Fix blank editor on book open and add home delete + auto-folder new book

- Auto-select the first chapter when a book opens so the editor is no
  longer left on the placeholder (was the main `all I see is the title`
  symptom).
- Stop markdownToNative from emitting text nodes with empty content and
  defensively strip them in setEditorDoc; ProseMirror rejects such nodes,
  which made editor.commands.setContent silently empty the whole editor.
- Home screen: delete a book (sent to trash, recoverable) and create a new
  book in a folder named after it under ~/Documents.
- Add self-test coverage for new book + delete.

src/main/index.ts

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {
   loadBook,
   Recent,
 } from "./project.js";
-import { listRecents, addRecent } from "./recents.js";
+import { listRecents, addRecent, removeRecent } from "./recents.js";
 import { buildMenu } from "./menu.js";
 import {
   createChapter,
@@ -173,24 +173,59 @@ async function openBookAt(p: string): Promise<BookResult | ErrResult> {
   }
 }
 
-ipcMain.handle("folio:newBook", async () => {
+function sanitizeName(name: string): string {
-  const { canceled, filePaths } = await showOpenDialog({
+  return name
-    properties: ["createDirectory", "openDirectory"],
+    .replace(/[\\/:*?"<>|\x00-\x1f\x7f]/g, "")
-    title: "Choose where to save your new book",
+    .replace(/\s+/g, " ")
-  });
+    .trim()
-  if (canceled || !filePaths.length) return { canceled: true } as const;
+    .slice(0, 100);
-  const p = filePaths[0];
+}
-  if (hasBook(p)) return { error: "A Folio book already exists at this location." };
+
-  const title = path.basename(p) || "Untitled";
+// Create a new book as a dedicated folder <name>/ inside the user's Documents
-  const meta = createBook(p, title);
+// directory, then open it. The folder name is the sanitized book title; if a
-  if (process.env.FOLIO_SELF_TEST !== "1") {
+// folder with that name already exists we append a numeric suffix.
-    addRecent({ path: p, title: meta.title, lastOpened: new Date().toISOString() });
+ipcMain.handle("folio:newBookNamed", async (_e, name: string) => {
+  const title = (name || "").trim();
+  if (!title) return { error: "Please provide a book name." };
+  const base = app.getPath("documents");
+  const folder = sanitizeName(title) || "Untitled";
+  let target = path.join(base, folder);
+  let n = 2;
+  while (hasBook(target) || fs.existsSync(target)) {
+    target = path.join(base, `${folder} ${n}`);
+    n++;
   }
-  bookPath = p;
+  const meta = createBook(target, title);
+  if (process.env.FOLIO_SELF_TEST !== "1") {
+    addRecent({ path: target, title: meta.title, lastOpened: new Date().toISOString() });
+  }
+  bookPath = target;
   mainWindow?.setTitle(`${meta.title} — Folio`);
   refreshMenu();
-  getWindow()?.webContents.send("folio:bookOpened", { path: p, title: meta.title });
+  getWindow()?.webContents.send("folio:bookOpened", { path: target, title: meta.title });
-  return { path: p, title: meta.title };
+  return { path: target, title: meta.title };
+});
+
+ipcMain.handle("folio:deleteBook", async (_e, p: string) => {
+  try {
+    if (!hasBook(p)) return { error: "Not a Folio book." };
+    // Move to the system trash rather than permanently erasing, so an
+    // accidental delete can be undone from the desktop trash.
+    try {
+      await shell.trashItem(p);
+    } catch {
+      // Fall back to a permanent delete only when the system trash is
+      // unavailable (e.g. headless environments). On a normal desktop the
+      // book is moved to the trash and remains recoverable.
+      fs.rmSync(p, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+    removeRecent(p);
+    if (bookPath === p) bookPath = null;
+    refreshMenu();
+    return { ok: true };
+  } catch (e) {
+    return { error: (e as Error).message };
+  }
 });
 
 ipcMain.handle("folio:openBook", async () => {

src/main/markdown-to-native.ts

@@ -221,7 +221,9 @@ function mergeText(nodes: FolioNode[]): FolioNode[] {
       out.push(n);
     }
   }
-  return out;
+  // ProseMirror forbids text nodes with empty content, so drop any that were
+  // produced (e.g. an emphasis marker wrapping nothing).
+  return out.filter((n) => !(n.type === "text" && !(n.text ?? "").length));
 }
 
