Wire the universal v3 right-click context menu (`EditableContextMenu` / `NonEditableContextMenu`) onto a surface, or fix a surface's wiring. Use whenever a task says "add a right-click menu to <surface>", "wire <surface> to the context menu", "the menu is fake / can't copy / has no Export on <surface>", "Download as Markdown is missing", or collapses a leftover bespoke per-surface menu. Covers the wrapper choice, the value props, `contentSource` + `entity` to unlock Copy-as/Export/Convert/Attach/Share, and the no-fake-menu verification. NOT for editing the v3 internals — that's `features/context-menu-v3/FEATURE.md`.
Wire the universal v3 right-click context menu (`EditableContextMenu` / `NonEditableContextMenu`) onto a surface, or fix a surface's wiring. Use whenever a task says "add a right-click menu to <surface>", "wire <surface> to the context menu", "the menu is fake / can't copy / has no Export on <surface>", "Download as Markdown is missing", or collapses a leftover bespoke per-surface menu. Covers the wrapper choice, the value props, `contentSource` + `entity` to unlock Copy-as/Export/Convert/Attach/Share, and the no-fake-menu verification. NOT for editing the v3 internals — that's `features/context-menu-v3/FEATURE.md`.
context-menu-v3 — wire the universal menu onto a surface
The deep contract is features/context-menu-v3/FEATURE.md — read it once. This skill is the rollout recipe. The proven reference is /demos/context-menu/canonical (every panel is a real v3 wiring; copy the one that matches your surface). The v2 menu (UnifiedAgentContextMenu) was deleted 2026-07-19 — every surface renders v3.
Pick the wrapper
EditableContextMenu — a textarea / editor. Gives Cut / Paste / Insert / Save / Delete on top of everything else — and auto-registers a WidgetHandle from the same callbacks, so agents launched from the menu can stream widget_text_* edits into the surface in place (nothing extra to wire; proof at /demos/context-menu/inline-edit).
NonEditableContextMenu — a viewer / rendered display / read-only text. No text mutation; Copy / AI / Export / Download / Convert still work because the menu self-resolves content from the DOM.
A surface with both modes (editor + preview) uses both — one per mode.
🚨 THE DENSITY LAW — labels only, macOS-terse (Arman, 2026-08-25)
A menu item is a short verb phrase: Edit rule…, See its keywords, Revert to pack…. No description / subtext, ever, with ONE exception: a disabled item carries a description naming why it's off and where it works ("Unchanged from the pack", "Works on the Keyword Workbench"). Rule of thumb: if macOS wouldn't put it in a menu, neither do we. Any other description requires Arman's explicit approval, requested AFTER the menu ships bare — and ~95% will be refused. An agent that ships prose under menu rows has failed the task.
🚨 CANONICAL SECTIONS — check the registry BEFORE writing any extraSections
features/context-menu-v3/SECTIONS.md is the registry of shared per-identity section builders (keyword, class, level, page, CRM row, …) and THE ADOPTION PROTOCOL. The short form: if the right-clicked thing already has a registered builder, USE it — and grow it with the actions this surface makes obvious (every consumer gains them). If the thing appears on 2+ surfaces and has no builder, extract + register one. Only a truly page-local identity gets inline extraSections. Actions impossible on this surface stay visible-but-disabled with the reason as the tooltip — the menu is identical everywhere; only availability changes.
Wire a surface — the mechanical steps
Import the wrapper statically — it's the light shell; children render synchronously, and only MenuContent lazy-loads on first open. Never wrap it in a per-consumer next/dynamic (that re-adds a loading fallback and a layout-collapse null state for zero benefit).
Wrap the region in <EditableContextMenu …> (or NonEditableContextMenu).
Pass the identity + value props:sourceFeature (required), surfaceName (registry surface → AI actions + bound agents + value mappings), getApplicationScope (live, preferred) / contextData (static), extraSections, and for editables getTextarea + onTextReplace / onTextInsertBefore|After; history props and scope / scopeId as the surface needs. Use placementMode for per-placement visibility. Types: @/features/context-menu-v3/types (EditableContextMenuProps / NonEditableContextMenuProps).
Build scope through buildApplicationScopeFromMenuContext (@/features/context-menu-v3/utils/build-application-scope) — it guarantees the 5 baselines from the live DOM.
ONE MENU PER PANE — delegate per row, never nest
A list, table, or grid gets one wrapper around the whole pane, not one per row. Nesting Radix triggers opens two menus and appears nowhere in this repo. Per-row context comes from resolveContextOnOpen(target): the shell calls it with the right-clicked element before opening, and the returned object is merged over contextData, so the same single menu can say Edit "China" on a row and show list-level rows on empty space. Worked reference: features/user-lists/components/ListDetailClient.tsx + its dom-anchors.ts (read the clicked row/group off data-* attributes).
⚠️ className on the wrapper styles the menu POPUP, not the trigger. Layout classes there silently break the popup instead of the pane — style the child element you wrap.
⚠️ An overlay/window surface must mount its own menu. Without one, a right-click inside the window is answered by the page underneath, handing the user THAT page's surface, values and agents — silently wrong, and it looks like it works.
Unlock the new capabilities (do this, don't skip it)
contentSource?: ContentSource (rich-document source: {type:"note",noteId}, {type:"chat-message",…}, {type:"raw"} default) → lights up Copy-as variants, Export, Download as Markdown, Convert and links Convert→Task to the right parent. A surface with a real entity should pass its source, not raw.
entity?: {type,id,title,resourceType?,isOwner?} → lights up Attach To (scope tagging) and Share. Omit on raw fragments.
Verify — non-negotiable
pnpm type-check clean.
Open the menu on the surface and watch the console. v3 SCREAMS in dev if the menu opens inert ("INERT MENU on …") or a surface dropped a declared value ("VALUE MAPPING GAP on …"). A clean open = the values are wired. A scream = fix the wiring (provide getApplicationScope/contextData.content, or make the wrapped content selectable for the DOM fallback).
The acceptance test for any content surface: right-click without selecting → Export → Download as Markdown saves the whole content as .md; highlight first → saves the selection.
Layout & density knobs (2026-08-22)
The desktop menu is model-driven: model/menu-model.ts (what exists) → model/layouts.ts (classic | tiered | command) → MenuContent.tsx (density comfortable | compact). Pass menuLayout / menuDensity on the wrapper only when a surface must deviate; the platform defaults are the CAPS constants in types.ts. A surface's extraSections need NO layout awareness — a long section folds into one submenu named by its label (+ optional icon) in tiered/command. Never add a layout by writing JSX in the renderer — add an arrangement in layouts.ts. 🚨 THE LOSSLESS LAW: a layout may never hide, rename, or drop a row Classic shows; grouping needs Arman's explicit approval (History is the only one today). Compare all four on /demos/context-menu/layouts.
Doctrine
Reuse, never fork. Every action (copy/export/convert/print/attach/share/AI) delegates to an existing system. A surface contributes its own items via extraSections (declarative anchors), never a bespoke menu.
One menu. No per-surface context-menu component. If a surface still has one, collapse it into a direct Editable/NonEditableContextMenu usage.
