diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d5e54af..a5c601d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,28 @@ not from the output of `docker push`.
 
 ---
 
+## 2026-08-12 — A chapter you can see, in the colour you chose
+
+**Images** — web `sha256:…`, server unchanged at `sha256:ed0b9970…`
+
+**Fixed**
+- **A chapter did not show until the notebook had a note in it.** "Nothing here"
+  was asked of the notes alone, so a notebook whose only contents were chapters
+  showed the empty-list panel with the chapters hidden behind it — making a
+  chapter in a fresh notebook appeared to do nothing at all. It is now asked of
+  every row, and a notebook with chapters but no loose notes says so in one line
+  rather than looking like a list that failed to load.
+
+**Changed**
+- **A chapter's colour is chosen while it is being made**, in the same dialog as
+  its name. It is what tells one chapter from the next, and having to right-click
+  a fresh one to say which it is meant two visits for one decision. Renaming and
+  recolouring later are one entry in its menu, and one write.
+- **The word *here* is gone.** The line along the top of the pane says which of
+  the two places you are in; saying it twice was noise.
+
+---
+
 ## 2026-08-12 — A filed note stays filed
 
 **Images** — web `sha256:2041f103…`, server `sha256:ed0b9970…`
diff --git a/e2e/chapters.mjs b/e2e/chapters.mjs
index 473806c..ecac39f 100644
--- a/e2e/chapters.mjs
+++ b/e2e/chapters.mjs
@@ -24,10 +24,14 @@ try {
 
   const titles = () =>
     p.locator("[data-note-row] [data-note-title]").evaluateAll((els) => els.map((e) => e.textContent.trim()));
-  const addChapter = async (name) => {
+  /* The colour is chosen while the chapter is being made. It is what tells one
+     chapter from the next, and having to right-click a fresh one to say which
+     it is meant two visits for a single decision. */
+  const addChapter = async (name, colour = null) => {
     await p.locator("[data-add-chapter]").click();
     await p.waitForTimeout(600);
     await p.getByLabel("Chapter name").fill(name);
+    if (colour) await p.locator(`[data-colour-option="${colour}"]`).click();
     await p.getByRole("button", { name: "Create", exact: true }).click();
     await p.waitForTimeout(2000);
   };
@@ -66,6 +70,31 @@ try {
   const server = (await api(p, "GET", "/chapters")).body;
   check(server.length === 1 && server[0].name === "Rechnungen", "the server has it", JSON.stringify(server));
 
+  /* ── in an empty notebook too ──
+   * "Nothing here" was asked of the notes alone, so a notebook whose only
+   * contents were chapters showed the empty-list panel with the chapters hidden
+   * behind it: making a chapter in a fresh notebook appeared to do nothing. */
+  await createNotebook(p, "Leeres Buch");
+  await p.locator("button").filter({ hasText: "Leeres Buch" }).first().click();
+  await p.waitForTimeout(1000);
+  await addChapter("Nur ein Kapitel", "#a371f7");
+  check(
+    (await p.locator("[data-chapter-row]").count()) === 1,
+    "a chapter shows in a notebook that has no notes at all",
+    String(await p.locator("[data-chapter-row]").count())
+  );
+  const madeWithColour = (await api(p, "GET", "/chapters")).body.find((c) => c.name === "Nur ein Kapitel");
+  check(
+    madeWithColour?.color === "#a371f7",
+    "and the colour picked while making it is stored with it",
+    String(madeWithColour?.color)
+  );
+  check(
+    (await p.locator("[data-no-loose-notes]").count()) === 1,
+    "and the list says why it is otherwise empty rather than looking broken"
+  );
+  await openNotebook();
+
   /* ── filing a note ── */
   check(
     (await p.locator("[data-move-note]").count()) === 0,
diff --git a/frontend/src/App.jsx b/frontend/src/App.jsx
index 7a0ea72..c7fe846 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/App.jsx
@@ -640,9 +640,17 @@ export default function App() {
     setInChapter(!!next);
   };
 
