feat(app-shell): wire navigation action items to the console action runtime (framework#4509)

A `type: 'action'` nav item rendered, gated like any other item, and did nothing
when clicked. NavigationRenderer dispatches such a click to an `onAction` prop it
expects the host to supply — it deliberately never reads `item.actionDef` itself
— and no shipped sidebar supplied it. So `actionDef.actionName` reached no
dispatcher: an author could put an action in the menu, watch it render with icon
and label, and never learn that clicking it was a no-op. The framework's liveness
ledger recorded this as the single gap in the AppSchema navigation surface.

`useNavActionDispatch` resolves the nav item's actionName against `action`
metadata at click time — the same source DeclaredActionsBar reads for a record
toolbar — and dispatches the resolved def through useAction(). UnifiedSidebar
passes it. No new provider: the sidebar already renders inside ConsoleShell's
GlobalActionRuntimeProvider, so nav actions get the fully-wired console runner
with its confirm/param/result/navigate dialogs. A declared `params` array becomes
the runner's param-dialog input; the nav item's own `actionDef.params` rides as
the value bag, so a menu entry can pre-fill the action it launches.

Nav actions are inherently global — ActionNavItemSchema is strict with exactly
{ actionName, params? } and carries no objectName — so resolution is by name and
no record context rides along.

Behaviour change: a shell passing no `onAction` no longer renders action items at
all, rather than rendering them dead. This mirrors the existing capability guards
and makes the omission diagnosable — a missing prop now reads as "my item is
gone", which leads to the prop, instead of "clicking does nothing", which for
three releases led nowhere. Every dispatch-time failure warns and toasts instead
of returning silently, since silence is the bug being fixed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01E5CYr5SDwe85gH2Jr5KSgu

Author: claude

.changeset/nav-action-dispatch.md

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+---
+"@object-ui/layout": minor
+"@object-ui/app-shell": minor
+---
+
+Navigation `action` items actually run now (framework#4509).
+
+A `type: 'action'` nav item rendered, gated like any other item, and did
+**nothing** when clicked. `NavigationRenderer` dispatches such a click to an
+`onAction` prop it expects the host shell to supply — it deliberately never
+reads `item.actionDef` itself — and no shipped sidebar supplied that prop. So
+`actionDef.actionName` reached no dispatcher: an author could put an action in
+the menu, watch it render with its icon and label, and never find out that
+clicking it was a no-op. The framework's liveness ledger recorded this as the
+single gap in the AppSchema navigation surface.
+
+**New `useNavActionDispatch`** (`@object-ui/app-shell`) resolves the nav item's
+`actionName` against `action` metadata at click time — the same source
+`DeclaredActionsBar` reads for a record toolbar — and dispatches the resolved
+definition through `useAction()`. `UnifiedSidebar` now passes it. No new
+provider is involved: the sidebar already renders inside `ConsoleShell`'s
+`GlobalActionRuntimeProvider`, so nav actions get the fully-wired console runner
+including the confirm, param-collection, result and navigate dialogs. A declared
+`params` array becomes the runner's param-dialog input, and the nav item's own
+`actionDef.params` is passed as the value bag, so a menu entry can pre-fill the
+action it launches.
+
+Nav actions are inherently **global**: `ActionNavItemSchema` is strict with
+exactly `{ actionName, params? }` and carries no `objectName`, so resolution is
+by name alone and no record context rides along.
+
+**Behaviour change:** a shell that passes no `onAction` no longer renders
+`action` items at all, instead of rendering them dead. This mirrors the existing
+capability guards — an item the host cannot serve is hidden — and it makes the
+omission diagnosable: a missing prop now shows up as "my action item is gone",
+which leads to the prop, rather than "clicking does nothing", which for three
+releases led nowhere. Every failure at dispatch time (an unnamed item, an
+unresolvable action, a throwing action) warns and toasts instead of returning
+silently.

