Owner reframe (2026-09-18): the model + thinking + context controls on
the home graph view and /chat/new are not a draft overlay on a baked-in
default — they ARE the settings page for the default model, and the
user's last choice IS the default. BYOK first boot has no keys and
possibly no OpenRouter, so there is NO default to show: the controls
render 'no model' ('—') until the first pick.
The flash was the deeper symptom: the surfaces rendered from client
state that started empty and fetched truth afterward, so every visit
flashed the config pin (GLM/low — a dev artifact) for a few frames.
Fix at the root: both pages are now force-dynamic server components
that read the record (readDefaultSettings → initialSettings) and hand
it to the client — the first frame shows truth. Dynamic routes aren't
cached client-side (staleTimes.dynamic = 0), so every navigation
re-reads the record; the useDefaultSettings hook keeps only save-side
state (optimistic set + PUT). The GET-on-mount and its touch-guard are
gone.
ModelControl gains noDefaultModel (the default surfaces only): unset
settings render no model/level, never the catalog pin; the thinking
menu no-ops until a model exists. Chat surfaces keep the catalog
fallback — the engine runs the config pin when a session record has no
override, so the control keeps showing what will actually run.
Renamed draft→default throughout: data/default-settings.json,
GET/PUT /api/settings/defaults, useDefaultSettings. New sessions
still inherit the default on creation exactly as before.
Live-verified: first-boot 'no model' with zero flash, picker +
Shift+Tab cycle, values held across session→/chat/new→home roundtrips
and a reload (10×100ms samples, never the old default), zero console
errors.
The sidebar button no longer POSTs a record (no more "Untitled session"
litter): it opens /chat/new, a sessionless draft view visually identical
to a fresh chat (same header + probe chip, the same ConversationEmptyState,
the same composer blob + stats dock). The session comes to exist only
when the learner sends the first message — and that message becomes its
title (startDraftSession: POST /api/chats {title: msg} → PUT the lifted
pre-chat settings → redirect /chat/<id>?prompt=<msg>, whose initialPrompt
path delivers the message as turn 1 — the home composer's proven contract).
- app/chat/new/page.tsx: the static draft route (static beats [id]).
- components/new-session.tsx: DraftShell (pure render seam) + NewSession
(router wiring); the model picker's empty-chatId branch defers its save
and lifts the selection, so pre-chat model/thinking rides the creation.
- components/sidebar.tsx: newSession is a plain router.push("/chat/new").
- tests/render-new-session.test.tsx: 6 pins — the create-on-send contract
(title = message, settings PUT, no-op on empty text) + the shell render.
Live-verified end to end: button → draft (0 creations), pre-chat Qwen
pick, send → exactly one session titled with the message, settings
persisted, redirect + turn 1 running. Gates 431/431.
amosblomqvist