+  /* Named and coloured in one go. The colour is what tells one chapter from the
+     next, so asking for it while the chapter is being made is one decision
+     rather than a second visit through the right-click menu. */
   const addChapter = () => {
     if (!activeNotebook) return;
-    setNamingChapter({ title: "New chapter", value: "", onSave: (name) => data.createChapter(activeNotebook.id, name) });
+    setNamingChapter({
+      title: "New chapter",
+      value: "",
+      color: null,
+      onSave: (name, color) => data.createChapter(activeNotebook.id, name, color),
+    });
   };
 
   const chapterContextMenu = (e, chapter) => {
@@ -653,24 +661,25 @@ export default function App() {
       y: e.clientY,
       items: [
         {
-          label: "Rename",
+          label: "Rename or recolour",
           icon: I.edit,
           action: () =>
             setNamingChapter({
-              title: "Rename chapter",
+              title: "Chapter",
               value: chapter.name,
-              onSave: (name) => data.renameChapter(chapter.id, name),
+              color: chapter.color ?? null,
+              onSave: (name, color) => data.editChapter(chapter.id, { name, color }),
             }),
         },
         {
           label: "Colour",
           icon: I.edit,
           submenu: [
-            { label: "None", colorDot: T.faint, action: () => data.recolourChapter(chapter.id, null) },
+            { label: "None", colorDot: T.faint, action: () => data.editChapter(chapter.id, { color: null }) },
             ...CHAPTER_COLORS.map((c) => ({
               label: c.label,
               colorDot: c.value,
-              action: () => data.recolourChapter(chapter.id, c.value),
+              action: () => data.editChapter(chapter.id, { color: c.value }),
             })),
           ],
         },
@@ -769,11 +778,6 @@ export default function App() {
         paddingLeft: 8,
       }}
     >
-      {inChapter && (
-        <div style={{ fontSize: 10, color: T.accent, fontWeight: 700, padding: "2px 10px 4px" }}>
-          · new notes land here
-        </div>
-      )}
       {chapterNotes.length === 0 && (
         <div style={{ padding: "8px 10px", fontSize: 12, color: T.muted }}>Nothing in here yet.</div>
       )}
@@ -984,9 +988,6 @@ export default function App() {
                 >
                   {openChapter.name}
                 </span>
-                {inChapter && (
-                  <span style={{ fontSize: 10, color: T.accent, fontWeight: 700, flexShrink: 0 }}>· here</span>
-                )}
                 <button
                   onClick={() => {
                     setActiveChapter(null);
@@ -1174,7 +1175,9 @@ export default function App() {
           title={namingChapter.title}
           value={namingChapter.value}
           label="Chapter name"
-          confirmLabel={namingChapter.value ? "Rename" : "Create"}
+          colors={CHAPTER_COLORS}
+          color={namingChapter.color}
+          confirmLabel={namingChapter.value ? "Save" : "Create"}
           onSave={namingChapter.onSave}
           onClose={() => setNamingChapter(null)}
           dark={dark}
diff --git a/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteList.jsx b/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteList.jsx
index 5747b64..2be1093 100644
--- a/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteList.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteList.jsx
@@ -498,6 +498,16 @@ export function NoteList({
      a way back. In the other two views the chapter rows stay where they are. */
   const shownChapters = openChapter ? [] : chapters || [];
 
