feat(collab): persist a deliberate page clear via an intentional-clear signal (#251)

The #248 store-side empty-guard (onStoreDocument) unconditionally refuses to
overwrite non-empty persisted content with an empty document, because a
momentarily-empty live Y.Doc is indistinguishable from a real clear at the
store layer. That correctly blocks glitches/bad-merges, but also blocks a user
who genuinely wants to empty a page. This re-introduces a WORKING, narrow,
non-spoofable exception (the dead context.intentionalClear hatch #248 removed
never had a real channel).

Definition of an intentional clear (client, IntentionalClear editor extension):
a LOCAL user transaction (docChanged, NOT a remote y-sync change — filtered via
isChangeOrigin) that reduces a non-empty doc to the empty single-paragraph
shape. This is exactly the select-all + Delete/Backspace keystroke path.

Transport (option b — hocuspocus stateless message): on that transition the
client sends a `{type:'intentional-clear'}` stateless message. The server
(PersistenceExtension.onStateless) records a short-lived (TTL 60s > 45s
maxDebounce), single-use "pending clear" flag keyed by the connection's
document. The next debounced onStoreDocument consumes it on the empty-guard
branch to let that one empty write through.

Why this is the right channel and non-spoofable:
- Yjs transaction origin/metadata does not survive to the server store; awareness
  is per-connection and racy. A stateless message ties the signal to a specific
  clear, survives the debounce, and rides the authenticated connection.
- The document is taken from the connection, never the payload, so a client
  cannot target another page.
- The flag is read ONLY on the empty-over-non-empty branch, so the worst a forged
  signal can do is clear a page the connection may already edit; it can never
  force or alter a non-empty write. Read-only connections cannot arm it. Every
  non-empty store drops a pending flag, so "cleared then retyped" leaves nothing
  usable; the flag is single-use and TTL-bounded.

NOTE: #248 is not yet on develop, so the empty-guard block is included here as
the foundation this exception extends. If #248 lands first this rebases cleanly
(the guard logic is identical; the #251-unique additions are the exception,
onStateless, the pending-flag state, and the client extension).

Tests:
- Server (real transport path, not a hand-poke): onStateless sets the flag with
  the exact client payload, then the debounced onStoreDocument persists the empty
  doc; plus single-use consumption, read-only rejection, non-empty-store drops
  the flag, and the unchanged #248 guard tests (empty-over-non-empty blocked,
  empty-over-empty allowed).
- Client: a real Editor + the actual selectAll+deleteSelection command emits the
  signal; typing / non-emptying edits / already-empty docs do not.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

apps/client/src/features/editor/extensions/extensions.ts

@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ import { countWords } from "alfaaz";
 import AutoJoiner from "@/features/editor/extensions/autojoiner.ts";
 import GlobalDragHandle from "@/features/editor/extensions/drag-handle.ts";
 import { CleanStyles } from "@/features/editor/extensions/clean-styles.ts";
+import { IntentionalClear } from "@/features/editor/extensions/intentional-clear.ts";
 
 const lowlight = createLowlight(common);
 lowlight.register("mermaid", plaintext);
@@ -486,4 +487,10 @@ export const collabExtensions: CollabExtensions = (provider, user) => [
       color: randomElement(userColors),
     },
   }),
+  // #251 — emit an intentional-clear signal to the server when the user
+  // deliberately empties the page, so the #248 store-side empty-guard lets that
+  // one clear through while still blocking accidental empties.
+  IntentionalClear.configure({
+    provider,
+  }),
 ];

