fix(native-chat): a new chat starts at rest; its first message starts the agent

mobile/rpc-foundation/goldens/session-create-terminal-diff-notes-not-delivered.json

@@ -57,14 +57,6 @@
       "sessionTabs": [],
       "terminals": []
     },
-    "776182f604c7": {
-      "name": "toast",
-      "ordinal": 4,
-      "value": {
-        "durationMs": 2400,
-        "message": "The agent started, but the notes weren't sent."
-      }
-    },
     "8f06d46b0825": {
       "name": "agent.launchReplay#1",
       "ordinal": 1,
@@ -129,6 +121,14 @@
       "status": "pending",
       "startedAt": 0
     },
+    "ac15d5ff2168": {
+      "name": "toast",
+      "ordinal": 4,
+      "value": {
+        "durationMs": 2400,
+        "message": "The notes weren't sent to the agent."
+      }
+    },
     "ad660413fab0": {
       "name": "agent.launchReplay#1",
       "ordinal": 1,
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@
             "create": "eb79a9b3682a"
           },
           "state": "73449f52ee06",
-          "effects": ["6248a3dd0710", "776182f604c7"]
+          "effects": ["6248a3dd0710", "ac15d5ff2168"]
         }
       },
       {
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@
             "create": "eb79a9b3682a"
           },
           "state": "73449f52ee06",
-          "effects": ["6248a3dd0710", "776182f604c7"]
+          "effects": ["6248a3dd0710", "ac15d5ff2168"]
         }
       }
     ]

mobile/src/components/AgentLaunchNotice.test.tsx

@@ -63,10 +63,8 @@ describe('AgentLaunchNotice', () => {
   })
 
   it('keeps a real failure in the error style beside a warning', () => {
-    expect(
-      lines({ error: "The agent started, but the prompt wasn't sent.", warning: 'w' })
-    ).toEqual([
-      { text: "The agent started, but the prompt wasn't sent.", isError: true },
+    expect(lines({ error: "The prompt wasn't sent to the agent.", warning: 'w' })).toEqual([
+      { text: "The prompt wasn't sent to the agent.", isError: true },
       { text: 'w', isError: false }
     ])
   })
@@ -78,14 +76,16 @@ describe('AgentLaunchNotice', () => {
   })
 
   it('confirms a launch that went ahead, with any host note beneath it', () => {
-    expect(lines({ success: 'Agent started in feature-login', warning: 'w' })).toEqual([
-      { text: 'Agent started in feature-login', isError: false },
+    expect(lines({ success: 'Sent to an agent in feature-login', warning: 'w' })).toEqual([
+      { text: 'Sent to an agent in feature-login', isError: false },
       { text: 'w', isError: false }
     ])
   })
 
   it('never confirms beside an error', () => {
-    expect(lines({ success: 'Agent started', error: 'e' })).toEqual([{ text: 'e', isError: true }])
+    expect(lines({ success: 'Sent to an agent', error: 'e' })).toEqual([
+      { text: 'e', isError: true }
+    ])
   })
 
   it('renders nothing with nothing to say', () => {

mobile/src/components/AgentLaunchNotice.tsx

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import { colors, spacing, typography } from '../theme/mobile-theme'
 
 type Props = {
   availability: MobileAgentLaunchAvailability
-  /** The confirmation that the agent started with its prompt. */
+  /** The confirmation that the prompt was sent to an agent. */
   success: string | null
   error: string | null
   /** The host's note on a launch that went ahead; secondary text, not an error. */

mobile/src/session/new-tab-agent-host-launch.ts

@@ -16,11 +16,9 @@ import {
   type PendingSessionSelection
 } from './pending-session-selection'
 
-const NOTES_NOT_SENT_MESSAGE = "The agent started, but the notes weren't sent."
-export const PROMPT_UNCONFIRMED_MESSAGE =
-  "The agent started, but couldn't confirm the prompt was sent."
-export const NOTES_UNCONFIRMED_MESSAGE =
-  "The agent started, but couldn't confirm the notes were sent."
+const NOTES_NOT_SENT_MESSAGE = "The notes weren't sent to the agent."
+export const PROMPT_UNCONFIRMED_MESSAGE = "Couldn't confirm the prompt was sent to the agent."
+export const NOTES_UNCONFIRMED_MESSAGE = "Couldn't confirm the notes were sent to the agent."
 
