Navigation rules

Route: Library → Properties → Navigation hierarchy

Iteration note. This surface will change in the next pass — see REBUILD_PLAN.md → M5.6. The fields described below are the current set.

These are the global rules that describe how every page navigates. They live in a single DesignRules object and ship as the ## Navigation hierarchy section of design-system.md.

Fields

Field Type Values What it controls
primaryNav select left-rail · top-bar · hybrid Where the primary navigation lives on desktop
navCollapseBelow select mobile · tablet · desktop · never Below this breakpoint, the primary nav collapses into a menu
bottomNavOnMobile boolean true · false Show a bottom nav bar on mobile widths
mobileBreakpoint number px (e.g. 480) Mobile cutoff
tabletBreakpoint number px (e.g. 768) Tablet cutoff
desktopBreakpoint number px (e.g. 1024) Desktop cutoff
showBreadcrumbsOn text (CSV) layout kinds, comma-separated (e.g. detail,docs) Which layouts should render breadcrumbs
focusOrder select logical-dom · visual Keyboard focus order preference
notes text Markdown Free-form notes for anything the schema can't capture

Editing

Every input commits on blur. Numeric inputs reject non-numeric characters; the breadcrumb CSV is normalized (lowercase, trim) on commit.

What goes in notes

The schema captures the common decisions; notes is for everything else. Examples:

  • "Logo doubles as Home link on every shell."
  • "Secondary nav is a tab strip in dashboard and a sidebar in settings."
  • "Skip-to-content link required on every page."

How it shows up downstream

In design-system.md:

## Navigation hierarchy

- **Primary nav placement**: left-rail
- **Collapses below**: tablet (1024px)
- **Bottom nav on mobile**: true
- **Breakpoints**: mobile 480px · tablet 768px · desktop 1024px
- **Breadcrumbs visible on**: detail, docs
- **Focus order**: logical-dom

> Notes — Logo doubles as Home link on every shell.

In tokens.css these aren't emitted — they're behavioral, not visual. They become an authoritative spec for any AI agent or human implementing nav.