feat(dashboard): simplify navigation — frequency-based IA

The sidebar had 22 items in 5 accordion groups, all defaulting closed:
first visit showed five vague headers and zero destinations, there was
no Dashboard/Home link at all, and rare pages (taxes, subscription) had
equal weight with POS. Restructured around usage frequency:

- Flat primary (always visible, no header): Dashboard, POS, Tables,
  Kitchen, Queue, Reservations, Menu, Reports
- Two collapsible groups: Customers & marketing (crm, coupons, sms,
  reviews, discover) and Café management (inventory, expenses, shifts,
  taxes, hr, branches)
- Footer utility icons: settings, subscription, support
- Removed "notifications" from the nav (duplicate of the topbar bell)

Other fixes folded in:
- Deleted [locale]/page.tsx which redirected "/" to /pos — it made the
  POS exit button a no-op loop and left OverviewScreen unreachable.
  "/" now renders the overview home; login still lands on /pos.
- Branch gating moved from group-level to an item whitelist
  (BRANCH_ALLOWED_NAV_KEYS) — also closes the hole where branch
  accounts could deep-link to /reports etc. past the RouteGuard.
- RouteGuard now checks footer items too (subscription stays gated).
- revalidate=300 on the locale layout: Next emitted s-maxage=31536000
  and the WCDN edge kept serving year-old HTML shells after deploys.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

web/dashboard/messages/ar.json

@@ -102,12 +102,10 @@
     "collapseSidebar": "طي الشريط الجانبي",
     "expandSidebar": "توسيع الشريط الجانبي",
     "groups": {
-      "operations": "العمليات اليومية",
-      "menuSales": "القائمة والمبيعات",
-      "customers": "العملاء",
-      "finance": "التقارير والمالية",
+      "customers": "العملاء والتسويق",
       "management": "إدارة المقهى"
     },
+    "home": "لوحة التحكم",
     "pos": "نقطة البيع",
     "tables": "الطاولات",
     "menu": "القائمة",

web/dashboard/messages/en.json

@@ -113,12 +113,10 @@
     "collapseSidebar": "Collapse sidebar",
     "expandSidebar": "Expand sidebar",
     "groups": {
-      "operations": "Daily operations",
-      "menuSales": "Menu & sales",
-      "customers": "Customers",
-      "finance": "Reports & finance",
+      "customers": "Customers & marketing",
       "management": "Café management"
     },
+    "home": "Dashboard",
     "pos": "POS",
     "tables": "Tables",
     "crm": "CRM",

web/dashboard/messages/fa.json

@@ -113,12 +113,10 @@
     "collapseSidebar": "جمع کردن نوار کناری",
     "expandSidebar": "باز کردن نوار کناری",
     "groups": {
-      "operations": "عملیات روزانه",
-      "menuSales": "منو و فروش",
-      "customers": "مشتریان",
-      "finance": "گزارش و مالی",
+      "customers": "مشتریان و بازاریابی",
       "management": "مدیریت کافه"
     },
+    "home": "داشبورد",
     "pos": "صندوق",
     "tables": "میزها",
     "crm": "مشتریان",

web/dashboard/src/app/[locale]/layout.tsx

@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ export function generateStaticParams() {
   return routing.locales.map((locale) => ({ locale }));
 }
 
+// Cap the prerendered-HTML cache lifetime. Without this Next emits
+// `s-maxage=31536000` and the WCDN edge in front of app.meezi.ir keeps serving
+// year-old HTML shells (pointing at deleted JS chunks) long after a deploy.
+// 5 minutes keeps pages static+fast while letting deploys go live promptly.
+export const revalidate = 300;
+
 export default async function LocaleLayout({
   children,
   params,

web/dashboard/src/app/[locale]/page.tsx

@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-import { redirect } from "@/i18n/routing";
-
-export default async function HomePage({
-  params,
-}: {
-  params: Promise<{ locale: string }>;
-}) {
-  const { locale } = await params;
-  redirect({ href: "/pos", locale });
-}

web/dashboard/src/components/auth/route-guard.tsx

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { useMemo } from "react";
 import { ShieldX } from "lucide-react";
 import { useTranslations } from "next-intl";
 import { usePathname } from "@/i18n/routing";
-import { NAV_GROUPS, type NavItemKey } from "@/lib/sidebar-nav";
+import { ALL_NAV_ITEMS, type NavItemKey } from "@/lib/sidebar-nav";
 import { NAV_REQUIRED_PERMISSION } from "@/lib/permissions";
 import { canSeeNavItem } from "@/lib/auth-permissions";
 import { permissionsOf } from "@/lib/permissions";
@@ -12,11 +12,13 @@ import { useAuthStore } from "@/lib/stores/auth.store";
 
