`. No
+ left panel is rendered at all.
+- `components/shell/top-bar.tsx` (187 lines) — brand, ``, ⌘K `NavIcon`,
+ avatar dropdown (Profile / Settings / Help / Theme / Sign out), macOS traffic-light
+ inset + fullscreen detection.
+- `components/shell/top-nav-strip.tsx` (427 lines) — Dashboard icon, hover-open Pinned
+ dropdown, horizontally scrolling open-tab chips with edge fades, ⌥1–9 / ⌥W keyboard
+ handling. Exports `NavIcon`, consumed by `top-bar.tsx`.
+- `components/sidebar/app-sidebar.tsx` (87 lines) — orphaned. Uses the shadcn `Sidebar`
+ with `collapsible="icon" variant="floating"`, a Dashboard row and a Pinned `NavGroup`.
+ Nothing imports it.
+- `components/sidebar/nav-user.tsx` (227 lines) — orphaned profile card.
+- `SidebarProvider` is already mounted in `client-layout.tsx`, so the shadcn sidebar
+ context, ⌘B toggle and persisted collapse state exist and are unused.
+
+## Target layout
+
+```
+┌──────────┬────────────────────────────┐
+│ ●●● │ (drag) ⌘K │ h-9 TopStrip, full width
+├──────────┼────────────────────────────┤
+│ mydevtools.tech │
+│ ⌂ Dashboard │
+│ │
+│ APPS ⚙ │
+│ ⚡ API Client • │
+│ ▤ Data Explorer │
+│ ✎ Notes • × │
+│ │
+│ PINNED │
+│ { } JSON Formatter │
+│ │
+│ OPEN │
+│ ⌗ Regex Tester × │
+│──────────│ │
+│ (A) akhil│ tool content │
+└──────────┴────────────────────────────┘
+```
+
+Rail: 240px expanded, 48px icon-only collapsed (tooltips on hover), ⌘B toggle, collapse
+state persisted by the existing shadcn sidebar cookie. Below the `md` breakpoint the rail
+becomes the shadcn offcanvas Sheet; the existing `MobileNav` bottom bar is untouched.
+
+## Components
+
+### `components/shell/top-strip.tsx` (new)
+
+Replaces `top-bar.tsx`. `h-9`, `data-tauri-drag-region`, `border-b`,
+`bg-[hsl(var(--surface-2))]`.
+
+Carried over verbatim from `top-bar.tsx`:
+
+- the `isTauri` / `isFullscreen` mounted-guarded state and the resulting left padding
+ (`px-4` on web, `pl-[74px]` in a non-fullscreen Tauri window, `pl-4` fullscreen);
+- the `NavIcon` component itself, moved here from `top-nav-strip.tsx` (it is the only
+ surviving consumer);
+- the ⌘K button dispatching `new CustomEvent('open-command-palette')`.
+
+Everything else in `top-bar.tsx` moves to the rail (brand, account dropdown) or is
+deleted (`TopNavStrip`).
+
+### `hooks/use-tab-shortcuts.ts` (new)
+
+The ⌥1–9 / ⌥W `keydown` effect lifted out of `TopNavStrip`, unchanged in behaviour,
+including the `e.code`-based (layout-independent) key matching and the input/textarea/
+contenteditable guard. Also exports the `closeTabAndNavigate(path)` callback that both
+the shortcut handler and the rail's row `×` buttons use, so close-and-pick-next-tab logic
+lives in exactly one place. Called once from `AppSidebar`.
+
+### `components/sidebar/app-sidebar.tsx` (rewrite)
+
+Keeps `Sidebar collapsible="icon" variant="floating"`. Sections top to bottom:
+
+1. **Brand row** — `mydevtools.tech` wordmark in Courier Prime, navigates to
+ `/dashboard`. Hidden when collapsed (the icon rail shows nothing in its place).
+2. **Dashboard row** — the existing row with the framer-motion `layoutId="sidebar-active-pill"`
+ active indicator.
+3. **APPS** — `NavGroup` rows in user order. `NavGroup` gains one optional prop,
+ `onReorder?: (paths: string[]) => void`; when supplied it wraps its rows in a
+ framer-motion `Reorder.Group` / `Reorder.Item` pair, and when omitted it renders exactly
+ as today (so Pinned and Open are unaffected). A `⚙` button in the section header opens a
+ `DropdownMenu` checklist of every default app to hide/show. Drag and the `⚙` menu are
+ disabled while the rail is collapsed.
