Gate scoping-safety on firmware ref, and and make per-channel override tristate.

frontend/src/components/ChannelFloodScopeOverrideModal.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
 
-import { stripRegionScopePrefix } from '../utils/regionScope';
+import {
+  UNSCOPED_OVERRIDE_MARKER,
+  isUnscopedMarker,
+  stripRegionScopePrefix,
+} from '../utils/regionScope';
 import { Button } from './ui/button';
 import {
   Dialog,
@@ -34,11 +38,18 @@ export function ChannelFloodScopeOverrideModal({
     if (!open) {
       return;
     }
-    setRegion(stripRegionScopePrefix(currentOverride));
+    // The unscoped marker isn't a region name, so start the input blank for it.
+    setRegion(isUnscopedMarker(currentOverride) ? '' : stripRegionScopePrefix(currentOverride));
   }, [currentOverride, open]);
 
   const trimmedRegion = region.trim();
 
+  const currentOverrideLabel = isUnscopedMarker(currentOverride)
+    ? 'unscoped (plain flood)'
+    : currentOverride
+      ? stripRegionScopePrefix(currentOverride)
+      : 'inherit global setting';
+
   return (
     <Dialog open={open} onOpenChange={(isOpen) => !isOpen && onClose()}>
       <DialogContent className="sm:max-w-[520px]">
@@ -46,7 +57,9 @@ export function ChannelFloodScopeOverrideModal({
           <DialogTitle>Regional Override</DialogTitle>
           <DialogDescription>
             Channel-level regional routing temporarily changes the radio flood scope before send and
-            restores it after. This can noticeably slow channel sends.
+            restores it after. This can noticeably slow channel sends. Choose one of three modes
+            below: scope to a region, force unscoped (plain flood, ignoring your global region), or
+            inherit the global setting.
           </DialogDescription>
         </DialogHeader>
 
@@ -54,8 +67,7 @@ export function ChannelFloodScopeOverrideModal({
           <div className="rounded-md border border-border bg-muted/20 p-3 text-sm">
             <div className="font-medium">{roomName}</div>
             <div className="mt-1 text-muted-foreground">
-              Current regional override:{' '}
-              {currentOverride ? stripRegionScopePrefix(currentOverride) : 'none'}
+              Current setting: {currentOverrideLabel}
             </div>
           </div>
 
@@ -83,8 +95,19 @@ export function ChannelFloodScopeOverrideModal({
               }}
             >
               {trimmedRegion.length > 0
-                ? `Use ${trimmedRegion} region for ${roomName}`
-                : `Use region for ${roomName}`}
+                ? `Scope ${roomName} to ${trimmedRegion}`
+                : `Scope ${roomName} to a region`}
+            </Button>
+            <Button
+              type="button"
+              variant="outline"
+              className="w-full"
+              onClick={() => {
+                onSetOverride(UNSCOPED_OVERRIDE_MARKER);
+                onClose();
+              }}
+            >
+              Always send {roomName} unscoped (ignore global region)
             </Button>
             <Button
               type="button"
@@ -95,7 +118,7 @@ export function ChannelFloodScopeOverrideModal({
                 onClose();
               }}
             >
-              Do not use region routing for {roomName}
+              Use global region setting for {roomName}
             </Button>
           </div>
         </DialogFooter>

frontend/src/components/settings/SettingsRadioSection.tsx

@@ -1163,7 +1163,9 @@ export function SettingsRadioSection({
         <p className="text-[0.8125rem] text-muted-foreground">
           Tag outgoing messages with a region name (e.g. MyRegion). Repeaters configured for that
           region can forward the traffic, while repeaters configured to deny other regions may drop
-          it. Leave empty to disable.
+          it. Leave empty to send unscoped (plain flood). Forcing unscoped when a default scope is
+          configured on the radio requires firmware v12 or newer. Individual channels can override
+          this with their own region or an "always unscoped" setting.
         </p>
       </div>
 

frontend/src/test/chatHeaderKeyVisibility.test.tsx

@@ -360,8 +360,34 @@ describe('ChatHeader key visibility', () => {
 
     expect(await screen.findByRole('dialog')).toBeInTheDocument();
     fireEvent.change(screen.getByLabelText('Region'), { target: { value: 'Esperance' } });
-    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Use Esperance region for #flightless' }));
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Scope #flightless to Esperance' }));
 
     expect(onSetChannelFloodScopeOverride).toHaveBeenCalledWith(key, 'Esperance');
   });
+
+  it('forces the channel unscoped via the modal (issue #303)', async () => {
+    const key = 'CD'.repeat(16);
+    const channel = makeChannel(key, '#flightless', true);
+    const conversation: Conversation = { type: 'channel', id: key, name: '#flightless' };
+    const onSetChannelFloodScopeOverride = vi.fn();
+
+    render(
+      <ChatHeader
+        {...baseProps}
+        conversation={conversation}
+        channels={[channel]}
+        onSetChannelFloodScopeOverride={onSetChannelFloodScopeOverride}
+      />
+    );
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByTitle('Set regional override'));
+    expect(await screen.findByRole('dialog')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    fireEvent.click(
+      screen.getByRole('button', {
+        name: 'Always send #flightless unscoped (ignore global region)',
+      })
+    );
+
+    expect(onSetChannelFloodScopeOverride).toHaveBeenCalledWith(key, '*');
+  });
 });

frontend/src/utils/regionScope.ts

@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+// Canonical persisted marker meaning "force this channel unscoped / plain flood"
+// (mirrors the backend UNSCOPED_OVERRIDE_MARKER). Distinct from null, which means
+// "inherit the global scope".
+export const UNSCOPED_OVERRIDE_MARKER = '*';
+
+export function isUnscopedMarker(scope: string | null | undefined): boolean {
+  return scope === UNSCOPED_OVERRIDE_MARKER;
+}
+
 export function stripRegionScopePrefix(scope: string | null | undefined): string {
   if (!scope) return '';
   return scope.startsWith('#') ? scope.slice(1) : scope;