diff --git a/lua/pending/buffer.lua b/lua/pending/buffer.lua
index 8fdcbe1..827ff82 100644
--- a/lua/pending/buffer.lua
+++ b/lua/pending/buffer.lua
@@ -303,6 +303,12 @@ function M.render(bufnr)
     lines, line_meta = views.category_view(tasks)
   end
 
+  if #lines == 0 and #_filter_predicates == 0 then
+    local default_cat = config.get().default_category
+    lines = { '# ' .. default_cat }
+    line_meta = { { type = 'header', category = default_cat } }
+  end
+
   if #_filter_predicates > 0 then
     table.insert(lines, 1, 'FILTER: ' .. table.concat(_filter_predicates, ' '))
     table.insert(line_meta, 1, { type = 'filter' })
diff --git a/lua/pending/diff.lua b/lua/pending/diff.lua
index 5df332f..6b79b8a 100644
--- a/lua/pending/diff.lua
+++ b/lua/pending/diff.lua
@@ -33,14 +33,14 @@ function M.parse_buffer(lines)
 
   for i = start, #lines do
     local line = lines[i]
-    local id, body = line:match('^/(%d+)/(- %[.%] .*)$')
+    local id, body = line:match('^/(%d+)/(- %[.?%] .*)$')
     if not id then
-      body = line:match('^(- %[.%] .*)$')
+      body = line:match('^(- %[.?%] .*)$')
     end
     if line == '' then
       table.insert(result, { type = 'blank', lnum = i })
     elseif id or body then
-      local stripped = body:match('^- %[.%] (.*)$') or body
+      local stripped = body:match('^- %[.?%] (.*)$') or body
       local state_char = body:match('^- %[(.-)%]') or ' '
       local priority = state_char == '!' and 1 or 0
       local status = state_char == 'x' and 'done' or 'pending'