diff --git a/docs/branch-review-ledger.md b/docs/branch-review-ledger.md
index 696635d672..11e96f9b1d 100644
--- a/docs/branch-review-ledger.md
+++ b/docs/branch-review-ledger.md
@@ -700,3 +700,4 @@ Records before 2026-07-28 were written by hand and had drifted: 146 lines carrie
 | 2026-08-07 | cursor/viewer-phase0-gesture-a11y-1db8 (PR #1660) | 097dfd245f798f8105eeb6c1cf4fc077f969496f | prlanded | MERGED; squash tip empty vs branch tip 810cfc9b4a1c476a0dcc995bffb00d7329a85686; Phase 0 gesture INP, preview a11y, image decode | content tree empty vs squash; no provider-backed checks run |
 | 2026-08-07 | claude/pr-handoff-loop-prevention-54y5zr (PR #1670) | dfe2946110e0ff93bd4acc571ae79c26b79a7a85 | PR #1670 heavy review-and-fix | synced origin/main (behind-but-clean DIRTY cleared); fixed CodeRabbit checks-cell to name exact #1649 gates + incomplete verify:pr-local/ui + no provider checks; Bugbot none; no P0/P1; #258/#ledger delta accurate; merge-tree clean; threads cleared | verify:cheap 519 files/5493 passed; verify:pr-local docs scope (format+docs+ledger+outstanding-issues); check:branch-review-ledger; check:outstanding-issues; no provider gates |
 | 2026-08-07 | claude/handover-review-nlhuln | 978623337c12dc1721fe5236eadbf9a5ad929f03 | mode nav remaining modes: factsheets adoption (PR #1674) | Adopted the shared ModeNav for factsheets (Topics + Search); replaced the action-only entry, added the activeId branch, q/category/run carry, BookOpenText icon; three pinned adopted-mode lists updated together; record-route protection pinned at render now the item-count protection has expired | lint clean; typecheck clean; test 518/519 files (pr-handoff-stop failure confirmed pre-existing via stashed re-run); focused 5 files 95 tests; ui-mode-nav-density 55 passed incl 7 new factsheets rows; two mutation checks confirmed red; format committed; verify:pr-local blocked at check:installed-lock-parity (playwright 1.62.0 vs 1.62.1) |
+| 2026-08-07 | claude/handover-review-nlhuln | 4ff613c10fbf734b1e740a31611296c17c791ec7 | mode nav remaining modes: vestigial strip removal (PR #1679) | Removed the single-button action strip from answer/documents/services/forms/favourites/prescribing/tools; deleted the registry index-0 fallback (TS2493-forced) and the dead documents clause; stripped modeItems/onSearch/modeAriaLabel/stickyTop from PageSecondaryNavigation, keeping the empty-registry return below the information-section branch; kept the action kind with a no-live-consumer note. Completes the 13-mode navigation rollout. | lint exit 0; typecheck clean; focused 5 files 97 tests; test 518/519 files (pr-handoff-stop re-confirmed pre-existing on this base via stashed re-run); ui-mode-nav-density + ui-accessibility 71 passed (landmark scan green); branch-order guard mutation-checked (hoisting it fails 2 tests); format committed; verify:pr-local blocked at check:installed-lock-parity (playwright 1.62.0 vs 1.62.1) |
diff --git a/src/components/clinical-dashboard/global-search-shell.tsx b/src/components/clinical-dashboard/global-search-shell.tsx
index 1bc3bacf1a..186a0dac2c 100644
--- a/src/components/clinical-dashboard/global-search-shell.tsx
+++ b/src/components/clinical-dashboard/global-search-shell.tsx
@@ -1011,7 +1011,6 @@ function GlobalStandaloneSearchShellBody({
                 pathname={pathname}
                 hasSubmittedSearch={hasSubmittedModeSearch}
                 searchParamString={searchParamString}
-                onSearch={() => inputRef.current?.focus({ preventScroll: true })}
                 sticky={false}
               />
             ) : null}
diff --git a/src/components/page-secondary-navigation.tsx b/src/components/page-secondary-navigation.tsx
index 63275e4a18..41a3b6c251 100644
--- a/src/components/page-secondary-navigation.tsx
+++ b/src/components/page-secondary-navigation.tsx
@@ -1,21 +1,15 @@
 "use client";
 
