Name a session after the first substance logged into it

Starting a session from the phone is one tap with nowhere to type a title,
so those entries landed in the journal as "Untitled" and stayed there.

`name_after_first_dose` (db.rs, called from `log_dose`) fills a blank title
with the substance name of the session's first dose. Only the first dose
names it: after that the session has a name, and a title cleared back to
blank was cleared on purpose. A title the user typed is never overwritten,
and renaming still wins. Living at the db layer means it holds for the
desktop, the phone, and the Companion's log_dose tool alike.

The desktop's "+ Session" form stamped the literal string "Untitled
experience" into the title column when the field was blank, which would
have made the auto-name unreachable there; it now stores blank and leans on
the display fallback the journal already had. The phone's start-a-session
pane gains an optional title field — offered, never demanded.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: sparkly-quasar

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -11,6 +11,18 @@ after publishing — see RELEASING.md).
 
 The heading must be exactly `## vX.Y.Z`, matching the tag. Newest on top.
 
+## v0.11.3
+
+- **Sessions name themselves.** Starting a session from your phone gave you
+  nowhere to type a title, so it landed in the journal as "Untitled" and usually
+  stayed that way. Now an untitled session takes the name of the first substance
+  you log into it — so a session you started one-handed in the dark shows up as
+  "ketamine" rather than "Untitled". Only the first dose names it, a title you
+  typed yourself is never overwritten, and you can still rename anything at any
+  time by tapping its title on the phone or editing it on the desktop.
+- **A title field when you start a session on the phone.** Optional — leave it
+  blank and the naming above takes over.
+
 ## v0.11.2
 
 - **Phone access no longer takes over a port another app is using.** If something

README.md

@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@ from your phone.
   happened" on a new session and it's saved as a finished trip, with doses
   defaulting to when it occurred rather than now. Every timestamp in a session
   also shows the time since your first dose (`14:02 (t+1:23)`), so the timeline
-  reads against the clock that matters.
+  reads against the clock that matters. A session you never got round to titling
+  takes the name of the first substance you log into it, so nothing sits in the
+  journal as "Untitled" — rename it whenever you like.
 - **Plain notes** — not everything is a session. Write ordinary journal entries
   (a title, your words, a date) alongside them.
 - **Combination warnings** — every dose is checked against the others for
@@ -72,8 +74,10 @@ from your phone.
   shows a green **"Paired successfully"** light the moment the phone first uses
   the code, so you're not left guessing whether the scan took. Companion
   replies run as a background job on the desktop, so a slow local model — or a
-  locked phone screen — no longer drops the answer. Rename a session or entry
-  right from the phone by tapping its title. Private by design: see
+  locked phone screen — no longer drops the answer. Starting a session from the
+  phone takes an optional title — or leave it blank and the first substance you
+  log names it. Rename a session or entry right from the phone by tapping its
+  title. Private by design: see
   [Architecture](#architecture) for how.
 - **Substance catalogue & log** — keep your own substance list with notes, and
   review your history grouped by substance.

ROADMAP.md

@@ -123,6 +123,29 @@ non-negotiables, each with a test:
 
 ---
 
+## Shipped in v0.11.3
+
+- **An untitled session is named after its first dose.** The phone starts a
+  session with a single tap and had nowhere to put a title, so phone-started
+  entries lived in the journal as "Untitled" — the one thing that makes a journal
+  hard to read back. `name_after_first_dose` (in `db.rs`, called from `log_dose`)
+  fills a blank title with the substance name of the session's **first** dose.
+  Deliberate limits: only the first dose (after that the session has a name, and a
+  title cleared back to blank was cleared on purpose), never over a title the user
+  typed, and renaming still wins. It sits at the db layer, so it holds for the
+  desktop, the phone, and the Companion's `log_dose` tool alike.
+  - The desktop's "+ Session" form used to stamp the literal string
+    `"Untitled experience"` into the title column when the field was left blank,
+    which would have made the auto-name unreachable there. It now stores a blank
+    title and leans on the display fallback the journal already had.
+  - The phone's start-a-session pane gained an **optional** title field. Offered,
+    never demanded: typing a title is often the last thing you want to be doing at
+    the moment you're starting a session.
+- **Still untitled:** a session that is started and never gets a dose. Nothing to
+  name it after; left alone rather than guessed at.
+
+---
+
 ## Shipped in v0.11.0
 
