fix(tui): prevent stale model indicator after /model

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 ### Fixes
 
 - Gateway/chat streaming tool-boundary text retention: merge assistant delta segments into per-run chat buffers so pre-tool text is preserved in live chat deltas/finals when providers emit post-tool assistant segments as non-prefix snapshots. (#36957) Thanks @Datyedyeguy.
+- TUI/model indicator freshness: prevent stale session snapshots from overwriting freshly patched model selection (and reset per-session freshness when switching session keys) so `/model` updates reflect immediately instead of lagging by one or more commands. (#21255) Thanks @kowza.
 - OpenAI Codex OAuth/login hardening: fail OAuth completion early when the returned token is missing `api.responses.write`, and allow `openclaw models auth login --provider openai-codex` to use the built-in OAuth path even when no provider plugins are installed. (#36660) Thanks @driesvints.
 - Gateway/remote WS break-glass hostname support: honor `OPENCLAW_ALLOW_INSECURE_PRIVATE_WS=1` for `ws://` hostname URLs (not only private IP literals) across onboarding validation and runtime gateway connection checks, while still rejecting public IP literals and non-unicast IPv6 endpoints. (#36930) Thanks @manju-rn.
 - Routing/binding lookup scalability: pre-index route bindings by channel/account and avoid full binding-list rescans on channel-account cache rollover, preventing multi-second `resolveAgentRoute` stalls in large binding configurations. (#36915) Thanks @songchenghao.

