Open on an empty chain, and show the sources only when they are used

The window used to hand the user a Scanlines stage before they had asked for
anything, which also meant the first thing on screen was "Add source images
to start." — an instruction about an effect nobody chose. It now opens on "No
effects yet" and waits: the chain is the subject of the interface, so the
first stage is the user's to pick.

The default effect was injected by the option parser, which would have put
Scanlines straight back on every launch. It moves to renderHeadless, where a
chain really is mandatory — a headless run must render something, while the
interface has no such need. `-o out.png` with no -e is unchanged.

The sources section follows the same question the render gate already asks,
chainNeedsSources(): only the first stage is ever handed the sources, so a
chain led by blur or text makes the whole section beside the point and it is
hidden rather than left there to be filled in vain. Today that shows it for
scanlines and tiles, but no effect is named in the GUI — a new one declaring
needsSources() gets this for free. rebuildChainRows() is the one funnel every
chain change goes through, so that is where the visibility is set.

New in the project menu now starts empty too, matching what the window opens
with.

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

src/cli/options.cpp

@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ Options parseOptions(int argc, char** argv) {
     if (const auto* format = canvasFormatByKey(options.format)) {
         canvasFormatSize(*format, options.dpi, options.width, options.height);
     }
-    if (options.effects.empty()) options.effects.push_back(defaultEffectName());
     return options;
 }
 
@@ -169,7 +168,8 @@ std::string usage(const char* programName) {
     out << "Usage: " << programName << " [options] [image ...]\n\n"
         << "Image effects app. Runs the GTK interface unless --output is given.\n\n"
         << "Options:\n"
-        << "  -e, --effect NAME     effect to apply, repeat to cascade (default: " << defaultEffectName() << ")\n"
+        << "  -e, --effect NAME     effect to apply, repeat to cascade (--output"
+           " defaults to " << defaultEffectName() << ")\n"
         << "  -o, --output FILE     render headlessly to this file and exit\n"
         << "  -s, --size WxH        canvas size, each side " << kMinCanvasSide << "-"
         << kMaxCanvasSide << " (default: 1920x1080)\n"

src/gui/window.cpp

@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ EffectorWindow::EffectorWindow(const Options& initial) {
     set_default_size(1180, 760);
 
     effects_ = effects();
-    stages_.push_back({effects_.front(), effects_.front()->defaults()});
+    // The chain starts empty: the interface opens on "No effects yet" and the
+    // user picks the first stage, rather than being handed one at random.
     seed_ = Rng::randomSeed();
 
     renderDone_.connect(sigc::mem_fun(*this, &EffectorWindow::onRenderFinished));
@@ -191,6 +192,15 @@ Gtk::Widget& EffectorWindow::buildSidebar() {
     return *sidebar;
 }
 
+// Only the first stage is ever handed the sources, so whether the chain wants
+// them at all is `chainNeedsSources`. An effect that starts from nothing (blur,
+// text) makes the whole sources section beside the point, so it is hidden
+// rather than left there to be filled in vain. This is the same declarative
+// answer the render gate uses -- no effect is named here.
+void EffectorWindow::updateSourcesVisible() {
+    sourcesExpander_.set_visible(chainNeedsSources(stages_));
+}
+
 // The expander is collapsed by default, so its label carries the count that
 // used to be plain to see in the list.
 void EffectorWindow::updateSourcesLabel() {
@@ -952,6 +962,7 @@ void EffectorWindow::rebuildChainRows() {
 
     selectStage(selectedStage_);
     suspendStageSelect_ = false;
+    updateSourcesVisible();
 }
 
 void EffectorWindow::selectStage(int index) {
@@ -1242,9 +1253,7 @@ void EffectorWindow::clearSources() {
 }
 
 void EffectorWindow::onNewProject() {
-    Project fresh;
-    fresh.stages.push_back({effects_.front(), effects_.front()->defaults()});
-    applyProject(fresh, "");
+    applyProject(Project(), "");  // same empty chain the window opens with
 }
 
 void EffectorWindow::onOpenProject() {

src/gui/window.hpp

@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ private:
     void cancelLoad();
     void appendSourceRow(const std::string& path);
     void updateSourcesLabel();  // the collapsed expander shows the count
+    // The whole sources section only shows while the chain asks for sources.
+    void updateSourcesVisible();
 
     Gtk::Widget& buildCanvasSection();
     // "" while "Custom" is picked, otherwise the format's key.

src/main.cpp

@@ -18,7 +18,14 @@
 namespace {
 
 int renderHeadless(const effector::Options& options) {
-    const auto stages = effector::buildChain(options);
+    auto stages = effector::buildChain(options);
+    // A headless run always renders something, so with no -e the default
+    // effect stands in. The interface has no such need: it opens on an empty
+    // chain and waits for the user to add the first stage.
+    if (stages.empty()) {
+        const auto effect = effector::effectByName(effector::defaultEffectName());
+        stages.push_back({effect, effect->defaults()});
+    }
 
     std::vector<effector::LoadFailure> failures;