 - **First-class past-experience logging.** Writing up a trip that already happened

src-tauri/src/db.rs

@@ -510,6 +510,8 @@ pub fn log_dose(conn: &Connection, input: &DoseInput) -> rusqlite::Result<(Dose,
         })
     })?;
 
+    name_after_first_dose(conn, input.experience_id, &input.substance_name)?;
+
     // Gather every distinct substance in this experience and check interactions.
     let mut stmt =
         conn.prepare("SELECT DISTINCT substance_name FROM doses WHERE experience_id = ?1")?;
@@ -519,6 +521,33 @@ pub fn log_dose(conn: &Connection, input: &DoseInput) -> rusqlite::Result<(Dose,
     Ok((dose, combo_warnings(conn, &names)))
 }
 
+/// Give an untitled session the name of the first substance logged into it.
+///
+/// Starting a session mid-stride — especially from the phone, one-handed — is a
+/// single tap with nowhere to type a title, and the entry would otherwise land in
+/// the journal as "Untitled" forever. The first dose is the most useful thing we
+/// know about a session, so it becomes the title.
+///
+/// Deliberately only the *first* dose: after that the session has a name, and a
+/// user who clears the title back to blank meant to, so nothing refills it.
+/// Renaming (desktop or phone) overrides this at any point.
+fn name_after_first_dose(conn: &Connection, experience_id: i64, substance: &str) -> rusqlite::Result<()> {
+    let name = substance.trim();
+    if name.is_empty() {
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+    let doses: i64 =
+        conn.query_row("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM doses WHERE experience_id = ?1", [experience_id], |r| r.get(0))?;
+    if doses != 1 {
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+    conn.execute(
+        "UPDATE experiences SET title = ?2 WHERE id = ?1 AND TRIM(COALESCE(title, '')) = ''",
+        params![experience_id, name],
+    )?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 /// Every warning we know about for a set of substances taken together, from both
 /// sources: the class-rule backstop in `interactions.rs` and DoseWiki's graded
 /// interaction lists. The most severe warning per pair survives.
@@ -887,6 +916,49 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(detail.doses.len(), 2);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn an_untitled_session_takes_the_name_of_its_first_dose() {
+        let c = mem();
+        let blank = |started_at: &str, title: &str| {
+            create_experience(&c, &ExperienceInput {
+                kind: "session".into(), title: title.into(),
+                intention: String::new(), setting: String::new(),
+                started_at: started_at.into(),
+            }).unwrap()
+        };
+        let dose = |exp: i64, name: &str, at: &str| {
+            log_dose(&c, &DoseInput {
+                experience_id: exp, substance_name: name.into(), amount: Some(100.0),
+                unit: "mg".into(), route: "oral".into(), taken_at: at.into(),
+                note: String::new(),
+            }).unwrap()
+        };
+
+        // Started from the phone with nowhere to type a title: the first dose names it.
+        let auto = blank("2026-08-01T20:00:00Z", "");
+        assert_eq!(auto.title, "");
+        dose(auto.id, "ketamine", "2026-08-01T20:10:00Z");
+        assert_eq!(get_experience_row(&c, auto.id).unwrap().title, "ketamine");
+
+        // The second dose does not rename it — only the first one names a session.
+        dose(auto.id, "MDMA", "2026-08-01T21:00:00Z");
+        assert_eq!(get_experience_row(&c, auto.id).unwrap().title, "ketamine");
+
+        // …and a title the user typed is never overwritten.
+        let named = blank("2026-08-02T20:00:00Z", "Birthday");
+        dose(named.id, "LSD", "2026-08-02T20:10:00Z");
+        assert_eq!(get_experience_row(&c, named.id).unwrap().title, "Birthday");
+
+        // A cleared title stays cleared: that was a decision, not a gap to fill.
+        update_experience(&c, auto.id, &ExperienceUpdate {
+            title: String::new(), intention: String::new(), setting: String::new(),
+            notes: String::new(), rating: None,
+            started_at: "2026-08-01T20:00:00Z".into(), ended_at: None,
+        }).unwrap();
+        dose(auto.id, "caffeine", "2026-08-01T22:00:00Z");
+        assert_eq!(get_experience_row(&c, auto.id).unwrap().title, "");
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn timeline_events_can_be_edited_in_place() {
         let c = mem();

