Cookiemonsters

Imported from the pre-Redmine CookieMonsters TODO during the 2026-08-29 migration.

Original priority: P1 — Community experience and polish

• Add a dedicated friend-request indicator separate from the normal notification bell and message envelope:
  • use a cute icon representing two CookieMonsters/member silhouettes;
  • idle state should be muted/grey so it does not compete with normal navigation;
  • when one or more incoming friend requests or connection-label approval requests need action, the icon should softly blink/pulse white and may show a small pending-count badge;
  • clicking it should open the pending Friend/Connection Requests view directly so both friendship and label requests can be accepted/denied without hunting through Settings;
  • outgoing requests waiting for somebody else should not make the recipient-action indicator pulse for the sender;
  • clear the active state immediately when there are no remaining actionable incoming requests;
  • keep the animation tasteful, respect reduced-motion accessibility settings, and provide non-animation cues such as the badge/accessible label so the state is still clear;
  • block/remove/cancel events must update pending friend/connection-request state server-side immediately and must never reveal blocked members through the indicator.

CM-TODO-ID:e19de0b9338d9c37d834

Future notes, acceptance criteria and status changes belong in this Redmine issue.