PR #59800: fix(tui): preserve pending sends and busy-state visibility

• Repository: openclaw/openclaw
• Author: vincentkoc
• State: closed | merged: True
• Link: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/59800

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

• Problem: the TUI could lose track of optimistic local sends during history reload/reconnect paths, show confusing busy/error state during fallback/terminal-error transitions, and waste horizontal width on long links and paths.
• Why it matters: users could see prompts disappear and later reappear, get stuck in unclear run state, and struggle to read or copy long terminal output.
• What changed: pending local user turns are preserved and reconciled through transcript rebuilds, active-run/error cleanup is more coherent, Esc/editor handling is covered more directly, and chat rendering reclaims width for long links and paths.
• What did NOT change (scope boundary): this PR does not add full Pi-style runtime-owned steer/follow-up queues or a new pending queue panel; it stays focused on stabilizing the existing TUI state model.

Change Type (select all)

• Bug fix
• Feature
• Refactor required for the fix
• Docs
• Security hardening
• Chore/infra

Scope (select all touched areas)

• Gateway / orchestration
• Skills / tool execution
• Auth / tokens
• Memory / storage
• Integrations
• API / contracts
• UI / DX
• CI/CD / infra

Linked Issue/PR

• Related #59014
• Related #59627
• Related #59570
• Related #55300
• This PR fixes a bug or regression

Root Cause / Regression History (if applicable)

• Root cause: the TUI relied on optimistic local-send state that was not durably reconciled with history rebuilds and run lifecycle transitions, so reload/error paths could desynchronize visible user turns from real run state.
• Missing detection / guardrail: there was no focused coverage for pending-send reconciliation across history rebuilds and not enough direct tests around the TUI error/final cleanup paths.
• Prior context (git blame, prior PR, issue, or refactor if known): issue reports in #59014, #59627, #59570, and #55300 all point at state-coherence failures in the TUI.
• Why this regressed now: the optimistic-send path assumed fast run attribution and simple finalization, which breaks under reconnect/history replay and fallback/error timing.
• If unknown, what was ruled out: not just markdown rendering; the disappearing-send behavior came from TUI transcript/state handling.

Regression Test Plan (if applicable)

• Coverage level that should have caught this:
  • Unit test
  • Seam / integration test
  • End-to-end test
  • Existing coverage already sufficient
• Target test or file: src/tui/components/chat-log.test.ts, src/tui/tui-command-handlers.test.ts, src/tui/tui-event-handlers.test.ts, src/tui/tui-session-actions.test.ts, src/tui/tui.test.ts, src/tui/components/custom-editor.test.ts
• Scenario the test should lock in: pending local sends survive history rebuilds until a matching run is anchored or dropped, run/error cleanup returns the TUI to a coherent state, and the editor key handling stays stable.
• Why this is the smallest reliable guardrail: these are TUI-local state-machine bugs, so focused unit coverage hits the failure path directly without network flake.
• Existing test that already covers this (if any): N/A
• If no new test is added, why not: N/A

User-visible / Behavior Changes

• Pending local sends no longer disappear during history reload/reconnect windows.
• Busy/error state is less likely to get stuck or look idle at the wrong time.
• Long links and paths get more usable width in chat rendering.
• TUI editor key handling now has direct regression coverage.

Diagram (if applicable)

Before:
[user send] -> [optimistic local state] -> [history reload or error transition] -> [message/status can disappear or desync]

After:
[user send] -> [tracked pending local state] -> [history rebuild reconciles it] -> [run anchors or drops explicitly] -> [status stays coherent]

Security Impact (required)

• New permissions/capabilities? (Yes/No): No
• Secrets/tokens handling changed? (Yes/No): No
• New/changed network calls? (Yes/No): No
• Command/tool execution surface changed? (Yes/No): No
• Data access scope changed? (Yes/No): No
• If any Yes, explain risk + mitigation: N/A

Repro + Verification

Environment

• OS: macOS
• Runtime/container: Node 22 / pnpm worktree
• Model/provider: N/A
• Integration/channel (if any): TUI + gateway chat client
• Relevant config (redacted): default TUI config

Steps

1. Send a local prompt, then trigger a session reload/reconnect or history rebuild path.
2. Exercise error/final cleanup paths for the active run.
3. Render long links/paths in the TUI transcript.

Expected

• Pending local sends remain visible and reconcile cleanly.
• Busy/error state returns to a sensible status.
• Long terminal-style text keeps more horizontal width.

Actual

• Before this change, pending sends could disappear and later reappear, busy/error handling could become misleading, and transcript padding wasted horizontal space.

Evidence

• Failing test/log before + passing after
• Trace/log snippets
• Screenshot/recording
• Perf numbers (if relevant)

Human Verification (required)

• Verified scenarios: focused TUI tests passed, pnpm build passed, and the rebased branch was run locally for interactive TUI validation.
• Edge cases checked: pending-send reconciliation on history rebuild, no-active-run Esc/abort handling, and error/final cleanup paths.
• What you did not verify: full Pi-style queued steer/follow-up runtime semantics; that remains follow-up work.

Review Conversations

• I replied to or resolved every bot review conversation I addressed in this PR.
• I left unresolved only the conversations that still need reviewer or maintainer judgment.

If a bot review conversation is addressed by this PR, resolve that conversation yourself. Do not leave bot review conversation cleanup for maintainers.

Compatibility / Migration

• Backward compatible? (Yes/No): Yes
• Config/env changes? (Yes/No): No
• Migration needed? (Yes/No): No
• If yes, exact upgrade steps: N/A

Risks and Mitigations

• Risk: TUI state handling remains easy to regress because optimistic sends, history replay, and run lifecycle events are loosely coupled.
  • Mitigation: added focused tests around chat-log reconciliation, editor handling, and event/session cleanup.
• Risk: full Pi-style queue/runtime semantics are still not present.
  • Mitigation: call that scope boundary out explicitly rather than implying this PR solves the larger parity effort.

Changed files

• CHANGELOG.md (modified, +1/-0)
• src/tui/components/assistant-message.ts (modified, +1/-1)
• src/tui/components/chat-log.test.ts (modified, +57/-0)
• src/tui/components/chat-log.ts (modified, +104/-1)
• src/tui/components/custom-editor.test.ts (added, +32/-0)
• src/tui/components/custom-editor.ts (modified, +5/-0)
• src/tui/components/markdown-message.ts (modified, +5/-4)
• src/tui/components/pending-messages.test.ts (added, +25/-0)
• src/tui/components/pending-messages.ts (added, +35/-0)
• src/tui/tui-types.ts (modified, +9/-0)