From a6e87f7cafab8fae591d7cf1cfeac079ecde3109 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <peter@steipete.me>
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2026 16:36:57 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix(ui): send idle stop aliases as normal messages (#105742)

* fix(ui): send idle stop aliases as messages

* chore: leave release notes to release automation
---
 ui/src/e2e/chat-flow.e2e.test.ts    | 24 ++++++++++++
 ui/src/pages/chat/chat-send.test.ts | 59 +++++++++++++++++++++--------
 ui/src/pages/chat/chat-send.ts      |  8 +++-
 3 files changed, 75 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/ui/src/e2e/chat-flow.e2e.test.ts b/ui/src/e2e/chat-flow.e2e.test.ts
index c968f7538b97..b5382dffbc71 100644
--- a/ui/src/e2e/chat-flow.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/e2e/chat-flow.e2e.test.ts
@@ -427,6 +427,30 @@ describeControlUiE2e("Control UI mocked Gateway E2E", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("sends idle stop aliases as ordinary chat messages", async () => {
+    const context = await newBrowserContext({
+      locale: "en-US",
+      serviceWorkers: "block",
+      viewport: { height: 900, width: 1280 },
+    });
+    const page = await context.newPage();
+    const gateway = await installMockGateway(page);
+
+    try {
+      await page.goto(`${server.baseUrl}chat`);
+      const composer = page.locator(".agent-chat__composer-combobox textarea");
+      await composer.waitFor({ state: "visible", timeout: 10_000 });
+      await composer.fill("wait");
+      await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Send message" }).click();
+
+      const sendRequest = await gateway.waitForRequest("chat.send");
+      expect(requireRecord(sendRequest.params).message).toBe("wait");
+      expect(await gateway.getRequests("chat.abort")).toHaveLength(0);
+    } finally {
+      await closeBrowserContext(context);
+    }
+  });
+
   it("persists the chat send shortcut and keeps multiline and IME input safe", async () => {
     const context = await newBrowserContext({
       locale: "en-US",
diff --git a/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-send.test.ts b/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-send.test.ts
index 9e0c02ee68cb..9b2fa02eef0b 100644
--- a/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-send.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-send.test.ts
@@ -1265,6 +1265,32 @@ describe("handleSendChat", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it.each(["stop", "esc", "abort", "wait", "exit"])(
+    "sends the idle conversational word %s as a normal message",
+    async (message) => {
+      const request = vi.fn(async (method: string) => {
+        if (method === "chat.send") {
+          return { runId: `idle-${message}`, status: "started" };
+        }
+        throw new Error(`Unexpected request: ${method}`);
+      });
+      const host = makeHost({
+        client: { request } as unknown as ChatHost["client"],
+        chatMessage: message,
+        sessionKey: "agent:main",
+      });
+
+      await handleSendChat(host);
+
+      expect(request).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        "chat.send",
+        expect.objectContaining({ message, sessionKey: "agent:main" }),
+      );
+      expect(request).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith("chat.abort", expect.anything());
+      expect(host.chatMessage).toBe("");
+    },
+  );
+
   afterEach(() => {
     vi.restoreAllMocks();
     vi.unstubAllGlobals();
@@ -7543,23 +7569,26 @@ describe("handleAbortChat", () => {
     expect(host.chatRunId).toBe("run-main");
   });
 
-  it("clears typed stop commands after aborting the active run", async () => {
-    const request = vi.fn(async () => ({ aborted: true }));
-    const host = makeHost({
-      client: { request } as unknown as ChatHost["client"],
-      chatRunId: "run-main",
-      chatMessage: "/stop",
-      sessionKey: "agent:main",
-    });
+  it.each(["/stop", "stop", "esc", "abort", "wait", "exit"])(
+    "clears the typed stop command %s after aborting the active run",
+    async (message) => {
+      const request = vi.fn(async () => ({ aborted: true }));
+      const host = makeHost({
+        client: { request } as unknown as ChatHost["client"],
+        chatRunId: "run-main",
+        chatMessage: message,
+        sessionKey: "agent:main",
+      });
 
-    await handleSendChat(host);
+      await handleSendChat(host);
 
-    expect(request).toHaveBeenCalledWith("chat.abort", {
-      runId: "run-main",
-      sessionKey: "agent:main",
-    });
-    expect(host.chatMessage).toBe("");
-  });
+      expect(request).toHaveBeenCalledWith("chat.abort", {
+        runId: "run-main",
+        sessionKey: "agent:main",
+      });
+      expect(host.chatMessage).toBe("");
+    },
+  );
 
   it("queues the active run abort while disconnected", async () => {
     const host = makeHost({
diff --git a/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-send.ts b/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-send.ts
index a2575a51c8e3..6ee21c454b51 100644
--- a/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-send.ts
+++ b/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-send.ts
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ import { controlUiNowMs, roundedControlUiDurationMs } from "./performance.ts";
 import type { RenderLifecycle } from "./render-lifecycle.ts";
 import {
   handleAbortChat,
+  hasAbortableSessionRun,
   isChatBusy,
   isChatStopCommand,
   reconcileChatRunLifecycle,
@@ -2167,7 +2168,12 @@ export async function handleSendChat(
   }
 
   if (shouldInterpretChatCommands) {
-    if (isChatStopCommand(message)) {
+    // Natural words such as "wait" and "exit" are stop aliases only while a
+    // run exists. Keep the explicit /stop command available at any time.
+    const shouldAbort =
+      isChatStopCommand(message) &&
+      (message.trim().startsWith("/") || hasAbortableSessionRun(host));
+    if (shouldAbort) {
       if (messageOverride == null) {
         recordNonTranscriptInputHistory(host, message);
       }