Lay the notes screen out like a notes app

The list of notes and the note being written are one screen now, two panes: the notes on the left, the open one on the right, side by side where there is room and one at a time on a phone, where the back button returns to the list. The search box moved into the top of that list, and its results *are* the list — searching is a way of finding a note, not a separate place to be, and a tab for it was a tab too many. Emptying the box brings the whole list back. Opening a hit opens that day at the lesson that matched, rather than at the top of a day with six of them. A row has to say what the note holds, so the listing carries it: the subjects a day covers, how many lessons, and the first line actually written in it. One request for the whole list rather than one per note. `plainText` is now one rule in one place for wherever a note is shown rather than edited — the search snippet and the list row both went through their own half-copy of it, and the row's copy rendered a table as `| | |` and left `_Fazit_` wearing its markers. It strips one leading marker, not each in turn, because `## 1. Deutsch` keeps its lesson number and the list rule was eating it. Driven in Firefox at both widths: the list, the search, opening a hit, the jump to the lesson, and the phone's list-then-note. 390 unit tests, 116/117 smoke. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Merge: a pasted note kept whole, and search over the notes
2026-09-21 18:22:47 +02:00 · 2026-09-21 18:09:53 +02:00
9 changed files with 478 additions and 190 deletions
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -86,9 +86,11 @@ teachers, rooms, cancellations dropped and substitutions marked. Each heading is
 indexed as its own lesson, so a search answers "my own note, Deutsch,
 18.09.2026" rather than "Friday".

-A **Suche** tab searches your own notes straight from the files — no crawl in
+It reads like a notes app: the notes on the left, the open one on the right, and
+a search box above the list. Search goes straight to the files — no crawl in
 between, so a lesson written this morning is findable this morning — and a
-result names the lesson it matched in rather than the day.
+result names the lesson it matched in rather than the day, opening that day at
+that lesson.

 Writing is **formatted, not Markdown**: headings, bold, lists, tick boxes,
 quotes, links and tables come from a toolbar, and `MD` shows the Markdown
--- a/docs/NOTES.md
+++ b/docs/NOTES.md
@@ -68,7 +68,22 @@ On a phone it is worth adding to the home screen — it has a manifest and opens
 standalone, which is the difference between "a page I have to find" and "the
 thing I open in a free period".

-**Notizen** is one screen: the day, `‹ ›` to move between days, and the editor.
+**Notizen** is one screen in two panes: your notes on the left, the open one on
+the right. Side by side where there is room; on a phone the list comes first and
+a note pushes over it, with `‹ Notizen` to come back.
+
+The list is every note, newest first — the day, the lessons it covers, and the
+first thing written in it:
+
+```
+Freitag, 18.09.2026
+Deutsch · LF07
+Dreischritt: These, Argument mit Beleg, Fazit.
+```
+
+**＋** opens today, whether or not it has a note yet — the one thing a list of
+notes cannot show you, because an empty day is not a note. `‹ ›` and the date
+field move between days from there.

 - Opening a day with no note yet **fills in that day's lessons from WebUntis** —
  numbered, with times, teacher and room, cancellations left out and
@@ -130,17 +145,21 @@ so rather than being quietly reduced. `test/app-markdown.test.ts` is what holds
 that promise up: every construct in this document goes in and comes back out
 unchanged.

-### Suche — the notes themselves
+### Searching, in the list

-The **Suche** tab searches your own notes and nothing else. Every word has to
-appear, in any order, ignoring case and accents; there is no stemming, so
-*Argument* does not find *Argumente*.
+The box above the list searches your own notes and nothing else, and the results
+*are* the list — searching is a way of finding a note, not a separate place to
+be. Emptying the box brings the whole list back.
+
+Every word has to appear, in any order, ignoring case and accents; there is no
+stemming, so *Argument* does not find *Argumente*.

 A result names the **lesson**, not the day — `1. LF10 — 08:00–08:45` with the
-date beside it — because a day note holds five or six lessons and "Freitag" says
-nothing about which one matched. Tapping a day note opens it in the editor;
-anything else, such as a note from the Apple Notes import, opens read-only,
-since the editor is day-shaped and those notes have no day.
+date under it and the matched words marked — because a day note holds five or
+six lessons and "Freitag" says nothing about which one matched. Opening a hit
+opens that day **at that lesson**. A note that is not a school day, such as one
+from the Apple Notes import, opens read-only: the editor is day-shaped and those
+notes have no day.

