From ab6face8e201fb03dd88d7a93726dc3d3a2fb97a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Meta Vens <rwvens@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 05:22:39 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Let daemon gameplay state close the main menu

---
 Aetheria.State.Daemon.Smoke/Program.cs                     | 4 ++++
 Aetheria.State.Daemon/Program.cs                           | 7 ++++++-
 Aetheria.State/AetheriaEveCommandBridge.cs                 | 1 +
 .../Runtime/AetheriaRuntimeDaemonGameSurfaceBuilder.cs     | 7 +++++--
 4 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Aetheria.State.Daemon.Smoke/Program.cs b/Aetheria.State.Daemon.Smoke/Program.cs
index 7d8b6d8af..64c2d2442 100644
--- a/Aetheria.State.Daemon.Smoke/Program.cs
+++ b/Aetheria.State.Daemon.Smoke/Program.cs
@@ -3791,6 +3791,10 @@ internal sealed class AetheriaDaemonYmirSmokeChecks
                     node.Id is "aetheria.daemon.game.frame" or "aetheria.daemon.game.player" or "aetheria.daemon.game.commands")
                 .All(node => node.Layout.TryGetValue("display", out var display) && display == "none"),
             "operator diagnostics must remain published state without becoming pilot-camera UI");
+        var mainMenu = Flatten(surface.Surface.Root).Single(node => node.Id == "aetheria.daemon.game.main_menu");
+        Require(mainMenu.Layout.TryGetValue("display", out var menuDisplay) && menuDisplay == "none" &&
+                mainMenu.EmbeddedDocuments.Count == 0,
+            "an active pilot surface must not embed or display the main menu until daemon menu state opens it");
     }
 
     private static void ChargedWeaponCannotBypassChargeLifecycle()
diff --git a/Aetheria.State.Daemon/Program.cs b/Aetheria.State.Daemon/Program.cs
index d1be07e51..15ca92486 100644
--- a/Aetheria.State.Daemon/Program.cs
+++ b/Aetheria.State.Daemon/Program.cs
@@ -1935,8 +1935,13 @@ static async Task PublishClientGameplayDocumentsAsync(
     var mainMenuState = await node.MutableDocument<AetheriaMainMenuState>(AetheriaStateNode.MainMenuStateKey)
         .ReadAsync()
         .ConfigureAwait(false);
+    var hasActivePilot = !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(result.Frame.Run?.CurrentEntityKey) &&
+        result.Frame.Run.Zones?.Any(zone =>
+            zone != null &&
+            zone.ZoneIndex == result.Frame.Run.CurrentZoneIndex &&
+            (zone.Entities?.Count ?? 0) > 0) == true;
     var activeMainMenuSurfaceId = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(mainMenuState?.ActiveSurfaceId)
-        ? AetheriaRuntimeMainMenuCommands.RootSurfaceId
+        ? (hasActivePilot ? "" : AetheriaRuntimeMainMenuCommands.RootSurfaceId)
         : mainMenuState.ActiveSurfaceId;
     var reactiveGameSurface = AetheriaRuntimeSurfaceDocuments.ToPortableSurface(
         AetheriaRuntimeDaemonGameSurfaceBuilder.BuildReactiveGameplay(
diff --git a/Aetheria.State/AetheriaEveCommandBridge.cs b/Aetheria.State/AetheriaEveCommandBridge.cs
index 519c2d87b..5d3fa26fb 100644
--- a/Aetheria.State/AetheriaEveCommandBridge.cs
+++ b/Aetheria.State/AetheriaEveCommandBridge.cs
@@ -405,6 +405,7 @@ public static class AetheriaEveCommandBridge
             case AetheriaRuntimeEveCommandKind.MainMenuBackToMain:
             case AetheriaRuntimeEveCommandKind.MainMenuContinueRun:
             case AetheriaRuntimeEveCommandKind.MainMenuNewGame:
+                return "";
             case AetheriaRuntimeEveCommandKind.MainMenuQuit:
                 return AetheriaRuntimeMainMenuCommands.RootSurfaceId;
             default:
diff --git a/Packages/org.gamecult.aetheria.state/Runtime/AetheriaRuntimeDaemonGameSurfaceBuilder.cs b/Packages/org.gamecult.aetheria.state/Runtime/AetheriaRuntimeDaemonGameSurfaceBuilder.cs
index 12f848a73..f702b4794 100644
--- a/Packages/org.gamecult.aetheria.state/Runtime/AetheriaRuntimeDaemonGameSurfaceBuilder.cs
+++ b/Packages/org.gamecult.aetheria.state/Runtime/AetheriaRuntimeDaemonGameSurfaceBuilder.cs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ namespace GameCult.Aetheria.State.Verse
             AetheriaRuntimeDaemonFrameDocument frame,
             AetheriaRuntimeDaemonHealthDocument health,
             AetheriaRuntimeDaemonCommandBoundaryDocument commandBoundary,
-            string activeMainMenuSurfaceId = AetheriaRuntimeMainMenuCommands.RootSurfaceId,
+            string activeMainMenuSurfaceId = "",
             AetheriaRuntimeCatalogSnapshot? catalog = null)
         {
             frame ??= new AetheriaRuntimeDaemonFrameDocument();
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ namespace GameCult.Aetheria.State.Verse
             var entity = FindCurrentEntity(run, zone);
             var target = FindTargetEntity(zone, entity);
             var entityName = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(entity?.Name) ? "(no current entity)" : entity!.Name;
-            activeMainMenuSurfaceId = NormalizeMainMenuSurfaceId(activeMainMenuSurfaceId);
+            if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(activeMainMenuSurfaceId))
+                activeMainMenuSurfaceId = NormalizeMainMenuSurfaceId(activeMainMenuSurfaceId);
             var surfaceChildren = new List<AetheriaRuntimeSurfaceComponent>
             {
                 PlayableWorldSurface(
@@ -1761,6 +1762,8 @@ namespace GameCult.Aetheria.State.Verse
             string id,
             string activeSurfaceId)
         {
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(activeSurfaceId))
+                return Hidden(Node(id, "surface.slot", Array.Empty<(string Key, string Value)>()));
             activeSurfaceId = NormalizeMainMenuSurfaceId(activeSurfaceId);
             var activeSurfaceRecordRef = $"eve:surface:{activeSurfaceId}";
             return new AetheriaRuntimeSurfaceComponent(