-import { useEffect, useMemo, useState } from "react";
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
 
 import { isDocumentViewerOwnedRoute } from "@/components/clinical-dashboard/mobile-composer-reserve";
 import { RegistryModeNav } from "@/components/mode-nav/registry-mode-nav";
-import {
-  SecondaryNavigation,
-  type SecondaryNavigationItem,
-  type SecondaryNavigationSectionItem,
-} from "@/components/secondary-navigation";
-import { appModeDefinition, type AppModeId } from "@/lib/app-modes";
+import { SecondaryNavigation, type SecondaryNavigationSectionItem } from "@/components/secondary-navigation";
+import { type AppModeId } from "@/lib/app-modes";
 import { isInformationPage } from "@/lib/information-pages";
 import {
   activeModeSecondaryNavigationId,
   isModeSecondaryNavigationRoute,
-  modeSecondaryNavigationEntries,
-  modeSecondaryNavigationHref,
   modeUsesHeaderModeNav,
 } from "@/lib/mode-secondary-navigation";
 
@@ -250,7 +244,6 @@ export function PageSecondaryNavigation({
   modeId,
   pathname,
   hasSubmittedSearch,
-  onSearch,
   /**
    * Bridged query string from GlobalStandaloneSearchShellBody. Must not call
    * useSearchParams here — that reintroduces a nested Suspense boundary under
@@ -258,58 +251,35 @@ export function PageSecondaryNavigation({
    */
   searchParamString = "",
   sticky = true,
-  stickyTop,
 }: {
   modeId: AppModeId;
   pathname: string;
   hasSubmittedSearch: boolean;
-  onSearch: () => void;
   searchParamString?: string;
   sticky?: boolean;
-  stickyTop?: number | string;
 }) {
   const informationDefinitions = informationPageSectionDefinitions(pathname);
   const locallyOwnedInformationNavigation = hasLocalInformationPageNavigation(pathname);
   const activeId = activeModeSecondaryNavigationId(modeId, pathname);
-  const modeLabel = appModeDefinition(modeId).label;
-  const modeAriaLabel = modeLabel.toLowerCase().endsWith("mode") ? modeLabel : `${modeLabel} mode`;
-  const modeItems = useMemo<SecondaryNavigationItem[]>(
-    () =>
-      modeSecondaryNavigationEntries(modeId).map((entry) =>
-        entry.href
-          ? {
-              kind: "route" as const,
-              id: entry.id,
-              label: entry.label,
-              shortLabel: entry.shortLabel,
-              href: modeSecondaryNavigationHref({
-                modeId,
-                itemId: entry.id,
-                href: entry.href,
-                currentSearchParams: new URLSearchParams(searchParamString),
-              }),
-              current: entry.id === activeId,
-            }
-          : {
-              kind: "action" as const,
-              id: entry.id,
-              label: entry.label,
-              shortLabel: entry.shortLabel,
-              onSelect: onSearch,
-              current: entry.id === activeId,
-            },
-      ),
-    [activeId, modeId, onSearch, searchParamString],
-  );
 
