improvement(feed): rework the row views from UAT feedback

The bare row becomes a single line — title truncating into the space
left, then channel, badges, meta and the actions each holding a fixed
column — and it drops the 896px reading cap, since with the actions
right-aligned there is no gap for the extra width to stretch. The
actions get a reserved slot: the reset button only exists for videos
with watch state, so without one the meta sat 32px further right on
some rows than others.

Rows and tiles get a permanent container instead of a hover-only fill.
They were transparent at rest and painted an opaque bg on hover, so
running the pointer down the list kept covering and re-revealing the
ambient backdrop — which reads as the background flickering.

Card actions now sit on the bottom edge rather than wherever the title
ends, and the small thumbnails carry icon-only controls: the labelled
Continue / Restart are sized for a card's image and were clipped at
176px.

frontend/src/components/VideoCard.tsx

@@ -166,10 +166,14 @@ function Thumb({
   video,
   className,
   onOpen,
+  small = false,
 }: {
   video: Video;
   className?: string;
   onOpen?: (v: Video, startAt?: number | null) => void;
+  /** A row/tile thumbnail (~160-176px): the hover controls go icon-only, since the labelled
+   * Continue / Restart buttons are sized for the card's full-width image and get clipped here. */
+  small?: boolean;
 }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const inProgress = isInProgress(video);
@@ -237,27 +241,39 @@ function Thumb({
               <button
                 onClick={open(null)}
                 title={t("card.continueTitle")}
-                className="inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-sm font-semibold bg-accent text-accent-fg shadow-lg hover:opacity-90 transition"
+                aria-label={t("card.continue")}
+                className={clsx(
+                  "inline-flex items-center justify-center gap-1.5 rounded-lg font-semibold bg-accent text-accent-fg shadow-lg hover:opacity-90 transition",
+                  small ? "w-9 h-9 rounded-full" : "px-3 py-1.5 text-sm"
+                )}
               >
                 <Play className="w-4 h-4 fill-current" />
-                {t("card.continue")}
+                {!small && t("card.continue")}
               </button>
               <button
                 onClick={open(0)}
                 title={t("card.restartTitle")}
-                className="inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-sm font-medium bg-white/15 text-white backdrop-blur-sm hover:bg-white/25 transition"
+                aria-label={t("card.restart")}
+                className={clsx(
+                  "inline-flex items-center justify-center gap-1.5 rounded-lg font-medium bg-white/15 text-white backdrop-blur-sm hover:bg-white/25 transition",
+                  small ? "w-9 h-9 rounded-full" : "px-3 py-1.5 text-sm"
+                )}
               >
                 <RotateCcw className="w-4 h-4" />
-                {t("card.restart")}
+                {!small && t("card.restart")}
               </button>
             </>
           ) : (
             <button
               onClick={open(null)}
               title={t("card.play")}
-              className="inline-flex items-center justify-center w-12 h-12 rounded-full bg-accent text-accent-fg shadow-lg hover:scale-105 transition"
+              aria-label={t("card.play")}
+              className={clsx(
+                "inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-accent text-accent-fg shadow-lg hover:scale-105 transition",
+                small ? "w-9 h-9" : "w-12 h-12"
+              )}
             >
-              <Play className="w-5 h-5 fill-current translate-x-[1px]" />
+              <Play className={clsx("fill-current translate-x-[1px]", small ? "w-4 h-4" : "w-5 h-5")} />
             </button>
           )}
         </div>
@@ -311,13 +327,15 @@ function VideoCard({
       {video.published_at && <>{" · "}{formatDate(video.published_at, i18n.language)}</>}
     </>
   );
-  // Show the full title in a native tooltip only when it's clamped (overflows its 2 lines).
+  // Show the full title in a native tooltip only when it's actually cut off — vertically where it
+  // clamps to 2 lines, horizontally where the one-line row truncates it.
   const titleRef = useRef<HTMLAnchorElement>(null);
   const [titleClamped, setTitleClamped] = useState(false);
   useEffect(() => {
     const el = titleRef.current;
     if (!el) return;
-    const check = () => setTitleClamped(el.scrollHeight > el.clientHeight + 1);
+    const check = () =>
+      setTitleClamped(el.scrollHeight > el.clientHeight + 1 || el.scrollWidth > el.clientWidth + 1);
     check();
     const ro = new ResizeObserver(check);
     ro.observe(el);
@@ -331,25 +349,31 @@ function VideoCard({
       rel="noreferrer"
       onClick={(e) => openInApp(e, video, onOpen)}
       title={titleClamped ? video.title ?? undefined : undefined}
-      className="font-medium leading-snug line-clamp-2 hover:text-accent"
+      className={clsx(
+        "font-medium leading-snug hover:text-accent",
+        noThumb ? "block truncate" : "line-clamp-2"
+      )}
     >
       {video.title}
     </a>
   );
-  // Title + channel button + meta — identical in both layouts (only their wrapper / Actions placement
-  // differs). Safe to reuse the same element: exactly one of the two branches below renders.
+  const channelButton = (
+    <button
+      onClick={(e) => {
+        e.stopPropagation();
+        onOpenChannel?.(video.channel_id, video.channel_title ?? t("card.thisChannel"));
+      }}
+      className="text-sm text-muted truncate block w-fit max-w-full text-left hover:text-fg"
+    >
+      {video.channel_title}
+    </button>
+  );
+  // Title + channel + meta stacked — the card and the thumbnailed row share this; only their
+  // wrapper / Actions placement differs. Safe to reuse: exactly one branch below renders.
   const textBlock = (
     <>
       {title}
-      <button
-        onClick={(e) => {
-          e.stopPropagation();
-          onOpenChannel?.(video.channel_id, video.channel_title ?? t("card.thisChannel"));
-        }}
-        className="text-sm text-muted truncate mt-0.5 block w-fit max-w-full text-left hover:text-fg"
-      >
-        {video.channel_title}
-      </button>
+      <div className="mt-0.5">{channelButton}</div>
       <div className="text-xs text-muted mt-0.5">{meta}</div>
     </>
   );
@@ -357,24 +381,46 @@ function VideoCard({
   const actions = (
     <Actions video={video} onState={onState} onResetState={onResetState} onToggleSave={onToggleSave} />
   );
+  // A permanent container, not a hover-only fill. Rows used to be fully transparent at rest and
+  // paint an opaque bg-card on hover — so running the pointer down the list kept covering and
+  // re-revealing the ambient backdrop behind them, which reads as the background flickering. The
+  // cards never did this because glass-card always paints. No hover lift here: a 900px-wide row
+  // jumping as the pointer crosses it is a lot more restless than a card doing it.
+  const rowShell = "cv-row group glass-card glass-hover relative rounded-xl transition";
+  const resumeBar = (pct: number) =>
+    pct > 0 && (
+      <div className="absolute bottom-0 left-2 right-2 h-1 rounded-full bg-black/40">
+        <div className="h-full rounded-full bg-accent" style={{ width: `${pct}%` }} />
+      </div>
+    );
 
