Fixes a render bug where a federated user (e.g. axel@nova) appeared with
the federation globe icon and a broken avatar when viewed on his own home
instance. Root cause: `populateFromReady` is first-wins by federatedId and
discards the entire skipped DM payload — including its `members` array —
so when a sibling instance's ready arrived first, the home instance's view
of every shared user was dropped on the floor.
Adds a render-only `userViews` cache that mirrors the `dmAlternatives`
philosophy: information from skipped ready payloads is preserved for
rendering. Every wire surface that delivers a User upserts into the cache
regardless of dedup outcome; render sites read through a Zustand selector
hook to surface the home view when one is loaded. The DM channel ingestion
race is left untouched — the existing no-flapping invariant on origin
reconnect is intentional and load-bearing for failover.
Layered changes:
- `identity.ts`: `normalizeOriginToHost`, `canonicalUserKey`,
`isDeliveryFromHome`, `isFederationGlobeApplicable` — single helpers
for origin/host normalization and the home/stub tier decision.
- `spaceStore.ts`: `userViews` Map, `UserViewEntry` type, `upsertUserView`
action with the home-wins preference rule, prune by `deliveredBy` in
`removeInstanceSpaces` (mirrors `dmAlternatives` cleanup), `reset`
clears.
- `userViewLookup.ts`: `useCanonicalUserView` (Zustand selector hook for
React) + `getCanonicalUserView` (sync getter for non-React paths).
Render reactivity is structural via the selector, not coincidence on
legacy update paths.
- `populateFromReady` upsert pass runs BEFORE the federatedId dedup so
members of skipped DMs still reach the cache.
- WS handlers (dm_message_*, message_*, user_updated, member_joined,
friend_request_*, dm_channel_created, dm_member_added) and REST
hydrators (socialStore, discoverStore, mutuals) feed the cache with
their delivering origin.
- Render-site routing through `useCanonicalUserView` at every audited
user-rendering site (sidebar, header, search, message bubble, reply
chips, profile popout/modal, group settings, voice tiles, mention
chips, member lists, friends, invites). Self-rendering sites compose
alongside via existing `isSelf`/`resolveDisplayIdentity`.
- Globe predicate hoisted to `isFederationGlobeApplicable` and applied
at three sites, gating on `domain !== window.location.host` so we
never show the globe for users whose home IS our own.
Tests: 31 new unit tests across `identity`, `userViews` store, and
`userViewLookup`. Full suite 276/276.
Docs: `client-federation.md` §3 gains a "User View Cache" section
parallel to "DM Origin Failover"; `dm-system.md` notes the new store
action and WS handler upserts.
Bug 3 (federation profile-sync gap — orbit's stale profile data on
nova-Axel after a clear/color-change on nova never propagated)
remains open. The user-view cache routes around it for the common case
(home instance is connected), but the underlying S2S relay gap is its
own diagnosis and follows in a separate branch.
Inserts a new tier 3 between DM member lookup and identity-only fallback.
When the current space's member list doesn't contain the voice participant
(user navigated to a different space/instance), the hook now falls back
to the cached User object from ParticipantInfo. This preserves avatar,
avatarColor, displayName, and homeUserId for federated users in PiP.
Broadcast user_updated events over WebSocket when profile fields change,
updating members, DM participants, friends, and cached messages in real time.
Widen useVoiceParticipantMeta to return the full user object and add a
standalone avatarColor prop to Avatar so all ~16 callsites now resolve
the user's chosen gradient color instead of falling back to hash-based colors.
Add flex to speaking ring wrapper divs in VoiceUser and PictureInPicture
to eliminate baseline descender space that made the ring oval. Extract
useVoiceParticipantMeta hook to resolve real display names and avatars
for voice participants instead of showing raw usernames with null avatars.
Jannis Braun