diff --git a/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua b/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua
index 5127e59..8fd7608 100644
--- a/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua
+++ b/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ return {
         clipboard = "unnamedplus",
         title = true,
         titlestring = "",
-        laststatus = 0,
+        laststatus = 3, -- global statusline (custom heirline in heirline.lua)
       },
       g = {},
     },
@@ -141,7 +141,13 @@ return {
         ["<C-!>"] = { "<Cmd>suspend<CR>", desc = "Suspend nvim (return with 'fg')" },
         ["ZZ"] = { "<Cmd>wqa<CR>", desc = "Save all buffers and quit Neovim" },
         ["<A-q>"] = { "<Cmd>wqa<CR>", desc = "Save all buffers and quit Neovim" },
-        ["<C-c>"] = { "<Cmd>wa<CR><Cmd>bd<CR>", desc = "Save and close buffer" },
+        ["<C-c>"] = {
+          function()
+            vim.cmd "wa"
+            require("snacks").bufdelete()
+          end,
+          desc = "Save and close buffer",
+        },
         ["F"] = { "za", desc = "Toggle fold under cursor" },
         -- v6: vim.diagnostic.goto_next/goto_prev deprecated in 0.11, use jump()
         ["J"] = {
@@ -168,12 +174,7 @@ return {
           desc = "Find buffers",
         },
         ["<C-b><C-c>"] = {
-          function()
-            local current_buffer = vim.api.nvim_get_current_buf()
-            for _, buf in ipairs(vim.api.nvim_list_bufs()) do
-              if buf ~= current_buffer then vim.api.nvim_buf_delete(buf, { force = true }) end
-            end
-          end,
+          function() require("snacks").bufdelete.other() end,
           desc = "Close all buffers except the current one",
         },
         ["<C-b>g"] = {
@@ -189,14 +190,58 @@ return {
           function() require("snacks").picker.lines() end,
           desc = "Find in line",
         },
-        ["<C-g>o"] = { "<cmd>!gh repo view --web<CR>", desc = "Open Repo on Web" },
+        ["<C-g>o"] = { function() require("snacks").gitbrowse() end, desc = "Open Repo on Web" },
         ["<C-s>"] = { "<cmd>w<CR>", desc = "Save buffer" },
-        ["<C-w>"] = { "<cmd>w<CR><Cmd>bd<CR>", desc = "Save and close buffer" },
+        ["<C-w>"] = {
+          function()
+            vim.cmd "w"
+            require("snacks").bufdelete()
+          end,
+          desc = "Save and close buffer",
+        },
         ["<C-Tab>"] = { "<cmd>tabnext<CR>", desc = "Next Tab" },
-        ["<C-g><C-i>"] = { "<cmd>Octo issue list<CR>", desc = "List Issues" },
-        ["<C-g><C-l>"] = { "<cmd>Octo label<CR>", desc = "Manage Labels" },
-        ["<C-g><C-p>"] = { "<cmd>Octo pr list<CR>", desc = "List PRs" },
-        ["<C-g>s"] = { "<cmd>Octo search<CR>", desc = "Octo Search" },
+        ["<C-g><C-i>"] = {
+          function() require("snacks").picker.gh_issue() end,
+          desc = "GitHub issues (open)",
+        },
+        ["<C-g><C-p>"] = {
+          function() require("snacks").picker.gh_pr() end,
+          desc = "GitHub PRs (open)",
+        },
+        ["<C-g>I"] = {
+          function() require("snacks").picker.gh_issue { state = "all" } end,
+          desc = "GitHub issues (all)",
+        },
+        ["<C-g>P"] = {
+          function() require("snacks").picker.gh_pr { state = "all" } end,
+          desc = "GitHub PRs (all)",
+        },
+        -- which-key prefix group labels
+        ["<C-g>"] = { desc = "Git + GitHub" },
+        ["<C-f>"] = { desc = "Find" },
+        ["<C-b>"] = { desc = "Buffers" },
+        ["<C-a>"] = { desc = "Assist" },
+        -- ghq project switcher (previously a dashboard action)
+        ["<C-f>P"] = {
+          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)
+              require("snacks").picker.files()
+            end)
+          end,
+          desc = "Find ghq projects",
+        },
+        ["<C-g><C-g>"] = {
+          function() require("snacks").lazygit() end,
+          desc = "Toggle lazygit (float)",
+        },
+        ["<C-d><C-d>"] = {
+          function() require("snacks").terminal.toggle("lazydocker", { win = { style = "float" } }) end,
+          desc = "Toggle lazydocker (float)",
+        },
+        ["<C-r>"] = { "<Cmd>Scooter<CR>", desc = "Find & replace (scooter)" },
         ["<C-g><C-r>"] = { "<cmd>!gh release list<CR>", desc = "List Releases" },
         ["<C-g>d"] = {
           function() require("snacks").picker.git_diff() end,
@@ -402,12 +447,38 @@ return {
       },
       i = {
         ["<C-s>"] = { "<Cmd>wa<CR><Esc>", desc = "Save buffer, and return to normal mode" },
-        ["<C-c>"] = { "<Cmd>wa<CR><Cmd>bd<CR><Esc>", desc = "Save, close buffer, and return to normal mode" },
-        ["<C-x>"] = { "<Cmd>wa<CR><Cmd>bd<CR><Esc>", desc = "Save, close buffer, and return to normal mode" },
+        ["<C-c>"] = {
+          function()
+            vim.cmd "stopinsert"
+            vim.cmd "wa"
+            require("snacks").bufdelete()
+          end,
+          desc = "Save, close buffer, and return to normal mode",
+        },
+        ["<C-x>"] = {
+          function()
+            vim.cmd "stopinsert"
+            vim.cmd "wa"
+            require("snacks").bufdelete()
+          end,
+          desc = "Save, close buffer, and return to normal mode",
+        },
       },
       v = {
-        ["<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-c>"] = {
+          function()
+            vim.cmd "w"
+            require("snacks").bufdelete()
+          end,
+          desc = "Save and close buffer",
+        },
+        ["<C-x>"] = {
+          function()
+            vim.cmd "w"
+            require("snacks").bufdelete()
+          end,
+          desc = "Save and close buffer",
+        },
         ["D"] = {
           function()
             vim.cmd 'normal! "vy'
diff --git a/lua/plugins/user.lua b/lua/plugins/user.lua
index 71bf325..239cb9d 100644
--- a/lua/plugins/user.lua
+++ b/lua/plugins/user.lua
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
---- User plugins: cursor animation and snacks.nvim (picker + dashboard) customization
+--- User plugins: cursor animation and the central snacks.nvim configuration
+--- (all snacks modules are configured here in one snacks.Config table)
 
