diff --git a/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua b/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua
index 2e0e27b..19ca867 100644
--- a/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua
+++ b/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua
@@ -155,7 +155,14 @@ return {
         },
         ["L"] = { "<Cmd>BufferLineCycleNext<CR>", desc = "Next buffer" },
         ["H"] = { "<Cmd>BufferLineCyclePrev<CR>", desc = "Previous buffer" },
-        ["<C-e>"] = { "<Cmd>Neotree toggle reveal<CR>", desc = "Open Explorer (reveal current file)" },
+        ["<C-e>"] = {
+          function() require("snacks").picker.git_files { transform = file_filter } end,
+          desc = "Find git files",
+        },
+        ["<Leader>e"] = {
+          function() require("snacks").picker.files { transform = file_filter } end,
+          desc = "Find files (cwd)",
+        },
         ["<leader><leader>"] = {
           function() require("snacks").picker.smart() end,
           desc = "Find files",
@@ -248,8 +255,6 @@ return {
           end,
           desc = "Find AI files",
         },
-        ["<C-f>p"] = { desc = "Find Package files" },
-        ["<C-f>m"] = { desc = "Find Module files" },
         ["<C-f>g"] = { desc = "Find by Group" },
         ["<C-f>gw"] = {
           function()
@@ -294,8 +299,6 @@ return {
           desc = "Paste from system clipboard",
         },
         ["<C-j><C-j>"] = { function() terminals.scratch_toggle() end, desc = "Open Scratch Terminal" },
-        ["<C-a>f"] = { "<Cmd>ClaudeCodeFocus<CR>", desc = "Toggle Claude Code" },
-        ["<C-m>"] = { "<Cmd>OverseerRun<CR>", desc = "Run Overseer task" },
         ["<C-a>d"] = {
           function() with_trouble("diagnostics") end,
           desc = "Search diagnostics (<C-t> sends to Trouble)",
@@ -313,8 +316,6 @@ return {
           desc = "Search LSP workspace symbols (<C-t> sends to Trouble)",
         },
 
-        ["<leader>L"] = { "<Cmd>Leet<CR>", desc = "Open LeetCode" },
-
         ["<leader>u"] = { desc = "UI Toggles" },
         ["<leader>ud"] = {
           function() require("snacks").toggle.diagnostics():toggle() end,
@@ -404,10 +405,12 @@ return {
         ["<C-x>"] = { "<Cmd>wa<CR><Cmd>bd<CR><Esc>", desc = "Save, close buffer, and return to normal mode" },
       },
       v = {
-        ["<C-e>"] = { "<Cmd>Neotree toggle reveal<CR>", desc = "Open Explorer (reveal current file)" },
+        ["<C-e>"] = {
+          function() require("snacks").picker.git_files { transform = file_filter } end,
+          desc = "Find git files",
+        },
         ["<C-c>"] = { "<Cmd>w<CR><Cmd>bd<CR>", desc = "Save and close buffer" },
         ["<C-x>"] = { "<Cmd>w<CR><Cmd>bd<CR>", desc = "Save and close buffer" },
-        ["<C-a><C-a>"] = { "<Cmd>ClaudeCodeSend<CR>", desc = "Send selection to Claude Code" },
         ["D"] = {
           function()
             vim.cmd 'normal! "vy'
@@ -438,8 +441,10 @@ return {
         },
       },
       t = {
-        ["<C-a><C-a>"] = { "<Cmd>ClaudeCodeFocus<CR>", desc = "Toggle Claude Code" },
-        ["<C-e>"] = { "<Cmd>Neotree toggle reveal<CR>", desc = "Open Explorer (reveal current file)" },
+        ["<C-e>"] = {
+          function() require("snacks").picker.git_files { transform = file_filter } end,
+          desc = "Find git files",
+        },
         ["<C-p>"] = { function() vim.cmd 'normal! "+p' end, desc = "Paste from system clipboard" },
         ["<C-b>f"] = {
           function() require("snacks").picker.buffers() end,
diff --git a/lua/plugins/neotree.lua b/lua/plugins/neotree.lua
index ed171f5..c9e468a 100644
