Remove the title field — a note is named by its first line

Operator (note 2897): "notes shouldn't have a title field." The concept of a NAME
stays — search results, export filenames and the command palette all need one —
but nothing is typed into it any more. `display_title` is now the first non-empty
line of the body, falling back to the first checklist item.

That fallback is what step 2 bought, and the reason this could not go first: a
checklist had no body to be named from, so the title was its only name. Now every
note has a body, and a note that is only a checklist is named by its first item.

Gone everywhere: the column and note_revisions.title (0026), the field on the
core's Note/NoteCreateInput/NoteRevision and its SQLite columns (user_version 7),
`normalize_title`, the wire field, the FFI record and `NoteEdit::Title` /
`ClearTitle`, the web editor's "Title (optional)" input and the card's <h3>, and
the Android title field in both the compose sheet and the editor.

**The search vector had to be rebuilt, not just left alone.** `notes.search_vector`
is a STORED GENERATED column whose expression names `title` — Postgres refuses to
drop a column another generated column depends on. It is dropped and recreated over
`display_title` at weight A, which keeps the original intent: a note's NAME ranks
above the rest of its body.

**An imported title becomes the note's first body line.** Keep notes carry one, and
so does any ThoughtSync export taken before this. Dropping it would silently lose
text someone wrote; folding it in puts it exactly where a name now lives, so the
note arrives named as it was. Skipped when the body already opens with that line,
so re-importing an export this code produced doesn't stack duplicates.

Two smaller things fell out. The Android editor loses its bold first field — one
weight throughout, because the first line is the note's name but not a different
KIND of text, which is most of step 4 arriving early. And `ClearTitle`'s
justification comment moved to `ClearRemindAt`, which is now the surviving example
of why NoteEdit is a list rather than a struct of options.

Protocol note corrected to say what actually shipped: v2 is "no kind, no title",
one bump for the pair.

Verified with the local Rust gate this time, not by CI: fmt, clippy and 116 tests
all green before pushing. It caught four things — orphaned serde attributes where
fields were removed, a `wire::Preview.title` I deleted by mistake (a link preview
still has one), nine retention fixtures inserting a dropped column, and four
rustfmt diffs.

src/thoughtsync/models/note.py

@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ class Note(Base):
     owner_id: Mapped[uuid.UUID] = mapped_column(
         UUID(as_uuid=True), ForeignKey("users.id", ondelete="CASCADE"), nullable=False
     )
-    title: Mapped[str | None] = mapped_column(Text(), nullable=True)
-    # The note's display NAME: explicit title if set, else the first non-empty body
-    # line (see notes.derive_display_title). Persisted so every note — even a body-only
-    # one — has something to be called in search results and in an export filename,
-    # without forcing the user to type a title.
+    # The note's NAME: its first non-empty body line, else its first checklist item
+    # (see notes.derive_display_title). There is no title field to prefer — a note is
+    # a body plus optional items, and this is simply the first thing written in it.
+    # Persisted so search results and export filenames have something to say, and so
+    # the full-text vector can weight it above the rest of the body.
     display_title: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(Text(), nullable=False, server_default="")
     body: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(Text(), nullable=False, server_default="")
     color: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(Text(), nullable=False, server_default="default")
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ class Note(Base):
     def serialize(self) -> dict:
         return {
             "id": str(self.id),
-            "title": self.title,
             "display_title": self.display_title,
             "body": self.body,
             "color": self.color,

src/thoughtsync/models/note_revision.py

@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ from . import Base
 
 
 class NoteRevision(Base):
-    """A point-in-time snapshot of a note's title+body, written on each edit that
-    changes either — so an accidental overwrite can be viewed and restored. Only
-    title+body are versioned in v1 (not items/attachments/labels)."""
+    """A point-in-time snapshot of a note's body, written on each edit that changes
+    it — so an accidental overwrite can be viewed and restored. Only the body is
+    versioned (not items/attachments/labels)."""
 
     __tablename__ = "note_revisions"
     __table_args__ = (Index("ix_note_revisions_note_created", "note_id", "created_at"),)
@@ -22,6 +22,5 @@ class NoteRevision(Base):
     note_id: Mapped[uuid.UUID] = mapped_column(
         UUID(as_uuid=True), ForeignKey("notes.id", ondelete="CASCADE"), nullable=False
     )
-    title: Mapped[str | None] = mapped_column(Text(), nullable=True)
     body: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(Text(), nullable=False, server_default="")
     created_at: Mapped[datetime] = mapped_column(DateTime(timezone=True), nullable=False, server_default=func.now())

