2029686 - Reduce unwanted sidebar auto-open via user preference

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Core :: Machine Learning: Frontend, enhancement, P1)

Description

[Ed Lee :Mardak]

[Tracking Requested - why for this release]: providing user choice in mvp based on initial user research

ahead of bug 2029220 for mvp uplift, we can reduce some friction/annoyance by giving users choice of whether the sidebar defaults to open when navigating or generally switching pages

this involves both updating the logic probably in https://searchfox.org/firefox-main/source/browser/components/aiwindow/ui/modules/AIWindowTabStatesManager.sys.mjs

as well as showing a checkbox for a preference in https://searchfox.org/firefox-main/source/browser/components/preferences/config/aiFeatures.mjs and strings https://searchfox.org/firefox-main/source/browser/locales-preview/aiFeatures.ftl

here's a quick prototype from codex but we'll want official copy from katie

diff --git a/browser/components/preferences/config/aiFeatures.mjs b/browser/components/preferences/config/aiFeatures.mjs
index 2f255614a1e4f..b0b8b68087039 100644
--- a/browser/components/preferences/config/aiFeatures.mjs
+++ b/browser/components/preferences/config/aiFeatures.mjs
@@ -44,4 +44,5 @@ Preferences.addAll([
   { id: "browser.smartwindow.model", type: "string" },
   { id: "browser.smartwindow.preferences.endpoint", type: "string" },
+  { id: "browser.smartwindow.sidebar.openByDefault", type: "bool" },
   { id: "browser.smartwindow.tos.consentTime", type: "int" },
   { id: "browser.preferences.aiControls.showUnavailable", type: "bool" },
@@ -598,4 +599,8 @@ Preferences.addSetting({
   pref: "browser.smartwindow.firstrun.modelChoice",
 });
+Preferences.addSetting({
+  id: "openAssistantSidebarByDefault",
+  pref: "browser.smartwindow.sidebar.openByDefault",
+});
 
 {
@@ -1345,4 +1350,15 @@ SettingGroupManager.registerGroups({
     ],
   },
+  assistantSidebarGroup: {
+    l10nId: "ai-window-sidebar-section",
+    headingLevel: 2,
+    items: [
+      {
+        id: "openAssistantSidebarByDefault",
+        l10nId: "ai-window-open-sidebar-by-default",
+        control: "moz-checkbox",
+      },
+    ],
+  },
   memoriesGroup: {
     l10nId: "ai-window-memories-section",
diff --git a/browser/components/preferences/preferences.js b/browser/components/preferences/preferences.js
index 2add06c3d019f..f5b38006a8b98 100644
--- a/browser/components/preferences/preferences.js
+++ b/browser/components/preferences/preferences.js
@@ -258,5 +258,5 @@ const CONFIG_PANES = Object.freeze({
     iconSrc: "chrome://browser/skin/smart-window-mono.svg",
     badge: "beta",
-    groupIds: ["assistantModelGroup", "memoriesGroup"],
+    groupIds: ["assistantModelGroup", "assistantSidebarGroup", "memoriesGroup"],
     module: "chrome://browser/content/preferences/config/aiFeatures.mjs",
   },
diff --git a/browser/locales-preview/aiFeatures.ftl b/browser/locales-preview/aiFeatures.ftl
index 11e485c9568c7..d1cc8fd5030ee 100644
--- a/browser/locales-preview/aiFeatures.ftl
+++ b/browser/locales-preview/aiFeatures.ftl
@@ -55,4 +55,11 @@ smart-window-model-custom-save =
     .label = Save
 
+ai-window-sidebar-section =
+    .label = Assistant sidebar
+    .description = Choose whether the assistant opens automatically as you browse in Smart Window.
+
+ai-window-open-sidebar-by-default =
+    .label = Open assistant sidebar by default
+
 ai-window-memories-section =
     .label = Memories

Comment 1

[Yubin Jamora]

Attachment: Bug 2029686 - Add preference to control Smart Window sidebar open r?omarg,mardak

Comment 2

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://github.com/mozilla-firefox/firefox/commit/c7c3c771dbb8
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/8e2560109b14
Add preference to control Smart Window sidebar open r=omarg,fluent-reviewers,ai-frontend-reviewers,tgiles,flod

Comment 3

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://github.com/mozilla-firefox/firefox/commit/97e742a46f04
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/b18e52452019
Revert "Bug 2029686 - Add preference to control Smart Window sidebar open r=omarg,fluent-reviewers,ai-frontend-reviewers,tgiles,flod" for causing mochitests failures in browser_smartwindow_leak.js.

Comment 4

[Serban Stanca [:SerbanS]]

Reverted this because it was causing mochitests failures in browser_smartwindow_leak.js.

• Revert link
• Push with failures
• Failure Log
• Failure line: TEST-UNEXPECTED-FAIL | browser/components/aiwindow/ui/test/browser/browser_smartwindow_leak.js | Shutdown - leaked window until shutdown [url = chrome://browser/content/aiwindow/aiWindow.html]

Comment 5

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://github.com/mozilla-firefox/firefox/commit/592adcf5382d
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/93c546a0ecb4
Add preference to control Smart Window sidebar open r=omarg,fluent-reviewers,ai-frontend-reviewers,tgiles,flod

Comment 6

[Norisz Fay [:noriszfay]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/93c546a0ecb4

Comment 7

[Yubin Jamora]

Attachment: Bug 2029686 - Add preference to control Smart Window sidebar open

Original Revision: https://phabricator.services.mozilla.com/D292491

Comment 8

[Phabricator Automation]

firefox-beta Uplift Approval Request

• User impact if declined/Reason for urgency: User will face unwanted sidebar that keeps popping out when navigating or generally switching pages in Smart Window.
• Code covered by automated testing?: yes
• Fix verified in Nightly?: yes
• Needs manual QE testing?: yes
• Steps to reproduce for manual QE testing: 1. Go to about:config

2. set browser.smartwindow.enabled to true
3. Toggle Smart Window
4. Check if the Sidebar in Smart Window opens when navigating tabs or switching pages
5. Go to about:config again
6. set browser.smartwindow.sidebar.openByDefault to false
7. Sidebar in Smart Window should not open anymore.

• Risk associated with taking this patch: low
• Explanation of risk level: It is low because the patch is for reducing some friction/annoyance by giving users choice of whether the sidebar defaults to open when navigating or generally switching pages
• String changes made/needed?: Yes. Smart Window is only for English.
• Is Android affected?: no

Comment 9

[Pulsebot]

https://github.com/mozilla-firefox/firefox/commit/5fd96bdbc6e7
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-beta/rev/206e884f17f7

Comment 10

[Ciprian Georgiu, Desktop QA]

The issue is verified as fixed on latest Beta 150.0b10 and Nightly 151.0a1 with the steps from comment 8, using macOS 26, Ubuntu 26 and Win 11.