diff --git a/ui/src/ui/app-render.ts b/ui/src/ui/app-render.ts
index 7d93dd5acc6..4b79629731e 100644
--- a/ui/src/ui/app-render.ts
+++ b/ui/src/ui/app-render.ts
@@ -277,6 +277,11 @@ function resolveAssistantAvatarUrl(state: AppViewState): string | undefined {
 }
 
 export function renderApp(state: AppViewState) {
+  const requestHostUpdate =
+    typeof (state as { requestUpdate?: unknown }).requestUpdate === "function"
+      ? () => (state as { requestUpdate: () => void }).requestUpdate()
+      : undefined;
+
   // Gate: require successful gateway connection before showing the dashboard.
   // The gateway URL confirmation overlay is always rendered so URL-param flows still work.
   if (!state.connected) {
@@ -1323,7 +1328,9 @@ export function renderApp(state: AppViewState) {
                   });
                 },
                 onChatScroll: (event) => state.handleChatScroll(event),
+                getDraft: () => state.chatMessage,
                 onDraftChange: (next) => (state.chatMessage = next),
+                onRequestUpdate: requestHostUpdate,
                 attachments: state.chatAttachments,
                 onAttachmentsChange: (next) => (state.chatAttachments = next),
                 onSend: () => state.handleSendChat(),
diff --git a/ui/src/ui/chat/pinned-messages.ts b/ui/src/ui/chat/pinned-messages.ts
index 4914b0db32a..a3e77a9483b 100644
--- a/ui/src/ui/chat/pinned-messages.ts
+++ b/ui/src/ui/chat/pinned-messages.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ export class PinnedMessages {
   }
 
   private save(): void {
-    localStorage.setItem(this.key, JSON.stringify([...this._indices]));
+    try {
+      localStorage.setItem(this.key, JSON.stringify([...this._indices]));
+    } catch {
+      // ignore
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/ui/src/ui/views/chat.ts b/ui/src/ui/views/chat.ts
index 8d070812c63..3559184e38d 100644
--- a/ui/src/ui/views/chat.ts
+++ b/ui/src/ui/views/chat.ts
@@ -80,7 +80,9 @@ export type ChatProps = {
   onScrollToBottom?: () => void;
   onRefresh: () => void;
   onToggleFocusMode: () => void;
+  getDraft?: () => string;
   onDraftChange: (next: string) => void;
+  onRequestUpdate?: () => void;
   onSend: () => void;
   onAbort?: () => void;
   onQueueRemove: (id: string) => void;
@@ -803,12 +805,8 @@ export function renderChat(props: ChatProps) {
       : `Message ${props.assistantName || "agent"} (Enter to send)`
     : "Connect to the gateway to start chatting...";
 
-  // We need a requestUpdate shim since we're in functional mode:
-  // the host Lit component will re-render on state change anyway,
-  // so we trigger by calling onDraftChange with current value.
-  const requestUpdate = () => {
-    props.onDraftChange(props.draft);
-  };
+  const requestUpdate = props.onRequestUpdate ?? (() => {});
+  const getDraft = props.getDraft ?? (() => props.draft);
 
   const splitRatio = props.splitRatio ?? 0.6;
   const sidebarOpen = Boolean(props.sidebarOpen && props.onCloseSidebar);
@@ -1020,9 +1018,6 @@ export function renderChat(props: ChatProps) {
     adjustTextareaHeight(target);
     updateSlashMenu(target.value, requestUpdate);
     inputHistory.reset();
-    // onDraftChange must be last: requestUpdate() inside updateSlashMenu
-    // uses the stale render-time props.draft, overwriting chatMessage.
-    // Calling onDraftChange last ensures the correct DOM value wins.
     props.onDraftChange(target.value);
   };
 
@@ -1192,7 +1187,7 @@ export function renderChat(props: ChatProps) {
                         const started = startStt({
                           onTranscript: (text, isFinal) => {
                             if (isFinal) {
-                              const current = props.draft;
+                              const current = getDraft();
                               const sep = current && !current.endsWith(" ") ? " " : "";
                               props.onDraftChange(current + sep + text);
                               sttInterimText = "";