fix: hide legacy title chrome for frontmatter titles

src/components/editor-content/editorContentState.test.ts

@@ -62,6 +62,26 @@ describe('deriveEditorContentState', () => {
       content: '---\ntitle: Legacy Project\n---\nBody without a heading',
     })
 
+    expect(state.hasH1).toBe(false)
+    expect(state.showTitleSection).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('hides the legacy title section when a frontmatter title drives the display title', () => {
+    const state = deriveState({
+      entry: baseEntry,
+      content: '---\ntitle: Spring 2026\nstatus: Active\n---\n## Goals',
+    })
+
+    expect(state.hasH1).toBe(false)
+    expect(state.showTitleSection).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('keeps the title section when the document title still comes from the filename', () => {
+    const state = deriveState({
+      entry: baseEntry,
+      content: '---\nstatus: Active\n---\nBody without a heading',
+    })
+
     expect(state.hasH1).toBe(false)
     expect(state.showTitleSection).toBe(true)
   })

src/components/editor-content/editorContentState.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { NoteStatus, VaultEntry } from '../../types'
-import { extractH1TitleFromContent } from '../../utils/noteTitle'
+import { contentDefinesDisplayTitle, extractH1TitleFromContent } from '../../utils/noteTitle'
 import { countWords } from '../../utils/wikilinks'
 
 export interface EditorContentTab {
@@ -14,6 +14,19 @@ interface EditorContentStateInput {
   activeStatus: NoteStatus
 }
 
+interface TitleSectionState {
+  hasDisplayTitle: boolean
+  hasH1: boolean
+}
+
+interface VisibilityState {
+  effectiveRawMode: boolean
+  isDeletedPreview: boolean
+  isNonMarkdownText: boolean
+  showEditor: boolean
+  showTitleSection: boolean
+}
+
 export interface EditorContentState {
   freshEntry: VaultEntry | undefined
   isArchived: boolean
@@ -36,10 +49,53 @@ function contentHasTopLevelH1(activeTab: EditorContentTab | null): boolean {
   return activeTab ? extractH1TitleFromContent(activeTab.content) !== null : false
 }
 
+function contentDefinesTitle(activeTab: EditorContentTab | null): boolean {
+  return activeTab ? contentDefinesDisplayTitle(activeTab.content) : false
+}
+
 function resolveHasH1(activeTab: EditorContentTab | null, freshEntry: VaultEntry | undefined): boolean {
   return contentHasTopLevelH1(activeTab) || freshEntry?.hasH1 === true || activeTab?.entry.hasH1 === true
 }
 
+function resolveHasDisplayTitle(activeTab: EditorContentTab | null, hasH1: boolean): boolean {
+  return hasH1 || contentDefinesTitle(activeTab)
+}
+
+function deriveTitleSectionState(activeTab: EditorContentTab | null, freshEntry: VaultEntry | undefined): TitleSectionState {
+  const hasH1 = resolveHasH1(activeTab, freshEntry)
+  return {
+    hasDisplayTitle: resolveHasDisplayTitle(activeTab, hasH1),
+    hasH1,
+  }
+}
+
+function deriveVisibilityState(input: {
+  activeStatus: NoteStatus
+  activeTab: EditorContentTab | null
+  freshEntry: VaultEntry | undefined
+  hasDisplayTitle: boolean
+  rawMode: boolean
+}): VisibilityState {
+  const {
+    activeStatus,
+    activeTab,
+    freshEntry,
+    hasDisplayTitle,
+    rawMode,
+  } = input
+  const isDeletedPreview = !!activeTab && !freshEntry
+  const isNonMarkdownText = activeTab?.entry.fileKind === 'text'
+  const effectiveRawMode = rawMode || isNonMarkdownText
+
+  return {
+    isDeletedPreview,
+    isNonMarkdownText,
+    effectiveRawMode,
+    showEditor: !effectiveRawMode,
+    showTitleSection: !isDeletedPreview && !hasDisplayTitle && !isUnsavedUntitledDraft(activeTab, activeStatus),
+  }
+}
+
 function isUnsavedUntitledDraft(activeTab: EditorContentTab | null, activeStatus: NoteStatus): boolean {
   if (!activeTab) return false
   if (!activeTab.entry.filename.startsWith('untitled-')) return false
@@ -53,22 +109,20 @@ export function deriveEditorContentState({
   activeStatus,
 }: EditorContentStateInput): EditorContentState {
   const freshEntry = findFreshEntry(activeTab, entries)
-  const isDeletedPreview = !!activeTab && !freshEntry
-  const hasH1 = resolveHasH1(activeTab, freshEntry)
-  const isNonMarkdownText = activeTab?.entry.fileKind === 'text'
-  const effectiveRawMode = rawMode || isNonMarkdownText
-  const showEditor = !effectiveRawMode
-  const showTitleSection = !isDeletedPreview && !hasH1 && !isUnsavedUntitledDraft(activeTab, activeStatus)
+  const titleState = deriveTitleSectionState(activeTab, freshEntry)
+  const visibilityState = deriveVisibilityState({
+    activeStatus,
+    activeTab,
+    freshEntry,
+    hasDisplayTitle: titleState.hasDisplayTitle,
+    rawMode,
+  })
 
