Cache notes in one place, and serialise a project's writes

Implements the design spec's §2 — "notes cached in zustand keyed by
project id" — which the plan substituted with a hook-local `useState`.

Sharing the `NotesPanel` *component* between the Project Home sub-tab and
the dock did not share the *cache*. Both resolve to the same project, so
two panels mount two `useNotes(P)`, each with its own list. Edit a note
in the dock and blur; the tab's copy is still pre-edit, and the tab's
next blur commits `{...staleRecord, title, body}` — the dock's edit gone
from disk with no error and no indicator. That is the feature's own
primary workflow: take notes in the dock while the agent runs, which is
the reason the dock exists, then go back to the tab.

`notesByProject` plus a per-project in-flight flag now hold the list.
Both surfaces render from one array; two panels mounting for one project
make one read; and because the write is keyed by project, a response
that lands after the user has moved on updates the project it belongs to
rather than whichever is on screen. This is also the boundary §8 says a
detached notes window needs.

Three more bugs in the same code, fixed with it:

- Delete-after-edit could resurrect the note. Clicking Delete with the
  textarea focused fires blur first, so `save_note` and `delete_note` go
  out back to back; Rust's `write_lock` stops them interleaving but does
  not order them, and a delete that wins the lock is undone by the
  upsert behind it. A project's mutations now go through one promise
  chain, module-scoped for the reason `useTerminal`'s input queue is.
- An unsaved draft vanished when any other note was saved, because the
  re-read replaced the list with the backend's. "New note" now persists,
  so the backend owns the row from the start — chosen over merging local
  drafts because a local-only row in a *shared* cache would exist in the
  panel that made it and nowhere else.
- The save outcome was reported for the wrong project after a switch:
  the guard covered only the list replacement, so the new project's
  SaveIndicator flashed "Saved ✓" for the old project's write. The
  indicator now resets on a project change and reports only its own.

`NotesPanel` also re-seeds its draft when the *stored* text of the note
it has selected changes, so an edit made in the other surface reaches
the editor and not only the list. It never overwrites something
half-typed; that still blurs into a last-writer-wins save, as any
blur-commit editor does.

NotesPanel.shared.test.tsx is the configuration none of the existing
tests had: two panels, one project, the real hook. Four of its six
assertions fail against the previous implementation.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01HjL1E2JFNctUqCYotUwqqb