packages/app-shell/src/hooks/__tests__/useNavActionDispatch.test.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+/**
+ * ObjectUI
+ * Copyright (c) 2024-present ObjectStack Inc.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * useNavActionDispatch — nav `action` items reach the action runtime
+ * (framework#4509).
+ *
+ * The contract has three parts, and the third is the one the bug was made of:
+ * resolve `actionDef.actionName` against `action` metadata, dispatch the
+ * resolved def through the runner, and FAIL LOUDLY when either step comes up
+ * empty — a silent return would reproduce the dead click through a new route.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
+import React from 'react';
+import { renderHook, act } from '@testing-library/react';
+
+const execute = vi.fn();
+const getItem = vi.fn();
+const toastError = vi.fn();
+
+vi.mock('sonner', () => ({ toast: { error: (...a: unknown[]) => toastError(...a) } }));
+vi.mock('@object-ui/react', () => ({ useAction: () => ({ execute }) }));
+vi.mock('../../providers/MetadataProvider', () => ({ useMetadata: () => ({ getItem }) }));
+
+import { useNavActionDispatch } from '../useNavActionDispatch';
+
+const navItem = (over: Record<string, unknown> = {}) => ({
+  id: 'nav_export',
+  type: 'action',
+  label: 'Export Data',
+  actionDef: { actionName: 'export_data' },
+  ...over,
+}) as never;
+
+async function dispatch(item: unknown) {
+  const { result } = renderHook(() => useNavActionDispatch());
+  await act(async () => {
+    result.current(item as never);
+    // The handler is fire-and-forget by design (the renderer's onClick is
+    // synchronous); let its promise chain settle.
+    await Promise.resolve();
+    await Promise.resolve();
+    await Promise.resolve();
+  });
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  execute.mockReset().mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+  getItem.mockReset();
+  toastError.mockReset();
+  vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {});
+});
+
+describe('useNavActionDispatch', () => {
+  it('resolves the action by name and dispatches the resolved definition', async () => {
+    getItem.mockResolvedValue({ name: 'export_data', type: 'api', target: '/exports', label: 'Export' });
+
+    await dispatch(navItem());
+
+    expect(getItem).toHaveBeenCalledWith('action', 'export_data');
+    expect(execute).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const [dispatched] = execute.mock.calls[0];
+    // The whole def rides the dispatch — the runner reads type/target/label.
+    expect(dispatched).toMatchObject({ name: 'export_data', type: 'api', target: '/exports' });
+  });
+
+  it("moves a declared `params` ARRAY to `actionParams` (the runner's dialog input)", async () => {
+    getItem.mockResolvedValue({
+      name: 'export_data',
+      type: 'api',
+      params: [{ name: 'format', type: 'text' }],
+    });
+
+    await dispatch(navItem());
+
+    const [dispatched] = execute.mock.calls[0];
+    expect(dispatched.actionParams).toEqual([{ name: 'format', type: 'text' }]);
+    // `params` on the dispatch is the VALUE bag, not the param declarations —
+    // leaving the array there would make the runner treat it as values.
+    expect(Array.isArray(dispatched.params)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("passes the nav item's own actionDef.params through as the value bag", async () => {
+    getItem.mockResolvedValue({ name: 'export_data', type: 'api' });
+
+    await dispatch(navItem({ actionDef: { actionName: 'export_data', params: { format: 'csv' } } }));
+
+    const [dispatched] = execute.mock.calls[0];
+    expect(dispatched.params).toEqual({ format: 'csv' });
+  });
+
+  it('warns and toasts — without dispatching — when the action is not defined', async () => {
+    getItem.mockResolvedValue(null);
+
+    await dispatch(navItem());
+
+    expect(execute).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(toastError).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(String(toastError.mock.calls[0][0])).toContain('export_data');
+  });
+
+  it('warns and toasts when the nav item names no action at all', async () => {
+    await dispatch(navItem({ actionDef: undefined }));
+
+    expect(getItem).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(execute).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(toastError).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it('surfaces a resolution failure instead of swallowing it', async () => {
+    getItem.mockRejectedValue(new Error('offline'));
+
+    await dispatch(navItem());
+
+    expect(execute).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(toastError).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it('surfaces a failure thrown by the action itself', async () => {
+    getItem.mockResolvedValue({ name: 'export_data', type: 'api' });
+    execute.mockRejectedValue(new Error('boom'));
+
+    await dispatch(navItem());
+
+    expect(toastError).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+});

packages/app-shell/src/hooks/index.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 export { useFavorites, type FavoriteItem } from './useFavorites';
 export { useActionModal, type ModalDescriptor } from './useActionModal';
 export { useMetadataService } from './useMetadataService';
+export { useNavActionDispatch } from './useNavActionDispatch';
 export { useNavPins } from './useNavPins';
 export {
   useNavigationSync,