src/routes/+page.svelte

@@ -817,7 +817,11 @@
   async function submitNewExperience() {
     const startIso = localInputToIso(neStart);
     const e = await createExperience({
-      title: neTitle || "Untitled experience",
+      // Blank stays blank rather than being stamped with the literal string
+      // "Untitled experience": an empty title is what lets the first logged dose
+      // name the session (`name_after_first_dose` in db.rs). The journal already
+      // falls back to "Untitled experience" for display.
+      title: neTitle.trim(),
       intention: neIntention,
       setting: neSetting,
       started_at: startIso,
@@ -1866,7 +1870,11 @@
 
           {#if showNewExp}
             <div class="new-exp">
-              <input placeholder="Title" bind:value={neTitle} />
+              <input
+                placeholder="Title (optional — else the first substance)"
+                title="Leave blank and the session takes the name of the first substance you log."
+                bind:value={neTitle}
+              />
               <input type="datetime-local" bind:value={neStart} title={nePast ? "When it started" : "Start time"} />
               {#if nePast}
                 <input type="datetime-local" bind:value={neEnd} title="When it ended (optional)" />

src/routes/m/+page.svelte

@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@
   let evNote = $state("");
   let evIntensity = $state("");
 
+  // starting a session: an optional title, blank by default
+  let newTitle = $state("");
+
   // renaming an experience (live session or an opened journal entry)
   let renamingId = $state<number | null>(null);
   let renameText = $state("");
@@ -239,9 +242,14 @@
   }
 
   // ---- the live session ----
+  // A title is offered but never demanded: typing one at the moment you're
+  // starting a session is often the last thing you want to be doing. Left blank,
+  // the backend names the session after the first substance logged into it
+  // (`name_after_first_dose` in db.rs) rather than leaving it "Untitled" forever.
   const startSession = () =>
     run(async () => {
-      await createExperience({ title: "", started_at: new Date().toISOString() });
+      await createExperience({ title: newTitle.trim(), started_at: new Date().toISOString() });
+      newTitle = "";
       await refresh();
     });
 
@@ -571,6 +579,8 @@
         <section class="pane">
           <h2>No session running</h2>
           <p class="muted">Start one here, or carry on with one you started at the desk.</p>
+          <input placeholder="Title (optional)" bind:value={newTitle} />
+          <p class="muted hint">Leave it blank and it takes the name of the first substance you log.</p>
           <button class="primary" disabled={busy} onclick={startSession}>Start a session</button>
           <button disabled={busy} onclick={refresh}>Refresh</button>
         </section>
@@ -922,6 +932,8 @@
   header { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; align-items: baseline; padding: 0.4rem 0.2rem 0.8rem; }
   .live { color: #7ee787; font-size: 0.85rem; }
   .muted { color: #9aa2ad; }
+  /* Sits under the field it explains, so it reads as part of it. */
+  .hint { font-size: 0.85rem; margin: -0.2rem 0 0.6rem; }
 
   .pane { background: #1b1e24; border: 1px solid #2a2f38; border-radius: 14px; padding: 1rem; margin-bottom: 0.8rem; }
   h1 { font-size: 1.2rem; margin: 0 0 0.5rem; }