   // Therapy Compass owns both its workflow bindings and its dynamic detail
   // sections inside TcProvider; rendering the shell registry as well would
   // duplicate the bar and discard its URL/state-aware action bindings.
   if (pathname === "/therapy-compass" || pathname.startsWith("/therapy-compass/")) return null;
   if (locallyOwnedInformationNavigation) return null;
+  // ORDER IS LOAD-BEARING: this must stay above the mode branch. `services`,
+  // `forms`, `documents` and `prescribing` register no destinations at all yet
+  // still own real "On this page" section navs. Hoisting the mode guard below
+  // up to here would silently delete navigation from every `/services/*`,
+  // `/forms/*`, `/medications/*` and `/documents/<id>` record.
   if (informationDefinitions.length) {
     return <AvailableInformationPageNavigation definitions={informationDefinitions} sticky={sticky} />;
   }
+  // A mode with no registered destinations gets no bar and no landmark. The
+  // seven that used to register a lone `action` entry each rendered one
+  // <button> that focused a composer already on screen; it was deleted rather
+  // than ported, so there is nothing left to draw for them.
+  if (!modeUsesHeaderModeNav(modeId)) return null;
   if (!isModeSecondaryNavigationRoute({ modeId, pathname, hasSubmittedSearch })) return null;
   // An adopted mode's bar portals into the header's single addon slot, which
   // holds ONE page-owned header. What keeps it to one is the
@@ -320,16 +290,5 @@ export function PageSecondaryNavigation({
   // `isHeaderAddonSlotOwnedRoute` names the claimants and
   // `tests/mode-nav-addon-slot.dom.test.tsx` fails if a future one falls
   // outside that cover, which is when this needs its own guard.
-  if (modeUsesHeaderModeNav(modeId)) {
-    return <RegistryModeNav modeId={modeId} activeId={activeId} searchParamString={searchParamString} />;
-  }
-  return (
-    <SecondaryNavigation
-      ariaLabel={modeAriaLabel}
-      items={modeItems}
-      activeId={activeId ?? undefined}
-      sticky={sticky}
-      stickyTop={stickyTop}
-    />
-  );
+  return <RegistryModeNav modeId={modeId} activeId={activeId} searchParamString={searchParamString} />;
 }
diff --git a/src/components/secondary-navigation.tsx b/src/components/secondary-navigation.tsx
index f8230e8d31..30f0067bea 100644
--- a/src/components/secondary-navigation.tsx
+++ b/src/components/secondary-navigation.tsx
@@ -56,6 +56,20 @@ export type SecondaryNavigationSectionItem = SecondaryNavigationBaseItem & {
   fragmentId?: string;
 };
 
