data/sessions/finder-delete-file/memory.md

# Memory: finder-delete-file

## Overview

Send a file to the trash through the file manager's context menu. Use this when a file has
to be removed by pointing rather than by name, and a recoverable deletion is wanted — the
file leaves the folder but stays restorable until the trash is emptied. The route
right-clicks the file, which selects it and opens its menu in one action, and chooses Move
to Trash. The recorded trace removes `report.pdf` from the working folder.

## Prerequisites

- A desktop environment with a file manager, or a shell.
- A file that exists and can be identified at run time by name.
- Write access to the folder holding it. Deletion changes the folder, not the file, so the
  folder's permissions are what govern.
- Certainty that the file is the right one and is genuinely no longer wanted. Neither route
  asks for confirmation.
- An understanding of which of the two end states is wanted. The file-manager route moves
  the file to a recoverable holding area; the shell route unlinks it immediately with
  nothing to restore from. The folder ends up in the same state either way, but only one
  of them is reversible.
- A backup, if the contents matter. Nothing in this task creates one.

## Steps

### Step 1 — Move-cursor at (433, 360)

The task is to delete `report.pdf` from `corpus-seed`, so the file has to be selected before a delete command can act on it. Move the cursor onto the `report.pdf` icon in the second row of the window. Moving first and clicking as a separate step is more dependable than a combined move-and-click, which sometimes reaches the position without the click registering.

![Step 1](vision/frames/step_0001_20260728_132207_at.webp)

### Step 2 — Right-click at (433, 360)

Move the cursor and Right-click `report.pdf` to select it and open its context menu together. The menu is where `Move to Trash` lives, which is the deletion the task calls for.

![Step 2](vision/frames/step_0002_20260728_132210_at.webp)

### Step 3 — Move-cursor at (490, 425)

Confirm the menu is acting on the intended file before moving onto a destructive item — it reads `Compress "report.pdf"`, which names the target explicitly, and `report.pdf`'s label is highlighted. Move the cursor onto `Move to Trash`. This check matters more here than in a copy or rename: a context menu opened on the wrong icon would delete the wrong file with no further prompt.

![Step 3](vision/frames/step_0003_20260728_132215_at.webp)

### Step 4 — Left-click at (490, 425)

Move the cursor and Left-click `Move to Trash`. The file leaves `corpus-seed` immediately with no confirmation dialog. It is moved to the Trash rather than erased, so it is still recoverable until the Trash is emptied — this step does not permanently destroy the file, and nothing in this task empties the Trash.

![Step 4](vision/frames/step_0004_20260728_132218_at.webp)

## Notes & Edge Cases

1. This route is recoverable and the shell equivalent is not. The file moves to the trash and can be put back, where the shell command unlinks it immediately. The folder looks the same after either, so the choice between them is about what happens next rather than about the visible result.
2. Right-click the file itself. The delete command is on the file's own menu and not on the folder's, so what is under the pointer decides whether the wanted entry exists at all.
3. There is no confirmation prompt. The command acts on whatever is selected, at once, which makes reading the highlight the entire safety step.
4. The menu wording names the destination rather than the act — it says the file is being moved somewhere. That wording is the clue that the operation is reversible; an entry that says delete instead usually means it is not.
5. Emptying the trash is a separate task and is not part of this one. The end state here is that the file is out of the folder, which is deliberately the reversible half.
6. Verify the file's contents, not just its name, before deleting it. A file of the right name can hold nothing at all, and finding that out after deleting is finding it out too late.
7. Move to the target and click as separate actions; a combined move-and-click sometimes reaches the position without the click registering.
8. A key command exists for this and is quicker than the menu route. Prefer it when the right one is known, and use menu navigation as the fallback.