fix(chat): split into a fresh chat beside the current conversation by brennanb2025 · Pull Request #28950 · stablyai/orca

brennanb2025 · 2026-10-15T02:57:56Z

	Files	Added	Deleted	Net
Test	8	$\color{#1a7f37}{\Huge{\mathbf{+}}}$187	$\color{#cf222e}{\Huge{\mathbf{−}}}$28	$\color{#1a7f37}{\Huge{\mathbf{+}}}$159
Prod	27	$\color{#1a7f37}{\Huge{\mathbf{+}}}$197	$\color{#cf222e}{\Huge{\mathbf{−}}}$84	$\color{#1a7f37}{\Huge{\mathbf{+}}}$113

Problem and user-facing change

Split moved an existing native chat into another pane and did nothing when it was the only tab. A second race could remove a newly created chat when an older host list arrived after its create reply, collapsing the pane and sending immediate typing or Close to a neighbour.

Split Right and Split Down now keep the current conversation in place and open a fresh chat of the same agent on the same machine beside or below it, with focus in the new composer. Shortcuts and the command palette share this action. Move Tab remains separate and no longer shows shortcuts that create a fresh chat. Terminal-backed chats keep terminal splitting. Ordinary New Chat receives the same protection against older host lists.

Mechanism and intended limits

Split creates a destination pane and reuses the exact New Chat launch. An unbuildable launch closes the empty pane and uses the existing New Chat error feedback; host refusal preserves the failed chat, draft and Retry controls.

A separate in-memory record protects a just-created tab from older host lists until an accepted list from its creating host includes it, with a 30-second bound. The create reply settles the launch immediately. Rejected paired frames cannot release protection; accepted publication runs after the store commit. The record affects neither sending nor agent status, model choices or Stop. Close and workspace teardown clear it. Expiry only forgets the record; the next accepted list decides membership.

Intended differences and limits:

Reload before first listing loses the in-memory protection.
A chat closed host-side by another device before first listing can keep its tab until that host's next accepted list after the 30-second bound.
A pre-create list delayed more than 30 seconds after the reply can still remove the tab; main applies such omissions at any delay.
Older paired hosts retain their existing launch route and capability handling. No saved field, wire operation or minimum server version is added. Folder workspaces retain existing host routing; direct SSH terminal-backed chats retain terminal splitting.

Verification and current readiness

Final-head real QA passed on 769cfcf1e913001a15c7e58e5b46580a222290b9 on the M4Air. Main 814bb59ef675 created the saved state; the app genuinely quit before upgrading that same profile to the branch, then the branch genuinely quit and restarted. Real Claude and Codex produced 16 replies across those phases. The run saved 78 full-window screenshots at 3840×2400 CSS pixels, pixel density 2 (7680×4800 PNG); tested panes stayed above 150 pixels in both dimensions. The default window-owned layout build was used.

All six requested flows passed for both agents where applicable: restoring main-created chats/drafts and obtaining fresh contextual replies; Split Right by shortcut and Down by palette, keeping the source/draft and creating a focused same-agent chat on the same machine; Down → send → real reply → immediate Right → ordered typing → screenshot → Close, with only the newest pane closing; ordinary New Chat immediately after a reply; terminal-backed Split Right with typing in the new shell and the original chat reply retained; and restart with restored panes and new contextual replies in the retained split chats. Original rapid scripts put Right, typing, screenshot and Close directly after the scoped assistant reply observation, with metadata reads outside that interval. All three QA drivers exited successfully. Owned processes stopped, leased ports were clear, source remained clean, and real configuration hashes were unchanged. The lane owner released ticket 1524.

The full PR workflow 39836414654 passed on exact head 769cfcf1e913001a15c7e58e5b46580a222290b9. Final source, whole-mechanism comparison, readiness and performance review found no new proven production finding. Earlier reviewed heads passed 11 targeted close/publication tests and a broader 119 targeted tests.

Earlier real QA on ba5456887bed passed the same six requested flows, with 82 screenshots. That run's procedural failure was resolved by independent event ordering and original action-script evidence; ephemeral unsent Right-tab IDs remained an evidence limit. Its separate stricter supplemental Claude attempt failed on a load-balancer HTTP 429 before the reply/Right action, and its Codex supplement was not run. Its changed real Codex config hash remained unattributed. Those are earlier-run limits; the final 769cfcf run renewed real replies, rapid cycles, upgrade and restart on the merged code.

The earlier full run on 5808d997d426 supplies broader coverage: all eight shortcut/palette Right/Down combinations across Claude and Codex; six rapid cycles; Move; folder split; paired-server split/reply/reload; and 14 saved tabs through restart, with fresh contextual replies in 11 native chats and the terminal chat. These broader cases were not all renewed on 769cfcf. Paired evidence is from that earlier head and an explicitly enabled same-machine server, not a mixed-version or SSH run.

Evidence limits remain explicit: no tiny-pane fix, matched hidden/frozen head result, mixed-version peer, SSH, Windows/Linux/mobile or native OS focus QA claim. No stale-list or expiry injection was performed in this final running-app round; automated tests cover those contracts. Earlier matched controls reproduced tiny transcript and terminal readability symptoms on main; the terminal split route is unchanged. The earlier peer-tab freeze observation remains outside this PR on source evidence, with a matched head lifecycle control unavailable.

Main 814bb59 was merged normally before final QA. Newer main at the finishing check overlaps only src/renderer/src/i18n/locales/en.json through #31593 and #28569. The lane owner handles the final pre-merge sync; this finishing pass made no further main merge.

Detailed evidence: single review status. Earlier shared focus work is tracked in #28987.

Earlier main `3b02945afe35`: existing chat moves	Final head `769cfcf`: fresh sibling, source retained

Author: @BrennanKB5

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brennanb2025 · 2026-10-15T21:39:26Z

A new native chat could disappear when a host list created before it arrived after its create reply. Its pane collapsed, so immediate typing or Close could affect a neighbour. Split also moved the current conversation instead of opening a fresh one.

Split Right/Down now keeps the source and opens a fresh same-agent chat on the same machine in a focused sibling pane. It reuses New Chat's launch. Ordinary New Chat shares the publication protection; Move and terminal-backed splitting keep their separate behavior.

Source review, final reference comparison and requested real QA complete on 769cfcf1e913001a15c7e58e5b46580a222290b9. No new proven production finding remains. The whole-mechanism table and final readiness analysis are recorded privately. Newer main overlap is listed below for the lane owner’s final pre-merge sync.

Fixed during review: publication confirmation from rejected paired frames; expiry network work and late deleted-workspace resurrection; missing New Chat error feedback when Split cannot build a launch; a stale test import. Intended differences from the common pattern remain explicit: protection is a separate in-memory 30-second record until an accepted creating-host list includes the chat; reload before first inclusion loses it; an externally closed chat can remain until the next accepted list after the bound; a pre-create list delayed beyond the bound can still remove it. Expiry only forgets the record. Close and workspace teardown clear it. It does not gate sending, status, model choices or Stop.