#866: Layer > New > Text starts typing into Source Text

Problem: Layer > New > Text (menu, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T, Timeline context menus)
created a layer with the placeholder "Text" and no edit session, so typed keys
ran shortcuts; users then renamed the layer (Enter) and the name, not the
Source Text, got their text.

Fix: as in After Effects, the UI dispatch runs layer.newText with an empty
text and an edit session (insertion point in the comp centre); the name
follows the typed text. engine.execute keeps the headless default.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <[email protected]>

crates/ui-egui/src/menus.rs

@@ -273,6 +273,12 @@ fn no_params(p: &Value) -> bool {
 
 /// Execute a UI or engine command by id.
 pub fn invoke(app: &mut EffectcraftApp, ctx: &egui::Context, id: &str, params: Value) -> Result<Value, String> {
+    // Layer ▸ New ▸ Text (menu, shortcut, context menus) puts an insertion point in the centre of
+    // the comp, as After Effects does, so typing goes into Source Text rather than running
+    // shortcuts (#866). `engine.execute` keeps the headless default.
+    if id == "layer.newText" && no_params(&params) {
+        return run_engine(app, ctx, id, json!({"text": "", "edit": true}));
+    }
     if no_params(&params) && app.ui.focused == PanelKind::Project {
         match id {
             "edit.duplicate" => return run_engine(app, ctx, "project.duplicate", json!({})),

crates/ui-egui/src/panels/timeline.rs

@@ -2661,7 +2661,7 @@ pub fn show(app: &mut EffectcraftApp, ui: &mut egui::Ui, rect: Rect) {
         response.context_menu(|ui| {
             let menu = ui.menu_button(crate::i18n::tr("New"), |ui| {
                 for (key, label, command, params) in [
-                    ("text", "Text", "layer.newText", json!({"text": "Text"})),
+                    ("text", "Text", "layer.newText", json!({})),
                     ("solid", "Solid…", "layer.newSolid", json!({})),
                     ("light", "Light…", "layer.newLight", json!({})),
                     ("camera", "Camera…", "layer.newCamera", json!({})),
@@ -3457,7 +3457,7 @@ pub(crate) fn layer_menu(ui: &mut egui::Ui, layers: &[u64], actions: &mut Vec<(S
         }
     };
     ui.menu_button(crate::i18n::tr("New"), |ui| {
-        item(ui, "Text", "layer.newText", json!({"text": "Text"}));
+        item(ui, "Text", "layer.newText", json!({}));
         item(ui, "Solid…", "app.solidSettings", json!({}));
         item(ui, "Light…", "layer.newLight", json!({}));
         item(ui, "Camera…", "layer.newCamera", json!({}));

crates/ui-egui/tests/ui_text_edit.rs

@@ -277,3 +277,33 @@ fn type_tool_drag_makes_paragraph_text_with_box_handles() {
     assert!(doc2.box_size.unwrap()[0] > bs[0] + 20.0, "{:?}", doc2.box_size);
     assert!(h.state().session.state.text_edit.is_some(), "still editing after resizing");
 }
+
+/// #866: Layer ▸ New ▸ Text (menu or its shortcut) puts an insertion point in the comp, as After
+/// Effects does, so typed keys reach Source Text (and the layer name follows) instead of running
+/// shortcuts while the layer keeps the placeholder "Text".
+#[test]
+fn layer_new_text_menu_and_shortcut_start_typing_into_source_text() {
+    for via_shortcut in [false, true] {
+        let mut s = Session::default();
+        s.execute("comp.new", json!({"name": "Type", "width": 640, "height": 360, "duration": 2})).unwrap();
+        s.execute("layer.newSolid", json!({"color": "#ffffff"})).unwrap();
+        let mut h = Harness::builder().with_size(egui::vec2(1600.0, 1000.0)).with_step_dt(1.0 / 60.0).build_eframe(move |_| EffectcraftApp::new(s));
+        h.state_mut().show_panel(PanelKind::Composition);
+        h.run_steps(3);
+        if via_shortcut {
+            key(&mut h, Key::T, Modifiers::COMMAND | Modifiers::ALT | Modifiers::SHIFT);
+        } else {
+            let ctx = h.ctx.clone();
+            effectcraft_ui_egui::menus::invoke(h.state_mut(), &ctx, "layer.newText", json!({})).unwrap();
+            h.run_steps(2);
+        }
+        let (lid, text, _, _) = edited(&h);
+        assert_eq!(text, "", "no placeholder to type over (shortcut: {via_shortcut})");
+        type_text(&mut h, "My First Project");
+        key(&mut h, Key::Escape, Modifiers::NONE);
+        assert!(h.state().session.state.text_edit.is_none(), "Escape commits");
+        let s = &h.state().session;
+        assert_eq!(layer_doc(s, LayerId(lid)).unwrap().text, "My First Project", "typed text is the Source Text");
+        assert_eq!(s.active_comp().unwrap().layer(LayerId(lid)).unwrap().name, "My First Project", "the name follows the text");
+    }
+}