feat(zddc): Phase 3 — DefaultToolAt cascade propagation + apps.DefaultAppAt migration

Two pieces:

1. Lookup helpers walk chain.Levels from leaf back to root. The
   "parent applies to descendants unless overridden" cascade rule
   means a working/ default_tool=mdedit propagates to deep paths
   like working/alice@example.com/notes/sub/deep without anyone
   declaring it at every level. AutoOwnAt and VirtualAt follow the
   same walk; explicit false at a descendant can override an
   ancestor's true (*bool semantics).

2. apps.DefaultAppAt delegates to zddc.DefaultToolAt. The hardcoded
   switch on parts[1] (archive→archive, staging→transmittal,
   working→mdedit, reviewing→mdedit, mdl→tables) and its case-
   sensitivity quirks now live in defaults.zddc.yaml. Operators can
   override any of these per-directory with an on-disk .zddc; no
   code change required.

Semantic improvement: archive/<party>/incoming previously defaulted
to "archive" (because parts[1]=archive and the switch didn't look
deeper). The new convention routes it to "classifier" — incoming/ is
the bulk-rename surface, not a record browser. Updated
availability_test.go to reflect.

All other DefaultAppAt cases — including case-fold (Archive/MDL),
mdl override, reviewing virtual, project root returning "", random
non-canonical names returning "" — produce bit-identical output.

Two new tests in lookups_test.go cover the propagation:
  - TestDefaultToolAt_PropagatesToDescendants
  - TestAutoOwnAt_DescendantCanDisable

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

zddc/internal/apps/availability.go

@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package apps
 import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
+
+	"codeberg.org/VARASYS/ZDDC/zddc/internal/zddc"
 )
 
 // AppAvailableAt reports whether app's virtual HTML can be served at
@@ -95,6 +97,16 @@ func inAncestorWithName(root, requestDir string, names ...string) bool {
 //
 // requestDir and root are absolute filesystem paths; requestDir must
 // be under root (otherwise "" is returned).
+//
+// Phase 3b: delegates to zddc.DefaultToolAt, which resolves the
+// answer from the .zddc cascade (operator on-disk + embedded
+// defaults). The convention previously hardcoded in the switch
+// statement below now lives in zddc/internal/zddc/defaults.zddc.yaml
+// and is overridable per-directory by operators.
+//
+// Project root itself (depth-1) still returns "" — the cascade
+// doesn't declare a default tool for it (landing is handled by the
+// dispatcher's own depth-1 check).
 func DefaultAppAt(root, requestDir string) string {
 	root = filepath.Clean(root)
 	requestDir = filepath.Clean(requestDir)
@@ -107,25 +119,9 @@ func DefaultAppAt(root, requestDir string) string {
 	}
 	parts := strings.Split(rel, string(filepath.Separator))
 	if len(parts) < 2 {
-		// Project root itself — no default tool.
+		// Project root itself — no default tool from the cascade.
+		// (Landing is handled separately by the dispatcher.)
 		return ""
 	}
-	// The project segment is parts[0]; canonical folder is parts[1].
+	return zddc.DefaultToolAt(root, requestDir)
-	canonical := strings.ToLower(parts[1])
-	switch canonical {
-	case "archive":
-		// Inside archive/. Check for the mdl sub-case at depth 4
-		// (parts: project, archive, party, mdl).
-		if len(parts) >= 4 && strings.EqualFold(parts[3], "mdl") {
-			return "tables"
-		}
-		return "archive"
-	case "staging":
-		return "transmittal"
-	case "working":
-		return "mdedit"
-	case "reviewing":
-		return "mdedit"
-	}
-	return ""
 }

zddc/internal/apps/availability_test.go

@@ -86,11 +86,13 @@ func TestDefaultAppAt(t *testing.T) {
 		{root + "/Project-A/working/2026-06-15_x (DFT) - y", "mdedit"},
 		{root + "/Project-A/staging", "transmittal"},
 		{root + "/Project-A/staging/2026-06-15_x (DFT) - y", "transmittal"},
-		// archive: at the archive root, party folders, and per-party
+		// archive: at the archive root, party folders default to archive.
-		// subfolders (incoming/received/issued).
+		// Per-party subfolders override per their function:
+		//   incoming → classifier (the bulk-rename workflow)
+		//   received / issued     → archive (WORM record browser)
 		{root + "/Project-A/archive", "archive"},
 		{root + "/Project-A/archive/Acme", "archive"},
-		{root + "/Project-A/archive/Acme/incoming", "archive"},
+		{root + "/Project-A/archive/Acme/incoming", "classifier"},
 		{root + "/Project-A/archive/Acme/issued", "archive"},
 		{root + "/Project-A/archive/Acme/received", "archive"},
 		// mdl wins over the broader archive rule.

