refactor(avatars): drop orphaned app-avatar: symbolic-ref machinery

desktop/src-tauri/src/commands/personas.rs

@@ -371,11 +371,11 @@ mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
     #[test]
-    fn parse_persona_files_accepts_plain_md_with_avatar_ref() {
+    fn parse_persona_files_carries_opaque_avatar_ref() {
         let md = br#"---
 name: fizz
 display_name: Fizz
-avatar: app-avatar:persona-12
+avatar: https://example.com/avatars/fizz.png
 runtime: goose
 ---
 You are Fizz.
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ You are Fizz.
         assert_eq!(result.personas[0].display_name, "Fizz");
         assert_eq!(
             result.personas[0].avatar_ref.as_deref(),
-            Some("app-avatar:persona-12")
+            Some("https://example.com/avatars/fizz.png")
         );
         assert_eq!(result.personas[0].source_file, "fizz.md");
     }

desktop/src-tauri/src/managed_agents/persona_card_tests.rs

@@ -404,12 +404,12 @@ fn parse_json_malformed() {
 }
 
 #[test]
-fn parse_md_persona_preserves_app_avatar_ref() {
+fn parse_md_persona_preserves_avatar_ref() {
     let md = br#"---
 name: goosey
 display_name: Goosey
 description: Goose internal agent.
-avatar: app-avatar:persona-19
+avatar: https://example.com/avatars/goosey.png
 model: anthropic:claude-sonnet-4
 runtime: goose
 ---
@@ -418,7 +418,10 @@ You are Goosey.
     let result = parse_md_persona(md).unwrap();
     assert_eq!(result.display_name, "Goosey");
     assert_eq!(result.avatar_data_url, None);
-    assert_eq!(result.avatar_ref.as_deref(), Some("app-avatar:persona-19"));
+    assert_eq!(
+        result.avatar_ref.as_deref(),
+        Some("https://example.com/avatars/goosey.png")
+    );
     assert_eq!(result.model.as_deref(), Some("claude-sonnet-4"));
     assert_eq!(result.provider.as_deref(), Some("anthropic"));
     assert_eq!(result.runtime.as_deref(), Some("goose"));
@@ -446,15 +449,18 @@ fn parse_md_persona_accepts_goose_internal_frontmatter() {
     let md = br#"---
 name: block.md
 description: Opinionated guide to Block's intelligence operating model.
-avatar: app-avatar:persona-19
+avatar: https://avatars.example.com/block-md.png
 metadata:
   gooseInternalBundled: true
 ---
 You are block.md.
 "#;
     let result = parse_md_persona(md).unwrap();
     assert_eq!(result.display_name, "block.md");
-    assert_eq!(result.avatar_ref.as_deref(), Some("app-avatar:persona-19"));
+    assert_eq!(
+        result.avatar_ref.as_deref(),
+        Some("https://avatars.example.com/block-md.png")
+    );
     assert_eq!(result.system_prompt, "You are block.md.\n");
 }
 
@@ -495,7 +501,7 @@ fn parse_zip_with_plain_md_persona_preserves_avatar_ref() {
 name: fizz
 display_name: Fizz
 description: Engineering agent.
-avatar: app-avatar:persona-12
+avatar: https://avatars.example.com/fizz.png
 runtime: goose
 model: anthropic:claude-sonnet-4
 ---
@@ -508,7 +514,7 @@ You are Fizz.
     assert_eq!(result.personas[0].display_name, "Fizz");
     assert_eq!(
         result.personas[0].avatar_ref.as_deref(),
-        Some("app-avatar:persona-12")
+        Some("https://avatars.example.com/fizz.png")
     );
     assert_eq!(result.personas[0].source_file, "fizz.md");
 }

desktop/src/features/agents/ui/personaDialogState.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,36 @@
 import type { ParsePersonaFilesResult } from "@/shared/api/tauriPersonas";
-import { resolveImportedPersonaAvatarUrl } from "@/shared/avatars/gooseAppAvatarRefs";
 import type {
   AgentPersona,
   CreatePersonaInput,
   UpdatePersonaInput,
 } from "@/shared/api/types";
 
+function isPersistableAvatarUrl(value: string): boolean {
+  return /^(?:https?:|data:image\/|blob:)/i.test(value);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Picks an avatar URL to seed the import dialog with. Only persistable
+ * http(s)/data/blob URLs survive; anything else (e.g. a bare filename or an
+ * unrenderable symbolic ref) is dropped so the dialog starts blank rather than
+ * carrying a value the app can't display.
+ */
+function resolveImportedPersonaAvatarUrl({
+  avatarDataUrl,
+  avatarRef,
+}: {
+  avatarDataUrl?: string | null;
+  avatarRef?: string | null;
+}): string | null {
+  for (const candidate of [avatarRef, avatarDataUrl]) {
+    const trimmed = candidate?.trim();
+    if (trimmed && isPersistableAvatarUrl(trimmed)) {
+      return trimmed;
+    }
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
 export type PersonaDialogState = {
   description: string;
   initialValues: CreatePersonaInput | UpdatePersonaInput;

desktop/src/features/profile/hooks.ts

@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import type {
   UsersBatchResponse,
 } from "@/shared/api/types";
 import { useIdentityQuery } from "@/shared/api/hooks";
-import { isGooseAppAvatarRef } from "@/shared/avatars/gooseAppAvatarRefs";
 import { getAvatarSnapshotUrl } from "@/shared/lib/animatedAvatar";
 import { rewriteRelayUrl } from "@/shared/lib/mediaUrl";
 import {
@@ -56,9 +55,7 @@ async function persistSelfProfile(
   profile: Profile,
 ): Promise<void> {
   const existing = readSelfProfileCache(relayUrl, pubkey);
-  const avatarSnapshotUrl = isGooseAppAvatarRef(profile.avatarUrl)
-    ? null
-    : getAvatarSnapshotUrl(profile.avatarUrl);
+  const avatarSnapshotUrl = getAvatarSnapshotUrl(profile.avatarUrl);
   const fetched =
     shouldFetchAvatar(profile.avatarUrl, existing) && avatarSnapshotUrl !== null
       ? await fetchAvatarDataUrl(rewriteRelayUrl(avatarSnapshotUrl))