+/**
+ * No live consumer as of the mode-strip removal. The seven modes that built
+ * action items each registered a single entry that focused an already-visible
+ * composer, and those were deleted; `therapy-compass` still declares action
+ * entries but `PageSecondaryNavigation` early-returns on `/therapy-compass*`
+ * before reading them.
+ *
+ * Kept deliberately rather than deleted alongside them: the kind carries the
+ * `tablist` roving-focus behaviour and is covered directly by
+ * `tests/secondary-navigation.dom.test.tsx`, so this is component API with
+ * tests, not orphaned code. Removing it is a clean separate change — do not do
+ * half of each. Note it is invisible to `check:knip`, which runs without
+ * `--include exports`.
+ */
 export type SecondaryNavigationActionItem = SecondaryNavigationBaseItem & {
   kind: "action";
   onSelect: () => void;
diff --git a/src/lib/mode-secondary-navigation.ts b/src/lib/mode-secondary-navigation.ts
index f71ee39945..5c7143dcc5 100644
--- a/src/lib/mode-secondary-navigation.ts
+++ b/src/lib/mode-secondary-navigation.ts
@@ -21,11 +21,18 @@ export type ModeSecondaryNavigationEntry = {
  * secondary bar must never repeat a generic Home destination.
  */
 export const modeSecondaryNavigationRegistry = {
-  answer: [{ id: "ask", label: "Ask", action: "search" }],
-  documents: [{ id: "search", label: "Search", action: "search" }],
-  services: [{ id: "search", label: "Search", action: "search" }],
-  forms: [{ id: "search", label: "Search", action: "search" }],
-  favourites: [{ id: "search", label: "Search", action: "search" }],
+  // Empty is a real answer, not a gap. These seven modes each registered one
+  // `action: "search"` entry, which rendered a lone <button> inside its own
+  // <nav> landmark whose only effect was focusing a composer already visible on
+  // the same screen — a landmark and a tab stop spent on a no-op. Every one of
+  // them is genuinely single-surface (records, or one page), so there was no
+  // destination to adopt onto the shared bar and nothing to replace the button
+  // with. Deleted rather than ported.
+  answer: [],
+  documents: [],
+  services: [],
+  forms: [],
+  favourites: [],
   differentials: [
     { id: "search", label: "Search", href: appModeHomeHref("differentials", { focus: true }) },
     { id: "diagnoses", label: "Diagnoses", href: "/differentials/diagnoses" },
@@ -47,8 +54,8 @@ export const modeSecondaryNavigationRegistry = {
     { id: "compare", label: "Compare", href: "/formulation/compare" },
     { id: "map", label: "Map", href: "/formulation/map" },
   ],
-  prescribing: [{ id: "search", label: "Search", action: "search" }],
-  tools: [{ id: "search", label: "Search", action: "search" }],
+  prescribing: [],
+  tools: [],
   // Inert: `PageSecondaryNavigation` early-returns on `/therapy-compass*`, and
   // the mode's live destination list is `useTherapyNavItems` in
   // `src/components/therapy-compass/nav.tsx`, which feeds the shared `ModeNav`.
@@ -157,11 +164,17 @@ export function activeModeSecondaryNavigationId(modeId: AppModeId, pathname: str
     if (pathname === "/factsheets/search" || pathname.startsWith("/factsheets/search?")) return "search";
     if (pathname === "/factsheets" || pathname.startsWith("/factsheets?")) return "topics";
     // `/factsheets/<slug>` is a record. It cannot reach `ModeNav` today —
-    // `hasLocalInformationPageNavigation` returns null for it first — but the
-    // array-index-0 fallback below would mark Topics current if it ever did.
+    // `hasLocalInformationPageNavigation` returns null for it first — but
+    // without this branch it would inherit the mode's first entry.
     return null;
   }
-  return modeSecondaryNavigationRegistry[modeId][0]?.id ?? null;
+  // Every mode with destinations has a branch above; the rest register none, so
+  // nothing can be current. This used to be
+  // `modeSecondaryNavigationRegistry[modeId][0]?.id ?? null`, which existed only
+  // to keep a lone action button lit. With real multi-tab modes it would mark
+  // the first slot current on every unmatched path — the exact bug this
+  // function's doc comment warns callers about.
+  return null;
 }
 
 export function isModeSecondaryNavigationRoute(params: {
@@ -170,11 +183,11 @@ export function isModeSecondaryNavigationRoute(params: {
   hasSubmittedSearch: boolean;
 }): boolean {
   const { modeId, pathname, hasSubmittedSearch } = params;
+  // Load-bearing for all five adopted modes: it is the only thing that puts the
+  // bar on a submitted-search mode home, e.g. `/differentials?q=…&run=1`, whose
+  // clause below lists only the workflow routes. Not leftover gating.
   if (hasSubmittedSearch) return true;
 
-  // /documents/search is the documents mode home (composer already visible); do
-  // not add a lone Search focus control until a query has been submitted.
-  if (modeId === "documents") return false;
   if (modeId === "differentials") {
     return pathname === "/differentials/diagnoses" || pathname === "/differentials/presentations";
   }
diff --git a/tests/mode-nav-addon-slot.dom.test.tsx b/tests/mode-nav-addon-slot.dom.test.tsx
index 02bebe93d2..de32d398ea 100644
--- a/tests/mode-nav-addon-slot.dom.test.tsx
+++ b/tests/mode-nav-addon-slot.dom.test.tsx
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@ import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { isHeaderAddonSlotOwnedRoute } from "@/components/mode-nav/header-addon-slot";
 import { hasLocalInformationPageNavigation, PageSecondaryNavigation } from "@/components/page-secondary-navigation";
 import { phoneHeaderCollapseAddonSlotId } from "@/lib/mode-home-composer";
-import { MODE_NAV_ADOPTED_MODES, modeUsesHeaderModeNav } from "@/lib/mode-secondary-navigation";
+import {
+  MODE_NAV_ADOPTED_MODES,
+  modeSecondaryNavigationEntries,
+  modeUsesHeaderModeNav,
+} from "@/lib/mode-secondary-navigation";
 
