backend/app/services/scheduler_service.py

@@ -235,6 +235,15 @@ async def scheduler_status(session: AsyncSession) -> dict:
         select(func.count()).select_from(Source)
         .where(Source.enabled.is_(True), no_access_sources_clause())
     )).scalar_one()
+    # #387 B4: lets the front door tell "nothing configured yet" (a fresh
+    # install — show the on-ramp) apart from "configured, still fetching" (a
+    # first run in progress — show what's running). Telling someone to add a
+    # source when they already have three and are mid-backfill is worse than
+    # saying nothing. Deliberately NOT auto_sources, which counts only what is
+    # on a schedule: a source with auto_check off still means "configured".
+    total_sources = (await session.execute(
+        select(func.count()).select_from(Source).where(Source.enabled.is_(True))
+    )).scalar_one()
 
     return {
         "last_tick_at": last_tick_at,
@@ -243,5 +252,6 @@ async def scheduler_status(session: AsyncSession) -> dict:
         "auto_sources": len(rows),
         "failing_sources": failing_sources,
         "no_access_sources": no_access_sources,
+        "total_sources": total_sources,
         "platform_cooldowns": {p: dt.isoformat() for p, dt in cooldowns.items()},
     }

frontend/src/components/posts/FeedEmptyState.vue

@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+<template>
+  <div class="fc-empty">
+    <!-- The brand mark's second home (#387 A-side logo work, operator-confirmed).
+         It earns its place HERE and not on a populated feed: this is the first
+         screen a fresh install shows anyone, and it gives the on-ramp something
+         to be composed around rather than a bare line of prose plus buttons.
+         Large on purpose — logo.svg stops reading below ~48px, which is why the
+         22px nav slot has its own mark. No wrapping card: the file deliberately
+         carries no plate and is meant to sit on the page surface. Vendored
+         locally, so this renders on an install with no network — which is
+         exactly the state this screen appears in. -->
+    <img src="/logo.svg" alt="" class="fc-empty__mark" width="150" height="150" />
+
+    <!-- FIRST RUN: sources exist, nothing has landed yet. Telling someone to
+         add a source when they already have three and are mid-backfill is
+         worse than saying nothing at all. -->
+    <template v-if="hasSources">
+      <p class="fc-empty__lead">Nothing has arrived yet.</p>
+      <p class="fc-empty__sub">
+        {{ sourceCountLabel }} configured. The first check can take a while —
+        deep history is fetched in chunks.
+      </p>
+      <div class="fc-empty__actions">
+        <v-btn
+          size="small" variant="tonal" color="accent"
+          prepend-icon="mdi-progress-download"
+          :to="{ path: '/subscriptions', query: { tab: 'downloads' } }"
+        >See what's running</v-btn>
+      </div>
+    </template>
+
+    <!-- FRESH INSTALL: the on-ramp, in the order the steps actually depend on
+         each other — a source cannot fetch anything without a credential. -->
+    <template v-else>
+      <p class="fc-empty__lead">Nothing here yet.</p>
+      <p class="fc-empty__sub">
+        FabledCurator follows the creators you subscribe to and files what they
+        post. Two steps to start.
+      </p>
+      <div class="fc-empty__actions">
+        <v-btn
+          size="small" variant="tonal" color="accent" prepend-icon="mdi-key-variant"
+          :to="{ path: '/subscriptions', query: { tab: 'settings' } }"
+        >Add a credential</v-btn>
+        <v-btn
+          size="small" variant="text" prepend-icon="mdi-plus"
+          :to="{ path: '/subscriptions' }"
+        >Add a source</v-btn>
+      </div>
+      <p class="fc-empty__hint">
+        A credential comes first — a source can't fetch anything without your
+        logged-in session.
+      </p>
+    </template>
+  </div>
+</template>
+
+<script setup>
+import { computed, onMounted } from 'vue'
+import { storeToRefs } from 'pinia'
+
+import { useSourcesStore } from '../../stores/sources.js'
+
+const store = useSourcesStore()
+const { scheduleStatus: status } = storeToRefs(store)
+
+// Absent status is treated as "fresh install", which is the safe way round:
+// the on-ramp is useful to a first-run operator and merely redundant to an
+// established one, whereas "see what's running" shown to someone with nothing
+// configured is a dead end.
+const hasSources = computed(() => (status.value?.total_sources || 0) > 0)
+
+const sourceCountLabel = computed(() => {
+  const n = status.value?.total_sources || 0
+  return `${n} ${n === 1 ? 'source' : 'sources'}`
+})
+
+onMounted(() => {
+  // The ribbon may already have loaded this on the front door; in Browse's
+  // Posts tab nothing has. Failure is swallowed — an empty feed must still
+  // explain itself when the status call is unavailable (rule #164).
+  if (!status.value) store.loadScheduleStatus().catch(() => {})
+})
+</script>
+
+<style scoped>
+.fc-empty {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  align-items: center;
+  text-align: center;
+  gap: 6px;
+  padding: 48px 16px 32px;
+}
+.fc-empty__mark {
+  /* Sits back a little: it frames the message rather than competing with it. */
+  opacity: 0.9;
+  margin-bottom: 8px;
+}
+.fc-empty__lead {
+  font-size: 1.05rem;
+  color: rgb(var(--v-theme-on-surface));
+}
+.fc-empty__sub, .fc-empty__hint {
+  color: rgb(var(--v-theme-on-surface-variant));
+  max-width: 34rem;
+}
+.fc-empty__hint { font-size: 0.8rem; margin-top: 4px; }
+.fc-empty__actions {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+  justify-content: center;
+  gap: 8px;
+  margin-top: 10px;
+}
+</style>