packages/app-shell/src/hooks/useNavActionDispatch.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * useNavActionDispatch — make `type: 'action'` navigation items actually run.
+ *
+ * ## The disconnect this closes (framework#4509)
+ * `NavigationRenderer` renders an `action` nav item, gates it like any other
+ * (permissions, capabilities, visibility), and dispatches the click to an
+ * `onAction` prop it expects the HOST to supply — it never reads
+ * `item.actionDef` itself. No shipped shell supplied that prop, so
+ * `actionDef.actionName` reached no dispatcher: the item rendered, looked
+ * enabled, and did nothing on click. The framework liveness ledger recorded it
+ * as the one gap in the AppSchema navigation walk.
+ *
+ * ## Resolution
+ * A nav item names an action (`actionDef.actionName`); it does not carry the
+ * definition. `ActionEngine.executeAction` only knows names that were
+ * registered with it, which a sidebar has no way to arrange — so the name is
+ * resolved against `action` metadata at click time, the same source
+ * `DeclaredActionsBar` reads for a record's toolbar.
+ *
+ * Note the scope: `ActionNavItemSchema` is `.strict()` with exactly
+ * `{ actionName, params? }` — there is no `objectName`, so a nav action is
+ * inherently a GLOBAL action (ADR-0110's `'*'` scope). Resolution is by name
+ * alone, and an object-scoped action is not addressable from a nav item.
+ *
+ * Dispatch goes through `useAction()`, which under `GlobalActionRuntimeProvider`
+ * (ConsoleShell) is the fully-wired console runner — api/flow/script handlers
+ * plus the confirm, param-collection, result and navigate dialogs. The sidebar
+ * already renders inside that provider, so no new wiring is needed.
+ *
+ * ## Failure is loud
+ * Every failure path warns and toasts rather than returning silently. Silence
+ * is precisely the bug being fixed: a nav item that names an action nobody
+ * defined should say so, not reproduce the dead click through a different
+ * route.
+ */
+
+import { useCallback } from 'react';
+import { toast } from 'sonner';
+import { useAction } from '@object-ui/react';
+import type { NavigationItem } from '@object-ui/types';
+import { useMetadata } from '../providers/MetadataProvider';
+
+type ActionDefLike = Record<string, unknown> & { name?: string; params?: unknown };
+
+export function useNavActionDispatch(): (item: NavigationItem) => void {
+  const { execute } = useAction();
+  const { getItem } = useMetadata();
+
+  return useCallback((item: NavigationItem) => {
+    void (async () => {
+      const actionDef = (item as { actionDef?: { actionName?: string; params?: Record<string, unknown> } }).actionDef;
+      const actionName = actionDef?.actionName;
+
+      // The spec requires `actionDef` on this variant, but objectui's own
+      // NavigationItem type keeps it optional (the two shapes are reconciled by
+      // the navigation-spec-parity test, not by the compiler), so a nav item
+      // can reach here naming nothing.
+      if (!actionName) {
+        console.warn('[nav] action item has no actionDef.actionName — nothing to dispatch', item?.id);
+        toast.error('This menu item is not configured to run an action.');
+        return;
+      }
+
+      let def: ActionDefLike | null = null;
+      try {
+        def = (await getItem('action', actionName)) as ActionDefLike | null;
+      } catch (err) {
+        console.warn(`[nav] failed to resolve action '${actionName}'`, err);
+        toast.error(`Could not load action "${actionName}".`);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      if (!def) {
+        console.warn(`[nav] action '${actionName}' is not defined — nav item ${item?.id} cannot run`);
+        toast.error(`Action "${actionName}" is not defined.`);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      try {
+        // Same dispatch shape as DeclaredActionsBar: forward the whole def
+        // (type/target/confirmText/successMessage/…), and move a `params`
+        // ARRAY out of the way into `actionParams`, which is the runner's
+        // param-dialog input. `params` on the dispatch is the value bag, so the
+        // nav item's own `actionDef.params` lands there — that is how an author
+        // pre-fills an action from the menu entry.
+        const { params: declaredParams, ...rest } = def;
+        const dispatch: Record<string, unknown> = { ...rest };
+        const staticParams = Array.isArray(declaredParams) ? declaredParams : [];
+        if (staticParams.length > 0) dispatch.actionParams = staticParams;
+        if (actionDef?.params && typeof actionDef.params === 'object') {
+          dispatch.params = { ...(actionDef.params as Record<string, unknown>) };
+        }
+        // No `_rowRecord`: a sidebar click carries no record context. An action
+        // that interpolates `{id}` is object-scoped and was never addressable
+        // from a nav item anyway.
+        await execute(dispatch as never);
+      } catch (err) {
+        console.warn(`[nav] action '${actionName}' failed`, err);
+        toast.error(`Action "${actionName}" failed to run.`);
+      }
+    })();
+  }, [execute, getItem]);
+}

