diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e4bd7fb9..32270c74 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -120,6 +120,40 @@ Embedded storage is selected automatically on Linux x64. On Apple silicon macOS,
 
 Set `CODEGRAPH_RAW_TOOLS=1` to expose the lower-level handlers instead of the four grouped tools.
 
+## Dashboard
+
+CodeGraph ships a browser dashboard for exploring the graph visually: a force,
+tree, or ring view of files, functions, classes, and interfaces, semantic and
+Cypher search, a source viewer with syntax highlighting, and an operations tab
+for indexing and embedding coverage.
+
+It runs as a second binary that serves both the UI and the REST API on one
+port, so nothing else needs to be started.
+
+```bash
+# published package: the binary ships inside codegraph-mcp, so name the
+# package explicitly. A bare "npx codegraph-dashboard" would look for a
+# package of that name, which does not exist.
+npx -p codegraph-mcp codegraph-dashboard
+
+# already installed globally
+npm install --global codegraph-mcp && codegraph-dashboard
+
+# source checkout
+pnpm dashboard
+```
+
+Then open <http://localhost:3001>. Set `API_PORT` to use a different port.
+
+The dashboard is optional. The MCP server does not start it, and running the
+MCP server does not require it.
+
+| Variable | Purpose |
+| --- | --- |
+| `API_PORT` | Port for the dashboard and REST API (default 3001) |
+| `CODEGRAPH_DASHBOARD_DIR` | Override the location of the built dashboard assets |
+| `CODEGRAPH_CORS_ORIGINS` | Comma separated origin allowlist, for a shared deployment |
+
 ## Configuration
 
 | Variable | Purpose |
@@ -166,8 +200,10 @@ FalkorDBLite's Linux x64 and Apple silicon macOS binaries are installed with the
 | [`@codegraph/cli`](packages/cli/) | Source-checkout command-line tools |
 | [`codegraph-mcp`](packages/npm-package/) | Public npm distribution staging and entry point |
 | [`@codegraph/mcpb`](packages/mcpb/) | Platform-local MCPB desktop extension build |
+| [`@codegraph/api`](packages/api/) | REST API consumed by the dashboard |
+| [`@codegraph/dashboard`](packages/dashboard/) | Static dashboard UI served by the API |
 
-The Next.js application lives in [`apps/web`](apps/web/), and the reproducible search benchmark lives in [`benchmarks/cgbench-v1`](benchmarks/cgbench-v1/).
+The marketing site lives in [`apps/web`](apps/web/), and the reproducible search benchmark lives in [`benchmarks/cgbench-v1`](benchmarks/cgbench-v1/).
 
 ## License
 
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/app-shell.tsx b/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/app-shell.tsx
index ed57f734..4eea8fb7 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/app-shell.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/app-shell.tsx
@@ -48,7 +48,17 @@ export function AppShell({ projectId }: { projectId?: string | null }) {
         <SearchPanel
           apiUrl={API_URL}
           onHighlight={handleSearchHighlight}
-          onSelectResult={(name) => setHighlightedNames(new Set([name]))}
+          onSelectResult={(result) => {
+            setHighlightedNames(new Set([result.name]))
+            // Open the detail panel too. The search payload already carries
+            // filePath and line numbers, which is everything the panel needs.
+            setSelectedNode({
+              id: `${result.nodeType}:${result.filePath ?? ''}:${result.name}`,
+              label: result.name,
+              type: result.nodeType,
+              properties: result,
+            })
+          }}
         />
       </ResizablePanel>
 
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/graph-canvas.tsx b/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/graph-canvas.tsx
index a486897a..a94451b4 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/graph-canvas.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/graph-canvas.tsx
@@ -52,11 +52,16 @@ export function GraphCanvas({ apiUrl, onNodeSelect, highlightedNames, hiddenEdge
           const nodeType = (n.label ?? nodeData.type ?? 'Unknown') as string
           return {
             data: {
+              // Spread first: the graph payload carries its own internal "id",
+              // and spreading it last replaced the cytoscape node id. Every edge
+              // referencing the real id was then treated as an orphan and
+              // dropped, so functions, classes and interfaces rendered with no
+              // edges at all while files, which carry no inner id, looked fine.
+              ...nodeData,
               id: n.id as string,
               label: displayName,
               type: nodeType,
               filePath: n.filePath as string | undefined,
-              ...nodeData,
             },
           }
         })
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/search-panel.tsx b/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/search-panel.tsx
index 50e06d42..98974897 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/search-panel.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/src/components/dashboard/search-panel.tsx
@@ -2,18 +2,21 @@ import { useState, useCallback } from 'react'
 import { Input } from '@/components/ui/input'
 import { Badge } from '@/components/ui/badge'
 
