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CSA Loom — the Microsoft Fabric experience for Azure tenants where Fabric isn't yet available: lakehouses, warehouses, notebooks, semantic models, Activator rules, Data Agents, across Commercial, GCC, GCC-High, and DoD IL5

Global parity gap: App launcher (waffle)

Validated: 2026-05-26
Surface: Waffle icon next to logo in top bar
Component: apps/fiab-console/lib/components/app-launcher.tsx
Fabric reference: Office/M365 waffle picker — opens flyout listing Microsoft 365 + Fabric apps
Backend probed: GET /api/apps-catalog returns 200 with seeded apps

What renders

  • Apps24Regular icon inside transparent button, white tint, aria-label="App launcher", Tooltip "Apps"
  • Click → opens Fluent Drawer from left (position="start", size="medium")
  • Drawer header: "Apps" title + dismiss X
  • Drawer body fetches /api/apps-catalog and renders 2-column grid of app cards (category badge + name + description)
  • Click card → routes to /apps/[id]

Functional probes (auth'd)

  • Click waffle → drawer opens — PASS
  • API call: GET /api/apps-catalog — 200, real apps returned (Casino Analytics, Data Steward Console, Fabric Mirror Onboarding, FedRAMP Tracker, FinOps, Healthcare PopHealth, IoT Real-Time, Lakehouse Inspector — 8+ items)
  • Card click navigates to /apps/app-casino-analytics etc. — PASS
  • Empty state (no apps): "No apps installed yet. Curated CSA apps will appear after your tenant is seeded." — PASS

Functional probes (unauth)

  • Drawer opens, but API returns 401 → empty state shows. No MessageBar telling user to sign in.

Row-by-row matrix

Fabric element Loom: present Severity Notes
Waffle icon top-left YES — Same position
Click opens flyout YES (drawer) MINOR Fabric uses a Popover anchored to button; Loom uses a Drawer that slides in from left. Slight UX difference.
Apps grid YES — 2-col grid with category, name, description
App icons NO MINOR Component reads icon field but no real icon assets are shipped — cards are text-only
Recent / pinned apps split NO MINOR Fabric splits "Apps" vs "Other Microsoft apps"; Loom just lists all
Unauth gate NO MessageBar MINOR Empty state when 401 doesn't tell user to sign in

Grade: B

Real data, real navigation, real BFF. UI uses Drawer instead of Popover (acceptable). Missing: icons on app cards, unauth MessageBar. No vaporware.