chore(release): bump to 1.9.4 and eliminate all auto-defaults for Compare Left/Right path fields

On bare GUI launches the path editors now always start empty (with
placeholders), regardless of any prior recent session, /tmp/ dev
folder, test fixture, or last-compare data. The "Restore last session"
setting and Sessions page still allow explicit re-open of previous
single- or multi-tab workspaces (the only way the fields get populated
after a bare start). This removes the root cause of the "defaults to
fake folder names" UX complaint.

The bare-launch path through open_last_session still cleans internal
fixtures out of the recent list for display, but no longer constructs
a launch context to pre-apply to the Compare page.

Version, changelogs, metainfo, and docs updated; restore_multi_tab_context
kept (with allow(dead_code)) for snapshot tests and future explicit use.

Author: visorcraft

Cargo.lock

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ members = [
 resolver = "3"
 
 [workspace.package]
-version = "1.9.3"
+version = "1.9.4"
 edition = "2024"
 license = "GPL-3.0-only"
 repository = "https://github.com/visorcraft/LinSync"

Cargo.toml

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import org.kde.kirigami as Kirigami
 Kirigami.ScrollablePage {
     id: page
 
-    property string appVersion: "1.9.3"
+    property string appVersion: "1.9.4"
 
     signal navigateRequested(int section)
     signal creditsRequested()

apps/linsync-gui/qml/AboutPage.qml

@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ Kirigami.ApplicationWindow {
     property bool validationCompatible: false
     property string validationMessage: ""
     property string validationPathKind: ""
-    property string appVersion: "1.9.3"
+    property string appVersion: "1.9.4"
     property int bridgeModelRevision: 0
     property bool canUndo: false
     property bool canRedo: false

apps/linsync-gui/qml/Main.qml

@@ -92,21 +92,21 @@ fn run(paths: &AppPaths, args: Vec<OsString>) -> Result<ExitCode, String> {
             RecentSessionStore::new(paths.recent_sessions_file(), recent_limit(paths));
         if let Ok(mut recent) = recent_store.load_or_default() {
             // Drop any entries that point at our internal test fixtures (leftover
-            // pollution from dev / smoke runs that used `cargo run -p linsync -- ...`).
-            // This keeps the auto-restore from ever pre-filling the Compare page
-            // with /.../tests/fixtures/... paths.
+            // pollution from dev / smoke runs...). This keeps the list shown on
+            // the Sessions page (and reopen) free of them. We *intentionally do
+            // not* set launch_context here: on a bare launch we never auto-populate
+            // the Compare page's Left/Right path fields (or its diff state) from
+            // any previous session. That was the source of "defaults to fake
+            // folder names" (/tmp/bigfolder etc.). Users start with clean blank
+            // inputs (the placeholders); prior work is resumed explicitly from
+            // the Sessions sidebar.
             recent.sessions.retain(|s| {
                 !path_looks_like_internal_test_fixture(&s.session.left)
                     && !path_looks_like_internal_test_fixture(&s.session.right)
             });
-            if let Some(session) = recent.sessions.first() {
-                // Prefer restoring the full multi-tab workspace; fall back to the
-                // single active tab when no multi-tab snapshot is present.
-                launch_context = Some(restore_multi_tab_context(session).unwrap_or_else(|| {
-                    let tab = build_tab_for_session_file(session, &GuiCompareOptions::default());
-                    GuiLaunchContext::single_tab(tab)
-                }));
-            }
+            // (We still load+filter so the on-disk recent is "considered" for
+            // cleanup when the setting is enabled, and the /sessions/recent
+            // responder will also filter.)
         }
     }
 
