diff --git a/src/components/shell/app-shell.tsx b/src/components/shell/app-shell.tsx
index 4330355..5d9eb4c 100644
--- a/src/components/shell/app-shell.tsx
+++ b/src/components/shell/app-shell.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { Sidebar } from "@/components/shell/sidebar";
+import { loadSidebarProjects } from "@/lib/data/board";
 import type { Role } from "@/lib/pb/types";
 
 /**
@@ -7,8 +8,11 @@ import type { Role } from "@/lib/pb/types";
  * Borrowed from the design reference and the reason the product does not read
  * as an admin panel. The panel owns the scroll; the page behind it never
  * moves, so the elevation stays believable.
+ *
+ * Async so every existing call site gets the sidebar's Kanban tree for free —
+ * no page.tsx needs to change to pass it down.
  */
-export function AppShell({
+export async function AppShell({
   role,
   currentPath,
   children,
@@ -17,9 +21,11 @@ export function AppShell({
   currentPath: string;
   children: React.ReactNode;
 }) {
+  const kanbanGroups = await loadSidebarProjects();
+
   return (
     <div className="flex h-screen overflow-hidden bg-page px-3 pb-3 pt-0">
-      <Sidebar role={role} currentPath={currentPath} />
+      <Sidebar role={role} currentPath={currentPath} kanbanGroups={kanbanGroups} />
 
       <main className="flex min-w-0 flex-1 flex-col overflow-hidden rounded-[var(--radius-panel)] border border-border-subtle bg-panel shadow-[var(--shadow-panel)]">
         {children}
diff --git a/src/components/shell/kanban-nav.tsx b/src/components/shell/kanban-nav.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a05a2de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/shell/kanban-nav.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+"use client";
+
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
+import Link from "next/link";
+import { Kanban } from "lucide-react";
+
+import { cn } from "@/lib/cn";
+import type { SidebarProjectGroup } from "@/lib/data/board";
+import type { Role } from "@/lib/pb/types";
+
+/**
+ * The sidebar's Kanban entry.
+ *
+ * Not a Link like the rest of the rail: clicking it opens a flyout beside the
+ * rail, and picking a project from it navigates straight into that project's
+ * board. This is the one nav item that is a picker rather than a destination,
+ * so it owns its own open/closed state rather than reading currentPath.
+ */
+export function KanbanNav({
+  role,
+  groups,
+  active,
+}: {
+  role: Role;
+  groups: SidebarProjectGroup[];
+  active: boolean;
+}) {
+  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
+  const containerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!open) return;
+
+    function onPointerDown(event: PointerEvent) {
+      if (
+        containerRef.current &&
+        !containerRef.current.contains(event.target as Node)
+      ) {
+        setOpen(false);
+      }
+    }
+
+    document.addEventListener("pointerdown", onPointerDown);
+    return () => document.removeEventListener("pointerdown", onPointerDown);
+  }, [open]);
+
+  return (
+    <div ref={containerRef} className="relative">
+      <button
+        type="button"
+        onClick={() => setOpen((value) => !value)}
+        aria-expanded={open}
+        aria-haspopup="true"
+        className={cn(
+          "flex w-[60px] flex-col items-center gap-1 rounded-xl px-1 py-2.5 transition-colors",
+          active || open
+            ? "bg-panel text-text-primary shadow-[var(--shadow-tile)]"
+            : "text-text-muted hover:text-text-secondary"
+        )}
+      >
+        <Kanban size={18} strokeWidth={1.75} />
+        <span className="text-[10px] font-medium leading-none">Kanban</span>
+      </button>
+
+      {open && (
+        <div className="absolute left-[68px] top-0 z-20 max-h-[80vh] w-64 overflow-y-auto rounded-xl border border-border-subtle bg-panel p-2 shadow-[var(--shadow-panel)]">
+          {groups.length === 0 ? (
+            <p className="p-2 text-xs text-text-muted">No projects yet.</p>
+          ) : (
+            groups.map((group) => (
+              <div key={group.client.id} className="mb-2 last:mb-0">
+                {/* A client manager only ever has one group — their own — so a
+                    header naming their own client would be pure noise. */}
+                {role === "owner" && (
+                  <p className="px-2 py-1 text-[11px] font-semibold uppercase tracking-wide text-text-muted">
+                    {group.client.name}
+                  </p>
+                )}
+                {group.projects.map((project) => (
+                  <Link
+                    key={project.id}
+                    href={`/p/${group.client.slug}/${project.slug}`}
+                    onClick={() => setOpen(false)}
+                    className="flex items-center justify-between gap-2 rounded-lg px-2 py-1.5 text-xs text-text-secondary transition-colors hover:bg-surface-raised hover:text-text-primary"
+                  >
+                    <span className="truncate">{project.name}</span>
+                    {project.kind === "prototype" && (
+                      <span className="shrink-0 rounded-full bg-accent-soft px-1.5 py-0.5 text-[10px] font-medium text-accent">
+                        Prototype
+                      </span>
+                    )}
+                  </Link>
+                ))}
+              </div>
+            ))
+          )}
+        </div>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  );
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/components/shell/sidebar.tsx b/src/components/shell/sidebar.tsx
index 410bf8e..8ef984f 100644
--- a/src/components/shell/sidebar.tsx
+++ b/src/components/shell/sidebar.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import Link from "next/link";
 import { LayoutGrid, FolderKanban, Settings, Users, CalendarRange } from "lucide-react";
 
 import { cn } from "@/lib/cn";
+import { KanbanNav } from "@/components/shell/kanban-nav";
+import type { SidebarProjectGroup } from "@/lib/data/board";
 import type { Role } from "@/lib/pb/types";
 
 interface NavItem {
@@ -19,6 +21,25 @@ const NAV: NavItem[] = [
   { href: "/admin/settings", label: "Settings", icon: Settings, ownerOnly: true },
 ];
 
