fix(waybar): scope the universal CSS reset to the bar — un-hides tray submenu arrows

BACKLOG #90 root-caused: the arrows were never missing from the icon
theme — Papirus-Dark resolves pan-end-symbolic through its breeze-dark
inheritance (breeze ships inside the nixpkgs papirus output). The real
culprit: Waybar loads its stylesheet screen-wide at application
priority, so the tray menus it hosts for SNI apps (nm-applet & co)
inherit the bar's '* { min-height: 0; }', which out-prioritizes
adw-gtk3's 16px min-height on the menuitem arrow node and collapses
the submenu arrow to zero height. Property bisect confirmed
min-height:0 alone reproduces; the font/border resets don't.

- boreal + executive-slate waybar.css, waybar.nix generatedStyle:
  '*' block scoped to 'window#waybar, window#waybar *'; tooltip rules
  restate the font (tooltips are separate toplevels outside the scope).
- stylix.nix: drop the go-next-symbolic remap — a workaround for the
  misdiagnosis; native pan-end-symbolic resolves fine.
- BACKLOG #90 deleted; JOURNAL entry records the method (live GTK3
  repro + grim screenshots + CSS property bisect, V3 on TuringMachine).

V3 pending: human click on the real nm-applet tray icon post-switch.

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

agent/BACKLOG.md

@@ -28,16 +28,6 @@ in [`docs/ROADMAP.md`](../docs/ROADMAP.md); map in
 
 ## NEXT
 
-### 90. Fix missing submenu arrows in nm-applet `[stuck]`
-**Context:** In Papirus, `pan-end-symbolic` is missing, causing `nm-applet`'s submenu indicator (e.g., "VPN Connections") to be completely invisible.
-**Attempted fixes (2026-07-11):**
-1. Bundled SVG with `-gtk-recolor` (failed due to GTK constraints).
-2. Bundled SVG with static Nix palette colors (failed).
-3. Added `.context-menu` specificity overrides for Waybar SNI tray menus (failed).
-4. Mapped to native `-gtk-icontheme("go-next-symbolic")` instead of bundled SVG (failed).
-**Next steps:** Needs a fresh look. Possibly `dbusmenu-gtk3` drops the arrow entirely or uses a custom widget structure.
-
-
 ### 76. Hibernation default — all agent work shipped `[human]`
 Hibernation + zram on by default (product intent, Bernardo 2026-07-10).
 **All V0/V1/V2 slices done** (2026-07-10); only the V3 check remains.

agent/JOURNAL.md

@@ -19,6 +19,24 @@ Template:
 
 ---
 
+## 2026-07-12 — #90 tray submenu arrows: root cause was waybar CSS (this commit)
+- **Task:** BACKLOG #90 `[stuck]` (interactive, Bernardo driving on T14s).
+- **Did:** Diagnosis was wrong — Papirus-Dark resolves `pan-end-symbolic`
+  fine via its breeze-dark inheritance (breeze ships inside the nixpkgs
+  papirus output). Real cause: Waybar's stylesheet applies process-wide,
+  and the `* { min-height: 0; }` block collapsed the arrow node in the
+  SNI tray menus Waybar hosts. Scoped the `*` block to `window#waybar`
+  in boreal + executive-slate waybar.css and waybar.nix generatedStyle
+  (tooltip rules restate the font — tooltips are separate toplevels);
+  removed the go-next-symbolic remap workaround from stylix.nix.
+- **Verified:** **V3** — live GTK3 repro app popping a dbusmenu-shaped
+  menu, screenshotted via grim: arrow vanishes with old CSS injected
+  screen-wide, renders with fixed CSS; property bisect pinned
+  `min-height: 0` as the sole culprit. V1 flake check green.
+- **Pending:** post-switch check that the real nm-applet menu shows the
+  arrow (needs a human click on the tray icon).
+- **Next suggestion:** #89 slice 2 — the override-icon layer.
+
 ## 2026-07-11 — interactive T14s session: migration follow-ups (50a5586…6967d89)
 - **Task:** Escalation — Bernardo driving, live on the migrated T14s
   (first full session on real Nomarchy hardware; 7 commits).

modules/home/stylix.nix

@@ -36,10 +36,6 @@ let
     base0F = hex c.bad;      # brown/deprecated
   };
 
