feat(chat): answer the CLI's menus from the chat; Stop ends Thinking… (#74)

- A menu the CLI asks with (AskUserQuestion — one question or several,
  multiSelect —, a permission or trust prompt, Codex's approval, a
  first-start login menu) is read off the terminal under the chat
  (`parsePaneMenu`/`readRunMenu`) and shown in the prompt box's place as a
  card of buttons. A pick presses its digit (picks it, or ticks its box),
  Claude's unnumbered Submit row is reached with the arrows and Enter, and
  Cancel presses Esc. "Type something" opens a field in the card: its text
  goes in by the arrows, Ctrl+U over anything already typed there, a
  bracketed paste and Enter. That row presses no key — a second press of
  its digit typed the digit into the CLI's field ("44444…"). Keys verified
  on Claude Code 2.1.296 and Codex 0.161. AskUserQuestion fires no
  Notification, so a menu on screen also counts as waiting (live line, tab
  badge). Client only: no new route.
- #74: Esc before the model wrote anything puts the prompt back in Claude
  Code's input box and writes no "[Request interrupted by user]" line, so
  the transcript ended on the prompt and the chat read "Thinking…" for
  15 min. The chat's Stop now ends the live line until a newer transcript
  line arrives (matched by line, not by clock).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

client/src/components/conversation/ConversationView.tsx

@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ interface ConversationViewProps {
   waiting?: boolean;
   /** Shows the pane's terminal, where that question is answered. */
   onOpenTerminal?: () => void;
+  /** Bumped by the chat's Stop: the live line ends with the turn on screen. */
+  stopped?: number;
   /** The newest reply's prompt size (input + cache) and model: how full the
    *  context is. */
   onContext?: (tokens: number, model: string | null) => void;
@@ -113,6 +115,7 @@ export function ConversationView({
   follow = 0,
   waiting = false,
   onOpenTerminal,
+  stopped = 0,
   onContext,
   onNotStarted,
 }: ConversationViewProps) {
@@ -558,7 +561,11 @@ export function ConversationView({
                 {t("conversation.notStartedBody")}
               </p>
               {onOpenTerminal && (
-                <button type="button" onClick={onOpenTerminal} className="btn-secondary mt-3 text-xs">
+                <button
+                  type="button"
+                  onClick={onOpenTerminal}
+                  className="btn-secondary mt-3 text-xs"
+                >
                   {t("conversation.openTerminal")}
                 </button>
               )}
@@ -578,6 +585,7 @@ export function ConversationView({
               live={live}
               waiting={waiting}
               onOpenTerminal={onOpenTerminal}
+              stopped={stopped}
             />
           )}
         </div>

client/src/components/conversation/MessageList.tsx

@@ -156,6 +156,9 @@ interface MessageListProps {
   waiting?: boolean;
   /** Shows the pane's terminal, where that question is answered. */
   onOpenTerminal?: () => void;
+  /** Bumped by the chat's Stop: the turn on screen is over, even when the
+   *  transcript never says so. */
+  stopped?: number;
 }
 
 /** Build a map from tool_use id → tool_result for matching */
@@ -611,15 +614,24 @@ export function MessageList({
   live = false,
   waiting = false,
   onOpenTerminal,
+  stopped = 0,
 }: MessageListProps) {
   const { t } = useTranslation("sessions");
   const toolResultMap = useMemo(() => buildToolResultMap(messages), [messages]);
+  const keys = useMemo(() => messageKeys(messages), [messages]);
+  const lastKey = keys[keys.length - 1] ?? null;
+  // The newest line when Stop was pressed. Esc before the model wrote anything
+  // puts the prompt back in Claude Code's input box and writes no
+  // "[Request interrupted…]" line (issue #74), so the transcript still ends on
+  // the prompt: no live line until a newer one arrives.
+  const [stop, setStop] = useState<{ n: number; on: string | null }>({ n: stopped, on: null });
+  if (stop.n !== stopped) setStop({ n: stopped, on: lastKey });
+  const halted = stop.on !== null && stop.on === lastKey;
   const pending = useMemo(
-    () => (live ? workingOn(messages, toolResultMap) : null),
-    [live, messages, toolResultMap]
+    () => (live && !halted ? workingOn(messages, toolResultMap) : null),
+    [live, halted, messages, toolResultMap]
   );
   const stats = useMemo(() => (pending ? turnStats(messages) : null), [pending, messages]);
-  const keys = useMemo(() => messageKeys(messages), [messages]);
   const items = useMemo(() => chatItems(messages, keys), [messages, keys]);
 