zddc/internal/handler/tables.html

@@ -1300,7 +1300,7 @@ body.help-open .app-header {
             </svg>
             <div class="header-title-group">
                 <span class="app-header__title" id="table-title">ZDDC Table</span>
-                <span class="build-timestamp"><span style="color:red;font-weight:bold">v0.0.17-alpha · 2026-05-11 20:00:21 · 2f08418-dirty</span></span>
+                <span class="build-timestamp"><span style="color:red;font-weight:bold">v0.0.17-alpha · 2026-05-11 20:05:10 · ea0d29e-dirty</span></span>
             </div>
         </div>
         <div class="header-right">

zddc/internal/zddc/lookups.go

@@ -9,34 +9,44 @@ import (
 // the directory at dirPath. Empty when no cascade level (on-disk or
 // virtual via Paths) has declared a DefaultTool.
 //
-// Used by the URL dispatcher to route no-slash directory URLs (e.g.
+// Lookup walks chain.Levels from leaf toward root, returning the
-// /Project/working) to the appropriate tool. Replaces the hardcoded
+// first non-empty value. This implements the "parent applies to
-// apps.DefaultAppAt matrix once consumers are migrated (Phase 3b).
+// descendants unless overridden" cascade rule: a working/ folder's
+// default_tool=mdedit propagates to working/alice/notes/ even when
+// no .zddc declares mdedit at the deeper levels.
+//
+// Used by the URL dispatcher to route no-slash directory URLs.
+// Replaces apps.DefaultAppAt once consumers are migrated (Phase 3b).
 func DefaultToolAt(fsRoot, dirPath string) string {
 	chain, err := EffectivePolicy(fsRoot, dirPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return ""
 	}
-	if dt := leafLevel(chain).DefaultTool; dt != "" {
+	for i := len(chain.Levels) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
-		return dt
+		if dt := chain.Levels[i].DefaultTool; dt != "" {
+			return dt
+		}
 	}
 	return chain.Embedded.DefaultTool
 }
 
 // AutoOwnAt reports whether mkdir at this directory should write an
-// auto-owned .zddc. False (with explicit set) and unset both return
+// auto-owned .zddc. Returns the deepest explicit value found in the
-// false to the caller; the file API only auto-owns when at least one
+// cascade (true OR false), falling back to false when nothing set
-// cascade level explicitly set auto_own: true.
+// anywhere. *bool semantics let descendants explicitly disable an
+// ancestor's auto_own: true.
 //
-// Replaces the AutoOwnCanonicalNames hardcoded list once the file
+// Replaces AutoOwnCanonicalNames once the file API's mkdir hook is
-// API's mkdir hook is migrated.
+// migrated.
 func AutoOwnAt(fsRoot, dirPath string) bool {
 	chain, err := EffectivePolicy(fsRoot, dirPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false
 	}
-	if v := leafLevel(chain).AutoOwn; v != nil {
+	for i := len(chain.Levels) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
-		return *v
+		if v := chain.Levels[i].AutoOwn; v != nil {
+			return *v
+		}
 	}
 	if v := chain.Embedded.AutoOwn; v != nil {
 		return *v
@@ -45,18 +55,19 @@ func AutoOwnAt(fsRoot, dirPath string) bool {
 }
 
 // VirtualAt reports whether the directory at dirPath is declared as
-// purely virtual (never materialise on disk). Used by
+// purely virtual. Walks the cascade like DefaultToolAt; deepest
-// EnsureCanonicalAncestors to skip MkdirAll for these paths.
+// explicit value wins.
 //
-// Replaces the VirtualOnlyCanonicalNames hardcoded list once
+// Replaces VirtualOnlyCanonicalNames once consumers are migrated.
-// consumers are migrated.
 func VirtualAt(fsRoot, dirPath string) bool {
 	chain, err := EffectivePolicy(fsRoot, dirPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false
 	}
-	if v := leafLevel(chain).Virtual; v != nil {
+	for i := len(chain.Levels) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
-		return *v
+		if v := chain.Levels[i].Virtual; v != nil {
+			return *v
+		}
 	}
 	if v := chain.Embedded.Virtual; v != nil {
 		return *v

zddc/internal/zddc/lookups_test.go

@@ -154,6 +154,41 @@ func TestOperatorOverride_DefaultsAreSurfaceable(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestDefaultToolAt_PropagatesToDescendants — once an ancestor sets
+// default_tool, descendants inherit it unless they override. So a
+// path under working/ that isn't explicitly declared in paths: still
+// gets mdedit as its default tool.
+func TestDefaultToolAt_PropagatesToDescendants(t *testing.T) {
+	resetCache()
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	// Deep path under working/ — not explicitly mentioned in paths:.
+	deep := filepath.Join(root, "Project-X", "working", "alice@example.com", "notes", "sub", "deep")
+	if got := DefaultToolAt(root, deep); got != "mdedit" {
+		t.Errorf("DefaultToolAt(%q) = %q, want mdedit (cascade propagation)",
+			deep[len(root):], got)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestAutoOwnAt_DescendantCanDisable — explicit auto_own:false at a
+// descendant overrides an ancestor's auto_own:true.
+func TestAutoOwnAt_DescendantCanDisable(t *testing.T) {
+	resetCache()
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	deepDir := filepath.Join(root, "Project-X", "working", "alice@example.com")
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(deepDir, 0o755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	writeZddc(t, deepDir, "auto_own: false\n")
+	if got := AutoOwnAt(root, deepDir); got != false {
+		t.Errorf("AutoOwnAt(%q) = %v, want false (descendant override)", deepDir, got)
+	}
+	// Ancestor still has it true.
+	ancestor := filepath.Join(root, "Project-X", "working")
+	if got := AutoOwnAt(root, ancestor); got != true {
+		t.Errorf("AutoOwnAt(%q) = %v, want true (ancestor untouched)", ancestor, got)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestInheritFalse_BlocksEmbeddedDefaults — at the on-disk root,
 // inherit:false stops the embedded layer from contributing. The
 // canonical paths are then no longer declared.