Merge: promote dev to prod

VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.45.1
+0.46.0

backend/app/routes/channels.py

@@ -214,6 +214,7 @@ def _channel_summary(ch: Channel) -> dict:
         "thumbnail_url": ch.thumbnail_url,
         "subscriber_count": ch.subscriber_count,
         "video_count": ch.video_count,
+        "description": ch.description,
     }
 
 

frontend/package-lock.json

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
         "@tanstack/react-query": "^5.51.0",
         "@tanstack/react-virtual": "^3.14.3",
         "clsx": "^2.1.1",
+        "flag-icons": "^7.5.0",
         "hls.js": "^1.6.16",
         "i18next": "^23.11.5",
         "lucide-react": "^0.408.0",
@@ -1809,6 +1810,12 @@
         "node": ">=8"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/flag-icons": {
+      "version": "7.5.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/flag-icons/-/flag-icons-7.5.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-kd+MNXviFIg5hijH766tt+3x76ele1AXlo4zDdCxIvqWZhKt4T83bOtxUOOMlTx/EcFdUMH5yvQgYlFh1EqqFg==",
+      "license": "MIT"
+    },
     "node_modules/fraction.js": {
       "version": "5.3.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fraction.js/-/fraction.js-5.3.4.tgz",

frontend/package.json

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
     "@tanstack/react-query": "^5.51.0",
     "@tanstack/react-virtual": "^3.14.3",
     "clsx": "^2.1.1",
+    "flag-icons": "^7.5.0",
     "hls.js": "^1.6.16",
     "i18next": "^23.11.5",
     "lucide-react": "^0.408.0",

frontend/src/App.tsx

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import {
 } from "./lib/storage";
 import { useNavigation, useNavigationActions } from "./components/NavigationProvider";
 import { useFeedFilters, useFeedFiltersActions } from "./components/FeedFiltersProvider";
+import { useChannelLayout } from "./components/ChannelsProvider";
 import { useFeedView, useFeedViewActions } from "./components/FeedViewProvider";
 import { moduleDef } from "./lib/modules";
 import { PAGE_CONTENT, PAGE_RAIL } from "./components/moduleRegistry";
@@ -62,6 +63,11 @@ export default function App() {
   // handlers that mutate the feed view (onShowInFeed, tag-click, the feed scrollKey).
   const filters = useFeedFilters();
   const { setFilters } = useFeedFiltersActions();
+  // The channel manager turns its top fade OFF for the table (its sticky header sits at the scroller
+  // top) but wants it ON for the card layout (no sticky header) — so the fade depends on the layout.
+  // Deliberately the NARROW layout context: subscribing to the manager's whole state here would
+  // re-render the app root on every keystroke in its search box.
+  const channelLayout = useChannelLayout();
   // The feed's view mode (card/row/tile density) lives in FeedViewProvider — server-synced, shared
   // by the feed page and the channel page. App reads it only to hand to <Feed>/<ChannelPage>.
   const view = useFeedView();
@@ -387,7 +393,9 @@ export default function App() {
         ) : (
           <PageShell
             scrollKey={normalScrollKey}
-            fadeTop={fadeTop ?? true}
+            // Channels: the registry disables the top fade for its sticky-header table, but the card
+            // layout has no sticky header, so re-enable it there.
+            fadeTop={activePage === "channels" ? channelLayout === "cards" : fadeTop ?? true}
             header={<Header me={meQuery.data!} onYtSearch={enterYtSearch} />}
             banners={
               <>

frontend/src/components/AboutCell.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+import { useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
+import { createPortal } from "react-dom";
+import { useQuery } from "@tanstack/react-query";
+import { api } from "../lib/api";
+import ChannelAboutContent from "./ChannelAbout";
+
+const MARGIN = 8;
+const POP_W = 480; // the overlay's fixed width (px)
+
+/**
+ * A channel-description cell: one truncated line in the table, revealing the FULL channel "About"
+ * (the same content as the detail page's About tab — description, links, country, language, topics,
+ * keywords) in a portalled glass overlay. The detail is fetched ON DEMAND on hover/focus, sharing
+ * the ["channel", id] react-query cache with the channel page, so the list stays light. The overlay
+ * is interactive (scrollable, links clickable) via a small hover-bridge; it closes on page scroll
+ * (but not when scrolling inside itself) or resize. Shared by the subscribed + discovery tables.
+ */
+export default function AboutCell({ text, channelId }: { text: string | null; channelId: string }) {
+  const preview = (text ?? "").trim();
+  const ref = useRef<HTMLSpanElement>(null);
+  const popRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  const hideTimer = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null>(null);
+  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
+  const [coords, setCoords] = useState<{ left: number; top: number } | null>(null);
+
+  const { data: ch } = useQuery({
+    queryKey: ["channel", channelId],
+    queryFn: () => api.channelDetail(channelId),
+    enabled: open && !!channelId,
+    staleTime: 5 * 60_000,
+  });
+
+  function place() {
+    const el = ref.current;
+    if (!el) return;
+    const r = el.getBoundingClientRect();
+    setCoords({
+      left: Math.min(Math.max(r.left, MARGIN), window.innerWidth - POP_W - MARGIN),
+      top: r.bottom + 6,
+    });
+  }
+  function show() {
+    if (hideTimer.current) {
+      clearTimeout(hideTimer.current);
+      hideTimer.current = null;
+    }
+    place();
+    setOpen(true);
+  }
+  // Small grace period so the cursor can travel the gap from the cell to the overlay without it
+  // vanishing — the overlay's own mouseenter cancels it.
+  function scheduleHide() {
+    if (hideTimer.current) clearTimeout(hideTimer.current);
+    hideTimer.current = setTimeout(() => setOpen(false), 160);
+  }
+  function cancelHide() {
+    if (hideTimer.current) {
+      clearTimeout(hideTimer.current);
+      hideTimer.current = null;
+    }
+  }
+
+  useEffect(
+    () => () => {
+      if (hideTimer.current) clearTimeout(hideTimer.current);
+    },
+    [],
+  );
+
+  // Close on page scroll (the fixed overlay would strand at a stale anchor) or resize — but NOT
+  // when the scroll happens inside the overlay itself (it is scrollable).
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!open) return;
+    const onScroll = (e: Event) => {
+      if (popRef.current && e.target instanceof Node && popRef.current.contains(e.target)) return;
+      setOpen(false);
+    };
+    const onResize = () => setOpen(false);
+    window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll, true);
+    window.addEventListener("resize", onResize);
+    return () => {
+      window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll, true);
+      window.removeEventListener("resize", onResize);
+    };
+  }, [open]);
+
+  // Flip above the anchor if the overlay would run off the bottom of the viewport.
+  useLayoutEffect(() => {
+    const pop = popRef.current;
+    const el = ref.current;
+    if (!open || !coords || !pop || !el) return;
+    const r = el.getBoundingClientRect();
+    const h = pop.offsetHeight;
+    if (r.bottom + 6 + h > window.innerHeight - MARGIN && r.top - 6 - h > MARGIN) {
+      const top = r.top - 6 - h;
+      if (Math.abs(top - coords.top) > 0.5) setCoords((c) => (c ? { ...c, top } : c));
+    }
+  }, [open, coords, ch]);
+
+  if (!preview) return <span className="text-muted">—</span>;
+
+  return (
+    <span
+      ref={ref}
+      onMouseEnter={show}
+      onMouseLeave={scheduleHide}
+      onFocus={show}
+      onBlur={scheduleHide}
+      tabIndex={0}
+      className="block max-w-[22rem] truncate text-muted cursor-help outline-none"
+    >
+      {preview}
+      {open &&
+        coords &&
+        createPortal(
+          <div
+            ref={popRef}
+            onMouseEnter={cancelHide}
+            onMouseLeave={scheduleHide}
+            style={{ position: "fixed", left: coords.left, top: coords.top, width: POP_W }}
+            className="glass z-tooltip max-h-[28rem] overflow-y-auto px-3.5 py-3 rounded-lg animate-[fadeIn_0.12s_ease]"
+          >
+            {/* Full About once the detail loads; until then the list's truncated description. */}
+            {ch ? (
+              <ChannelAboutContent ch={ch} />
+            ) : (
+              <p className="text-sm whitespace-pre-wrap break-words leading-relaxed">{preview}</p>
+            )}
+          </div>,
+          document.body,
+        )}
+    </span>
+  );
+}

frontend/src/components/ChannelAbout.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
+import { ExternalLink } from "lucide-react";
+import type { ChannelDetail } from "../lib/api";
+import { linkify } from "../lib/linkify";
+
+// --- About-tab metadata helpers (shared by the channel page and the manager's About overlay) ---
+function displayName(code: string, lang: string, type: "region" | "language"): string {
+  try {
+    return new Intl.DisplayNames([lang], { type }).of(type === "region" ? code.toUpperCase() : code) ?? code;
+  } catch {
+    return code;
+  }
+}
+// YouTube keywords are ONE space-separated string with multi-word tags quoted: gaming "let's play".
+function parseKeywords(s: string): string[] {
+  return (s.match(/"[^"]+"|\S+/g) ?? []).map((k) => k.replace(/^"|"$/g, "")).filter(Boolean);
+}
+// topicCategories are Wikipedia URLs (…/wiki/Music) → a readable label, de-duplicated.
+function topicLabels(urls: string[]): string[] {
+  const seen = new Set<string>();
+  for (const url of urls) {
+    const seg = url.split("/wiki/")[1] ?? url.split("/").pop() ?? url;
+    let label = seg;
+    try {
+      label = decodeURIComponent(seg);
+    } catch {
+      /* keep raw */
+    }
+    label = label.replace(/_/g, " ").trim();
+    if (label) seen.add(label);
+  }
+  return [...seen];
+}
+
+/**
+ * The channel "About" content — description, external links, and the enriched metadata
+ * (country, language, topics, keywords). Shared by the channel detail page's About tab and the
+ * Channel manager's About-column hover overlay, so both show exactly the same thing.
+ */
+export default function ChannelAboutContent({ ch }: { ch: ChannelDetail }) {
+  const { t, i18n } = useTranslation();
+  const topics = ch.topic_categories?.length ? topicLabels(ch.topic_categories) : [];
+  const keywords = ch.keywords ? parseKeywords(ch.keywords) : [];
+  const hasAboutDetails =
+    !!ch.country || !!ch.default_language || topics.length > 0 || keywords.length > 0;
+
+  return (
+    <>
+      {ch.description ? (
+        <p className="text-sm whitespace-pre-wrap break-words leading-relaxed">{linkify(ch.description)}</p>
+      ) : (
+        <p className="text-sm text-muted">{t("channel.noDescription")}</p>
+      )}
+      {ch.external_links && ch.external_links.length > 0 && (
+        <div className="mt-4 flex flex-wrap gap-2">
+          {ch.external_links.map((l, i) => (
+            <a
+              key={i}
+              href={l.url}
+              target="_blank"
+              rel="noreferrer"
+              className="inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-sm text-accent hover:underline"
+            >
+              <ExternalLink className="w-3.5 h-3.5" />
+              {l.title || l.url}
+            </a>
+          ))}
+        </div>
+      )}
+      {hasAboutDetails && (
+        <div className="mt-5 space-y-2.5 text-sm border-t border-border pt-4">
+          {ch.country && (
+            <div className="flex gap-2">
+              <span className="text-muted w-24 shrink-0">{t("channel.country")}</span>
+              <span className="inline-flex items-center gap-2">
+                {/^[A-Za-z]{2}$/.test(ch.country) && (
+                  // Real SVG flag (flag-icons) — Windows/Chrome don't render flag emoji.
+                  <span className={`fi fi-${ch.country.toLowerCase()} rounded-sm shrink-0`} aria-hidden />
+                )}
+                {displayName(ch.country, i18n.language, "region")}
+              </span>
+            </div>
+          )}
+          {ch.default_language && (
+            <div className="flex gap-2">
+              <span className="text-muted w-24 shrink-0">{t("channel.language")}</span>
+              <span>{displayName(ch.default_language, i18n.language, "language")}</span>
+            </div>
+          )}
+          {topics.length > 0 && (
+            <div className="flex gap-2">
+              <span className="text-muted w-24 shrink-0 pt-0.5">{t("channel.topics")}</span>
+              <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-1.5">
+                {/* Future search epic: these topic chips become clickable filters. */}
+                {topics.map((tp) => (
+                  <span key={tp} className="glass-card px-2 py-0.5 rounded-full text-xs">
+                    {tp}
+                  </span>
+                ))}
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          )}
+          {keywords.length > 0 && (
+            <div className="flex gap-2">
+              <span className="text-muted w-24 shrink-0 pt-0.5">{t("channel.keywords")}</span>
+              <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-1.5">
+                {keywords.map((kw, i) => (
+                  <span key={i} className="glass-card px-2 py-0.5 rounded-full text-xs">
+                    {kw}
+                  </span>
+                ))}
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          )}
+        </div>
+      )}
+    </>
+  );
+}

frontend/src/components/ChannelDiscovery.tsx

@@ -1,17 +1,25 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { useMutation, useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { UserPlus } from "lucide-react";
 import { api, type DiscoveredChannel } from "../lib/api";
-import { accountKey, LS } from "../lib/storage";
+import { accountKey, LS, readAccount, writeAccount } from "../lib/storage";
 import { formatCountOrDash } from "../lib/format";
+import { parseSortState, sortRows, type SortState } from "../lib/columnSort";
+import { useCardPager } from "../lib/useCardPager";
 import { subsColumn } from "./channelColumns";
 import { notify } from "../lib/notifications";
 import { notifyYouTubeActionError } from "../lib/youtubeErrors";
 import Tooltip from "./Tooltip";
 import ChannelLink from "./ChannelLink";
+import AboutCell from "./AboutCell";
 import DataTable, { type Column } from "./DataTable";
+import ChannelLayoutGrid from "./ChannelLayoutGrid";
+import ColumnSortControl from "./ColumnSortControl";
+import Pager from "./Pager";
 import { PageToolbar } from "./PageShell";
 import { useConfirm } from "./ConfirmProvider";
+import { useChannelLayout } from "./ChannelsProvider";
 
