Proof: npm test passed 164/164; npm run operator-dashboard:build passed; focused dashboard API client and UI static tests cover timeout, empty HTTP 500, and retry/error loading state.
Assumptions: The current stuck dashboard is caused by a stale or unavailable local kubectl port-forward; the app should fail visibly and allow retry instead of waiting forever.
Still fake: no public dashboard ingress is part of this turn; local dashboard access still depends on Kubernetes API/port-forward availability.
