feat(gmail): take the star off a mail once it has become a task

A starred Gmail message became a task and kept its star, so a starred inbox only
grew — the IMAP side has always unflagged what it imports, and Gmail could not,
because the scope was gmail.readonly. This gives Gmail the same one write: after
the task is made, the STARRED label comes off the message, in one batchModify for
the whole sweep. Nothing else is touched — not the body, not other labels, and a
label trigger's label stays where it is, since that label is the person's own.

The scope goes from gmail.readonly to gmail.modify, which is the narrowest scope
Google offers that can remove a label. An existing connection keeps working on its
old read-only grant — the sync still reads, the unstar is a best-effort 403 that is
logged, not fatal — and starts clearing stars once the account is reconnected and
the new grant is in place. It self-heals: a mail that could not be unstarred stays
starred, stays in the next query, and is tried again.

The consent screen now asks for more than it used to; the settings copy, the docs
and the scope table all say modify rather than read-only in the same change.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>

README.md

@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ Apple Reminders, forward mail into it, and add it to Claude as a connector.
 | CalDAV server (two-way VTODO) | Done, tested |
 | Mail-to-task | Done, tested |
 | AI layer (Anthropic/OpenAI/Google/local) | Built, degrades when unconfigured |
-| Gmail: OAuth2 with PKCE, polling, one-way to tasks | Done, tested |
+| Gmail: OAuth2 with PKCE, polling to tasks, unstars what it imports | Done, tested |
 | Google Calendar: read-only, laid over the task calendar | Built, never run against Google |
 | Calendar subscriptions: ICS and webcal, several per person | Done, tested |
 | Times on tasks, set by dragging in the week grid | Done, tested |

docs/configuration.md

@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ Then enable the APIs and scopes for whichever you want:
 
 | For | Enable | Scope |
 |---|---|---|
-| Mailboxes | Gmail API | `gmail.readonly` |
+| Mailboxes | Gmail API | `gmail.modify` |
 | Calendar | Google Calendar API | `calendar.readonly` |
 
 | Variable | What it does |

docs/openapi.yaml

@@ -1250,7 +1250,7 @@ paths:
 
         The one click that opens Google's consent screen already exists. What it
         needs behind it is a registered client, and no app can conjure one: Google
-        issues no Gmail access to an unregistered client, and `gmail.readonly` is a
+        issues no Gmail access to an unregistered client, and `gmail.modify` is a
         restricted scope, so an id shipped inside a public image would be both
         extractable from it and unusable without Google's security review of every
         deployment that used it.

internal/gmail/gmail.go

@@ -1,14 +1,20 @@
 // Package gmail is the small slice of the Gmail API verdande needs, and the scope
 // it asks for.
 //
-// The connection is one-way on purpose: a starred or labelled message becomes a
-// task, and nothing verdande does afterwards touches the mailbox. Unstarring the
-// message does not delete the task, completing the task does not unstar the
-// message. Two-way would mean deciding what to do when both sides changed, and the
-// only honest answer to that is a synchronisation model far bigger than the feature.
+// The one thing verdande writes back is the star. A starred message becomes a
+// task, and once it has, the star comes off — exactly as the IMAP side takes the
+// flag off a mail it has imported, and for the same reason: the star meant "turn
+// this into a task", the task now exists, so the star is no longer true. Nothing
+// else is touched. Completing the task does not reach back to the mail; the mail
+// is a pointer the task was made from, not a copy the two have to be kept in step.
 //
-// Scope is gmail.readonly. verdande never needs to send, modify or delete, and
-// asking for less is what makes the consent screen something a person can agree to.
+// That one write is why the scope is gmail.modify rather than gmail.readonly.
+// Removing the STARRED label is a modify, and Gmail offers no narrower scope that
+// can do it — so the consent screen asks for more than it used to, and the trade
+// is deliberate: a starred inbox that empties itself as the tasks are made, rather
+// than one that fills with stars nothing ever clears. Still not send, still not
+// delete — modify is labels, and the only label verdande removes is the one that
+// triggered the task.
 //
 // The OAuth flow itself moved to internal/google when Calendar needed the same one.
 // The names below are aliases so that every call site — and this package's own
@@ -27,8 +33,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/kristianwind/verdande/internal/google"
 )
 