 export type NewTabAgentLaunchOptions = MobileQuickCommandLaunch['options'] & {
   onPromptSent?: () => void
@@ -80,7 +78,7 @@ export async function launchNewTabAgentThroughHost(args: {
     return true
   }
   if (launched.kind === 'unknown') {
-    // Why: a listed tab proves the agent started, so only the prompt is in doubt; notes stay unsent.
+    // Why: a listed tab proves the launch went through, so only the prompt is in doubt; notes stay unsent.
     if (isLaunchedSurfaceListed(args.getSessionTabs(), reservation)) {
       if (prompt?.trim()) {
         triggerError()

mobile/src/session/pr-ai-triage-launch.test.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import type { RpcResponse } from '../transport/types'
 import { AGENT_LAUNCH_UPDATE_REQUIRED_MESSAGE } from './mobile-existing-agent-launch'
 import {
   AGENT_PROMPT_NOT_SENT_MESSAGE,
-  agentStartedMessage,
+  agentPromptSentMessage,
   launchAgentWithPrompt,
   promptedLaunchNotice
 } from './pr-ai-triage-launch'
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ describe('promptedLaunchNotice', () => {
     })
     expect(promptedLaunchNotice({ kind: 'sent' })).toEqual({
       succeeded: true,
-      success: 'Agent started',
+      success: 'Sent to an agent',
       error: null,
       warning: null,
       undeliveredPrompt: null
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ describe('promptedLaunchNotice', () => {
   it('never reports the host warning on a launch that went ahead as an error', () => {
     expect(promptedLaunchNotice({ kind: 'sent', warning: 'arguments were ignored' })).toEqual({
       succeeded: true,
-      success: 'Agent started',
+      success: 'Sent to an agent',
       error: null,
       warning: 'arguments were ignored',
       undeliveredPrompt: null
@@ -304,16 +304,16 @@ describe('promptedLaunchNotice', () => {
   })
 })
 
-describe('agentStartedMessage', () => {
+describe('agentPromptSentMessage', () => {
   // Issue #20543: a launch from the phone must say it happened, and where.
-  it('names the workspace the agent started in', () => {
+  it('names the workspace the prompt went to', () => {
     expect(promptedLaunchNotice({ kind: 'sent' }, 'feature-login').success).toBe(
-      'Agent started in feature-login'
+      'Sent to an agent in feature-login'
     )
   })
 
   it('still confirms the launch when the screen knows no workspace name', () => {
-    expect(agentStartedMessage(null)).toBe('Agent started')
-    expect(agentStartedMessage('   ')).toBe('Agent started')
+    expect(agentPromptSentMessage(null)).toBe('Sent to an agent')
+    expect(agentPromptSentMessage('   ')).toBe('Sent to an agent')
   })
 })

mobile/src/session/pr-ai-triage-launch.ts

@@ -15,14 +15,15 @@ import { resolveMobileSourceControlLaunchAgent } from './mobile-source-control-l
 
 export type MobilePromptedAgentLaunch =
   | { kind: 'sent'; warning?: string }
-  /** The agent started but `prompt`, the text as sent, did not reach it; the caller offers it. */
+  /** The launch went through but `prompt`, the text as sent, did not reach the agent; the caller
+   *  offers it. */
   | { kind: 'prompt-not-sent'; prompt: string; warning?: string }
   /** Nothing started; `message` says why. */
   | { kind: 'not-started'; message: string }
   /** The agent may be running; do not launch again until the user has looked. */
   | { kind: 'unconfirmed'; message: string }
 
-export const AGENT_PROMPT_NOT_SENT_MESSAGE = "The agent started, but the prompt wasn't sent."
+export const AGENT_PROMPT_NOT_SENT_MESSAGE = "The prompt wasn't sent to the agent."
 
 export async function launchAgentWithPrompt(args: {
   client: RpcClient
@@ -91,10 +92,11 @@ export async function launchAgentWithPrompt(args: {
   }
 }
 
-/** The confirmation under an AI button, naming the workspace when the screen knows it. */
-export function agentStartedMessage(workspaceLabel: string | null | undefined): string {
+/** The confirmation under an AI button, naming the workspace when the screen knows it. Said once
+ *  the host has the prompt: the agent may still be starting, and a failed start shows in its chat. */
+export function agentPromptSentMessage(workspaceLabel: string | null | undefined): string {
   const label = workspaceLabel?.trim()
-  return label ? `Agent started in ${label}` : 'Agent started'
+  return label ? `Sent to an agent in ${label}` : 'Sent to an agent'
 }
 
