From 0822c96e05a26cee370bbed683d4c14bec7bccb0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Narasimha-sc <166327228+Narasimha-sc@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2026 16:17:36 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] plans: first chat profile's avatar stored as its description

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 plans/2026-09-05-first-profile-avatar.md | 79 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
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+# The first chat profile's avatar is stored as its description
+
+`createProfileInNoProfileSetup` in `views/WelcomeView.kt`.
+
+## The defect
+
+Choosing a profile picture when creating the first chat profile silently loses it. The
+image is written to the profile's **description** instead, so the avatar never appears and
+the bio holds a base64 image that is never displayed either.
+
+## The cause
+
+`Profile`'s parameter order is:
+
+```kotlin
+data class Profile(
+  override val displayName: String,
+  override val fullName: String,
+  override val shortDescr: String?,
+  val description: String? = null,
+  override val image: String? = null,
+  ...
+```
+
+so the fourth positional argument is `description`, not `image`:
+
+```kotlin
+Profile(displayName.trim(), "", null, image)   // -> description = image
+```
+
+Both are `String?`, so this type-checks and there is no warning. Nothing downstream
+validates that a description looks like a description, and the UI simply renders no avatar
+— there is no error to notice.
+
+## Why it survived
+
+The path is awkward to reach. `createProfileInNoProfileSetup` is selected only by the
+`else` branch of `CreateProfile`'s submit, i.e. when `chatModel.localUserCreated.value` is
+not `true`:
+
+```kotlin
+if (chatModel.localUserCreated.value == true) {
+  createProfileInProfiles(...)     // named `image =` — correct
+} else {
+  createProfileInNoProfileSetup(...)   // positional — the bug
+}
+```
+
+Its only caller is the user picker's **"Create chat profile"** row, which is shown when
+`chatModel.desktopNoUserNoRemote` — desktop, with a database but no local user, not
+connected to a remote host. Ordinary onboarding does not go through it, and neither does
+Settings → Add profile.
+
+The sibling constructions are all correct, which is why the bug is isolated:
+`createProfileInProfiles` passes `image = image`, and `createProfileOnboarding` passes no
+image at all.
+
+## The fix
+
+Use the named argument:
+
+```kotlin
+- Profile(displayName.trim(), "", null, image)
++ Profile(displayName.trim(), "", null, image = image)
+```
+
+One word. No behaviour change on any other path.
+
+## Testing
+
+On desktop, with a database but no local chat profile, open the user picker and use
+"Create chat profile". Set a picture and a bio, create, then check the profile: the picture
+must be the avatar and the bio must be the bio. Before the fix the avatar is absent.
+
+## Notes
+
+Found while writing #7329, which adds a fourth `Profile` construction on this screen; that
+one uses `image =` from the start. Kept separate because this defect is pre-existing and
+independent of that feature.