   return {
     freshEntry,
     isArchived: freshEntry?.archived ?? activeTab?.entry.archived ?? false,
-    hasH1,
-    isDeletedPreview,
-    isNonMarkdownText,
-    effectiveRawMode,
-    showEditor,
-    showTitleSection,
+    hasH1: titleState.hasH1,
+    ...visibilityState,
     path: activeTab?.entry.path ?? '',
     wordCount: activeTab ? countWords(activeTab.content) : 0,
   }

src/hooks/useEditorSaveWithLinks.ts

@@ -36,11 +36,11 @@ export function useEditorSaveWithLinks(config: {
     const filename = path.split('/').pop() ?? path
     const fmPatch = {
       ...frontmatterPatch,
-      ...deriveDisplayTitleState(
+      ...deriveDisplayTitleState({
         content,
         filename,
-        typeof frontmatterPatch.title === 'string' ? frontmatterPatch.title : null,
-      ),
+        frontmatterTitle: typeof frontmatterPatch.title === 'string' ? frontmatterPatch.title : null,
+      }),
     }
     const fmKey = JSON.stringify(fmPatch)
     if (fmKey !== prevFmKeyRef.current) {

src/utils/noteTitle.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { deriveDisplayTitleState, extractH1TitleFromContent, filenameStemToTitle } from './noteTitle'
+import {
+  contentDefinesDisplayTitle,
+  deriveDisplayTitleState,
+  extractFrontmatterTitleFromContent,
+  extractH1TitleFromContent,
+  filenameStemToTitle,
+} from './noteTitle'
 
 describe('filenameStemToTitle', () => {
   it('converts kebab-case filenames into title case', () => {
@@ -23,10 +29,32 @@ describe('extractH1TitleFromContent', () => {
   })
 })
 
+describe('extractFrontmatterTitleFromContent', () => {
+  it('extracts the frontmatter title when present', () => {
+    const content = '---\ntitle: Legacy Title\nstatus: Active\n---\n## Body'
+    expect(extractFrontmatterTitleFromContent(content)).toBe('Legacy Title')
+  })
+
+  it('returns null when the frontmatter title is missing', () => {
+    expect(extractFrontmatterTitleFromContent('---\nstatus: Active\n---\n## Body')).toBeNull()
+  })
+})
+
+describe('contentDefinesDisplayTitle', () => {
+  it('returns true when the document title comes from frontmatter', () => {
+    const content = '---\ntitle: Spring 2026\n---\n## Goals'
+    expect(contentDefinesDisplayTitle(content)).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('returns false when title still comes from the filename', () => {
+    expect(contentDefinesDisplayTitle('Body only')).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
+
 describe('deriveDisplayTitleState', () => {
   it('prefers H1 over frontmatter title and filename', () => {
     const content = '---\ntitle: Legacy Title\n---\n# Updated Title\n\nBody'
-    expect(deriveDisplayTitleState(content, 'legacy-title.md', 'Legacy Title')).toEqual({
+    expect(deriveDisplayTitleState({ content, filename: 'legacy-title.md', frontmatterTitle: 'Legacy Title' })).toEqual({
       title: 'Updated Title',
       hasH1: true,
     })
@@ -34,14 +62,22 @@ describe('deriveDisplayTitleState', () => {
 
   it('falls back to frontmatter title when no H1 is present', () => {
     const content = '---\ntitle: Legacy Title\n---\nBody'
-    expect(deriveDisplayTitleState(content, 'legacy-title.md', 'Legacy Title')).toEqual({
+    expect(deriveDisplayTitleState({ content, filename: 'legacy-title.md', frontmatterTitle: 'Legacy Title' })).toEqual({
       title: 'Legacy Title',
       hasH1: false,
     })
   })
 
