fix(console): an app that serves the caller no navigation opens on an app-level empty state, not the Studio home (objectui#12079)

.changeset/12079-empty-nav-landing.md

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+'@object-ui/app-shell': patch
+'@object-ui/i18n': patch
+---
+
+An app that serves the signed-in user no navigation now opens on an app-level empty state, not on the Studio home (objectui#12079).
+
+The server filters an app's navigation per user. When every group is gated on a capability the user does not hold, the app arrives with `navigation: []`. The console's app index route found no landing page and rendered `StudioHomePage`, Studio's metadata overview, inside an app that had nothing to do with Studio. This was measured on HotCLM for its dev admin (objectstack-ai/hotclm#87).
+
+The app root now shows "Nothing in APP is available to you yet", with the app's own label. A user the console treats as a workspace administrator (`useWorkspaceAdminStatus`, the same check the console's no-app screen and Home's administration links use) gets an "Open Setup" link, at the URL the `/setup` deep link resolves. Everyone else is asked to contact an administrator.
+
+Unchanged:
+
+- An app with a landing page still opens on it.
+- The Studio app still opens on its own home. Its navigation is full but holds only `component` items, which the landing resolver does not walk, so it reaches the same fallback with a non-empty navigation.
+
+New `@object-ui/i18n` keys, in all ten language packs: `empty.appNothingAvailable`, `empty.appNothingAvailableDescription`, `empty.appNothingAvailableGrantDescription` and `empty.openSetup`.

packages/app-shell/src/console/AppContent.tsx

@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ import { KeyboardShortcutsDialog } from '../chrome/KeyboardShortcutsDialog.js';
 import { OnboardingWalkthrough } from '../chrome/OnboardingWalkthrough.js';
 import { RouteFader } from '../chrome/RouteFader.js';
 import { NavigationSyncEffect } from '../hooks/useNavigationSync.js';
+import { AppNoAccessEmptyState } from './AppNoAccessEmptyState.js';
+import { appServesNoNavigation } from './appServesNoNavigation.js';
+import { resolveSetupAppPath } from './ConsoleShell.js';
 
 // Route-based code splitting — lazy-load less-frequently-used routes
 const RecordDetailView = lazy(() => import('../views/RecordDetailView.js').then(m => ({ default: m.RecordDetailView })));
@@ -1075,13 +1078,30 @@ export function AppContent({ extraRoutes, extraRoutesNoApp }: AppContentProps =
                 <Route
                   path="/"
                   element={(() => {
-                    // When the app declares a landing target (home page or
-                    // first nav route) honour it; otherwise — e.g. the
-                    // metadata-admin "Studio" app whose nav is built from
-                    // domains and has no single landing — render the rich
-                    // overview instead of a blank `<Navigate to="">`.
+                    // When the app declares a landing target (first nav
+                    // route) honour it.
                     const landing = resolveLandingRoute(activeApp, { currentUserId: user?.id ?? null });
-                    return landing ? <Navigate to={landing} replace /> : <StudioHomePage />;
+                    if (landing) return <Navigate to={landing} replace />;
+                    // objectui#12079 — an app that serves this caller NO
+                    // navigation (every group gated on a capability they do
+                    // not hold) is an app they have no access in yet. Say so,
+                    // and offer Setup to a caller who can grant access: the
+                    // same `isWorkspaceAdmin` read the no-app empty state
+                    // above gates its Setup button on, and the same Setup
+                    // URL the `/setup` deep link resolves.
+                    if (appServesNoNavigation(activeApp)) {
+                      return (
+                        <AppNoAccessEmptyState
+                          app={activeApp}
+                          setupPath={isWorkspaceAdmin ? resolveSetupAppPath(apps) : null}
+                        />
+                      );
+                    }
+                    // A navigation with no landing: the metadata-admin
+                    // "Studio" app, whose nav is built from `component`
+                    // items the landing resolver does not walk. Its root is
+                    // the rich overview, not a blank `<Navigate to="">`.
+                    return <StudioHomePage />;
                   })()}
                 />
                 {/* Metadata admin routes — declared BEFORE the generic

packages/app-shell/src/console/AppNoAccessEmptyState.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * The app root's answer when the app serves this caller NO navigation
+ * (objectui#12079).
+ *
+ * The server filters an app's navigation per caller before it reaches the
+ * console (`requiredPermissions`, `requiresService` and the doc audience, with
+ * emptied groups dropped). An app whose every group is capability-gated
+ * therefore arrives as `navigation: []` for a caller who holds none of those
+ * capabilities. The sidebar is empty, and the app index route has no landing
+ * to resolve. Until objectui#12079 that route fell back to `StudioHomePage`,
+ * the Studio app's own overview, so the caller saw metadata counters and
+ * "New Object" quick actions inside an app that had nothing to do with Studio,
+ * and nothing told them what to do next.
+ *
+ * This is an app-level empty state instead. It names the app and says the
+ * caller has no access in it yet. A caller who can grant access gets a link to
+ * Setup; everyone else is told to ask an administrator.
+ */
+
+import { Link } from 'react-router-dom';
+import { Lock } from 'lucide-react';
+// The three primitives `RouteNotFound` and the app-verdict screens in
+// `AppContent.tsx` already compose, so this screen looks like its siblings and
+// adds nothing to the eager `ui-components` chunk.
+import { Button, Empty, EmptyDescription, EmptyTitle } from '@object-ui/components';
+import { useObjectLabel, useObjectTranslation } from '@object-ui/i18n';
+import { resolveKeyedI18nLabel } from '../utils/index.js';
+
+export interface AppNoAccessEmptyStateProps {
+  /** The active app, as the console's metadata list carries it. */
+  app: { name: string; label?: string | { key: string; defaultValue?: string } };
+  /**
+   * Where Setup lives, for a caller who can grant access. `null` for everyone
+   * else, which hides the link and asks them to contact an administrator.
+   */
+  setupPath: string | null;
+}
+
+export function AppNoAccessEmptyState({ app, setupPath }: AppNoAccessEmptyStateProps) {
+  const { t } = useObjectTranslation();
+  const { appLabel } = useObjectLabel();
+  // The same label the header's app switcher shows for this app.
+  const label = appLabel({ name: app.name, label: resolveKeyedI18nLabel(app.label, t) });
+
+  return (
+    <div className="flex h-full w-full items-center justify-center p-8" data-testid="app-no-access-empty-state">
+      <Empty>
+        <div className="flex size-10 items-center justify-center rounded-lg bg-muted text-muted-foreground" aria-hidden="true">
+          <Lock className="size-5" />
+        </div>
+        <EmptyTitle>
+          {t('empty.appNothingAvailable', {
+            app: label,
+            defaultValue: 'Nothing in {{app}} is available to you yet',
+          })}
+        </EmptyTitle>
+        <EmptyDescription>
+          {setupPath
+            ? t('empty.appNothingAvailableGrantDescription', {
+                defaultValue: 'This app has no pages your account can open. You can grant access in Setup.',
+              })
+            : t('empty.appNothingAvailableDescription', {
+                defaultValue: 'This app has no pages your account can open. Ask an administrator to grant you access.',
+              })}
+        </EmptyDescription>
+        {setupPath && (
+          <Button asChild variant="outline">
+            <Link to={setupPath} data-testid="app-no-access-open-setup">
+              {t('empty.openSetup', { defaultValue: 'Open Setup' })}
+            </Link>
+          </Button>
+        )}
+      </Empty>
+    </div>
+  );
+}