A tab should be able to be created without a pane, and this works for that

src/cascadia/TerminalApp/TabManagement.cpp

@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
     // - newTabImpl: the uninitialized tab.
     void TerminalPage::_InitializeTab(winrt::com_ptr<TerminalTab> newTabImpl)
     {
-        newTabImpl->Initialize();
+        // newTabImpl->Initialize();
 
         // Add the new tab to the list of our tabs.
         _tabs.Append(*newTabImpl);
@@ -228,13 +228,17 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
         _tabView.TabItems().Append(tabViewItem);
 
         // Set this tab's icon to the icon from the user's profile
-        if (const auto profile{ newTabImpl->GetFocusedProfile() })
-        {
-            if (!profile.Icon().empty())
-            {
-                newTabImpl->UpdateIcon(profile.Icon());
-            }
-        }
+        //
+        // TODO! This doesn't need ot live in TerminalPage like, at all. This
+        // should get moved inside TerminalTab::AttachRootPane, or
+        // TerminalTab::Initialize or something.
+        // if (const auto profile{ newTabImpl->GetFocusedProfile() })
+        // {
+        //     if (!profile.Icon().empty())
+        //     {
+        //         newTabImpl->UpdateIcon(profile.Icon());
+        //     }
+        // }
 
         tabViewItem.PointerReleased({ this, &TerminalPage::_OnTabClick });
 
@@ -288,11 +292,15 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
                                                                   TerminalSettingsCreateResult controlSettings,
                                                                   Profile profile)
     {
-        const auto initial = _startupState <= StartupState::InStartup;
-        if (!initial)
-        {
-            co_await winrt::resume_background();
-        }
+        auto newTabImpl = winrt::make_self<TerminalTab>(nullptr);
+        _InitializeTab(newTabImpl); // Adds tab to list, tabview
+
+        // const auto initial = _startupState <= StartupState::InStartup;
+        // if (!initial)
+        // {
+        // TODO! Do we need both this and the resume_background in _CreateNewContentProcess
+        co_await winrt::resume_background();
+        // }
         auto content = co_await initContentProc;
         // if (!initial)
         // {
@@ -300,8 +308,7 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
         // }
 
         auto pane = _makePaneFromContent(content, controlSettings, profile);
-        auto newTabImpl = winrt::make_self<TerminalTab>(pane);
-        _InitializeTab(newTabImpl);
+        newTabImpl->AttachRootPane(pane);
     }
 
     // Method Description:

src/cascadia/TerminalApp/TerminalPage.cpp

@@ -718,6 +718,7 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
         // we're readying to accept a defterm connection. In that case, we don't
         // have a tab yet, but will once we're initialized.
         const bool startedElevated = false;
+        // TODO!
         if ((_tabs.Size() == 0 && startedElevated) && !(_shouldStartInboundListener || _isEmbeddingInboundListener))
         {
             _LastTabClosedHandlers(*this, nullptr);

src/cascadia/TerminalApp/TerminalTab.cpp

@@ -27,6 +27,17 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
 {
     TerminalTab::TerminalTab(std::shared_ptr<Pane> rootPane)
     {
+        if (rootPane != nullptr)
+        {
+            AttachRootPane(rootPane);
+        }
+
+        _Setup();
+    }
+
+    void TerminalTab::AttachRootPane(std::shared_ptr<Pane> rootPane)
+    {
+        assert(_rootPane == nullptr);
         _rootPane = rootPane;
         _activePane = nullptr;
 
@@ -60,7 +71,13 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
             _mruPanes.insert(_mruPanes.begin(), id.value());
         }
 
-        _Setup();
+        _rootClosedToken = _rootPane->Closed([=](auto&& /*s*/, auto&& /*e*/) {
+            _ClosedHandlers(nullptr, nullptr);
+        });
+
+        Content(_rootPane->GetRootElement());
+
+        Initialize();
     }
 
     // Method Description:
@@ -71,12 +88,6 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
     // - <none>
     void TerminalTab::_Setup()
     {
-        _rootClosedToken = _rootPane->Closed([=](auto&& /*s*/, auto&& /*e*/) {
-            _ClosedHandlers(nullptr, nullptr);
-        });
-
-        Content(_rootPane->GetRootElement());
-
         _MakeTabViewItem();
         _CreateContextMenu();
 
@@ -379,6 +390,10 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
         {
             return _runtimeTabText;
         }
+        if (!_activePane)
+        {
+            return L"";
+        }
         if (!_activePane->_IsLeaf())
         {
             return RS_(L"MultiplePanes");
@@ -864,7 +879,7 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
             }
         });
 
-        events.taskbarToken = control.SetTaskbarProgress([dispatcher, weakThis](auto&&, auto&&) -> winrt::fire_and_forget {
+        events.taskbarToken = control.SetTaskbarProgress([dispatcher, weakThis](auto&&, auto &&) -> winrt::fire_and_forget {
             co_await wil::resume_foreground(dispatcher);
             // Check if Tab's lifetime has expired
             if (auto tab{ weakThis.get() })
@@ -1069,7 +1084,7 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
         // Add a Closed event handler to the Pane. If the pane closes out from
         // underneath us, and it's zoomed, we want to be able to make sure to
         // update our state accordingly to un-zoom that pane. See GH#7252.
-        auto closedToken = pane->Closed([weakThis, weakPane](auto&& /*s*/, auto&& /*e*/) -> winrt::fire_and_forget {
+        auto closedToken = pane->Closed([weakThis, weakPane](auto&& /*s*/, auto && /*e*/) -> winrt::fire_and_forget {
             if (auto tab{ weakThis.get() })
             {
                 if (tab->_zoomedPane)

src/cascadia/TerminalApp/TerminalTab.h

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
         std::shared_ptr<Pane> DetachRoot();
         std::shared_ptr<Pane> DetachPane();
         void AttachPane(std::shared_ptr<Pane> pane);
+        void AttachRootPane(std::shared_ptr<Pane> rootPane);
 
         void SplitPane(winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Settings::Model::SplitDirection splitType,
                        const float splitSize,