phase: 190_app_name_settings_fix

All gates re-verified green. Report:

- **Verified (all 4 tasks already complete; this was the final pass):** `effective_settings` resolves the 3 brand strings panel-row → tab-row → env (`applied_override_keys`, presence-not-value); `PUT /api/ui-settings` ignores string body fields; Theme-tab form is colors-only (17 pickers, no `#theme-app-name`/`#theme-placeholder`/`#theme-footer`); the ONE shared `applyBrandFromConfig` re-applies title/`.brand-text`/footer/placeholder after a panel save-reset and a tab save-reset; boot path byte-identical (single `/api/config`).
- **Completion criteria:**
  - strings order panel→tab→env, both branches — ✅ `tests/unit/test_theming.py::test_effective_app_name_prefers_settings_panel_row_over_ui_settings_row`, `..._fall_back_to_ui_settings_row_without_panel_row`, `..._per_field_panel_then_tab_then_env`, `..._ignore_panel_rows_when_the_overlay_is_off`
  - PUT ignores string fields + no 3 inputs in the tab — ✅ `tests/integration/test_ui_settings_api.py::test_put_ignores_string_fields_in_body` (+2) and the E2E `test_theme_tab_dom_is_colors_only`
  - live apply without reload + incident regression — ✅ `tests/e2e/test_app_name_settings_fix.py` tests 1–4
  - byte-identical boot, no double-apply — ✅ `tests/unit/test_brand_live.py` markers + E2E "exactly one /api/config"
  - suite green, coverage >90%, ruff+pyright clean — ✅
  - no behavior change in prior phases — ✅ (palette, phase-168 panel, env fallback suites all green)
  - atomic commit — **left to the harness** (pipeline rule overrides per-phase committing; no git write run)
- **Gates:** `uv run pytest --cov=app --cov-report=term-missing` → **4630 passed, TOTAL 6941 16 99%**, exit 0 · `uv run pytest tests/e2e/test_app_name_settings_fix.py -v --no-cov` → **6 passed** in isolation · regression E2E (isolated, one process each, all exit 0): `test_smoke` `test_configurable_brand` `test_admin_theme_tab` `test_theme_save_and_coverage` `test_theme_semantic_completion` `test_themed_favicon` `test_dark_tech_theme` `test_admin_settings_panel` `test_admin_settings_layout` `test_settings_mobile_value_width` · `uv run ruff check .` → All checks passed · `uv run pyright` → 0 errors.
- **Documentation:** README — fixed "saving one repaints *every* open page" (only the open document repaints; other pages on next load) and a broken paragraph wrap in *Customizing the look*; AGENTS.md rule 16 — `test_chunks_hnsw_recall.py` now described accurately (index paths forced with `enable_seqscan`/`indexonlyscan`/`bitmapscan` off, unforced plan asserted only on a pristine relation); `tests/unit/test_theme_frontend.py` — two stale section headers ("20 form fields"/"20 inputs" → 17 color). No AGENTS.md settings-overlay/resolution-order clause exists, so per the phase none was added. Full env-var cross-check (`BOR_*` in `app/config.py` vs README) → 0 gaps; 0 missing file references.
- **Notable:** the working tree also carries this phase's flake hardening of the phase-188 `tests/integration/test_chunks_hnsw_recall.py` (verified legit and green). Live infra untouched; shared DB left clean (0 `app_settings`, 0 `ui_settings`). **Flagged, not changed:** `settings_overlay.applied_override_keys` lets a `ProgrammingError` (missing `app_settings`) propagate from public `GET /api/config`, where `load_overrides` deliberately fails soft — only reachable on an un-migrated (0027) DB, outside this phase's pinned A1 semantics, so left for the owner to rule on rather than silently deviating.
- **Next pending phase:** `191_source_name_labels_tags`.

app/models.py

@@ -563,6 +563,14 @@ class UiSettings(Base):
     overview). :func:`app.core.theming.effective_settings` resolves the
     effective 20 values both the ``GET /api/ui-settings`` and
     ``GET /api/config`` endpoints serve.
+
+    Phase 190 (task 02, A1 — owner-confirmed 2026-10-18) narrowed the
+    WRITE half of this row to the 17 colors: the three string columns
+    are now the admin Settings panel's (``app_settings``, phase 168) and
+    ``PUT /api/ui-settings`` never touches them. The columns stay — a
+    row this table baked before that phase is the documented FALLBACK
+    (panel row → this row → env) and still renders until the panel
+    overrides it, so the fix needed no data migration.
     """
 
     __tablename__ = "ui_settings"
@@ -571,7 +579,9 @@ class UiSettings(Base):
     #: id=1 precedent — Python-side default; the migration carries no
     #: server default because the row is created only by the PUT upsert).
     id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(Integer, primary_key=True, default=1)
-    # --- Strings (NULL/empty = "use the env default" — B1) ---
+    # --- Strings — READ-ONLY since phase 190 (A1): the Settings panel's
+    #     row wins over these, the Theme-tab PUT never writes them, and
+    #     NULL/empty means "use the env default" (B1) ---
     app_name: Mapped[str | None] = mapped_column(String(300), nullable=True)
     input_placeholder: Mapped[str | None] = mapped_column(String(300), nullable=True)
     footer_text: Mapped[str | None] = mapped_column(String(300), nullable=True)