+  /* Every row this list shows, in the order it shows them.
+   *
+   * Separators are part of the manual arrangement and only mean something
+   * there: in "newest first" the notes would slide past a line on every edit.
+   * They are not shown in the other orders, and are still in place on the way
+   * back. */
+  const entries = reorderable
+    ? mergeEntries(notes, separators, shownChapters)
+    : [...shownChapters.map(asChapterEntry), ...notes.map(asNoteEntry)];
+
   return (
     <div
       data-list-current={isCurrent === null || isCurrent === undefined ? undefined : isCurrent ? "on" : "off"}
@@ -560,11 +570,6 @@ export function NoteList({
           >
             {openChapter ? openChapter.name : title}
           </h2>
-          {/* Said in words as well as in the line above, because a coloured edge
-              is only a hint until you know what it means. */}
-          {isCurrent && (
-            <span style={{ fontSize: 10, color: T.accent, fontWeight: 700, flexShrink: 0 }}>· here</span>
-          )}
         </div>
         <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 4, flexShrink: 0 }}>
           {reorderable && (
@@ -712,7 +717,11 @@ export function NoteList({
         onPointerDown={onFocusList}
         style={{ flex: 1, overflowY: "auto", padding: 6, WebkitOverflowScrolling: "touch" }}
       >
-        {notes.length === 0 ? (
+        {/* "Nothing here" means nothing at all — not "no loose notes".
+            Asked of the notes alone, a notebook whose only contents were
+            chapters showed an empty list with the chapters hidden behind it,
+            and a chapter made in an empty notebook appeared to do nothing. */}
+        {entries.length === 0 ? (
           <div
             style={{
               display: "flex",
@@ -755,14 +764,7 @@ export function NoteList({
           </div>
         ) : (
           <>
-            {/* Separators are part of the manual arrangement and only mean
-                something there: in "newest first" the notes would slide past a
-                line on every edit. They are not shown in the other orders, and
-                are still in place on the way back. */}
-            {(reorderable
-              ? mergeEntries(notes, separators, shownChapters)
-              : [...shownChapters.map(asChapterEntry), ...notes.map(asNoteEntry)]
-            ).map((entry) => {
+            {entries.map((entry) => {
               const showDropLine = moving && dnd.overId === entry.id;
               /* The whole row, indicator included, is the drop target.
                *
@@ -890,6 +892,13 @@ export function NoteList({
             })}
             {/* Dropping below the last row moves something to the end, which
                   otherwise needs an awkward drop onto the very last note. */}
+            {/* Said out loud, so a notebook holding only chapters does not read
+                as a list that failed to load. */}
+            {notes.length === 0 && !isTrashView && (
+              <div data-no-loose-notes style={{ padding: "12px 12px 4px", fontSize: 12, color: T.muted }}>
+                No notes outside the chapters yet.
+              </div>
+            )}
             {moving && (
               <div data-drop-end {...dnd.rowProps(END_ID)} style={{ minHeight: 56 }}>
                 {dnd.overId === END_ID && <DropLine T={T} />}
diff --git a/frontend/src/hooks/useNoteData.ts b/frontend/src/hooks/useNoteData.ts
index 7cc4a9a..858a6df 100644
--- a/frontend/src/hooks/useNoteData.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/hooks/useNoteData.ts
@@ -52,9 +52,9 @@ export interface NoteData {
   createNotebook: (fields: { name: string; cover: number }) => Promise<Notebook>;
   updateNotebook: (id: string, updates: Partial<Notebook>) => Promise<void>;
   chapters: Chapter[];
-  createChapter: (notebookId: string, name: string) => Promise<Chapter>;
-  renameChapter: (id: string, name: string) => Promise<void>;
-  recolourChapter: (id: string, color: string | null) => Promise<void>;
+  createChapter: (notebookId: string, name: string, color?: string | null) => Promise<Chapter>;
+  /** Name, colour, or both — one write for one decision. */
+  editChapter: (id: string, updates: { name?: string; color?: string | null }) => Promise<void>;
   deleteChapter: (id: string) => Promise<void>;
   deleteNotebook: (id: string) => Promise<void>;
   reorderNotebooks: (dragId: string, targetId: string) => void;
@@ -356,20 +356,23 @@ export function useNoteData(user: User | null, activeNote: string | null): NoteD
    * having the removal applied by hand here.
    */
 
-  const createChapter = useCallback(async (notebookId: string, name: string) => {
-    const chapter = await sync.createChapter(notebookId, name);
-    setChapters((p) => [...p, chapter]);
-    return chapter;
-  }, []);
+  const createChapter = useCallback(
+    async (notebookId: string, name: string, color: string | null = null) => {
+      const chapter = await sync.createChapter(notebookId, name, color);
+      setChapters((p) => [...p, chapter]);
+      return chapter;
+    },
+    []
+  );
 
-  const renameChapter = useCallback(async (id: string, name: string) => {
-    setChapters((p) => p.map((c) => (c.id === id ? { ...c, name } : c)));
-    await sync.updateChapter(id, { name });
-  }, []);
-
-  const recolourChapter = useCallback(async (id: string, color: string | null) => {
-    setChapters((p) => p.map((c) => (c.id === id ? { ...c, color } : c)));
-    await sync.updateChapter(id, { color });
+  /* Name and colour go the same way, in one write.
+   *
+   * They used to be two calls because they came from two places — a dialog and
+   * a submenu — and renaming a chapter while recolouring it then meant two
+   * requests for one decision. */
+  const editChapter = useCallback(async (id: string, updates: { name?: string; color?: string | null }) => {
+    setChapters((p) => p.map((c) => (c.id === id ? { ...c, ...updates } : c)));
+    await sync.updateChapter(id, updates);
   }, []);
 