 vi.mock("next/navigation", () => ({
   usePathname: () => "/",
@@ -76,7 +80,6 @@ describe("header addon slot ownership", () => {
         modeId="differentials"
         pathname="/differentials/diagnoses/delirium"
         hasSubmittedSearch
-        onSearch={vi.fn()}
       />,
     );
     await waitFor(() => expect(view.occupants()).toHaveLength(0));
@@ -88,7 +91,7 @@ describe("header addon slot ownership", () => {
     expect(isHeaderAddonSlotOwnedRoute("/dsm/compare")).toBe(false);
 
     const view = renderIntoHeaderWithAddonSlot(
-      <PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="dsm" pathname="/dsm/compare" hasSubmittedSearch={false} onSearch={vi.fn()} />,
+      <PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="dsm" pathname="/dsm/compare" hasSubmittedSearch={false} />,
     );
     await waitFor(() => expect(view.occupants()).toHaveLength(1));
     view.cleanupSlot();
@@ -123,17 +126,19 @@ describe("header addon slot ownership", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
-  it("keeps single-destination modes off the bar entirely", () => {
-    // `documents` owns the slot on every detail route and has one registered
-    // destination. Adopting it would be a deletion decision about that lone
-    // entry, not a port — deliberately out of this rollout's scope.
+  it("keeps the modes that register no destinations off the bar entirely", () => {
+    // These four each carried a single `action` entry that focused a composer
+    // already on screen. It was deleted rather than adopted: a one-button <nav>
+    // is a landmark and a tab stop spent on a no-op, and ModeNav renders
+    // nothing below two items, so adopting would have removed the control and
+    // put nothing back (PR #1645). They now have neither the header bar nor the
+    // in-flow strip.
     //
     // `factsheets` left this list when it gained a real second destination:
     // `/factsheets` (browse) and `/factsheets/search` are separate components,
-    // so it is a port rather than a deletion. The others still have one surface
-    // each, and ModeNav renders nothing below two items — adopting them would
-    // remove the control they have and put nothing back (PR #1645).
+    // so it was a port rather than a deletion.
     for (const modeId of ["documents", "answer", "prescribing", "tools"] as const) {
+      expect(modeSecondaryNavigationEntries(modeId)).toEqual([]);
       expect([...MODE_NAV_ADOPTED_MODES]).not.toContain(modeId);
       expect(modeUsesHeaderModeNav(modeId)).toBe(false);
     }
diff --git a/tests/mode-secondary-navigation.test.ts b/tests/mode-secondary-navigation.test.ts
index 0407478d77..2a9827c690 100644
--- a/tests/mode-secondary-navigation.test.ts
+++ b/tests/mode-secondary-navigation.test.ts
@@ -11,18 +11,19 @@ import {
   routedModeSecondaryNavigationCount,
 } from "@/lib/mode-secondary-navigation";
 
+/** Seven modes intentionally register no destinations at all — see `emptyRegistryModes`. */
 const expectedLabels: Record<AppModeId, string[]> = {
-  answer: ["Ask"],
-  documents: ["Search"],
-  services: ["Search"],
-  forms: ["Search"],
-  favourites: ["Search"],
+  answer: [],
+  documents: [],
+  services: [],
+  forms: [],
+  favourites: [],
   differentials: ["Search", "Diagnoses", "Compare"],
   dsm: ["Search", "Compare"],
   specifiers: ["Find", "Build", "Compare", "Map"],
   formulation: ["Find", "Build", "Compare", "Map"],
-  prescribing: ["Search"],
-  tools: ["Search"],
+  prescribing: [],
+  tools: [],
   "therapy-compass": ["Search", "Recommend", "Compare", "Pathways", "Brief Intervention", "Patient Sheets"],
   factsheets: ["Topics", "Search"],
 };
@@ -43,6 +44,23 @@ const cleanLandingPath: Record<AppModeId, string> = {
   factsheets: "/factsheets",
 };
 
