eleven / messenger Public

web+home: "backup" copy becomes sign-in language (#1259)

The audit's copy sweep: the product's model is "you sign in" (the anchor
model), but several surfaces still said "backup" — the retired framing.

- adddevice.js + the menu: "Add a device or back up" → "Add a device";
  the enrol button "Back up" → "Sign in with Eleven"; the note frames the
  one-time link as "a way back in", not "your backup".
- shell.js sign-out-of-only-device dialog: "Save a backup link first" →
  "Save a way back in first" (button to match).
- home: anchors.go's last-anchor refusal drops the dangling "or delete
  the backup instead" (no such surfaced action); merge.go's precondition
  refusal says "still has spaces saved to it"; home.js's combine
  fallbacks say "spaces list" (matching the busy line beside them).

Internal identifiers (backup.js module, deferBackupReminders verb, native
enum cases) deliberately keep their names — code, not copy.

Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Paul Campbell 3 months ago 6f45a3eaaccd7be5c49b20373f66eace6c30a7cb parent 04c4698

7 files changed, +21 −16

changelog/2026-07-22-sign-in-not-backup.md +5 −0
home/anchors.go +1 −1
home/merge.go +2 −2
home/web/static/home.js +2 −2
web/pages/index.html +1 −1
web/static/adddevice.js +6 −6
web/static/shell.js +4 −4

diff --git a/changelog/2026-07-22-sign-in-not-backup.md b/changelog/2026-07-22-sign-in-not-backup.md

new file mode 100644

index 0000000..e45bba1

--- /dev/null

+++ b/changelog/2026-07-22-sign-in-not-backup.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@

+🤖 Clearer words for keeping your access safe. The old "back up" language is

+gone: the menu now says "Add a device", the add-a-device card offers "Sign in

+with Eleven" alongside saving the one-time link, and signing out of your only

+device asks you to save a way back in first. Same protections, said the way

+they work — you sign in; nothing to file away.

diff --git a/home/anchors.go b/home/anchors.go

index 68852ec..6e07407 100644

--- a/home/anchors.go

+++ b/home/anchors.go

@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ func (s *Server) deleteAnchorHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {

return

}

if last {

- http.Error(w, "that's the last way into this account — add another way to sign in before removing it, or delete the backup instead", http.StatusConflict)

+ http.Error(w, "that's the last way into this account — add another way to sign in before removing it", http.StatusConflict)

return

}

if !deleted {

diff --git a/home/merge.go b/home/merge.go

index c5b4b65..5c46031 100644

--- a/home/merge.go

+++ b/home/merge.go

@@ -75,14 +75,14 @@ func (s *Server) mergeAccountHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {

http.Error(w, "db error", http.StatusInternalServerError)

return

} else if found {

- http.Error(w, "That account still holds a backup — move the spaces over first", http.StatusConflict)

+ http.Error(w, "That account still has spaces saved to it — move them over first", http.StatusConflict)

return

}

moved, err := s.store.mergeAccounts(survivor, absorbed)

if errors.Is(err, errAbsorbedHasBlob) {

// The store's belt caught a blob written between the check above and

// the merge.

- http.Error(w, "That account still holds a backup — move the spaces over first", http.StatusConflict)

+ http.Error(w, "That account still has spaces saved to it — move them over first", http.StatusConflict)

return

}

if err != nil {

diff --git a/home/web/static/home.js b/home/web/static/home.js

index bbfe0e8..42ff5f4 100644

--- a/home/web/static/home.js

+++ b/home/web/static/home.js

@@ -2366,7 +2366,7 @@ async function combineSkipYes() {

await deleteAbsorbedBlob();

combineFinish(0);

} catch (e) {

- combineStatus((e && e.message) || "Couldn’t clear the other account’s backup.", "error");

+ combineStatus((e && e.message) || "Couldn’t clear the other account’s spaces list.", "error");

} finally {

btn.disabled = false;

}

@@ -2382,7 +2382,7 @@ async function deleteAbsorbedBlob() {

}

const res = await fetch("/api/blob", { method: "DELETE", headers: { "X-Ceremony-Proof": combine.absorbedProof } });

if (!res.ok && res.status !== 404) {

- throw new Error(((await res.text().catch(() => "")) || "").trim() || "Couldn’t clear the other account’s backup.");

