diff --git a/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/apply_snapshot_before/refresh-time-travel.js b/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/apply_snapshot_before/refresh-time-travel.js
index cbbf30d7a..07a493477 100644
--- a/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/apply_snapshot_before/refresh-time-travel.js
+++ b/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/apply_snapshot_before/refresh-time-travel.js
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 export default function refreshTimeTravelOnContextChange(ctx) {
   const store = globalThis.Alpine?.store?.("timeTravel");
-  const canvas = globalThis.Alpine?.store?.("rightCanvas");
-  if (!store || !canvas?.isOpen || canvas.activeSurfaceId !== "time-travel") return;
+  const modalOpen = globalThis.isModalOpen?.("/plugins/_time_travel/webui/main.html")
+    || globalThis.isModalOpen?.("plugins/_time_travel/webui/main.html");
+  if (!store || !modalOpen) return;
   const nextContextId = String(ctx?.snapshot?.context || "");
   if (nextContextId && nextContextId !== store.contextId) {
     store.scheduleRefresh({ contextId: nextContextId, reason: "context-change" });
diff --git a/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/right-canvas-panels/time-travel-panel.html b/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/right-canvas-panels/time-travel-panel.html
index fef7ceb49..6b6fbbd7b 100644
--- a/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/right-canvas-panels/time-travel-panel.html
+++ b/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/right-canvas-panels/time-travel-panel.html
@@ -1,8 +1 @@
-<div
-  class="right-canvas-surface-panel time-travel-canvas-surface"
-  data-surface-id="time-travel"
-  x-show="$store.rightCanvas && $store.rightCanvas.isOpen && $store.rightCanvas.activeSurfaceId === 'time-travel'"
-  style="display: none;"
->
-  <x-component path="/plugins/_time_travel/webui/time-travel-panel.html" mode="canvas"></x-component>
-</div>
+<!-- Time Travel is modal-only; the right canvas must not mount its panel. -->
diff --git a/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/right_canvas_register_surfaces/register-time-travel.js b/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/right_canvas_register_surfaces/register-time-travel.js
index c2f4f64c8..1d11d452f 100644
--- a/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/right_canvas_register_surfaces/register-time-travel.js
+++ b/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/right_canvas_register_surfaces/register-time-travel.js
@@ -1,37 +1,3 @@
-function waitForElement(selector, timeoutMs = 3000) {
-  const found = document.querySelector(selector);
-  if (found) return Promise.resolve(found);
-  return new Promise((resolve) => {
-    const timeout = globalThis.setTimeout(() => {
-      observer.disconnect();
-      resolve(document.querySelector(selector));
-    }, timeoutMs);
-    const observer = new MutationObserver(() => {
-      const element = document.querySelector(selector);
-      if (!element) return;
-      globalThis.clearTimeout(timeout);
-      observer.disconnect();
-      resolve(element);
-    });
-    observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true });
-  });
-}
-
-export default async function registerTimeTravelSurface(canvas) {
-  canvas.registerSurface({
-    id: "time-travel",
-    title: "Time Travel",
-    icon: "history",
-    order: 30,
-    modalPath: "/plugins/_time_travel/webui/main.html",
-    async open(payload = {}) {
-      await waitForElement('[data-surface-id="time-travel"] .time-travel-panel');
-      const store = globalThis.Alpine?.store?.("timeTravel");
-      await store?.onOpen?.(payload);
-    },
-    async close() {
-      const store = globalThis.Alpine?.store?.("timeTravel");
-      store?.cleanup?.();
-    },
-  });
+export default async function registerTimeTravelSurface() {
+  // Time Travel is opened from the sidebar dropdown as a modal-only surface.
 }
diff --git a/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/sidebar-quick-actions-dropdown-start/time-travel-entry.html b/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/sidebar-quick-actions-dropdown-start/time-travel-entry.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..75bb2f4a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/_time_travel/extensions/webui/sidebar-quick-actions-dropdown-start/time-travel-entry.html
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<!-- Time Travel -->
+<div x-data>
+  <button
+    x-move-after="#sidebar-files-dropdown"
+    class="dropdown-item"
+    id="time-travel-dropdown"
+    title="Time Travel"
+    @click="ensureModalOpen('/plugins/_time_travel/webui/main.html'); $store.sidebar.menuClose()">
+    <span class="material-symbols-outlined">history</span>
+    <span>Time Travel</span>
+  </button>
+</div>
diff --git a/webui/components/sidebar/top-section/header-icons.html b/webui/components/sidebar/top-section/header-icons.html
index c11fcadba..d6e713829 100644
--- a/webui/components/sidebar/top-section/header-icons.html
+++ b/webui/components/sidebar/top-section/header-icons.html
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@
           <span>Projects</span>
         </button>
 
-        <button class="dropdown-item" @click="$store.chatInput.browseFiles(); $store.sidebar.menuClose()">
+        <button id="sidebar-files-dropdown" class="dropdown-item" @click="$store.chatInput.browseFiles(); $store.sidebar.menuClose()">
           <span class="material-symbols-outlined">folder</span>
           <span>Files</span>
         </button>