The Empty-Tab Atmosphere
The Empty-Tab Atmosphere — the cosmic backdrop, twinkling stars, and personalized greeting that fills the Celestial Vault when no note is open.
Most note apps show you a blank white screen when nothing's open. The Celestial Vault doesn't.
When you have no file open, you see the empty-tab atmosphere: a looping background, a softly twinkling starfield, and a personalized greeting in gradient text. It's not just decoration — it's the moment of quiet before you start writing.
What's Happening Visually
The Background
A looping bg.webm plays full-screen behind everything. Subtle. Slow. Doesn't fight your attention.
The Starfield
A randomized constellation of small twinkling stars overlays the background. Each launch picks one of 4 sky configurations so you don't see the exact same composition every time.
The stars use only opacity and transform — GPU-composited, so they're animated without costing any CPU paint cycles. Your machine doesn't even notice.
Rising Particles
A handful of golden particles drift slowly upward — like sparks from a low fire. They fade when they reach the top.
The Greeting
Center of the screen, in gradient text:
*Hello. <YourName>.*Your nickname (set during welcome or in settings) and your chosen greeting prefix.
The CTA
Below the greeting, a small line of text suggests what to do next:
Start with
⌥⇧D— your first daily note. (only on first launch, see below)
⌘Pto search ·⌘Oto jump to a note (after the first daily note exists)
The shortcut hints change based on your platform — Mac users see ⌘, Windows / Linux users see Ctrl. (Karl's plugin handles the platform detection via a body class — no JavaScript guesswork.)
When It Appears
The empty tab is visible whenever no file is open in the active pane. You'll see it:
- After welcome dismisses on first launch
- Whenever you close all tabs (
Cmd/Ctrl + Wrepeatedly) - After deleting the currently-open note
It's a sanctuary state. A return-to-zero.
The First-Launch Nudge
Once-only golden shimmer.
On your very first launch, three seconds after welcome closes, a small notice fires in the top-right:
"Start your journal: press ⌥⇧D for today's daily note."
At the same time, the daily-note shortcut in the bottom-left status bar shimmers gold for ~6.5 seconds.
This is a one-shot nudge. After your first daily note exists (or after the shimmer naturally fades), it never appears again. It's just there to point first-time users at the most important shortcut they have.
Turning It Off
If you'd prefer a plain empty tab — no stars, no background, no greeting — open:
Settings → Celestial Vault → Polish & atmosphere → Empty-state atmosphere
Toggle it off. The empty tab becomes plain. You can re-enable any time.
Why It's There
Most software treats empty states as failure states. Apps say "You have no notes!" with a sad icon and an awkward call-to-action.
The Celestial empty tab takes the opposite approach: the empty state is the most beautiful state in the vault. It's where you breathe. It's where you decide what to write next. It's the room you walk back into when the previous task is done.
You don't need to hurry away from it.
A Note On Performance
The atmosphere is GPU-only.
Every animation in the empty tab uses only opacity and transform properties — these are composited entirely on your GPU. There's no paint cost. Even on older laptops, the empty tab won't slow you down.
If you ever notice slowness only on the empty tab, it's almost certainly an unrelated background process. (See Performance & Slowness for the broader perf flow.)
Up Next
- The Journal Widget — the streak counter you see in the sidebar
- The Shortcut Bar — context-aware shortcuts at the bottom of the window
- The Four Veils — what plays when you navigate between notes