   if (spec.family === "row") {
-    const pct = noThumb ? resumePct(video) : 0;
+    // No thumbnail => everything fits on ONE line: title (truncating into whatever's left), then
+    // channel, badges+meta and the actions all holding a fixed place at the right. How wide the
+    // line is allowed to get is the layout's call — see each view's maxCol in lib/feedView.ts.
+    if (noThumb) {
+      return (
+        <div className={clsx(rowShell, "flex items-center gap-3 px-3 py-2", watched && "opacity-55")}>
+          <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">{title}</div>
+          <div className="shrink-0 max-w-[14rem]">{channelButton}</div>
+          <div className="shrink-0 text-xs text-muted whitespace-nowrap">{meta}</div>
+          {/* Fixed slot, right-aligned: the reset button only exists for videos that have watch
+              state, so without a reserved width the meta ahead of it would sit 32px further right
+              on some rows than others — visible jitter in a layout whose whole point is that the
+              columns line up. Sized for the full six (6 x 28px + 5 x 4px gap = 188). */}
+          <div className="shrink-0 w-48 flex justify-end">{actions}</div>
+          {resumeBar(resumePct(video))}
+        </div>
+      );
+    }
     return (
-      <div
-        className={clsx(
-          "cv-row group relative flex gap-3 p-2 rounded-xl hover:bg-card hover:shadow-lg transition",
-          watched && "opacity-55"
-        )}
-      >
-        {/* The bare row drops Thumb; its badges move into the meta line instead (see noThumb). */}
-        {spec.thumb && (
-          <Thumb
-            video={video}
-            className={clsx("aspect-video shrink-0", spec.actionsBelow ? "w-40" : "w-44")}
-            onOpen={onOpen}
-          />
-        )}
+      <div className={clsx(rowShell, "flex gap-3 p-2", watched && "opacity-55")}>
+        <Thumb
+          video={video}
+          className={clsx("aspect-video shrink-0", spec.actionsBelow ? "w-40" : "w-44")}
+          onOpen={onOpen}
+          small
+        />
         <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
           {textBlock}
           {/* Tiles put the actions under the meta, in vertical space the thumbnail already
@@ -383,26 +429,28 @@ function VideoCard({
           {spec.actionsBelow && <div className="mt-1">{actions}</div>}
         </div>
         {!spec.actionsBelow && actions}
-        {/* Thumb draws the resume bar over the image; with no image it goes on the row itself. */}
-        {pct > 0 && (
-          <div className="absolute bottom-0 left-2 right-2 h-0.5 rounded-full bg-black/40">
-            <div className="h-full rounded-full bg-accent" style={{ width: `${pct}%` }} />
-          </div>
-        )}
       </div>
     );
   }
 