-  # Submenu disclosure arrows: GTK/Adwaita expect pan-end-symbolic,
-  # but Papirus doesn't ship it. Instead of complex CSS overrides and
-  # bundled SVGs, we map the GTK CSS to use go-next-symbolic which
-  # DOES exist in Papirus.
 in
 {
   config = lib.mkIf cfg.stylix.enable {
@@ -72,13 +68,11 @@ in
             menu menuitem:disabled, .menu menuitem:disabled {
               color: #${base16.base03};
             }
-            /* Submenu disclosure arrows: map missing pan-end-symbolic to existing go-next-symbolic. */
+            /* Submenu disclosure arrows need no icon remap: pan-end-symbolic
-            menu menuitem arrow:dir(ltr), .menu menuitem arrow:dir(ltr), .context-menu menuitem arrow:dir(ltr) {
+               resolves via Papirus-Dark's breeze-dark inheritance. The
-              -gtk-icon-source: -gtk-icontheme("go-next-symbolic");
+               "invisible arrow" bug was Waybar's stylesheet leaking
-            }
+               min-height:0 into the tray menus it hosts — fixed by scoping
-            menu menuitem arrow:dir(rtl), .menu menuitem arrow:dir(rtl), .context-menu menuitem arrow:dir(rtl) {
+               the `*` block in every waybar.css to window#waybar. */
-              -gtk-icon-source: -gtk-icontheme("go-previous-symbolic");
-            }
             check, radio {
               min-width: 14px;
               min-height: 14px;

modules/home/waybar.nix

@@ -381,7 +381,12 @@ let
     /* Palette baked from theme-state.json */
     ${colorDefs}
 
-    * {
+    /* Scoped to the bar window: Waybar's stylesheet applies process-wide,
+       so a bare `*` also hits the SNI tray menus Waybar hosts (nm-applet
+       & co) — `min-height: 0` there collapses the submenu arrow node to
+       invisible. Whole-swap theme waybar.css files scope the same way. */
+    window#waybar,
+    window#waybar * {
       font-family: "${t.fonts.ui}", "${t.fonts.mono}";
       font-size: ${toString t.fonts.size}pt;
       min-height: 0;
@@ -494,6 +499,10 @@ let
       background: @surface;
       border: ${toString t.ui.borderSize}px solid alpha(@accent, 0.4);
       border-radius: ${toString t.ui.rounding}px;
+      /* Tooltips are separate toplevels, outside the window#waybar scope —
+         restate the bar font (calendar columns need consistent metrics). */
+      font-family: "${t.fonts.ui}", "${t.fonts.mono}";
+      font-size: ${toString t.fonts.size}pt;
     }
     tooltip label { color: @text; }
   '';

themes/boreal/waybar.css

@@ -23,7 +23,11 @@
 @define-color warn      #E6C384;
 @define-color bad       #E2818A;
 
-* {
+/* Scoped to the bar window: Waybar's stylesheet applies process-wide, so a
+   bare `*` also hits the SNI tray menus Waybar hosts (nm-applet & co) —
+   `min-height: 0` there collapses the submenu arrow node to invisible. */
+window#waybar,
+window#waybar * {
   /* Mono Nerd face for status glyphs (tight right bearings on the
      proportional Symbols face make icon+percentage collide). */
   font-family: "GeistMono Nerd Font", "Symbols Nerd Font Mono";
@@ -165,5 +169,10 @@ tooltip {
   background: alpha(@base, 0.96);
   border: 1px solid alpha(@accentAlt, 0.3);
   border-radius: 10px;
+  /* Tooltips are separate toplevels, outside the window#waybar scope —
+     restate the bar font (calendar/calcurse columns need the mono face). */
+  font-family: "GeistMono Nerd Font", "Symbols Nerd Font Mono";
+  font-size: 13px;
+  font-weight: 500;
 }
 tooltip label { color: @text; }

themes/executive-slate/waybar.css

@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@
 @define-color warn      #DBA85A;
 @define-color bad       #D06B71;
 
-* {
+/* Scoped to the bar window: Waybar's stylesheet applies process-wide, so a
+   bare `*` also hits the SNI tray menus Waybar hosts (nm-applet & co) —
+   `min-height: 0` there collapses the submenu arrow node to invisible. */
+window#waybar,
+window#waybar * {
   /* Mono Nerd face first for status glyphs: proportional "Symbols Nerd
      Font" has tight right bearings that make icon+percentage collide. */
   font-family: "Symbols Nerd Font Mono", "Inter", "JetBrainsMono Nerd Font", sans-serif;
@@ -179,6 +183,11 @@ tooltip {
   background: @surface;
   border: 1px solid @overlay;
   border-radius: 4px;
+  /* Tooltips are separate toplevels, outside the window#waybar scope —
+     restate the bar font (calendar/calcurse columns need the mono face). */
+  font-family: "Symbols Nerd Font Mono", "Inter", "JetBrainsMono Nerd Font", sans-serif;
+  font-size: 13px;
+  font-weight: 500;
 }
 tooltip label {
   color: @text;