[lakemike]

Summary

Addresses #302: open standard relative Markdown note links in the Markdown viewer, resolved against the current document directory.

• Supports sibling/parent paths, literal and URL-encoded spaces, and heading fragments (including same-document headings).
• Opens destination notes read-only, checks them using existing authenticated endpoints and destination permissions, and retains the source viewer and unsaved edits in Windows Manager.
• Supports click in read-only mode and Ctrl/Cmd-click while editing; external HTTP(S) links remain external.
• Preserves relative link destinations through Markdown serialization and source/visual/save/reopen round trips.
• Adds focused path/serialization tests and frontend documentation; no backend changes or new dependencies.

Dependency and review scope

Depends on #310 (relative Markdown images). This draft targets main as required by CONTRIBUTING.md, so its current diff also includes #310. The note-link change itself is commit 389b52f3fbe7a04acfea97db4d2d9b9fdd252275 (8 files, 245 insertions, 13 deletions). Rebase onto main after #310 merges before marking ready.

Validation

Local validation on 22 October 2026:

• 1,763 backend tests and 61 frontend tests passed; type checking and both lints passed.
• Production frontend build passed, with the existing 106-byte stylesheet-budget warning.
• Desktop Chrome checks covered relative navigation, spaces, headings, keyboard activation, external links, missing targets, rejected traversal, denied-response handling, retaining unsaved source edits, and source/visual/save/reopen round trips; no JavaScript page errors.
• Navigation through a read-only shared mount and the relative-image browser regression passed.

Remaining verification and limitations

• Denied-access UI handling was tested using an injected HTTP 403. A real restricted-user target ACL test has not been independently verified.
• A separate downloaded/exported Markdown round trip has not been explicitly verified.
• No browser Back/Forward history, wikilinks, extensionless lookup, backlinks, graph, or block embeds. Non-Markdown local links and context-menu new-tab navigation are outside this change. Missing headings leave the target document open without jumping.

AI-assisted implementation and validation; submitted for human review under the project's AI usage policy.

[johaven]

Hi @lakemike, I reviewed and cleaned up the PR: consolidated Markdown link/image utilities, removed duplicate and dead code, moved Markdown-specific navigation out of FilesService, fixed permissions and hidden-file resolution, preserved edit mode, and simplified link handling.

[johaven]

Resolves #302