+4. **PINNED** — the existing `NavGroup` fed by `buildPinnedNavItems`, unchanged. The
+ empty-state block ("No pinned tools yet") is retained.
+5. **OPEN** — a `NavGroup` listing open tabs whose path is in neither the visible Apps
+ list nor the Pinned list. Section is not rendered when empty.
+6. **Footer** — `NavUser`.
+
+Row labels and icons resolve through the existing `getSidebarToolMeta` and
+`getToolMessageKey` helpers, matching how the top strip resolves them today.
+
+### `components/sidebar/nav-group.tsx` (edit)
+
+The open-tab affordance is added once, inside the shared row renderer, so Apps, Pinned and
+Open all inherit it:
+
+- subscribe to `useTabStore` and mark a row open when its path matches an open tab;
+- open + not active → a 4px dot at the row's right edge;
+- hovered (or active) and open → the dot is replaced by a `×` calling
+ `closeTabAndNavigate`;
+- collapsed rail → dot only, no `×` (no room, and the tooltip already carries the label).
+
+A closed tool row behaves exactly as today.
+
+### `components/sidebar/nav-user.tsx` (edit)
+
+Currently an orphaned profile card. It absorbs the menu that dies with `top-bar.tsx`:
+Profile, Settings, Help, the `ModeToggle` theme row, and Sign out (destructive styling),
+plus the logged-out variant showing only Theme and Sign in. Data comes from the existing
+`useAppUser` / `useSignOut` hooks. Displays avatar + name expanded, avatar only collapsed.
+
+### `components/sidebar/client-layout.tsx` (edit)
+
+`` → ``, and `` is rendered as the first child of the
+existing `` row, before ``. The existing
+`state === 'collapsed'` padding branch on `` stays.
+
+### Deleted
+
+`components/shell/top-bar.tsx`, `components/shell/top-nav-strip.tsx`.
+
+## State
+
+New `store/app-rail-store.ts`, shaped after `store/pinned-tools-store.ts`:
+
+```ts
+interface AppRailStore {
+ orderByWorkspace: Record // app paths, user order
+ hiddenByWorkspace: Record // app paths the user hid
+ setOrder: (workspaceId: string, paths: string[]) => void
+ toggleHidden: (workspaceId: string, path: string) => void
+}
+```
+
+zustand `persist`, key `app-rail-storage`, version 1, localStorage only. Deliberately **not**
+synced to the backend: pinned tools are a server-owned preference, but rail order is local
+window chrome.
+
+A selector resolves the visible list: start from `DEFAULT_APPS`, order by the stored array,
+append any default app missing from it (so apps shipped in a later release show up at the
+bottom instead of vanishing), drop the hidden ones, drop paths no longer in `DEFAULT_APPS`.
+
+`DEFAULT_APPS` — the eleven heavyweight tools that have real routes:
+
+```
+/app/api-client /app/data-explorer /app/sql-client
+/app/s3-drive /app/redis-commander /app/notes
+/app/bookmarks /app/snippet-manager /app/to-do
+/app/password-manager /app/environment-manager
+```
+
+`api-key-vault` is excluded — it is a component, not a route.
+
+## i18n
+
+New `Navigation` keys — `apps`, `open`, `manageApps` — plus `dashboard` and `pinned`, which
+the dying top strip hardcoded in English. Added to `messages/en.json` and all 26 other
+locales. No ICU plurals involved, so no per-locale plural-category work.
+
+## Testing
+
+- `store/__tests__/app-rail-store.test.ts` — reorder persists; hide removes a row from the
+ visible list; a `DEFAULT_APPS` entry absent from a stored order appears at the end; a
+ stored path no longer in `DEFAULT_APPS` is dropped.
+- `components/sidebar/__tests__/app-sidebar-rbac.test.tsx` — existing suite, updated for
+ the new rail structure.
+- Manual: `pnpm dev:tauri` — traffic lights draggable and not overlapped, ⌘B collapse,
+ ⌥1–9 / ⌥W still switch and close tabs, close `×` on a row picks the neighbouring tab.
+
+## Out of scope
+
+- Drag-resizable rail width (collapse to icons only).
+- Backend sync of app order or hidden apps.
+- Mobile redesign — the rail uses the shadcn offcanvas Sheet below `md` and `MobileNav`
+ stays as is.
+- Any change to tool pages, `NavBar`, or `TabContent`.