Tooltip subtlety round: 500ms rest delay, quiet chip, parens suffixes, drops + trims

Owner round 2026-09-25, over 09c0f6e. The wave's tooltips read as
distracting; this round makes them quiet:

- Delay: TOOLTIP_DELAY_MS = 500 in the primitive — tooltips appear when
  you pause on a control, never in passing (Radix focus-opens stay
  instant by design; keyboard users don't wait).
- Vanish on leave: disableHoverableContent — the chip is un-hoverable,
  so the instant the cursor leaves the trigger it's gone, even mid-move
  onto the chip's own pixels.
- Look: bg-accent (#2a2a2a, the hover-chip tone) instead of the white
  bg-foreground slab; 11px; px-2 py-1; arrow culled (nothing purely
  decorative); text-foreground/85.
- Suffix: parentheses, not em-dash — "Dictate (⌘D)"; the registry
  source unchanged (still override-aware).
- Drops (owner-selected): send square, start square, stats summary —
  the icons/numbers describe themselves.
- Home logo kept but to the RIGHT with its real shortcut "Home (⌘G)"
  (jump-graph routes to /, the same destination).
- Trims: "Model selector (⌘K)", "Thinking level", "Graph costs —
  click for details", "How much of this session isn't mapped yet".
- Added: Import Notes gets "Import notes into the graph" — the one
  button whose destination wasn't obvious.

Pins: TOOLTIP_DELAY_MS=500; hintText parens expectations updated.
Live-verified on :3001 — 508ms hover delay measured, close within 10ms
of pointerout, chip styles probed (rgb(42,42,42), 11px, 4px/8px), arrow
gone, all new labels + sides confirmed, drops carry no tooltip and no
aria-describedby.

components/composer.tsx

@@ -133,18 +133,13 @@ export function Composer({
 					</button>
 				</div>
 			) : (
-				<Hint
+				// No tooltip on the send square — the ↵ glyph is the
-					// Per-state truth (tooltip wave): busy → the square STOPS the
+				// affordance and Enter is obvious (owner, subtlety
-					// stream, and Esc aborts it too; otherwise Enter sends when the
+				// round 2026-09-25).
-					// box has text.
+				<button
-					label={busy ? "Stop the reply" : "Send"}
+					type="submit"
-					binding={busy ? "escape" : "enter"}
+					aria-label={busy ? "Stop" : "Send"}
-					side="left"
+					disabled={!busy && !canSend}
-				>
-					<button
-						type="submit"
-						aria-label={busy ? "Stop" : "Send"}
-						disabled={!busy && !canSend}
 					className={cn(
 						"flex size-10 shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-[10px] transition-colors",
 						busy
@@ -154,7 +149,6 @@ export function Composer({
 				>
 					{busy ? <SquareIcon className="size-4" /> : <CornerDownLeftIcon className="size-5" />}
 				</button>
-				</Hint>
 			)}
 		</form>
 	);

components/extraction-coverage.tsx

@@ -292,9 +292,8 @@ export function CoverageRing({ chatId, refreshKey = 0 }: { chatId: string; refre
 	return (
 		<div ref={rootRef} className="lh-no-drag relative shrink-0">
 			<Hint
-				// Plain language (tooltip wave) — "uncovered tokens vs the chunk
+				// Trimmed (owner, subtlety round 2026-09-25).
-				// threshold" was internal vocabulary.
+				label="How much of this session isn't mapped yet"
-				label="How much of this session isn't in your graph yet — click for details"
 				side="bottom"
 			>
 				<button

components/graph-view.tsx

@@ -328,8 +328,8 @@ function GraphCostControl({ costs }: { costs: GraphCostSummary }) {
 	return (
 		<div ref={rootRef} className="relative">
 			<Hint
-				// Plain language (tooltip wave) — no internal vocabulary.
+				// Trimmed (owner, subtlety round 2026-09-25).
-				label="What the graph has spent — click for details"
+				label="Graph costs — click for details"
 				side="bottom"
 			>
 				<button
@@ -884,16 +884,24 @@ export function GraphChromeRow({
 						e.target.value = ""; // allow re-picking the same file
 					}}
 				/>
-				<button
+				<Hint
-					type="button"
+					// The one button whose action isn't obvious from its label:
-					disabled={importing}
+					// the missing fact is where imports go (owner, subtlety
-					onClick={() => fileInputRef.current?.click()}
+					// round 2026-09-25).
-					data-testid="import-notes"
+					label="Import notes into the graph"
+					side="bottom"
+				>
+					<button
+						type="button"
+						disabled={importing}
+						onClick={() => fileInputRef.current?.click()}
+						data-testid="import-notes"
 					className="flex h-7 items-center gap-1.5 rounded-lg px-2.5 text-xs text-muted-foreground transition-colors hover:bg-accent disabled:opacity-50"
 				>
-					<UploadIcon className="size-3" />
+						<UploadIcon className="size-3" />
-					{importing ? "Importing…" : "Import notes…"}
+						{importing ? "Importing…" : "Import notes…"}
-				</button>
+					</button>
+				</Hint>
 			</div>
 			{!isEmpty && (
 				// Rendering settings — own component; the gear toggles it. The