 /** Resolve the nav item key that owns the given pathname (locale already stripped). */
 function navKeyForPath(pathname: string): NavItemKey | null {
-  for (const group of NAV_GROUPS) {
-    for (const item of group.items) {
-      if (pathname === item.href || pathname.startsWith(`${item.href}/`)) {
-        return item.key;
-      }
+  for (const item of ALL_NAV_ITEMS) {
+    if (item.href === "/") {
+      if (pathname === "/") return item.key;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (pathname === item.href || pathname.startsWith(`${item.href}/`)) {
+      return item.key;
     }
   }
   return null;

web/dashboard/src/components/layout/sidebar.tsx

@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@ import { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useState } from "react";
 import { ChevronDown, ChevronLeft, ChevronRight } from "lucide-react";
 import { useTranslations } from "next-intl";
 import { Link, usePathname } from "@/i18n/routing";
-import { canSeeNavGroup, canSeeNavItem } from "@/lib/auth-permissions";
+import { canSeeNavItem } from "@/lib/auth-permissions";
 import { permissionsOf } from "@/lib/permissions";
 import {
+  FOOTER_NAV,
   NAV_GROUPS,
   NAV_GROUPS_STORAGE_KEY,
   findNavGroupForPath,
@@ -45,8 +46,8 @@ function buildDefaultOpenGroups(): OpenGroupsState {
   const stored = readStoredOpenGroups();
   const defaults: OpenGroupsState = {};
   for (const g of NAV_GROUPS) {
-    // Default ALL groups closed on first visit; only restore if user explicitly saved state.
-    defaults[g.id] = stored[g.id] ?? false;
+    if (g.flat) continue; // flat groups are always expanded — no state
+    defaults[g.id] = stored[g.id] ?? g.defaultOpen;
   }
   return defaults;
 }
@@ -59,6 +60,11 @@ function persistOpenGroups(next: OpenGroupsState): void {
   }
 }
 
+function isItemActive(item: NavItemDef, pathname: string): boolean {
+  if (item.href === "/") return pathname === "/";
+  return pathname === item.href || pathname.startsWith(`${item.href}/`);
+}
+
 function NavLink({
   item,
   label,
@@ -124,24 +130,27 @@ function NavGroupSection({
   );
   if (visibleItems.length === 0) return null;
 
-  // Collapsed: drop the group header, show items as a flat icon-only list
-  // with a subtle divider between groups.
-  if (collapsed) {
+  // Flat groups (daily-use primary nav) and the collapsed-rail mode both render
+  // as a plain list — no header, always expanded.
+  if (group.flat || collapsed) {
     return (
-      <div className="mb-1 space-y-0.5 border-t border-border/60 pt-1 first:border-t-0 first:pt-0">
-        {visibleItems.map((item) => {
-          const active =
-            pathname === item.href || pathname.startsWith(`${item.href}/`);
-          return (
-            <NavLink
-              key={item.key}
-              item={item}
-              label={tItem(item.key)}
-              active={active}
-              collapsed
-            />
-          );
-        })}
+      <div
+        className={cn(
+          "space-y-0.5",
+          collapsed
+            ? "mb-1 border-t border-border/60 pt-1 first:border-t-0 first:pt-0"
+            : "mb-2"
+        )}
+      >
+        {visibleItems.map((item) => (
+          <NavLink
+            key={item.key}
+            item={item}
+            label={tItem(item.key)}
+            active={isItemActive(item, pathname)}
+            collapsed={collapsed}
+          />
+        ))}
       </div>
     );
   }
@@ -173,19 +182,15 @@ function NavGroupSection({
       >
         <div className="overflow-hidden">
           <div className="space-y-0.5 pb-1 pt-0.5">
-            {visibleItems.map((item) => {
-              const active =
-                pathname === item.href || pathname.startsWith(`${item.href}/`);
-              return (
-                <NavLink
-                  key={item.key}
-                  item={item}
-                  label={tItem(item.key)}
-                  active={active}
-                  collapsed={false}
-                />
-              );
-            })}
+            {visibleItems.map((item) => (
+              <NavLink
+                key={item.key}
+                item={item}
+                label={tItem(item.key)}
+                active={isItemActive(item, pathname)}
+                collapsed={false}
+              />
+            ))}
           </div>
         </div>
       </div>
@@ -232,10 +237,14 @@ export function Sidebar({ side }: { side: "left" | "right" }) {
 
