fix: empty default dashboard and auto-redirect to edit mode with widget palette

The default dashboard referenced a non-existent `alert-banner` widget type,
causing a "Widget Error" on first load. Now the default dashboard starts empty,
and empty editable dashboards auto-redirect to the editor with the widget
palette open so users can immediately start adding widgets.

Closes #6

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: sarg3nt

gearbox/internal/framework/dashboard/storage.go

@@ -209,7 +209,9 @@ func (s *Storage) CreateDefaultDashboard() error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	// Create default dashboard
+	// Create default dashboard with no widgets.
+	// Empty dashboards auto-redirect to edit mode with the widget palette open,
+	// so users can immediately start adding widgets.
 	dashboard := &Dashboard{
 		Version:     "1.0",
 		Name:        "Dashboard",
@@ -221,25 +223,8 @@ func (s *Storage) CreateDefaultDashboard() error {
 			Columns: 12,
 			Gap:     4,
 		},
-		Widgets: []Widget{
-			{
-				ID:   "welcome-1",
-				Type: "alert-banner",
-				Position: WidgetPosition{
-					Row:    1,
-					Column: 1,
-					Width:  12,
-					Height: "auto",
-				},
-				Config: map[string]interface{}{
-					"severity":   "info",
-					"message":    "Welcome to Gearbox! This is your default dashboard. You can customize it by adding widgets.",
-					"icon":       "info",
-					"dismissible": true,
-				},
-			},
-		},
-		Slug: "dashboard",
+		Widgets: []Widget{},
+		Slug:    "dashboard",
 	}
 
 	// Save dashboard

gearbox/internal/framework/handler/dashboard.go

@@ -120,6 +120,12 @@ func (h *DashboardHandler) ViewDashboard(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 		return
 	}
 
+	// If dashboard is empty and editable, redirect to edit mode with palette open
+	if dash.Editable && len(dash.Widgets) == 0 {
+		http.Redirect(w, r, "/dashboards/"+slug+"/edit?open_palette=1", http.StatusSeeOther)
+		return
+	}
+
 	// Render dashboard
 	content, err := h.renderer.Render(r.Context(), dash, h.boxID, h.userID)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -169,11 +175,14 @@ func (h *DashboardHandler) EditDashboardPage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Requ
 	// Get available widgets
 	widgets := h.widgetRegistry.List()
 
+	// Check if palette should be auto-opened (e.g., redirected from empty dashboard)
+	openPalette := r.URL.Query().Get("open_palette") == "1"
+
 	// Get user from context
 	user, _ := auth.GetUserFromContext(r.Context())
 
 	// Render editor with live content
-	component := pages.DashboardEditorPage(dash, content, widgets, user, r.URL.Path)
+	component := pages.DashboardEditorPage(dash, content, widgets, user, r.URL.Path, openPalette)
 	if err := component.Render(r.Context(), w); err != nil {
 		h.logger.Error("failed to render dashboard editor", "error", err)
 		http.Error(w, "Failed to render page", http.StatusInternalServerError)

gearbox/internal/framework/templates/pages/dashboard_editor.templ

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 // DashboardEditorPage renders the visual dashboard editor with live widget preview
-templ DashboardEditorPage(dash *dashboard.Dashboard, content templ.Component, widgets []*widget.WidgetDefinition, user *models.User, currentPath string) {
+templ DashboardEditorPage(dash *dashboard.Dashboard, content templ.Component, widgets []*widget.WidgetDefinition, user *models.User, currentPath string, openPalette bool) {
 	@layouts.Base("Edit Dashboard", user, currentPath) {
 		<!-- Widget Palette CSS -->
 		<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/dashboard/palette.css"/>
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ templ DashboardEditorPage(dash *dashboard.Dashboard, content templ.Component, wi
 			</div>
 		</div>
 
-		<!-- Widget Palette Panel (collapsible) -->
-		<div id="widget-palette-panel" class="hidden mb-4 bg-white dark:bg-slate-900 border border-gray-300 dark:border-slate-600 rounded-lg shadow-lg">
+		<!-- Widget Palette Panel (collapsible, auto-opened when dashboard is empty) -->
+		<div id="widget-palette-panel" class={ widgetPaletteClass(openPalette) }>
 			<!-- Fixed Header -->
 			<div class="p-4 border-b border-gray-200 dark:border-slate-700 sticky top-0 bg-white dark:bg-slate-900 z-10">
 				<div class="flex items-center justify-between mb-3">
@@ -393,6 +393,14 @@ templ DashboardEditorScript(dash *dashboard.Dashboard) {
 }
 
 // Helper functions
+
+func widgetPaletteClass(openPalette bool) string {
+	if openPalette {
+		return "mb-4 bg-white dark:bg-slate-900 border border-gray-300 dark:border-slate-600 rounded-lg shadow-lg"
+	}
+	return "hidden mb-4 bg-white dark:bg-slate-900 border border-gray-300 dark:border-slate-600 rounded-lg shadow-lg"
+}
+
 func getWidgetStyle(pos dashboard.WidgetPosition) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("grid-column: span %d;", pos.Width)
 }

gearbox/static/js/dashboard/palette.js

@@ -427,6 +427,17 @@ function toggleWidgetPalette() {
     }
 }
 
+// Auto-initialize palette if it's already visible on page load
+// (e.g., when redirected from an empty dashboard with open_palette=1)
+document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
+    const panel = document.getElementById('widget-palette-panel');
+    if (panel && !panel.classList.contains('hidden')) {
+        const dashboardElement = document.getElementById('dashboard-grid-editor');
+        const boxID = dashboardElement ? dashboardElement.dataset.boxId : '';
+        initializeWidgetPalette(boxID);
+    }
+});
+
 // Export functions for use in other scripts
 window.initializeWidgetPalette = initializeWidgetPalette;
 window.toggleWidgetPalette = toggleWidgetPalette;