A hand-edited `menu.jsonc` whose root is a JSON **array** instead of an object is silently turned into menu rows with ids `"0"`, `"1"`, … parented to root. That includes the user extension `~/.config/omarchy/extensions/omarchy-menu.jsonc`, which goes through the same `parseMenuJsonc`. Label-only elements stay hidden as empty submenus; only elements with an `action` show, under the user's own labels.

Reproduced on `quattro` (`3faafba2`, 2026-09-27), using the repo's own parser, stock file fetched straight from this repo, and then on the #13968 head `b2dae8db` (narrated, 43s):

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5075e08a-2ef3-4855-b229-eeefcd7567e9

**Repro** (run from the repo root, node ≥ 18):

```js
// repro.js
const m = require("./shell/plugins/menu/MenuModel.js");

const rows = m.parseMenuJsonc('[{"label":"should-not-appear"},{"label":"ghost-2"}]');
console.log(JSON.stringify(rows));
// expected: []   actual: two rows with id "0" and "1", parent "root"

// every other non-object root behaves correctly:
for (const s of ["{}", "null", "42", '"str"']) console.log(s, m.parseMenuJsonc(s));
// -> all []
```

**What happens.** `parseMenuJsonc` guards the parsed root with

```js
if (typeof parsed !== "object" || parsed === null) return [];
```

but `typeof [] === "object"`, so an array root passes the guard. The `for..in` loop then iterates **array indices** as entry ids, and each object element becomes a row with id `"0"`, `"1"`, … — no error anywhere.

**Blast radius.** Anyone who hand-edits `menu.jsonc` and writes the root as a list of entries (a plausible mistake — it's the natural shape for "a list of menu items") gets rows keyed by array index with zero feedback about what went wrong: label-only entries are hidden, and entries with an `action` show under their own labels. Silent wrong behavior instead of either a clean empty menu or a config error.

**Fix.** One-line guard: reject `Array.isArray(parsed)` alongside the existing checks, matching what every other non-object root already does. That fix went out as #13511 and now lives in #13968, which replaces it and also fixes #13250 and #13493. #13968 makes both cases below give no rows, and it notes in `docs/menu.md` that a file whose root is not an object contributes no entries (as #13681 does), so a user whose entries vanish can see why.

<details><summary>What an array root shows on <code>quattro</code> <code>8b4eae6</code> (parsed ids, then visible labels)</summary>

```sh
node -e 'const fs=require("fs"), m=require("./shell/plugins/menu/MenuModel.js"); const stock=m.parseMenuJsonc(fs.readFileSync("default/omarchy/omarchy-menu.jsonc","utf8")); for (const u of [`[{"label":"x"},{"label":"y"}]`, `[{"label":"Notes","action":"echo notes"}]`]) { const p=m.parseMenuJsonc(u), {items,itemOrder}=m.mergeMenuSources(stock,p); console.log(p.map(r=>r.id), p.filter(r=>m.isVisible(items,itemOrder,{},items[r.id])).map(r=>items[r.id].label)) }'
```

```text
[ '0', '1' ] []
[ '0' ] [ 'Notes' ]
```

</details>

A 19-second capture of the shipped parser on `quattro` `8b4eae6` and then with the fix in #13968 (`b2dae8db`), reading a menu file whose top level is an array: `quattro` invents rows `0` and `1`, the fix returns 0 rows, as it already does for other non-object roots:

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6781bd5d-d2d9-46ee-ad85-1f08ffc2f1cd

<sub>Independent verification: [our validation of this report](https://portal.reqproof.com/projects/omarchy/inbox/29#validation) (reproducer and verdict) · [the known-issue record](https://portal.reqproof.com/projects/omarchy/findings/KI-MENU-JSONC-ARRAY-ROOT) (status and tests).</sub>

---

**Updated 2026-10-01:** corrected an overstatement — label-only array elements stay hidden and only elements with an `action` show, under the user's own labels; the fix now lives in #13968 (replacing #13511), with a `docs/menu.md` note; added a 19-second capture of the bug and the fix. Also 2026-10-02: the repro commit now names the `quattro` tip at filing time (the earlier SHA was from my mirror of `quattro`; the parser is identical); fixed a typo. Replaced both videos. The narrated one now runs this issue's repro and the label-only/`action` visibility check on `3faafba2` and on the #13968 head, instead of showing #13511's branch as the fix; the short one is re-recorded on the #13968 head.