diff --git a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.i18n.yaml b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.i18n.yaml
index 80d6a464cc..0e6ce1245b 100644
--- a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.i18n.yaml
+++ b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.i18n.yaml
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
 # side as of the last confirmed-consistent state. Both languages carry equal authority;
 # after editing either side, bring the other along and re-record with:
 #   pnpm run verify-translation-pairing --write packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.md
-README.md: 6261984835a70b6b669545acc8f9bfafc93ab64d
-README.zh.md: fb860812b1646f6b1912e4aedf56b00696957352
+README.md: c9aa370ebb7612cdc18bbe3d63c85cbb7097f69b
+README.zh.md: 707745c547f2172abb4d11cda09f3de1c5c1ec78
diff --git a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.md b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.md
index 6261984835..c9aa370ebb 100644
--- a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.md
+++ b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.md
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ The row re-reads on `settings/changed` for its own namespace and on `connection/
 
 A fourth surface, its own settings page (`settings.section` id `agent-presets`, ordered after Models — choosing a model is routine, composing an agent is the deployment-shaping act behind it): the roster as rows, and one composition open in a YAML editor at a time.
 
-A shipped preset opens read-only. It is the known-good composition a local one is written against, so reading it is the point and overwriting it is not — the deployment's copy is what a broken local preset is compared against. Authoring therefore starts by duplicating: **New preset** copies the current default, and **Duplicate** copies any row, because a copy always lands in the local root regardless of where the text came from.
+A shipped preset opens read-only. It is the known-good composition a local one is written against, so reading it is the point and overwriting it is not — the deployment's copy is what a broken local preset is compared against. **Duplicate** copies any row, because a copy always lands in the local root regardless of where the text came from; **New preset** starts blank, since copying is already offered on the row being copied and a composition nobody named is text the author has to recognise as unwanted before deleting it.
 
 An id becomes a directory name, so the editor mirrors the host's own containment rule (`[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*`) and refuses a name already in use — a create landing on an existing name would overwrite a preset the user never opened. Both checks are conveniences: the host re-applies them, along with the composition's shape, and its answer is what the editor reports on failure. A save that parses is still only a save; a composition naming a plugin that does not exist fails at the next session that selects it.
 
diff --git a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.zh.md b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.zh.md
index fb860812b1..707745c547 100644
--- a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.zh.md
+++ b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/README.zh.md
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ chip 以部署默认值打开，其选择是**暂存**的——该界面先于
 
 第四个表层，独立的设置页（`settings.section`，id 为 `agent-presets`，排在「模型」之后——选模型是日常操作，而组装 agent 是它背后那件塑造部署形态的事）：名单以行呈现，同一时刻有一份组装在 YAML 编辑器中打开。
 
-随部署提供的 preset 以只读方式打开。它是本地 preset 据以编写的已知良好组装，因此能读到它正是意义所在，而覆写它则不是——部署自带的那一份正是用来对照有问题的本地 preset 的。因此创作从复制开始：**新建 preset** 复制当前默认值，**复制**则复制任意一行；无论文本来自何处，副本总是落在本地根目录，所以副本总是可写的。
+随部署提供的 preset 以只读方式打开。它是本地 preset 据以编写的已知良好组装，因此能读到它正是意义所在，而覆写它则不是——部署自带的那一份正是用来对照有问题的本地 preset 的。**复制**复制任意一行；无论文本来自何处，副本总是落在本地根目录，所以副本总是可写的。**新建 preset** 则从空白开始——复制这件事已经由被复制那一行自己提供，而一份没人指名的组装，只会让作者先认出它不是自己想要的、再把它删掉。
 
 id 会成为目录名，因此编辑器复刻宿主自身的约束规则（`[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*`），并拒绝已被占用的名称——新建若落在已存在的名称上，就会覆盖用户从未打开过的 preset。这两项检查只是便利：宿主会连同组装的形状一起重新校验，失败时编辑器报告的正是宿主的答复。能解析的保存也仅仅是保存；引用了不存在插件的组装，会在下一个选择它的会话处失败。
 