 -- Confirm action for file-opening pickers: <CR> opens the selection as a
 -- tab via `tabdrop` (:tab drop semantics — focus the buffer if it's already
@@ -43,53 +44,42 @@ end
 return {
   { "sphamba/smear-cursor.nvim", opts = {} },
 
-  -- terminals are handled by kitty now
+  -- AstroNvim CORE ships toggleterm (astronvim/plugins/toggleterm.lua);
+  -- terminals are handled by kitty + snacks.terminal/external-tui instead
   { "akinsho/toggleterm.nvim", enabled = false },
 
+  -- pulled in by astrocommunity.pack.typescript; only ever loaded by
+  -- neo-tree/nvim-tree (both removed) and yazi.nvim handles LSP renames
+  { "antosha417/nvim-lsp-file-operations", enabled = false },
+
   {
     "folke/snacks.nvim",
+    ---@type snacks.Config
     opts = {
+      -- dashboard discarded in favor of session management: the astrocore
+      -- restore_session autocmd resumes the cwd dirsession on startup and
+      -- sessions.autosave persists it on exit
+      dashboard = { enabled = false },
+
+      -- GitHub issue/PR pickers and buffers (`<C-g>` binds in astrocore.lua)
+      gh = {},
+
+      -- auto-highlight LSP references of the symbol under the cursor;
+      -- ]] / [[ jump binds live in polish.lua (Snacks.keymap, LSP-gated)
+      words = { enabled = true },
+
       picker = {
         jump = { reuse_win = true },
         sources = picker_sources,
       },
-      dashboard = {
-        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" },
+
+      styles = {
+        -- right-hand 30% split used by :Scooter (external-tui snacks terminal)
+        scooter = {
+          position = "right",
+          width = 0.3,
+          height = 0,
+          border = "none",
         },
       },
     },