 function walkInline(children: Token[] | null, state: WalkState): FolioNode[] {
@@ -234,7 +236,7 @@ function walkInline(children: Token[] | null, state: WalkState): FolioNode[] {
   for (const t of children) {
     switch (t.type) {
       case "text":
-        out.push({ type: "text", text: t.content, marks: topMarks() });
+        if (t.content) out.push({ type: "text", text: t.content, marks: topMarks() });
         break;
       case "softbreak":
         out.push({ type: "text", text: " ", marks: topMarks() });
@@ -243,6 +245,7 @@ function walkInline(children: Token[] | null, state: WalkState): FolioNode[] {
         out.push({ type: "hard_break" });
         break;
       case "code_inline":
+        if (t.content)
           out.push({
             type: "text",
             text: t.content,

src/main/preload.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ import { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } from "electron";
 
 contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld("folio", {
   // book / project
-  newBook: () => ipcRenderer.invoke("folio:newBook"),
+  newBookNamed: (name: string) => ipcRenderer.invoke("folio:newBookNamed", name),
+  deleteBook: (p: string) => ipcRenderer.invoke("folio:deleteBook", p),
   openBook: () => ipcRenderer.invoke("folio:openBook"),
   openBookPath: (p: string) => ipcRenderer.invoke("folio:openPath", p),
   revealInFolder: (p: string) => ipcRenderer.invoke("folio:reveal", p),

src/main/project.ts

@@ -135,3 +135,10 @@ export function addRecent(filePath: string, recent: Recent): Recent[] {
   fs.writeFileSync(filePath, JSON.stringify(recents, null, 2), "utf-8");
   return recents;
 }
+
+export function removeRecent(filePath: string, recentPath: string): Recent[] {
+  const recents = listRecents(filePath).filter((r) => r.path !== recentPath);
+  ensureParent(filePath);
+  fs.writeFileSync(filePath, JSON.stringify(recents, null, 2), "utf-8");
+  return recents;
+}

src/main/recents.ts

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   hasBook,
   listRecents as _listRecents,
   addRecent as _addRecent,
+  removeRecent as _removeRecent,
 } from "./project.js";
 import type { Recent } from "./project.js";
 
@@ -35,3 +36,7 @@ export function listRecents(): Recent[] {
 export function addRecent(recent: Recent): Recent[] {
   return _addRecent(recentsFilePath(), recent);
 }
+
+export function removeRecent(recentPath: string): Recent[] {
+  return _removeRecent(recentsFilePath(), recentPath);
+}

src/renderer/book.ts

@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ import {
 } from "./native-assembly.js";
 
 export type FolioAPI = {
-  newBook: () => Promise<any>;
+  newBookNamed: (name: string) => Promise<any>;
+  deleteBook: (p: string) => Promise<any>;
   openBook: () => Promise<any>;
   openBookPath: (p: string) => Promise<any>;
   revealInFolder: (p: string) => Promise<boolean>;
@@ -749,9 +750,10 @@ export function initBook(api: FolioAPI) {
     }
     setChapterButtons(!!meta);
     renderChapterList();
-    if (fullBookView.classList.contains("hidden")) {
+    if (ordered.length) {
-      if (ordered.length) showPlaceholder();
+      await selectChapter(ordered[0].id);
-      else showPlaceholder();
+    } else {
+      showPlaceholder();
     }
     await refreshFullBook();
   }
@@ -1342,7 +1344,11 @@ export function initBook(api: FolioAPI) {
   }
 
   async function startNewBook() {
-    const res = await api.newBook();
+    const name = await promptInput("New book", "My Book");
+    if (name === null) return;
+    const trimmed = name.trim();
+    if (!trimmed) return;
+    const res = await api.newBookNamed(trimmed);
     await handleResult(res);
     await renderRecents();
   }
@@ -1371,12 +1377,37 @@ export function initBook(api: FolioAPI) {
     }
     for (const r of recents as Recent[]) {
       const li = document.createElement("li");
-      li.textContent = r.title || r.path;
+      li.className = "recent-item";
-      li.title = r.path;
+      const label = document.createElement("span");
-      li.addEventListener("mousedown", (e) => {
+      label.className = "recent-title";
+      label.textContent = r.title || r.path;
+      label.title = r.path;
+      label.addEventListener("mousedown", (e) => {
         e.preventDefault();
         void openPath(r.path);
       });
+      const del = document.createElement("button");
+      del.className = "recent-delete icon-button";
+      del.type = "button";
+      del.title = "Delete book";
+      del.setAttribute("aria-label", "Delete book");
+      del.textContent = "×";
+      del.addEventListener("click", async (e) => {
+        e.stopPropagation();
+        const ok = await confirmMessage(
+          "Delete book",
+          `Delete "${r.title || r.path}"? This permanently removes the book folder.`
+        );
+        if (!ok) return;
+        const res = await api.deleteBook(r.path);
+        if (res && "error" in res) {
+          await alertMessage("Could not delete", (res as { error: string }).error);
+          return;
+        }
+        await renderRecents();
+      });
+      li.appendChild(label);
+      li.appendChild(del);
       recentList.appendChild(li);
     }
   }

