Intercept unauthenticated guest click operations to redirect them gracefully around Next.js Server logic exceptions

Author: vpn-cli

actions/apps.ts

@@ -65,14 +65,17 @@ export async function createApp() {
     redirect("/builder/mock-new-id");
   }
 
-  if (!userId) throw new Error("Unauthorized");
+  // Gracefully bounce unauthenticated 'Create New App' clicks to the sandbox
+  if (!userId) {
+    redirect("/builder/template-blank");
+  }
 
   const { data, error } = await supabase
     .from("apps")
     .insert({
       user_id: userId,
       name: "Untitled App",
-      config: { app: "Untitled App", pages: [] }
+      config: { app: "Untitled App", pages: [] },
     })
     .select("id")
     .single();

app/builder/[appId]/page.tsx

@@ -132,13 +132,26 @@ export default function BuilderPage() {
     // In production without bypass, this will eventually throw `Unauthorized` and redirect them.
     // In development with bypass, it will mock the save successfully.
     setIsSaving(true);
+    // If not signed in, mock the save locally so guests can exhaust their interaction quota cleanly
+    if (!isSignedIn) {
+      setTimeout(() => {
+        setNotificationModal({
+          type: "success",
+          title: "Draft Saved Locally",
+          message: "Guest changes are saved securely to your browser temporarily. Please sign in to deploy!",
+        });
+        setIsSaving(false);
+      }, 500);
+      return;
+    }
+
     try {
       const res = await saveAppConfig(appId, configStr);
       if (res && res.success === false) throw new Error(res.error);
       setNotificationModal({
         type: "success",
         title: "Saved Successfully",
-        message: "Your draft has been saved securely.",
+        message: "Your draft has been saved securely to the database.",
       });
     } catch (e: unknown) {
       const msg = (e as Error).message || "";