ADR 0096: Flatten the Settings directory and colocate marketplace source configuration

Superseded 2026-10-08 for marketplace-source controls: Plugins → Marketplace now uses only the official catalog and has no source selector. See the amendment to ADR 0276.

• Status: Accepted for Settings IA; marketplace-source placement superseded
• Date: 2026-08-18
• Deciders: PI-Desktop core
• Related: D166, D168, D238, ADR 0036, ADR 0058

Context

The implemented Settings rail had grown to nine entries, including a separate Extensions destination for two marketplace-source controls. The rail also wrapped destinations in Personal, Integrations, and an implicit system section. Those headings repeated information already expressed by the destination labels, while Extensions had the same visible name as the app-shell destination that owns plugin management.

The settings IA already defines eight useful destinations. Plugin marketplace source selection is a marketplace concern and belongs beside the catalog it controls, not beside appearance, providers, or project settings.

Decision

Keep the full-page Settings shell and render one flat, searchable directory in this exact order:

1. Basics
2. AI
3. Shortcuts
4. Instructions
5. Model configuration
6. Import
7. Project archive
8. Info

Remove navigation group headings and the Settings Extensions destination. At the time of this decision, move the official/mirror/custom marketplace source selector, including the custom catalog URL field and active-source status, into the app-shell Extensions → Marketplace surface. That selector has since been retired: the page now uses the official catalog only, and host-core ignores legacy source values. The shared Settings search index still contains only the eight Settings destinations.

No IPC, host protocol, storage, provider, plugin permission, or project ownership contract changes.

Consequences

• Settings has one visual hierarchy and fewer competing labels.
• The rail matches the frozen eight-destination IA and no longer duplicates the Extensions page name.
• The marketplace-source selector described by this ADR is no longer present; source selection is not a Settings destination or an Extensions control.
• Screenshot capture scenes and marketplace E2E steps use the fixed official catalog.

Alternatives

Keep the three group headings

Rejected because the groups do not add a second useful navigation level; they make the rail taller and repeat the meaning of the destination labels.

Rename Settings Extensions to Marketplace

Rejected because it would preserve a one-card Settings destination and still split marketplace browsing from marketplace configuration.

Remove marketplace source configuration

Rejected at the time because mirror and custom catalog sources were considered necessary for some networks and development catalogs. The later official-only decision retains the catalog URL fallback and a development environment override; see ADR 0276.

References

• docs/spec/04-ux/06-settings-ia.md
• docs/spec/06-delivery/04-e2e-test-plan.md
• docs/spec/07-plugins/07-plugin-marketplace.md