app/src/components/notes/NotesPanel.shared.test.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from "vitest";
+import { render, screen, within, fireEvent, waitFor } from "@testing-library/react";
+import NotesPanel from "./NotesPanel";
+import { useAppState } from "../../store/appState";
+import type { Note } from "../../lib/types";
+
+/**
+ * Two panels, one project — the configuration the app actually runs in.
+ *
+ * `NotesTab` and `NotesDock` both mount a `NotesPanel`, and the dock follows
+ * the active tab's project, so opening the dock over a Project Home tab mounts
+ * two panels for the *same* project. Every other notes test mounts exactly
+ * one, which is precisely the configuration in which a per-panel cache looks
+ * correct: it is only with two that an edit made in one is seen — or lost — by
+ * the other. `useNotes` is deliberately **not** mocked here; the cache is what
+ * is under test.
+ */
+
+const files: Record<string, Note[]> = {};
+
+vi.mock("../../lib/tauri-commands", () => ({
+  listNotes: async (p: string) => [...(files[p] ?? [])],
+  saveNote: async (p: string, n: Note) => {
+    const list = files[p] ?? (files[p] = []);
+    const at = list.findIndex((x) => x.id === n.id);
+    if (at === -1) list.unshift(n);
+    else list[at] = n;
+    return n;
+  },
+  deleteNote: async (p: string, id: string) => {
+    files[p] = (files[p] ?? []).filter((x) => x.id !== id);
+  },
+}));
+
+vi.mock("./SendToAgentButton", () => ({
+  default: () => <button type="button">Send to agent</button>,
+}));
+
+const note = (over: Partial<Note> = {}): Note => ({
+  id: "n1",
+  title: "Deploy steps",
+  body: "one",
+  pinned: false,
+  created_at: "2026-09-01T00:00:00Z",
+  updated_at: "2026-09-01T00:00:00Z",
+  ...over,
+});
+
+/** The tab and the dock, mounted together the way `App` mounts them. */
+function renderBothSurfaces() {
+  render(
+    <>
+      <div data-testid="tab">
+        <NotesPanel projectId="p1" />
+      </div>
+      <div data-testid="dock">
+        <NotesPanel projectId="p1" />
+      </div>
+    </>,
+  );
+  return {
+    tab: () => within(screen.getByTestId("tab")),
+    dock: () => within(screen.getByTestId("dock")),
+  };
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  for (const key of Object.keys(files)) delete files[key];
+  files.p1 = [note()];
+  useAppState.setState({ notesByProject: {}, notesLoading: {}, toasts: [] });
+});
+
+describe("NotesPanel with the tab and the dock both open", () => {
+  it("shows an edit made in one surface in the other", async () => {
+    const { tab, dock } = renderBothSurfaces();
+    await waitFor(() => expect(tab().getByLabelText("Note body")).toHaveValue("one"));
+
+    const dockTitle = dock().getByLabelText("Note title");
+    fireEvent.change(dockTitle, { target: { value: "Deploy steps v2" } });
+    fireEvent.blur(dockTitle);
+
+    // The other surface's list *and* its editor, not just one of them.
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(tab().getByRole("button", { name: /deploy steps v2/i })).toBeInTheDocument(),
+    );
+    expect(tab().getByLabelText("Note title")).toHaveValue("Deploy steps v2");
+  });
+
+  it("does not write one surface's stale copy over the other's edit", async () => {
+    // The reported repro: edit in the dock, then go back to the tab and edit
+    // there. With a cache per panel, the tab committed `{...staleNote, ...}`
+    // and the dock's edit was gone from disk with no error and no indicator.
+    const { tab, dock } = renderBothSurfaces();
+    await waitFor(() => expect(tab().getByLabelText("Note body")).toHaveValue("one"));
+
+    const dockTitle = dock().getByLabelText("Note title");
+    fireEvent.change(dockTitle, { target: { value: "Deploy steps v2" } });
+    fireEvent.blur(dockTitle);
+    await waitFor(() => expect(files.p1[0].title).toBe("Deploy steps v2"));
+
+    const tabBody = tab().getByLabelText("Note body");
+    fireEvent.change(tabBody, { target: { value: "two" } });
+    fireEvent.blur(tabBody);
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(files.p1[0].body).toBe("two"));
+    expect(files.p1).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(files.p1[0].title).toBe("Deploy steps v2");
+  });
+
+  it("reads the project once for both surfaces", async () => {
+    // Two panels are two `useNotes`, but the in-flight flag is per project, so
+    // mounting the dock over an open Notes tab does not re-read the file.
+    const listNotes = vi.spyOn(
+      await import("../../lib/tauri-commands"),
+      "listNotes",
+    );
+    renderBothSurfaces();
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(screen.getAllByLabelText("Note body")[0]).toHaveValue("one"),
+    );
+    expect(listNotes).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    listNotes.mockRestore();
+  });
+
+  it("keeps text the user is part-way through typing when the other surface saves", async () => {
+    // Showing a remote edit must never mean discarding an unsaved local one.
+    const { tab, dock } = renderBothSurfaces();
+    await waitFor(() => expect(tab().getByLabelText("Note body")).toHaveValue("one"));
+
+    const tabBody = tab().getByLabelText("Note body");
+    fireEvent.change(tabBody, { target: { value: "half-typed" } });
+
+    const dockBody = dock().getByLabelText("Note body");
+    fireEvent.change(dockBody, { target: { value: "saved in the dock" } });
+    fireEvent.blur(dockBody);
+    await waitFor(() => expect(files.p1[0].body).toBe("saved in the dock"));
+
+    expect(tabBody).toHaveValue("half-typed");
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to another note when the selected one is deleted", async () => {
+    // The claim a differently-named test in NotesPanel.test.tsx used to make
+    // and could not keep: `useNotes` is mocked there and its list never
+    // changes, so the fallback was invisible. Here the list is real.
+    files.p1 = [note(), note({ id: "n2", title: "Gotchas", body: "beware" })];
+    const { tab } = renderBothSurfaces();
+    await waitFor(() => expect(tab().getByLabelText("Note body")).toHaveValue("one"));
+
+    fireEvent.click(tab().getByRole("button", { name: /delete note/i }));
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(tab().getByLabelText("Note body")).toHaveValue("beware"));
+    expect(tab().queryByRole("button", { name: /deploy steps/i })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(files.p1).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
+  it("shows a note created in one surface in the other", async () => {
+    const { tab, dock } = renderBothSurfaces();
+    await waitFor(() => expect(tab().getByLabelText("Note body")).toHaveValue("one"));
+
+    fireEvent.click(dock().getByRole("button", { name: /new note/i }));
+
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(tab().getAllByRole("button", { name: /untitled note/i })).toHaveLength(1),
+    );
+    expect(files.p1).toHaveLength(2);
+  });
+});