diff --git a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/src/client/AgentPresetSection.tsx b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/src/client/AgentPresetSection.tsx
index da9eac9f39..dbd6ff05d0 100644
--- a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/src/client/AgentPresetSection.tsx
+++ b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/src/client/AgentPresetSection.tsx
@@ -82,7 +82,9 @@ function Editor({ draft, blocker, t, actions }: EditorProps): ReactNode {
               placeholder={t('presetIdPlaceholder')}
               onChange={(event) => { actions.setId(event.target.value) }}
             />
-            <span className={css.hint}>{`${t('copyOf')} ${draft.source}`}</span>
+            {draft.source === undefined
+              ? null
+              : <span className={css.hint}>{`${t('copyOf')} ${draft.source}`}</span>}
           </label>
         )
         : null}
@@ -195,8 +197,8 @@ export function AgentPresetSection(props: AgentPresetSectionProps): ReactNode {
           </button>
           <span className={css.editorTitle}>
             {draft.creating
-              ? `${t('newPreset')} · ${t('copyOf')} ${draft.source}`
-              : `${draft.writable ? t('edit') : t('view')} · ${draft.name === '' ? draft.source : draft.name}`}
+              ? (draft.source === undefined ? t('newPreset') : `${t('newPreset')} · ${t('copyOf')} ${draft.source}`)
+              : `${draft.writable ? t('edit') : t('view')} · ${draft.name === '' ? draft.id : draft.name}`}
           </span>
         </div>
         <Editor draft={draft} blocker={blocker} t={t} actions={editorActions} />
diff --git a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/src/client/section-store.ts b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/src/client/section-store.ts
index f57c502f52..15adb17e60 100644
--- a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/src/client/section-store.ts
+++ b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/src/client/section-store.ts
@@ -35,9 +35,10 @@ export interface PresetDraft {
   id: string
   /**
    * The preset the text came from, shown while a new preset is unnamed so
-   * the editor can say what it is a copy of.
+   * the editor can say what it is a copy of. Absent on a preset started
+   * blank, which is a copy of nothing.
    */
-  source: string
+  source?: string
   /** Whether saving creates a preset rather than replacing one. */
   creating: boolean
   /** Composition text being edited. */
@@ -169,17 +170,32 @@ export class AgentPresetSectionController {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Open a copy of one preset as a new, unnamed preset. With no argument the
-   * copy is taken from the default preset, which is the composition a new
-   * session gets and therefore the one worth starting from.
-   * @param from - the preset to copy, or undefined for the default.
+   * Open a new, unnamed preset. With no argument it starts blank; copying is
+   * its own action, offered on the row being copied, so the two arrive at the
+   * same editor by the route the author actually chose. Starting from some
+   * preset nobody named would put text in the editor that the author has to
+   * recognise as unwanted before deleting it.
+   * @param from - the preset to copy, or undefined to start blank.
    * @returns once the composition loaded or the failure is on the page.
    */
   async createFrom(from?: string): Promise<void> {
-    const source = from ?? this.store.getSnapshot().rows.find(row => row.isDefault)?.id
-    /* v8 ignore next -- the section only renders with a roster, and every roster marks a default */
-    if (source === undefined) return
-    await this.openDraft(source, true)
+    if (from === undefined) {
+      this.set({
+        error: null,
+        draft: {
+          id: '',
+          creating: true,
+          content: '',
+          writable: true,
+          name: '',
+          description: '',
+          saving: false,
+          error: null,
+        },
+      })
+      return
+    }
+    await this.openDraft(from, true)
   }
 
   private async openDraft(source: string, creating: boolean): Promise<void> {
diff --git a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/tests/section-store.spec.ts b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/tests/section-store.spec.ts
index 67672b3ef1..31d2f80378 100644
--- a/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/tests/section-store.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/client/ui-agent-preset/tests/section-store.spec.ts
@@ -239,16 +239,18 @@ describe('opening a composition', () => {
 })
 
 describe('creating a preset', () => {
-  it('copies the default composition when no source is named', async () => {
-    const { controller } = harness()
+  it('starts blank when no source is named', async () => {
+    const { controller, calls } = harness()
     await controller.load()
+    const before = calls.length
 
     await controller.createFrom()
 
-    // The default is the composition a new session gets, so it is the one
-    // worth starting from — and a copy is writable wherever it came from.
-    expect(draftOf(controller)).toMatchObject({ id: '', source: 'standard', creating: true, writable: true })
-    expect(draftOf(controller).content).toBe('- id: tool-bash\n')
+    // Copying is its own action on the row being copied, so this one is a copy
+    // of nothing: no source to name, and no read to make.
+    expect(draftOf(controller)).toMatchObject({ id: '', creating: true, writable: true, content: '' })
+    expect(draftOf(controller).source).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(calls).toHaveLength(before)
   })
 
   it('copies a named preset', async () => {
@@ -260,12 +262,12 @@ describe('creating a preset', () => {
     expect(draftOf(controller)).toMatchObject({ source: 'mine', creating: true, content: '- id: tool-read\n' })
   })
 
-  it('does nothing before the roster loaded', async () => {
+  it('opens the blank editor without the roster, which it no longer reads', async () => {
     const { controller, calls } = harness()
 
     await controller.createFrom()
 
-    expect(controller.store.getSnapshot().draft).toBeNull()
+    expect(draftOf(controller)).toMatchObject({ id: '', creating: true, content: '' })
     expect(calls).toHaveLength(0)
   })
 })