 It reads the **files**, not the index. That is the point: notes reach the
 Postgres index only on a full crawl, so a lesson written this morning would not
--- a/scripts/smoke.mjs
+++ b/scripts/smoke.mjs
@@ -742,7 +742,9 @@ console.log('\n== web app ==');
 		'the shell loads the app as a module, so its imports resolve',
 		/<script type="module" src="app\.js">/.test(shellText) &&
 			shellText.includes('data-command="bold"') &&
-			shellText.includes('id="search-form"'),
+			shellText.includes('id="search-form"') &&
+			// The note list and the editor are one screen now, not two tabs.
+			shellText.includes('id="rail-list"'),
 	);

 	const anonymousSession = await (await fetch(`${root}/app/session`)).json();
@@ -831,6 +833,21 @@ console.log('\n== web app ==');
 		`${bySubject.count} note(s)`,
 	);

+	// What a row in the app's note list shows, which is why the listing carries
+	// it: one request for the whole list rather than one per note.
+	const listing = await (await fetch(`${root}/api/notes?limit=5`, { headers: withSession })).json();
+	const dayRow = listing.notes?.find((note) => note.path === '2026/2026-09-18.md');
+	check(
+		'the listing says what a note holds, without its body',
+		dayRow !== undefined && dayRow.text === undefined && dayRow.lessons === 1 && dayRow.subjects?.includes('Geschichte'),
+		`${dayRow?.lessons} lesson(s), subjects ${dayRow?.subjects?.join('/')}`,
+	);
+	check(
+		'and a preview that reads as prose',
+		/Weimarer Republik/.test(dayRow?.preview ?? '') && !/[#*|]/.test(dayRow?.preview ?? ''),
+		dayRow?.preview,
+	);
+
 	// Full text over the files themselves — the app's search box. It reads disk,
 	// so a note written seconds ago is findable without a crawl, which is the
 	// whole reason it does not go through the index.
--- a/src/core/notes.ts
+++ b/src/core/notes.ts
@@ -637,7 +637,7 @@ function snippetAround(text: string, word: string): string {
 	const at = lines.findIndex((line) => fold(line).includes(word));
 	const preview = lines
 		.slice(Math.max(0, at === -1 ? 0 : at), (at === -1 ? 0 : at) + 2)
-		.map(plainLine)
+		.map(plainText)
 		.join(' ')
 		.replace(/\s{2,}/g, ' ')
 		.trim();
@@ -647,24 +647,40 @@ function snippetAround(text: string, word: string): string {
 /**
 * One line of Markdown as the words it holds.
 *
- * A snippet is read, not parsed: `| 1NF | atomare Werte |` says more as
- * "1NF · atomare Werte", and a row of `**` in a preview is noise.
+ * Wherever a note is *shown* rather than edited — a search snippet, a row in
+ * the app's note list — this is what it goes through. A line is read there,
+ * not parsed: `| 1NF | atomare Werte |` says more as "1NF · atomare Werte",
+ * and `_Fazit_` says exactly as much as "Fazit" while looking like a mistake.
 */
-function plainLine(line: string): string {
+export function plainText(line: string): string {
 	let value = line.trim();
 	if (/^\|.*\|$/.test(value)) {
 		// A table row, including the `|---|---|` rule, which says nothing at all.
 		if (/^\|[\s:|-]*\|$/.test(value)) return '';
 		value = value.slice(1, -1).split('|').map((cell) => cell.trim()).filter(Boolean).join(' · ');
 	}
-	return value
-		.replace(/^#{1,6}\s+/, '')
-		.replace(/^>\s?/, '')
-		.replace(/^[-*+]\s+(\[[ xX]\]\s+)?/, '')
-		.replace(/^\d{1,9}[.)]\s+/, '')
-		.replace(/(\*\*|__|~~)/g, '')
-		.replace(/`+/g, '')
-		.trim();
+	// One leading marker, not all of them in turn: a heading reading
+	// `## 1. Deutsch` keeps its lesson number, which the list rule would
+	// otherwise take for a bullet and eat.
+	for (const marker of [/^#{1,6}\s+/, /^>\s?/, /^[-*+]\s+(\[[ xX]\]\s+)?/, /^\d{1,9}[.)]\s+/]) {
+		if (marker.test(value)) {
+			value = value.replace(marker, '');
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return (
+		value
+			.replace(/(\*\*|__|~~)/g, '')
+			// Single markers only where they are emphasis, so snake_case survives.
+			.replace(/(?<![\w*])\*([^*]+)\*(?![\w*])/g, '$1')
+			.replace(/(?<![\w_])_([^_]+)_(?![\w_])/g, '$1')
+			.replace(/`+/g, '')
+			// A link reads as its label; the target is not for a preview.
+			.replace(/\[([^\]]*)\]\([^)]*\)/g, '$1')
+			.replace(/\\([\\`*_[\]#>~|+.()-])/g, '$1')
+			.trim()
+	);
 }

 // --- helpers -------------------------------------------------------------
--- a/src/http/api.ts
+++ b/src/http/api.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@ import {
 	NoteNotFound,
 	filterNotes,
 	readNoteAt,
+	plainText,
 	readNotes,
+	noteSubjects,
+	noteSections,
 	searchNotes,
 	replaceNote,
 	writeNote,
@@ -41,6 +44,24 @@ import type { Services } from '../services.ts';
 * index and mirror, `/token` only to the server's own token, and every upstream
 * call either triggers is a GET.
 */
+/**
+ * The first words of a note, for a list row.
+ *
+ * Headings and list markers are dropped: a row that reads "## 1. Deutsch —
+ * 08:00" repeats what the row already says, and the point of the line is the
+ * first thing that was actually written down.
+ */
+function previewOf(text: string): string {
+	for (const line of text.split('\n')) {
+		// Headings are skipped rather than stripped: the row above already says
+		// which lessons the day holds, and repeating one is not a preview.
+		if (/^#{1,6}\s/.test(line.trim())) continue;
+		const plain = plainText(line);
+		if (plain) return plain.length > 120 ? `${plain.slice(0, 117)}…` : plain;
+	}
+	return '';
+}
+
 const NO_NOTES_DIR =
 	'This server keeps no notes: NOTES_DIR is not set on it. See docs/NOTES.md.';