app/src/components/notes/NotesPanel.tsx

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useEffect, useMemo, useState } from "react";
+import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { useNotes } from "../../hooks/useNotes";
 import NoteEditor from "./NoteEditor";
 import Button from "../ui/Button";
@@ -30,22 +30,44 @@ export default function NotesPanel({ projectId }: Props) {
     [notes, selectedId],
   );
 
-  // Load the selected note's stored text into the draft. Keyed on the id, not
-  // the note object, so a save round trip does not stomp what is being typed.
+  // What was last copied out of the store into the draft fields. The draft is
+  // "untouched" exactly while it still matches this, which is how an edit made
+  // somewhere else can be shown without ever discarding something half-typed.
+  const seeded = useRef<{ id: string | null; title: string; body: string }>({
+    id: null,
+    title: "",
+    body: "",
+  });
+
+  // Load the selected note's stored text into the draft — on a change of note,
+  // and on a change to the *stored* text of the note already selected. The
+  // second case is the dock and the tab showing one project at once: an edit
+  // committed in one surface has to reach the other's editor, not just its
+  // list. It never overwrites text the user is part-way through typing; that
+  // blurs into a last-writer-wins save, as any blur-commit editor does.
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!selected) {
+      seeded.current = { id: null, title: "", body: "" };
       setTitle("");
       setBody("");
       return;
     }
+    const untouched =
+      title === seeded.current.title && body === seeded.current.body;
+    if (seeded.current.id !== selected.id || untouched) {
+      seeded.current = { id: selected.id, title: selected.title, body: selected.body };
       setTitle(selected.title);
       setBody(selected.body);
-  }, [selected?.id]); // eslint-disable-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+    }
+  }, [selected?.id, selected?.title, selected?.body]); // eslint-disable-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
 
   const commit = () => {
     if (!selected) return;
     // Reading is not editing: clicking through notes must not rewrite the file.
     if (title === selected.title && body === selected.body) return;
+    // Mark the draft as matching what was just committed, so the store update
+    // this save produces reads as "no change" rather than as a stale re-seed.
+    seeded.current = { id: selected.id, title, body };
     void saveNote({ ...selected, title, body });
   };
 

app/src/hooks/useNotes.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from "vitest";
 import { renderHook, act, waitFor } from "@testing-library/react";
 import { useNotes } from "./useNotes";
+import { useAppState } from "../store/appState";
 import type { Note } from "../lib/types";
 
 const listNotes = vi.fn();
@@ -13,14 +14,6 @@ vi.mock("../lib/tauri-commands", () => ({
   deleteNote: (p: string, id: string) => deleteNote(p, id),
 }));
 
-const pushToast = vi.fn();
-vi.mock("../store/appState", () => ({
-  useAppState: Object.assign(
-    (selector: (s: unknown) => unknown) => selector({ pushToast }),
-    { getState: () => ({ pushToast }) },
-  ),
-}));
-
 const note = (over: Partial<Note> = {}): Note => ({
   id: "n1",
   title: "Deploy",
@@ -31,8 +24,35 @@ const note = (over: Partial<Note> = {}): Note => ({
   ...over,
 });
 
