web/src/lib/components/layout/GeneralSettingsDialog.svelte

@@ -90,21 +90,43 @@
 		enabled: open
 	}));
 
+	/**
+	 * Some PhotoPrism deployments return `/settings` without the
+	 * `ui` / `search` / `maps` keys (older versions, custom edits to
+	 * settings.yml). The form's `bind:value={draft.ui!.theme}` etc.
+	 * non-null-asserts those sub-objects — when they're missing the
+	 * assertion lies and the bind getter throws on the next tick. Force
+	 * the shape on every clone so every binding has a real object to
+	 * write into, and so `draft.ui` is never null while `draft` is non-
+	 * null (template gates only check `draft`).
+	 */
+	function normalize(s: PpSettings): PpSettings {
+		return {
+			...s,
+			ui: s.ui ?? {},
+			search: s.search ?? {},
+			maps: s.maps ?? {}
+		};
+	}
+
 	let draft = $state<PpSettings | null>(null);
+	// Re-clone on each open so reopening the dialog shows the freshest
+	// server state. Eagerly nulling on close used to introduce a window
+	// where Dialog's exit animation kept the form mounted while draft
+	// was already null — and bind:value getters read null, triggering
+	// "$.get(...) is null" / can't access .ui at runtime. Resetting on
+	// open instead avoids that race entirely.
 	$effect(() => {
-		if (settingsQuery.data && draft === null) {
-			draft = structuredClone(settingsQuery.data);
+		if (open && settingsQuery.data) {
+			draft = normalize(structuredClone(settingsQuery.data));
 		}
 	});
-	$effect(() => {
-		if (!open) draft = null;
-	});
 
 	const saveMut = createMutation(() => ({
 		mutationFn: (patch: PpSettings) => saveSettings(patch),
 		onSuccess: (next) => {
 			qc.setQueryData(['settings'], next);
-			draft = structuredClone(next);
+			draft = normalize(structuredClone(next));
 			toast.success('Settings saved');
 		},
 		onError: (err) =>
@@ -112,7 +134,7 @@
 	}));
 
 	function resetDraft() {
-		if (settingsQuery.data) draft = structuredClone(settingsQuery.data);
+		if (settingsQuery.data) draft = normalize(structuredClone(settingsQuery.data));
 	}
 
 	const selectClass =

web/src/lib/stores/indexer.svelte.ts

@@ -126,11 +126,6 @@ function handleMessage(raw: string): void {
 	const eventName = inner.event as string | undefined;
 	const data = (inner.data ?? {}) as Record<string, unknown>;
 	if (!eventName) return;
-	// PhotoPrism's WS protocol isn't a stable contract; log the live shape
-	// at `debug` (hidden by default in DevTools — toggle "Verbose" to see)
-	// so future-us can spot new indexer event names without instrumenting
-	// the entire app.
-	console.debug('[indexer]', eventName, data);
 	switch (eventName) {
 		case 'index.indexing': {
 			// Per-file event during the scan pass. PhotoPrism emits one