--- a/lua/plugins/neotree.lua
+++ b/lua/plugins/neotree.lua
@@ -57,8 +57,6 @@ return {
             ["<c-x>"] = "clear_filter",
             ["<CR>"] = "open_and_close_neotree",
             ["<S-CR>"] = "open",
-            -- Claude Code: add file under cursor to context
-            ["<C-a>"] = function() vim.cmd "ClaudeCodeTreeAdd" end,
             -- Preview image under cursor via kitty's icat kitten
             ["<leader>p"] = "image_kitty",
             -- Git keybindings from astrocore
diff --git a/lua/plugins/user.lua b/lua/plugins/user.lua
index f73c27f..a4fdc53 100644
--- a/lua/plugins/user.lua
+++ b/lua/plugins/user.lua
@@ -1,119 +1,92 @@
+--- User plugins: cursor animation and snacks.nvim (picker + dashboard) customization
 
--- You can also add or configure plugins by creating files in this `plugins/` folder
--- PLEASE REMOVE THE EXAMPLES YOU HAVE NO INTEREST IN BEFORE ENABLING THIS FILE
--- Here are some examples:
+-- Confirm action for file-opening pickers:
+-- open in a vertical split by default, reuse the window when the buffer is
+-- already visible in this tab, plain edit when the main window holds an
+-- empty scratch buffer. Explicit edit-cmd keybinds (<c-s> split, <c-v>
+-- vsplit, <c-t> tab) carry `action.cmd` and are passed through untouched.
+local function vsplit_confirm(picker, item, action)
+  local actions = require "snacks.picker.actions"
+  if action.cmd then return actions.jump(picker, item, action) end
+  local path = item and item.file and require("snacks.picker.util").path(item)
+  if not (item and (item.buf or path)) then return actions.jump(picker, item, action) end
+  local buf = item.buf or vim.fn.bufadd(path)
+  local visible = false
+  for _, w in ipairs(vim.fn.win_findbuf(buf)) do
+    if
+      vim.api.nvim_win_get_tabpage(w) == vim.api.nvim_get_current_tabpage()
+      and vim.api.nvim_win_get_config(w).relative == ""
+    then
+      visible = true
+      break
+    end
+  end
+  local main_buf = picker.main and vim.api.nvim_win_is_valid(picker.main) and vim.api.nvim_win_get_buf(picker.main)
+  local main_empty = main_buf
+    and vim.api.nvim_buf_get_name(main_buf) == ""
+    and vim.bo[main_buf].buftype == ""
+    and not vim.bo[main_buf].modified
+  local cmd = (visible or main_empty) and "edit" or "vsplit"
+  return actions.jump(picker, item, vim.tbl_extend("force", {}, action, { cmd = cmd }))
+end
 
 ---@type LazySpec
 return {
-{
-  "sphamba/smear-cursor.nvim",
-  opts = {
+  { "sphamba/smear-cursor.nvim", opts = {} },
 
-    },
-},
-
-  -- customize dashboard options
   {
     "folke/snacks.nvim",
     opts = {
+      picker = {
+        jump = { reuse_win = true },
+        -- vsplit-by-default only for file-opening pickers; location pickers
+        -- (lsp_*, lines, diagnostics, grep) keep the default in-window jump
+        sources = {
+          files = { confirm = vsplit_confirm },
+          git_files = { confirm = vsplit_confirm },
+          smart = { confirm = vsplit_confirm },
+          recent = { confirm = vsplit_confirm },
+          buffers = { confirm = vsplit_confirm },
+        },
+      },
       dashboard = {
-  sections = {
-    { section = "header" },
-
-    { section = "keys", gap = 1, padding = 1 },
-    {
-      pane = 2,
-      icon = " ",
-      desc = "Browse Repo",
-      padding = 1,
-      key = "b",
-      action = function()
-        Snacks.gitbrowse()
-      end,
-    },
-    {
-      icon = " ",
-      desc = "Projects (ghq)",
-      padding = 1,
-      key = "p",
-      action = function()
-        local repos = vim.fn.systemlist("ghq list -p")
-        vim.ui.select(repos, { prompt = "Select repository" }, function(dir)