 // The Channel manager's "Discovery" tab: channels that turn up in the user's playlists but
 // that they don't subscribe to. Subscribing here only creates the subscription + enriches
@@ -31,6 +39,16 @@ export default function ChannelDiscovery({
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const qc = useQueryClient();
   const confirm = useConfirm();
+  // The table/cards density is shared with the Subscriptions tab (ChannelsProvider). The sort is
+  // this tab's own (its columns differ), lifted out of the table so the card layout shares it.
+  const layout = useChannelLayout();
+  const [sort, setSortState] = useState<SortState>(() =>
+    parseSortState(readAccount(LS.channelDiscoverySort, null)),
+  );
+  const setSort = (s: SortState) => {
+    setSortState(s);
+    writeAccount(LS.channelDiscoverySort, s);
+  };
 
   const query = useQuery({
     queryKey: ["discovered-channels"],
@@ -77,6 +95,34 @@ export default function ChannelDiscovery({
   );
 
   const columns: Column<DiscoveredChannel>[] = [
+    // Actions first, mirroring the Subscriptions table (where it sits right after Prio) so the two
+    // tabs' action clusters line up in the same place.
+    {
+      key: "actions",
+      header: t("channels.cols.actions"),
+      align: "left",
+      nowrap: true,
+      width: "120px",
+      cardLabel: false,
+      render: (c) => (
+        <Tooltip
+          hint={
+            canWrite
+              ? t("channels.discovery.subscribeHint")
+              : t("channels.discovery.needWriteHint")
+          }
+        >
+          <button
+            onClick={() => onSubscribe(c)}
+            disabled={!canWrite || subscribe.isPending}
+            className="glass-card glass-hover inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 px-2.5 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-xs disabled:opacity-50 transition"
+          >
+            <UserPlus className="w-3.5 h-3.5" />
+            {t("channels.discovery.subscribe")}
+          </button>
+        </Tooltip>
+      ),
+    },
     {
       key: "channel",
       header: t("channels.cols.channel"),
@@ -84,16 +130,26 @@ export default function ChannelDiscovery({
       sortValue: (c) => (c.title ?? c.id).toLowerCase(),
       filter: { kind: "text", get: (c) => `${c.title ?? ""} ${c.handle ?? ""}` },
       cardPrimary: true,
+      // Cap the width (a max-w element inside the cell; table-layout:auto ignores a cell max-width) so
+      // a long-titled channel can't stretch the column and overflow the centered table.
       render: (c) => (
-        <ChannelLink
-          id={c.id}
-          title={c.title}
-          handle={c.handle}
-          thumbnailUrl={c.thumbnail_url}
-          onView={() => onViewChannel(c.id, c.title ?? c.id)}
-        />
+        <div className="max-w-[18rem]">
+          <ChannelLink
+            id={c.id}
+            title={c.title}
+            handle={c.handle}
+            thumbnailUrl={c.thumbnail_url}
+            onView={() => onViewChannel(c.id, c.title ?? c.id)}
+          />
+        </div>
       ),
     },
+    {
+      key: "about",
+      header: t("channels.cols.about"),
+      hideInCard: true,
+      render: (c) => <AboutCell text={c.description} channelId={c.id} />,
+    },
     subsColumn<DiscoveredChannel>(t),
     {
       key: "videos",
@@ -126,54 +182,71 @@ export default function ChannelDiscovery({
         </Tooltip>
       ),
     },
-    {
-      key: "actions",
-      header: t("channels.cols.actions"),
-      align: "right",
-      nowrap: true,
-      width: "120px",
-      cardLabel: false,
-      render: (c) => (
-        <Tooltip
-          hint={
-            canWrite
-              ? t("channels.discovery.subscribeHint")
-              : t("channels.discovery.needWriteHint")
-          }
-        >
-          <button
-            onClick={() => onSubscribe(c)}
-            disabled={!canWrite || subscribe.isPending}
-            className="glass-card glass-hover inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 px-2.5 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-xs disabled:opacity-50 transition"
-          >
-            <UserPlus className="w-3.5 h-3.5" />
-            {t("channels.discovery.subscribe")}
-          </button>
-        </Tooltip>
-      ),
-    },
   ];
 
+  // Card layout paginates like the table (slice the sorted rows; the Pager reports changes). Only
+  // computed for cards — DataTable sorts and slices internally, so doing it in table mode too would
+  // copy+sort the whole list every render for a result nothing reads.
+  const isCards = layout === "cards";
+  const sortedRows = isCards ? sortRows(rows, columns, sort) : rows;
+  const { paged: pagedRows, pagerProps, resetPage } = useCardPager(
+    sortedRows,
+    LS.channelDiscoveryCardSize,
+    isCards,
+  );
+  // Changing what you're looking at starts over at the first page. NOT keyed on the row count:
+  // subscribing drops a row from this tab, and being thrown to page 1 for it would punish the very
+  // action you just took — a list that shrank past your page is handled by the hook's clamp.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    resetPage();
+  }, [search, sort, resetPage]);
+
   return (
     <>
       {/* Intro + the table controls are fixed chrome; only the table rows scroll (sticky header). */}
       <PageToolbar>
-        <div className="px-4 pt-3 max-w-7xl mx-auto">
+        <div className="px-4 pt-3 max-w-[96rem] mx-auto flex items-start justify-between gap-4">
           <p className="text-xs text-muted leading-relaxed">{t("channels.discovery.intro")}</p>
+          {/* Cards has no column headers, so a dropdown drives the sort + a pager (table uses its own). */}
+          {layout === "cards" && (
+            <div className="flex items-center gap-3 shrink-0">
+              <Pager {...pagerProps} />
+              <ColumnSortControl
+                columns={columns}
+                sort={sort}
+                onChange={setSort}
+                label={t("channels.sort.label")}
+                defaultLabel={t("channels.sort.default")}
+                ascLabel={t("channels.sort.asc")}
+                descLabel={t("channels.sort.desc")}
+              />
+            </div>
+          )}
         </div>
       </PageToolbar>
-      <div className="px-4 pb-4 max-w-7xl mx-auto">
+      <div className="px-4 pb-4 max-w-[96rem] mx-auto">
         {query.isLoading ? (
           <div className="text-muted py-8">{t("channels.discovery.loading")}</div>
-        ) : (
+        ) : layout === "table" ? (
           <DataTable
             rows={rows}
             columns={columns}
             rowKey={(c) => c.id}
             persistKey={accountKey(LS.channelDiscoveryTable) ?? undefined}
-            controlsPosition="top"
+            controlsPosition="both"
             controlsInBand
-            controlsBandClassName="px-4 max-w-7xl mx-auto"
+            controlsBandClassName="px-4 max-w-[96rem] mx-auto"
+            sort={sort}
+            onSortChange={setSort}
+            emptyText={t("channels.discovery.empty")}
+          />
+        ) : (
+          <ChannelLayoutGrid
+            rows={pagedRows}
+            columns={columns}
+            rowKey={(c) => c.id}
+            aboutKey="about"
+            actionsKey="actions"
             emptyText={t("channels.discovery.empty")}
           />
         )}

frontend/src/components/ChannelLayoutGrid.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+import { Fragment } from "react";
+import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
+import { type Column } from "./DataTable";
+import VirtualGrid from "./VirtualGrid";
+import { CHANNEL_LAYOUT_SPEC } from "../lib/channelLayout";
+
+// The channel manager's `cards` layout (E4 S3), built by reusing the SAME `Column<T>` render closures
+// the DataTable draws — so the subscribed and discovery tables (which have different columns) both get
+// the card view for free, and a cell's behaviour (priority bump, tag toggle, sync, actions) is defined
+// once. The `table` layout keeps DataTable; this renders only when the manager's layout is `cards`.
+//
+// Named slots place the columns that need bespoke positions; everything else flows in the meta line.
+// Unlike DataTable's cramped narrow-screen card fallback, the desktop card is roomy, so it shows the
+// `hideInCard` columns too (About, priority) — the user wants those affordances in every layout.
+
+interface ChannelLayoutGridProps<T> {
+  rows: T[];
+  columns: Column<T>[];
+  rowKey: (row: T) => string;
+  /** Column key docked at the top-right of the card (the priority stepper). */
+  leadKey?: string;
+  /** Column key rendered as a full-width description line (the About cell + its hover overlay). */
+  aboutKey?: string;
+  /** Column key rendered as the action cluster, pinned to the card's bottom edge. */
+  actionsKey?: string;
+  rowClassName?: (row: T) => string;
+  emptyText?: string;
+}
+
+export default function ChannelLayoutGrid<T>({
+  rows,
+  columns,
+  rowKey,
+  leadKey,
+  aboutKey,
+  actionsKey,
+  rowClassName,
+  emptyText,
+}: ChannelLayoutGridProps<T>) {
+  const { t } = useTranslation();
+  const spec = CHANNEL_LAYOUT_SPEC.cards;
+
+  const slotted = new Set([leadKey, aboutKey, actionsKey].filter(Boolean) as string[]);
+  const primary = columns.filter((c) => c.cardPrimary);
+  const lead = leadKey ? columns.find((c) => c.key === leadKey) : undefined;
+  const about = aboutKey ? columns.find((c) => c.key === aboutKey) : undefined;
+  const actions = actionsKey ? columns.find((c) => c.key === actionsKey) : undefined;
+  // Everything else flows in the meta line: not the heading, not a slotted column.
+  const meta = columns.filter((c) => !c.cardPrimary && !slotted.has(c.key));
+
+  const renderCard = (row: T) => (
+    <div className={`glass-card rounded-xl p-3 h-full flex flex-col gap-2 ${rowClassName?.(row) ?? ""}`}>
+      <div className="flex items-start justify-between gap-2">
+        <div className="min-w-0 flex-1 font-medium">
+          {primary.map((col) => (
+            <Fragment key={col.key}>{col.render(row)}</Fragment>
+          ))}
+        </div>
+        {lead && <div className="shrink-0">{lead.render(row)}</div>}
+      </div>
+      {about && <div className="min-w-0 text-sm">{about.render(row)}</div>}
+      <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-x-3 gap-y-1.5 text-sm min-w-0">
+        {meta.map((col) => (
+          <span key={col.key} className="inline-flex items-center gap-1">
+            {col.cardLabel !== false && <span className="text-muted text-xs">{col.header}</span>}
+            {col.render(row)}
+          </span>
+        ))}
+      </div>
+      {actions && <div className="mt-auto pt-1">{actions.render(row)}</div>}
+    </div>
+  );
+
+  if (rows.length === 0) {
+    return (
+      <div className="text-muted py-8 text-center text-sm">{emptyText ?? t("datatable.empty")}</div>
+    );
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <VirtualGrid
+      items={rows}
+      getKey={rowKey}
+      minCol={spec.minCol}
+      maxCol={null}
+      rowEst={spec.rowEst}
+      renderItem={renderCard}
+    />
+  );
+}

frontend/src/components/ChannelPage.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { useNavigationActions } from "./NavigationProvider";
 import { ArrowLeft, Ban, Check, ExternalLink, Loader2, Plus, RefreshCw, SlidersHorizontal } from "lucide-react";
 import Avatar from "./Avatar";
 import Feed from "./Feed";
+import ChannelAboutContent from "./ChannelAbout";
 import { PageToolbar, PageToolbarSlot } from "./PageShell";
 import { useFeedFilters } from "./FeedFiltersProvider";
 import { useConfirm } from "./ConfirmProvider";
@@ -14,39 +15,6 @@ import { api, type FeedFilters, type Me } from "../lib/api";
 import type { FeedView } from "../lib/feedView";
 import { channelYouTubeUrl, formatViews } from "../lib/format";
 
-// --- About-tab metadata helpers ---
-// ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code → 🇺🇸 regional-indicator flag emoji.
-function countryFlag(code: string): string {
-  if (!/^[A-Za-z]{2}$/.test(code)) return "";
-  return String.fromCodePoint(...[...code.toUpperCase()].map((c) => 0x1f1e6 + c.charCodeAt(0) - 65));
-}
-function displayName(code: string, lang: string, type: "region" | "language"): string {
-  try {
-    return new Intl.DisplayNames([lang], { type }).of(type === "region" ? code.toUpperCase() : code) ?? code;
-  } catch {
-    return code;
-  }
-}
-// YouTube keywords are ONE space-separated string with multi-word tags quoted: gaming "let's play".
-function parseKeywords(s: string): string[] {
-  return (s.match(/"[^"]+"|\S+/g) ?? []).map((k) => k.replace(/^"|"$/g, "")).filter(Boolean);
-}
-// topicCategories are Wikipedia URLs (…/wiki/Music) → a readable label, de-duplicated.
-function topicLabels(urls: string[]): string[] {
-  const seen = new Set<string>();
-  for (const url of urls) {
-    const seg = url.split("/wiki/")[1] ?? url.split("/").pop() ?? url;
-    let label = seg;
-    try {
-      label = decodeURIComponent(seg);
-    } catch {
-      /* keep raw */
-    }
-    label = label.replace(/_/g, " ").trim();
-    if (label) seen.add(label);
-  }
-  return [...seen];
-}
 