+ throw new Error(((await res.text().catch(() => "")) || "").trim() || "Couldn’t clear the other account’s spaces list.");

}

diff --git a/web/pages/index.html b/web/pages/index.html

index 983e565..8e10d19 100644

--- a/web/pages/index.html

+++ b/web/pages/index.html

@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@

<button class="menu-item" id="menu-notif" role="menuitem">Notifications</button>

<button class="menu-item" id="menu-theme" role="menuitem">Theme</button>

- <button class="menu-item" id="menu-add-device" role="menuitem">Add a device / back up</button>

+ <button class="menu-item" id="menu-add-device" role="menuitem">Add a device</button>

<!-- Mac desktop browsers only (shell.js unhides): the one

platform with a scheme receiver today; iOS follows. -->

<button class="menu-item" id="menu-open-app" role="menuitem" hidden>Open in the Eleven app</button>

diff --git a/web/static/adddevice.js b/web/static/adddevice.js

index 6965fb1..34cc514 100644

--- a/web/static/adddevice.js

+++ b/web/static/adddevice.js

@@ -41,10 +41,10 @@ export async function addDevice() {

const backdrop = verbs.modal();

const card = backdrop.querySelector(".sheet");

const h = document.createElement("h2");

- h.textContent = "Add a device or back up";

+ h.textContent = "Add a device";

const note = document.createElement("p");

note.className = "sub";

- note.textContent = "Open this on another device to sign in there — or save it somewhere safe (like a password manager) as your backup: it's the only way back in if you lose this device. It works once, and anyone who uses it signs in as you.";

+ note.textContent = "Open this on another device to sign in there — or save it somewhere safe (like a password manager): it's a way back in if you lose this device. It works once, and anyone who uses it signs in as you.";

const qr = document.createElement("div");

qr.className = "qr-wrap";

try {

@@ -80,13 +80,13 @@ export async function addDevice() {

const row = document.createElement("div");

row.className = "row";

row.appendChild(copy);

- // A passkey backup is the one-tap alternative to saving the link: enrol (or

- // update) this instance with the home server. Only shown when a home server

- // is configured — launchEnrol is a no-op otherwise.

+ // Signing in with Eleven is the one-tap alternative to saving the link:

+ // enrol (or update) this instance with the home server. Only shown when a

+ // home server is configured — launchEnrol is a no-op otherwise.

if (window.__homeOrigin) {

const backup = document.createElement("button");

backup.className = "secondary";

- backup.textContent = "Back up";

+ backup.textContent = "Sign in with Eleven";

backup.onclick = () => {

backdrop.remove(); // web navigates same-tab; native/PWA opens a new context

launchEnrol(session);

diff --git a/web/static/shell.js b/web/static/shell.js

index 73b86f2..cea5a1e 100644

--- a/web/static/shell.js

+++ b/web/static/shell.js

@@ -8093,7 +8093,7 @@ async function leave() {

return;

}

- // Only device: warn hard and offer to save a backup link first.

+ // Only device: warn hard and offer a way back in first.

const backdrop = modal();

const card = backdrop.querySelector(".sheet");

const h = document.createElement("h2");

@@ -8101,7 +8101,7 @@ async function leave() {

const p = document.createElement("p");

p.className = "sub";

p.textContent =

- "Your chats are encrypted to a key that lives only on this device. Sign out and you'll lose access to them for good — there's no way to recover it. Save a backup link first so you can get back in.";

+ "Your chats are encrypted to a key that lives only on this device. Sign out and you'll lose access to them for good — there's no way to recover it. Save a way back in first.";

const foot = document.createElement("div");

foot.className = "sheet-foot";

const out = document.createElement("button");

@@ -8112,10 +8112,10 @@ async function leave() {

doSignout();

};

const backup = document.createElement("button");

- backup.textContent = "Save a backup first";

+ backup.textContent = "Save a way back in";

backup.onclick = () => {

backdrop.remove();

- addDevice(); // save that link, then sign out later if you still want to

+ addDevice(); // sign in with Eleven or save the link, then sign out later if you still want to

};

foot.appendChild(out);

foot.appendChild(backup);