diff --git a/frontend/src/views/BoardView.vue b/frontend/src/views/BoardView.vue
index 1d56e9c..cff184b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/BoardView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/BoardView.vue
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import EmptyState from "../components/EmptyState.vue";
 import FilterBar from "../components/FilterBar.vue";
 import NoteCard from "../components/NoteCard.vue";
 import NoteEditor from "../components/NoteEditor.vue";
+import { isDesktop, sync as syncBridge } from "../desktop/bridge";
 
 const notes = useNotesStore();
 const config = useConfigStore();
@@ -157,12 +158,45 @@ const retentionNotice = computed(() => {
     : `Notes here are permanently deleted ${days} days after you trash them. Restore one to keep it.`;
 });
 
+/**
+ * Whether this desktop install has been linked to a server. Only consulted for the
+ * first-run copy below — offering to connect a server to someone who already did
+ * would be noise. Never set on the web build, which IS a server's UI.
+ */
+const linkedToServer = ref(false);
+
+/**
+ * The desktop's start state: a fresh install, nothing written yet.
+ *
+ * There is no login and no onboarding gate — the app is usable the instant it
+ * opens, and interrupting that with a welcome modal would tax the one thing the
+ * product is for (dumping a thought in a second). So the empty board carries the
+ * message instead, and retires itself the moment a first note exists. That also
+ * means no "seen it" flag to persist, migrate, or get out of step with reality.
+ */
+const startState = computed(
+  () =>
+    isDesktop() &&
+    isMainBoard.value &&
+    !filtered.value &&
+    !linkedToServer.value &&
+    notes.items.length === 0,
+);
+
 const emptyState = computed(() => {
   if (filtered.value) return { title: "No notes match these filters", subtitle: "Try clearing or loosening a facet." };
   if (currentView.value === "trash") return { title: "Trash is empty", subtitle: "Notes you delete land here first." };
   if (currentView.value === "archived")
     return { title: "Nothing archived", subtitle: "Archived notes are tucked away here." };
   if (currentLabel.value) return { title: "No notes with this label", subtitle: "Tag a note to see it here." };
+  // Says what "no account" actually means for the notes about to be written here.
+  // A new user otherwise has no way to tell whether this thing is storing their
+  // thoughts locally, silently waiting for a login, or quietly sending them off.
+  if (startState.value)
+    return {
+      title: "Your notes live on this device",
+      subtitle: "ThoughtSync works fully offline — no account, nothing to sign in to.",
+    };
   return { title: "No notes yet", subtitle: "Your captured thoughts will show up here." };
 });
 
@@ -178,6 +212,17 @@ async function reload() {
 onMounted(() => {
   void reload();
   window.addEventListener("keydown", onBoardKey);
+  // Best-effort and never awaited: the board must render at full speed whether or
+  // not this answers. A failure just leaves the start-state copy showing, which is
+  // the correct reading of "we don't know of a server".
+  if (isDesktop()) {
+    void syncBridge
+      .status()
+      .then((s) => {
+        linkedToServer.value = s.linked;
+      })
+      .catch(() => {});
+  }
 });
 onBeforeUnmount(() => {
   window.removeEventListener("keydown", onBoardKey);
@@ -234,7 +279,21 @@ async function onDrop(target: Note) {
       error-title="Couldn't load your notes"
       @retry="reload"
     >
-      <EmptyState v-if="notes.items.length === 0" :title="emptyState.title" :subtitle="emptyState.subtitle" />
+      <EmptyState v-if="notes.items.length === 0" :title="emptyState.title" :subtitle="emptyState.subtitle">
+        <!-- v-if on the slot itself, so every OTHER empty state renders without a
+             stray call-to-action box beneath it. -->
+        <template v-if="startState" #default>
+          <RouterLink
+            to="/sync"
+            class="inline-block rounded-md border border-neutral-300 px-3 py-1.5 text-sm text-neutral-600 transition hover:bg-neutral-100 focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-brand dark:border-neutral-700 dark:text-neutral-300 dark:hover:bg-neutral-800"
+          >
+            Connect a sync server
+          </RouterLink>
+          <p class="mt-2 text-xs text-neutral-400">
+            Optional — only if you want these notes on your other devices.
+          </p>
+        </template>
+      </EmptyState>
       <template v-else>
       <template v-if="isMainBoard">
         <section v-if="pinnedNotes.length">