-          if not dir then return end
-          vim.cmd.cd(dir)
-          Snacks.picker.files()
-        end)
-      end,
-    },
-    function()
-      local in_git = Snacks.git.get_root() ~= nil
-      local cmds = {
-        {
-          title = "Notifications",
-          cmd = "gh notify -s -a -n5",
-          action = function()
-            vim.ui.open("https://github.com/notifications")
-          end,
-          key = "N",
-          icon = " ",
-          height = 5,
-          enabled = true,
-        },
-        {
-          title = "Open Issues",
-          cmd = "gh issue list -L 3",
-          key = "i",
-          action = function()
-            vim.fn.jobstart("gh issue list --web", { detach = true })
-          end,
-          icon = " ",
-          height = 7,
-        },
-        {
-          icon = " ",
-          title = "Open PRs",
-          cmd = "gh pr list -L 3",
-          key = "P",
-          action = function()
-            vim.fn.jobstart("gh pr list --web", { detach = true })
-          end,
-          height = 7,
-        },
-        {
-          icon = " ",
-          title = "Git Status",
-          cmd = "git --no-pager diff --stat -B -M -C",
-          height = 10,
-        },
-      }
-      return vim.tbl_map(function(cmd)
-        return vim.tbl_extend("force", {
-          pane = 2,
-          section = "terminal",
-          enabled = in_git,
-          padding = 1,
-          ttl = 5 * 60,
-          indent = 3,
-        }, cmd)
-      end, cmds)
-    end,
-    { section = "startup" },
-  },
-      preset = {
+        enabled = true,
+        preset = {
+          -- "prdlk.nvim" in ansi_regular block style
           header = table.concat({
-            " █████  ███████ ████████ ██████   ██████ ",
-            "██   ██ ██         ██    ██   ██ ██    ██",
-            "███████ ███████    ██    ██████  ██    ██",
-            "██   ██      ██    ██    ██   ██ ██    ██",
-            "██   ██ ███████    ██    ██   ██  ██████ ",
-            "",
-            "███    ██ ██    ██ ██ ███    ███",
-            "████   ██ ██    ██ ██ ████  ████",
-            "██ ██  ██ ██    ██ ██ ██ ████ ██",
-            "██  ██ ██  ██  ██  ██ ██  ██  ██",
-            "██   ████   ████   ██ ██      ██",
+            "██████  ██████  ██████  ██      ██   ██    ███    ██ ██    ██ ██ ███    ███",
+            "██   ██ ██   ██ ██   ██ ██      ██  ██     ████   ██ ██    ██ ██ ████  ████",
+            "██████  ██████  ██   ██ ██      █████      ██ ██  ██ ██    ██ ██ ██ ████ ██",
+            "██      ██   ██ ██   ██ ██      ██  ██     ██  ██ ██  ██  ██  ██ ██  ██  ██",
+            "██      ██   ██ ██████  ███████ ██   ██ ██ ██   ████   ████   ██ ██      ██",
           }, "\n"),
         },
+        sections = {
+          { section = "header" },
+          { section = "keys", gap = 1, padding = 1 },
+          {
+            icon = " ",
+            desc = "Browse Repo",
+            padding = 1,
+            key = "b",
+            action = function() Snacks.gitbrowse() end,
+          },
+          {
+            icon = " ",
+            desc = "Projects (ghq)",
+            padding = 1,
+            key = "p",
+            action = function()
+              local repos = vim.fn.systemlist "ghq list -p"
+              vim.ui.select(repos, { prompt = "Select repository" }, function(dir)
+                if not dir then return end
+                vim.cmd.cd(dir)
+                Snacks.picker.files()
+              end)
+            end,
+          },
+          { section = "startup" },
+        },
       },
     },
   },