This change introduces the ability for channel administrators to reorder channels within their parent context, providing better organizational control over channel hierarchies. Channels can now be moved up or down relative to their siblings through keyboard shortcuts.
## Problem
Previously, channels were displayed in alphabetical order with no way to customize their arrangement. This made it difficult for teams to organize channels in a logical order that reflected their workflow or importance, forcing users to prefix channel names with numbers or special characters as a workaround.
## Solution
The implementation adds a persistent `channel_order` field to channels that determines their display order within their parent. Channels with the same parent are sorted by this field rather than alphabetically.
## Technical Implementation
**Database Schema:**
- Added `channel_order` INTEGER column to the channels table with a default value of 1
- Created a compound index on `(parent_path, channel_order)` for efficient ordering queries
- Migration updates existing channels with deterministic ordering based on their current alphabetical position
**Core Changes:**
- Extended the `Channel` struct across the codebase to include the `channel_order` field
- Modified `ChannelIndex` sorting logic to use channel_order instead of alphabetical name comparison
- Channels now maintain their relative position among siblings
**RPC Protocol:**
- Added `ReorderChannel` RPC message with channel_id and direction (Up/Down)
- Extended existing Channel proto message to include the channel_order field
- Server validates that users have admin permissions before allowing reordering
**Reordering Logic:**
- When moving a channel up/down, the server finds the adjacent sibling in that direction
- Swaps the `channel_order` values between the two channels
- Broadcasts the updated channel list to all affected users
- Handles edge cases: channels at boundaries, channels with gaps in ordering
**User Interface:**
- Added keyboard shortcuts:
- macOS: `Cmd+Up/Down` to move channels
- Linux: `Ctrl+Up/Down` to move channels
- Added `MoveChannelUp` and `MoveChannelDown` actions to the collab panel
- Reordering is only available when a channel is selected (not during editing)
**Error Handling:**
The change also improves error handling practices throughout the codebase by ensuring that errors from async operations propagate correctly to the UI layer instead of being silently discarded with `let _ =`.
**Testing:**
Comprehensive tests were added to verify:
- Basic reordering functionality up and down
- Boundary conditions (first/last channels)
- Permission checks (non-admins cannot reorder)
- Ordering persistence across server restarts
- Correct broadcasting of changes to channel members
**Known Issue:**
The keybindings are currently non-functional due to missing context setup in CollabPanel. The keymaps expect 'CollabPanel && not_editing' context, but the panel only provides 'CollabPanel'. This will be fixed in a follow-up commit.
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