frontend/src/views/PostsView.vue

@@ -66,11 +66,11 @@
       </div>
 
       <div v-else-if="store.items.length === 0 && store.done" class="fc-posts__empty">
+        <!-- A filtered miss is NOT the onboarding case: the operator has posts,
+             they just narrowed past them. Showing a fresh-install on-ramp here
+             would be telling someone with a full library to go and set it up. -->
         <p v-if="hasActiveFilter">No posts match your search or filters.</p>
-        <p v-else>No posts yet. Subscribe to a source on the
+        <FeedEmptyState v-else />
-          <RouterLink to="/subscriptions">Subscriptions</RouterLink>
-          tab to start capturing posts.
-        </p>
       </div>
 
       <div v-else>
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ import { usePostsStore } from '../stores/posts.js'
 import PostsFilterBar from '../components/posts/PostsFilterBar.vue'
 import PostCard from '../components/posts/PostCard.vue'
 import FeedStatusRibbon from '../components/posts/FeedStatusRibbon.vue'
+import FeedEmptyState from '../components/posts/FeedEmptyState.vue'
 
 // The ingestion-status ribbon is a FRONT-DOOR concern, not a feed concern —
 // inside Browse's Posts tab you are looking FOR something, and the Subscriptions

frontend/test/components/feedEmptyState.spec.js

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+// @vitest-environment happy-dom
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest'
+
+import FeedEmptyState from '../../src/components/posts/FeedEmptyState.vue'
+import { useSourcesStore } from '../../src/stores/sources.js'
+import { mountWithStore } from '../support/mountComponent.js'
+
+// #387 B4. This is the first screen a fresh install shows anyone, so the thing
+// worth pinning is that it tells the two empties apart. Telling an operator to
+// "add a source" when they already have three and are mid-backfill is worse
+// than saying nothing — it reads as the app not knowing its own state.
+
+const mountWith = (status) => mountWithStore(FeedEmptyState, () => {
+  useSourcesStore().scheduleStatus = status
+})
+
+describe('FeedEmptyState', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    globalThis.fetch = vi.fn(async () => { throw new Error('offline') })
+  })
+  afterEach(() => vi.restoreAllMocks())
+
+  it('a fresh install gets the on-ramp, credential first', () => {
+    const w = mountWith({ total_sources: 0 })
+    expect(w.text()).toContain('Add a credential')
+    expect(w.text()).toContain('Add a source')
+    expect(w.text()).not.toContain("See what's running")
+  })
+
+  it('an install that is already fetching is told so, not told to set up', () => {
+    const w = mountWith({ total_sources: 3 })
+    expect(w.text()).toContain('3 sources')
+    expect(w.text()).toContain("See what's running")
+    expect(w.text()).not.toContain('Add a credential')
+  })
+
+  it('singularises a lone source', () => {
+    const w = mountWith({ total_sources: 1 })
+    expect(w.text()).toContain('1 source')
+    expect(w.text()).not.toContain('1 sources')
+  })
+
+  it('falls back to the on-ramp when the status call never answered', () => {
+    // Safe direction: the on-ramp is merely redundant to an established
+    // operator, whereas "see what's running" shown to someone with nothing
+    // configured is a dead end.
+    const w = mountWith(null)
