diff --git a/apps/web/src/main.tsx b/apps/web/src/main.tsx
index 190ef76..16c5490 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/main.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/main.tsx
@@ -4,15 +4,23 @@ import 'animal-island-ui/style';
 
 import { ConsoleAuthGate } from './auth/console-auth.js';
 import { AppShell } from './app-shell.js';
+import { useBrowserPathname } from './navigation/use-browser-pathname.js';
 import './styles.css';
 
 const root = document.querySelector<HTMLElement>('#root');
 if (!root) throw new Error('Missing application root');
 
+function BrowserApp() {
+  const pathname = useBrowserPathname();
+  return (
+    <ConsoleAuthGate>
+      <AppShell pathname={pathname} />
+    </ConsoleAuthGate>
+  );
+}
+
 createRoot(root).render(
   <StrictMode>
-    <ConsoleAuthGate>
-      <AppShell pathname={window.location.pathname} />
-    </ConsoleAuthGate>
+    <BrowserApp />
   </StrictMode>,
 );
diff --git a/apps/web/src/navigation/use-browser-pathname.test.tsx b/apps/web/src/navigation/use-browser-pathname.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d2f1908
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/src/navigation/use-browser-pathname.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+// @vitest-environment jsdom
+import { cleanup, fireEvent, render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+
+import { useBrowserPathname } from './use-browser-pathname.js';
+
+function Harness({ link = <a href="/automation">Automation</a> }: { link?: React.ReactNode }) {
+  const pathname = useBrowserPathname();
+  return (
+    <>
+      {link}
+      <main id="main-content" tabIndex={-1}>
+        {pathname}
+      </main>
+    </>
+  );
+}
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  cleanup();
+  window.history.replaceState(null, '', '/');
+  vi.restoreAllMocks();
+});
+
+describe('useBrowserPathname', () => {
+  it('pushes eligible same-origin links and updates pathname without reloading', () => {
+    window.history.replaceState(null, '', '/fleet');
+    const pushState = vi.spyOn(window.history, 'pushState');
+    const scrollTo = vi.spyOn(window, 'scrollTo').mockImplementation(() => undefined);
+    render(<Harness />);
+
+    const link = screen.getByRole('link', { name: 'Automation' });
+    const accepted = fireEvent.click(link);
+
+    expect(accepted).toBe(false);
+    expect(pushState).toHaveBeenCalledWith(null, '', '/automation');
+    expect(screen.getByRole('main').textContent).toBe('/automation');
+    expect(document.activeElement).toBe(screen.getByRole('main'));
+    expect(scrollTo).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ top: 0, left: 0, behavior: 'auto' });
+  });
+
+  it('tracks browser history traversal and restores the page start', () => {
+    window.history.replaceState(null, '', '/automation');
+    const scrollTo = vi.spyOn(window, 'scrollTo').mockImplementation(() => undefined);
+    render(<Harness />);
+
+    window.history.replaceState(null, '', '/fleet');
+    fireEvent(window, new PopStateEvent('popstate'));
+
+    expect(screen.getByRole('main').textContent).toBe('/fleet');
+    expect(document.activeElement).toBe(screen.getByRole('main'));
+    expect(scrollTo).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ top: 0, left: 0, behavior: 'auto' });
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ['target window', <a href="/automation" target="_blank">Excluded</a>, {}],
+    ['download', <a href="/automation" download>Excluded</a>, {}],
+    ['external origin', <a href="https://example.com/automation">Excluded</a>, {}],
+    ['hash-only navigation', <a href="/fleet#cards">Excluded</a>, {}],
+    ['middle click', <a href="/automation">Excluded</a>, { button: 1 }],
+    ['meta click', <a href="/automation">Excluded</a>, { metaKey: true }],
+    ['control click', <a href="/automation">Excluded</a>, { ctrlKey: true }],
+    ['shift click', <a href="/automation">Excluded</a>, { shiftKey: true }],
+    ['alt click', <a href="/automation">Excluded</a>, { altKey: true }],
+  ])('leaves %s to the browser', (_label, link, eventInit) => {
+    window.history.replaceState(null, '', '/fleet');
+    const pushState = vi.spyOn(window.history, 'pushState');
+    render(<Harness link={link} />);
+
+    let hookPrevented = true;
+    const suppressBrowserNavigation = (event: MouseEvent) => {
+      hookPrevented = event.defaultPrevented;
+      event.preventDefault();
+    };
+    document.addEventListener('click', suppressBrowserNavigation, { once: true });
+    const event = new MouseEvent('click', { bubbles: true, cancelable: true, ...eventInit });
+    screen.getByRole('link', { name: 'Excluded' }).dispatchEvent(event);
+
+    expect(hookPrevented).toBe(false);
+    expect(pushState).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('main').textContent).toBe('/fleet');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/web/src/navigation/use-browser-pathname.ts b/apps/web/src/navigation/use-browser-pathname.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a787f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/src/navigation/use-browser-pathname.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+
+function restorePageStart(): void {
+  window.scrollTo({ top: 0, left: 0, behavior: 'auto' });
+  document.querySelector<HTMLElement>('#main-content')?.focus({ preventScroll: true });
+}
+
+function isModifiedClick(event: MouseEvent): boolean {
+  return event.metaKey || event.ctrlKey || event.shiftKey || event.altKey;
+}
+
+export function useBrowserPathname(): string {
+  const [pathname, setPathname] = useState(() => window.location.pathname);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    function handleClick(event: MouseEvent): void {
+      if (event.defaultPrevented || event.button !== 0 || isModifiedClick(event)) return;
+      if (!(event.target instanceof Element)) return;
+
+      const anchor = event.target.closest<HTMLAnchorElement>('a[href]');
+      if (!anchor || anchor.hasAttribute('download')) return;
+      if (anchor.target && anchor.target !== '_self') return;
+
+      const url = new URL(anchor.href, window.location.href);
+      if (url.origin !== window.location.origin) return;
+      if (
+        url.pathname === window.location.pathname &&
+        url.search === window.location.search &&
+        url.hash !== window.location.hash
+      )
+        return;
+
+      event.preventDefault();
+      window.history.pushState(null, '', `${url.pathname}${url.search}${url.hash}`);
+      setPathname(window.location.pathname);
+      restorePageStart();
+    }
+
+    function handlePopState(): void {
+      setPathname(window.location.pathname);
+      restorePageStart();
+    }
+
+    document.addEventListener('click', handleClick);
+    window.addEventListener('popstate', handlePopState);
+    return () => {
+      document.removeEventListener('click', handleClick);
+      window.removeEventListener('popstate', handlePopState);
+    };
+  }, []);
+
+  return pathname;
+}