Yes --> D{Native view visible?}
  D -- Yes --> E[Focus browser page]
  D -- No --> F[Defer until view is shown]
  G[Hidden popup takes focus] --> H{Active page held focus claim?}
  H -- Yes --> I[Return focus to active page]
  H -- No --> J[Return focus to Sim]

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_{Reviews (2) · Last reviewed commit: "fix(desktop-browser): return popup focus..."}

[cubic-dev-ai]

All reported issues were addressed across 13 files

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[waleedlatif1]

@greptile

[waleedlatif1]

@cubic-dev-ai review this PR

[cubic-dev-ai]

@cubic-dev-ai review this PR

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[cubic-dev-ai]

No issues found across 14 files

Confidence score: 5/5

• Automated review surfaced no issues in the provided summaries.
• No files require special attention.

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