apps/client/src/features/editor/extensions/intentional-clear.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from "vitest";
+import { Editor } from "@tiptap/core";
+import { Document } from "@tiptap/extension-document";
+import { Paragraph } from "@tiptap/extension-paragraph";
+import { Text } from "@tiptap/extension-text";
+import {
+  IntentionalClear,
+  INTENTIONAL_CLEAR_MESSAGE_TYPE,
+} from "./intentional-clear";
+
+/**
+ * #251 — the intentional-clear signal is driven through the REAL editor path:
+ * a fresh Editor with the IntentionalClear extension, a fake provider that
+ * records sendStateless, and the actual select-all + delete command the user's
+ * keystroke runs. No hand-poke of any flag.
+ */
+describe("IntentionalClear extension", () => {
+  let sendStateless: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
+
+  const makeEditor = (content: unknown) =>
+    new Editor({
+      extensions: [
+        Document,
+        Paragraph,
+        Text,
+        IntentionalClear.configure({
+          // Minimal provider stand-in: only sendStateless is exercised.
+          provider: { sendStateless } as any,
+        }),
+      ],
+      content: content as any,
+    });
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    sendStateless = vi.fn();
+  });
+
+  it("emits the clear signal when a user empties a non-empty doc (select-all + delete)", () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor({
+      type: "doc",
+      content: [
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [{ type: "text", text: "hello world" }] },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    // The exact command path a select-all + Delete keystroke dispatches.
+    editor.chain().selectAll().deleteSelection().run();
+
+    expect(sendStateless).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const payload = JSON.parse(sendStateless.mock.calls[0][0]);
+    expect(payload).toEqual({ type: INTENTIONAL_CLEAR_MESSAGE_TYPE });
+
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
+  it("does NOT emit when typing into an empty doc (no non-empty → empty transition)", () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor({ type: "doc", content: [{ type: "paragraph" }] });
+
+    editor.chain().insertContent("typed text").run();
+
+    expect(sendStateless).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
+  it("does NOT emit on an edit that leaves the doc non-empty", () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor({
+      type: "doc",
+      content: [
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [{ type: "text", text: "keep me" }] },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    editor.chain().insertContent(" more").run();
+
+    expect(sendStateless).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
+  it("does NOT emit when the doc was already empty", () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor({ type: "doc", content: [{ type: "paragraph" }] });
+
+    // Selecting all + delete on an already-empty doc is a no-op transition.
+    editor.chain().selectAll().deleteSelection().run();
+
+    expect(sendStateless).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+});

apps/client/src/features/editor/extensions/intentional-clear.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+import { Extension } from "@tiptap/core";
+import { isChangeOrigin } from "@tiptap/extension-collaboration";
+import type { Node as PMNode } from "@tiptap/pm/model";
+import type { HocuspocusProvider } from "@hocuspocus/provider";
+
+/**
+ * Stateless message type sent to the server when a user deliberately clears a
+ * page to empty. Kept in one place so the client emitter and the server
+ * consumer (PersistenceExtension.onStateless) agree on the wire format.
+ */
+export const INTENTIONAL_CLEAR_MESSAGE_TYPE = "intentional-clear";
+
+export interface IntentionalClearOptions {
+  /** The collab provider used to send the stateless clear signal. */
+  provider: HocuspocusProvider | null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * A "document is empty" check that mirrors the server's `isEmptyParagraphDoc`
+ * (collaboration.util.ts): exactly one top-level paragraph with no inline
+ * content. After a select-all + delete TipTap leaves precisely this shape, so
+ * matching it here keeps the client signal aligned with the server guard that
+ * consumes it.
+ */
+function isEmptyParagraphDoc(doc: PMNode): boolean {
+  if (doc.childCount !== 1) return false;
+  const child = doc.firstChild;
+  return (
+    child !== null &&
+    child !== undefined &&
+    child.type.name === "paragraph" &&
+    child.content.size === 0
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * #251 — intentional-clear signal.
+ *
+ * The server's #248 store-side empty-guard unconditionally refuses to overwrite
+ * non-empty persisted content with an empty document, because a momentarily
+ * empty live Y.Doc (a glitch, a bad merge, an emptying transclusion) is
+ * indistinguishable from a real clear *at the store layer*. That protection is
+ * correct, but it also blocks a user who genuinely wants to empty the page.
+ *
+ * This extension supplies the missing distinction. It watches LOCAL, user-driven
+ * transactions and, the moment one reduces a non-empty document to the empty
+ * single-paragraph shape, it sends a hocuspocus stateless message to the server.
+ * The server records a short-lived, single-use "intentional clear pending" flag
+ * for this document that the next (debounced) onStoreDocument consumes to let
+ * that one empty write through the guard.
+ *
+ * What counts as an intentional clear (precise definition):
+ *  - the transaction actually changed the document (`docChanged`), AND
+ *  - it is a LOCAL user edit, not a remote collab application — remote y-sync
+ *    transactions are tagged and filtered out via `isChangeOrigin`, so an
+ *    emptiness that arrives from another client / a merge never emits a signal,
+ *    AND
+ *  - the document was non-empty before the transaction and is the empty
+ *    single-paragraph doc after it.
+ *
+ * This is exactly the select-all + Delete / Backspace (or any local command that
+ * empties the doc, e.g. clearContent) keystroke path. A transient/programmatic
+ * empty serialization that the server might see on the wire does NOT come with
+ * this signal, so the guard still blocks it.
+ */
+export const IntentionalClear = Extension.create<IntentionalClearOptions>({
+  name: "intentionalClear",
+
+  addOptions() {
+    return {
+      provider: null,
+    };
+  },
+
+  onTransaction({ transaction }) {
+    if (!transaction.docChanged) return;
+    // Only react to local user edits. Remote collaboration steps (and other
+    // y-sync-applied changes) carry the change origin and must never be treated
+    // as an intentional clear, otherwise a remote/merge-induced emptiness would
+    // punch through the server guard.
+    if (isChangeOrigin(transaction)) return;
+
+    const becameEmpty =
+      !isEmptyParagraphDoc(transaction.before) &&
+      isEmptyParagraphDoc(transaction.doc);
+    if (!becameEmpty) return;
+
+    // The server reads the originating document from the connection, so the
+    // payload only needs to declare intent — it cannot target another document.
+    this.options.provider?.sendStateless(
+      JSON.stringify({ type: INTENTIONAL_CLEAR_MESSAGE_TYPE }),
+    );
+  },
+});