src/thoughtsync/notes/__init__.py

@@ -139,8 +139,9 @@ async def list_notes():
                 return json_error("invalid created_before", 400)
             stmt = stmt.where(Note.created_at < before_dt)
         if query_text:
-            # Full-text match over title+body (generated tsvector, migration 0005),
-            # ranked — so the facet bar's text box searches, not just filters.
+            # Full-text match over the note's name + body (generated tsvector,
+            # migrations 0005/0026), ranked — so the facet bar's text box searches,
+            # not just filters.
             tsquery = func.websearch_to_tsquery("english", query_text)
             search_col = literal_column("notes.search_vector")
             stmt = stmt.where(search_col.op("@@")(tsquery)).order_by(
@@ -273,7 +274,6 @@ async def export_notes():
                 payload["notes"].append(
                     {
                         "id": str(n.id),
-                        "title": n.title,
                         "display_title": n.display_title,
                         "body": n.body,
                         "color": n.color,
@@ -406,17 +406,32 @@ async def reorder_notes():
         return jsonify({"ok": True})
 
 
+async def _name_for(db, note: Note, item_texts: list[str] | None = None) -> str:
+    """The note's display name, consulting its checklist only when the body is silent.
+
+    `item_texts` short-circuits the query for callers that already hold the items
+    (create, import). Everyone else pays one narrow SELECT, and only when the body
+    produced nothing — which is the uncommon case.
+    """
+    name = derive_display_title(note.body)
+    if name:
+        return name
+    if item_texts is not None:
+        return derive_display_title("", item_texts[0] if item_texts else None)
+    first = await db.scalar(
+        select(NoteItem.text).where(NoteItem.note_id == note.id).order_by(NoteItem.position).limit(1)
+    )
+    return derive_display_title("", first)
+
+
 @bp.post("")
 @login_required
 async def create_note():
     data = await request.get_json(silent=True) or {}
-    title = data.get("title") if isinstance(data.get("title"), str) else ""
     body = data.get("body") if isinstance(data.get("body"), str) else ""
-    # Items are accepted on ANY note now — a checklist is something a note HAS.
+    # Items are accepted on ANY note — a checklist is something a note HAS.
     item_texts = parse_list_items(data.get("items"))
-    # "Empty" therefore means all three are empty, not just the two that used to
-    # matter for whichever kind this was.
-    if is_empty_note(title, body) and not item_texts:
+    if is_empty_note(body, item_texts):
         return json_error("note is empty", 400)
     async with session_scope() as db:
         # New notes go to the top of the manual order.
@@ -425,11 +440,9 @@ async def create_note():
                 Note.owner_id == g.user_id, Note.deleted_at.is_(None)
             )
         )
-        clean_title = title.strip() or None
         note = Note(
             owner_id=g.user_id,
-            title=clean_title,
-            display_title=derive_display_title(clean_title, body),
+            display_title=derive_display_title(body, item_texts[0] if item_texts else None),
             body=body,
             color=normalize_color(data.get("color")),
             position=int(max_pos) + 1,
@@ -467,11 +480,7 @@ async def update_note(note_id: str):
         note = await _get_owned(db, note_id)
         if note is None:
             return not_found()
-        old_title = note.title
         old_body = note.body
-        if "title" in data:
-            title = data["title"] if isinstance(data["title"], str) else ""
-            note.title = title.strip() or None
         if "body" in data and isinstance(data["body"], str):
             note.body = data["body"]
         if "color" in data:
@@ -492,15 +501,12 @@ async def update_note(note_id: str):
                 note.remind_at = remind_dt
         if "recurrence" in data:
             note.recurrence = normalize_recurrence(data["recurrence"])
-        # Recompute the display name (explicit title, else first body line) whenever
-        # the title or body may have changed.
-        if "title" in data or "body" in data:
-            note.display_title = derive_display_title(note.title, note.body)
         if "body" in data:
+            note.display_title = await _name_for(db, note)
             await _reconcile_tags(db, note)
-        # Version history: snapshot the PRE-edit title+body whenever either changed.
-        if note.title != old_title or note.body != old_body:
-            db.add(NoteRevision(note_id=note.id, title=old_title, body=old_body))
+        # Version history: snapshot the PRE-edit body whenever it changed.
+        if note.body != old_body:
+            db.add(NoteRevision(note_id=note.id, body=old_body))
         await db.commit()
         await db.refresh(note)
         return jsonify(await _serialize_note(db, note))
@@ -509,7 +515,6 @@ async def update_note(note_id: str):
 def _serialize_revision(rev: NoteRevision) -> dict:
     return {
         "id": str(rev.id),
-        "title": rev.title,
         "body": rev.body,
         "created_at": iso(rev.created_at),
     }
@@ -546,14 +551,13 @@ async def restore_revision(note_id: str, rev_id: str):
         rev = await db.scalar(select(NoteRevision).where(NoteRevision.id == rid, NoteRevision.note_id == note.id))
         if rev is None:
             return not_found()
-        if note.title == rev.title and note.body == rev.body:
+        if note.body == rev.body:
             return jsonify(await _serialize_note(db, note))  # already at this version — no-op
         # Snapshot the CURRENT state first, so restoring is itself undoable, then apply
-        # the revision — with the same title/body ripple as a normal edit.
-        db.add(NoteRevision(note_id=note.id, title=note.title, body=note.body))
-        note.title = rev.title
+        # the revision — with the same body ripple as a normal edit.
+        db.add(NoteRevision(note_id=note.id, body=note.body))
         note.body = rev.body
-        note.display_title = derive_display_title(note.title, note.body)
+        note.display_title = await _name_for(db, note)
         await _reconcile_tags(db, note)
         await db.commit()
         await db.refresh(note)