 // A dedicated channel page: an "About"-style header (banner, avatar, stats, subscribe) over the
 // channel's videos (the catalog filtered to this channel). For an un-subscribed channel it
@@ -209,10 +177,6 @@ export default function ChannelPage({
     ch?.total_view_count != null ? t("channel.totalViews", { formatted: formatViews(ch.total_view_count) }) : null,
     joined ? t("channel.joined", { date: joined }) : null,
   ].filter(Boolean) as string[];
-  const topics = ch?.topic_categories?.length ? topicLabels(ch.topic_categories) : [];
-  const keywords = ch?.keywords ? parseKeywords(ch.keywords) : [];
-  const hasAboutDetails =
-    !!ch?.country || !!ch?.default_language || topics.length > 0 || keywords.length > 0;
   const tabClass = (active: boolean) =>
     active
       ? "pb-2 text-sm font-medium border-b-2 border-fg text-fg"
@@ -422,69 +386,11 @@ export default function ChannelPage({
         </>
       ) : (
         <div className="px-4 sm:px-6 py-4 max-w-3xl">
-          {ch?.description ? (
-            <p className="text-sm whitespace-pre-wrap break-words leading-relaxed">{ch.description}</p>
+          {ch ? (
+            <ChannelAboutContent ch={ch} />
           ) : (
             <p className="text-sm text-muted">{t("channel.noDescription")}</p>
           )}
-          {ch?.external_links && ch.external_links.length > 0 && (
-            <div className="mt-4 flex flex-wrap gap-2">
-              {ch.external_links.map((l, i) => (
-                <a
-                  key={i}
-                  href={l.url}
-                  target="_blank"
-                  rel="noreferrer"
-                  className="inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-sm text-accent hover:underline"
-                >
-                  <ExternalLink className="w-3.5 h-3.5" />
-                  {l.title || l.url}
-                </a>
-              ))}
-            </div>
-          )}
-          {hasAboutDetails && (
-            <div className="mt-5 space-y-2.5 text-sm border-t border-border pt-4">
-              {ch?.country && (
-                <div className="flex gap-2">
-                  <span className="text-muted w-24 shrink-0">{t("channel.country")}</span>
-                  <span>
-                    {countryFlag(ch.country)} {displayName(ch.country, i18n.language, "region")}
-                  </span>
-                </div>
-              )}
-              {ch?.default_language && (
-                <div className="flex gap-2">
-                  <span className="text-muted w-24 shrink-0">{t("channel.language")}</span>
-                  <span>{displayName(ch.default_language, i18n.language, "language")}</span>
-                </div>
-              )}
-              {topics.length > 0 && (
-                <div className="flex gap-2">
-                  <span className="text-muted w-24 shrink-0 pt-0.5">{t("channel.topics")}</span>
-                  <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-1.5">
-                    {topics.map((tp) => (
-                      <span key={tp} className="glass-card px-2 py-0.5 rounded-full text-xs">
-                        {tp}
-                      </span>
-                    ))}
-                  </div>
-                </div>
-              )}
-              {keywords.length > 0 && (
-                <div className="flex gap-2">
-                  <span className="text-muted w-24 shrink-0 pt-0.5">{t("channel.keywords")}</span>
-                  <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-1.5">
-                    {keywords.map((kw, i) => (
-                      <span key={i} className="glass-card px-2 py-0.5 rounded-full text-xs">
-                        {kw}
-                      </span>
-                    ))}
-                  </div>
-                </div>
-              )}
-            </div>
-          )}
         </div>
       )}
       </PageToolbarSlot.Provider>

frontend/src/components/Channels.tsx

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
-import { Trans, useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
+import { useCallback, useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
+import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { useMutation, useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import {
   ArrowDown,
@@ -9,9 +9,11 @@ import {
   Eye,
   EyeOff,
   History,
+  LayoutGrid,
   Pencil,
   Plus,
   RefreshCw,
+  Table,
   UserMinus,
   X,
 } from "lucide-react";
@@ -25,12 +27,21 @@ import { subsColumn } from "./channelColumns";
 import { notify } from "../lib/notifications";
 import Tooltip from "./Tooltip";
 import DataTable, { type Column } from "./DataTable";
+import ChannelLayoutGrid from "./ChannelLayoutGrid";
+import Overlay from "./Overlay";
+import ViewSwitcher, { type ViewOption } from "./ViewSwitcher";
+import ColumnSortControl from "./ColumnSortControl";
+import Pager from "./Pager";
+import { CHANNEL_LAYOUTS, type ChannelLayout } from "../lib/channelLayout";
+import { sortRows } from "../lib/columnSort";
+import { useCardPager } from "../lib/useCardPager";
 import { PageToolbar } from "./PageShell";
 import ChannelLink from "./ChannelLink";
+import AboutCell from "./AboutCell";
 import ChannelDiscovery from "./ChannelDiscovery";
 import TagManager from "./TagManager";
 import { useConfirm } from "./ConfirmProvider";
-import { useChannels, useChannelsActions } from "./ChannelsProvider";
+import { useChannelLayout, useChannels, useChannelsActions } from "./ChannelsProvider";
 import { useNavigationActions } from "./NavigationProvider";
 import { useFeedFilters, useFeedFiltersActions } from "./FeedFiltersProvider";
 import { useWizard } from "./WizardProvider";
@@ -47,6 +58,11 @@ const STATUS_FILTERS: { id: ChannelStatusFilter; labelKey: string }[] = [
   { id: "hidden", labelKey: "channels.filters.hidden" },
 ];
 
+const LAYOUT_ICON: Record<ChannelLayout, typeof Table> = {
+  table: Table,
+  cards: LayoutGrid,
+};
+
 export default function Channels() {
   const me = useMe();
   const canWrite = me.can_write;
@@ -60,11 +76,14 @@ export default function Channels() {
     search,
     statusFilter,
     view,
+    sort,
     filtersResetToken,
     focusName: focusChannelName,
     focusToken: focusChannelToken,
   } = useChannels();
-  const { setSearch, setStatusFilter, setView, focusChannel: onFocusChannel } = useChannelsActions();
+  const layout = useChannelLayout();
+  const { setSearch, setStatusFilter, setView, setLayout, setSort, focusChannel: onFocusChannel } =
+    useChannelsActions();
   const { openChannel: onViewChannel, setPage } = useNavigationActions();
   const feedFilters = useFeedFilters();
   const { setFilters: setFeedFilters } = useFeedFiltersActions();
@@ -248,6 +267,11 @@ export default function Channels() {
     if (ok) resetBackfill.mutate({ id: c.id, name: c.title ?? c.id });
   };
 
+  // Distinct priority levels present in the catalog → the priority column's filter options.
+  const prioOptions = [...new Set((channelsQuery.data ?? []).map((c) => c.priority))]
+    .sort((a, b) => b - a)
+    .map((p) => ({ value: String(p), label: String(p) }));
+
   const columns: Column<ManagedChannel>[] = [
     {
       key: "priority",
@@ -257,24 +281,56 @@ export default function Channels() {
       sortable: true,
       hideInCard: true,
       sortValue: (c) => c.priority,
+      filter: { kind: "select", options: prioOptions, test: (c, v) => String(c.priority) === v },
       render: (c) => <PriorityCell c={c} onPriority={(d) => bumpPriority(c.id, c.priority, d)} />,
     },
+    {
+      key: "actions",
+      header: t("channels.cols.actions"),
+      align: "left",
+      nowrap: true,
+      width: "104px",
+      cardLabel: false,
+      render: (c) => (
+        <ActionsCell
+          c={c}
+          isAdmin={isAdmin}
+          canWrite={canWrite}
+          onHide={() => patch.mutate({ id: c.id, body: { hidden: !c.hidden } })}
+          onDeep={() => patch.mutate({ id: c.id, body: { deep_requested: !c.deep_requested } })}
+          onReset={() => onReset(c)}
+          onUnsubscribe={() => onUnsub(c)}
+        />
+      ),
+    },
     {
       key: "channel",
       header: t("channels.cols.channel"),
       sortable: true,
       sortValue: (c) => (c.title ?? c.id).toLowerCase(),
+      filter: { kind: "text", get: (c) => `${c.title ?? ""} ${c.handle ?? ""}` },
       cardPrimary: true,
+      // Cap the width so a long-titled channel can't stretch the column (table-layout:auto ignores a
+      // cell max-width, but a max-w element INSIDE the cell bounds it — same trick AboutCell uses).
+      // Without this a single long name blows the column ~289→429px and overflows the centered table.
       render: (c) => (
-        <ChannelLink
-          id={c.id}
-          title={c.title}
-          handle={c.handle}
-          thumbnailUrl={c.thumbnail_url}
-          onView={() => onView(c)}
-        />
+        <div className="max-w-[18rem]">
+          <ChannelLink
+            id={c.id}
+            title={c.title}
+            handle={c.handle}
+            thumbnailUrl={c.thumbnail_url}
+            onView={() => onView(c)}
+          />
+        </div>
       ),
     },
+    {
+      key: "about",
+      header: t("channels.cols.about"),
+      hideInCard: true,
+      render: (c) => <AboutCell text={c.description} channelId={c.id} />,
+    },
     {
       key: "stored",
       header: t("channels.cols.stored"),
@@ -319,12 +375,25 @@ export default function Channels() {
       header: t("channels.cols.sync"),
       nowrap: true,
       cardLabel: false,
+      filter: {
+        kind: "select",
+        options: [
+          { value: "fully", label: t("channels.filters.fullySynced") },
+          { value: "needsFull", label: t("channels.filters.needsFull") },
+        ],
+        test: (c, v) => (v === "fully" ? c.recent_synced && c.backfill_done : v === "needsFull" ? !c.backfill_done : true),
+      },
       render: (c) => <SyncCell c={c} />,
     },
     {
       key: "tags",
       header: t("channels.cols.tags"),
       cardLabel: false,
+      filter: {
+        kind: "multi",
+        options: userTags.map((tg) => ({ value: String(tg.id), label: tg.name })),
+        test: (c, values) => values.some((v) => c.tag_ids.includes(Number(v))),
+      },
       render: (c) => (
         <TagsCell
           c={c}
@@ -334,25 +403,6 @@ export default function Channels() {
         />
       ),
     },
-    {
-      key: "actions",
-      header: t("channels.cols.actions"),
-      align: "right",
-      nowrap: true,
-      width: "104px",
-      cardLabel: false,
-      render: (c) => (
-        <ActionsCell
-          c={c}
-          isAdmin={isAdmin}
-          canWrite={canWrite}
-          onHide={() => patch.mutate({ id: c.id, body: { hidden: !c.hidden } })}
-          onDeep={() => patch.mutate({ id: c.id, body: { deep_requested: !c.deep_requested } })}
-          onReset={() => onReset(c)}
-          onUnsubscribe={() => onUnsub(c)}
-        />
-      ),
-    },
   ];
 
   // Status chips sit in the table's controls row (next to paging) — compact and close to
@@ -375,8 +425,120 @@ export default function Channels() {
     </div>
   );
 
+  // The catalog-wide stats ride on the right of the tab row (subscribed only), leaving room for
+  // future tabs on the left.
+  const statsBlock = (
+    <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center justify-end gap-x-5 gap-y-1 text-sm text-muted">
+      {s && (
+        <>
+          <Stat label={t("channels.stats.channels")} value={s.channels_total} hint={t("channels.stats.channelsHint")} />
+          <Stat
+            label={t("channels.stats.recentSynced")}
+            value={`${s.channels_recent_synced}/${s.channels_total}`}
+            hint={t("channels.stats.recentSyncedHint")}
+          />
+          <Stat
+            label={t("channels.stats.fullHistory")}
+            value={`${s.channels_deep_done}/${s.channels_deep_requested}`}
+            hint={t("channels.stats.fullHistoryHint")}
+          />
+          {s.deep_pending_count > 0 && (
+            <Stat
+              label={t("channels.stats.left")}
+              value={formatEta(s.deep_eta_seconds)}
+              hint={t("channels.stats.leftHint", { count: s.deep_pending_count })}
+            />
+          )}
+          <Stat label={t("channels.stats.myVideos")} value={s.my_videos.toLocaleString()} hint={t("channels.stats.myVideosHint")} />
+          <Stat
+            label={t("channels.stats.quotaLeft")}
+            value={s.quota_remaining_today.toLocaleString()}
+            hint={t("channels.stats.quotaLeftHint")}
+          />
+        </>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  );
+
+  // Sync + backfill — now share the tags row (right side).
+  const actionButtons = (
+    <div className="flex items-center gap-2 shrink-0">
+      <Tooltip side="bottom" hint={t("channels.syncSubscriptionsHint")}>
+        <button
+          onClick={() => syncSubs.mutate()}
+          disabled={syncSubs.isPending}
+          className="glass-card glass-hover flex items-center gap-2 px-3 py-2 rounded-xl text-sm disabled:opacity-50 transition"
+        >
+          <RefreshCw className={`w-4 h-4 ${syncSubs.isPending ? "animate-spin" : ""}`} />
+          {t("channels.syncSubscriptions")}
+        </button>
+      </Tooltip>
+      <Tooltip side="bottom" hint={t("channels.backfillEverythingHint")}>
+        <button
+          onClick={() => deepAll.mutate()}
+          disabled={deepAll.isPending}
+          className="glass-card glass-hover flex items-center gap-2 px-3 py-2 rounded-xl text-sm disabled:opacity-50 transition"
+        >
+          <History className={`w-4 h-4 ${deepAll.isPending ? "animate-pulse" : ""}`} />
+          {t("channels.backfillEverything")}
+        </button>
+      </Tooltip>
+    </div>
+  );
+
+  // Table / cards density — shared by the subscribed + discovery tables (blocked is a chip list, no
+  // layout to switch). Rides the same generic ViewSwitcher the feed uses.
+  const layoutOptions: ViewOption<ChannelLayout>[] = CHANNEL_LAYOUTS.map((id) => ({
+    id,
+    label: t("channels.layout." + id),
+    icon: LAYOUT_ICON[id],
+  }));
+  const layoutSwitcher = (
+    <ViewSwitcher
+      value={layout}
+      options={layoutOptions}
+      onChange={setLayout}
+      label={t("channels.layoutLabel")}
+      labelClassName="hidden lg:inline"
+    />
+  );
+  const hasLayout = view === "subscribed" || view === "discovery";
+  // In cards there are no column headers to sort by, so a dropdown drives the SAME shared sort state
+  // the table header uses (table ↔ cards stay in sync). Table mode keeps the header clicks.
+  const sortControl = (
+    <ColumnSortControl
+      columns={columns}
+      sort={sort}
+      onChange={setSort}
+      label={t("channels.sort.label")}
+      defaultLabel={t("channels.sort.default")}
+      ascLabel={t("channels.sort.asc")}
+      descLabel={t("channels.sort.desc")}
+    />
+  );
+  // The card layout paginates like the table (a page of cards + a pager), rather than one long
+  // infinite scroll. Slice the sorted rows; the Pager reports page/size changes.
+  // Only computed for cards: in table mode DataTable sorts and slices internally, so doing it here
+  // too would copy+sort the whole ~300-row array on every render for a result nothing reads.
+  const isCards = layout === "cards";
+  const sortedChannels = isCards ? sortRows(visibleChannels, columns, sort) : visibleChannels;
+  const { paged: pagedCards, pagerProps, resetPage } = useCardPager(
+    sortedChannels,
+    LS.channelCardSize,
+    isCards,
+  );
+  // Changing what you're looking at starts over at the first page, the way DataTable resets its own
+  // page on a filter/sort change. Deliberately NOT keyed on the row count: the ["channels"] query
+  // refetches on window focus and after every sync, so a catalogue that merely gained a channel would
+  // otherwise yank you off page 7 for something you didn't do — a list that shrank past your page is
+  // handled by the hook's clamp instead.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    resetPage();
+  }, [statusFilter, search, tagFilter, sort, resetPage]);
+  const cardPager = <Pager {...pagerProps} />;
+
   const tabs = (
-    <div className="px-4 pt-4 max-w-7xl mx-auto">
+    <div className="px-4 pt-4 max-w-[96rem] mx-auto flex items-center justify-between gap-4 flex-wrap">
       <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-1.5">
         {(["subscribed", "discovery", "blocked"] as ChannelsView[]).map((v) => (
           <button
@@ -392,6 +554,11 @@ export default function Channels() {
           </button>
         ))}
       </div>
+      <div className="flex items-center gap-3">
+        {view === "subscribed" && statsBlock}
+        {view === "subscribed" && layout === "cards" && sortControl}
+        {hasLayout && layoutSwitcher}
+      </div>
     </div>
   );
 