   const visibleGroups = useMemo(
     () =>
-      NAV_GROUPS.filter((g) => {
-        if (!canSeeNavGroup(g.id, role, branchId)) return false;
-        return g.items.some((item) => canSeeNavItem(item.key, role, branchId, permissions));
-      }),
+      NAV_GROUPS.filter((g) =>
+        g.items.some((item) => canSeeNavItem(item.key, role, branchId, permissions))
+      ),
+    [role, branchId, permissions]
+  );
+
+  const visibleFooterItems = useMemo(
+    () => FOOTER_NAV.filter((item) => canSeeNavItem(item.key, role, branchId, permissions)),
     [role, branchId, permissions]
   );
 
@@ -244,6 +253,7 @@ export function Sidebar({ side }: { side: "left" | "right" }) {
     setOpenGroups((_prev) => {
       const next: OpenGroupsState = {};
       for (const g of NAV_GROUPS) {
+        if (g.flat) continue;
         // If opening: only the clicked group becomes true; everything else closes.
         // If closing: just close the clicked group, leave others as-is.
         next[g.id] = open ? g.id === groupId : g.id === groupId ? false : (_prev[g.id] ?? false);
@@ -253,7 +263,7 @@ export function Sidebar({ side }: { side: "left" | "right" }) {
     });
   }, []);
 
-  // When navigating to a new path, open only the group that contains that path (accordion).
+  // When navigating to a path inside a collapsible group, open that group.
   useEffect(() => {
     const activeGroup = findNavGroupForPath(pathname);
     if (!activeGroup) return;
@@ -262,6 +272,7 @@ export function Sidebar({ side }: { side: "left" | "right" }) {
       // Accordion: open active group, close all others
       const next: OpenGroupsState = {};
       for (const g of NAV_GROUPS) {
+        if (g.flat) continue;
         next[g.id] = g.id === activeGroup;
       }
       persistOpenGroups(next);
@@ -320,29 +331,24 @@ export function Sidebar({ side }: { side: "left" | "right" }) {
               ))}
             </div>
           ) : (
-            <div className="space-y-3 px-1 pt-1">
-              {[40, 32, 40, 32, 40].map((w, i) => (
-                <div key={i} className="space-y-1.5">
-                  <div className="h-2 w-20 animate-pulse rounded bg-muted" />
-                  {Array.from({ length: i % 2 === 0 ? 3 : 2 }).map((_, j) => (
-                    <div
-                      key={j}
-                      className="h-8 animate-pulse rounded-lg bg-muted"
-                      style={{ width: `${w + j * 4}%` }}
-                    />
-                  ))}
-                </div>
+            <div className="space-y-1.5 px-1 pt-1">
+              {[88, 72, 80, 64, 76, 84, 68, 60].map((w, i) => (
+                <div
+                  key={i}
+                  className="h-8 animate-pulse rounded-lg bg-muted"
+                  style={{ width: `${w}%` }}
+                />
               ))}
             </div>
           )
         ) : (
           visibleGroups.map((group) => {
-            const isOpen = openGroups[group.id] ?? group.defaultOpen;
+            const isOpen = group.flat ? true : (openGroups[group.id] ?? group.defaultOpen);
             return (
               <NavGroupSection
                 key={group.id}
                 group={group}
-                title={tGroups(group.id)}
+                title={group.flat ? "" : tGroups(group.id)}
                 open={isOpen}
                 onToggle={() => setGroupOpen(group.id, !isOpen)}
                 pathname={pathname}
@@ -357,8 +363,40 @@ export function Sidebar({ side }: { side: "left" | "right" }) {
         )}
       </nav>
 
