waggle-os/notes/error-as-empty.md

Error states rendered as empty states were the dominant novice-trust defect

The single biggest "app feels broken/dumb" pattern was not missing features — it was hooks that captured error but components that never threaded it, so "No approvals yet" stood in for "the server is down" on trust/activity surfaces. A novice cannot distinguish broken from idle, which directly kills the "it remembers me" feeling (memory looks like it vanished). Fixed across 8 surfaces in P7/D15 Track B (Promise.allSettled + explicit error/connecting/reconnect states in ApprovalsApp, RoomApp, CommandCenter, Files, Waggle/Events/Timeline). Rule going forward: every data surface needs loading / error / empty / populated as four distinct renders — empty must never be the fallback for failure.