+/**
+ * The seven modes that register nothing. Each used to carry one
+ * `action: "search"` entry rendering a lone <button> inside its own <nav>
+ * landmark, whose only effect was focusing a composer already on screen. Every
+ * one is genuinely single-surface, so the control was deleted rather than
+ * ported to the shared bar.
+ */
+const emptyRegistryModes = [
+  "answer",
+  "documents",
+  "services",
+  "forms",
+  "favourites",
+  "prescribing",
+  "tools",
+] as const satisfies readonly AppModeId[];
+
 describe("mode secondary navigation registry", () => {
   it("covers all 13 modes with the approved destinations and no Home item", () => {
     expect(Object.keys(modeSecondaryNavigationRegistry).sort()).toEqual([...appModeIds].sort());
@@ -55,7 +73,17 @@ describe("mode secondary navigation registry", () => {
     }
   });
 
-  it("suppresses clean landing pages but renders after a submitted mode search", () => {
+  it("registers no destinations at all for the seven single-surface modes", () => {
+    // Empty is a real answer, pinned rather than left incidental: a future edit
+    // that re-adds a lone focus-the-composer button should have to argue with
+    // this test rather than slip back in.
+    for (const modeId of emptyRegistryModes) {
+      expect(modeSecondaryNavigationRegistry[modeId], `${modeId} must register no destinations`).toEqual([]);
+      expect(routedModeSecondaryNavigationCount(modeId)).toBe(0);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("suppresses clean landing pages, and still opens the bar after a submitted search", () => {
     for (const modeId of appModeIds) {
       expect(
         isModeSecondaryNavigationRoute({ modeId, pathname: cleanLandingPath[modeId], hasSubmittedSearch: false }),
@@ -64,6 +92,16 @@ describe("mode secondary navigation registry", () => {
         isModeSecondaryNavigationRoute({ modeId, pathname: cleanLandingPath[modeId], hasSubmittedSearch: true }),
       ).toBe(true);
     }
+    // Scope note, so this stays honest for the emptied modes: the predicate
+    // answers "is this a route where a bar could appear", and since the
+    // single-button strips were deleted it no longer decides visibility on its
+    // own. `PageSecondaryNavigation` returns null on a mode with no registered
+    // destinations before it consults this at all — which is what actually
+    // silences the seven above, and is asserted in
+    // tests/page-secondary-navigation.dom.test.tsx.
+    for (const modeId of emptyRegistryModes) {
+      expect(modeSecondaryNavigationRegistry[modeId]).toEqual([]);
+    }
   });
 
   it("recognises explicit workflow routes without treating detail routes as mode navigation", () => {
@@ -90,7 +128,12 @@ describe("mode secondary navigation registry", () => {
     ).toBe(false);
   });
 
-  it("suppresses /documents/search until a query is submitted", () => {
+  it("keeps /documents/search free of a mode bar in both states", () => {
+    // The dedicated `documents` clause went with its lone entry: the mode now
+    // registers nothing, so an empty destination list is what silences it. The
+    // unsubmitted case is still asserted because /documents/search is the
+    // documents mode home, with the composer already visible — any future
+    // destination there must not appear before a query is submitted.
     expect(
       isModeSecondaryNavigationRoute({
         modeId: "documents",
@@ -98,13 +141,7 @@ describe("mode secondary navigation registry", () => {
         hasSubmittedSearch: false,
       }),
     ).toBe(false);
-    expect(
-      isModeSecondaryNavigationRoute({
-        modeId: "documents",
-        pathname: "/documents/search",
-        hasSubmittedSearch: true,
-      }),
-    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(modeSecondaryNavigationRegistry.documents).toEqual([]);
   });
 
