fix: create daily notes from date links

apps/desktop/src/editor/use-editor-autocomplete.test.tsx

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { renderHook } from 'vitest-browser-react'
 import { useEditorAutocomplete } from './use-editor-autocomplete'
 
+const materializeDailyNote = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
 const resolveOrCreateNoteWithTitle = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
 const suggestWikiLinkTargets = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
 const operationFail = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ vi.mock('@reflect/core', async (importOriginal) => ({
   suggestWikiTargets: async () => [],
   suggestWikiLinkTargets,
   suggestTags: async () => [],
+  materializeDailyNote,
   resolveOrCreateNoteWithTitle,
 }))
 vi.mock('@/providers/graph-provider', () => ({
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@ vi.mock('@/hooks/use-contacts-authorization', () => ({
 vi.mock('@/lib/operations', () => ({ startOperation }))
 
 beforeEach(() => {
+  materializeDailyNote.mockReset().mockResolvedValue('daily/2026-07-27.md')
   resolveOrCreateNoteWithTitle.mockReset()
   suggestWikiLinkTargets.mockReset()
   suggestWikiLinkTargets.mockResolvedValue({
@@ -45,6 +48,88 @@ beforeEach(() => {
 })
 
 describe('useEditorAutocomplete', () => {
+  it.each([
+    { query: '2026-07-27', generated: undefined },
+    { query: 'six days from now', generated: { phrase: 'Six days from now' } },
+  ])('materializes a new daily when selecting $query', async ({ query, generated }) => {
+    suggestWikiLinkTargets.mockResolvedValue({
+      suggestions: [
+        {
+          target: '2026-07-27',
+          insertText: '2026-07-27',
+          title: '2026-07-27',
+          alias: null,
+          date: '2026-07-27',
+          path: null,
+          ...(generated === undefined ? {} : { generated }),
+        },
+      ],
+      claimedTargetKeys: [],
+      queryReadsAsDate: true,
+    })
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useEditorAutocomplete())
+    const items = await result.current.onWikilinkSearch(query)
+
+    act(() => {
+      items[0]!.onSelect?.()
+    })
+
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(materializeDailyNote).toHaveBeenCalledWith('2026-07-27', 7),
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('does not try to recreate an existing daily suggestion', async () => {
+    suggestWikiLinkTargets.mockResolvedValue({
+      suggestions: [
+        {
+          target: '2026-07-27',
+          insertText: '2026-07-27',
+          title: '2026-07-27',
+          alias: null,
+          date: '2026-07-27',
+          path: 'daily/2026-07-27.md',
+        },
+      ],
+      claimedTargetKeys: ['2026-07-27'],
+      queryReadsAsDate: true,
+    })
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useEditorAutocomplete())
+    const items = await result.current.onWikilinkSearch('2026-07-27')
+
+    expect(items[0]?.onSelect).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(materializeDailyNote).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('surfaces a failed daily creation instead of leaving a silent dangling link', async () => {
+    const consoleError = vi.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {})
+    materializeDailyNote.mockRejectedValue(new Error('graph changed'))
+    suggestWikiLinkTargets.mockResolvedValue({
+      suggestions: [
+        {
+          target: '2026-07-27',
+          insertText: '2026-07-27',
+          title: '2026-07-27',
+          alias: null,
+          date: '2026-07-27',
+          path: null,
+        },
+      ],
+      claimedTargetKeys: [],
+      queryReadsAsDate: true,
+    })
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useEditorAutocomplete())
+    const items = await result.current.onWikilinkSearch('2026-07-27')
+
+    act(() => {
+      items[0]!.onSelect?.()
+    })
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(operationFail).toHaveBeenCalledWith('graph changed'))
+    expect(startOperation).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Creating daily note')
+    consoleError.mockRestore()
+  })
+
   it('does not offer create when the exact query has an unaddressable claim', async () => {
     suggestWikiLinkTargets.mockResolvedValue({
       suggestions: [],

apps/desktop/src/editor/use-editor-autocomplete.ts

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
   errorMessage,
   hasBridge,
   isContactsReadable,
+  materializeDailyNote,
   resolveOrCreateNoteWithTitle,
   suggestTags,
   suggestWikiLinkTargets,
@@ -73,6 +74,19 @@ export function useEditorAutocomplete(): EditorAutocomplete {
     [generation],
   )
 