+/** The toasts the hook pushed. The store is real, so this is what a user sees. */
+const toasts = () => useAppState.getState().toasts;
+
+/**
+ * A stand-in for the Rust store: one list per project, upsert and delete
+ * applied to it, `list_notes` reading it back. Several of these tests are about
+ * what the *list* looks like after a sequence of writes, which a per-call
+ * `mockResolvedValueOnce` cannot express.
+ */
+function fakeBackend(initial: Record<string, Note[]> = {}) {
+  const files: Record<string, Note[]> = { ...initial };
+  listNotes.mockImplementation(async (p: string) => [...(files[p] ?? [])]);
+  saveNote.mockImplementation(async (p: string, n: Note) => {
+    const list = files[p] ?? (files[p] = []);
+    const at = list.findIndex((x) => x.id === n.id);
+    if (at === -1) list.unshift(n);
+    else list[at] = n;
+    return n;
+  });
+  deleteNote.mockImplementation(async (p: string, id: string) => {
+    files[p] = (files[p] ?? []).filter((x) => x.id !== id);
+  });
+  return files;
+}
+
 beforeEach(() => {
   vi.clearAllMocks();
+  // The cache is shared app state now, so it has to be reset like any other.
+  useAppState.setState({ notesByProject: {}, notesLoading: {}, toasts: [] });
   listNotes.mockResolvedValue([note()]);
   saveNote.mockImplementation(async (_p: string, n: Note) => n);
   deleteNote.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
@@ -60,7 +80,7 @@ describe("useNotes", () => {
 
     expect(ok).toBe(false);
     expect(result.current.saveState.status).toBe("failed");
-    expect(pushToast).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(toasts()).toHaveLength(1);
   });
 
   it("replaces the saved note in place rather than appending", async () => {
@@ -128,7 +148,7 @@ describe("useNotes", () => {
     await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.loading).toBe(false));
 
     expect(result.current.notes).toHaveLength(0);
-    expect(pushToast).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(toasts()).toHaveLength(1);
   });
 
   it("ends with the list the backend returned when saving a new note", async () => {
@@ -206,4 +226,147 @@ describe("useNotes", () => {
     expect(result.current.notes).toHaveLength(1);
     expect(result.current.notes[0].id).toBe("n2");
   });
+
+  it("keeps the notes already on screen when a refresh fails", async () => {
+    // The second surface mounting for a project is a refresh behind a list the
+    // user is already reading. One shared cache means a failed refresh would
+    // otherwise blank both panels.
+    fakeBackend({ p1: [note()] });
+    const tab = renderHook(() => useNotes("p1"));
+    await waitFor(() => expect(tab.result.current.loading).toBe(false));
+
+    listNotes.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("read failed"));
+    const dock = renderHook(() => useNotes("p1"));
+    await waitFor(() => expect(toasts()).toHaveLength(1));
+
+    expect(tab.result.current.notes).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(dock.result.current.notes).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
+  it("does not report the old project's save on the new project's indicator", async () => {
+    // The indicator is per-panel and reads "Saved ✓". Firing it after a switch
+    // tells the user their *current* project was written when it was not.
+    const { result, rerender } = renderHook(
+      ({ projectId }: { projectId: string }) => useNotes(projectId),
+      { initialProps: { projectId: "p1" } },
+    );
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.loading).toBe(false));
+
+    let resolveSave: ((n: Note) => void) | undefined;
+    saveNote.mockImplementationOnce(
+      () => new Promise((resolve) => (resolveSave = resolve)),
+    );
+    let savePromise: Promise<boolean> | undefined;
+    await act(async () => {
+      savePromise = result.current.saveNote(note({ body: "edited" }));
+    });
+
+    rerender({ projectId: "p2" });
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.loading).toBe(false));
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      resolveSave?.(note({ body: "edited" }));
+      await savePromise;
+    });
+
+    expect(result.current.saveState.status).toBe("idle");
+  });
+
+  it("still reports a save on the indicator of the project it was made for", async () => {