@@ -1571,6 +1571,13 @@ fn persist_multi_tab_snapshot(session: &mut SessionFile, context: &GuiLaunchCont
 /// Rebuild a multi-tab launch context from a recent session's snapshot, if it
 /// carries one. Returns `None` when there is no (valid) multi-tab snapshot, so
 /// the caller can fall back to single-tab restore.
+///
+/// Marked allow(dead_code) because the only non-test caller was the bare-launch
+/// auto-restore path (intentionally removed to stop auto-defaulting path fields
+/// into the Compare editor); the function remains for explicit multi-tab
+/// snapshot round-tripping in tests and for potential future "reopen last
+/// workspace" action.
+#[allow(dead_code)]
 fn restore_multi_tab_context(session: &SessionFile) -> Option<GuiLaunchContext> {
     let value = session.layout.extra.get(GUI_TABS_SNAPSHOT_KEY)?;
     let snapshot: GuiMultiTabSnapshot = serde_json::from_value(value.clone()).ok()?;
@@ -1584,18 +1591,23 @@ fn restore_multi_tab_context(session: &SessionFile) -> Option<GuiLaunchContext>
 }
 
 /// Heuristic: never treat paths under the source tree's tests/fixtures/ as
-/// persistable "recent" entries. These fixtures are used by gui-smoke.sh,
-/// release-smoke, unit tests, and manual `cargo run -p linsync -- <fixture>`
-/// invocations during development. Recording them causes the auto-restore of
-/// the "last session" (when open_last_session is true) to pre-fill the Compare
-/// page's Left/Right fields with ugly internal paths on subsequent bare
-/// launches — terrible UX.
+/// persistable "recent" entries (for recording or for display in the Sessions
+/// page / reopen). These fixtures are used by gui-smoke.sh, release-smoke,
+/// unit tests, and manual `cargo run -p linsync -- <fixture>` invocations
+/// during development. We also never auto-restore *any* previous session's
+/// paths into the main Compare page's Left/Right input fields on a bare launch
+/// (no CLI args). Pre-filling those fields from "last session" (even real
+/// user data or /tmp/ dev folders like bigfolder) produced a horrible
+/// experience of "defaults" the user didn't choose. The Sessions page and
+/// explicit re-open / project open are the way to resume prior work.
 fn path_looks_like_internal_test_fixture(p: &Path) -> bool {
     let s = p.to_string_lossy().to_ascii_lowercase();
     // Covers /tests/fixtures/ (unix), \tests\fixtures\ (windows), and
     // trailing cases.
-    s.contains("/tests/fixtures/") || s.contains("\\tests\\fixtures\\")
-        || s.ends_with("/tests/fixtures") || s.ends_with("\\tests\\fixtures")
+    s.contains("/tests/fixtures/")
+        || s.contains("\\tests\\fixtures\\")
+        || s.ends_with("/tests/fixtures")
+        || s.ends_with("\\tests\\fixtures")
 }
 
 fn tab_has_persistable_paths(tab: &GuiCompareTab) -> bool {

apps/linsync-gui/src/main.rs

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Known Limitations
 
 This document is the user-facing summary of what LinSync does *not* do
-in the current release (1.9.3). For the shipped feature record, see
+in the current release (1.9.4). For the shipped feature record, see
 `docs/feature-matrix.md`. Items here fall into two
 categories:
 

docs/known-limitations-1.0.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # package.
 
 pkgname=linsync
-pkgver=1.9.3
+pkgver=1.9.4
 pkgrel=1
 pkgdesc="Linux-native visual file and folder comparison built on Rust + Qt 6"
 arch=('x86_64')

packaging/arch/PKGBUILD

@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@
     </screenshot>
   </screenshots>
   <releases>
+    <release version="1.9.4" date="2026-06-03">
+      <description>
+        <p>Remove *all* automatic defaults for the Compare page's Left and Right path fields on bare GUI launch. The editors now always start blank (showing the friendly placeholders), no matter what "last session", dev /tmp/ folder, test fixture, or prior compare exists in the recent-sessions store. The "Restore last session" feature and Sessions page continue to work for explicit re-opening of previous work (single or multi-tab), which is the only way paths get populated after a bare start. This directly addresses the complaint that defaulting the inputs to any "fake folder names" (tests/fixtures, /tmp/bigfolder, etc.) was a horrible user experience. Only an explicit two-path launch (e.g. from the shell), drag-and-drop, browse, typing, or a deliberate reopen action will ever put values into the path editors.</p>
+      </description>
+    </release>
     <release version="1.9.3" date="2026-06-03">
       <description>
         <p>Fix horrible first-launch UX on the Compare page: the Left and Right path fields no longer default to internal test fixture directories such as <code>.../tests/fixtures/folders/left</code> (and the text pair). These fixtures are used by the smoke scripts, unit tests, and manual dev runs; previously they were eligible for "recent sessions" recording (because they are valid comparable data) and would be auto-restored on every bare GUI launch when the "Restore last session" setting was on. Now paths under <code>tests/fixtures/</code> are excluded from recording (in tab_has_persistable_paths) and filtered out of the recent list on restore and on the Sessions page. Updated the tests that directly exercised recording of fixture launches to use clean temp files instead. The root cause was lack of a guard for repo-internal test data in the persist-recent path.</p>