+    expect(w.text()).toContain('Add a credential')
+  })
+
+  it('shows the brand mark, sized to be readable', () => {
+    // logo.svg stops reading below ~48px — that is why the 22px nav slot has a
+    // different mark. If this ever shrinks to a glyph, it is the wrong asset.
+    const img = mountWith({ total_sources: 0 }).find('img.fc-empty__mark')
+    expect(img.exists()).toBe(true)
+    expect(img.attributes('src')).toBe('/logo.svg')
+    expect(Number(img.attributes('width'))).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(48)
+    // Decorative: the surrounding prose already carries the meaning.
+    expect(img.attributes('alt')).toBe('')
+  })
+})

frontend/test/components/feedStatusRibbon.spec.js

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest'
 
 import FeedStatusRibbon from '../../src/components/posts/FeedStatusRibbon.vue'
 import { useSourcesStore } from '../../src/stores/sources.js'
-import { freshPinia, mountComponent } from '../support/mountComponent.js'
+import { mountWithStore } from '../support/mountComponent.js'
 
 // #387 B3. This ribbon is the ONLY place phase A's work reaches someone who
 // wasn't already looking for it, so what it does and does not say is the whole
@@ -12,11 +12,9 @@ import { freshPinia, mountComponent } from '../support/mountComponent.js'
 // zero — a "0 failing" on the front door is noise that trains you to ignore
 // the line, which is exactly what would hide the real number later.
 
-function mountWith (status) {
+const mountWith = (status) => mountWithStore(FeedStatusRibbon, () => {
-  const pinia = freshPinia()
   useSourcesStore().scheduleStatus = status
-  return mountComponent(FeedStatusRibbon, { pinia })
+})
-}
 
 describe('FeedStatusRibbon', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {

frontend/test/support/mountComponent.js

@@ -35,3 +35,13 @@ export const VTooltipStub = {
   name: 'VTooltip',
   template: '<div><slot name="activator" :props="{}" /><slot /></div>',
 }
+
+// Mount with a fresh pinia and the store already seeded, for components that
+// read store state during render. Without it, the seeding has to be inlined
+// between createPinia and mount in every spec — the same copy-paste that issue
+// #3109 tracks for the backend row factories.
+export function mountWithStore (Component, seed, opts = {}) {
+  const pinia = freshPinia()
+  seed()
+  return mountComponent(Component, { ...opts, pinia })
+}

tests/test_api_sources.py

@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ async def test_schedule_status_shape(client):
     body = await resp.get_json()
     assert set(body) == {
         "last_tick_at", "next_due_at", "due_now", "auto_sources",
-        "failing_sources", "no_access_sources",
+        "failing_sources", "no_access_sources", "total_sources",
         "platform_cooldowns",
     }
     assert isinstance(body["due_now"], int)

tests/test_api_system_activity.py

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ async def test_summary_returns_rollup_shape(client, monkeypatch):
     assert isinstance(body["failing"], int)
     assert set(body["scheduler"]) == {
         "last_tick_at", "next_due_at", "due_now", "auto_sources",
-        "failing_sources", "no_access_sources",
+        "failing_sources", "no_access_sources", "total_sources",
         "platform_cooldowns",
     }