   const deleteChapter = useCallback(
@@ -434,8 +437,7 @@ export function useNoteData(user: User | null, activeNote: string | null): NoteD
     updateNotebook,
     chapters,
     createChapter,
-    renameChapter,
-    recolourChapter,
+    editChapter,
     deleteChapter,
     deleteNotebook,
     reorderNotebooks,
diff --git a/frontend/src/syncEngine.ts b/frontend/src/syncEngine.ts
index 4eef70a..f0b2220 100644
--- a/frontend/src/syncEngine.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/syncEngine.ts
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ type QueuedAction =
       };
     }
   | { action: "deleteNotebook"; data: { id: string } }
-  | { action: "createChapter"; data: { localId: string; notebookId: string; name: string } }
+  | { action: "createChapter"; data: { localId: string; notebookId: string; name: string; color?: string | null } }
   | { action: "updateChapter"; data: { id: string; name?: string; sortOrder?: number; color?: string | null } }
   | { action: "deleteChapter"; data: { id: string } }
   | {
@@ -648,7 +648,11 @@ async function processEntry(entry: QueueEntry): Promise<void> {
       break;
     case "createChapter": {
       const d = a.data;
-      const r = await api.post<{ id: string }>("/chapters", { notebookId: d.notebookId, name: d.name });
+      const r = await api.post<{ id: string }>("/chapters", {
+        notebookId: d.notebookId,
+        name: d.name,
+        color: d.color ?? null,
+      });
       if (r.id !== d.localId) {
         const local = (await db.getAllChapters()).find((c) => c.id === d.localId);
         await db.deleteChapter(d.localId);
@@ -656,6 +660,7 @@ async function processEntry(entry: QueueEntry): Promise<void> {
           id: r.id,
           notebookId: d.notebookId,
           name: d.name,
+          color: d.color ?? null,
           sortOrder: local?.sortOrder ?? 0,
         });
         // Notes filed into it while it was local, and anything still queued
@@ -816,12 +821,16 @@ export async function fetchChapters(): Promise<Chapter[]> {
   return [...chapters, ...pending];
 }
 
-export async function createChapter(notebookId: string, name: string): Promise<Chapter> {
+export async function createChapter(
+  notebookId: string,
+  name: string,
+  color: string | null = null
+): Promise<Chapter> {
   const sortOrder = (await db.getAllChapters()).filter((c) => c.notebookId === notebookId).length;
   if (_online && api.token) {
     try {
-      const r = await api.post<{ id: string }>("/chapters", { notebookId, name });
-      const chapter: Chapter = { id: r.id, notebookId, name, sortOrder };
+      const r = await api.post<{ id: string }>("/chapters", { notebookId, name, color });
+      const chapter: Chapter = { id: r.id, notebookId, name, color, sortOrder };
       await db.putChapter(chapter);
       notifyData("chapter", chapter);
       return chapter;
@@ -830,9 +839,9 @@ export async function createChapter(notebookId: string, name: string): Promise<C
     }
   }
   const lid = "ch_" + Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 10);
-  const chapter: Chapter = { id: lid, notebookId, name, sortOrder, _pendingCreate: true };
+  const chapter: Chapter = { id: lid, notebookId, name, color, sortOrder, _pendingCreate: true };
   await db.putChapter(chapter);
-  await enqueue({ action: "createChapter", data: { localId: lid, notebookId, name } });
+  await enqueue({ action: "createChapter", data: { localId: lid, notebookId, name, color } });
   notifyData("chapter", chapter);
   notifyStatus("pending");
   return chapter;
diff --git a/frontend/src/ui/NameDialog.jsx b/frontend/src/ui/NameDialog.jsx
index 94f8eaa..d094b6b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/ui/NameDialog.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/ui/NameDialog.jsx
@@ -10,9 +10,24 @@ import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from "react";
  *
  * Deliberately small. Naming a chapter is one field and two buttons, and
  * anything more would be a form.
+ *
+ * The one exception is the colour, offered when `colors` is given: it belongs to
+ * the same act. Making a chapter and then having to right-click it to say which
+ * one it is meant two steps for one decision.
  */
-export function NameDialog({ title, value = "", label = "Name", confirmLabel = "Save", onSave, onClose, dark }) {
+export function NameDialog({
+  title,
+  value = "",
+  label = "Name",
+  confirmLabel = "Save",
+  colors,
+  color: initialColor = null,
+  onSave,
+  onClose,
+  dark,
+}) {
   const [name, setName] = useState(value);
+  const [color, setColor] = useState(initialColor);
   const inputRef = useRef(null);
 
   const T = useMemo(
@@ -35,7 +50,7 @@ export function NameDialog({ title, value = "", label = "Name", confirmLabel = "
   const save = () => {
     const trimmed = name.trim();
     if (!trimmed) return;
-    onSave(trimmed);
+    onSave(trimmed, color);
     onClose();
   };
 