-// Read-only, and only mail. Not profile, not contacts, not send.
-const Scope = "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly"
+// Read mail and change its labels, and only mail. Not profile, not contacts, not
+// send, not delete. The single write is removing the STARRED label from a message
+// that has become a task; see the package comment for why that costs modify.
+const Scope = "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify"
 
 const defaultAPIBase = "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1"
 
@@ -169,6 +177,25 @@ func (c *Client) get(ctx context.Context, url string, out any) error {
 	return google.Get(ctx, c.http, c.accessToken, url, out)
 }
 
+// Unstar takes the star off the given messages — one call for all of them, the way
+// the IMAP side unflags a batch, so a sweep that made ten tasks is one write and
+// not ten.
+//
+// STARRED is a system label whose id is its name, so no lookup is needed; a custom
+// label would need one, and verdande removes none. batchModify answers 204 with no
+// body on success. An empty list is a no-op, not a call: batchModify with no ids is
+// an error on Google's side and nothing worth making a round trip to hear.
+func (c *Client) Unstar(ctx context.Context, ids []string) error {
+	if len(ids) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	body := struct {
+		IDs            []string `json:"ids"`
+		RemoveLabelIDs []string `json:"removeLabelIds"`
+	}{IDs: ids, RemoveLabelIDs: []string{"STARRED"}}
+	return google.Post(ctx, c.http, c.accessToken, c.api()+"/users/me/messages/batchModify", body, nil)
+}
+
 // SenderName pulls "Anders Jensen" out of "Anders Jensen <[email protected]>",
 // falling back to the address when there is no display name.
 func SenderName(from string) string {

internal/gmail/gmail_test.go

@@ -1,16 +1,81 @@
 package gmail
 
 import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
 
 // The scope is the one thing verdande chooses about the connection, and it is the
 // one the person reads on the consent screen. The flow itself is exercised in
-// internal/google; what belongs here is that Gmail still asks for read-only mail.
-func TestTheScopeIsReadOnlyMail(t *testing.T) {
-	if !strings.HasSuffix(Scope, "gmail.readonly") {
-		t.Errorf("scope = %q; verdande never needs to send or modify", Scope)
+// internal/google; what belongs here is that Gmail asks for modify — read plus the
+// one write it makes, taking the star off an imported message — and nothing wider.
+func TestTheScopeIsModifyMail(t *testing.T) {
+	if !strings.HasSuffix(Scope, "gmail.modify") {
+		t.Errorf("scope = %q; want gmail.modify — read, plus removing the star", Scope)
+	}
+	// Modify is the ceiling. Send, or the full account, would be a different promise
+	// to the person on the consent screen than the one this feature needs.
+	for _, wider := range []string{"gmail.send", "mail.google.com", "gmail.settings"} {
+		if strings.Contains(Scope, wider) {
+			t.Errorf("scope = %q; must not include %q", Scope, wider)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// Unstar removes the star from a batch in one call, and it addresses the messages
+// it was given and only the STARRED label.
+func TestUnstarRemovesOnlyTheStar(t *testing.T) {
+	var gotPath string
+	var gotBody struct {
+		IDs            []string `json:"ids"`
+		AddLabelIDs    []string `json:"addLabelIds"`
+		RemoveLabelIDs []string `json:"removeLabelIds"`
+	}
+	srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		gotPath = r.URL.Path
+		raw, _ := io.ReadAll(r.Body)
+		_ = json.Unmarshal(raw, &gotBody)
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent) // what batchModify answers on success
+	}))
+	defer srv.Close()
+
+	err := NewClient("token").At(srv.URL).Unstar(context.Background(), []string{"a", "b"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unstar: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !strings.HasSuffix(gotPath, "/users/me/messages/batchModify") {
+		t.Errorf("path = %q, want the batchModify endpoint", gotPath)
+	}
+	if strings.Join(gotBody.IDs, ",") != "a,b" {
+		t.Errorf("ids = %v, want [a b]", gotBody.IDs)
+	}
+	if strings.Join(gotBody.RemoveLabelIDs, ",") != "STARRED" {
+		t.Errorf("removeLabelIds = %v, want [STARRED]", gotBody.RemoveLabelIDs)
+	}
+	if len(gotBody.AddLabelIDs) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("addLabelIds = %v, want none — verdande adds no label", gotBody.AddLabelIDs)
+	}
+}
+
+// An empty batch is not a request: Gmail rejects a batchModify with no ids, and
+// there is nothing to say to it anyway.
+func TestUnstarOfNothingMakesNoCall(t *testing.T) {
+	called := false
+	srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) {
+		called = true
+	}))
+	defer srv.Close()
+
+	if err := NewClient("token").At(srv.URL).Unstar(context.Background(), nil); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unstar(nil): %v", err)
+	}
+	if called {
+		t.Error("Unstar(nil) made a request; it should make none")
 	}
 }
 