components/home.tsx

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import { useRouter } from "next/navigation";
 import { CornerDownLeftIcon } from "lucide-react";
 import { GraphView } from "@/components/graph-view";
 import { SetupDialog } from "@/components/setup-dialog";
-import { Hint } from "@/components/ui/hint";
 import { useStrongKeyless, useZeroKeys, ZeroKeysPill } from "@/components/setup-cta";
 import { useDefaultSettings } from "@/components/default-settings";
 import { DictationBar, useDictation } from "@/components/dictation";
@@ -177,21 +176,16 @@ export function Home({ initialSettings, initialConfigured }: { initialSettings:
 						rows={1}
 						className="field-sizing-content lh-input max-h-48 min-h-10 flex-1 resize-none bg-transparent px-2.5 py-2 outline-none placeholder:text-muted-foreground"
 					/>
-					<Hint
+					{/* No tooltip on the start square — the ↵ glyph is the
-						// Enter starts the session too (the form submits).
+					    affordance (owner, subtlety round 2026-09-25). */}
-						label="Start session"
+					<button
-						binding="enter"
-						side="left"
-					>
-						<button
 						type="submit"
 						aria-label="Start session"
 						disabled={!topic.trim() || busy}
 						className="flex size-10 shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-[10px] bg-primary text-primary-foreground transition-colors hover:opacity-90 disabled:opacity-40"
 					>
 						<CornerDownLeftIcon className="size-5" />
-						</button>
+					</button>
-					</Hint>
 					</form>
 					{/* Same as the chat view's under-composer stats bar (owner) — no
 					    session yet, so the LEFT side renders nothing (wave 7 sweep)

components/model-picker.tsx

@@ -254,9 +254,10 @@ export function ModelControl() {
 	return (
 		<div ref={containerRef} className="relative flex items-center gap-1.5" data-testid="model-control">
 			<Hint
-				// User language (tooltip wave): no tier/prober vocabulary. ⌘K
+				// Trimmed (owner, subtlety round 2026-09-25): "Model selector"
-				// opens this same menu (registry, override-aware).
+				// — the long sentence was way too much. ⌘K opens this same
-				label="The main model for your sessions"
+				// menu (registry, override-aware).
+				label="Model selector"
 				action="open-model-picker"
 				side="bottom"
 			>
@@ -276,8 +277,8 @@ export function ModelControl() {
 			</button>
 			</Hint>
 			<Hint
-				// User language (tooltip wave) — no "tier" vocabulary.
+				// Trimmed (owner, subtlety round 2026-09-25).
-				label="How much the main model thinks"
+				label="Thinking level"
 				side="bottom"
 			>
 				<button

components/sidebar.tsx

@@ -544,7 +544,15 @@ function SessionsSidebar() {
 					    with the lights' own edge-inset as the gap. */}
 					{/* Hover mirrors the ghost toggle buttons (owner ask, 2026-09-17):
 					    same size-9 chip geometry, same hover:bg-accent treatment. */}
-					<Hint label="Home" side="bottom">
+					<Hint
+						// Kept (owner, subtlety round 2026-09-25) but to the RIGHT
+						// of the logo, carrying its real shortcut: ⌘G jumps to
+						// the graph view (keyboard-shortcuts routes it to "/",
+						// the same destination as this logo).
+						label="Home"
+						action="jump-graph"
+						side="right"
+					>
 						<Link
 							href="/"
 							aria-label="Home"

components/stats-bar.tsx

@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState, type ReactNode } from "react";
 import { contextWindow, sessionCost, turnCost, type ChatSettings, type TurnUsage } from "@/src/core";
 import { formatTokens, formatUsd, prettyModel } from "@/components/usage-format";
 import { ModelControl, catalogLimits, useModelCatalog } from "@/components/model-picker";
-import { Hint } from "@/components/ui/hint";
 