   it("translates compatible workflow selection state into each destination URL", () => {
@@ -212,6 +249,13 @@ describe("mode secondary navigation registry", () => {
     expect(activeModeSecondaryNavigationId("factsheets", "/factsheets/sertraline")).toBeNull();
     expect(activeModeSecondaryNavigationId("factsheets", "/factsheets")).toBe("topics");
     expect(activeModeSecondaryNavigationId("factsheets", "/factsheets/search")).toBe("search");
+
+    // The `registry[modeId][0]?.id` fallback is gone. A mode with no branch and
+    // no entries has no current destination, rather than silently lighting its
+    // first slot on every unmatched path.
+    for (const modeId of emptyRegistryModes) {
+      expect(activeModeSecondaryNavigationId(modeId, cleanLandingPath[modeId])).toBeNull();
+    }
   });
 
   it("matches workflow destinations by path segment, not substring", () => {
diff --git a/tests/page-secondary-navigation.dom.test.tsx b/tests/page-secondary-navigation.dom.test.tsx
index 0c17b75c2f..8439696dcb 100644
--- a/tests/page-secondary-navigation.dom.test.tsx
+++ b/tests/page-secondary-navigation.dom.test.tsx
@@ -123,7 +123,6 @@ describe("PageSecondaryNavigation", () => {
           modeId="specifiers"
           pathname="/specifiers/with-anxious-distress"
           hasSubmittedSearch={false}
-          onSearch={vi.fn()}
         />
         <section id="specifier-overview" />
         <section id="specifier-fit" />
@@ -140,29 +139,52 @@ describe("PageSecondaryNavigation", () => {
   });
 
   it("does not add a navigation row to a clean no-query landing page", () => {
-    render(
-      <PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="services" pathname="/services" hasSubmittedSearch={false} onSearch={vi.fn()} />,
-    );
+    render(<PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="services" pathname="/services" hasSubmittedSearch={false} />);
     expect(screen.queryByTestId("secondary-navigation")).toBeNull();
   });
 
-  it("keeps a single-destination mode on the in-flow strip after submission", () => {
-    // `answer` registers one action-kind entry. Adopting the bar there would
-    // delete that control rather than port it, so the strip stays.
-    render(<PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="answer" pathname="/" hasSubmittedSearch onSearch={vi.fn()} />);
-    expect(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Ask" })).toHaveAttribute("aria-current", "page");
+  it("renders nothing for a mode that registers no destinations", () => {
+    // `answer` used to register one action-kind entry, rendering a lone
+    // <button name="Ask"> with aria-current="page" inside its own <nav>
+    // landmark. Its only effect was focusing the composer already visible on
+    // the same screen, so it was deleted rather than ported to the header bar —
+    // there was no second destination to port it to. Neither surface may appear
+    // now, and hasSubmittedSearch must not resurrect one.
+    render(<PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="answer" pathname="/" hasSubmittedSearch />);
+    expect(screen.queryByRole("button", { name: "Ask" })).toBeNull();
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId("secondary-navigation")).toBeNull();
     expect(screen.queryByTestId("mode-nav")).toBeNull();
   });
 
