2026-02-19 - Stabilize launch and autosave behavior

Timeline

(Context) Reviewed Tiny Typer scope against README intent and identified sluggish typing and launch friction.
(Action) Removed Python bridge persistence and moved note storage to debounced frontend localStorage.
(Action) Simplified launcher/runtime path by pinning to Python 3.13 and removing Qt fallback branching.
(Action) Switched packaging flow to onedir PyInstaller output with compression disabled for faster startup.
(Observation) Launch benchmarks showed better startup behavior on Python 3.13 than Python 3.14 plus Qt fallback.
(Action) Investigated persistence regression after packaging and traced it to private browsing mode behavior.
(Action) Enabled persistent webview storage, fixed storage origin consistency, and added close-time save flush events.
(Observation) Rebuilt executable and confirmed expected autosave behavior and stable launch path.

Tiny Typer was intended to remain a minimal, fast scratchpad with dark mode, export, and simple persistence.
Session goal was to reduce over-engineering while preserving the same user-facing style.
Follow-up testing revealed autosave loss across relaunch despite earlier localStorage migration.

Replaced per-keystroke Python IPC/file writes with debounced localStorage saves in the single-page frontend.
Kept both existing controls (Clear and Export MD) while simplifying internals.
Added dark startup background configuration in the webview window creation path to reduce white-flash startup.
Locked runtime to Python 3.13 for stable non-Qt startup and updated launcher/build documentation accordingly.
Updated PyInstaller configuration to onedir output and disabled UPX to prioritize startup responsiveness.
Updated build script to remove stale legacy onefile executable artifact before rebuilding.
Diagnosed autosave loss root cause in packaged runs: webview start defaults used private mode.
Set webview start to persistent mode with explicit storage path and retained stable localhost port for consistent origin.
Added beforeunload, pagehide, and visibility-change persistence flush events to protect against fast-close loss.
Rebuilt the app with the updated spec and validated compilation/build success on the pinned runtime.

Frontend-only debounced persistence removed the primary typing sluggishness source from bridge and disk churn.
Python 3.13 produced smoother startup than the Python 3.14 path that required Qt fallback for stability.
Packaged persistence failure was not a manual-save issue; it was caused by private-mode storage behavior.
A stale top-level legacy executable in dist could mislead manual testing toward outdated behavior.

Add a small non-intrusive save-state indicator if future troubleshooting requires clearer persistence visibility.
Consider offering an optional portable onefile build profile alongside the default faster onedir profile.

Boundary Reminder:
Seeds. No maintenance. No roadmap.