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useNotes("p1"));
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.loading).toBe(false));
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await result.current.saveNote(note({ body: "edited" }));
+    });
+
+    expect(result.current.saveState.status).toBe("saved");
+  });
+
+  it("serialises a project's writes so an edit cannot be re-inserted after its delete", async () => {
+    // Clicking Delete while the textarea has focus fires blur first, so a save
+    // and a delete go out back to back. The Rust write lock stops them
+    // interleaving but does not order them: a delete that wins the lock is
+    // undone by the upsert behind it, and the note comes back on next load.
+    const files = fakeBackend({ p1: [note()] });
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useNotes("p1"));
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.loading).toBe(false));
+
+    const order: string[] = [];
+    saveNote.mockImplementationOnce(async (p: string, n: Note) => {
+      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 20));
+      order.push("save");
+      files[p] = [n];
+      return n;
+    });
+    deleteNote.mockImplementationOnce(async (p: string, id: string) => {
+      order.push("delete");
+      files[p] = (files[p] ?? []).filter((x) => x.id !== id);
+    });
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      const save = result.current.saveNote(note({ body: "typo fixed" }));
+      const del = result.current.deleteNote("n1");
+      await Promise.all([save, del]);
+    });
+
+    expect(order).toEqual(["save", "delete"]);
+    expect(files.p1).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(result.current.notes).toHaveLength(0);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a new note when another note is saved right after it", async () => {
+    // A purely local draft used to be wiped by the next re-read: two clicks of
+    // "New note", type in the second, blur, and the first row was gone.
+    const files = fakeBackend({ p1: [note()] });
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useNotes("p1"));
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.loading).toBe(false));
+
+    let first: Note | null = null;
+    await act(async () => {
+      first = await result.current.createNote();
+      await result.current.createNote();
+    });
+    expect(result.current.notes).toHaveLength(3);
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await result.current.saveNote(note({ body: "edited" }));
+    });
+
+    expect(result.current.notes).toHaveLength(3);
+    expect(result.current.notes.some((n) => n.id === first!.id)).toBe(true);
+    expect(files.p1).toHaveLength(3);
+  });
+
+  it("shares one cache between every hook watching the same project", async () => {
+    // The Project Home sub-tab and the dock both mount a panel for the same
+    // project. Two caches meant an edit in one was invisible to the other, and
+    // the other's next blur wrote its stale copy back over it.
+    fakeBackend({ p1: [note()] });
+    const tab = renderHook(() => useNotes("p1"));
+    const dock = renderHook(() => useNotes("p1"));
+    await waitFor(() => expect(tab.result.current.loading).toBe(false));
+    await waitFor(() => expect(dock.result.current.loading).toBe(false));
+
+    // One read for both — the in-flight flag is per project, not per hook.
+    expect(listNotes).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await dock.result.current.saveNote(note({ body: "written in the dock" }));
+    });
+
+    expect(tab.result.current.notes[0].body).toBe("written in the dock");
+    expect(tab.result.current.notes).toBe(dock.result.current.notes);
+  });
+
+  it("does not blank an already-loaded list when a second panel mounts", async () => {
+    fakeBackend({ p1: [note()] });
+    const tab = renderHook(() => useNotes("p1"));
+    await waitFor(() => expect(tab.result.current.loading).toBe(false));
+
+    const dock = renderHook(() => useNotes("p1"));
+    // No "Loading notes…" flash on the second surface.
+    expect(dock.result.current.loading).toBe(false);
+    expect(dock.result.current.notes).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
 });

