[cixzhang]

Exact decision needed

How an open Popover treats Tab. Today a non-modal Popover pulls a Tab pressed anywhere on the page into itself (#7687), so keyboard users can't move through the rest of the page while it is open.

Existing authority searched

• component:Popover (AR3, AV3, the focus and dismissal state matrix): it covers Tab from a focused container only and says nothing about a Tab that starts outside the popup.
• useFocusTrap public docs: "redirects focus back into the container if it escapes". They do not say whether a Tab that never started inside is redirected.
• architecture:layer-runtime, family:overlay-dismissal and architecture:interaction-modality leave focus containment to Popover.
• Consumers audited: Popover and usePopover; dialog popups (ComplexSelector, the date input calendars, the SideNavItem flyout, DropdownMenu with a header or footer, the Lab Schedule popover); role-neutral menus (DropdownMenu, TabMenu, Breadcrumbs overflow, SideNav and TopNav heading menus); listbox popups (Typeahead, PowerSearch, Selector, the Chat trigger menu); TopNavMegaMenu. Tooltip, HoverCard, Toast and ContextMenu have no focus trap.
• Open PRs touching Popover (feat(Popover): under a finger, it grows out of its trigger and shrinks back into it #8187, fix(Popover): under a finger, a tap during the presentation is ignored, as on iOS #8223, feat(Popover): anchorRect anchors a popover its caller opens on a viewport rectangle #8182, refactor(Popover): the touch presentation runs on the shared rect morph #8377) do not touch focus containment.

Decision

The owner decided: a Popover is a focus region, like a dialog's, whether it is modal or not.

• While focus is inside it, Tab and Shift+Tab cycle through its controls, and a dismissal returns focus to the trigger.
• A Tab pressed outside it follows the page's own order and is never pulled into the popup. The browser's order, which puts an anchored popup right after its trigger, can still lead into it.
• isModal changes only the modal semantics.
• A role-neutral popup keeps its child role's own Tab model: a menu closes on Tab, and a listbox keeps focus in its input.

Rejected alternatives

• No Tab containment for non-modal popovers: focus would fall out of an open popup into the page behind it.

Claim scope and non-goals

Only Popover's Tab handling. Not changed: Escape and light-dismiss policy, initial focus, focus return, the isModal semantics, and each role-neutral popup's own keyboard model. No public API change.

Evidence and implementation relationship

The reporter's reproduction in #7687, and two contributors' real-browser checks there (Chrome, Safari). The implementation PR follows this one.

Writing rubric results

• R1 narration: none. DEC-9 and AR3 describe the system in the present tense.
• R2 research in the record: none. The consumer audit stays in this PR description.
• R3 evidence naming a change: none.
• R4 rejected alternatives over one line or outside a decision: one, one line, inside DEC-9.
• R5 pull request or issue references remaining: none added.
• R6 ruled open questions still listing options: none. Open questions now names DEC-9 as settled.

Scope

• This PR contains specification records only.
• It records observable behavior and preserves equivalent internal implementations.
• Any named internal mechanism is intentionally public, names its dependent caller/system, and explains why an equivalent implementation would not satisfy the contract.
• Verification states the evidence layer and failure signal without prescribing CI job/workflow topology.
• It records one intentional durable decision, not a rescue for a separable tagalong.
• The canonical knowledge owner, affected current claims, and overlapping open work are named; any ownership collision is resolved or called out for human decision.
• Adjacent API, visual, accessibility, composition, and implementation facts remain outside scope unless this exact decision depends on them.
• Public text and artifacts contain no internal Meta context.

Validation

• pnpm check:knowledge: aligned
• Prettier: clean
• git diff --check: clean

[vercel]

The latest updates on your projects. Learn more about Vercel for GitHub.

Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated
astryx	Ready	Preview	Oct 26, 2026 11:18pm UTC

[astracat-bot]

AI review status for this pull request.

Review status	Updated
🔄 In progress (for maintainers only)	Oct 26, 2026, 11:17 PM UTC

[cixzhang]

/approve-spec fc503c0

[github-actions]

PR Analysis Report

Previews ready: Storybook and Sandbox were built with this PR's docsite. CI evidence will be added when available.

View Storybook for this PR · View Sandbox for this PR