 /** What the button shows after a launch; one mapping so every AI button reads the same.
@@ -113,7 +115,7 @@ export function promptedLaunchNotice(
     case 'sent':
       return {
         succeeded: true,
-        success: agentStartedMessage(workspaceLabel),
+        success: agentPromptSentMessage(workspaceLabel),
         error: null,
         warning: result.warning ?? null,
         undeliveredPrompt: null

mobile/src/session/use-mobile-diff-review-send-actions.test.ts

@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ describe('useMobileDiffReviewSendActions', () => {
     })
     expect(saveCommentsAndReviewState).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(setActionError).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
-      "The agent started, but the notes weren't sent. Use Copy Notes to paste them."
+      "The notes weren't sent to the agent. Use Copy Notes to paste them."
     )
   })
 

mobile/src/session/use-mobile-diff-review-send-actions.ts

@@ -156,9 +156,7 @@ export function useMobileDiffReviewSendActions(input: SendActionsInput) {
       }
       if (result.kind === 'prompt-not-sent') {
         // Notes stay unsent so Copy Notes and a later send still carry them.
-        setActionError(
-          "The agent started, but the notes weren't sent. Use Copy Notes to paste them."
-        )
+        setActionError("The notes weren't sent to the agent. Use Copy Notes to paste them.")
         return
       }
       await markNotesSent(comments)

mobile/src/session/use-mobile-pr-ai-triage.test.ts

@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ describe('useMobilePrAiTriage', () => {
       await triage?.launch('fix-checks', () => 'fix the failing checks')
     })
     expect(triage?.noticeFor('fix-checks')).toMatchObject({
-      error: "The agent started, but the prompt wasn't sent."
+      error: "The prompt wasn't sent to the agent."
     })
     expect(triage?.noticeFor('fix-checks').undeliveredPrompt).toContain('fix the failing checks')
     expect(triage?.noticeFor('fix-checks').success).toBeNull()
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ describe('useMobilePrAiTriage', () => {
       await triage?.launch('resolve-conflicts', () => 'resolve the conflicts')
     })
     expect(triage?.noticeFor('resolve-conflicts')).toEqual({
-      success: 'Agent started in feature-login',
+      success: 'Sent to an agent in feature-login',
       error: null,
       warning: null,
       undeliveredPrompt: null

mobile/src/session/use-mobile-pr-ai-triage.ts

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export type PrAiTriageLaunchNotice = {
   success: string | null
   error: string | null
   warning: string | null
-  /** The agent started without its prompt; kept so the user can paste it in themselves. */
+  /** The launch went through without its prompt; kept so the user can paste it in themselves. */
   undeliveredPrompt: string | null
 }
 

mobile/src/session/use-mobile-session-terminal-create-agent-launch.test.ts

@@ -517,10 +517,7 @@ describe('launches that carry a prompt', () => {
     await create_(state, 'codex', { initialPrompt: 'the notes', onPromptSent })
 
     expect(onPromptSent).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-    expect(state.showToast).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      "The agent started, but the notes weren't sent.",
-      2400
-    )
+    expect(state.showToast).toHaveBeenCalledWith("The notes weren't sent to the agent.", 2400)
   })
 
   it('says a quick command prompt was not sent', async () => {

mobile/src/source-control/use-mobile-commit-failure-recovery.test.ts

@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ describe('useMobileCommitFailureRecovery', () => {
     expect(succeeded).toBe(true)
     expect(recovery?.launchError).toBeNull()
     expect(recovery?.launchWarning).toBe('the requested arguments were ignored.')
-    expect(recovery?.launchSuccess).toBe('Agent started in feature-login')
+    expect(recovery?.launchSuccess).toBe('Sent to an agent in feature-login')
     // A new failure is a new launch; the old one's note does not carry over.
     rerender({ ...FAILURE, error: 'another hook failed' })
     expect(recovery?.launchWarning).toBeNull()

mobile/src/source-control/use-mobile-commit-failure-recovery.ts

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export function useMobileCommitFailureRecovery({
   // would start a second agent.
   const inFlightRef = useRef(false)
   const [launchError, setLaunchError] = useState<string | null>(null)
-  // The agent started without its prompt; kept so the user can paste it in themselves. Keyed by the
+  // The launch went through without its prompt; kept so the user can paste it in themselves. Keyed by the
   // failure it was built for, so a new failure never shows the previous one's prompt.
   const [undelivered, setUndelivered] = useState<{
     failure: MobileCommitFailureRecovery

src/main/claude/claude-api-retry-idle-sweep.test.ts

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import {
 } from '../native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-host-test-data'
 import { createClaudeJournalTranslator } from './claude-structured-journal-translation'
 import { openTestJournalHostDatabase } from '../native-chat/agent-session-journal/journal-host-database-test-support'
+import { attachForTests } from '../native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-attach-test-support'
 import { createStructuredAgentSessionLogger } from '../native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-logger'
 