@@ -403,85 +570,11 @@ export default function Channels() {
     <PageToolbar>
     {tabs}
     {view === "subscribed" && (
-    <div className="px-4 pt-3 pb-2 max-w-7xl mx-auto">
-      {/* Per-user sync status + catalog-wide actions on one row (search/tags filtering
-          now lives in the table headers). */}
-      <div className="flex items-start justify-between gap-4 flex-wrap mb-4">
-        <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-x-5 gap-y-1 text-sm text-muted">
-          {s && (
-            <>
-              <Stat label={t("channels.stats.channels")} value={s.channels_total} hint={t("channels.stats.channelsHint")} />
-              <Stat
-                label={t("channels.stats.recentSynced")}
-                value={`${s.channels_recent_synced}/${s.channels_total}`}
-                hint={t("channels.stats.recentSyncedHint")}
-              />
-              <Stat
-                label={t("channels.stats.fullHistory")}
-                value={`${s.channels_deep_done}/${s.channels_deep_requested}`}
-                hint={t("channels.stats.fullHistoryHint")}
-              />
-              {s.deep_pending_count > 0 && (
-                <Stat
-                  label={t("channels.stats.left")}
-                  value={formatEta(s.deep_eta_seconds)}
-                  hint={t("channels.stats.leftHint", { count: s.deep_pending_count })}
-                />
-              )}
-              <Stat label={t("channels.stats.myVideos")} value={s.my_videos.toLocaleString()} hint={t("channels.stats.myVideosHint")} />
-              <Stat
-                label={t("channels.stats.quotaLeft")}
-                value={s.quota_remaining_today.toLocaleString()}
-                hint={t("channels.stats.quotaLeftHint")}
-              />
-            </>
-          )}
-        </div>
-        <div className="flex items-center gap-2 shrink-0">
-        <Tooltip
-          side="bottom"
-          hint={t("channels.syncSubscriptionsHint")}
-        >
-          <button
-            onClick={() => syncSubs.mutate()}
-            disabled={syncSubs.isPending}
-            className="glass-card glass-hover flex items-center gap-2 px-3 py-2 rounded-xl text-sm disabled:opacity-50 transition"
-          >
-            <RefreshCw className={`w-4 h-4 ${syncSubs.isPending ? "animate-spin" : ""}`} />
-            {t("channels.syncSubscriptions")}
-          </button>
-        </Tooltip>
-        <Tooltip
-          side="bottom"
-          hint={t("channels.backfillEverythingHint")}
-        >
-          <button
-            onClick={() => deepAll.mutate()}
-            disabled={deepAll.isPending}
-            className="glass-card glass-hover flex items-center gap-2 px-3 py-2 rounded-xl text-sm disabled:opacity-50 transition"
-          >
-            <History className={`w-4 h-4 ${deepAll.isPending ? "animate-pulse" : ""}`} />
-            {t("channels.backfillEverything")}
-          </button>
-        </Tooltip>
-        </div>
-      </div>
-
-      <p className="text-xs text-muted mb-4 leading-relaxed">
-        <Trans
-          i18nKey="channels.intro"
-          components={[
-            <b className="text-fg/80" />,
-            <b className="text-fg/80" />,
-            <b className="text-fg/80" />,
-          ]}
-        />
-      </p>
-
-      {/* The channel-name search now lives in the shared top SearchBar (driven via props). */}
-
-      {/* Your tags — click a chip to filter the table by it (add/rename/delete live in the manager). */}
-      <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-1.5 mb-4">
+    <div className="px-4 pt-2 pb-2 max-w-[96rem] mx-auto">
+      {/* Your tags (left) share one row with the two catalog-wide actions (right); the channel-name
+          search lives in the shared top SearchBar, tag create/delete in the manager. */}
+      <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4 flex-wrap">
+      <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-1.5">
         <Tooltip hint={t("channels.tags.yourTagsHint")}>
           <span className="text-xs uppercase tracking-wide text-muted mr-1 cursor-help underline decoration-dotted decoration-muted/40 underline-offset-4">
             {t("channels.tags.yourTags")}
@@ -522,8 +615,18 @@ export default function Channels() {
           {t("channels.tags.manage")}
         </button>
       </div>
+      {actionButtons}
+      </div>
     </div>
     )}
+    {/* In table mode the status chips + pager ride in DataTable's own in-band controls row. The card
+        layout has no such row, so surface the same status chips (left) and its pager (right) here. */}
+    {view === "subscribed" && layout === "cards" && (
+      <div className="px-4 pb-2 max-w-[96rem] mx-auto flex items-center justify-between gap-3 flex-wrap">
+        {statusChips}
+        {cardPager}
+      </div>
+    )}
     </PageToolbar>
     {tagManagerOpen && (
       <TagManager onClose={() => setTagManagerOpen(false)} onFocusChannel={onFocusChannel} />
@@ -538,7 +641,7 @@ export default function Channels() {
       />
     ) : view === "blocked" ? (
       /* Blocked channels — videos from these are hidden everywhere and dropped from live search. */
-      <div className="px-4 pb-4 pt-3 max-w-7xl mx-auto">
+      <div className="px-4 pb-4 pt-3 max-w-[96rem] mx-auto">
         {(blockedQuery.data?.length ?? 0) === 0 ? (
           <p className="text-sm text-muted py-8">{t("channels.blocked.empty")}</p>
         ) : (
@@ -575,21 +678,36 @@ export default function Channels() {
       /* No top padding: the sticky header sits flush at the scroller top so it doesn't shift when
          `position: sticky` engages on the first scroll (the band's controls row above gives the
          visual gap). */
-      <div className="px-4 pb-4 max-w-7xl mx-auto">
+      <div className="px-4 pb-4 max-w-[96rem] mx-auto">
         {/* Channel table — only the rows scroll; the header row is sticky, and the controls row
-            (status chips + pager) rides in the fixed band right above it (controlsInBand). */}
+            (status chips + pager) rides in the fixed band right above it (controlsInBand). The
+            card layout swaps the table for a virtualized grid over the same rows (its pager and
+            status chips ride in the fixed band above instead). */}
         {channelsQuery.isLoading ? (
           <div className="text-muted py-8">{t("channels.loading")}</div>
-        ) : (
+        ) : layout === "table" ? (
           <DataTable
             rows={visibleChannels}
             columns={columns}
             rowKey={(c) => c.id}
             persistKey={accountKey(LS.channelsTable) ?? undefined}
-            controlsPosition="top"
+            controlsPosition="both"
             controlsLeading={statusChips}
             controlsInBand
-            controlsBandClassName="px-4 max-w-7xl mx-auto"
+            controlsBandClassName="px-4 max-w-[96rem] mx-auto"
+            sort={sort}
+            onSortChange={setSort}
+            rowClassName={(c) => (c.hidden ? "opacity-60" : "")}
+            emptyText={t("channels.empty")}
+          />
+        ) : (
+          <ChannelLayoutGrid
+            rows={pagedCards}
+            columns={columns}
+            rowKey={(c) => c.id}
+            leadKey="priority"
+            aboutKey="about"
+            actionsKey="actions"
             rowClassName={(c) => (c.hidden ? "opacity-60" : "")}
             emptyText={t("channels.empty")}
           />
@@ -692,21 +810,107 @@ function TagsCell({
 }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
-  // Open the picker upward when there isn't room below (rows near the viewport bottom would
-  // otherwise clip it against the scroll container), as long as there's room above.
-  const [openUp, setOpenUp] = useState(false);
+  // Anchor for the portalled menu. It renders through <Overlay> (i.e. at <body>) rather than
+  // `absolute` inside the cell, because in the CARD layout every VirtualGrid row carries a
+  // `transform` — which makes it a stacking context and traps a z-indexed child, so the menu drew
+  // UNDER the next card. Same hazard, same blessed fix as the players in E3.
+  const [coords, setCoords] = useState<{ left: number; top?: number; bottom?: number } | null>(null);
   const fade = useScrollFade();
   const ref = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
+  const popRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
   const btnRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement | null>(null);
-  useDismiss(open, () => setOpen(false), ref);
+  // The menu is no longer a DOM descendant of `ref`, so dismiss has to watch both.
+  useDismiss(open, () => setOpen(false), [ref, popRef]);
+  // Keep the scroll-fade hook's callback ref working alongside our own.
+  const setPopRef = useCallback(
+    (node: HTMLDivElement | null) => {
+      popRef.current = node;
+      fade.ref(node);
+    },
+    [fade.ref],
+  );
+
+  // ONE placement rule, so the position the menu opens at and the one it keeps while scrolling can't
+  // drift apart. `flip` keeps it anchored above the trigger once it has been flipped; the horizontal
+  // clamp uses the MEASURED width (`w-44` is rem — it grows with the text-size slider, so a px guess
+  // reads short at 1.3). Before first paint the menu isn't measurable yet; the layout effect below
+  // re-runs this once it is.
+  const coordsFrom = useCallback((r: DOMRect, flip: boolean) => {
+    const w = popRef.current?.offsetWidth ?? 0;
+    const left =
+      w && r.left + w > window.innerWidth - 8 ? Math.max(8, window.innerWidth - 8 - w) : r.left;
+    return flip
+      ? { left, bottom: window.innerHeight - r.top + 4 }
+      : { left, top: r.bottom + 4 };
+  }, []);
+
+  const place = useCallback(() => {
+    const r = btnRef.current?.getBoundingClientRect();
+    if (!r) return false;
+    setCoords(coordsFrom(r, false));
+    return true;
+  }, [coordsFrom]);
   const toggle = () => {
-    if (!open) {
-      const r = btnRef.current?.getBoundingClientRect();
-      const est = Math.min(userTags.length * 30 + 12, 264); // matches the max-height cap below
-      setOpenUp(!!r && r.bottom + est > window.innerHeight - 8 && r.top - est > 8);
-    }
-    setOpen((o) => !o);
+    if (open) setOpen(false);
+    else if (place()) setOpen(true);
   };
+
+  // Correct the placement against the MEASURED box: flip above when it would run off the bottom (and
+  // there is room above), and apply the width clamp now that the menu can actually be measured.
+  useLayoutEffect(() => {
+    const pop = popRef.current;
+    const r = btnRef.current?.getBoundingClientRect();
+    if (!open || !pop || !coords || !r) return;
+    const h = pop.offsetHeight; // the width is read inside coordsFrom, off the same node
+    const fitsBelow = r.bottom + 4 + h <= window.innerHeight - 8;
+    const fitsAbove = r.top - 4 - h >= 8;
+    // Decide BOTH ways, every time. Prefer the side it is already on (no flapping while scrolling),
+    // but leave it as soon as that side stops fitting and the other one does — a one-way flip would
+    // keep an above-anchored menu above a row scrolling toward the top and push it off the screen.
+    const above = coords.bottom !== undefined;
+    const flip = above ? fitsAbove || !fitsBelow : !fitsBelow && fitsAbove;
+    const next = coordsFrom(r, flip);
+    if (next.left !== coords.left || next.top !== coords.top || next.bottom !== coords.bottom) {
+      setCoords(next);
+    }
+  }, [open, coords, coordsFrom]);
+
+  // A fixed menu doesn't travel with its row, so FOLLOW the trigger on scroll rather than closing:
+  // in the table the menu used to scroll with the row, and closing on every wheel tick would make
+  // attaching several tags a reopen-per-tag chore. Closes only once the trigger leaves the SCROLLER
+  // (not the window — the page scroller starts below ~230px of fixed chrome, so a row hidden behind
+  // the toolbar is still "on screen" by window coords and the menu would float over the chrome).
+  // Scrolling INSIDE the menu must not move it.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!open) return;
+    let raf = 0;
+    const reposition = () => {
+      raf = 0;
+      const r = btnRef.current?.getBoundingClientRect();
+      const scroller = document.querySelector("main")?.getBoundingClientRect();
+      const topEdge = scroller ? scroller.top : 0;
+      const bottomEdge = scroller ? scroller.bottom : window.innerHeight;
+      if (!r || r.bottom < topEdge || r.top > bottomEdge) {
+        setOpen(false);
+        return;
+      }
+      // Keep whichever side it is anchored to, so the layout effect has nothing left to correct —
+      // resetting to "below" every frame would make it flip back and forth, two renders per frame.
+      setCoords((cur) => (cur ? coordsFrom(r, cur.bottom !== undefined) : cur));
+    };
+    const onScroll = (e: Event) => {
+      if (popRef.current && e.target instanceof Node && popRef.current.contains(e.target)) return;
+      if (!raf) raf = requestAnimationFrame(reposition); // coalesce a scroll burst into one move
+    };
+    const onResize = () => setOpen(false);
+    window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll, true);
+    window.addEventListener("resize", onResize);
+    return () => {
+      if (raf) cancelAnimationFrame(raf);
+      window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll, true);
+      window.removeEventListener("resize", onResize);
+    };
+  }, [open, coordsFrom]);
   if (userTags.length === 0) return null;
   // Show only the tags actually attached to this channel; the “+” opens a per-channel
   // picker to attach/detach (kept the convenient "kirakás" without listing every tag
@@ -733,13 +937,12 @@ function TagsCell({
       >
         <Plus className="w-3 h-3" />
       </button>
-      {open && (
+      {open && coords && (
+        <Overlay>
         <div
-          ref={fade.ref}
-          style={fade.style}
-          className={`glass-menu absolute left-0 z-chrome w-44 max-h-[264px] overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar rounded-xl p-1.5 animate-[popIn_0.16s_ease] ${
-            openUp ? "bottom-full mb-1" : "top-full mt-1"
-          }`}
+          ref={setPopRef}
+          style={{ ...fade.style, position: "fixed", left: coords.left, top: coords.top, bottom: coords.bottom }}
+          className="glass-menu z-popover w-44 max-h-[264px] overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar rounded-xl p-1.5 animate-[popIn_0.16s_ease]"
         >
           {userTags.map((tg) => {
             const on = c.tag_ids.includes(tg.id);
@@ -763,6 +966,7 @@ function TagsCell({
             );
           })}
         </div>
+        </Overlay>
       )}
     </div>
   );

frontend/src/components/ChannelsProvider.tsx

@@ -4,10 +4,13 @@ import {
   useContext,
   useEffect,
   useMemo,
+  useRef,
   useState,
   type ReactNode,
 } from "react";
-import { getAccountRaw, LS, setAccountRaw } from "../lib/storage";
+import { getAccountRaw, LS, readAccount, setAccountRaw, writeAccount } from "../lib/storage";
+import { parseChannelLayout, type ChannelLayout } from "../lib/channelLayout";
+import { parseSortState, type SortState } from "../lib/columnSort";
 import { useNavigation, useNavigationActions } from "./NavigationProvider";
 import type { ChannelStatusFilter, ChannelsView } from "./Channels";
 