@@ -280,8 +301,20 @@ export function createApiRouter(services: Services): Router {
 				writable: services.config.notesWritable,
 				count: notes.length,
 				// The body is dropped from a listing: a term of notes is megabytes,
-				// and the CLI asks for the ones it wants by path.
-				notes: notes.slice(0, limit).map(({ text, ...rest }) => rest),
+				// and the CLI asks for the ones it wants by path. What replaces it
+				// is what a list *shows* — the lessons a day covers and a line of
+				// its text — so the app's note list needs one request, not one per
+				// note.
+				notes: notes.slice(0, limit).map(({ text, ...rest }) => {
+					const note = { ...rest, text };
+					const sections = noteSections(note);
+					return {
+						...rest,
+						subjects: noteSubjects(note),
+						lessons: sections.length,
+						preview: previewOf(note.text),
+					};
+				}),
 			});
 		} catch (error) {
 			if (error instanceof NoteNotFound) return res.status(404).json({ error: 'not_found', message: error.message });
--- a/src/http/app/app.css
+++ b/src/http/app/app.css
@@ -72,6 +72,97 @@ header { border-bottom: 1px solid var(--line); }

 .view { flex: 1; min-height: 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; padding: 0.75rem; gap: 0.5rem; }

+/* --- the notes screen: a list, and the note that is open ---------------- */
+
+/*
+ * Two panes where there is room, one at a time where there is not. The
+ * breakpoint is about where a phone in landscape stops being a phone: below it
+ * `data-pane` on the container decides which of the two is on screen, and the
+ * back button is the way out of the note.
+ */
+.notes { flex-direction: row; gap: 0; padding: 0; }
+
+.rail {
+	flex: 0 0 18rem;
+	min-width: 0;
+	display: flex;
+	flex-direction: column;
+	border-right: 1px solid var(--line);
+	background: var(--card);
+}
+
+.rail-head { display: flex; gap: 0.4rem; padding: 0.6rem 0.6rem 0.4rem; }
+
+.rail-head form { flex: 1; min-width: 0; }
+
+.rail-head input {
+	width: 100%;
+	padding: 0.55rem 0.7rem;
+	border: 1px solid var(--line);
+	border-radius: 0.5rem;
+	background: var(--bg);
+	color: var(--fg);
+	font: inherit;
+	font-size: 0.9rem;
+}
+
+#today { flex: 0 0 auto; width: 2.5rem; padding: 0; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 1; }
+
+#rail-status { padding: 0 0.7rem 0.3rem; }
+
+.rail-list { flex: 1; min-height: 0; overflow-y: auto; padding: 0 0.4rem 0.6rem; }
+
+/* A whole row is the target: on a phone the thing being tapped is the note,
+   not a link inside it. */
+.row {
+	display: block;
+	width: 100%;
+	text-align: left;
+	padding: 0.5rem 0.6rem;
+	margin-bottom: 0.25rem;
+	border: 1px solid transparent;
+	border-radius: 0.5rem;
+	background: none;
+	color: var(--fg);
+	font: inherit;
+	cursor: pointer;
+}
+
+.row:hover { background: var(--bg); }
+
+.row[aria-current="true"] {
+	background: var(--bg);
+	border-color: var(--accent);
+}
+
+.row-title { font-weight: 600; font-size: 0.95rem; }
+.row-line { margin: 0.1rem 0 0; color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.85rem; line-height: 1.35; }
+/* Two lines of preview and no more: a row is a glance, not a read. */
+.row-line.clamp {
+	display: -webkit-box;
+	-webkit-line-clamp: 2;
+	-webkit-box-orient: vertical;
+	overflow: hidden;
+}
+
+.row mark { background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 28%, transparent); color: inherit; border-radius: 0.15rem; }
+
+.detail { flex: 1; min-width: 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 0.5rem; padding: 0.75rem; min-height: 0; }
+
+/* Only a phone needs a way back to the list; on a wide screen it is never gone. */
+.back { display: none; align-self: flex-start; padding: 0.4rem 0.7rem; font-size: 0.9rem; }
+
+@media (max-width: 720px) {
+	.rail { flex: 1; border-right: 0; }
+	.notes[data-pane="list"] .detail { display: none; }
+	.notes[data-pane="note"] .rail { display: none; }
+	.notes[data-pane="note"] .back { display: block; }
+}
+
+.note-preview { flex: 1; min-height: 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 0.4rem; }
+.note-preview h2 { margin: 0; font-size: 1.05rem; }
+.note-preview p { margin: 0; }
+
 /* --- the day bar ------------------------------------------------------- */