+function NavLink({ item, active }: { item: NavItem; active: boolean }) {
+  const Icon = item.icon;
+  return (
+    <Link
+      href={item.href}
+      aria-current={active ? "page" : undefined}
+      className={cn(
+        "flex w-[60px] flex-col items-center gap-1 rounded-xl px-1 py-2.5 transition-colors",
+        active
+          ? "bg-panel text-text-primary shadow-[var(--shadow-tile)]"
+          : "text-text-muted hover:text-text-secondary"
+      )}
+    >
+      <Icon size={18} strokeWidth={1.75} />
+      <span className="text-[10px] font-medium leading-none">{item.label}</span>
+    </Link>
+  );
+}
+
 /**
  * The icon rail from the reference: an icon over a small label, not an icon
  * alone. Icon-only rails force everyone to learn a private vocabulary, and a
@@ -26,15 +47,22 @@ const NAV: NavItem[] = [
  *
  * Owner-only links are filtered out here for tidiness. That is presentation,
  * not security — the pages themselves re-check the role.
+ *
+ * "Kanban" is not in NAV: it is not a destination, it is a picker (see
+ * KanbanNav), so it renders separately between Projects and the rest.
  */
 export function Sidebar({
   role,
   currentPath,
+  kanbanGroups,
 }: {
   role: Role;
   currentPath: string;
+  kanbanGroups: SidebarProjectGroup[];
 }) {
   const items = NAV.filter((item) => !item.ownerOnly || role === "owner");
+  const isActive = (item: NavItem) =>
+    item.href === "/" ? currentPath === "/" : currentPath.startsWith(item.href);
 
   return (
     <nav
@@ -45,32 +73,17 @@ export function Sidebar({
         <span className="text-sm font-semibold">CB</span>
       </div>
 
-      {items.map((item) => {
-        const Icon = item.icon;
-        const active =
-          item.href === "/"
-            ? currentPath === "/"
-            : currentPath.startsWith(item.href);
+      <NavLink item={items[0]} active={isActive(items[0])} />
 
-        return (
-          <Link
-            key={item.href}
-            href={item.href}
-            aria-current={active ? "page" : undefined}
-            className={cn(
-              "flex w-[60px] flex-col items-center gap-1 rounded-xl px-1 py-2.5 transition-colors",
-              active
-                ? "bg-panel text-text-primary shadow-[var(--shadow-tile)]"
-                : "text-text-muted hover:text-text-secondary"
-            )}
-          >
-            <Icon size={18} strokeWidth={1.75} />
-            <span className="text-[10px] font-medium leading-none">
-              {item.label}
-            </span>
-          </Link>
-        );
-      })}
+      <KanbanNav
+        role={role}
+        groups={kanbanGroups}
+        active={currentPath.startsWith("/p/")}
+      />
+
+      {items.slice(1).map((item) => (
+        <NavLink key={item.href} item={item} active={isActive(item)} />
+      ))}
     </nav>
   );
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/lib/data/board.ts b/src/lib/data/board.ts
index 7eb6525..bbf2dc8 100644
--- a/src/lib/data/board.ts
+++ b/src/lib/data/board.ts
@@ -130,4 +130,57 @@ export async function loadProjectSummaries(): Promise<ProjectSummary[]> {
   }
 
   return summaries;
+}
+
+export interface SidebarProject {
+  id: string;
+  name: string;
+  slug: string;
+  kind: ProjectRecord["kind"];
+}
+
+export interface SidebarProjectGroup {
+  client: ClientRecord;
+  projects: SidebarProject[];
+}
+
+/**
+ * The sidebar's Kanban flyout tree, grouped by client.
+ *
+ * Read with the caller's own token, exactly like loadProjectSummaries above —
+ * an owner gets every client, a client manager gets only their own project(s),
+ * with the read rules doing the scoping rather than a role branch here.
+ */
+export async function loadSidebarProjects(): Promise<SidebarProjectGroup[]> {
+  const pb = await getServerPb();
+  if (!pb.authStore.isValid) return [];
+
+  const projects = await pb.collection("projects").getFullList<ProjectRecord>({
+    filter: 'status != "archived"',
+    sort: "name",
+    fields: "id,name,slug,kind,client",
+  });
+  if (projects.length === 0) return [];
+
+  const clients = await pb.collection("clients").getFullList<ClientRecord>();
+  const clientsById = new Map(clients.map((c) => [c.id, c]));
+
+  const groups = new Map<string, SidebarProjectGroup>();
+  for (const project of projects) {
+    const client = clientsById.get(project.client);
+    if (!client) continue;
+
+    const group = groups.get(client.id) ?? { client, projects: [] };
+    group.projects.push({
+      id: project.id,
+      name: project.name,
+      slug: project.slug,
+      kind: project.kind,
+    });
+    groups.set(client.id, group);
+  }
+
+  return [...groups.values()].sort((a, b) =>
+    a.client.name.localeCompare(b.client.name)
+  );
 }
\ No newline at end of file