Submitted prompts can stay queued or screen-only while the agent is already responding #339

Problem

Saved debug bundles show user prompts intermittently failing to render as normal feed user rows. In several captures the provider has accepted the prompt and the assistant has started working, but the prompt remains only in queuedMessages / QueueStrip, or is visible only in the terminal screen tail.

Related: #172, #185, #290, #90.

Evidence

Primary bundles:

• ~/.config/agent-code/debug-bundles/manual/2026-06-22T11-53-14-054-3398cdb4

  • Note: "not rendering user prompts and messages stays in queue? what the fuck ?"
  • state-snapshot.json: queuedMessages[0] = "okay and we are ready to mkerge this now? what is status?"
  • awaitingAssistant=false, processActive=true, streamPhase="thinking"
  • html-clean.html: prompt appears only under queued-message UI / 1 queued
  • trace/screen/latest-tail.txt: prompt is visible in terminal, then agent is working

• ~/.config/agent-code/debug-bundles/manual/2026-06-18T11-37-47-852-e5236cbe

  • Note: "user propmt not rendering? might transcript be disconnected?"
  • state-snapshot.json: queuedMessages[0] = "Sure merge all of them. ltes gamble"
  • awaitingAssistant=false, processActive=true, streamPhase="thinking"
  • feed HTML shows only QueueStrip

• ~/.config/agent-code/debug-bundles/manual/2026-06-22T12-34-16-431-2db014bc

  • Note: "No user prompt again, why does this keep happening?"
  • queuedMessages=[], but the submitted prompt is visible in trace/screen/latest-tail.txt
  • feed HTML has assistant/work content but not the submitted user prompt as a feed row

May 20 saved notes show the same recurrence, including several active Codex snapshots with stuck queuedMessages.

Suspected Cause

addOptimisticCodexUserEntry() routes follow-up prompts into queuedMessages when semantic current/history is still renderable. That prevents ordering mistakes, but creates a fragile handoff: the prompt only becomes a normal feed row if a matching committed rollout/transcript user entry arrives and reconciles the queue.

When the session is already active (processActive=true, streamPhase=thinking/responding/submitting), the idle queue invariant cannot clear or promote it. If the authoritative user row is delayed, missing, filtered, or only visible on the screen tail, the prompt remains composer-adjacent or screen-only while the assistant continues.

Relevant paths:

• src/renderer/src/workspace/hook/actions/streaming.ts
• src/renderer/src/workspace/hook/ipc/useIpcSubscriptions.ts
• src/renderer/src/workspace/queueInvariants.ts
• src/renderer/src/workspace/tile-tree/TileLeaf/QueueStrip.tsx
• src/renderer/src/features/feed/ui/Feed.tsx

Expected

After submit, every user prompt should have a durable visible owner in the conversation UI: optimistic feed row, promoted pending row, or reconciled committed row. The bad state happens while active, so relying on idle cleanup is not enough.