-  it("gives an adopted mode the shared header bar on its workflow routes", () => {
+  it("still gives an empty-registry mode its On this page nav", async () => {
+    // Branch order guard. `forms` registers no destinations but its route still
+    // claims a section set, and the informationDefinitions branch sits above
+    // the mode branch precisely so that survives. Hoisting the empty-registry
+    // return up with the therapy/locally-owned early returns would silently
+    // strip navigation from every /services/*, /forms/*, /medications/* and
+    // /documents/<id> record.
+    //
+    // The anchors are planted here rather than taken from the real page on
+    // purpose: this asserts branch ORDER, not that /forms/form-1 currently
+    // draws a nav. It does not — form-detail-page.tsx carries
+    // "form-decision-context-mobile" as a `testId`, not an element id, and the
+    // other five declared targetIds are rendered nowhere, so
+    // AvailableInformationPageNavigation filters everything out and returns
+    // null. That is /issues #256 (declared section sets whose targets nothing
+    // renders), live for forms, pre-existing and out of scope here.
     render(
-      <PageSecondaryNavigation
-        modeId="specifiers"
-        pathname="/specifiers/compare"
-        hasSubmittedSearch={false}
-        onSearch={vi.fn()}
-      />,
+      <div>
+        <PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="forms" pathname="/forms/form-1" hasSubmittedSearch />
+        <section id="form-overview" />
+        <section id="form-priority-facts" />
+        <section id="form-legal-boundary" />
+      </div>,
     );
+    expect(await screen.findByRole("navigation", { name: "On this page" })).toBeVisible();
+  });
+
+  it("gives an adopted mode the shared header bar on its workflow routes", () => {
+    render(<PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="specifiers" pathname="/specifiers/compare" hasSubmittedSearch={false} />);
     const bar = screen.getByTestId("mode-nav");
     expect(bar).toHaveAttribute("aria-label", "Specifiers pages");
     expect(screen.getByRole("link", { name: "Compare" })).toHaveAttribute("aria-current", "page");
@@ -184,7 +206,6 @@ describe("PageSecondaryNavigation", () => {
         pathname="/factsheets/search"
         hasSubmittedSearch={false}
         searchParamString="q=sertraline&category=Medicines&run=1"
-        onSearch={vi.fn()}
       />,
     );
     const bar = screen.getByTestId("mode-nav");
@@ -211,14 +232,7 @@ describe("PageSecondaryNavigation", () => {
     // record route clear now is only the hasLocalInformationPageNavigation
     // early return, so pin it at render rather than trusting the count.
     expect(hasLocalInformationPageNavigation("/factsheets/sertraline")).toBe(true);
-    render(
-      <PageSecondaryNavigation
-        modeId="factsheets"
-        pathname="/factsheets/sertraline"
-        hasSubmittedSearch
-        onSearch={vi.fn()}
-      />,
-    );
+    render(<PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="factsheets" pathname="/factsheets/sertraline" hasSubmittedSearch />);
     expect(screen.queryByTestId("mode-nav")).toBeNull();
     expect(screen.queryByTestId("secondary-navigation")).toBeNull();
   });
@@ -226,12 +240,7 @@ describe("PageSecondaryNavigation", () => {
   it("replaces mode navigation with only the information sections present in the record", async () => {
     render(
       <div>
-        <PageSecondaryNavigation
-          modeId="services"
-          pathname="/services/community-team"
-          hasSubmittedSearch
-          onSearch={vi.fn()}
-        />
+        <PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="services" pathname="/services/community-team" hasSubmittedSearch />
         <section id="service-overview" />
         <section id="service-criteria" />
       </div>,
@@ -247,12 +256,7 @@ describe("PageSecondaryNavigation", () => {
 
   it("leaves locally controlled information and Therapy workflow navigation to their page owners", async () => {
     const { rerender } = render(
-      <PageSecondaryNavigation
-        modeId="prescribing"
-        pathname="/medications/sertraline"
-        hasSubmittedSearch
-        onSearch={vi.fn()}
-      />,
+      <PageSecondaryNavigation modeId="prescribing" pathname="/medications/sertraline" hasSubmittedSearch />,
     );
     await waitFor(() => expect(screen.queryByTestId("secondary-navigation")).toBeNull());
 
@@ -261,7 +265,6 @@ describe("PageSecondaryNavigation", () => {
         modeId="therapy-compass"
         pathname="/therapy-compass/search"
         hasSubmittedSearch={false}
-        onSearch={vi.fn()}
       />,
     );
     expect(screen.queryByTestId("secondary-navigation")).toBeNull();
@@ -271,7 +274,6 @@ describe("PageSecondaryNavigation", () => {
         modeId="documents"
         pathname="/documents/11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111"
         hasSubmittedSearch
-        onSearch={vi.fn()}
       />,
     );
     expect(screen.queryByTestId("secondary-navigation")).toBeNull();