-interface SearchResult {
+export interface SearchResult {
   name: string
   nodeType: string
   filePath?: string
   callerCount?: number
   importerCount?: number
+  // The search endpoint returns the full node payload (startLine, docstring,
+  // params and so on). Those extra fields are what the detail panel renders.
+  [key: string]: unknown
 }
 
 interface SearchPanelProps {
   apiUrl: string
   onHighlight: (names: string[]) => void
-  onSelectResult: (name: string) => void
+  onSelectResult: (result: SearchResult) => void
 }
 
 export function SearchPanel({ apiUrl, onHighlight, onSelectResult }: SearchPanelProps) {
@@ -82,7 +85,7 @@ export function SearchPanel({ apiUrl, onHighlight, onSelectResult }: SearchPanel
           <button
             key={`${r.name}-${i}`}
             className="w-full border-b border-border/50 px-3 py-2 text-left transition-colors hover:bg-accent/50"
-            onClick={() => onSelectResult(r.name)}
+            onClick={() => onSelectResult(r)}
           >
             <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
               <Badge variant="outline" className="text-[10px] font-normal">
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/src/lib/cytoscape-config.ts b/packages/dashboard/src/lib/cytoscape-config.ts
index b1fe1fa8..99271764 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/src/lib/cytoscape-config.ts
+++ b/packages/dashboard/src/lib/cytoscape-config.ts
@@ -214,8 +214,14 @@ export type LayoutName = 'cose' | 'concentric' | 'breadthfirst'
 export const LAYOUT_OPTIONS: Record<LayoutName, cytoscape.LayoutOptions> = {
   cose: {
     name: 'cose',
-    animate: true,
-    animationDuration: 500,
+    // cose runs numIter (1000 by default) simulation steps. Animating them left
+    // the graph drifting for many seconds, during which nodes moved out from
+    // under the pointer and could not reliably be clicked. Animating only the
+    // final transition still fit the viewport to the pre-layout positions, so
+    // the graph settled off screen. Positioning without animation gives final
+    // coordinates immediately, which makes both the fit and the hit testing
+    // correct.
+    animate: false,
     nodeRepulsion: () => 8000,
     idealEdgeLength: () => 80,
     gravity: 0.3,
diff --git a/packages/graph/src/queries.ts b/packages/graph/src/queries.ts
index e860ced1..e5096e6e 100644
--- a/packages/graph/src/queries.ts
+++ b/packages/graph/src/queries.ts
@@ -256,6 +256,27 @@ export interface GraphQueries {
 // Query Operations Implementation
 // ============================================================================
 
+/**
+ * Find the graph node an edge endpoint refers to.
+ *
+ * Prefers name plus path, which identifies a specific declaration. Falls back to
+ * the file itself only when the endpoint carries no name, since matching on path
+ * alone cannot distinguish declarations that share a file.
+ */
+function findEndpoint(
+  nodes: GraphNode[],
+  props: Record<string, unknown>,
+): GraphNode | undefined {
+  const name = props['name'];
+  const filePath = props['filePath'];
+
+  if (typeof name === 'string' && name.length > 0) {
+    const exact = nodes.find((n) => n.displayName === name && n.filePath === filePath);
+    if (exact) return exact;
+  }
+  return nodes.find((n) => n.filePath === filePath && n.label === 'File');
+}
+
 class GraphQueriesImpl implements GraphQueries {
   private readonly dialect: CypherDialect;
   private readonly templates: ReturnType<typeof buildCypherTemplates>;
@@ -300,21 +321,16 @@ class GraphQueriesImpl implements GraphQueries {
       const fromLabels = extractLabels(row.a, [], this.dialect);
       const toLabels = row.toLabels ?? extractLabels(row.b, [], this.dialect);
 
-      // Get source node from our nodes array
-      const fromNode = nodes.find((n) => {
-        return (
-          n.filePath === fromProps['filePath'] ||
-          (n.displayName === fromProps['name'] && n.filePath === fromProps['filePath'])
-        );
-      });
-
-      // Get target node - or create External node if needed
-      let toNode = nodes.find((n) => {
-        return (
-          n.filePath === toProps['filePath'] ||
-          (n.displayName === toProps['name'] && n.filePath === toProps['filePath'])
-        );
-      });
+      // Resolve each endpoint by identity.
+      //
+      // This previously tested filePath on its own first, and every function,
+      // class and interface declared in a file shares that path. The lookup
+      // therefore returned whichever node for the file happened to come first,
+      // usually the File node, so real endpoints ended up with no edges at all
+      // and rendered as a disconnected grid. The name check that followed could
+      // never run because the || had already short-circuited.
+      const fromNode = findEndpoint(nodes, fromProps);
+      let toNode = findEndpoint(nodes, toProps);
 
       // If target is External and not in nodes, add it
       const isExternalTarget = toLabels.includes('External') ||
diff --git a/packages/npm-package/build.mjs b/packages/npm-package/build.mjs
index 179ec730..3ddf2ebb 100644
--- a/packages/npm-package/build.mjs
+++ b/packages/npm-package/build.mjs
@@ -131,6 +131,24 @@ npm install --global codegraph-mcp
 
 Then configure an MCP client to run \`codegraph-mcp\`. The server uses stdio and keeps logs on stderr.
 
+## Dashboard
+
+This package also installs \`codegraph-dashboard\`, a browser UI for exploring the
+graph: force, tree, and ring views, semantic and Cypher search, a source viewer,
+and an operations tab for indexing and embedding coverage.
+
+\`\`\`bash
+# The binary ships inside this package, so name the package explicitly.
+npx -p codegraph-mcp codegraph-dashboard
+
+# or, once installed globally
+codegraph-dashboard
+\`\`\`
+
+It serves the UI and the REST API on http://localhost:3001. Set \`API_PORT\` to
+change the port. The dashboard is optional: the MCP server neither starts it nor
+depends on it.
+
 ## Offline start
 
 \`\`\`bash