@@ -41,6 +44,8 @@ type ChannelsState = {
   search: string;
   statusFilter: ChannelStatusFilter;
   view: ChannelsView;
+  // The subscribed table's sort, lifted out of DataTable so the card layout shares it.
+  sort: SortState;
   // Bumped to tell the manager to drop a stale column filter when an intent sends the user to a
   // specific set (the header's "without full history" link).
   filtersResetToken: number;
@@ -54,6 +59,8 @@ interface ChannelsActions {
   setSearch: (q: string) => void;
   setStatusFilter: (f: ChannelStatusFilter) => void;
   setView: (v: ChannelsView) => void;
+  setLayout: (l: ChannelLayout) => void;
+  setSort: (s: SortState) => void;
   // "Focus this channel in the manager": jump to Channels (subscriptions tab) and seed its name
   // filter so the channel is isolated. Called from the feed sidebar and the notifications inbox.
   focusChannel: (name: string) => void;
@@ -65,14 +72,21 @@ const StateContext = createContext<ChannelsState>({
   search: "",
   statusFilter: "all",
   view: "subscribed",
+  sort: null,
   filtersResetToken: 0,
   focusName: null,
   focusToken: 0,
 });
+// The table/cards density gets its OWN context, deliberately narrow: App reads it (to decide the
+// shell's top fade) and would otherwise re-render the whole app on every keystroke in the manager's
+// search box, since the state context above changes with it.
+const LayoutContext = createContext<ChannelLayout>("table");
 const ActionsContext = createContext<ChannelsActions>({
   setSearch: () => {},
   setStatusFilter: () => {},
   setView: () => {},
+  setLayout: () => {},
+  setSort: () => {},
   focusChannel: () => {},
   goToFullHistory: () => {},
 });
@@ -80,6 +94,11 @@ const ActionsContext = createContext<ChannelsActions>({
 export function useChannels(): ChannelsState {
   return useContext(StateContext);
 }
+/** The manager's table/cards density on its own — subscribe to this instead of the whole state when
+ * the layout is all you need (App does, for the shell's top fade). */
+export function useChannelLayout(): ChannelLayout {
+  return useContext(LayoutContext);
+}
 export function useChannelsActions(): ChannelsActions {
   return useContext(ActionsContext);
 }
@@ -95,18 +114,52 @@ export function ChannelsProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
   const [view, setViewState] = useState<ChannelsView>(() =>
     clampView(getAccountRaw(LS.channelsView)),
   );
+  const [layout, setLayoutState] = useState<ChannelLayout>(() =>
+    parseChannelLayout(getAccountRaw(LS.channelLayout)),
+  );
+  const [sort, setSortState] = useState<SortState>(() =>
+    parseSortState(readAccount(LS.channelSort, null)),
+  );
   const [filtersResetToken, setFiltersResetToken] = useState(0);
   const [focusName, setFocusName] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [focusToken, setFocusToken] = useState(0);
 
+  // Latest-value ref so the STABLE setView can compare against the current tab without depending on
+  // it (a dep would recreate the action on every switch and re-render every actions consumer).
+  // Written during render — the sanctioned pattern NavigationProvider uses for `pageRef`.
+  const viewRef = useRef(view);
+  viewRef.current = view;
+
   const setSearch = useCallback((q: string) => setSearchState(q), []);
   const setStatusFilter = useCallback((f: ChannelStatusFilter) => {
     setStatusFilterState(f);
     setAccountRaw(LS.channelFilter, f);
   }, []);
+  // The active tab rides in history.state (`_chTab`), the same way the channel page (`_chan`) and the
+  // live YouTube search (`_yt`) do — so Back steps back through the tabs you actually visited instead
+  // of jumping straight out to the previous module.
   const setView = useCallback((v: ChannelsView) => {
+    // Re-selecting the tab you are already on is not a navigation — bail before pushing, or clicking
+    // the active tab (and goToFullHistory forcing "subscribed") stacks Back entries that do nothing.
+    if (v === viewRef.current) return;
     setViewState(v);
     setAccountRaw(LS.channelsView, v);
+    // Only own an entry while the manager is already on screen. Arriving from elsewhere
+    // (focusChannel / goToFullHistory) lets setPage push the entry — the stamp effect labels it — so
+    // one navigation never costs two Back presses.
+    if (window.history.state?.sfPage === "channels") {
+      // A FRESH state, like setPage's: carrying the old entry's `_chan`/`_yt` markers over would make
+      // Back re-open the channel overlay or a spent search on top of the tab.
+      window.history.pushState({ sfPage: "channels", _chTab: v }, "");
+    }
+  }, []);
+  const setLayout = useCallback((l: ChannelLayout) => {
+    setLayoutState(l);
+    setAccountRaw(LS.channelLayout, l);
+  }, []);
+  const setSort = useCallback((s: SortState) => {
+    setSortState(s);
+    writeAccount(LS.channelSort, s);
   }, []);
 
   const focusChannel = useCallback(
@@ -130,18 +183,41 @@ export function ChannelsProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
     if (page !== "channels") setFocusName(null);
   }, [page]);
 
+  // Label the entry the manager was REACHED on (setPage pushes a bare { sfPage }), so stepping back
+  // onto it later restores the tab it belonged to rather than leaving whatever tab is current.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (page !== "channels") return;
+    const st = window.history.state || {};
+    if (st._chTab === undefined) window.history.replaceState({ ...st, _chTab: view }, "");
+  }, [page, view]);
+
+  // Back/Forward across tab entries: restore the tab the entry carries.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    function onPop(e: PopStateEvent) {
+      const tab = e.state?._chTab;
+      if (!tab) return; // an entry outside the manager — leave the tab alone
+      const next = clampView(tab as string);
+      setViewState(next);
+      setAccountRaw(LS.channelsView, next);
+    }
+    window.addEventListener("popstate", onPop);
+    return () => window.removeEventListener("popstate", onPop);
+  }, []);
+
   const state = useMemo<ChannelsState>(
-    () => ({ search, statusFilter, view, filtersResetToken, focusName, focusToken }),
-    [search, statusFilter, view, filtersResetToken, focusName, focusToken],
+    () => ({ search, statusFilter, view, sort, filtersResetToken, focusName, focusToken }),
+    [search, statusFilter, view, sort, filtersResetToken, focusName, focusToken],
   );
   const actions = useMemo<ChannelsActions>(
-    () => ({ setSearch, setStatusFilter, setView, focusChannel, goToFullHistory }),
-    [setSearch, setStatusFilter, setView, focusChannel, goToFullHistory],
+    () => ({ setSearch, setStatusFilter, setView, setLayout, setSort, focusChannel, goToFullHistory }),
+    [setSearch, setStatusFilter, setView, setLayout, setSort, focusChannel, goToFullHistory],
   );
 
   return (
     <ActionsContext.Provider value={actions}>
-      <StateContext.Provider value={state}>{children}</StateContext.Provider>
+      <LayoutContext.Provider value={layout}>
+        <StateContext.Provider value={state}>{children}</StateContext.Provider>
+      </LayoutContext.Provider>
     </ActionsContext.Provider>
   );
 }

frontend/src/components/ColumnSortControl.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { ArrowDown, ArrowUp } from "lucide-react";
+import { type Column } from "./DataTable";
+import { type SortState } from "../lib/columnSort";
+
+// A sort control for views without clickable column headers (the channel manager's card layout):
+// a dropdown of the sortable columns + an asc/desc toggle, mirroring the feed toolbar's sort. It's
+// driven by the SAME `SortState` the DataTable header uses, so table and cards stay in sync. The
+// dropdown's options come straight from the columns' `sortable`/`sortValue` metadata — no new list.
+export default function ColumnSortControl<T>({
+  columns,
+  sort,
+  onChange,
+  label,
+  defaultLabel,
+  ascLabel,
+  descLabel,
+}: {
+  columns: Column<T>[];
+  sort: SortState;
+  onChange: (next: SortState) => void;
+  /** Accessible name for the dropdown (e.g. "Sort"). */
+  label: string;
+  /** The "no sort / original order" option's text. */
+  defaultLabel: string;
+  ascLabel: string;
+  descLabel: string;
+}) {
+  const sortable = columns.filter((c) => c.sortable && c.sortValue);
+  // A stored sort can name a column this table no longer offers (renamed, or `sortable` dropped).
+  // `sortRows` already leaves the rows unsorted then, so treat it as no sort here too — otherwise the
+  // select falls back to showing "default" while a direction arrow claims a sort that isn't applied.
+  const active = sortable.some((c) => c.key === sort?.key) ? sort : null;
+  return (
+    <div className="flex items-center gap-1">
+      <select
+        value={active?.key ?? ""}
+        onChange={(e) => {
+          const key = e.target.value;
+          // Keep the direction when re-picking the same column; a new column starts ascending.
+          onChange(key ? { key, dir: active?.key === key ? active.dir : "asc" } : null);
+        }}
+        aria-label={label}
+        className="bg-card border border-border rounded-lg px-2 py-1.5 text-sm outline-none focus:border-accent"
+      >
+        <option value="">{defaultLabel}</option>
+        {sortable.map((c) => (
+          <option key={c.key} value={c.key}>
+            {c.header}
+          </option>
+        ))}
+      </select>
+      {active && (
+        <button
+          onClick={() => onChange({ key: active.key, dir: active.dir === "asc" ? "desc" : "asc" })}
+          title={active.dir === "asc" ? ascLabel : descLabel}
+          aria-label={active.dir === "asc" ? ascLabel : descLabel}
+          className="shrink-0 p-1.5 rounded-lg border border-border bg-card text-fg hover:border-accent hover:text-accent active:translate-y-px transition"
+        >
+          {active.dir === "asc" ? <ArrowUp className="w-4 h-4" /> : <ArrowDown className="w-4 h-4" />}
+        </button>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  );
+}

frontend/src/components/DataTable.tsx

@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 import { useEffect, useRef, useState, type ReactNode } from "react";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
-import { ArrowDown, ArrowUp, ChevronLeft, ChevronRight, ListFilter, X } from "lucide-react";
+import { ArrowDown, ArrowUp, ListFilter, X } from "lucide-react";
 import { useDismiss } from "../lib/useDismiss";
 import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
+import { sortRows, cycleSort, type SortState } from "../lib/columnSort";
+import Pager, { hasPagerContent } from "./Pager";
 import { PageToolbar } from "./PageShell";
 
 // A reusable, client-side data table: per-column sort + filter (in the header) + pagination,
@@ -50,7 +52,6 @@ export interface Column<T> {
   cardLabel?: boolean;
 }
 
-type SortState = { key: string; dir: "asc" | "desc" } | null;
 type FilterMap = Record<string, string | string[]>;
 interface Persisted {
   sort: SortState;
@@ -89,6 +90,8 @@ export default function DataTable<T>({
   controlsBandClassName,
   externalFilter,
   resetFiltersToken,
+  sort: sortProp,
+  onSortChange,
 }: {
   rows: T[];
   columns: Column<T>[];
@@ -112,16 +115,24 @@ export default function DataTable<T>({
   // set" (e.g. the header's "without full history" link), so a stale persisted filter can't
   // hide the rows the user was just sent to see.
   resetFiltersToken?: number;
+  // CONTROLLED sort (optional): when `onSortChange` is given, the caller owns the sort — the table
+  // reflects `sort` and reports header clicks instead of keeping its own — so another view of the
+  // same rows (the channel manager's cards) can share one sort. Omit both for the default internal,
+  // persistKey-backed sort.
+  sort?: SortState;
+  onSortChange?: (next: SortState) => void;
 }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const initial = loadPersist(persistKey);
-  const [sort, setSort] = useState<SortState>(initial.sort);
+  // Sort is controlled when the caller passes onSortChange (it then owns/persists it); otherwise
+  // the table keeps its own, seeded from and saved to persistKey.
+  const controlledSort = onSortChange !== undefined;
+  const [internalSort, setInternalSort] = useState<SortState>(initial.sort);
+  const sort = controlledSort ? sortProp ?? null : internalSort;
   const [filters, setFilters] = useState<FilterMap>(initial.filters);
   const [page, setPage] = useState(initial.page);
   const [size, setSize] = useState(initial.size ?? pageSize);
   const [openFilter, setOpenFilter] = useState<string | null>(null);
-  // Local text for the editable "jump to page" box (committed on Enter/blur).
-  const [pageInput, setPageInput] = useState("1");
   const popRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
 
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -161,19 +172,7 @@ export default function DataTable<T>({
     })
   );
 
-  const sortCol = sort ? columns.find((c) => c.key === sort.key) : undefined;
-  const sorted =
-    sort && sortCol?.sortValue
-      ? [...filtered].sort((a, b) => {
-          const av = sortCol.sortValue!(a);
-          const bv = sortCol.sortValue!(b);
-          const cmp =
-            typeof av === "number" && typeof bv === "number"
-              ? av - bv
-              : String(av).localeCompare(String(bv));
-          return sort.dir === "asc" ? cmp : -cmp;
-        })
-      : filtered;
+  const sorted = sortRows(filtered, columns, sort);
 
   // size <= 0 means "All" — one page with every row.
   const allRows = size <= 0;
@@ -181,17 +180,10 @@ export default function DataTable<T>({
   const safePage = Math.min(page, totalPages - 1);
   const paged = allRows ? sorted : sorted.slice(safePage * size, safePage * size + size);
 
-  useEffect(() => setPageInput(String(safePage + 1)), [safePage]);
-  function commitPageInput() {
-    const n = parseInt(pageInput, 10);
-    if (!isNaN(n)) setPage(Math.min(totalPages - 1, Math.max(0, n - 1)));
-    else setPageInput(String(safePage + 1));
-  }
-
   function toggleSort(key: string) {
-    setSort((s) =>
-      !s || s.key !== key ? { key, dir: "asc" } : s.dir === "asc" ? { key, dir: "desc" } : null
-    );
+    const next = cycleSort(sort, key);
+    if (controlledSort) onSortChange!(next);
+    else setInternalSort(next);
     setPage(0);
   }
   function applyFilter(key: string, value: string | string[]) {
@@ -288,70 +280,40 @@ export default function DataTable<T>({
     );
   }
 