src/thoughtsync/notes/helpers.py

@@ -19,22 +19,30 @@ VALID_FILTERS = {"active", "archived", "trash"}
 DISPLAY_TITLE_CAP = 200
 
 
-def derive_display_title(title: str | None, body: str | None) -> str:
-    """The note's display NAME: the explicit title if set, else the first non-empty
-    line of the body (trimmed, length-capped). Persisted as notes.display_title so a
-    body-only note is still nameable/searchable/linkable — the user never has to type
-    a title. Deterministic (literal first line, no AI)."""
-    if title and title.strip():
-        return title.strip()[:DISPLAY_TITLE_CAP]
+def derive_display_title(body: str | None, first_item: str | None = None) -> str:
+    """The note's display NAME: the first non-empty line of the body, else the first
+    checklist item's text (both trimmed and length-capped).
+
+    There is no explicit title to prefer any more (M13 step 3) — a note is a body plus
+    optional items, and its name is simply the first thing written in it. Persisted as
+    notes.display_title so search results and export filenames have something to say.
+
+    The item fallback is what step 2 bought: a note that is only a checklist would
+    otherwise have no name at all, which is exactly the hole that made removing the
+    title unsafe before checklists stopped being their own kind of thing.
+
+    Deterministic — a literal first line, never generated.
+    """
     for line in (body or "").splitlines():
         stripped = line.strip()
         if stripped:
             return stripped[:DISPLAY_TITLE_CAP]
-    return ""
+    return (first_item or "").strip()[:DISPLAY_TITLE_CAP]
 
 
-def is_empty_note(title: str | None, body: str | None) -> bool:
-    return not (title or "").strip() and not (body or "").strip()
+def is_empty_note(body: str | None, items: list | None = None) -> bool:
+    """Nothing worth keeping: no body text and no checklist items."""
+    return not (body or "").strip() and not items
 
 
 def parse_list_items(raw: object) -> list[str]:

src/thoughtsync/notes/import_export.py

@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@ def _note_markdown(note: Note, labels: list, items: list) -> str:
     """One note as a human-readable Markdown file with a small frontmatter block.
     The authoritative machine format is notes.json; this is for reading/portability."""
     fm = ["---"]
-    if note.title:
-        fm.append(f"title: {note.title}")
     fm.append(f"display_name: {note.display_title}")
     if labels:
         fm.append("labels: [" + ", ".join(lb["name"] for lb in labels) + "]")
@@ -276,19 +274,29 @@ async def _create_imported_note(
     db, owner_id, spec: dict, zf: zipfile.ZipFile, position: int, budget: _ImportBudget
 ) -> bool:
     """Insert one imported note plus its items/labels/attachments, reusing the same
-    display-title derivation + tag/link reconciliation as create_note. Returns False
-    (nothing written) when the spec is empty."""
-    title = (spec.get("title") or "").strip() or None
+    name derivation + tag reconciliation as create_note. Returns False (nothing
+    written) when the spec is empty."""
     body = spec.get("body") or ""
+    # An imported title becomes the note's FIRST BODY LINE.
+    #
+    # ThoughtSync has no title field any more (M13 step 3), but the things people
+    # import from do — Keep notes carry one, and so does any export taken before this.
+    # Dropping it would silently lose text someone wrote; folding it into the body puts
+    # it exactly where a name now lives, so the note comes in named the way it was.
+    # Skipped when the body already opens with that line, so re-importing an export
+    # this code produced doesn't stack duplicates.
+    title = (spec.get("title") or "").strip()
+    if title and body.lstrip().split("\n", 1)[0].strip() != title:
+        body = f"{title}\n{body}" if body.strip() else title
+
     items = spec.get("items") or []
-    has_items = any((it.get("text") or "").strip() for it in items)
-    if is_empty_note(title, body) and not has_items:
+    item_texts = [t for t in ((it.get("text") or "").strip() for it in items) if t]
+    if is_empty_note(body, item_texts):
         return False
 