src/renderer/index.css

@@ -401,21 +401,51 @@ html, body {
   overflow-y: auto;
 }
 
-.recent-list li {
+.recent-list li.recent-item {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 6px;
   padding: 6px 8px;
   border-radius: var(--radius);
   cursor: pointer;
   font-size: 0.85rem;
   color: var(--color-text);
   transition: background 0.12s ease, color 0.12s ease;
+}
+
+.recent-list li.recent-item:hover {
+  background: var(--color-accent);
+  color: var(--color-on-accent);
+}
+
+.recent-item .recent-title {
+  flex: 1 1 auto;
+  min-width: 0;
   white-space: nowrap;
   overflow: hidden;
   text-overflow: ellipsis;
+  user-select: none;
 }
 
-.recent-list li:hover {
+.recent-item .recent-delete {
-  background: var(--color-accent);
+  flex: 0 0 auto;
-  color: var(--color-on-accent);
+  width: 20px;
+  height: 20px;
+  line-height: 1;
+  font-size: 1rem;
+  padding: 0;
+  border: none;
+  background: transparent;
+  color: inherit;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  border-radius: var(--radius);
+  opacity: 0.6;
+}
+
+.recent-item .recent-delete:hover {
+  opacity: 1;
+  background: rgba(220, 53, 69, 0.18);
+  color: #ff6b6b;
 }
 
 .muted {

src/renderer/tiptap-editor.ts

@@ -350,15 +350,34 @@ export function createTiptapEditor(
   return editor;
 }
 
+// ProseMirror rejects text nodes with empty content, which makes
+// editor.commands.setContent silently fail (the editor ends up empty) for any
+// doc that contains one. Strip them before loading so chapter content always
+// renders.
+function dropEmptyTextNodes(node: FolioNode | null): FolioNode | null {
+  if (!node || typeof node !== "object") return node;
+  if (node.type === "text") {
+    if (!(node.text ?? "").length) return null;
+    return node;
+  }
+  if (Array.isArray(node.content)) {
+    node.content = node.content
+      .map(dropEmptyTextNodes)
+      .filter(Boolean) as FolioNode[];
+  }
+  return node;
+}
+
 export function setEditorDoc(editor: Editor, doc: FolioNode): void {
   // An empty document (no top-level blocks) leaves ProseMirror with nowhere to
   // place the cursor, so brand-new/empty chapters can't be typed into or pasted
   // until the user forces a block in. Seed one paragraph so the caret always
   // has a home and paste works immediately.
-  const content = (doc as { content?: unknown[] } | null)?.content;
+  const clean = dropEmptyTextNodes(doc) as FolioNode;
+  const content = (clean as { content?: unknown[] } | null)?.content;
   const safe =
     content && Array.isArray(content) && content.length > 0
-      ? doc
+      ? clean
       : ({ type: "doc", content: [{ type: "paragraph" }] } as unknown as FolioNode);
   editor.commands.setContent(safe as unknown as Record<string, unknown>, false);
 }

tests/selftest-scenario.js

@@ -92,10 +92,10 @@
 
         // Manual save: typing marks the chapter Unsaved; the Save button (or
         // Ctrl/Cmd+S) is required to persist. No auto-save should occur.
-        const ed = window.__folioEditor;
+        const edSave = window.__folioEditor;
-        if (ed) {
+        if (edSave) {
-          ed.commands.focus("end");
+          edSave.commands.focus("end");
-          ed.commands.insertContent(" manual-save-check");
+          edSave.commands.insertContent(" manual-save-check");
           await sleep(150);
           const unsaved = document.getElementById("saveState");
           step("afterTypeUnsaved", unsaved ? unsaved.textContent : "n/a");
@@ -170,6 +170,18 @@
         }
         step("exports", ex);
 
+        // New book auto-creates a folder inside Documents; then delete it.
+        const nb = await api.newBookNamed("Folio Selftest Temp");
+        step("newBookNamed", {
+          ok: !!(nb && nb.path && nb.title),
+          path: nb && nb.path,
+          title: nb && nb.title,
+        });
+        if (nb && nb.path) {
+          const del = await api.deleteBook(nb.path);
+          step("deleteBook", del && del.ok ? "ok" : del && del.error);
+        }
+
         out.ok = true;
       } catch (e) {
         out.error = String((e && e.stack) || e);