app/src/hooks/useNotes.ts

@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ import { useAppState } from "../store/appState";
 function draft(): Note {
   const now = new Date().toISOString();
   return {
-    // The backend owns the real id; this one only has to be unique enough to
-    // key the list until the first save returns.
+    // The backend keeps whatever id it is handed for a note it has not seen,
+    // so this one is the note's real id from the first save onward.
     id: crypto.randomUUID(),
     title: "",
     body: "",
@@ -19,41 +19,108 @@ function draft(): Note {
   };
 }
 
+/** Stable empty list, so a project with nothing cached does not re-render on identity. */
+const NO_NOTES: Note[] = [];
+
+/**
+ * Per-project mutation chain.
+ *
+ * A project's writes are serialised so that two of them cannot be in flight at
+ * once. The Rust `write_lock` stops an upsert and a delete *interleaving*; it
+ * does not order them, and the order is the part that matters here. Clicking
+ * Delete while the textarea has focus fires `blur` first, so `save_note` and
+ * `delete_note` are issued back to back — and if the delete wins the lock, the
+ * upsert behind it re-inserts the note and it comes back on the next load.
+ * "Fix a typo, decide the note is useless, delete it" is an ordinary sequence.
+ *
+ * Module scope, not hook scope, for the reason `useTerminal`'s input queue is:
+ * several components call `useNotes` for the same project (the Project Home
+ * tab and the dock), and a per-hook chain would give each its own ordering and
+ * leave them racing each other — which is the bug, not the fix.
+ */
+const mutationChains = new Map<string, Promise<unknown>>();
+
+function enqueueMutation<T>(projectId: string, run: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
+  const previous = mutationChains.get(projectId) ?? Promise.resolve();
+  // `run` on both arms: a failed mutation must not stall every later one.
+  const result = previous.then(run, run);
+  const tail = result.then(
+    () => {},
+    () => {},
+  );
+  mutationChains.set(projectId, tail);
+  void tail.then(() => {
+    // Drop the entry once idle, so closed projects do not accumulate.
+    if (mutationChains.get(projectId) === tail) mutationChains.delete(projectId);
+  });
+  return result;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Re-read the canonical list into the shared cache.
+ *
+ * A successful save stamps a new `updated_at` and the backend sorts on it, so
+ * the record's position has changed and positional patching would disagree
+ * with what a reload would show. The backend owns the order; the webview never
+ * sorts. A failed re-read leaves the cache alone rather than clearing it.
+ */
+async function refresh(projectId: string): Promise<boolean> {
+  try {
+    const reloaded = await commands.listNotes(projectId);
+    useAppState.getState().setProjectNotes(projectId, reloaded);
+    return true;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * A project's notes, cached from the backend.
  *
- * The backend is the source of truth and this is a cache — every mutation goes
- * through a command and the returned record replaces the local one, so the
- * list can never drift from the file. `saveState` mirrors `useProjectSave` so
- * `ui/SaveIndicator` can report the outcome: a save that fails silently is a
- * user staring at text they believe is stored.
+ * The backend is the source of truth and the zustand slice is the cache —
+ * every mutation goes through a command and the returned list replaces the
+ * cached one, so the list can never drift from the file. The cache lives in
+ * the store rather than in this hook because two surfaces show the same
+ * project's notes at once; see `notesByProject`.
+ *
+ * `saveState` is deliberately *not* shared: it is this panel's report of this
+ * panel's write, and `ui/SaveIndicator` is per-panel. A save that fails
+ * silently is a user staring at text they believe is stored.
  */
 export function useNotes(projectId: string) {
-  const [notes, setNotes] = useState<Note[]>([]);
-  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
-  const [saveState, setSaveState] = useState<SaveState>({ status: "idle", error: null });
+  const cached = useAppState((s) => s.notesByProject[projectId]);
   const pushToast = useAppState((s) => s.pushToast);
+  const [saveState, setSaveState] = useState<SaveState>({ status: "idle", error: null });
   const resetTimer = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null>(null);
   const currentProjectId = useRef(projectId);
   currentProjectId.current = projectId;
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (!projectId) {
-      setNotes([]);
-      setLoading(false);
-      return;
-    }
-    let cancelled = false;
-    setLoading(true);
-    setNotes([]);
+    if (!projectId) return;
+    // Read through `getState` rather than through subscribed values: the
+    // effect must fire once per project, not again every time the flag it sets
+    // changes. Two panels mounting for the same project therefore make one
+    // read, and the second renders from the cache with no loading flash.
+    const store = useAppState.getState();
+    if (store.notesLoading[projectId]) return;
+    store.setNotesLoading(projectId, true);
     commands
       .listNotes(projectId)
       .then((loaded) => {
-        if (!cancelled) setNotes(loaded);
+        useAppState.getState().setProjectNotes(projectId, loaded);
       })
       .catch((e) => {
-        if (cancelled) return;
-        setNotes([]);
+        // A project that has never been read caches the empty list, so a panel
+        // does not sit on "Loading notes…" forever. One that *has* been read
+        // keeps what it has: this load is a refresh behind a list already on
+        // screen — the second surface mounting, say — and a failed refresh
+        // must not blank both of them. Same rule as `refresh()`. Neither
+        // branch has a stale-project hazard, because the write is keyed by the
+        // project it belongs to.
+        const store = useAppState.getState();
+        if (store.notesByProject[projectId] === undefined) {
+          store.setProjectNotes(projectId, []);
+        }
         pushToast({
           kind: "error",
           message: "Could not load notes for this project",
@@ -61,11 +128,8 @@ export function useNotes(projectId: string) {
         });
       })
       .finally(() => {
-        if (!cancelled) setLoading(false);
+        useAppState.getState().setNotesLoading(projectId, false);
       });
-    return () => {
-      cancelled = true;
-    };
   }, [projectId, pushToast]);
 
   useEffect(
@@ -75,6 +139,27 @@ export function useNotes(projectId: string) {
     [],
   );
 
