What. The settings gear's document tier rewrites the <config> of the edited buffer — that is the tier's whole point (see-what-you-set: the kwarg appears in the source pane and the preview reflects it). On a book, the live loop edits the per-chapter <chapter src> files; on a website, the loop edits the current page. In both, the master <config> — where the book-navigation family, the website-scope options (sidebar, repo, playground), and the site-wide display defaults live — is in no editor buffer, so no gear control can rewrite it visibly. This is the unseen-master problem (#443/#445 record it; browser.js's document-tier gate documents the exclusion in code).
Ruling (Ariel, 2026-07-17, #445 Phase-0 dialog). One issue covers both the book master and the website master — it is the same problem, and the affordance that solves one should solve the other. Filed per that ruling as the follow-up #445 deferred to.
What #445 shipped without it. The expanded document tier (gear metadata in config-options-doc.js) is article-surface-only. Deferred behind this issue:
- the whole Book navigation family:
chapter-nav, chapter-nav-depth, chapter-nav-side, page-navigation, cover, back-to-top, on-this-page, on-this-page-side, combined-nav (split-by additionally has only one implemented value);
- the website-scope master options:
sidebar (repo/playground are also free-text, so likely never gear controls).
The design question this issue owns. Where does a master-<config> write go, and how does the author see it happen? Candidate shapes (undecided — the fix slice's call, with Ariel): a master-editor surface (open the master as an editable buffer); a scoped rewrite with a source-reveal affordance (the gear writes the master file and shows the diff/line); or a book/website "document settings" page. Whatever the shape, the settings-spec rule holds: no control ships ahead of its read path on every surface it appears (notes/specs/settings.md).
The deliberate gate. config-options-doc.test.js pins gear controls to scope: 'all' — a gear field on a book-only/website-only key fails the guard today. Widening that assertion is this issue's first visible step, so the widening is a decision, not a drift.
Cross-refs. notes/specs/settings.md ("The unseen-master exception" + the expanded-tier section), #445 (the expansion this was split from), #443 (the write-without-read class the rule descends from).
What. The settings gear's document tier rewrites the
<config>of the edited buffer — that is the tier's whole point (see-what-you-set: the kwarg appears in the source pane and the preview reflects it). On a book, the live loop edits the per-chapter<chapter src>files; on a website, the loop edits the current page. In both, the master<config>— where the book-navigation family, the website-scope options (sidebar,repo,playground), and the site-wide display defaults live — is in no editor buffer, so no gear control can rewrite it visibly. This is the unseen-master problem (#443/#445 record it;browser.js's document-tier gate documents the exclusion in code).Ruling (Ariel, 2026-07-17, #445 Phase-0 dialog). One issue covers both the book master and the website master — it is the same problem, and the affordance that solves one should solve the other. Filed per that ruling as the follow-up #445 deferred to.
What #445 shipped without it. The expanded document tier (gear metadata in
config-options-doc.js) is article-surface-only. Deferred behind this issue:chapter-nav,chapter-nav-depth,chapter-nav-side,page-navigation,cover,back-to-top,on-this-page,on-this-page-side,combined-nav(split-byadditionally has only one implemented value);sidebar(repo/playgroundare also free-text, so likely never gear controls).The design question this issue owns. Where does a master-
<config>write go, and how does the author see it happen? Candidate shapes (undecided — the fix slice's call, with Ariel): a master-editor surface (open the master as an editable buffer); a scoped rewrite with a source-reveal affordance (the gear writes the master file and shows the diff/line); or a book/website "document settings" page. Whatever the shape, the settings-spec rule holds: no control ships ahead of its read path on every surface it appears (notes/specs/settings.md).The deliberate gate.
config-options-doc.test.jspins gear controls toscope: 'all'— a gear field on abook-only/website-onlykey fails the guard today. Widening that assertion is this issue's first visible step, so the widening is a decision, not a drift.Cross-refs. notes/specs/settings.md ("The unseen-master exception" + the expanded-tier section), #445 (the expansion this was split from), #443 (the write-without-read class the rule descends from).