 .daybar { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 0.5rem; }
@@ -271,51 +362,6 @@ button:disabled { opacity: 0.5; cursor: default; }
 	font-size: 0.9rem;
 }

-/* --- search ------------------------------------------------------------ */
-
-.searchbar { display: flex; gap: 0.5rem; }
-
-.searchbar input {
-	flex: 1;
-	min-width: 0;
-	padding: 0.7rem;
-	border: 1px solid var(--line);
-	border-radius: 0.5rem;
-	background: var(--bg);
-	color: var(--fg);
-	font: inherit;
-}
-
-.searchbar button { background: var(--accent); border-color: var(--accent); color: #ffffff; font-weight: 600; }
-
-.results { flex: 1; min-height: 0; overflow-y: auto; display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 0.5rem; }
-
-/* A whole result is the target: on a phone the thing being tapped is a card,
-   not a link inside one. */
-.hit {
-	width: 100%;
-	text-align: left;
-	padding: 0.6rem 0.75rem;
-	border: 1px solid var(--line);
-	border-radius: 0.5rem;
-	background: var(--card);
-	color: var(--fg);
-	font: inherit;
-	cursor: pointer;
-	display: block;
-}
-
-.hit-head { display: flex; gap: 0.5rem; align-items: baseline; flex-wrap: wrap; }
-.hit-subject { font-weight: 600; }
-.hit-date { color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.85rem; }
-.hit-snippet { margin: 0.25rem 0 0; color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.4; }
-.hit mark { background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 25%, transparent); color: inherit; border-radius: 0.15rem; }
-
-.note-preview { flex: 1; min-height: 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 0.5rem; }
-.note-preview h2 { margin: 0; font-size: 1.05rem; }
-.note-preview .editor { cursor: default; }
-#search-back { align-self: flex-start; }
-
 /* --- cards (login, settings) ------------------------------------------- */

 .card {
--- a/src/http/app/app.js
+++ b/src/http/app/app.js
@@ -37,19 +37,21 @@ const ui = {
 	loginError: document.getElementById('login-error'),
 	app: document.getElementById('app'),
 	tabNotes: document.getElementById('tab-notes'),
-	tabSearch: document.getElementById('tab-search'),
 	tabSettings: document.getElementById('tab-settings'),
 	viewNotes: document.getElementById('view-notes'),
-	viewSearch: document.getElementById('view-search'),
 	viewSettings: document.getElementById('view-settings'),
 	searchForm: document.getElementById('search-form'),
 	searchInput: document.getElementById('search-input'),
-	searchStatus: document.getElementById('search-status'),
-	searchResults: document.getElementById('search-results'),
-	searchNote: document.getElementById('search-note'),
-	searchNoteTitle: document.getElementById('search-note-title'),
-	searchNoteBody: document.getElementById('search-note-body'),
-	searchBack: document.getElementById('search-back'),
+	railStatus: document.getElementById('rail-status'),
+	railList: document.getElementById('rail-list'),
+	today: document.getElementById('today'),
+	back: document.getElementById('back'),
+	daybar: document.querySelector('.daybar'),
+	actions: document.querySelector('.actions'),
+	notePreview: document.getElementById('note-preview'),
+	notePreviewTitle: document.getElementById('note-preview-title'),
+	notePreviewPath: document.getElementById('note-preview-path'),
+	notePreviewBody: document.getElementById('note-preview-body'),
 	prev: document.getElementById('prev'),
 	next: document.getElementById('next'),
 	dayTitle: document.getElementById('day-title'),
@@ -203,6 +205,18 @@ function setStatus(message, kind) {
 	ui.dayStatus.className = 'status' + (kind ? ' ' + kind : '');
 }

+/** A school day, in the editor, with the list showing which one. */
+async function openDay(date) {
+	ui.notePreview.hidden = true;
+	showEditor(true);
+	await loadDay(date);
+}
+
+/** Where a day's note lives, which is also its id in the list. */
+function dayPathFor(date) {
+	return date.slice(0, 4) + '/' + date + '.md';
+}
+
 async function loadDay(date) {
 	// Anything unsaved goes to the draft before the view moves, or switching
 	// days would be a way to lose a lesson.
@@ -291,6 +305,7 @@ async function loadDay(date) {

 	describeLessons(info);
 	ui.fill.hidden = !day.missing;
+	markOpenRow();
 }

 function describeLessons(info) {
@@ -330,9 +345,12 @@ async function saveDay(automatic) {
 			// with, and sending null would look like "I saw no version".
 			...(day.modifiedAt ? { expectedModifiedAt: day.modifiedAt } : {}),
 		});
+		const isNew = !day.modifiedAt;
 		day.saved = text;
 		day.modifiedAt = result.modifiedAt;
 		day.dirty = false;
+		// A day that had no note until now is not in the list yet.
+		if (isNew && !ui.searchInput.value.trim()) void loadRail();
 		day.conflicted = false;
 		ui.conflict.hidden = true;
 		clearDraft(day.date);
@@ -429,82 +447,112 @@ function addFact(term, value) {
 	ui.serverState.append(dt, dd);
 }