apps/server/src/collaboration/extensions/persistence-store.spec.ts

@@ -205,31 +205,158 @@ describe('PersistenceExtension.onStoreDocument — Approach-A boundary snapshot'
     expect(historyQueue.add).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
 
-  // #206 persist-6 — RED (it.failing): a momentarily-empty live Y.Doc must not
+  // #206 persist-6 / #248 — a momentarily-empty live Y.Doc must not overwrite
-  // overwrite non-empty persisted content. `onStoreDocument` empty-guards the
+  // non-empty persisted content. The store-side empty-guard blocks an empty doc
-  // LOAD path but not the STORE path, so today an empty doc (a client/agent
+  // (a client/agent glitch, a bad merge, an emptying transclusion) from wiping
-  // glitch, a bad merge, an emptying transclusion) is written straight over the
+  // the page silently when NO intentional-clear signal is present.
-  // page and the content is wiped silently. A store-side empty-guard is a real
+  it('does NOT overwrite non-empty content with a momentarily-empty live doc (persist-6)', async () => {
-  // behaviour change (a deliberate "select-all + delete" is also empty), so it
+    const emptyDoc = { type: 'doc', content: [{ type: 'paragraph' }] };
-  // is left UNFIXED pending a product decision; this documents the data-loss
+    const document = ydocFor(emptyDoc);
-  // path and flips to a normal passing test the moment the guard lands.
+    pageRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue({
-  it.failing(
+      ...persistedHumanPage('IGNORED'),
-    'does NOT overwrite non-empty content with a momentarily-empty live doc (persist-6)',
+      content: doc('IMPORTANT RICH CONTENT'),
-    async () => {
+    });
-      const emptyDoc = { type: 'doc', content: [{ type: 'paragraph' }] };
-      const document = ydocFor(emptyDoc);
-      pageRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue({
-        ...persistedHumanPage('IGNORED'),
-        content: doc('IMPORTANT RICH CONTENT'),
-      });
 
-      await ext.onStoreDocument(buildData(document, 'user') as any);
+    await ext.onStoreDocument(buildData(document, 'user') as any);
 
