diff --git a/src/Http/Controllers/TicketController.php b/src/Http/Controllers/TicketController.php
index f5d50bc..7fb1d80 100644
--- a/src/Http/Controllers/TicketController.php
+++ b/src/Http/Controllers/TicketController.php
@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@ use Inertia\Response;
 
 class TicketController extends Controller
 {
+    /**
+     * The sidebar's views, and the only values `?filter=` means anything as.
+     * Index.vue's `visibleViews` draws exactly these; `savePrefs()` validates
+     * against them; `index()` normalises anything else to `all` (#1054).
+     */
+    private const VIEW_FILTERS = ['all', 'mine', 'unassigned', 'pending', 'resolved', 'merged'];
+
     private function agentGroupIds(): array
     {
         return TicketingAgentAccess::where('user_id', Auth::id())
@@ -112,6 +119,18 @@ class TicketController extends Controller
             $request->merge(['filter' => $pref['filter']]);
         }
 
+        // #1054 — a `filter` the sidebar has no view for used to fall through to
+        // the All Open branch and then be echoed straight back in `props.filters`,
+        // so `?filter=closed` looked like a real view that just happened to be
+        // showing open tickets. There is no Closed view anywhere in the UI;
+        // anything unrecognised is All Open, and now says so. The list is the
+        // one `savePrefs()` validates against and the one Index.vue draws.
+        // Only rewrites a filter that was actually asked for: an absent one keeps
+        // meaning "no view chosen", which is what leaves `filter` out of the URL.
+        if ($request->filled('filter') && ! in_array($request->filter, self::VIEW_FILTERS, true)) {
+            $request->merge(['filter' => 'all']);
+        }
+
         // If no groups exist at all, render a first-run / bootstrap state
         $totalGroups = TicketingGroup::count();
         if ($totalGroups === 0) {
@@ -181,10 +200,20 @@ class TicketController extends Controller
             if ($request->filled('project_id')) {
                 $query->where('project_id', $request->project_id);
             }
+            // #1054 — the work queues scope by `$closedSlugs`, the same list the
+            // counts above use. They used to spell it `['resolved', 'closed']`
+            // by hand, which predates the `merged` status: a correctly merged
+            // ticket stayed in Unassigned as pickable work while the sidebar
+            // count next to it — already reading `$closedSlugs` — excluded it,
+            // so the view disagreed with its own header (4 vs 5). Scoping by
+            // STATUS and not by `merged_into_id` is deliberate: #938's
+            // inconsistent rows (pointer set, status still open) are live work
+            // until somebody repairs them, and hiding them from the queue would
+            // hide the rows that most need a human.
             if ($request->filter === 'mine') {
-                $query->where('assigned_to', $user->id)->whereNotIn('status', ['resolved', 'closed']);
+                $query->where('assigned_to', $user->id)->whereNotIn('status', $closedSlugs);
             } elseif ($request->filter === 'unassigned') {
-                $query->whereNull('assigned_to')->whereNotIn('status', ['resolved', 'closed']);
+                $query->whereNull('assigned_to')->whereNotIn('status', $closedSlugs);
             } elseif ($request->filter === 'pending') {
                 $query->where('status', 'pending');
             } elseif ($request->filter === 'resolved') {
@@ -630,7 +659,7 @@ class TicketController extends Controller
     {
         $validated = $request->validate([
             'view_mode' => 'sometimes|in:list,kanban',
-            'filter'    => 'sometimes|in:all,mine,unassigned,pending,resolved,merged',
+            'filter'    => 'sometimes|in:'.implode(',', self::VIEW_FILTERS),
         ]);
 
         if (empty($validated)) {