     note = Note(
         owner_id=owner_id,
-        title=title,
-        display_title=derive_display_title(title, body),
+        display_title=derive_display_title(body, item_texts[0] if item_texts else None),
         body=body,
         color=normalize_color(spec.get("color")),
         pinned=bool(spec.get("pinned")),

src/thoughtsync/retention.py

@@ -89,7 +89,6 @@ async def purge_note(db, note: Note, edited_at: datetime | None = None) -> None:
     await db.execute(sa_delete(NoteLabel).where(NoteLabel.note_id == note.id))
     await db.execute(sa_delete(NoteLinkPreview).where(NoteLinkPreview.note_id == note.id))
     await db.execute(sa_delete(NoteRevision).where(NoteRevision.note_id == note.id))
-    note.title = None
     note.body = ""
     note.display_title = ""
     # `deleted_at` deliberately SURVIVES. It's still true — that is when the note was

src/thoughtsync/sync.py

@@ -55,13 +55,12 @@ MAX_PUSH = 1000  # per-batch change cap
 # Bump SYNC_PROTOCOL_VERSION for ANY wire change. Raise
 # MIN_CLIENT_PROTOCOL_VERSION only for a genuinely BREAKING one: it is the switch
 # that hard-blocks older clients, so additive changes must leave it alone.
-# v2 (M13): `kind` left the wire. Dropping a field a v1 client sends and expects back
-# is breaking, so the FLOOR moves too — a v1 client would keep pushing a `kind` the
-# server no longer stores, and would read back notes without one.
+# v2 (M13): `kind` and `title` both left the wire. Dropping a field a v1 client sends
+# and expects back is breaking, so the FLOOR moves too — a v1 client would keep pushing
+# both and would read back notes carrying neither.
 #
-# `title` goes the same way in step 3. It lands in this same protocol generation, so
-# it needs no further bump — v2 means "no kind, no title", and nothing has run against
-# a half-applied v2.
+# One bump for the pair: they landed in the same protocol generation, and nothing ever
+# ran against a half-applied v2.
 SYNC_PROTOCOL_VERSION = 2
 MIN_CLIENT_PROTOCOL_VERSION = 2
 
@@ -197,8 +196,6 @@ def client_wins(client_edited_at: datetime | None, server_edited_at: datetime |
 def _assign_note_fields(note: Note, ch: dict) -> None:
     """Overwrite a note's scalar fields from a client's FULL-state change (sync is
     whole-note, not a partial patch — the client sends its authoritative version)."""
-    title = ch.get("title")
-    note.title = (title or "").strip() or None if isinstance(title, str) else None
     note.body = ch["body"] if isinstance(ch.get("body"), str) else ""
     note.color = normalize_color(ch.get("color"))
     note.pinned = bool(ch.get("pinned"))
@@ -214,6 +211,24 @@ def _assign_note_fields(note: Note, ch: dict) -> None:
         note.position = ch["position"]
 
 
+def _first_item_text(ch: dict) -> str:
+    """The first non-blank checklist item in a pushed change, or "".
+
+    Read straight from the payload rather than the database because the note's name is
+    computed BEFORE `_apply_note_items` has written anything — and a note whose body is
+    empty is named by its first item (M13 step 3).
+    """
+    items = ch.get("items")
+    if not isinstance(items, list):
+        return ""
+    for it in items:
+        if isinstance(it, dict):
+            text = (it.get("text") or "").strip()
+            if text:
+                return text
+    return ""
+
+
 async def _apply_note_items(db, note: Note, ch: dict) -> None:
     """Replace the note's checklist items with the client's (items sync inline).
 
@@ -296,14 +311,14 @@ async def _apply_note(db, ch: dict) -> dict:
     elif note.purged_at is not None:
         note.purged_at = None  # client re-created/edited → clear the tombstone
 
-    old_title, old_body = note.title, note.body
+    old_body = note.body
     _assign_note_fields(note, ch)
-    note.display_title = derive_display_title(note.title, note.body)
+    note.display_title = derive_display_title(note.body, _first_item_text(ch))
     if edited_at is not None:
         note.updated_at = edited_at
-    # Non-destructive LWW: snapshot the overwritten server title+body into history.
-    if not creating and (note.title != old_title or note.body != old_body):
-        db.add(NoteRevision(note_id=note.id, title=old_title, body=old_body))
+    # Non-destructive LWW: snapshot the overwritten server body into history.
+    if not creating and note.body != old_body:
+        db.add(NoteRevision(note_id=note.id, body=old_body))
     await db.flush()  # assign note.id before items/labels/links
     await _apply_note_items(db, note, ch)
     await _reconcile_tags(db, note)