-// --- search --------------------------------------------------------------
+// --- the note list -------------------------------------------------------

 /*
- * The notes themselves, read from disk by the server rather than from the
- * index. A lesson written this morning is findable this morning, which is most
- * of what anyone searches their own notes for — the MCP `search` tool is the
- * other half, spanning Schulcloud and the class register at the cost of being
- * only as fresh as the last crawl.
+ * The rail: every note, newest first, with the open one marked — and the
+ * search box at the top of it, because searching your notes is a way of
+ * finding one, not a separate place to be.
+ *
+ * Searching reads the **files** on the server rather than the Postgres index.
+ * Notes reach that index only on a full crawl, so a lesson written this
+ * morning would not be findable this morning, which is most of what anyone
+ * searches their own notes for. The `search` tool in Claude is the other half:
+ * it spans Schulcloud and the class register too, at the cost of being only as
+ * fresh as the last crawl.
 */

 const SEARCH_DEBOUNCE_MS = 350;
 /** Day notes live at `2026/2026-09-04.md`; anything else opens read-only. */
 const DAY_NOTE = /^\d{4}\/(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2})\.md$/;
+
 let searchTimer = 0;
 let searchTerms = [];

-async function runSearch(query) {
-	window.clearTimeout(searchTimer);
-	const value = query.trim();
-	ui.searchNote.hidden = true;
-	if (value.length < 2) {
-		ui.searchResults.replaceChildren();
-		ui.searchStatus.textContent = value ? 'Mindestens zwei Zeichen.' : '';
-		return;
-	}
-	ui.searchStatus.textContent = 'Wird gesucht …';
+async function loadRail() {
+	ui.railStatus.textContent = 'Wird geladen …';
 	try {
-		const result = await api('/api/notes/search?q=' + encodeURIComponent(value) + '&limit=60');
-		searchTerms = value.split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean);
-		showHits(result.hits);
-		ui.searchStatus.textContent =
-			result.count === 0
-				? 'Nichts gefunden. Die Suche braucht jedes Wort — und kennt keine Wortformen.'
-				: result.count + ' Treffer' + (result.count >= 60 ? ' (mehr vorhanden)' : '') + '.';
+		const listing = await api('/api/notes?limit=400');
+		searchTerms = [];
+		showRows(listing.notes.map(noteRow));
+		ui.railStatus.textContent =
+			listing.count === 0
+				? 'Noch keine Notizen. ＋ öffnet den heutigen Tag.'
+				: listing.count + ' Notiz(en)' + (listing.notes.length < listing.count ? ', neueste 400' : '');
 	} catch (error) {
 		if (error.message === 'unauthorized') return;
-		ui.searchResults.replaceChildren();
-		ui.searchStatus.textContent = error.status ? error.message : 'Offline — die Suche braucht den Server.';
+		ui.railList.replaceChildren();
+		ui.railStatus.textContent = error.status ? error.message : 'Offline — die Liste braucht den Server.';
 	}
 }

-function showHits(hits) {
+/** One note as a row: what it is, and the first thing written in it. */
+function noteRow(note) {
+	const lessons = note.lessons > 0 ? note.lessons + ' Stunde' + (note.lessons === 1 ? '' : 'n') : '';
+	const subjects = (note.subjects || []).join(' · ');
+	return {
+		path: note.path,
+		date: note.date,
+		title: note.title,
+		// Subjects say more than the date repeated, and the preview says more
+		// than either when a note is a single page of prose.
+		line: subjects || lessons || note.preview || '',
+		second: subjects && note.preview ? note.preview : '',
+	};
+}
+
+/** One search hit as a row: the lesson it matched in, and why. */
+function hitRow(hit) {
+	return {
+		path: hit.path,
+		date: hit.date,
+		heading: hit.heading,
+		title: hit.heading || hit.subject || hit.title,
+		line: hit.date ? germanDate(hit.date) : hit.path,
+		second: hit.snippet,
+		mark: true,
+	};
+}
+
+function showRows(rows) {
 	const list = document.createDocumentFragment();
-	for (const hit of hits) {
-		const card = document.createElement('button');
-		card.type = 'button';
-		card.className = 'hit';
+	for (const row of rows) {
+		const item = document.createElement('button');
+		item.type = 'button';
+		item.className = 'row';
+		item.dataset.path = row.path;
+		if (row.heading) item.dataset.heading = row.heading;

-		const head = document.createElement('div');
-		head.className = 'hit-head';
-		const subject = document.createElement('span');
-		subject.className = 'hit-subject';
-		// The lesson if there is one, else the note — never just "Freitag".
-		subject.textContent = hit.heading || hit.subject || hit.title;
-		const when = document.createElement('span');
-		when.className = 'hit-date';
-		when.textContent = hit.date ? germanDate(hit.date) : hit.path;
-		head.append(subject, when);
+		const title = document.createElement('div');
+		title.className = 'row-title';
+		if (row.mark) highlight(title, row.title);
+		else title.textContent = row.title;
+		item.append(title);