internal/google/google.go

@@ -215,6 +215,40 @@ func Get(ctx context.Context, client *http.Client, accessToken, url string, out
 	return json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(out)
 }
 
+// Post sends a JSON body to a Google API and, unlike Get, does not insist on a
+// body coming back. A write call — modifying labels on a message — answers with
+// 204 No Content when it worked, so anything 2xx is success and only the body is
+// decoded, and only when the caller asked for one.
+func Post(ctx context.Context, client *http.Client, accessToken, url string, body, out any) error {
+	payload, err := json.Marshal(body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, url, strings.NewReader(string(payload)))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+accessToken)
+	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+
+	resp, err := client.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+	if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusUnauthorized {
+		return ErrUnauthorized
+	}
+	if resp.StatusCode < 200 || resp.StatusCode >= 300 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("google: %s", resp.Status)
+	}
+	if out == nil || resp.StatusCode == http.StatusNoContent {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(out)
+}
+
 func randomString(n int) (string, error) {
 	b := make([]byte, n)
 	if _, err := rand.Read(b); err != nil {

internal/httpapi/gmail_handlers.go

@@ -251,10 +251,12 @@ func (s *Server) handleGmailSyncNow(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 // takes a context and a user rather than a request.
 // maxGmailSeen bounds the list of message ids already turned into tasks.
 //
-// Gmail is read-only here — the scope is `gmail.readonly`, deliberately, because
-// asking for less is what makes the consent screen something a person can agree
-// to — so verdande cannot unstar a message the way the IMAP side unflags one. The
-// record has to live on this side, and a record on this side has to be bounded.
+// The star is taken off an imported message now, so on a starred trigger the mail
+// leaves the query on its own and this list is a safety net rather than the only
+// record. It still earns its place: it covers the window between making the task
+// and the star coming off, and it is the whole of the dedup for a label trigger,
+// where the label is the person's and not ours to remove. A record on this side
+// has to be bounded.
 //
 // A count rather than the previous rule of "whatever Gmail returned this run",
 // which was not a bound but a way of forgetting.
@@ -381,6 +383,29 @@ func (s *Server) SyncGmail(ctx context.Context, user *store.User) (int, error) {
 		s.hub.Publish(projectID, "task.created", toTaskJSON(*task))
 	}
 
+	// The star comes off every message this query returned that now has a task —
+	// the ones made this run and the ones a run before it already made. Gated to the
+	// triggers that are about the star: for a label trigger the star is the person's
+	// own and not ours to touch, and dedup there rests on the seen list alone.
+	//
+	// Best effort, exactly like the IMAP unflag: a task made is not undone by a star
+	// that would not come off. The likeliest reason it will not, right after this
+	// ships, is a connection still holding the old read-only grant — the write is a
+	// 403 until the account is reconnected, and this logs it rather than failing the
+	// sync. It self-heals: the mail stays starred, stays in the next query, and is
+	// tried again once the grant is there.
+	if box.Trigger == "starred" || box.Trigger == "both" {
+		unstar := make([]string, 0, len(ids))
+		for _, id := range ids {
+			if seen[id] {
+				unstar = append(unstar, id)
+			}
+		}
+		if err := client.Unstar(ctx, unstar); err != nil {
+			s.log.Warn("gmail unstar", "err", err, "user", user.ID, "count", len(unstar))
+		}
+	}
+
 	if created > 0 {
 		// The ids this run saw, on top of the ones already known.
 		//
@@ -442,8 +467,8 @@ func (s *Server) handleVersion(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 //
 // The one click that opens Google's consent screen already exists; what it needs
 // behind it is a registered client, and that is not something any app can conjure:
-// Google issues no Gmail access to an unregistered client, and `gmail.readonly` is
-// a restricted scope, so an id shipped inside a public image would be both
+// Google issues no Gmail access to an unregistered client, and `gmail.modify` is a
+// restricted scope, so an id shipped inside a public image would be both
 // extractable from it and unusable without Google's security review of every
 // deployment. The registration is a one-off. Having to edit a Rune's manifest and
 // recreate the container to paste the result was not.