 const SWEEP_MS = 5
@@ -96,7 +97,9 @@ afterEach(async () => {
 
 describe('a Claude retrying a refused request', () => {
   it('keeps the conversation open past the idle window while retry frames arrive', async () => {
-    expect(await host.attach({ callerKey: 'client-1' }, hostTestAttachParams(null))).toMatchObject({
+    expect(
+      await attachForTests(host, { callerKey: 'client-1' }, hostTestAttachParams(null))
+    ).toMatchObject({
       ok: true
     })
     if (!sink) {

src/main/claude/claude-structured-effort-default-at-rest.test.ts

@@ -282,6 +282,32 @@ describe('Claude effort default at rest', () => {
     expect(pickerEffort(resting)).toBe('high')
   })
 
+  // Every new chat sits at rest until its first message. Settings or env may run another model
+  // than the listing's default, so the picker names none (and offers no effort) until one runs.
+  it('names no model for a new chat at rest even with a listing, and the picker shows it unknown', async () => {
+    const store = new AgentModelCatalogStore()
+    await startChild(store)
+
+    const resting = await readAtRest(store, restingRecord({}))
+
+    expect(resting.current).toEqual({ model: '' })
+    const seed = getAgentSessionOptionCatalog('claude')!
+    const snapshot = structuredAgentSessionOptionSnapshot(
+      applyStructuredAgentSessionOptions(
+        createStructuredAgentSessionOptionState('claude', seed),
+        seed,
+        resting
+      )
+    )
+    const model = snapshot.find((row) => row.id === 'model')
+    expect(model).toMatchObject({ valueSource: 'unknown' })
+    expect(model?.kind.type === 'select' ? model.kind.currentValue : 'named').toBeUndefined()
+    expect(
+      model?.kind.type === 'select' ? model.kind.choices.map((c) => c.value) : []
+    ).not.toContain('')
+    expect(snapshot.find((row) => row.id === 'effort')).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
   it('names no model at rest with no pick and no catalog, so the client keeps what the child ran', async () => {
     // The CLI's default model, reported live; the chat never picked one.
     const child = await startChild(new AgentModelCatalogStore(), undefined, [], {

src/main/claude/claude-structured-effort-reporting.test.ts

@@ -88,7 +88,8 @@ describe('Claude effort reporting', () => {
 
     const options = await adapter.readOptions({ sessionId: 'session-1', fence: 7 })
     expect(options.current.effort).toBeUndefined()
-    expect(options.current.model).toBeTruthy()
+    // Neither the agent's report nor its own listing named a model, so none is named.
+    expect(options.current.model).toBe('')
   })
 
   it('keeps the init fixture free of an effort the real frame never sends', async () => {

src/main/claude/claude-structured-options.test.ts

@@ -480,3 +480,26 @@ describe('Claude structured option restore under the request deadline', () => {
     ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(ClaudeControlRequestTimeoutError)
   })
 })
+
+describe("a Claude chat's first start, before the agent names its model", () => {
+  function startingSession(): ClaudeSession {
+    return { ...sessionFor(vi.fn()), startup: createClaudeSessionStartup() }
+  }
+
+  it("names no model, not its listing's default, and still lists the models", async () => {
+    const result = await readClaudeStructuredSessionOptions(startingSession(), undefined)
+
+    expect(result.current.model).toBe('')
+    expect(result.models.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+    expect(result.models.some((model) => model.isDefault)).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('names the pick a start replays', async () => {
+    const session = startingSession()
+    session.options.set('model', 'opus')
+
+    const result = await readClaudeStructuredSessionOptions(session, undefined)
+
+    expect(result.current.model).toBe('opus')
+  })
+})

src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-options.ts

@@ -335,7 +335,10 @@ export function claudeStructuredSessionOptionsFrom(
   writeClaudeCatalogThrough(session, discovered)
   const listed = discovered.length > 0 ? discovered : seedModels()
   const current = readClaudeCurrentModel(session)
-  const model = currentModelId(listed, current.id)
+  // The static seed's default is not this agent's: Claude's settings or env may run another, so
+  // until a pick, the agent's report or its own listing names one (a start still under way), none.
+  const model =
+    current.id === undefined && discovered.length === 0 ? '' : currentModelId(listed, current.id)
   const models = structuredAgentSessionOptionModels(listed, model, (row) => ({
     ...row,
     resolvedModel: null