+  // The indicator belongs to whatever project this panel is showing *now*.
+  // Without this, switching project mid-save leaves the new project's
+  // SaveIndicator stuck on the old project's "Saving…" — the same wrong-project
+  // report as flashing its "Saved ✓", just in the other direction.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (resetTimer.current) clearTimeout(resetTimer.current);
+    setSaveState({ status: "idle", error: null });
+  }, [projectId]);
+
+  /**
+   * Whether this hook is still looking at the project a queued mutation was
+   * issued for. Only the *reporting* is gated on it — the cache write is not,
+   * because it is keyed by project and belongs to that project either way.
+   * Without this, the new project's SaveIndicator flashes "Saved ✓" for the
+   * old project's write.
+   */
+  const isCurrent = useCallback(
+    () => currentProjectId.current === projectId,
+    [projectId],
+  );
+
   const succeeded = useCallback(() => {
     setSaveState({ status: "saved", error: null });
     if (resetTimer.current) clearTimeout(resetTimer.current);
@@ -85,68 +170,99 @@ export function useNotes(projectId: string) {
   }, []);
 
   const saveNote = useCallback(
-    async (note: Note) => {
+    (note: Note) =>
+      enqueueMutation(projectId, async () => {
+        if (isCurrent()) {
           if (resetTimer.current) clearTimeout(resetTimer.current);
           setSaveState({ status: "saving", error: null });
+        }
         try {
           await commands.saveNote(projectId, note);
-        // Re-read the canonical list from the backend. A successful save stamps a new
-        // `updated_at`, and the backend sorts unpinned notes by `updated_at` descending,
-        // so the record's position has changed and positional patching would disagree with
-        // what a reload would show.
-        try {
-          const reloaded = await commands.listNotes(projectId);
-          // Guard against a stale callback: if the project changed while the save was in
-          // flight, don't overwrite the new project's list with the old one. The save itself
-          // still succeeded, so succeeded() still fires; only the list replacement is skipped.
-          if (currentProjectId.current === projectId) {
-            setNotes(reloaded);
-          }
-        } catch {
-          // Keep the save reported as successful (it was) and leave the existing list alone
-          // rather than clearing it if the re-read fails.
-        }
-        succeeded();
+          await refresh(projectId);
+          if (isCurrent()) succeeded();
           return true;
         } catch (e) {
           const message = String(e);
-        setSaveState({ status: "failed", error: message });
+          if (isCurrent()) setSaveState({ status: "failed", error: message });
+          // The toast is not project-scoped — it names the failure and stays
+          // readable after a switch — so it fires either way.
           pushToast({ kind: "error", message: "Could not save note", detail: message });
           return false;
         }
-    },
-    [projectId, pushToast, succeeded],
+      }),
+    [projectId, pushToast, succeeded, isCurrent],
   );
 
-  const createNote = useCallback(async () => {
+  /**
+   * Create a note by persisting it, rather than holding it locally until the
+   * first blur.
+   *
+   * The draft used to live only in the list, which meant any *other* note
+   * being saved replaced the list with the backend's and the unsaved draft
+   * silently vanished — click "New note" twice, type in the second, blur, and
+   * the first row is gone. Sharing one cache between two surfaces makes that
+   * worse rather than better: a local-only row would exist in whichever panel
+   * created it and nowhere else. Letting the backend own the row from the
+   * start removes the whole class: there is no such thing as a note in the
+   * list that the file does not have.
+   */
+  const createNote = useCallback(
+    () =>
+      enqueueMutation(projectId, async () => {
         const note = draft();
-    // Held locally first so the editor can focus it immediately; the save
-    // happens on blur like every other edit. The note does not exist backend-side,
-    // so no re-read can place it and no backend ordering applies to it yet. Prepending
-    // puts it at the top where the user can see it immediately, and on the first save
-    // its canonical position is established.
-    setNotes((current) => [note, ...current]);
-    return note;
-  }, []);
+        try {
+          const saved = await commands.saveNote(projectId, note);
+          if (!(await refresh(projectId))) {
+            // The note exists; only the re-read failed. Show it rather than
+            // leaving the user with a button that did nothing visible.
+            const store = useAppState.getState();
+            store.setProjectNotes(projectId, [
+              saved,
+              ...(store.notesByProject[projectId] ?? []),
+            ]);
+          }
+          return saved;
+        } catch (e) {
+          pushToast({
+            kind: "error",
+            message: "Could not create note",
+            detail: String(e),
+          });
+          return null;
+        }
+      }),
+    [projectId, pushToast],
+  );
 