internal/httpapi/gmail_test.go

@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 package httpapi
 
 import (
-	"github.com/kristianwind/verdande/internal/store"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"net/url"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/kristianwind/verdande/internal/config"
+	"github.com/kristianwind/verdande/internal/store"
 )
 
 // A Gmail failure has to survive being reported.
@@ -150,6 +153,84 @@ func TestASlowMailboxDoesNotHangTheRequest(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Logf("came back in %s with %d", took.Round(time.Millisecond), resp.StatusCode)
 }
 
+// A message that becomes a task has its star taken off — the write that the whole
+// gmail.modify scope is for. The mail's own inbox empties as the tasks are made,
+// the way the IMAP side unflags what it imports.
+func TestASyncedGmailMessageIsUnstarred(t *testing.T) {
+	var unstarred struct {
+		hit  bool
+		body struct {
+			IDs            []string `json:"ids"`
+			RemoveLabelIDs []string `json:"removeLabelIds"`
+		}
+	}
+	google := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		switch {
+		case r.Method == "POST" && strings.HasSuffix(r.URL.Path, "/messages/batchModify"):
+			unstarred.hit = true
+			raw, _ := io.ReadAll(r.Body)
+			_ = json.Unmarshal(raw, &unstarred.body)
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
+		case strings.Contains(r.URL.Path, "/messages/") && r.URL.Query().Get("format") == "metadata":
+			writeTestJSON(w, map[string]any{
+				"id": "m1", "threadId": "t1", "snippet": "kort tekst",
+				"payload": map[string]any{"headers": []map[string]string{
+					{"name": "From", "value": "Anders <[email protected]>"},
+					{"name": "Subject", "value": "Møde på fredag"},
+				}},
+			})
+		case strings.HasSuffix(r.URL.Path, "/messages"):
+			writeTestJSON(w, map[string]any{"messages": []map[string]string{{"id": "m1"}}})
+		default:
+			http.Error(w, "unexpected "+r.Method+" "+r.URL.Path, http.StatusNotFound)
+		}
+	}))
+	defer google.Close()
+
+	ts := newTestServerWith(t, func(cfg *config.Config) {
+		cfg.GmailClientID = "test-client"
+		cfg.GmailClientSecret = "test-secret"
+		cfg.GoogleTokenURL = google.URL + "/token"
+		cfg.GmailAPIURL = google.URL
+	})
+	ts.bootstrap(t)
+
+	user, err := ts.db.UserByEmail(t.Context(), "[email protected]")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// A live access token, so the run goes straight to the list without a refresh.
+	if err := ts.db.SaveMailbox(t.Context(), &store.Mailbox{
+		UserID: user.ID, Kind: "gmail", RefreshToken: "r", AccessToken: "a",
+		Trigger: "starred", ExpiresAt: time.Now().Add(time.Hour),
+	}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	resp, body := ts.do(t, "POST", "/api/v1/gmail/sync", nil)
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("sync: status %d, want 200", resp.StatusCode)
+	}
+	if created, _ := body["created"].(float64); created != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("created = %v, want 1", body["created"])
+	}
+
+	if !unstarred.hit {
+		t.Fatal("the message was never unstarred; its star is the one thing modify is for")
+	}
+	if strings.Join(unstarred.body.IDs, ",") != "m1" {
+		t.Errorf("unstarred ids = %v, want [m1]", unstarred.body.IDs)
+	}
+	if strings.Join(unstarred.body.RemoveLabelIDs, ",") != "STARRED" {
+		t.Errorf("removed = %v, want [STARRED]", unstarred.body.RemoveLabelIDs)
+	}
+}
+
+func writeTestJSON(w http.ResponseWriter, v any) {
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+	_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(v)
+}
+
 func mustParse(t *testing.T, raw string) *url.URL {
 	t.Helper()
 	u, err := url.Parse(raw)