+  const materializeDailyFromAutocomplete = useCallback(
+    (date: string): void => {
+      if (generation === null) {
+        return
+      }
+      void materializeDailyNote(date, generation).catch((error: unknown) => {
+        console.error('create-daily-from-autocomplete failed:', error)
+        startOperation('Creating daily note').fail(errorMessage(error))
+      })
+    },
+    [generation],
+  )
+
   const onWikilinkSearch = useCallback(
     async (query: string): Promise<WikilinkItem[]> => {
       if (!hasBridge() || graph === null) {
@@ -135,10 +149,22 @@ export function useEditorAutocomplete(): EditorAutocomplete {
           }
         }
         const { title, alias, date, path, generated, insertText: target } = entry.suggestion
+        // Selecting a pathless date is the create action: materialize its empty
+        // daily file in the background so the inserted link resolves and gains
+        // a backlink without requiring the user to visit or edit that day.
+        const dateSelection =
+          date !== null && path === null
+            ? { onSelect: () => materializeDailyFromAutocomplete(date) }
+            : {}
         // A generated date leads with its phrase ("Next Friday"), resolved day
         // as the detail; everything else keeps the title/alias/daily form.
         if (generated !== undefined && date !== null) {
-          return { target, label: generated.phrase, detail: formatDayLabel(date, settings.dateFormat) }
+          return {
+            target,
+            label: generated.phrase,
+            detail: formatDayLabel(date, settings.dateFormat),
+            ...dateSelection,
+          }
         }
         // A rich title reads as its rendered form; the raw form stays the identity.
         const displayedTitle = displayNoteTitle(title)
@@ -151,14 +177,20 @@ export function useEditorAutocomplete(): EditorAutocomplete {
                 ? `${date} · new`
                 : date
               : undefined
-        return { target, label, ...(detail !== undefined ? { detail } : {}) }
+        return {
+          target,
+          label,
+          ...(detail !== undefined ? { detail } : {}),
+          ...dateSelection,
+        }
       })
     },
     [
       graph,
       settings.dateFormat,
       settings.weekStartDay,
       resolveOrCreateFromAutocomplete,
+      materializeDailyFromAutocomplete,
       contactsInMenu,
       generation,
     ],

packages/core/src/exports/platform.ts

@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ export {
   untitledNotePath,
   isUntitledNotePath,
   createNoteWithTitle,
+  materializeDailyNote,
   resolveOrCreateNoteWithTitle,
   type ResolveOrCreateNoteResult,
 } from '../graph/create-note'

packages/core/src/graph/create-note.test.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { setBridge } from '../ipc/bridge'
 import {
   createNoteWithTitle,
   isUntitledNotePath,
+  materializeDailyNote,
   resolveOrCreateNoteWithTitle,
   untitledNotePath,
   untitledNoteSeed,
@@ -146,6 +147,43 @@ describe('createNoteWithTitle', () => {
   })
 })
 
+describe('materializeDailyNote', () => {
+  it('atomically creates an empty daily file at the date path', async () => {
+    const invoke = bindBridge()
+
+    await expect(materializeDailyNote('2026-07-27', 7)).resolves.toBe(
+      'daily/2026-07-27.md',
+    )
+    expect(invoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith('note_create', {
+      path: 'daily/2026-07-27.md',
+      contents: '',
+      generation: 7,
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('does not replace an existing daily file', async () => {
+    const invoke = bindBridge({ files: { 'daily/2026-07-27.md': 'existing\n' } })
+
+    await expect(materializeDailyNote('2026-07-27', 7)).resolves.toBe(
+      'daily/2026-07-27.md',
+    )
+    expect(invoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith('note_create', {
+      path: 'daily/2026-07-27.md',
+      contents: '',
+      generation: 7,
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('rejects impossible dates before attempting a write', async () => {
+    const invoke = bindBridge()
+
+    await expect(materializeDailyNote('2026-02-31', 7)).rejects.toThrow(
+      'dailyPath expects a valid calendar date',
+    )
+    expect(invoke.mock.calls.some(([command]) => command === 'note_create')).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
+
 describe('resolveOrCreateNoteWithTitle', () => {
   it('uses exact index resolution before reading the slug family', async () => {
     const invoke = bindBridge({

packages/core/src/graph/create-note.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { ulid } from 'ulidx'
 import { upsertFrontmatter } from '../markdown/frontmatter'
 import { slugForTitle } from '../markdown/slug'
 import { createNoteIfAbsent } from './commands'
-import { notePath } from './paths'
+import { dailyPath, notePath } from './paths'
 import {
   resolveExistingWikiTarget,
   type ExistingWikiTargetResolution,
@@ -81,6 +81,19 @@ export async function createNoteWithTitle(
   return claimed.path
 }
 
+/**
+ * Materialize a daily note selected from wiki-link autocomplete without
+ * replacing one created concurrently. Daily notes have no title seed: their
+ * date path is their identity, and an empty file is the canonical new state.
+ *
+ * @returns The graph-relative daily-note path.
+ */
+export async function materializeDailyNote(date: string, generation: number): Promise<string> {
+  const path = dailyPath(date)
+  await createNoteIfAbsent(path, '', generation)
+  return path
+}
+
 /** Far beyond any real graph's same-slug population; fail loud instead of spinning. */
 const MAX_CREATE_ATTEMPTS = 1000