 /**
  * The below-composer stats bar (wave 4 observability): the session's
@@ -93,26 +92,21 @@ export function StatsBar({
 			    exists (turns). Pre-chat renders nothing (see the header). */}
 			{turns.length > 0 && (
 			<div ref={barRef} className="relative">
-				<Hint
+				{/* No tooltip — the numbers describe themselves and the popover
-						// Copy kept (the scout approved) — machinery moved to the
+			    speaks on click (owner, subtlety round 2026-09-25). */}
-						// styled tooltip (tooltip wave).
+			<button
-						label="Session stats — per-turn detail"
+				type="button"
-						side="bottom"
+				onClick={() => setOpen((o) => !o)}
-					>
+				aria-expanded={open}
-						<button
+				data-testid="stats-summary"
-					type="button"
+				className="flex items-center gap-1.5 tabular-nums transition-colors hover:text-foreground"
-					onClick={() => setOpen((o) => !o)}
+			>
-					aria-expanded={open}
+				<span data-testid="stats-context">
-					data-testid="stats-summary"
+					{ctx ? (ctx.limit !== null ? `${formatTokens(ctx.usedTokens)} / ${formatTokens(ctx.limit)}` : formatTokens(ctx.usedTokens)) : "—"}
-					className="flex items-center gap-1.5 tabular-nums transition-colors hover:text-foreground"
+				</span>
-				>
+				<span aria-hidden>·</span>
-					<span data-testid="stats-context">
+				<span data-testid="stats-cost">{costLabel}</span>
-						{ctx ? (ctx.limit !== null ? `${formatTokens(ctx.usedTokens)} / ${formatTokens(ctx.limit)}` : formatTokens(ctx.usedTokens)) : "—"}
+			</button>
-					</span>
-					<span aria-hidden>·</span>
-					<span data-testid="stats-cost">{costLabel}</span>
-				</button>
-					</Hint>
 				{open && (
 					<div
 						data-testid="stats-detail"

components/ui/hint.tsx

@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@ import { bindingForAction, formatBinding, type KeyAction } from "@/src/core"
 
 /**
  * The tooltip composition for icon and pill controls (tooltip wave, owner
- * 2026-09-25). The styled Radix tooltip (ui/tooltip.tsx, adopted as-is —
+ * 2026-09-25; subtlety round same day). The styled Radix tooltip carries
- * no restyling) carries the label, with the control's shortcut appended as
+ * the label, with the control's shortcut appended in parentheses when
- * an em-dash suffix when it has one ("Dictate — ⌘D").
+ * it has one ("Dictate (⌘D)") — the owner call: the em-dash suffix read
+ * as too much air.
  *
  * The binding is override-aware: pass `action` for registry shortcuts (a
  * user rebind in Settings → Keyboard changes the suffix live), or
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ interface HintProps {
 	children: React.ReactElement
 }
 
-/** The composition itself, pure — "Dictate" + ⌘D → "Dictate — ⌘D". Exported
+/** The composition itself, pure — "Dictate" + ⌘D → "Dictate (⌘D)". Exported
  *  for the mechanism pins (tests/tooltip-mechanism.test.tsx). */
 export function hintText(label: string, action?: KeyAction, binding?: string): string {
 	const live = action
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@ export function hintText(label: string, action?: KeyAction, binding?: string): s
 		: binding
 			? formatBinding(binding)
 			: ""
-	return live ? `${label} — ${live}` : label
+	return live ? `${label} (${live})` : label
 }
 
 export function Hint({ label, action, binding, side = "top", children }: HintProps) {

components/ui/tooltip.tsx

@@ -5,8 +5,21 @@ import { Tooltip as TooltipPrimitive } from "radix-ui"
 
 import { cn } from "@/lib/utils"
 
+/**
+ * The styled tooltip (tooltip wave → subtlety round, owner 2026-09-25):
+ * a quiet dark chip, not a white slab — accent tone (the hover-chip color),
+ * 11px, minimal padding, no arrow (nothing purely decorative). Opens after
+ * a 500ms rest, so tooltips appear when you pause on a control, never in
+ * passing; disableHoverableContent means the chip is un-hoverable — the
+ * instant the cursor leaves the trigger it's gone, even mid-move onto the
+ * chip's own pixels.
+ */
+
+/** The rest delay (ms): shared by hover and focus opens. */
+export const TOOLTIP_DELAY_MS = 500
+
 function TooltipProvider({
-  delayDuration = 0,
+  delayDuration = TOOLTIP_DELAY_MS,
   ...props
 }: React.ComponentProps<typeof TooltipPrimitive.Provider>) {
   return (
@@ -19,9 +32,16 @@ function TooltipProvider({
 }
 