   const deleteNote = useCallback(
-    async (noteId: string) => {
+    (noteId: string) =>
+      enqueueMutation(projectId, async () => {
         try {
           await commands.deleteNote(projectId, noteId);
-        // Guard against a stale callback: if the project changed while the delete was in
-        // flight, don't modify the list. Note ids are UUIDs so a stale filter cannot match
-        // another project's note, but applying the same guard for consistency.
-        if (currentProjectId.current === projectId) {
-          setNotes((current) => current.filter((n) => n.id !== noteId));
-        }
+          const store = useAppState.getState();
+          store.setProjectNotes(
+            projectId,
+            (store.notesByProject[projectId] ?? []).filter((n) => n.id !== noteId),
+          );
           return true;
         } catch (e) {
           pushToast({ kind: "error", message: "Could not delete note", detail: String(e) });
           return false;
         }
-    },
+      }),
     [projectId, pushToast],
   );
 
-  return { notes, loading, saveState, createNote, saveNote, deleteNote };
+  return {
+    notes: cached ?? NO_NOTES,
+    // Only "loading" before the project has ever been read — never on a
+    // refresh behind a list that is already on screen, and never on the second
+    // panel to mount for a project the first one already fetched. A failed
+    // load caches the empty list, so this cannot latch on.
+    loading: Boolean(projectId) && cached === undefined,
+    saveState,
+    createNote,
+    saveNote,
+    deleteNote,
+  };
 }

app/src/store/appState.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 import { create } from "zustand";
-import type { Project, TerminalSession, AppSettings, UpdateInfo, ImageUpdateInfo } from "../lib/types";
+import type {
+  Project,
+  TerminalSession,
+  AppSettings,
+  UpdateInfo,
+  ImageUpdateInfo,
+  Note,
+} from "../lib/types";
 
 const SIDEBAR_COLLAPSED_KEY = "triple-c.sidebar.collapsed";
 
@@ -146,6 +153,29 @@ interface AppState {
   /** Nudge the active tab left/right — the keyboard route to the same thing. */
   moveActiveTab: (delta: number) => void;
 
+  // Per-project notes, cached from the backend.
+  //
+  // Rust is the source of truth and this is a cache — but it has to be *one*
+  // cache. Notes are shown by two surfaces at once (the Project Home sub-tab
+  // and the dock, which resolves to the same project), and a hook-local
+  // `useState` in each gave them independent copies: an edit made in the dock
+  // was invisible to the tab, and the tab's next blur wrote its stale record
+  // back over it with no error and no indicator. Keyed by project id so a
+  // response that lands after the user has moved on updates the project it
+  // belongs to instead of whichever one is on screen.
+  //
+  // This is also the boundary a detached notes window would need: swap the
+  // transport for a `notes-changed` event and both windows feed the same slice.
+  notesByProject: Record<string, Note[]>;
+  /**
+   * Projects with a `list_notes` in flight, so two panels mounting for the
+   * same project make one read rather than two, and so a panel whose project
+   * has never been read can tell "loading" from "no notes".
+   */
+  notesLoading: Record<string, boolean>;
+  setProjectNotes: (projectId: string, notes: Note[]) => void;
+  setNotesLoading: (projectId: string, loading: boolean) => void;
+
   // Inline container progress, replacing the blocking progress modal.
   containerProgress: Record<string, string>;
   setContainerProgress: (projectId: string, message: string | null) => void;
@@ -395,6 +425,22 @@ export const useAppState = create<AppState>((set) => ({
       return { tabOrder };
     }),
 
+  // Notes
+  notesByProject: {},
+  notesLoading: {},
+  setProjectNotes: (projectId, notes) =>
+    set((state) => ({
+      notesByProject: { ...state.notesByProject, [projectId]: notes },
+    })),
+  setNotesLoading: (projectId, loading) =>
+    set((state) => {
+      if ((state.notesLoading[projectId] ?? false) === loading) return {};
+      const next = { ...state.notesLoading };
+      if (loading) next[projectId] = true;
+      else delete next[projectId];
+      return { notesLoading: next };
+    }),
+
   // Container progress
   containerProgress: {},
   setContainerProgress: (projectId, message) =>