+  // The pager + rows-per-page cluster on its own, so it can be rendered a second time at the bottom
+  // (controlsPosition "both") WITHOUT repeating the leading controls (e.g. the status chips) — those
+  // are header controls and belong only at the top.
+  // Stays NULLABLE: the wrappers below decide whether to render a controls row at all, and an always
+  // -truthy element would leave an empty `my-3` band (and an empty in-band PageToolbar) on a table
+  // with nothing to page. The emptiness rule itself lives in Pager, so the two can't drift apart.
+  const pagerNode = hasPagerContent(sorted.length, size) ? (
+    <Pager
+      page={safePage}
+      size={size}
+      total={sorted.length}
+      pageSizeOptions={pageSizeOptions}
+      onPageChange={setPage}
+      onSizeChange={(s) => {
+        setSize(s);
+        setPage(0);
+      }}
+      sizeLabel={t("datatable.rowsPerPage")}
+    />
+  ) : null;
+
   const controls =
-    controlsLeading != null || sorted.length > 0 ? (
+    controlsLeading != null || pagerNode ? (
       <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-3 my-3 text-sm flex-wrap">
         <div className="flex items-center gap-3 flex-wrap">{controlsLeading}</div>
-        <div className="flex items-center gap-3 flex-wrap">
-          {totalPages > 1 && (
-            <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
-              <button
-                onClick={() => setPage((p) => Math.max(0, p - 1))}
-                disabled={safePage === 0}
-                className="glass-card glass-hover flex items-center gap-1 px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg disabled:opacity-40 transition"
-              >
-                <ChevronLeft className="w-4 h-4" />
-                {t("datatable.pager.prev")}
-              </button>
-              <span className="text-muted flex items-center gap-1.5">
-                {t("datatable.pager.pageLabel")}
-                <input
-                  type="number"
-                  min={1}
-                  max={totalPages}
-                  value={pageInput}
-                  onChange={(e) => setPageInput(e.target.value)}
-                  onBlur={commitPageInput}
-                  onKeyDown={(e) => e.key === "Enter" && commitPageInput()}
-                  aria-label={t("datatable.pager.pageLabel")}
-                  className="w-14 bg-card border border-border rounded-md px-1.5 py-1 text-xs text-center tabular-nums outline-none focus:border-accent"
-                />
-                {t("datatable.pager.ofTotal", { total: totalPages })}
-              </span>
-              <button
-                onClick={() => setPage((p) => Math.min(totalPages - 1, p + 1))}
-                disabled={safePage >= totalPages - 1}
-                className="glass-card glass-hover flex items-center gap-1 px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg disabled:opacity-40 transition"
-              >
-                {t("datatable.pager.next")}
-                <ChevronRight className="w-4 h-4" />
-              </button>
-            </div>
-          )}
-          {sorted.length > 0 && (
-            <label className="flex items-center gap-2 text-muted">
-              {t("datatable.rowsPerPage")}
-              <select
-                value={size}
-                onChange={(e) => {
-                  setSize(Number(e.target.value));
-                  setPage(0);
-                }}
-                className="bg-card border border-border rounded-md px-1.5 py-1 text-xs outline-none focus:border-accent"
-              >
-                {pageSizeOptions.map((n) => (
-                  <option key={n} value={n}>
-                    {n}
-                  </option>
-                ))}
-                <option value={0}>{t("datatable.all")}</option>
-              </select>
-            </label>
-          )}
-        </div>
+        {pagerNode}
       </div>
     ) : null;
 
+  // Bottom row for "both": just the pager, right-aligned (the leading controls stay at the top).
+  const bottomControls = pagerNode ? (
+    <div className="flex items-center justify-end gap-3 my-3 text-sm flex-wrap">{pagerNode}</div>
+  ) : null;
+
   const topControls =
     controlsInBand && controls ? (
       <PageToolbar>
@@ -476,7 +438,8 @@ export default function DataTable<T>({
         <div className="text-muted py-8 text-center text-sm">{emptyText ?? t("datatable.empty")}</div>
       )}
 
-      {(controlsPosition === "bottom" || controlsPosition === "both") && controls}
+      {controlsPosition === "bottom" && controls}
+      {controlsPosition === "both" && bottomControls}
     </div>
   );
 }

frontend/src/components/Pager.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
+import { ChevronLeft, ChevronRight } from "lucide-react";
+
+// The Prev / page-input / Next + "N per page" cluster, lifted out of DataTable so a non-table view
+// (the channel manager's card layout) can paginate the same way. Controlled: the caller owns page +
+// size and slices its own rows; this only renders the controls and reports changes. `sizeLabel` lets
+// the caller say "Rows per page" or "Cards per page". Returns null when there's nothing to page.
+
+/** How many pages `total` rows make at `size` (`size <= 0` = "All" = one page). */
+function pageCount(total: number, size: number): number {
+  return size <= 0 ? 1 : Math.max(1, Math.ceil(total / size));
+}
+
+/** Whether a pager would render anything — the ONE owner of that rule. Callers that wrap the pager
+ * in their own chrome gate on this instead of re-deriving it: a drifted second copy is exactly what
+ * left empty control bands behind on tables with nothing to page. */
+export function hasPagerContent(total: number, size: number): boolean {
+  return pageCount(total, size) > 1 || total > 0;
+}
+export default function Pager({
+  page,
+  size,
+  total,
+  pageSizeOptions,
+  onPageChange,
+  onSizeChange,
+  sizeLabel,
+}: {
+  /** Current page (0-based). */
+  page: number;
+  /** Page size; `<= 0` means "All" (one page). */
+  size: number;
+  /** Total item count across all pages. */
+  total: number;
+  pageSizeOptions: number[];
+  onPageChange: (page: number) => void;
+  onSizeChange: (size: number) => void;
+  sizeLabel: string;
+}) {
+  const { t } = useTranslation();
+  const totalPages = pageCount(total, size);
+  const safePage = Math.min(page, totalPages - 1);
+
+  // Local text for the editable "jump to page" box (committed on Enter/blur).
+  const [pageInput, setPageInput] = useState(String(safePage + 1));
+  useEffect(() => setPageInput(String(safePage + 1)), [safePage]);
+
+  // Turning the page — or resizing it, which re-slices from a different first item — swaps the whole
+  // list, so put the reader at its top; landing mid-list in a page you haven't seen is disorienting.
+  // The page scroller is the app's <main> (PageScroller documents itself as the ONE scroller; the
+  // same implicit contract BackToTop and VirtualGrid's getScrollParent already rely on).
+  function scrollListToTop() {
+    document.querySelector("main")?.scrollTo({ top: 0 });
+  }
+  function goToPage(p: number) {
+    onPageChange(p);
+    scrollListToTop();
+  }
+  function commitPageInput() {
+    const n = parseInt(pageInput, 10);
+    if (!isNaN(n)) goToPage(Math.min(totalPages - 1, Math.max(0, n - 1)));
+    else setPageInput(String(safePage + 1));
+  }
+
+  if (!hasPagerContent(total, size)) return null;
+  return (
+    <div className="flex items-center gap-3 flex-wrap">
+      {totalPages > 1 && (
+        <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+          <button
+            onClick={() => goToPage(Math.max(0, safePage - 1))}
+            disabled={safePage === 0}
+            className="glass-card glass-hover flex items-center gap-1 px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg disabled:opacity-40 transition"
+          >
+            <ChevronLeft className="w-4 h-4" />
+            {t("datatable.pager.prev")}
+          </button>
+          <span className="text-muted flex items-center gap-1.5">
+            {t("datatable.pager.pageLabel")}
+            <input
+              type="number"
+              min={1}
+              max={totalPages}
+              value={pageInput}
+              onChange={(e) => setPageInput(e.target.value)}
+              onBlur={commitPageInput}
+              onKeyDown={(e) => e.key === "Enter" && commitPageInput()}
+              aria-label={t("datatable.pager.pageLabel")}
+              className="w-14 bg-card border border-border rounded-md px-1.5 py-1 text-xs text-center tabular-nums outline-none focus:border-accent"
+            />
+            {t("datatable.pager.ofTotal", { total: totalPages })}
+          </span>
+          <button
+            onClick={() => goToPage(Math.min(totalPages - 1, safePage + 1))}
+            disabled={safePage >= totalPages - 1}
+            className="glass-card glass-hover flex items-center gap-1 px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg disabled:opacity-40 transition"
+          >
+            {t("datatable.pager.next")}
+            <ChevronRight className="w-4 h-4" />
+          </button>
+        </div>
+      )}
+      {total > 0 && (
+        <label className="flex items-center gap-2 text-muted">
+          {sizeLabel}
+          <select
+            value={size}
+            onChange={(e) => {
+              onSizeChange(Number(e.target.value));
+              scrollListToTop();
+            }}
+            className="bg-card border border-border rounded-md px-1.5 py-1 text-xs outline-none focus:border-accent"
+          >
+            {pageSizeOptions.map((n) => (
+              <option key={n} value={n}>
+                {n}
+              </option>
+            ))}
+            <option value={0}>{t("datatable.all")}</option>
+          </select>
+        </label>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  );
+}

frontend/src/components/VirtualFeed.tsx

@@ -1,14 +1,8 @@
-import { useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from "react";
-import { useVirtualizer } from "@tanstack/react-virtual";
 import type { Video } from "../lib/api";
 import { FEED_VIEW_SPEC, type FeedView } from "../lib/feedView";
 import VideoCard from "./VideoCard";
+import VirtualGrid from "./VirtualGrid";
 
-// Column sizing mirrors the CSS the feed used before virtualization
-// (grid-cols-[repeat(auto-fill,minmax(260px,1fr))] with a gap-4 / 1rem gutter). The per-view
-// minimum column width lives with the rest of the view matrix in lib/feedView.ts.
-const GRID_GAP = 16;
-const LIST_GAP = 4;
 // Estimated row heights before measurement; real heights are measured per-row so these only affect
 // the very first paint and the scrollbar's initial guess. Taken from measuring each mode in the
 // browser rather than guessed — a bad estimate makes the scrollbar jump as you scroll in.
@@ -24,35 +18,6 @@ const ROW_EST: Record<FeedView, number> = {
   tiles: 132,
 };
 
-/** Columns that fit `width`, or 1 for the single-column views. */
-function columnsFor(view: FeedView, width: number): number {
-  const { minCol } = FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view];
-  if (minCol == null) return 1;
-  return Math.max(1, Math.floor((width + GRID_GAP) / (minCol + GRID_GAP)));
-}
-// Start fetching the next page this many rows before the end scrolls into view
-// (keeps the old IntersectionObserver's generous prefetch feel).
-const PREFETCH_ROWS = 4;
-
-function chunk<T>(arr: T[], size: number): T[][] {
-  if (size <= 1) return arr.map((x) => [x]);
-  const out: T[][] = [];
-  for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i += size) out.push(arr.slice(i, i + size));
-  return out;
-}
-
-// The feed scrolls inside the app's <main overflow-y-auto>, not the window, so the
-// virtualizer needs that element. Walk up to the nearest scrollable ancestor.
-function getScrollParent(node: HTMLElement | null): HTMLElement {
-  let el = node?.parentElement ?? null;
-  while (el) {
-    const oy = getComputedStyle(el).overflowY;
-    if (oy === "auto" || oy === "scroll") return el;
-    el = el.parentElement;
-  }
-  return document.documentElement;
-}
-
 export interface VirtualFeedProps {
   items: Video[];
   view: FeedView;
@@ -65,6 +30,9 @@ export interface VirtualFeedProps {
   fetchNextPage: () => void;
 }
 