-		const snippet = document.createElement('p');
-		snippet.className = 'hit-snippet';
-		highlight(snippet, hit.snippet);
+		for (const [text, clamp] of [
+			[row.line, false],
+			[row.second, true],
+		]) {
+			if (!text) continue;
+			const line = document.createElement('p');
+			line.className = 'row-line' + (clamp ? ' clamp' : '');
+			if (row.mark) highlight(line, text);
+			else line.textContent = text;
+			item.append(line);
+		}

-		card.append(head, snippet);
-		card.addEventListener('click', () => openHit(hit));
-		list.append(card);
+		item.addEventListener('click', () => void openRow(row));
+		list.append(item);
 	}
-	ui.searchResults.replaceChildren(list);
+	ui.railList.replaceChildren(list);
+	markOpenRow();
 }

 /**
 * The matched words marked, without building HTML from them.
 *
- * A snippet is the user's own text, but it reaches here through a URL and a
- * JSON response, and `innerHTML` on anything that has been round-tripped is
- * how an editor ends up rendering what it should be showing.
+ * A snippet is the user's own text, and text that has been through a URL and a
+ * JSON response is exactly what should not be handed to `innerHTML`.
 */
 function highlight(target, text) {
 	const terms = searchTerms.map(fold).filter((term) => term.length > 1);
@@ -522,18 +570,18 @@ function highlight(target, text) {
 	marks.sort((a, b) => a[0] - b[0]);

 	let cursor = 0;
-	for (const [start, end] of marks) {
-		if (start < cursor) continue;
-		target.append(text.slice(cursor, start));
+	for (const [from, to] of marks) {
+		if (from < cursor) continue;
+		target.append(text.slice(cursor, from));
 		const mark = document.createElement('mark');
-		mark.textContent = text.slice(start, end);
+		mark.textContent = text.slice(from, to);
 		target.append(mark);
-		cursor = end;
+		cursor = to;
 	}
 	target.append(text.slice(cursor));
 }

-/** Lowercase without accents, the same folding the server searches with. */
+/** Lowercase without accents — the same folding the server searches with. */
 function fold(value) {
 	return value.toLowerCase().normalize('NFD').replace(/\p{Diacritic}/gu, '');
 }
@@ -543,33 +591,103 @@ function germanDate(date) {
 	return parts[2] + '.' + parts[1] + '.' + parts[0];
 }

-/**
- * A result, opened.
- *
- * A day note opens in the editor, because that is where it is written. Anything
- * else — an imported note, a page of revision — has no day to open, so it is
- * shown read-only rather than forced into a day-shaped screen.
- */
-async function openHit(hit) {
-	const day = DAY_NOTE.exec(hit.path);
-	if (day) {
-		showTab('notes');
-		await loadDay(day[1]);
+async function runSearch(query) {
+	window.clearTimeout(searchTimer);
+	const value = query.trim();
+	if (value.length === 0) return loadRail();
+	if (value.length < 2) {
+		ui.railStatus.textContent = 'Mindestens zwei Zeichen.';
 		return;
 	}
-	ui.searchStatus.textContent = 'Wird geöffnet …';
+	ui.railStatus.textContent = 'Wird gesucht …';
 	try {
-		const note = await api('/api/notes?path=' + encodeURIComponent(hit.path));
-		ui.searchNoteTitle.textContent = note.title;
-		// The note is Markdown from our own store, and markdownToHtml escapes
-		// everything it did not produce itself — the same parser the editor
-		// trusts with the same input.
-		ui.searchNoteBody.innerHTML = markdownToHtml(note.text ?? '');
-		ui.searchNote.hidden = false;
-		ui.searchStatus.textContent = note.path;
+		const result = await api('/api/notes/search?q=' + encodeURIComponent(value) + '&limit=100');
+		searchTerms = value.split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean);
+		showRows(result.hits.map(hitRow));
+		ui.railStatus.textContent =
+			result.count === 0
+				? 'Nichts gefunden — jedes Wort muss vorkommen.'
+				: result.count + ' Treffer' + (result.count >= 100 ? ' (mehr vorhanden)' : '');
 	} catch (error) {
 		if (error.message === 'unauthorized') return;
-		ui.searchStatus.textContent = 'Konnte die Notiz nicht öffnen: ' + error.message;
+		ui.railList.replaceChildren();
+		ui.railStatus.textContent = error.status ? error.message : 'Offline — die Suche braucht den Server.';
+	}
+}
+
+/**
+ * A row, opened.
+ *
+ * A school day opens in the editor, because that is where it is written.
+ * Anything else — an imported note, a page of revision — has no day to open, so
+ * it is shown read-only rather than forced into a day-shaped screen.
+ */
+async function openRow(row) {
+	const day = DAY_NOTE.exec(row.path);
+	showPane('note');
+	if (day) {
+		ui.notePreview.hidden = true;
+		showEditor(true);
+		await loadDay(day[1]);
+		// A search hit names a lesson, so put that lesson on screen rather than
+		// the top of a day with six of them.
+		if (row.heading) scrollToHeading(row.heading);
+		return;
+	}
+	await showNoteReadOnly(row.path);
+}
+
+function scrollToHeading(heading) {
+	const wanted = fold(heading).trim();
+	for (const element of ui.editor.querySelectorAll('h2')) {
+		if (fold(element.textContent).trim() === wanted) {
+			element.scrollIntoView({ block: 'start' });
+			return;
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+async function showNoteReadOnly(path) {
+	showEditor(false);
+	ui.notePreview.hidden = false;
+	ui.notePreviewTitle.textContent = '…';
+	try {
+		const note = await api('/api/notes?path=' + encodeURIComponent(path));
+		ui.notePreviewTitle.textContent = note.title;
+		ui.notePreviewPath.textContent = note.path + ' — schreibgeschützt, weil diese Notiz kein Schultag ist.';
+		// Markdown from our own store, through the parser the editor trusts with
+		// the same input: it escapes everything it did not produce itself.
+		ui.notePreviewBody.innerHTML = markdownToHtml(note.text ?? '');
+		day.path = note.path;
+		markOpenRow();
+	} catch (error) {
+		if (error.message === 'unauthorized') return;
+		ui.notePreviewTitle.textContent = 'Konnte die Notiz nicht öffnen';
+		ui.notePreviewPath.textContent = error.message;
+	}
+}
+
+/** The day editor and everything that belongs to it, on or off. */
+function showEditor(on) {
+	for (const element of [ui.daybar, ui.dayStatus, ui.toolbar, ui.actions]) element.hidden = !on;
+	ui.editor.hidden = !on || editor.mode !== 'rich';
+	ui.source.hidden = !on || editor.mode !== 'source';
+	// The hint belongs to whatever is loaded next; leaving it visible and empty
+	// would cost a line of editor for nothing.
+	if (!on) {
+		ui.conflict.hidden = true;
+		ui.editorHint.hidden = true;
+	}
+}
+
+function showPane(pane) {
+	ui.viewNotes.dataset.pane = pane;
+}
+
+/** Marks the row whose note is open, whichever list is showing. */
+function markOpenRow() {
+	for (const row of ui.railList.querySelectorAll('.row')) {
+		row.setAttribute('aria-current', String(row.dataset.path === day.path));
 	}
 }