+  // The flex column is what puts the actions on the card's bottom edge: the grid already stretches
+  // every card in a row to the tallest one (align-items: stretch), so the column just needs to push
+  // its last child down. Otherwise the action row floats under a 1-line title on one card and a
+  // line lower on its 2-line neighbour — the same control landing somewhere different on each.
+  // NOTE: do NOT add h-full here. A percentage height against the grid's content-derived height is
+  // circular, and VirtualFeed measures each row with a ResizeObserver — the two together oscillate
+  // by a pixel or two forever, which shows up as the whole page juddering.
   return (
     <div
       className={clsx(
         "cv-card group glass-card glass-hover rounded-2xl transition-all duration-150 hover:-translate-y-1",
+        "flex flex-col",
         spec.dense ? "p-2" : "p-2.5",
         watched && "opacity-55"
       )}
     >
       <Thumb video={video} className="aspect-video" onOpen={onOpen} />
-      <div className={clsx("flex gap-3 px-0.5 pb-0.5", spec.dense ? "mt-2" : "mt-2.5")}>
+      <div className={clsx("flex gap-3 px-0.5 pb-0.5 flex-1", spec.dense ? "mt-2" : "mt-2.5")}>
         {/* The small card drops the channel avatar: at its ~180px column the 36px avatar plus the
             gap would leave the title barely half the width. The channel name is still below it. */}
         {!spec.dense && (
@@ -412,9 +460,9 @@ function VideoCard({
             className="w-9 h-9 rounded-full shrink-0 mt-0.5"
           />
         )}
-        <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
+        <div className="min-w-0 flex-1 flex flex-col">
           {textBlock}
-          {actions}
+          <div className="mt-auto pt-1">{actions}</div>
         </div>
       </div>
     </div>

frontend/src/components/VirtualFeed.tsx

@@ -149,12 +149,12 @@ export default function VirtualFeed({
             }}
           >
             {/* One branch for both shapes: the single-column views just chunk to colCount 1 and
-                get the reading-width cap instead of grid columns. */}
+                get their reading-width cap instead of grid columns. */}
             <div
-              className={singleCol ? "max-w-4xl mx-auto pb-1" : "grid gap-4"}
+              className={singleCol ? "mx-auto pb-1" : "grid gap-4"}
               style={
                 singleCol
-                  ? undefined
+                  ? { maxWidth: FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view].maxCol ?? undefined }
                   : { gridTemplateColumns: `repeat(${colCount}, minmax(0, 1fr))` }
               }
             >

frontend/src/lib/feedView.ts

@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ export interface FeedViewSpec {
   /** Narrowest grid column in px, or null for ONE full-width column. VirtualFeed derives the
    * column count from this and the container width, so every multi-column view reflows for free. */
   minCol: number | null;
+  /** Single-column views only: the reading-width cap in px (null = fill). A long line is hard to
+   * scan, so the stacked row keeps a cap; the one-line row doesn't need as tight a one. */
+  maxCol: number | null;
   /** Show the video thumbnail. False only for the bare row — whose badges (duration, live state,
    * saved, resume bar) then move into the meta line, since Thumb is what draws them. */
   thumb: boolean;
@@ -31,12 +34,16 @@ export interface FeedViewSpec {
 
 // The whole matrix in one place. Adding a view here makes TS point at every switch that needs it.
 export const FEED_VIEW_SPEC: Record<FeedView, FeedViewSpec> = {
-  cards: { family: "card", minCol: 260, thumb: true, dense: false, actionsBelow: false },
-  cardsSmall: { family: "card", minCol: 180, thumb: true, dense: true, actionsBelow: false },
+  cards: { family: "card", minCol: 260, maxCol: null, thumb: true, dense: false, actionsBelow: false },
+  cardsSmall: { family: "card", minCol: 180, maxCol: null, thumb: true, dense: true, actionsBelow: false },
   // Single column on purpose: the point of the list is that your eye runs down one edge with the
   // titles stacked. Density must not cost that — `tiles` is the multi-column option instead.
-  rows: { family: "row", minCol: null, thumb: true, dense: false, actionsBelow: false },
-  rowsCompact: { family: "row", minCol: null, thumb: false, dense: false, actionsBelow: false },
+  // Keeps the 896px cap: its actions dock at the right edge, so a wider row would only stretch the
+  // dead space between them and the meta.
+  rows: { family: "row", minCol: null, maxCol: 896, thumb: true, dense: false, actionsBelow: false },
+  // Wider (1280): everything sits on one line with the actions right-aligned, so there's no gap to
+  // grow — the extra width just buys more title before it truncates.
+  rowsCompact: { family: "row", minCol: null, maxCol: 1280, thumb: false, dense: false, actionsBelow: false },
   // 380 = thumbnail (160) + gap (12) + ~192 for the text + the block's own padding (16). The text
   // floor is the action row's measured 156px plus enough for a title to be worth reading.
   // Tuned by measuring the real layouts, not guessed: 3 columns need 3n+32 px, so 380 turns the
@@ -44,7 +51,7 @@ export const FEED_VIEW_SPEC: Record<FeedView, FeedViewSpec> = {
   // (~955px) still gets 2. 470 was tried first and needed 956px for two — the common layout fell
   // back to ONE column and the mode looked broken; 400 then left 596px tiles whose titles ended
   // halfway, which is the very waste this mode exists to kill.
-  tiles: { family: "row", minCol: 380, thumb: true, dense: false, actionsBelow: true },
+  tiles: { family: "row", minCol: 380, maxCol: null, thumb: true, dense: false, actionsBelow: true },
 };
 
 function isFeedView(v: unknown): v is FeedView {