web/src/app.css

@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@
 	--note-on-ink: #1e1e1e; /* dark text on the gold */
 	--nav-active-ink: #1e1e1e; /* dark text on the amber menu item */
 	--heading-ink: #8a8e90; /* PROJEKTER and the group names — quiet grey */
+	--note-group-bg: #2d3133; /* day separators take the menu's resting grey, not the darker ground */
 
 	--p1: #cf6b6b;
 	--p2: #d69f5c;

web/src/lib/components/TaskRow.svelte

@@ -228,13 +228,21 @@
 		align-items: flex-start;
 		padding: var(--s3) var(--s2);
 		border-bottom: 1px solid var(--line);
+		border-radius: var(--radius);
 		transition:
 			opacity var(--medium) var(--ease),
 			transform var(--medium) var(--ease);
 	}
 
-	.row:hover {
-		background: var(--surface);
+	/* Hover only where there is a real pointer. On a touch screen a :hover on the tap
+	   target makes iOS spend the first tap applying the hover and only open on the
+	   second — the "double-tap" on iPhone. With no hover to apply, the first tap opens
+	   the task. The rounded corners are on the row itself, so the highlight is a
+	   rounded box like a note in the list. */
+	@media (hover: hover) {
+		.row:hover {
+			background: var(--surface);
+		}
 	}
 
 	/* The exit: a short lift and fade, so completing something reads as the task

web/src/lib/locales/da.js

@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ export const da = {
 	// --- settings: integrations --------------------------------------------------------
 	'int.mailboxes': 'Postkasser',
 	'int.mailboxesHint':
-		'Flag en mail i iCloud, Fastmail eller enhver anden udbyder, og den bliver en opgave. Én vej: fjerner du flaget, sker der ikke noget med opgaven. Office 365 kan ikke bruges her — Microsoft har lukket for kodeord på IMAP.',
+		'Flag en mail i iCloud, Fastmail eller enhver anden udbyder, og den bliver en opgave — flaget fjernes, når opgaven er oprettet. Kun én vej: gør du selv noget ved mailen bagefter, sker der ikke noget med opgaven. Office 365 kan ikke bruges her — Microsoft har lukket for kodeord på IMAP.',
 	'int.addMailbox': 'Tilføj en postkasse',
 	'int.host': 'IMAP-server',
 	'int.username': 'Brugernavn',
@@ -676,7 +676,7 @@ export const da = {
 	'int.fetching': 'Henter …',
 	'int.gmail': 'Gmail',
 	'int.gmailHint':
-		'Stjernemarkér en mail, eller giv den en etiket, og den bliver en opgave. Envejs: at fjerne stjernen gør ikke noget ved opgaven.',
+		'Stjernemarkér en mail, eller giv den en etiket, og den bliver en opgave — stjernen fjernes så (en etiket bliver, hvor den er). Det du selv gør ved mailen bagefter, ændrer ikke opgaven.',
 	'int.connectGmail': 'Forbind Gmail',
 	'int.fromEnv':
 		'Klienten er sat i miljøet (VERDANDE_GMAIL_CLIENT_ID), så den kan ikke ændres her. Det er med vilje: en værdi i runens manifest er en beslutning, der bliver anvendt igen ved hver genstart, og en formular, der kunne overskrive den, ville gøre manifestet til en løgn.',