-      // Desired contract: the empty incoming doc is rejected and the rich page
+    // The empty incoming doc is rejected and the rich page survives.
-      // survives. Today updatePage is called with the empty content (data loss).
+    expect(pageRepo.updatePage).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-      expect(pageRepo.updatePage).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
-    },
+
-  );
+  // #248 — an empty-over-empty store is allowed (nothing to lose); the guard
+  // only protects non-empty persisted content.
+  it('allows an empty store over already-empty content (#248)', async () => {
+    const liveEmptyDoc = { type: 'doc', content: [{ type: 'paragraph' }] };
+    const document = ydocFor(liveEmptyDoc);
+    // Stored content is empty per isEmptyParagraphDoc (paragraph with content:[])
+    // but NOT deep-equal to the normalized live doc, so the unchanged
+    // short-circuit is skipped and the empty-guard is genuinely reached.
+    pageRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue({
+      ...persistedHumanPage('IGNORED'),
+      content: { type: 'doc', content: [{ type: 'paragraph', content: [] }] },
+    });
+
+    await ext.onStoreDocument(buildData(document, 'user') as any);
+
+    expect(pageRepo.updatePage).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  // #251 — REAL-PATH regression test. The intentional-clear signal is set via
+  // the actual transport seam (ext.onStateless with the exact stateless payload
+  // the client's IntentionalClear extension sends), NOT a hand-injected
+  // context.intentionalClear poke. We then run the debounced store with an empty
+  // live doc over non-empty persisted content and assert the empty write goes
+  // through — i.e. the clear persists.
+  it('persists an intentional clear signalled via the real stateless transport (#251)', async () => {
+    const documentName = `page.${PAGE_ID}`;
+    const emptyDoc = { type: 'doc', content: [{ type: 'paragraph' }] };
+    const document = ydocFor(emptyDoc);
+    pageRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue({
+      ...persistedHumanPage('IGNORED'),
+      content: doc('IMPORTANT RICH CONTENT'),
+    });
+
+    // The client signalled a deliberate clear over the live connection.
+    await ext.onStateless({
+      connection: { readOnly: false } as any,
+      documentName,
+      document: document as any,
+      payload: JSON.stringify({ type: 'intentional-clear' }),
+    } as any);
+
+    await ext.onStoreDocument(buildData(document, 'user') as any);
+
+    // The empty doc was written (the clear persisted). The persisted content is
+    // the Y.Doc round-trip of the empty doc (attrs normalized), so compare
+    // against fromYdoc rather than the raw literal.
+    expect(pageRepo.updatePage).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const expectedEmpty = TiptapTransformer.fromYdoc(document, 'default');
+    expect(pageRepo.updatePage.mock.calls[0][0].content).toEqual(expectedEmpty);
+  });
+
+  // #251 — the signal is single-use: it is consumed by the first empty store,
+  // so a SECOND accidental empty (no fresh signal) is still blocked.
+  it('consumes the intentional-clear signal once; a later empty is blocked (#251)', async () => {
+    const documentName = `page.${PAGE_ID}`;
+    const emptyDoc = { type: 'doc', content: [{ type: 'paragraph' }] };
+    pageRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue({
+      ...persistedHumanPage('IGNORED'),
+      content: doc('IMPORTANT RICH CONTENT'),
+    });
+
+    await ext.onStateless({
+      connection: { readOnly: false } as any,
+      documentName,
+      document: ydocFor(emptyDoc) as any,
+      payload: JSON.stringify({ type: 'intentional-clear' }),
+    } as any);
+
+    // First empty store consumes the signal and writes.
+    await ext.onStoreDocument(buildData(ydocFor(emptyDoc), 'user') as any);
+    expect(pageRepo.updatePage).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+
+    // Re-arm findById to non-empty (as if content came back) and fire another
+    // empty store WITHOUT a new signal — the guard must block it.
+    pageRepo.updatePage.mockClear();
+    pageRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue({
+      ...persistedHumanPage('IGNORED'),
+      content: doc('IMPORTANT RICH CONTENT'),
+    });
+    await ext.onStoreDocument(buildData(ydocFor(emptyDoc), 'user') as any);
+    expect(pageRepo.updatePage).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  // #251 — a read-only connection cannot arm the clear, so its empty store is
+  // still blocked (defends the guard against a read-only spoof).
+  it('ignores an intentional-clear signal from a read-only connection (#251)', async () => {
+    const documentName = `page.${PAGE_ID}`;
+    const emptyDoc = { type: 'doc', content: [{ type: 'paragraph' }] };
+    const document = ydocFor(emptyDoc);
+    pageRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue({
+      ...persistedHumanPage('IGNORED'),
+      content: doc('IMPORTANT RICH CONTENT'),
+    });
+
+    await ext.onStateless({
+      connection: { readOnly: true } as any,
+      documentName,
+      document: document as any,
+      payload: JSON.stringify({ type: 'intentional-clear' }),
+    } as any);
+
+    await ext.onStoreDocument(buildData(document, 'user') as any);
+
+    expect(pageRepo.updatePage).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  // #251 — a non-empty store between the signal and the empty store drops the
+  // pending flag ("cleared then retyped" can't leave a usable signal behind).
+  it('drops a pending clear when a non-empty store intervenes (#251)', async () => {
+    const documentName = `page.${PAGE_ID}`;
+    const emptyDoc = { type: 'doc', content: [{ type: 'paragraph' }] };
+
+    await ext.onStateless({
+      connection: { readOnly: false } as any,
+      documentName,
+      document: ydocFor(emptyDoc) as any,
+      payload: JSON.stringify({ type: 'intentional-clear' }),
+    } as any);
+
+    // A non-empty store lands first → consumes/drops the stale flag.
+    pageRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue(persistedHumanPage('NEW HUMAN TEXT'));
+    await ext.onStoreDocument(
+      buildData(ydocFor(doc('NEW HUMAN TEXT')), 'user') as any,
+    );
+    pageRepo.updatePage.mockClear();
+
+    // Now an empty store with no fresh signal must be blocked.
+    pageRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue({
+      ...persistedHumanPage('IGNORED'),
+      content: doc('IMPORTANT RICH CONTENT'),
+    });
+    await ext.onStoreDocument(buildData(ydocFor(emptyDoc), 'user') as any);
+    expect(pageRepo.updatePage).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
 
