redis-gui-foundation/plans/2026-03-31-hac-30-inspector-readability.md

HAC-30 Inspector Readability

Date: 2026-03-31 Owner: Senior Frontend Engineer Issue: HAC-30

Goal

Improve inspector readability and operator understanding without changing backend contracts or pulling next-phase scope into the current desktop-v1 slice.

Scope

• clarify current inspector state for live, demo, loading, and missing-key paths
• make value-surface semantics explicit for string and structured types
• keep next-step operator guidance visible near the inspector surface
• expose key facts in a stable summary card instead of relying on scattered badges and support copy
• add focused frontend tests for the readability helper

Non-Goals

• no Add Key expansion
• no delete execution contract
• no non-string edit support
• no visual-theme refresh
• no bilingual UI pass

Delivery Shape

1. Add a shared inspector-readability helper that maps selected key, live record, runtime mode, and edit capability into:
   • inspect status
   • value-surface title and description
   • next-step operator guidance
   • key facts
2. Use that helper in apps/desktop/src/App.tsx to:
   • show an explicit inspector status badge
   • add a semantic summary block above the value surface
   • replace the previous generic support note with summary and facts cards
3. Revalidate frontend tests and production build.

Acceptance

• inspector makes live string, structured read-only, demo fallback, loading, and missing-key paths visibly distinct
• operators can identify scope, type, TTL state, value shape, and write path without inferring them from raw payload text
• no backend contract change is required
• pnpm --filter @redis-gui/desktop test passes
• pnpm run desktop:build passes