packaging/com.visorcraft.LinSync.metainfo.xml

@@ -1,3 +1,24 @@
+linsync (1.9.4-1) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * Remove *all* automatic defaults for the Compare page's Left and Right path
+    fields. On a bare launch (the normal case: no two positional arguments on
+    the command line), the editors now always start empty, showing the
+    placeholders "Left file or folder" / "Right file or folder". Previous
+    "last session" (whether from fixtures, /tmp/bigfolder, real user compares,
+    or anything) is no longer auto-applied to populate the inputs or the
+    initial diff view. The "Restore last session" setting and the recent-
+    sessions store / Sessions sidebar remain fully functional for *explicit*
+    resume (click to re-open a previous compare or multi-tab workspace); that
+    action will then set the paths. This finally eliminates the "why are we
+    defaulting to fake folder names" problem.
+  * Implementation: on bare launch the open_last_session path still cleans
+    internal fixtures out of the recent list (for the Sessions page), but no
+    longer synthesizes a launch context that would drive the path properties
+    in QML. Only explicit CLI launches, UI browse/type, drag, or explicit
+    reopen set non-empty values in the path fields.
+
+ -- VisorCraft LLC <licensing@visorcraft.com>  Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:23:00 -0500
+
 linsync (1.9.3-1) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   * UX: prevent the Compare page's Left/Right path editors from defaulting to

packaging/debian/changelog

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 #              -bb linsync.spec
 
 Name:           linsync
-Version:        1.9.3
+Version:        1.9.4
 Release:        1%{?dist}
 Summary:        Linux-native visual file and folder comparison
 
@@ -122,6 +122,10 @@ if [ $1 -eq 0 ]; then
 fi
 
 %changelog
+* Wed Jun 03 2026 VisorCraft LLC <licensing@visorcraft.com> - 1.9.4-1
+- Stop auto-defaulting *any* previous paths (from recent sessions, last launch, /tmp/ dev fixtures like bigfolder, or anything else) into the Compare page's Left and Right input fields on bare GUI startup. The "Restore last session" setting and recent-sessions store are still present for explicit resume via the Sessions sidebar and re-open; they no longer mutate the primary path editors or pre-load a diff view on launch. This eliminates the ridiculous "defaults to fake folder names" experience entirely. Bare launches (the common case) now always start with blank editors showing the nice placeholders ("Left file or folder", "Right file or folder"), ready for the user to choose fresh paths. Only explicit CLI `linsync left right`, drag-and-drop, browse, or explicit reopen from Sessions/projects will populate the fields.
+- The root cause was the combination of open_last_session=true (default) + using the most-recent SessionFile to synthesize a launch context that drove the QML path properties.
+
 * Wed Jun 03 2026 VisorCraft LLC <licensing@visorcraft.com> - 1.9.3-1
 - UX fix for Compare page defaults: paths under the source tree's tests/fixtures/ (used by gui-smoke.sh, release-smoke, unit tests, and manual dev launches like `cargo run -p linsync -- <fixture>`) are now excluded from recent-paths and recent-sessions recording, and are filtered out on load/restore/reopen. This prevents bare GUI launches (no args, with open_last_session=true) from pre-filling the Left/Right editors with ugly internal absolute paths such as .../tests/fixtures/folders/left on every startup. The Sessions page list and reopen-by-index also hide them. (The root cause was that fixture folders are valid comparable data, so the old "persistable" guard let dev usage pollute the user's XDG state dir.)
 - Updated the affected unit tests (that asserted recording of fixture launches) to use clean temp files from test_file_root() instead.