   // persist-1 — when every attempt fails the hook must NOT report a phantom
   // success: no "page.updated" badge broadcast and no history snapshot for

apps/server/src/collaboration/extensions/persistence.extension.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import {
   Extension,
   onChangePayload,
   onLoadDocumentPayload,
+  onStatelessPayload,
   onStoreDocumentPayload,
 } from '@hocuspocus/server';
 import * as Y from 'yjs';
@@ -41,6 +42,26 @@ import {
 } from '../constants';
 import { TransclusionService } from '../../core/page/transclusion/transclusion.service';
 
+/**
+ * #251 — wire format of the client→server stateless message that signals a
+ * deliberate page clear. The client (IntentionalClear editor extension) sends
+ * `{ type: INTENTIONAL_CLEAR_MESSAGE_TYPE }`; the document is taken from the
+ * connection, not the payload, so the signal cannot be aimed at another page.
+ */
+export const INTENTIONAL_CLEAR_MESSAGE_TYPE = 'intentional-clear';
+
+/**
+ * #251 — how long an intentional-clear signal stays "pending" before it is
+ * ignored. The signal is set on the clearing keystroke but consumed by the
+ * DEBOUNCED onStoreDocument, so the TTL must comfortably exceed the collab
+ * store debounce window (hocuspocus is configured with maxDebounce = 45s in
+ * collaboration.gateway.ts). 60s leaves a margin while keeping the window for a
+ * stale flag small; on top of the TTL, any non-empty store immediately drops a
+ * pending flag (see onStoreDocument), so a "cleared then retyped" sequence can
+ * never leave a usable flag behind.
+ */
+export const INTENTIONAL_CLEAR_TTL_MS = 60_000;
+
 /**
  * Resolve the provenance source for a coalesced snapshot.
  *
@@ -96,6 +117,13 @@ export class PersistenceExtension implements Extension {
   // coalescing window" per document and OR it across all edits in the window,
   // so the snapshot is marked 'agent' regardless of who wrote last.
   private agentTouched: Map<string, boolean> = new Map();
+  // #251 — per-document "intentional clear pending" flags. Keyed by
+  // documentName, value = expiry timestamp (ms). Set by onStateless when the
+  // client reports a deliberate clear; consumed once by the next
+  // onStoreDocument empty-guard branch. This is the per-EDIT channel the
+  // per-connection context cannot provide (a clear is an edit event, but the
+  // store is debounced and connection context is fixed at authentication).
+  private intentionalClear: Map<string, number> = new Map();
 
   constructor(
     private readonly pageRepo: PageRepo,
@@ -210,6 +238,43 @@ export class PersistenceExtension implements Extension {
             return;
           }
 