+// The feed's videos on the shared VirtualGrid engine — this wrapper only maps a FeedView to the
+// grid's layout spec and renders a VideoCard per item. All the virtualization mechanics (measure,
+// chunk, place, infinite-scroll) live in VirtualGrid.
 export default function VirtualFeed({
   items,
   view,
@@ -76,123 +44,31 @@ export default function VirtualFeed({
   isFetchingNextPage,
   fetchNextPage,
 }: VirtualFeedProps) {
-  const listRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
-  const [scrollEl, setScrollEl] = useState<HTMLElement | null>(null);
-  const { minCol, maxCol } = FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view];
-  const singleCol = minCol == null;
-  const [colCount, setColCount] = useState(singleCol ? 1 : 4);
-  // Distance from the scroll element's content top to where this list starts (the
-  // feed toolbar sits above it inside the same scroll area).
-  const [scrollMargin, setScrollMargin] = useState(0);
-  // How wide ONE row/card actually renders. The one-line row drops columns as this shrinks, and it
-  // has to be the real width, not the viewport: the nav rail (56 slim / ~230 pinned) and the filter
-  // panel (~80 tab / ~256 pinned) move it by ~430px between them. A viewport breakpoint got this
-  // wrong — at 1280 with both pinned every column still showed while the row had 762px for 766px of
-  // them, which squeezed the title to nothing. This is measured here anyway, for colCount.
-  const [itemWidth, setItemWidth] = useState(0);
-
-  useLayoutEffect(() => {
-    if (listRef.current) setScrollEl(getScrollParent(listRef.current));
-  }, []);
-
-  // Re-measure the column count and start offset on container/scroll-area resize.
-  useLayoutEffect(() => {
-    const node = listRef.current;
-    if (!node) return;
-    const measure = () => {
-      if (scrollEl) {
-        const m =
-          node.getBoundingClientRect().top -
-          scrollEl.getBoundingClientRect().top +
-          scrollEl.scrollTop;
-        setScrollMargin(m);
-      }
-      const w = node.clientWidth;
-      const cols = columnsFor(view, w);
-      setColCount(cols);
-      const { minCol: min, maxCol: max } = FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view];
-      setItemWidth(
-        min == null ? Math.min(w, max ?? w) : Math.floor((w - GRID_GAP * (cols - 1)) / cols)
-      );
-    };
-    measure();
-    const ro = new ResizeObserver(measure);
-    ro.observe(node);
-    if (scrollEl) ro.observe(scrollEl);
-    return () => ro.disconnect();
-  }, [scrollEl, view]);
-
-  const rows = useMemo(() => chunk(items, colCount), [items, colCount]);
-
-  const virtualizer = useVirtualizer({
-    count: rows.length,
-    getScrollElement: () => scrollEl,
-    estimateSize: () => ROW_EST[view],
-    overscan: 4,
-    gap: singleCol ? LIST_GAP : GRID_GAP,
-    scrollMargin,
-  });
-
-  const virtualRows = virtualizer.getVirtualItems();
-
-  // Infinite-scroll trigger: once the last rendered row is within PREFETCH_ROWS of
-  // the end, pull the next keyset page.
-  useEffect(() => {
-    const last = virtualRows[virtualRows.length - 1];
-    if (!last) return;
-    if (last.index >= rows.length - 1 - PREFETCH_ROWS && hasNextPage && !isFetchingNextPage) {
-      fetchNextPage();
-    }
-  }, [virtualRows, rows.length, hasNextPage, isFetchingNextPage, fetchNextPage]);
-
+  const { minCol, maxCol, thumb } = FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view];
   return (
-    <div ref={listRef} style={{ height: virtualizer.getTotalSize(), position: "relative" }}>
-      {virtualRows.map((vr) => {
-        const row = rows[vr.index];
-        if (!row) return null;
-        return (
-          <div
-            key={vr.key}
-            data-index={vr.index}
-            ref={virtualizer.measureElement}
-            style={{
-              position: "absolute",
-              top: 0,
-              left: 0,
-              width: "100%",
-              transform: `translateY(${vr.start - virtualizer.options.scrollMargin}px)`,
-            }}
-          >
-            {/* One branch for both shapes: the single-column views just chunk to colCount 1 and
-                get their reading-width cap instead of grid columns. */}
-            <div
-              className={singleCol ? "mx-auto pb-1" : "grid gap-4"}
-              style={
-                singleCol
-                  ? { maxWidth: maxCol ?? undefined }
-                  : { gridTemplateColumns: `repeat(${colCount}, minmax(0, 1fr))` }
-              }
-            >
-              {row.map((v) => (
-                <VideoCard
-                  key={v.id}
-                  video={v}
-                  view={view}
-                  // Only the one-line row reads its own width (it stands columns down as it
-                  // narrows). Everything else takes a stable 0, so a resize — which changes
-                  // itemWidth every frame — doesn't blow past VideoCard's memo for views that
-                  // wouldn't do anything with it.
-                  width={FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view].thumb ? 0 : itemWidth}
-                  onState={onState}
-                  onToggleSave={onToggleSave}
-                  onResetState={onResetState}
-                  onOpen={onOpen}
-                />
-              ))}
-            </div>
-          </div>
-        );
-      })}
-    </div>
+    <VirtualGrid
+      items={items}
+      getKey={(v) => v.id}
+      minCol={minCol}
+      maxCol={maxCol}
+      rowEst={ROW_EST[view]}
+      hasNextPage={hasNextPage}
+      isFetchingNextPage={isFetchingNextPage}
+      fetchNextPage={fetchNextPage}
+      renderItem={(v, itemWidth) => (
+        <VideoCard
+          video={v}
+          view={view}
+          // Only the one-line row (thumb:false) reads its own width — it stands columns down as it
+          // narrows. Everything else takes a stable 0, so a resize (which changes itemWidth every
+          // frame) doesn't blow past VideoCard's memo for views that wouldn't do anything with it.
+          width={thumb ? 0 : itemWidth}
+          onState={onState}
+          onToggleSave={onToggleSave}
+          onResetState={onResetState}
+          onOpen={onOpen}
+        />
+      )}
+    />
   );
 }

frontend/src/components/VirtualGrid.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,186 @@
+import { Fragment, useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState, type ReactNode } from "react";
+import { useVirtualizer } from "@tanstack/react-virtual";
+
+// The virtualization engine, lifted out of VirtualFeed so any long client- or server-side list can
+// reuse it (the feed's video grid, the channel manager's card/row views). It owns ONLY the layout
+// mechanics — measure the container, derive the column count, chunk into rows, virtualize, and place
+// each row absolutely — and knows nothing about what an item is. The caller supplies `renderItem`.
+//
+// ⚠️ Each row is placed with `position:absolute` + `transform` (below), which makes EVERY ROW ITS OWN
+// STACKING CONTEXT. A z-indexed child therefore cannot escape its row: a menu or popover rendered
+// inside an item draws UNDER the next row, whatever z-index it carries — the channel manager's tag
+// picker hit exactly this. Anything floating that an item renders must portal out (see Overlay).
+//
+// Column sizing mirrors the CSS the feed used before virtualization
+// (grid-cols-[repeat(auto-fill,minmax(260px,1fr))] with a gap-4 / 1rem gutter).
+const GRID_GAP = 16;
+const LIST_GAP = 4;
+// Start fetching the next page this many rows before the end scrolls into view
+// (keeps the old IntersectionObserver's generous prefetch feel).
+const PREFETCH_ROWS = 4;
+
+/** Columns that fit `width`, or 1 for the single-column layout (`minCol == null`). */
+function columnsFor(minCol: number | null, width: number): number {
+  if (minCol == null) return 1;
+  return Math.max(1, Math.floor((width + GRID_GAP) / (minCol + GRID_GAP)));
+}
+
+function chunk<T>(arr: T[], size: number): T[][] {
+  if (size <= 1) return arr.map((x) => [x]);
+  const out: T[][] = [];
+  for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i += size) out.push(arr.slice(i, i + size));
+  return out;
+}
+
+// The list scrolls inside an <main overflow-y-auto> (the page scroller), not the window, so the
+// virtualizer needs that element. Walk up to the nearest scrollable ancestor.
+function getScrollParent(node: HTMLElement | null): HTMLElement {
+  let el = node?.parentElement ?? null;
+  while (el) {
+    const oy = getComputedStyle(el).overflowY;
+    if (oy === "auto" || oy === "scroll") return el;
+    el = el.parentElement;
+  }
+  return document.documentElement;
+}
+
+export interface VirtualGridProps<T> {
+  items: T[];
+  getKey: (item: T) => string;
+  /** Narrowest grid column in px, or null for ONE full-width column. The column count is derived
+   * from this and the container width, so every multi-column layout reflows for free. */
+  minCol: number | null;
+  /** Single-column layout only: the reading-width cap in px (null = fill). */
+  maxCol?: number | null;
+  /** Estimated row height before measurement; real heights are measured per-row, so this only
+   * affects the very first paint and the scrollbar's initial guess. Measure it, don't guess — a
+   * bad estimate makes the scrollbar jump as you scroll in. */
+  rowEst: number;
+  /** Renders one item. `itemWidth` is the measured px width of one cell — for width-derived
+   * layouts (e.g. a one-line row that drops columns as it narrows); ignore it otherwise, and to
+   * protect a memo'd item from re-rendering on every resize frame, pass a stable value down. */
+  renderItem: (item: T, itemWidth: number) => ReactNode;
+  /** Infinite scroll — omit all three for a finite client-side list. */
+  hasNextPage?: boolean;
+  isFetchingNextPage?: boolean;
+  fetchNextPage?: () => void;
+}
+
+export default function VirtualGrid<T>({
+  items,
+  getKey,
+  minCol,
+  maxCol = null,
+  rowEst,
+  renderItem,
+  hasNextPage = false,
+  isFetchingNextPage = false,
+  fetchNextPage,
+}: VirtualGridProps<T>) {
+  const listRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  const [scrollEl, setScrollEl] = useState<HTMLElement | null>(null);
+  const singleCol = minCol == null;
+  const [colCount, setColCount] = useState(singleCol ? 1 : 4);
+  // Distance from the scroll element's content top to where this list starts (a toolbar sits above
+  // it inside the same scroll area).
+  const [scrollMargin, setScrollMargin] = useState(0);
+  // How wide ONE row/card actually renders. It has to be the real container width, not the
+  // viewport: side rails/panels move it independently of the window, and a viewport breakpoint got
+  // this wrong before. This is measured here anyway, for colCount.
+  const [itemWidth, setItemWidth] = useState(0);
+
+  useLayoutEffect(() => {
+    if (listRef.current) setScrollEl(getScrollParent(listRef.current));
+  }, []);
+
+  // Re-measure the column count and start offset on container/scroll-area resize.
+  useLayoutEffect(() => {
+    const node = listRef.current;
+    if (!node) return;
+    const measure = () => {
+      if (scrollEl) {
+        const m =
+          node.getBoundingClientRect().top -
+          scrollEl.getBoundingClientRect().top +
+          scrollEl.scrollTop;
+        setScrollMargin(m);
+      }
+      const w = node.clientWidth;
+      const cols = columnsFor(minCol, w);
+      setColCount(cols);
+      setItemWidth(
+        minCol == null ? Math.min(w, maxCol ?? w) : Math.floor((w - GRID_GAP * (cols - 1)) / cols)
+      );
+    };
+    measure();
+    const ro = new ResizeObserver(measure);
+    ro.observe(node);
+    if (scrollEl) ro.observe(scrollEl);
+    return () => ro.disconnect();
+  }, [scrollEl, minCol, maxCol]);
+
+  const rows = useMemo(() => chunk(items, colCount), [items, colCount]);
+
+  const virtualizer = useVirtualizer({
+    count: rows.length,
+    getScrollElement: () => scrollEl,
+    estimateSize: () => rowEst,
+    overscan: 4,
+    gap: singleCol ? LIST_GAP : GRID_GAP,
+    scrollMargin,
+  });
+
+  const virtualRows = virtualizer.getVirtualItems();
+
+  // Infinite-scroll trigger: once the last rendered row is within PREFETCH_ROWS of the end, pull
+  // the next page. A no-op for finite lists (no fetchNextPage / hasNextPage false).
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!fetchNextPage) return;
+    const last = virtualRows[virtualRows.length - 1];
+    if (!last) return;
+    if (last.index >= rows.length - 1 - PREFETCH_ROWS && hasNextPage && !isFetchingNextPage) {
+      fetchNextPage();
+    }
+  }, [virtualRows, rows.length, hasNextPage, isFetchingNextPage, fetchNextPage]);
+
+  return (
+    <div ref={listRef} style={{ height: virtualizer.getTotalSize(), position: "relative" }}>
+      {virtualRows.map((vr) => {
+        const row = rows[vr.index];
+        if (!row) return null;
+        return (
+          <div
+            key={vr.key}
+            data-index={vr.index}
+            ref={virtualizer.measureElement}
+            style={{
+              position: "absolute",
+              top: 0,
+              left: 0,
+              width: "100%",
+              transform: `translateY(${vr.start - virtualizer.options.scrollMargin}px)`,
+            }}
+          >
+            {/* One branch for both shapes: the single-column layout chunks to colCount 1 and gets
+                its reading-width cap instead of grid columns. */}
+            <div
+              className={singleCol ? "mx-auto pb-1" : "grid gap-4"}
+              style={
+                singleCol
+                  ? { maxWidth: maxCol ?? undefined }
+                  : { gridTemplateColumns: `repeat(${colCount}, minmax(0, 1fr))` }
+              }
+            >
+              {/* A transparent Fragment carries React's key so the rendered item stays the DIRECT
+                  grid/column child — some cards rely on that (e.g. `h-full` stretch, actions pinned
+                  to the bottom edge), which a wrapper element would silently break. */}
+              {row.map((item) => (
+                <Fragment key={getKey(item)}>{renderItem(item, itemWidth)}</Fragment>
+              ))}
+            </div>
+          </div>
+        );
+      })}
+    </div>
+  );
+}

frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/channels.json

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 {
-  "intro": "Set a channel's <0>priority</0> to push its videos up when you sort by “Channel priority”, attach your own <1>tags</1> to filter the feed, or <2>hide</2> a channel to drop it from the feed without unsubscribing.",
   "syncSubscriptions": "Read subscriptions from YouTube",
   "syncSubscriptionsHint": "Re-import your subscription list from YouTube — adds channels you've newly followed and drops ones you've unfollowed. The videos themselves keep syncing automatically in the background; this does not re-fetch them.",
   "backfillEverything": "Backfill everything",
@@ -9,6 +8,18 @@
     "discovery": "Discover from playlists",
     "blocked": "Blocked"
   },
+  "layoutLabel": "Layout",
+  "layout": {
+    "table": "Table",
+    "cards": "Cards"
+  },
+  "sort": {
+    "label": "Sort",
+    "default": "Default order",
+    "asc": "Ascending",
+    "desc": "Descending"
+  },
+  "cardsPerPage": "Cards per page",
   "discovery": {
     "intro": "Channels that appear in your playlists but that you don't subscribe to. Subscribe to follow them — their new uploads will start showing in your feed (subscribing costs a little YouTube quota; existing videos aren't re-fetched).",
     "loading": "Finding channels…",
@@ -47,6 +58,7 @@
   "cols": {
     "priority": "Prio",
     "channel": "Channel",
+    "about": "About",
     "stored": "Stored",
     "subs": "Subscribers",
     "lastUpload": "Last upload",

frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/channels.json

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 {
-  "intro": "Állíts be egy csatornának <0>prioritást</0>, hogy a videói előrébb kerüljenek, amikor „Csatorna prioritás” szerint rendezel, csatolj saját <1>címkéket</1> a hírfolyam szűréséhez, vagy <2>rejts el</2> egy csatornát, hogy leiratkozás nélkül kivedd a hírfolyamból.",
   "syncSubscriptions": "Feliratkozások beolvasása a YouTube-ról",
   "syncSubscriptionsHint": "Újraimportálja a feliratkozási listádat a YouTube-ról — hozzáadja az újonnan követett csatornákat, és eltávolítja azokat, amelyekről leiratkoztál. Maguk a videók a háttérben automatikusan tovább szinkronizálódnak; ez nem tölti le őket újra.",
   "backfillEverything": "Minden letöltése",
@@ -9,6 +8,18 @@
     "discovery": "Felfedezés a lejátszási listákból",
     "blocked": "Letiltott"
   },
+  "layoutLabel": "Nézet",
+  "layout": {
+    "table": "Táblázat",
+    "cards": "Kártya"
+  },
+  "sort": {
+    "label": "Rendezés",
+    "default": "Alap sorrend",
+    "asc": "Növekvő",
+    "desc": "Csökkenő"
+  },
+  "cardsPerPage": "Kártya / oldal",
   "discovery": {
     "intro": "Csatornák, amelyek megjelennek a lejátszási listáidban, de még nem iratkoztál fel rájuk. Iratkozz fel, hogy kövesd őket — az új feltöltéseik megjelennek a hírfolyamodban (a feliratkozás kevés YouTube-kvótát használ; a meglévő videókat nem tölti le újra).",
     "loading": "Csatornák keresése…",
@@ -47,6 +58,7 @@
   "cols": {
     "priority": "Prio",
     "channel": "Csatorna",
+    "about": "Leírás",
     "stored": "Tárolt",
     "subs": "Feliratkozók",
     "lastUpload": "Utolsó feltöltés",