-      {/* Footer — user info + collapse toggle */}
+      {/* Footer — utility links + user info + collapse toggle */}
       <div className="shrink-0 border-t border-border">
+        {/* Utility links (settings / subscription / support) — compact icon row */}
+        {hasHydrated && visibleFooterItems.length > 0 && (
+          <div
+            className={cn(
+              "flex border-b border-border/50",
+              collapsed ? "flex-col items-center gap-0.5 py-1.5" : "items-center justify-around px-2 py-1.5"
+            )}
+          >
+            {visibleFooterItems.map((item) => {
+              const Icon = item.icon;
+              const active = isItemActive(item, pathname);
+              const label = t(item.key);
+              return (
+                <Link
+                  key={item.key}
+                  href={item.href}
+                  title={label}
+                  aria-label={label}
+                  className={cn(
+                    "flex h-9 w-9 items-center justify-center rounded-lg transition-colors cursor-pointer",
+                    active
+                      ? "bg-accent text-primary"
+                      : "text-muted-foreground hover:bg-accent/50 hover:text-foreground"
+                  )}
+                >
+                  <Icon className="h-4 w-4" aria-hidden />
+                </Link>
+              );
+            })}
+          </div>
+        )}
+
         {/* User badge */}
         {user && (
           <div

web/dashboard/src/lib/auth-permissions.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { BRANCH_ONLY_NAV_GROUP, type NavGroupId, type NavItemKey } from "@/lib/sidebar-nav";
+import { BRANCH_ALLOWED_NAV_KEYS, type NavItemKey } from "@/lib/sidebar-nav";
 import { NAV_REQUIRED_PERMISSION } from "@/lib/permissions";
 
 /** Cafe owner (HQ) — billing, taxes, branches. */
@@ -13,27 +13,17 @@ export function isBranchAccount(branchId: string | null | undefined): boolean {
 
 export const OWNER_ONLY_NAV_KEYS = ["subscription", "taxes", "branches"] as const;
 
-export function canSeeNavGroup(
-  groupId: NavGroupId,
-  role: string | undefined,
-  branchId: string | null | undefined
-): boolean {
-  if (isBranchAccount(branchId) && groupId !== BRANCH_ONLY_NAV_GROUP) {
-    return false;
-  }
-  return true;
-}
-
 export function canSeeNavItem(
   key: string,
   role: string | undefined,
   branchId: string | null | undefined,
   permissions?: Set<string> | null
 ): boolean {
-  if ((OWNER_ONLY_NAV_KEYS as readonly string[]).includes(key) && !isCafeOwner(role)) {
+  // Branch-scoped staff only see daily-operations destinations.
+  if (isBranchAccount(branchId) && !BRANCH_ALLOWED_NAV_KEYS.has(key as NavItemKey)) {
     return false;
   }
-  if (key === "branches" && isBranchAccount(branchId)) {
+  if ((OWNER_ONLY_NAV_KEYS as readonly string[]).includes(key) && !isCafeOwner(role)) {
     return false;
   }
   // Permission-based page visibility. `permissions === null` means a legacy

web/dashboard/src/lib/sidebar-nav.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import type { LucideIcon } from "lucide-react";
 import {
+  LayoutDashboard,
   LayoutGrid,
   UtensilsCrossed,
   Users,
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@ import {
   Receipt,
   Settings,
   ChefHat,
-  Bell,
   ListOrdered,
   Building2,
   CreditCard,
@@ -24,23 +24,23 @@ import {
   Compass,
 } from "lucide-react";
 
-export type NavGroupId = "operations" | "menuSales" | "customers" | "finance" | "management";
+export type NavGroupId = "main" | "customers" | "management";
 
 export type NavItemKey =
+  | "home"
   | "pos"
   | "tables"
-  | "queue"
   | "kds"
-  | "notifications"
+  | "queue"
   | "reservations"
   | "menu"
-  | "inventory"
-  | "coupons"
+  | "reports"
   | "crm"
+  | "coupons"
   | "sms"
   | "reviews"
   | "discover"
-  | "reports"
+  | "inventory"
   | "expenses"
   | "shifts"
   | "taxes"
@@ -58,72 +58,86 @@ export type NavItemDef = {
 
 export type NavGroupDef = {
   id: NavGroupId;
+  /** Flat groups render without a header and are always expanded. */
+  flat?: boolean;
   defaultOpen: boolean;
   items: NavItemDef[];
 };
 