packages/app-shell/src/index.ts

@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ export type {
 export {
   useFavorites,
   useMetadataService,
+  useNavActionDispatch,
   useNavPins,
   useNavigationSync,
   NavigationSyncEffect,

packages/app-shell/src/layout/UnifiedSidebar.tsx

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import { useAuth, useIsWorkspaceAdmin } from '@object-ui/auth';
 import { useRecentItems } from '../hooks/useRecentItems';
 import { useFavorites } from '../hooks/useFavorites';
 import { useNavPins } from '../hooks/useNavPins';
+import { useNavActionDispatch } from '../hooks/useNavActionDispatch';
 import { resolveI18nLabel, matchAppBySegment, appRouteSegment } from '../utils';
 import { useObjectTranslation, useObjectLabel } from '@object-ui/i18n';
 // useObjectLabel provides appLabel/appDescription for convention-based
@@ -152,6 +153,11 @@ export function UnifiedSidebar({ activeAppName }: UnifiedSidebarProps) {
   const { context, currentAppName } = useNavigationContext();
   const { user, activeOrganization } = useAuth();
   const isWorkspaceAdmin = useIsWorkspaceAdmin();
+  // `type: 'action'` nav items dispatch through here (framework#4509). The
+  // sidebar renders inside ConsoleShell's GlobalActionRuntimeProvider, so this
+  // resolves to the fully-wired console runner — confirm/param/result dialogs
+  // included — with no provider of its own.
+  const dispatchNavAction = useNavActionDispatch();
 
   // Swipe-from-left-edge gesture to open sidebar on mobile
   React.useEffect(() => {
@@ -464,6 +470,7 @@ export function UnifiedSidebar({ activeAppName }: UnifiedSidebarProps) {
                  : resolveNavGroupLabel(activeApp.name, itemId, fallback)
              ) : undefined}
              resolveViewLabel={(objectName, viewName, fallback) => resolveNavViewLabel(objectName, viewName, fallback)}
+             onAction={dispatchNavAction}
              t={t}
              templateContext={{ currentUserId: user?.id ?? null, currentOrgId: activeOrganization?.id ?? null, contextValues }}
            />

packages/layout/src/NavigationRenderer.tsx

@@ -122,7 +122,19 @@ export interface NavigationRendererProps {
   /** Optional runtime-capability checker for `requiresObject` / `requiresService` */
   checkCapability?: CapabilityChecker;
 
-  /** Called when an `action`-type item is clicked */
+  /**
+   * Called when an `action`-type item is clicked.
+   *
+   * A shell that renders `action` items MUST supply this: the renderer has no
+   * dispatcher of its own and never reads `item.actionDef` — unpacking
+   * `actionName` / `params` and invoking the action is the host's job (see
+   * `useNavActionDispatch` in `@objectstack/app-shell`). Omitting it does not
+   * degrade to an inert button; action items are **not rendered at all**,
+   * because a nav entry that looks clickable and silently does nothing is worse
+   * than an absent one (framework#4509 — every shipped sidebar omitted this
+   * prop, so `actionDef.actionName` reached no dispatcher and every such item
+   * dead-clicked).
+   */
   onAction?: (item: NavigationItem) => void;
 
   // --- P1.7 Navigation Enhancements ---
@@ -958,6 +970,13 @@ function NavigationItemRenderer({
 
   // --- Action ---
   if (item.type === 'action') {
+    // No dispatcher, no button (framework#4509). This mirrors the capability
+    // guards above: an item the host cannot actually serve is hidden, not
+    // rendered dead. It also makes the omission visible to whoever adds a new
+    // shell — a missing `onAction` shows up as "my action item vanished",
+    // which leads to the prop, instead of "clicking does nothing", which for
+    // three releases led nowhere.
+    if (!onAction) return null;
     const Icon = resolveIcon(item.icon);
     const actionLabel = resolveLabel(item.label, tProp);
     return (