frontend/src/lib/api.ts

@@ -510,6 +510,7 @@ export interface ManagedChannel {
   thumbnail_url: string | null;
   subscriber_count: number | null;
   video_count: number | null;
+  description: string | null;
   stored_videos: number;
   last_video_at: string | null;
   total_duration_seconds: number;
@@ -535,6 +536,7 @@ export interface DiscoveredChannel {
   thumbnail_url: string | null;
   subscriber_count: number | null;
   video_count: number | null;
+  description: string | null;
   playlist_video_count: number; // how many of the user's playlist videos are from here
   playlist_count: number; // across how many of their playlists
   details_synced: boolean;

frontend/src/lib/channelLayout.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+// The channel manager's layout vocabulary (E4 S3). Named `ChannelLayout` — NOT `ChannelView` — on
+// purpose: the manager already has a `ChannelsView` (the subscribed/discovery/blocked TAB), and a
+// one-letter-apart type would be a footgun. This is the table-vs-card density switch, riding the
+// same generic `ViewSwitcher` as the feed. Two layouts: the DataTable, and a virtualized card grid.
+// (A `rows` variant existed briefly but was retired — it barely differed from the table.)
+export type ChannelLayout = "table" | "cards";
+
+export const CHANNEL_LAYOUTS: readonly ChannelLayout[] = ["table", "cards"] as const;
+
+const CHANNEL_LAYOUT_DEFAULT: ChannelLayout = "table";
+
+/** The `cards` layout's grid spec, consumed by VirtualGrid. `table` has no entry — it keeps the
+ * numbered-pager DataTable, not the virtualized grid. */
+export interface ChannelLayoutSpec {
+  /** Narrowest grid column in px. */
+  minCol: number;
+  /** First-paint row-height estimate; real heights are measured per-row after. Measured in the
+   * browser (channel heading + About line + meta + tags + actions), not guessed. */
+  rowEst: number;
+}
+
+export const CHANNEL_LAYOUT_SPEC: Record<Exclude<ChannelLayout, "table">, ChannelLayoutSpec> = {
+  cards: { minCol: 320, rowEst: 232 },
+};
+
+/** Coerce a stored value to a layout; anything unknown (corrupt, a rolled-back future layout, or the
+ * retired "rows") falls back to the default rather than rendering nothing. */
+export function parseChannelLayout(raw: unknown): ChannelLayout {
+  return (CHANNEL_LAYOUTS as readonly string[]).includes(raw as string)
+    ? (raw as ChannelLayout)
+    : CHANNEL_LAYOUT_DEFAULT;
+}
+
+/** Cards-per-page choices for the card layout's pager (0 = "All"), shared by both manager tabs. */
+export const CARD_PAGE_SIZES = [10, 25, 50, 100];
+const CARD_SIZE_DEFAULT = 25;
+
+/** Coerce a stored cards-per-page value to one the pager actually OFFERS (the sizes above, or 0 =
+ * "All"). Clamped against the allowed set — like `clampView`/`clampStatus` — not merely type-checked:
+ * a corrupt entry would make the page count NaN and slice the grid down to nothing, and an
+ * off-menu number (a hand-edited 7, or an option a future build dropped) would page by a value the
+ * `<select>` cannot show, so the control and the behaviour would silently disagree. */
+export function parseCardSize(raw: unknown): number {
+  return typeof raw === "number" && (raw === 0 || CARD_PAGE_SIZES.includes(raw))
+    ? raw
+    : CARD_SIZE_DEFAULT;
+}

frontend/src/lib/columnSort.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// Shared column-sort primitives, lifted out of DataTable so a NON-table renderer (the channel
+// manager's card layout) can sort the same rows the same way — one comparator, one source of truth.
+// Kept structural (no `Column` import) so it has zero coupling to DataTable.
+
+export type SortState = { key: string; dir: "asc" | "desc" } | null;
+
+interface Sortable<T> {
+  key: string;
+  sortValue?: (row: T) => string | number;
+}
+
+/** Sort a copy of `rows` by the sortable column named in `sort` (numeric diff or locale compare).
+ * Returns `rows` unchanged when there's no sort or the column has no `sortValue`. */
+export function sortRows<T>(rows: T[], columns: Sortable<T>[], sort: SortState): T[] {
+  if (!sort) return rows;
+  const get = columns.find((c) => c.key === sort.key)?.sortValue;
+  if (!get) return rows;
+  return [...rows].sort((a, b) => {
+    const av = get(a);
+    const bv = get(b);
+    const cmp =
+      typeof av === "number" && typeof bv === "number"
+        ? av - bv
+        : String(av).localeCompare(String(bv));
+    return sort.dir === "asc" ? cmp : -cmp;
+  });
+}
+
+/** Coerce a stored value to a SortState. Anything malformed (corrupt storage, a shape from an older
+ * build) becomes "no sort" rather than flowing a junk `dir` into the comparator. */
+export function parseSortState(raw: unknown): SortState {
+  if (!raw || typeof raw !== "object") return null;
+  const { key, dir } = raw as { key?: unknown; dir?: unknown };
+  return typeof key === "string" && (dir === "asc" || dir === "desc") ? { key, dir } : null;
+}
+
+/** The header-click cycle: unsorted → ascending → descending → unsorted. */
+export function cycleSort(current: SortState, key: string): SortState {
+  if (!current || current.key !== key) return { key, dir: "asc" };
+  if (current.dir === "asc") return { key, dir: "desc" };
+  return null;
+}

frontend/src/lib/linkify.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import { Fragment, type ReactNode } from "react";
+
+// Known platform → profile base URL, for "<platform>: @handle" mentions in descriptions.
+const PLATFORMS: Record<string, string> = {
+  x: "https://x.com/",
+  twitter: "https://x.com/",
+  instagram: "https://instagram.com/",
+  insta: "https://instagram.com/",
+  ig: "https://instagram.com/",
+  facebook: "https://facebook.com/",
+  fb: "https://facebook.com/",
+  tiktok: "https://www.tiktok.com/@",
+  youtube: "https://www.youtube.com/@",
+  yt: "https://www.youtube.com/@",
+  twitch: "https://www.twitch.tv/",
+  threads: "https://www.threads.net/@",
+  telegram: "https://t.me/",
+  soundcloud: "https://soundcloud.com/",
+};
+
+// Two link shapes, combined into one scanner:
+//   URL — explicit http(s):// URLs, www.* hosts, or domain.tld/path bare URLs (required path +
+//         letters-only TLD keep version numbers / file names out). Non-http gets an https:// href.
+//   MENTION — "<platform>: @handle" where <platform> is one of the known keys above. The colon/arrow
+//         separator is REQUIRED, so a stray "x" in prose won't match. Only the @handle is linked
+//         (to the platform's profile URL); the "<platform>: " label stays as text. Bare @handles
+//         with no platform, and #hashtags, are left plain.
+const URL_SOURCE =
+  '(?:https?://|www\\.)[^\\s<]+[^\\s<.,!?;:)\\]}"\']|[a-z0-9-]+(?:\\.[a-z0-9-]+)*\\.[a-z]{2,}/[^\\s<]*[^\\s<.,!?;:)\\]}"\']';
+const MENTION_SOURCE =
+  "\\b(" +
+  Object.keys(PLATFORMS).join("|") +
+  ")\\b[ \\t]*[:：►▶▸]+[ \\t]*@([a-z0-9_](?:[a-z0-9_.]{0,28}[a-z0-9_])?)";
+const TOKEN_RE = new RegExp("(" + URL_SOURCE + ")|" + MENTION_SOURCE, "gi");
+
+/**
+ * Turn links inside a plain-text string into clickable <a>s that open in a new tab (safe rel):
+ * bare URLs (http(s)/www/domain.tld/path) and "<platform>: @handle" social mentions. Everything
+ * else is returned as text, so it composes with `whitespace-pre-wrap` (line breaks preserved).
+ */
+export function linkify(text: string): ReactNode[] {
+  const out: ReactNode[] = [];
+  let last = 0;
+  let key = 0;
+  TOKEN_RE.lastIndex = 0;
+  const link = (href: string, label: string) => (
+    <a
+      key={key++}
+      href={href}
+      target="_blank"
+      rel="noopener noreferrer"
+      className="text-accent hover:underline break-all"
+    >
+      {label}
+    </a>
+  );
+  let m: RegExpExecArray | null;
+  while ((m = TOKEN_RE.exec(text)) !== null) {
+    if (m.index > last) out.push(<Fragment key={key++}>{text.slice(last, m.index)}</Fragment>);
+    if (m[1]) {
+      // Plain URL.
+      const raw = m[1];
+      out.push(link(/^https?:\/\//i.test(raw) ? raw : `https://${raw}`, raw));
+    } else {
+      // "<platform>: @handle" — keep the "<platform>: " prefix as text, link only the handle.
+      const handle = m[3];
+      out.push(<Fragment key={key++}>{m[0].slice(0, m[0].length - handle.length - 1)}</Fragment>);
+      out.push(link(PLATFORMS[m[2].toLowerCase()] + handle, "@" + handle));
+    }
+    last = m.index + m[0].length;
+  }
+  if (last < text.length) out.push(<Fragment key={key++}>{text.slice(last)}</Fragment>);
+  return out;
+}

frontend/src/lib/releaseNotes.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,24 @@ export interface ReleaseEntry {
 }
 
 export const RELEASE_NOTES: ReleaseEntry[] = [
+  {
+    version: "0.46.0",
+    date: "2026-07-20",
+    summary:
+      "The channel manager, overhauled — read it as a table or as cards, with sorting, paging and each channel's full description at hand.",
+    features: [
+      "The channel manager has a card view alongside the familiar table. Pick it from the switcher next to the tabs; your choice sticks, and both Subscriptions and Discover follow it.",
+      "A new About column shows each channel's description, and hovering it opens the full profile — description, links, country, language, topics and keywords — without leaving the list. Links in descriptions are clickable, and social handles resolve to their profiles.",
+      "Sorting is shared between the two views: sort by clicking a column header in the table or from the dropdown in cards, and your choice carries over when you switch.",
+      "Both views page through your channels — \"Rows per page\" in the table, \"Cards per page\" in cards — and the table now has a pager at the bottom as well as the top. Turning a page takes you back to the top of the list.",
+      "Filter the table column by column: funnels on priority, channel, sync state and tags narrow it without disturbing your top-level filters.",
+      "Moving between the manager's tabs now goes into your browser history, so Back steps back through the tabs you visited instead of leaving the manager altogether.",
+    ],
+    fixes: [
+      "The channel table stays centred with \"Rows per page\" set to All. A single long channel name used to stretch its column and push the whole table off to one side.",
+      "The tag editor no longer opens behind the card below it.",
+    ],
+  },
   {
     version: "0.45.1",
     date: "2026-07-19",

frontend/src/lib/storage.ts

@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@ export const LS = {
   feedView: "siftlode.feedView",
   channelFilter: "siftlode.channelFilter",
   channelsView: "siftlode.channelsView",
+  // The channel manager's layout (table / cards — see lib/channelLayout.ts), per-account.
+  channelLayout: "siftlode.channelLayout",
+  // The manager's sort, lifted out of the table so the card layout shares it (per-account, per-tab).
+  channelSort: "siftlode.channelSort",
+  channelDiscoverySort: "siftlode.channelDiscoverySort",
+  // Cards-per-page for the card layout (the table keeps its own rows-per-page in its persist blob).
+  channelCardSize: "siftlode.channelCardSize",
+  channelDiscoveryCardSize: "siftlode.channelDiscoveryCardSize",
   channelsTable: "siftlode.channelsTable",
   channelDiscoveryTable: "siftlode.channelDiscoveryTable",
   settingsTab: "siftlode.settingsTab",

frontend/src/lib/useCardPager.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { useCallback, useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
+import { CARD_PAGE_SIZES, parseCardSize } from "./channelLayout";
+import { readAccount, writeAccount } from "./storage";
+
+// Client-side pagination for the channel manager's card layout, owned once instead of twice. Both
+// manager tabs page an in-memory list the same way, and keeping two copies meant every fix landed
+// twice (and the day one copy was missed, the tabs would page differently). The caller keeps only
+// what genuinely differs: which rows, which storage key, and when to jump back to page one.
+//
+// The page size persists per account; the page itself is transient. `enabled` is the card layout
+// flag — in table mode DataTable does its own paging, so this does no work and holds still.
+export function useCardPager<T>(rows: T[], sizeKey: string, enabled: boolean) {
+  const { t } = useTranslation();
+  const [size, setSize] = useState(() => parseCardSize(readAccount(sizeKey, null)));
+  const [page, setPage] = useState(0);
+
+  const totalPages = size <= 0 ? 1 : Math.max(1, Math.ceil(rows.length / size));
+  const safePage = Math.min(page, totalPages - 1);
+
+  // A list that shrank under you (an unsubscribe, a refetch) leaves `page` out of range: the clamp
+  // above only HIDES that, so commit it or it springs back the moment the list grows again. Only
+  // fires when the page you are on stopped existing, so it never costs you your place otherwise.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (enabled && page > totalPages - 1) setPage(totalPages - 1);
+  }, [enabled, page, totalPages]);
+
+  const paged =
+    !enabled || size <= 0 ? rows : rows.slice(safePage * size, safePage * size + size);
+
+  return {
+    paged,
+    /** Spread onto <Pager/>. */
+    pagerProps: {
+      page: safePage,
+      size,
+      total: rows.length,
+      pageSizeOptions: CARD_PAGE_SIZES,
+      onPageChange: setPage,
+      onSizeChange: (s: number) => {
+        setSize(s);
+        writeAccount(sizeKey, s);
+        setPage(0);
+      },
+      sizeLabel: t("channels.cardsPerPage"),
+    },
+    /** Call when the caller's own filters change — a different list starts at page one. */
+    resetPage: useCallback(() => setPage(0), []),
+  };
+}

frontend/src/main.tsx

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { PrefsProvider } from "./components/PrefsProvider";
 import { WizardProvider } from "./components/WizardProvider";
 import "./i18n";
 import "./index.css";
+import "flag-icons/css/flag-icons.min.css";
 
 // Split by top-level route so each entry point is its own chunk: a public /watch share link or a
 // legal page never downloads the authenticated app bundle, and the app never carries them either.