Root layout overwrites every page title with the brand name — no route's <svelte:head><title> survives

Start with web/src/routes/+layout.svelte and web/src/routes/+layout.ts, then compare the layout behavior with the route-level svelte:head<title> declarations such as web/src/routes/search/+page.svelte. Run the title assertions in settings.spec.ts, search.spec.ts, qa.spec.ts, and daily.spec.ts; done means route-specific titles survive branding loads while the default remains available.

Found while building the deterministic Playwright world (Package A of the playwright-e2e-suite-non-deterministic-failures-* ticket).

What happens

web/src/routes/+layout.svelte sets document.title from the branding store:

// Push branding into the DOM as it loads:
//   --brand-primary      — accent color referenced by chrome components
//   document.title       — replace app.html's static "Pyrite"
$effect(() => {
    if (typeof document === 'undefined') return;
    document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--brand-primary', brandStore.primary_color);
    if (brandStore.loaded) {
        document.title = brandStore.name;
    }
});

Every route also declares its own title, e.g. web/src/routes/search/+page.svelte:

<svelte:head><title>Search — Pyrite</title></svelte:head>

The layout effect runs once brandStore.loaded flips and clobbers whatever the page set. SSR is off (+layout.ts: export const ssr = false), so the page title is only ever applied client-side — after which the layout overwrites it.

Evidence

Probe navigating to every top-level route with a 1.5 s settle, reading page.title():

ROUTE /            -> "Pyrite"
ROUTE /entries     -> "Pyrite"     (page declares "Entries — Pyrite")
ROUTE /search      -> "Pyrite"     (page declares "Search — Pyrite")
ROUTE /settings    -> "Pyrite"     (page declares "Settings — Pyrite")
ROUTE /qa          -> "Pyrite"     (page declares "QA Dashboard — Pyrite")
ROUTE /daily       -> "Pyrite"     (page declares "Daily Notes — Pyrite")
ROUTE /timeline    -> "Pyrite"
ROUTE /graph       -> "Pyrite"
ROUTE /collections -> "Pyrite"
ROUTE /login       -> "Pyrite"

No route wins. This is a user-visible bug, not only a test one: every browser tab, every bookmark and every window-switcher entry reads "Pyrite" regardless of where you are in the app.

It is also a source of moving e2e failures, because it is a race: settings.spec.ts:4 and search.spec.ts:4 failed their toHaveTitle in all five of five consecutive runs, while qa.spec.ts:4 and daily.spec.ts:4 — the same assertion, same cause — failed in four of five. Whether the page title or the branding effect lands last depends on when /config/branding returns.

Suggested fix

The layout should supply a default, not an override — e.g. put the brand name in <svelte:head><title> in the layout (SvelteKit lets a page's head override a layout's) instead of assigning document.title in an effect. If a branded suffix is wanted on every page, compose it where the page title is set rather than replacing it wholesale.

Why not fixed here

Out of scope for Package A (the e2e environment); the pages and their specs belong to packages B/G of that ticket, and this is a product bug in the layout rather than a test-harness one. Filed per ADR-0033.