@@ -587,16 +705,12 @@ function showApp() {
 }

 function showTab(name) {
-	for (const [tab, view, id] of [
-		[ui.tabNotes, ui.viewNotes, 'notes'],
-		[ui.tabSearch, ui.viewSearch, 'search'],
-		[ui.tabSettings, ui.viewSettings, 'settings'],
-	]) {
-		view.hidden = name !== id;
-		tab.setAttribute('aria-current', name === id ? 'page' : 'false');
-	}
-	if (name === 'settings') void loadSettings();
-	if (name === 'search') ui.searchInput.focus();
+	const notes = name !== 'settings';
+	ui.viewNotes.hidden = !notes;
+	ui.viewSettings.hidden = notes;
+	ui.tabNotes.setAttribute('aria-current', notes ? 'page' : 'false');
+	ui.tabSettings.setAttribute('aria-current', notes ? 'false' : 'page');
+	if (!notes) void loadSettings();
 }

 // --- wiring --------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -609,6 +723,8 @@ ui.loginForm.addEventListener('submit', async (event) => {
 		ui.password.value = '';
 		showApp();
 		await loadDay(day.date);
+		if (window.matchMedia('(min-width: 721px)').matches) showPane('note');
+		await loadRail();
 	} catch (error) {
 		ui.loginError.textContent =
 			error.status === 429 ? 'Zu viele Versuche. ' + error.message : 'Passwort falsch.';
@@ -622,7 +738,6 @@ ui.logout.addEventListener('click', async () => {
 });

 ui.tabNotes.addEventListener('click', () => showTab('notes'));
-ui.tabSearch.addEventListener('click', () => showTab('search'));
 ui.tabSettings.addEventListener('click', () => showTab('settings'));

 ui.searchForm.addEventListener('submit', (event) => {
@@ -638,14 +753,18 @@ ui.searchInput.addEventListener('input', () => {
 	searchTimer = window.setTimeout(() => void runSearch(value), SEARCH_DEBOUNCE_MS);
 });

-ui.searchBack.addEventListener('click', () => {
-	ui.searchNote.hidden = true;
+ui.today.addEventListener('click', () => {
+	// The day you are in, whether or not it has a note yet — the one thing the
+	// list cannot show, because an empty day is not a note.
+	void openRow({ path: dayPathFor(today()) });
 });

