fix: an empty note is creatable -- placement is the capture

frontend/e2e/atlas-authoring.spec.ts

@@ -204,3 +204,55 @@ test('atlas creation core: tray, placement popover, right-click create, sticky n
     rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
   }
 })
+
+// Regression: an empty note is creatable -- placement itself is the
+// capture (the place-then-type flow), and the empty sticky renders a
+// muted placeholder until typed into.
+// eslint-disable-next-line no-empty-pattern -- this test needs `testInfo` (the second arg), not any fixture.
+test('an empty note places, renders its placeholder, and takes text later', async ({}, testInfo) => {
+  const idx = testInfo.parallelIndex
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), `mill-e2e-atlas-emptynote-${idx}-`))
+  const port = ATLAS_AUTHORING_SERVER_BASE_PORT + 40 + idx
+  const mcpPort = ATLAS_AUTHORING_MCP_BASE_PORT + 40 + idx
+  let server: SpawnedServer | undefined
+  const browser = await chromium.launch()
+  try {
+    server = await spawnMillServer({
+      port, mcpPort,
+      settingsPath: path.join(dir, 'settings.json'),
+      executionDbPath: path.join(dir, 'execution.db'),
+      backupDir: path.join(dir, 'backups'),
+    })
+    const page = await browser.newPage()
+    await page.goto(`${server.baseURL}/`)
+    await page.getByRole('link', { name: 'Atlas' }).click()
+    const board = page.getByTestId('atlas-board')
+    await expect(board).toBeVisible()
+    await zoomAllTheWayOut(page)
+
+    await page.keyboard.press('n')
+    await clickCorner(board, 'top-left')
+    const draftTextarea = page.getByTestId('atlas-sticky-textarea')
+    await expect(draftTextarea).toBeVisible()
+    await draftTextarea.blur()
+    await expect(draftTextarea).toHaveCount(0)
+
+    const sticky = page.getByTestId('atlas-sticky-note')
+    await expect(sticky).toHaveCount(1)
+    await expect(sticky).toContainText('Empty note')
+
+    // Click-select then click-commit enters edit; typed text persists
+    // and the placeholder leaves.
+    await sticky.click()
+    await sticky.click()
+    const editTextarea = page.getByTestId('atlas-sticky-textarea')
+    await expect(editTextarea).toBeVisible()
+    await editTextarea.fill('ZzE2eTypedLater')
+    await editTextarea.blur()
+    await expect(sticky).toContainText('ZzE2eTypedLater')
+    await expect(sticky).not.toContainText('Empty note')
+  } finally {
+    await server?.stop()
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true, maxRetries: 5, retryDelay: 200 })
+  }
+})

frontend/src/atlas/AtlasStickyNode.module.css

@@ -70,3 +70,8 @@
     color: var(--fgColor-default);
     outline: none;
 }
+
+.emptyText {
+    color: var(--fgColor-muted);
+    font-style: italic;
+}

frontend/src/atlas/AtlasStickyNode.tsx

@@ -95,7 +95,9 @@ export const AtlasStickyNode = memo(function AtlasStickyNode({ data }: NodeProps
         }
       }}
     >
-      <div className={styles.text}>{note?.Text}</div>
+      <div className={note?.Text ? styles.text : `${styles.text} ${styles.emptyText}`}>
+        {note?.Text || t('sticky.empty')}
+      </div>
     </div>
   )
 })

frontend/src/atlas/useAtlasCreation.ts

@@ -252,11 +252,12 @@ export function useAtlasCreation({ parentID, allCards, notes, readOnly, screenTo
     setDraftNoteFlowPos(null)
     setDraftNoteParentOverride(null)
     {
-      const trimmed = text.trim()
-      if (pos && trimmed) {
+      // Empty text still creates: the placement itself is the capture
+      // (a spatial placeholder typed into later); Escape is the cancel.
+      if (pos) {
         const targetParentID = override ?? parentID
         const position = override ? freeChildPosition(allCardsRef.current, override) : { X: pos.x, Y: pos.y }
-        void AtlasService.CreateNote(trimmed, position, targetParentID)
+        void AtlasService.CreateNote(text.trim(), position, targetParentID)
           .then(() => refreshAtlas())
           .catch(console.error)
       }

frontend/src/locales/en/atlas.json

@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@
   },
   "sticky": {
     "placeholder": "Type a note…",
-    "ariaLabel": "Note"
+    "ariaLabel": "Note",
+    "empty": "Empty note"
   },
   "capture": {
     "dropError": "Couldn't read the dropped file."
@@ -234,4 +235,4 @@
     "dissolveBody_other": "Its {{count}} cards move up a level.",
     "dissolveConfirm": "Dissolve"
   }
-}
+}

internal/domain/atlas/note.go

@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 package atlas
 
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"strings"
-	"time"
-)
+import "time"
 
 // Note is a quick-capture annotation on the Atlas board (goal 0081
 // slice A1's LOCKED design): structurally excluded from every semantic
@@ -30,13 +26,12 @@ type Note struct {
 	DeletedAt time.Time
 }
 
-// ValidateNote checks a Note is well-formed: non-empty text. Whether
-// ParentID names an existing card is referential-existence checking,
-// left to the service layer like every other domain type in this
-// package.
+// ValidateNote checks a Note is well-formed. Empty text is LEGAL: a
+// note's placement is itself the captured meaning (a spatial
+// placeholder typed into later), so deletion is the only removal and
+// no text requirement exists. Whether ParentID names an existing card
+// is referential-existence checking, left to the service layer like
+// every other domain type in this package.
 func ValidateNote(n Note) error {
-	if strings.TrimSpace(n.Text) == "" {
-		return fmt.Errorf("a note needs text")
-	}
 	return nil
 }

internal/domain/atlas/note_test.go

@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@ package atlas
 
 import "testing"
 
-func TestValidateNote_RequiresText(t *testing.T) {
-	if err := ValidateNote(Note{Text: "  "}); err == nil {
-		t.Error("ValidateNote() on blank text = nil error, want an error")
+// Regression: an empty note is LEGAL -- placement itself is the
+// captured meaning (a spatial placeholder typed into later); refusing
+// blank text blocked the place-then-type flow.
+func TestValidateNote_AllowsEmptyText(t *testing.T) {
+	if err := ValidateNote(Note{Text: "  "}); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("ValidateNote() on blank text = %v, want nil", err)
+	}
+	if err := ValidateNote(Note{Text: ""}); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("ValidateNote() on empty text = %v, want nil", err)
 	}
 	if err := ValidateNote(Note{Text: "a thought"}); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("ValidateNote() on non-blank text = %v, want nil", err)

internal/services/atlassvc/atlasnote_test.go

@@ -36,10 +36,16 @@ func TestCreateNote_UnknownParent_Errors(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestCreateNote_BlankText_Errors(t *testing.T) {
+// Regression: empty notes are legal (placement is the capture; the
+// place-then-type flow must not be refused).
+func TestCreateNote_BlankText_Creates(t *testing.T) {
 	a := newTestAtlasService(t)
-	if _, err := a.CreateNote("   ", atlas.Position{}, ""); err == nil {
-		t.Error("CreateNote() with blank text = nil error, want an error")
+	n, err := a.CreateNote("", atlas.Position{}, "")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("CreateNote() with empty text = %v, want nil", err)
+	}
+	if n.ID == "" {
+		t.Error("empty note did not persist")
 	}
 }