web/src/lib/locales/en.js

@@ -656,7 +656,7 @@ export const en = {
 	// --- settings: integrations --------------------------------------------------------
 	'int.mailboxes': 'Mailboxes',
 	'int.mailboxesHint':
-		'Flag an email in iCloud, Fastmail or any other provider and it becomes a task. One way: removing the flag does nothing to the task. Office 365 cannot be used here — Microsoft has closed IMAP to passwords.',
+		'Flag an email in iCloud, Fastmail or any other provider and it becomes a task — the flag comes off once it has. One way only: what you do to the mail afterwards does not change the task. Office 365 cannot be used here — Microsoft has closed IMAP to passwords.',
 	'int.addMailbox': 'Add a mailbox',
 	'int.host': 'IMAP server',
 	'int.username': 'Username',
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ export const en = {
 	'int.fetching': 'Fetching …',
 	'int.gmail': 'Gmail',
 	'int.gmailHint':
-		'Star an email, or give it a label, and it becomes a task. One way: removing the star does nothing to the task.',
+		'Star an email, or give it a label, and it becomes a task — the star then comes off (a label stays where it is). What you do to the mail afterwards does not change the task.',
 	'int.connectGmail': 'Connect Gmail',
 	'int.fromEnv':
 		'The client is set in the environment (VERDANDE_GMAIL_CLIENT_ID), so it cannot be changed here. That is deliberate: a value in the Rune’s manifest is a decision reapplied on every restart, and a form that could overwrite it would make the manifest a lie.',

web/src/routes/indstillinger/integrationer/+page.svelte

@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@
 
 		<!-- The registration behind the button, for whoever can do something about
 		     it. Google issues no Gmail access to an unregistered client, and
-		     gmail.readonly is a restricted scope — so this step cannot be skipped by
+		     gmail.modify is a restricted scope — so this step cannot be skipped by
 		     any app. It can stop requiring a redeploy, which is what this is. -->
 		{#if app.user?.is_admin && client}
 			{#if client.from_env}

web/src/routes/noter/+page.svelte

@@ -710,7 +710,7 @@
 <!-- `has-note` drives the phone layout: one column, showing the list until a note
      is opened and the editor once one is. On a wide screen both are always up and
      the class does nothing. -->
-<div class="notes" class:has-note={selected}>
+<div class="notes" class:has-note={selectedId}>
 	<aside>
 		<div class="head">
 			<h1>{t('notes.title')}</h1>
@@ -919,10 +919,15 @@
 	</aside>
 
 	<section class="editor">
-		{#if selected}
+		{#if selectedId}
+			<!-- Keyed on the id, which is set the instant a row is tapped — not on the
+			     loaded note, which arrives a moment later. On a phone that moment was the
+			     whole bug: the pane did not switch until the body had loaded, so the first
+			     tap looked like nothing and people tapped again. -->
 			<!-- Phone only (hidden on a wide screen by CSS): the way back to the list,
 			     since there the editor fills the screen and the list is not beside it. -->
 			<button class="back" onclick={() => open(null)}>‹ {t('notes.title')}</button>
+			{#if selected}
 			<NoteEditor
 				note={selected}
 				notes={notes}
@@ -1056,6 +1061,12 @@
 					{/if}
 				</div>
 			</footer>
+			{:else}
+				<!-- Chosen, but its full text is still loading. Keep the pane (so the tap
+				     felt like it landed) and stay quiet — the "pick a note" line is for
+				     when nothing is chosen at all, not for this half-second. -->
+				<p class="empty" aria-busy="true"></p>
+			{/if}
 		{:else}
 			<p class="empty">{t('notes.pickOne')}</p>
 		{/if}
@@ -1395,7 +1406,10 @@
 		top: 0;
 		z-index: 1;
 		margin: 0 0 var(--s1);
-		background: var(--ground);
+		/* --ground everywhere but Kul, where the ground is the darkest thing on screen
+		   and a day separator on it reads as a dark bar. There it takes the menu's own
+		   resting colour instead, via --note-group-bg. */
+		background: var(--note-group-bg, var(--ground));
 		border-radius: var(--radius);
 	}
 
@@ -1481,8 +1495,21 @@
 		white-space: nowrap;
 	}
 
-	.row:hover {
-		background: var(--surface);
+	/* Pointer only. On a touch screen a :hover on the tap target costs a tap — iOS
+	   spends the first applying the hover and opens on the second. Gated, the first
+	   tap opens the note. The row's buttons are shown outright on touch below, since
+	   there is no hover to reveal them. */
+	@media (hover: hover) {
+		.row:hover {
+			background: var(--surface);
+		}
+	}
+
+	@media (hover: none) {
+		.star,
+		.archive-one {
+			opacity: 1;
+		}
 	}
 
 	.row.on {