src/tui/tui-session-actions.test.ts

@@ -111,4 +111,162 @@ describe("tui session actions", () => {
     expect(updateFooter).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
     expect(requestRender).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
   });
+
+  it("keeps patched model selection when a refresh returns an older snapshot", async () => {
+    const listSessions = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      ts: Date.now(),
+      path: "/tmp/sessions.json",
+      count: 1,
+      defaults: {},
+      sessions: [
+        {
+          key: "agent:main:main",
+          model: "old-model",
+          modelProvider: "ollama",
+          updatedAt: 100,
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    const state: TuiStateAccess = {
+      agentDefaultId: "main",
+      sessionMainKey: "agent:main:main",
+      sessionScope: "global",
+      agents: [],
+      currentAgentId: "main",
+      currentSessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+      currentSessionId: null,
+      activeChatRunId: null,
+      historyLoaded: false,
+      sessionInfo: {
+        model: "old-model",
+        modelProvider: "ollama",
+        updatedAt: 100,
+      },
+      initialSessionApplied: true,
+      isConnected: true,
+      autoMessageSent: false,
+      toolsExpanded: false,
+      showThinking: false,
+      connectionStatus: "connected",
+      activityStatus: "idle",
+      statusTimeout: null,
+      lastCtrlCAt: 0,
+    };
+
+    const { applySessionInfoFromPatch, refreshSessionInfo } = createSessionActions({
+      client: { listSessions } as unknown as GatewayChatClient,
+      chatLog: { addSystem: vi.fn() } as unknown as import("./components/chat-log.js").ChatLog,
+      tui: { requestRender: vi.fn() } as unknown as import("@mariozechner/pi-tui").TUI,
+      opts: {},
+      state,
+      agentNames: new Map(),
+      initialSessionInput: "",
+      initialSessionAgentId: null,
+      resolveSessionKey: vi.fn(),
+      updateHeader: vi.fn(),
+      updateFooter: vi.fn(),
+      updateAutocompleteProvider: vi.fn(),
+      setActivityStatus: vi.fn(),
+    });
+
+    applySessionInfoFromPatch({
+      key: "agent:main:main",
+      entry: {
+        sessionId: "session-1",
+        model: "new-model",
+        modelProvider: "openai",
+        updatedAt: 200,
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(state.sessionInfo.model).toBe("new-model");
+    expect(state.sessionInfo.modelProvider).toBe("openai");
+
+    await refreshSessionInfo();
+
+    expect(state.sessionInfo.model).toBe("new-model");
+    expect(state.sessionInfo.modelProvider).toBe("openai");
+    expect(state.sessionInfo.updatedAt).toBe(200);
+  });
+
+  it("accepts older session snapshots after switching session keys", async () => {
+    const listSessions = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      ts: Date.now(),
+      path: "/tmp/sessions.json",
+      count: 1,
+      defaults: {},
+      sessions: [
+        {
+          key: "agent:main:other",
+          model: "session-model",
+          modelProvider: "openai",
+          updatedAt: 50,
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+    const loadHistory = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      sessionId: "session-2",
+      messages: [],
+    });
+
+    const state: TuiStateAccess = {
+      agentDefaultId: "main",
+      sessionMainKey: "agent:main:main",
+      sessionScope: "global",
+      agents: [],
+      currentAgentId: "main",
+      currentSessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+      currentSessionId: null,
+      activeChatRunId: null,
+      historyLoaded: true,
+      sessionInfo: {
+        model: "previous-model",
+        modelProvider: "anthropic",
+        updatedAt: 500,
+      },
+      initialSessionApplied: true,
+      isConnected: true,
+      autoMessageSent: false,
+      toolsExpanded: false,
+      showThinking: false,
+      connectionStatus: "connected",
+      activityStatus: "idle",
+      statusTimeout: null,
+      lastCtrlCAt: 0,
+    };
+
+    const { setSession } = createSessionActions({
+      client: {
+        listSessions,
+        loadHistory,
+      } as unknown as GatewayChatClient,
+      chatLog: {
+        addSystem: vi.fn(),
+        clearAll: vi.fn(),
+      } as unknown as import("./components/chat-log.js").ChatLog,
+      tui: { requestRender: vi.fn() } as unknown as import("@mariozechner/pi-tui").TUI,
+      opts: {},
+      state,
+      agentNames: new Map(),
+      initialSessionInput: "",
+      initialSessionAgentId: null,
+      resolveSessionKey: vi.fn((raw?: string) => raw ?? "agent:main:main"),
+      updateHeader: vi.fn(),
+      updateFooter: vi.fn(),
+      updateAutocompleteProvider: vi.fn(),
+      setActivityStatus: vi.fn(),
+    });
+
+    await setSession("agent:main:other");
+
+    expect(loadHistory).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      sessionKey: "agent:main:other",
+      limit: 200,
+    });
+    expect(state.currentSessionKey).toBe("agent:main:other");
+    expect(state.sessionInfo.model).toBe("session-model");
+    expect(state.sessionInfo.modelProvider).toBe("openai");
+    expect(state.sessionInfo.updatedAt).toBe(50);
+  });
 });

src/tui/tui-session-actions.ts

@@ -151,17 +151,12 @@ export function createSessionActions(context: SessionActionContext) {
 
     const entryUpdatedAt = entry?.updatedAt ?? null;
     const currentUpdatedAt = state.sessionInfo.updatedAt ?? null;
-    const modelChanged =
-      (entry?.modelProvider !== undefined &&
-        entry.modelProvider !== state.sessionInfo.modelProvider) ||
-      (entry?.model !== undefined && entry.model !== state.sessionInfo.model);
     if (
       !params.force &&
       entryUpdatedAt !== null &&
       currentUpdatedAt !== null &&
       entryUpdatedAt < currentUpdatedAt &&
-      !defaultsChanged &&
-      !modelChanged
+      !defaultsChanged
     ) {
       return;
     }
@@ -362,6 +357,9 @@ export function createSessionActions(context: SessionActionContext) {
     state.currentSessionKey = nextKey;
     state.activeChatRunId = null;
     state.currentSessionId = null;
+    // Session keys can move backwards in updatedAt ordering; drop previous session freshness
+    // so refresh data for the newly selected session isn't rejected as stale.
+    state.sessionInfo.updatedAt = null;
     state.historyLoaded = false;
     clearLocalRunIds?.();
     updateHeader();