-ui.prev.addEventListener('click', () => void loadDay(shiftDate(day.date, -1)));
-ui.next.addEventListener('click', () => void loadDay(shiftDate(day.date, 1)));
+ui.back.addEventListener('click', () => showPane('list'));
+
+ui.prev.addEventListener('click', () => void openDay(shiftDate(day.date, -1)));
+ui.next.addEventListener('click', () => void openDay(shiftDate(day.date, 1)));
 ui.dayDate.addEventListener('change', () => {
-	if (ui.dayDate.value) void loadDay(ui.dayDate.value);
+	if (ui.dayDate.value) void openDay(ui.dayDate.value);
 });

 ui.save.addEventListener('click', () => void saveDay(false));
@@ -708,4 +827,8 @@ void (async () => {
 	}
 	showApp();
 	await loadDay(day.date);
+	// Wide enough for both panes: the day is already open beside the list.
+	// Narrow: the list comes first, the way a notes app opens.
+	if (window.matchMedia('(min-width: 721px)').matches) showPane('note');
+	await loadRail();
 })();
--- a/src/http/app/index.html
+++ b/src/http/app/index.html
@@ -27,13 +27,29 @@
 	<header>
 		<nav class="tabs">
 			<button type="button" id="tab-notes" class="tab" aria-current="page">Notizen</button>
-			<button type="button" id="tab-search" class="tab">Suche</button>
 			<button type="button" id="tab-settings" class="tab">Einstellungen</button>
 		</nav>
 	</header>

 	<!-- Notes: one school day per note, one heading per lesson. -->
-	<main id="view-notes" class="view">
+	<!-- Two panes: the notes on the left, the open one on the right. Side by
+	     side where there is room; one at a time on a phone, where `data-pane`
+	     says which, and the back button returns to the list. -->
+	<main id="view-notes" class="view notes" data-pane="list">
+		<aside class="rail">
+			<div class="rail-head">
+				<form id="search-form" class="searchbar" role="search">
+					<input id="search-input" type="search" inputmode="search" autocomplete="off"
+						placeholder="Durchsuchen" aria-label="Notizen durchsuchen">
+				</form>
+				<button type="button" id="today" aria-label="Heutiger Tag" title="Heutiger Tag">＋</button>
+			</div>
+			<p id="rail-status" class="status" role="status" aria-live="polite"></p>
+			<div id="rail-list" class="rail-list"></div>
+		</aside>
+
+		<section class="detail">
+		<button type="button" id="back" class="back">‹ Notizen</button>
 		<div class="daybar">
 			<button type="button" id="prev" aria-label="Vorheriger Tag">‹</button>
 			<div class="daybar-centre">
@@ -84,23 +100,15 @@
 			<button type="button" id="fill" hidden>Stunden ergänzen</button>
 			<span id="lessons-hint" class="hint"></span>
 		</div>
-	</main>

-	<!-- Search: the notes themselves, read from disk rather than the index, so a
-	     lesson written this morning is findable this morning. -->
-	<main id="view-search" class="view" hidden>
-		<form id="search-form" class="searchbar">
-			<input id="search-input" type="search" inputmode="search" autocomplete="off"
-				placeholder="In den eigenen Notizen suchen" aria-label="Suchbegriff">
-			<button type="submit">Suchen</button>
-		</form>
-		<p id="search-status" class="status" role="status" aria-live="polite"></p>
-		<div id="search-results" class="results"></div>
-		<article id="search-note" class="note-preview" hidden>
-			<button type="button" id="search-back">‹ Zurück zu den Treffern</button>
-			<h2 id="search-note-title"></h2>
-			<div id="search-note-body" class="editor" aria-readonly="true"></div>
+		<!-- A note that is not a school day — one from the import, a page of
+		     revision — has no day to open, so it is shown rather than edited. -->
+		<article id="note-preview" class="note-preview" hidden>
+			<h2 id="note-preview-title"></h2>
+			<p id="note-preview-path" class="hint"></p>
+			<div id="note-preview-body" class="editor" aria-readonly="true"></div>
 		</article>
+		</section>
 	</main>

 	<!-- Settings: the Schulcloud token, and what the server is doing. -->
--- a/test/notes.test.ts
+++ b/test/notes.test.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import {
 	subjectFromHeading,
 	notePathFor,
 	parseNote,
+	plainText,
 	readNoteAt,
 	readNotes,
 	renderNote,
@@ -466,3 +467,26 @@ describe('searchNotes', () => {
 		assert.equal(searchNotes([day], 'e', 1).length, 1);
 	});
 });
+
+describe('plainText', () => {
+	it('reads a table row as its cells', () => {
+		assert.equal(plainText('| 1NF | atomare Werte |'), '1NF · atomare Werte');
+		assert.equal(plainText('| --- | --- |'), '');
+	});
+
+	it('drops the markers but keeps the words', () => {
+		assert.equal(plainText('- **These**, Argument, _Fazit_'), 'These, Argument, Fazit');
+		assert.equal(plainText('## 1. Deutsch'), '1. Deutsch');
+		assert.equal(plainText('> Merksatz'), 'Merksatz');
+		assert.equal(plainText('- [x] erledigt'), 'erledigt');
+	});
+
+	it('leaves a word with an underscore in it alone', () => {
+		assert.equal(plainText('snake_case_name bleibt'), 'snake_case_name bleibt');
+	});
+
+	it('reads a link as its label and an escape as its character', () => {
+		assert.equal(plainText('[Arbeitsblatt](https://example.org/ab.pdf)'), 'Arbeitsblatt');
+		assert.equal(plainText('2 \\* 3'), '2 * 3');
+	});
+});