feat: choose the startup query by namefeature/ui-state-persistence

The app opened whichever saved query sorted first alphabetically, which
is not a choice anyone made: [queries] is read through childKeys(), so
savedQueries().first() means "Flagged" before "Inbox" before "Unread"
rather than anything the user expressed.

[general] startup_query names the entry to open and defaults to Unread,
so a fresh install comes up on the unified unread list. Saved-query
button order is untouched and stays alphabetical.

A name matching no saved query falls back to the first one rather than
starting with an empty view. That is reported as a problem only when the
user actually wrote the name; the built-in default naming a query they
never created is not something they got wrong, and warning about it
would fire on every launch of a config that has no Unread entry.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

3 files changed, 60 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/src/config.cpp b/src/config.cpp
index a2caaee..e92c7f3 100644
--- a/src/config.cpp
+++ b/src/config.cpp
@@ -66,6 +66,14 @@ void Config::load(const QString &path)
     // is a problem, since the user asked for something and is not getting it.
     // The range check lives in MessageView::clampZoom(), the one place that
     // knows what the web view can render.
+    // Empty is treated as unset rather than as "a query named nothing".
+    const QString startup =
+        settings.value(QStringLiteral("startup_query")).toString().trimmed();
+    if (!startup.isEmpty()) {
+        m_startupQuery = startup;
+        m_startupQueryWasSet = true;
+    }
+
     const QVariant zoom = settings.value(QStringLiteral("message_zoom"));
     if (zoom.isValid()) {
         bool ok = false;
@@ -149,6 +157,34 @@ void Config::load(const QString &path)
     for (const QString &name : settings.childKeys())
         m_savedQueries.append({ name, settings.value(name).toString() });
     settings.endGroup();
+
+    // Checked here rather than where startup_query is read: [queries] is not
+    // parsed until now. Only a name the user actually wrote is worth a
+    // problem; the built-in default naming a query they never created is not
+    // something they got wrong.
+    if (m_startupQueryWasSet && !m_savedQueries.isEmpty()
+        && startupSavedQuery().name.compare(m_startupQuery,
+                                            Qt::CaseInsensitive) != 0) {
+        addProblem(QStringLiteral("Startup query '%1' is not a saved query; "
+                                  "opening '%2' instead.")
+                       .arg(m_startupQuery, startupSavedQuery().name));
+    }
+}
+
+SavedQuery Config::startupSavedQuery() const
+{
+    if (m_savedQueries.isEmpty())
+        return {};
+
+    for (const SavedQuery &query : m_savedQueries) {
+        if (query.name.compare(m_startupQuery, Qt::CaseInsensitive) == 0)
+            return query;
+    }
+
+    // Named a query that does not exist. Not worth a warning: the default is
+    // a name the user never wrote, so an install with no [queries] Unread
+    // entry would warn on every launch about a key it never set.
+    return m_savedQueries.first();
 }
 
 Account Config::account(const QString &key) const
diff --git a/src/config.h b/src/config.h
index 3e94249..3b7fc48 100644
--- a/src/config.h
+++ b/src/config.h
@@ -78,6 +78,18 @@ public:
     /// Optional alternate notmuch config file. Empty means "let notmuch decide".
     QString notmuchConfig() const { return m_notmuchConfig; }
 
+    /// The saved query to open at startup, by name. Falls back to "Unread"
+    /// when unset, and to the first saved query when no query by that name
+    /// exists: [queries] is read through childKeys(), which sorts
+    /// alphabetically, so "first" would otherwise mean whatever happens to
+    /// sort first rather than anything the user chose.
+    QString startupQuery() const { return m_startupQuery; }
+
+    /// The saved query startupQuery() names, or the first one when it names
+    /// nothing that exists. A default-constructed SavedQuery when there are
+    /// none at all.
+    SavedQuery startupSavedQuery() const;
+
     /// Starting message-pane zoom for a profile with no saved UI state. Once
     /// the user zooms, the state file remembers that instead, so this is only
     /// ever the default. Clamped by MessageView::clampZoom() on use.
@@ -107,6 +119,12 @@ private:
     QString m_syncCommand;
     QString m_notmuchConfig;
     qreal m_messageZoom = 1.0;
+    QString m_startupQuery = QStringLiteral("Unread");
+
+    /// Whether startup_query came from the config rather than being the
+    /// built-in default. Only a name the user wrote is worth reporting when
+    /// it matches no saved query.
+    bool m_startupQueryWasSet = false;
     QStringList m_warnings;
     QStringList m_problems;
 };
diff --git a/src/mainwindow.cpp b/src/mainwindow.cpp
index c4955b6..2a79988 100644
--- a/src/mainwindow.cpp
+++ b/src/mainwindow.cpp
@@ -171,8 +171,12 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(const Config &config, QWidget *parent)
     // modifier shortcuts such as Ctrl+Q still work there, which the old
     // filter blocked.
 
-    if (!m_config.savedQueries().isEmpty()) {
-        m_queryEdit->setText(m_config.savedQueries().first().query);
+    // Not savedQueries().first(): [queries] is read through childKeys(), which
+    // sorts alphabetically, so "first" means whatever happens to sort first
+    // rather than anything the user chose. Config resolves the name.
+    const SavedQuery startup = m_config.startupSavedQuery();
+    if (!startup.query.isEmpty()) {
+        m_queryEdit->setText(startup.query);
         runCurrentQuery();
     }
 }