+/**
+ * Frequency-based IA: the flat "main" group holds everything a café touches
+ * daily (always visible, no clicks to reach); the two collapsible groups hold
+ * weekly/monthly destinations; FOOTER_NAV holds rare utility pages.
+ */
 export const NAV_GROUPS: NavGroupDef[] = [
   {
-    id: "operations",
+    id: "main",
+    flat: true,
     defaultOpen: true,
     items: [
+      { key: "home", href: "/", icon: LayoutDashboard },
       { key: "pos", href: "/pos", icon: LayoutGrid },
       { key: "tables", href: "/tables", icon: UtensilsCrossed },
-      { key: "queue", href: "/queue", icon: ListOrdered },
       { key: "kds", href: "/kds", icon: ChefHat },
-      { key: "notifications", href: "/notifications", icon: Bell },
+      { key: "queue", href: "/queue", icon: ListOrdered },
       { key: "reservations", href: "/reservations", icon: Calendar },
-    ],
-  },
-  {
-    id: "menuSales",
-    defaultOpen: true,
-    items: [
       { key: "menu", href: "/menu", icon: BookOpen },
-      { key: "inventory", href: "/inventory", icon: Package },
-      { key: "coupons", href: "/coupons", icon: Ticket },
+      { key: "reports", href: "/reports", icon: BarChart3 },
     ],
   },
   {
     id: "customers",
-    defaultOpen: true,
+    defaultOpen: false,
     items: [
       { key: "crm", href: "/crm", icon: Users },
+      { key: "coupons", href: "/coupons", icon: Ticket },
       { key: "sms", href: "/sms", icon: MessageSquare },
       { key: "reviews", href: "/reviews", icon: Star },
       { key: "discover", href: "/discover", icon: Compass },
     ],
   },
   {
-    id: "finance",
-    defaultOpen: true,
+    id: "management",
+    defaultOpen: false,
     items: [
-      { key: "reports", href: "/reports", icon: BarChart3 },
+      { key: "inventory", href: "/inventory", icon: Package },
       { key: "expenses", href: "/expenses", icon: Wallet },
       { key: "shifts", href: "/shifts", icon: Clock },
       { key: "taxes", href: "/taxes", icon: Receipt },
-    ],
-  },
-  {
-    id: "management",
-    defaultOpen: true,
-    items: [
       { key: "hr", href: "/hr", icon: UserCog },
       { key: "branches", href: "/branches", icon: Building2 },
-      { key: "subscription", href: "/subscription", icon: CreditCard },
-      { key: "settings", href: "/settings", icon: Settings },
-      { key: "support", href: "/support", icon: LifeBuoy },
     ],
   },
 ];
 
-export const NAV_GROUPS_STORAGE_KEY = "meezi:nav-groups:v4";
+/** Compact utility links rendered in the sidebar footer (outside the scroll area). */
+export const FOOTER_NAV: NavItemDef[] = [
+  { key: "settings", href: "/settings", icon: Settings },
+  { key: "subscription", href: "/subscription", icon: CreditCard },
+  { key: "support", href: "/support", icon: LifeBuoy },
+];
 
-/** Branch-scoped staff only see daily operations. */
-export const BRANCH_ONLY_NAV_GROUP: NavGroupId = "operations";
+/** Every nav destination (groups + footer) — used by the route guard. */
+export const ALL_NAV_ITEMS: NavItemDef[] = [
+  ...NAV_GROUPS.flatMap((g) => g.items),
+  ...FOOTER_NAV,
+];
+
+export const NAV_GROUPS_STORAGE_KEY = "meezi:nav-groups:v5";
+
+/** Branch-scoped staff only see daily-operations destinations. */
+export const BRANCH_ALLOWED_NAV_KEYS: ReadonlySet<NavItemKey> = new Set<NavItemKey>([
+  "home",
+  "pos",
+  "tables",
+  "kds",
+  "queue",
+  "reservations",
+]);
 
 export function findNavGroupForPath(pathname: string): NavGroupId | null {
   for (const group of NAV_GROUPS) {
+    if (group.flat) continue; // flat groups have no open/closed state
     for (const item of group.items) {
       if (pathname === item.href || pathname.startsWith(`${item.href}/`)) {
         return group.id;