@@ -89,6 +104,42 @@ export function NameDialog({ title, value = "", label = "Name", confirmLabel = "
             boxSizing: "border-box",
           }}
         />
+        {colors?.length > 0 && (
+          <div style={{ marginTop: 16 }}>
+            <div style={{ fontSize: 11.5, color: T.muted, fontWeight: 600, marginBottom: 8 }}>Colour</div>
+            <div style={{ display: "flex", flexWrap: "wrap", gap: 8 }}>
+              {[{ label: "None", value: null }, ...colors].map((c) => {
+                const picked = (c.value ?? null) === (color ?? null);
+                return (
+                  <button
+                    key={c.label}
+                    type="button"
+                    onClick={() => setColor(c.value ?? null)}
+                    title={c.label}
+                    aria-label={c.label}
+                    aria-pressed={picked}
+                    data-colour-option={c.value ?? "none"}
+                    style={{
+                      width: 28,
+                      height: 28,
+                      borderRadius: 9,
+                      cursor: "pointer",
+                      // The ring, not a tick: a tick over a dark swatch is
+                      // unreadable and over a light one it is the only thing seen.
+                      border: picked ? `2px solid ${T.text}` : `1px solid ${T.border}`,
+                      background: c.value ?? "transparent",
+                      color: T.muted,
+                      fontSize: 11,
+                      lineHeight: 1,
+                    }}
+                  >
+                    {c.value ? "" : "—"}
+                  </button>
+                );
+              })}
+            </div>
+          </div>
+        )}
         <div style={{ display: "flex", justifyContent: "flex-end", gap: 8, marginTop: 18 }}>
           <button
             onClick={onClose}
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 27b3b02..d5d9ff4 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d --build   # must be running
 | `conflict` | 10 | a late write wins but the state it buries survives as a version |
 | `export` | 21 | the downloaded bytes are real Markdown, ZIP and PNG, unpacked and read back |
 | `organise` | 53 | a hand-made order survives a search; separators hold their place; a note exported and imported comes back whole |
-| `chapters` | 31 | a filed note stays filed across a sync; the notebook's separators survive a chapter being opened; handles appear only while rearranging |
+| `chapters` | 34 | a filed note stays filed across a sync; the notebook's separators survive a chapter being opened; handles appear only while rearranging |
 | `offline` | 17 | a cold page load with the network off still opens notes and searches them — and a note made, written and drawn on offline arrives whole once there is a connection |
 | `sync` | 7 | a PDF written on one device — document, drawing and pinned notes — reaches a second one, which can find it by its contents without opening it |
 
@@ -996,11 +996,17 @@ Three rules that keep the two levels honest:
   the others back untouched.
 
 A note made while a chapter is open is filed there without being moved. A chapter
-is named when it is created, unlike a separator: a separator is a line and reads
-perfectly well unnamed, while an unnamed chapter is a row nobody can tell from
-the next one. Each can be given **its own colour** — the point of having chapters
-is that they are different places, and eight named colours tell them apart where
-twenty near-identical blues would not.
+is **named and coloured when it is created**, unlike a separator: a separator is a
+line and reads perfectly well unnamed, while an unnamed chapter is a row nobody
+can tell from the next one. The colour is in the same dialog because it is the
+same decision — the point of having chapters is that they are different places,
+and eight named colours tell them apart where twenty near-identical blues would
+not. Both can be changed later from the chapter's own menu.
+
+A chapter shows even when the notebook holds nothing else. "Nothing here" is
+asked of every row, not of the notes alone — asked of the notes, a notebook whose
+only contents were chapters showed the empty-list panel with the chapters hidden
+behind it, and making a chapter in a fresh notebook appeared to do nothing.
 
 ### How a chapter opens
 
@@ -1027,9 +1033,9 @@ own separators were filtered out and a drag in that list wrote nothing at all.
 **Which of the two you are in is a separate question again**, because both are on
 screen at once. Opening a chapter puts you in it; pressing in the notebook's own
 list puts you back in the notebook without closing the chapter. Whichever it is
-wears a line along its top and the word *here*, and the + button names the place
-it would make the note in. Before, a new note went into the chapter however far
-away you had since clicked, and nothing on screen said so.
+wears a line along its top, and the + button names the place it would make the
+note in. Before, a new note went into the chapter however far away you had since
+clicked, and nothing on screen said so.
 
 ### A chapter is a row like any other