 function Tooltip({
+  disableHoverableContent = true,
   ...props
 }: React.ComponentProps<typeof TooltipPrimitive.Root>) {
-  return <TooltipPrimitive.Root data-slot="tooltip" {...props} />
+  return (
+    <TooltipPrimitive.Root
+      data-slot="tooltip"
+      disableHoverableContent={disableHoverableContent}
+      {...props}
+    />
+  )
 }
 
 function TooltipTrigger({
@@ -32,7 +52,7 @@ function TooltipTrigger({
 
 function TooltipContent({
   className,
-  sideOffset = 0,
+  sideOffset = 6,
   children,
   ...props
 }: React.ComponentProps<typeof TooltipPrimitive.Content>) {
@@ -42,16 +62,15 @@ function TooltipContent({
         data-slot="tooltip-content"
         sideOffset={sideOffset}
         className={cn(
-          "z-50 w-fit origin-(--radix-tooltip-content-transform-origin) animate-in rounded-md bg-foreground px-3 py-1.5 text-xs text-balance text-background fade-in-0 zoom-in-95 data-[side=bottom]:slide-in-from-top-2 data-[side=left]:slide-in-from-right-2 data-[side=right]:slide-in-from-left-2 data-[side=top]:slide-in-from-bottom-2 data-[state=closed]:animate-out data-[state=closed]:fade-out-0 data-[state=closed]:zoom-out-95",
+          "z-50 w-fit origin-(--radix-tooltip-content-transform-origin) animate-in rounded-md bg-accent px-2 py-1 text-[11px] text-foreground/85 text-balance fade-in-0 zoom-in-95 data-[side=bottom]:slide-in-from-top-2 data-[side=left]:slide-in-from-right-2 data-[side=right]:slide-in-from-left-2 data-[side=top]:slide-in-from-bottom-2 data-[state=closed]:animate-out data-[state=closed]:fade-out-0 data-[state=closed]:zoom-out-95",
           className
         )}
         {...props}
       >
         {children}
-        <TooltipPrimitive.Arrow className="z-50 size-2.5 translate-y-[calc(-50%_-_2px)] rotate-45 rounded-[2px] bg-foreground fill-foreground" />
       </TooltipPrimitive.Content>
     </TooltipPrimitive.Portal>
   )
 }
 
-export { Tooltip, TooltipTrigger, TooltipContent, TooltipProvider }
+export { Tooltip, TooltipTrigger, TooltipContent, TooltipProvider }

tests/tooltip-mechanism.test.tsx

@@ -17,18 +17,19 @@ import { describe, it } from "node:test";
 import { createElement } from "react";
 import { renderToStaticMarkup } from "react-dom/server";
 import { Hint, hintText } from "../components/ui/hint.tsx";
+import { TOOLTIP_DELAY_MS } from "../components/ui/tooltip.tsx";
 import { AUTO_UPDATE_HINT } from "../components/settings/settings-dialog.tsx";
 
-describe("hintText — the em-dash composition", () => {
+describe("hintText — the parenthesized composition", () => {
 	it("a registry action appends the LIVE binding (override-aware source)", () => {
-		assert.equal(hintText("Dictate", "toggle-dictation"), "Dictate — ⌘D");
+		assert.equal(hintText("Dictate", "toggle-dictation"), "Dictate (⌘D)");
-		assert.equal(hintText("Settings", "open-settings"), "Settings — ⌘,");
+		assert.equal(hintText("Settings", "open-settings"), "Settings (⌘,)");
-		assert.equal(hintText("Search sessions", "sessions-search"), "Search sessions — ⌘⇧F");
+		assert.equal(hintText("Search sessions", "sessions-search"), "Search sessions (⌘⇧F)");
 	});
 
 	it("surface-owned keys ride the binding prop (no registry entry)", () => {
-		assert.equal(hintText("Close", undefined, "escape"), "Close — Esc");
+		assert.equal(hintText("Close", undefined, "escape"), "Close (Esc)");
-		assert.equal(hintText("Send", undefined, "enter"), "Send — ↵");
+		assert.equal(hintText("Send", undefined, "enter"), "Send (↵)");
 	});
 
 	it("no shortcut = the label alone, no dangling dash", () => {
@@ -37,6 +38,12 @@ describe("hintText — the em-dash composition", () => {
 	});
 });
 
+describe("subtlety round pins (owner 2026-09-25)", () => {
+	it("the rest delay is 500ms — tooltips appear on pause, never in passing", () => {
+		assert.equal(TOOLTIP_DELAY_MS, 500);
+	});
+});
+
 describe("spot-pins: the dev-speak cull (owner copy review at merge)", () => {
 	it("the auto-update hint is honest user language — no stream jargon", () => {
 		assert.equal(AUTO_UPDATE_HINT, "Automatic updates arrive in an upcoming release");