+          // #206 persist-6 / #248 — store-side empty-guard. A momentarily-empty
+          // live Y.Doc (a client/agent glitch, a bad merge, a transclusion that
+          // emptied) must NOT overwrite non-empty persisted content. The LOAD
+          // path already guards emptiness (onLoadDocument only hydrates from db
+          // when the live doc isEmpty); the STORE path did not, so an empty
+          // serialization was written straight over the page, wiping it
+          // silently.
+          //
+          // #251 — the ONE legitimate empty-over-non-empty write is a user who
+          // deliberately clears the page. That intent arrives out-of-band as a
+          // stateless message (consumed below), NOT from the doc content, which
+          // is why it cannot be spoofed for non-clear writes: the flag is only
+          // ever read on this empty-incoming branch, so the worst a forged
+          // signal can do is clear a page the connection may already edit. Every
+          // non-empty write ignores the flag entirely and additionally drops any
+          // pending flag (a "cleared then retyped" sequence can't leave a usable
+          // one behind).
+          const incomingEmpty = isEmptyParagraphDoc(tiptapJson as any);
+          if (!incomingEmpty) {
+            this.intentionalClear.delete(documentName);
+          } else if (page.content && !isEmptyParagraphDoc(page.content as any)) {
+            if (this.consumeIntentionalClear(documentName)) {
+              this.logger.debug(
+                `Intentional clear for ${pageId}: persisting empty doc over ` +
+                  `non-empty content (user-signalled)`,
+              );
+              // fall through — the empty write is allowed exactly once.
+            } else {
+              this.logger.warn(
+                `Skipping store for ${pageId}: empty live doc would overwrite ` +
+                  `non-empty persisted content`,
+              );
+              page = null;
+              return;
+            }
+          }
+
           let contributorIds = undefined;
           try {
             const existingContributors = page.contributorIds || [];
@@ -345,6 +410,37 @@ export class PersistenceExtension implements Extension {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * #251 — receive the client's deliberate-clear signal. Records a short-lived,
+   * single-use pending flag for the originating document so the next
+   * onStoreDocument may let one empty-over-non-empty write through the guard.
+   *
+   * Hardening: read-only connections cannot arm the flag, and the document is
+   * taken from the connection (`data.documentName`), never the payload, so a
+   * client cannot target a page it isn't editing. The flag only ever RELAXES
+   * the guard for an empty write (a clear); it can never force or alter a
+   * non-empty write, so it is not a guard bypass for normal content.
+   */
+  async onStateless(data: onStatelessPayload) {
+    const { connection, documentName, payload } = data;
+
+    if (connection?.readOnly) return;
+
+    let message: { type?: string } | undefined;
+    try {
+      message = JSON.parse(payload);
+    } catch {
+      return; // unrelated / malformed stateless message
+    }
+
+    if (message?.type !== INTENTIONAL_CLEAR_MESSAGE_TYPE) return;
+
+    this.intentionalClear.set(
+      documentName,
+      Date.now() + INTENTIONAL_CLEAR_TTL_MS,
+    );
+  }
+
   async onChange(data: onChangePayload) {
     const documentName = data.documentName;
     const userId = data.context?.user?.id;
@@ -368,6 +464,7 @@ export class PersistenceExtension implements Extension {
     const documentName = data.documentName;
     this.contributors.delete(documentName);
     this.agentTouched.delete(documentName);
+    this.intentionalClear.delete(documentName);
   }
 
   private consumeContributors(documentName: string): string[] {
@@ -385,6 +482,18 @@ export class PersistenceExtension implements Extension {
     return touched;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * #251 — read and clear the intentional-clear flag for this document. Returns
+   * true only if a flag was pending AND still within its TTL. Always deletes the
+   * entry so the signal is strictly single-use (one clear → one allowed empty
+   * write); an expired flag is treated as absent (guard still blocks).
+   */
+  private consumeIntentionalClear(documentName: string): boolean {
+    const expiry = this.intentionalClear.get(documentName);
+    this.intentionalClear.delete(documentName);
+    return expiry !== undefined && Date.now() < expiry;
+  }
+
   private async enqueuePageHistory(
     page: Page,
     lastUpdatedSource: string,