waves: warn that a wave too short to earn points will not count

apps/web/src/features/i18n/locales/en-US.json

@@ -3312,6 +3312,7 @@
       "all-done-subtitle": "You're all set. Keep the waves coming!"
     },
     "sources": "Sources",
+    "short-content-hint": "Too short to earn points ({{n}} characters or fewer, links excluded)",
     "reply-form-title": "Replying to",
     "hide-replies": "Hide replies",
     "no-replies": "There aren't replies yet. Be first!",

apps/web/src/features/shared/comment/index.tsx

@@ -27,13 +27,13 @@ import { useActiveAccount } from "@/core/hooks/use-active-account";
 import { useIsMobile } from "@/features/ui/util/use-is-mobile";
 import { useQuery } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import {
-  earnsQuestContentCredit,
   getCommunityContextQueryOptions,
   getCommunityPermissions,
   getCommunityType,
   QUEST_MIN_CONTENT_LENGTH
 } from "@ecency/sdk";
 import { isCommunity } from "@/utils";
+import { shouldShowShortContentHint } from "@/utils/short-content-hint";
 import { EntryPageContext } from "@/app/(dynamicPages)/entry/[category]/[author]/[permlink]/_components/context";
 import { RcPrecheckBanner } from "@/features/shared/rc-precheck";
 
@@ -262,8 +262,11 @@ export function Comment({
   // The backend drops a reply this short without telling anyone, so the user posts,
   // watches the quest counter stay put and reports it as a bug. An edit never earns
   // either (the original already claimed the reward), so there is nothing to say there.
-  const showShortReplyHint =
-    !!activeUser && !isEdit && !!text?.trim() && !earnsQuestContentCredit(text);
+  const showShortReplyHint = shouldShowShortContentHint({
+    username: activeUser?.username,
+    isEditing: isEdit,
+    text
+  });
 
   return (
     <>

apps/web/src/features/waves/components/wave-form/index.tsx

@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ import { useIsMobile } from "@/features/ui/util/use-is-mobile";
 import { WaveFormToolbar } from "@/features/waves/components/wave-form/wave-form-toolbar";
 import { useWaveSubmit } from "@/features/waves";
 import axios from "axios";
-import { uploadImage } from "@ecency/sdk";
+import { QUEST_MIN_CONTENT_LENGTH, uploadImage } from "@ecency/sdk";
+import { shouldShowShortContentHint } from "@/utils/short-content-hint";
 import { ensureValidToken } from "@/utils";
 import { error } from "@/features/shared";
 import { useRouter, useSearchParams } from "next/navigation";
@@ -84,6 +85,16 @@ const WaveFormComponent = ({
   const textLength = text?.length ?? 0;
   const exceedsCharacterLimit = textLength > characterLimit;
 
+  // A wave is a comment on the chain, so the points backend applies the same minimum
+  // length to it as to a reply, silently. Waves are short by design, which is exactly why
+  // it bites here. Not gated on `isReply`: a reply to a wave is a comment too and earns
+  // on the same rule.
+  const showShortContentHint = shouldShowShortContentHint({
+    username: activeUsername,
+    isEditing: !!entry,
+    text
+  });
+
   const poll = useEntryPollExtractor(entry);
   useEffect(() => {
     if (poll) {
@@ -341,6 +352,12 @@ const WaveFormComponent = ({
 
         <QuestStreakChip className="mb-1.5" />
 
+        {showShortContentHint && (
+          <div className="mb-1.5 text-xs opacity-60" role="status">
+            {i18next.t("waves.short-content-hint", { n: QUEST_MIN_CONTENT_LENGTH })}
+          </div>
+        )}
+
         <WaveFormToolbar
           isEdit={!!entry}
           disabled={formInteractivityDisabled}

apps/web/src/specs/utils/short-content-hint.spec.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { shouldShowShortContentHint } from "@/utils/short-content-hint";
+
+const draft = (overrides: Record<string, unknown> = {}) => ({
+  username: "alice",
+  isEditing: false,
+  text: "Thank you",
+  ...overrides
+});
+
+describe("shouldShowShortContentHint", () => {
+  it("warns on the short content the backend refuses", () => {
+    expect(shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ text: "Thank you" }))).toBe(true);
+    expect(shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ text: "Lol 😂" }))).toBe(true);
+    expect(shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ text: "❤️" }))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("counts a link-only body as too short, matching the backend rule", () => {
+    expect(
+      shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ text: "https://i.example.com/a-very-long-url.gif" }))
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("counts emoji as code points, as the backend does", () => {
+    // 13 astral emoji are 13 code points to Python's len() but 26 UTF-16 units. Getting
+    // this wrong would stay silent and promise points the backend then refuses.
+    expect(shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ text: "😂".repeat(13) }))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("stays quiet once the body is long enough to earn", () => {
+    expect(
+      shouldShowShortContentHint(
+        draft({ text: "Thank you, this is a genuinely useful reply with something to say" })
+      )
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("stays quiet on an untouched composer", () => {
+    expect(shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ text: "" }))).toBe(false);
+    expect(shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ text: "   " }))).toBe(false);
+    expect(shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ text: undefined }))).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("stays quiet when there is nothing to earn", () => {
+    // Logged out earns nothing, and an edit never earns again: the original already
+    // claimed the reward.
+    expect(shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ username: undefined }))).toBe(false);
+    expect(shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ username: "" }))).toBe(false);
+    expect(shouldShowShortContentHint(draft({ isEditing: true }))).toBe(false);
+  });
+});

apps/web/src/utils/short-content-hint.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { earnsQuestContentCredit } from "@ecency/sdk";
+
+interface ShortContentHintInput {
+  /** Signed-in account name, if any. */
+  username?: string | null;
+  /** Editing existing content rather than creating new content. */
+  isEditing?: boolean;
+  /** Current composer body. */
+  text?: string | null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether to warn that this content is too short to earn points or quest credit.
+ *
+ * The points backend drops a comment whose body is at or under a minimum length once
+ * URLs are stripped, so a one-word reply, an emoji, or an image-only post earns nothing
+ * and never reaches the daily comment quest. The rule is deliberate but invisible, and
+ * it is the single biggest source of "quests do not show my action" reports.
+ *
+ * Shared by the reply composer and the wave composer, because a wave is a comment on the
+ * chain and goes through exactly the same rule. Kept in one place so the two cannot
+ * drift apart, and so the rule is testable without standing up either composer.
+ *
+ * Quiet for logged-out users (nothing to earn), while editing (the original already
+ * claimed the reward), and on an untouched composer (nothing to nag about yet).
+ */
+export function shouldShowShortContentHint({
+  username,
+  isEditing,
+  text
+}: ShortContentHintInput): boolean {
+  if (!username || isEditing) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  if (!text?.trim()) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  return !earnsQuestContentCredit(text);
+}