+  it('reads the frontmatter title from content when no explicit title is passed', () => {
+    const content = '---\ntitle: Spring 2026\n---\n## Goals'
+    expect(deriveDisplayTitleState({ content, filename: 'spring-2026.md' })).toEqual({
+      title: 'Spring 2026',
+      hasH1: false,
+    })
+  })
+
   it('falls back to filename title when there is no H1 or frontmatter title', () => {
-    expect(deriveDisplayTitleState('Body only', 'renamed-note.md')).toEqual({
+    expect(deriveDisplayTitleState({ content: 'Body only', filename: 'renamed-note.md' })).toEqual({
       title: 'Renamed Note',
       hasH1: false,
     })

src/utils/noteTitle.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,22 @@
+import { parseFrontmatter } from './frontmatter'
 import { splitFrontmatter } from './wikilinks'
 
+interface ResolvedContentTitle {
+  source: 'h1' | 'frontmatter'
+  title: string
+}
+
+interface DisplayTitleInput {
+  content: string
+  filename: string
+  frontmatterTitle?: string | null
+}
+
+interface DisplayTitleState {
+  title: string
+  hasH1: boolean
+}
+
 function replaceWikilinkAliases(text: string): string {
   return text.replace(/\[\[[^|\]]+\|([^\]]+)\]\]/g, '$1')
 }
@@ -49,20 +66,46 @@ export function extractH1TitleFromContent(content: string): string | null {
   return null
 }
 
-export function deriveDisplayTitleState(
-  content: string,
-  filename: string,
-  frontmatterTitle?: string | null,
-): { title: string, hasH1: boolean } {
+export function extractFrontmatterTitleFromContent(content: string): string | null {
+  const title = parseFrontmatter(content).title
+  if (typeof title !== 'string') return null
+  const trimmed = title.trim()
+  return trimmed || null
+}
+
+function resolveContentTitle(content: string, frontmatterTitle?: string | null): ResolvedContentTitle | null {
   const h1Title = extractH1TitleFromContent(content)
   if (h1Title) {
-    return { title: h1Title, hasH1: true }
+    return { title: h1Title, source: 'h1' }
   }
 
-  const trimmedFrontmatterTitle = frontmatterTitle?.trim()
-  if (trimmedFrontmatterTitle) {
-    return { title: trimmedFrontmatterTitle, hasH1: false }
+  const resolvedFrontmatterTitle = frontmatterTitle?.trim() || extractFrontmatterTitleFromContent(content)
+  if (resolvedFrontmatterTitle) {
+    return { title: resolvedFrontmatterTitle, source: 'frontmatter' }
   }
 
-  return { title: filenameStemToTitle(filename), hasH1: false }
+  return null
+}
+
+export function contentDefinesDisplayTitle(content: string): boolean {
+  return resolveContentTitle(content) !== null
+}
+
+export function deriveDisplayTitleState({
+  content,
+  filename,
+  frontmatterTitle,
+}: DisplayTitleInput): DisplayTitleState {
+  const resolvedTitle = resolveContentTitle(content, frontmatterTitle)
+  if (resolvedTitle) {
+    return {
+      title: resolvedTitle.title,
+      hasH1: resolvedTitle.source === 'h1',
+    }
+  }
+
+  return {
+    title: filenameStemToTitle(filename),
+    hasH1: false,
+  }
 }

tests/fixtures/test-vault/quarter/spring-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+title: Spring 2026
+Is A: Quarter
+Status: Active
+---
+
+## Goals
+
+- [[Alpha Project]]
+- [[Note B]]

tests/smoke/h1-title-decoupled.spec.ts

@@ -69,12 +69,17 @@ test('creating an untitled draft hides the legacy title section in the editor',
   await expect(page.locator('.title-section[data-title-ui-visible]')).toHaveCount(0)
 })
 
-test('@smoke older notes with an H1 do not render the legacy title section', async ({ page }) => {
+test('@smoke older notes with a document title do not render the legacy title section', async ({ page }) => {
   await openNote(page, 'Alpha Project')
 
   await expect(page.locator('.bn-editor')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 5_000 })
   await expect(page.getByTestId('title-field-input')).toHaveCount(0)
   await expect(page.locator('.title-section[data-title-ui-visible]')).toHaveCount(0)
+
+  await openNote(page, 'Spring 2026')
+  await expect(page.locator('.bn-editor')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 5_000 })
+  await expect(page.getByTestId('title-field-input')).toHaveCount(0)
+  await expect(page.locator('.title-section[data-title-ui-visible]')).toHaveCount(0)
 })
 
 test('@smoke edited H1 titles drive note list, search, and wikilink autocomplete', async ({ page }) => {