   if (loading) {

client/src/components/conversation/__tests__/MessageList.sender.test.tsx

@@ -182,6 +182,29 @@ describe("MessageList — sender attribution", () => {
     expect(screen.queryByTestId("chat-running-step")).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  // Issue #74: Esc before the model wrote anything takes the prompt back into
+  // Claude Code's input box and writes NO "[Request interrupted…]" line — the
+  // transcript still ends on the prompt, which read as "Thinking…" for 15 min.
+  it("drops Thinking… once Stop was pressed, until the transcript moves on", () => {
+    const prompt = msg({
+      sender: "user",
+      timestamp: new Date(Date.now() - 14_000).toISOString(),
+      content: [{ type: "text", text: "Phần đề xuất trong báo cáo" }],
+    });
+    const { rerender } = render(<MessageList loading={false} messages={[prompt]} live />);
+    expect(screen.getByTestId("chat-running-step")).toHaveTextContent("Thinking");
+    rerender(<MessageList loading={false} messages={[prompt]} live stopped={1} />);
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId("chat-running-step")).toBeNull();
+    // The next prompt is a new turn: its Thinking… shows.
+    const next = msg({
+      sender: "user",
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+      content: [{ type: "text", text: "again" }],
+    });
+    rerender(<MessageList loading={false} messages={[prompt, next]} live stopped={1} />);
+    expect(screen.getByTestId("chat-running-step")).toHaveTextContent("Thinking");
+  });
+
   it("counts a turn's output once per API call, since its prompt", () => {
     const at = "2026-06-26T08:19:00.000Z";
     const line = (cache: number, out: number) =>

client/src/components/run/PaneChat.tsx

@@ -12,7 +12,12 @@
  * `/model <id>` / `/effort <level>` — and the permission mode, which only
  * Shift+Tab changes in a running session, so the server steps it and reads
  * every step back off the pane (`POST /api/run/:id/permission-mode`); it sits
- * in the box beside `+`. A permission prompt or a menu still needs the terminal.
+ * in the box beside `+`. A menu the CLI asks with — AskUserQuestion, a
+ * permission or trust prompt, Codex's approval — is read off the terminal
+ * underneath (`readRunMenu`) and shown in the prompt box's place as buttons
+ * that press its keys there (`PaneMenuCard`); its "Type something" row opens
+ * a field in the card, whose text is typed there as the answer
+ * (`answerRunMenu`).
  * It also has Claude Desktop's activity panel (`ChatOutline`: progress,
  * outputs, what the session used), open at first in a pane spanning the
  * grid's full width or height (`panelOpen`) and collapsed into a file button
@@ -49,7 +54,8 @@
 
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState, type CSSProperties } from "react";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
-import { ArrowUp, FileText, Square } from "lucide-react";
+import { ArrowUp, FileText, Square, SquareCheck } from "lucide-react";
+import { isSubmitEnter } from "../../lib/keys";
 import { ConversationView } from "../conversation/ConversationView";
 import { ModelMenu, PromptEditor, promptWithImages, type PromptImage } from "./RunSetup";
 import { ChatAddMenu } from "./ChatAddMenu";
@@ -59,7 +65,14 @@ import { ChatOutline, outlineAttachment, useSessionOutline, type OutlineList } f
 import { FileListModal, FilePreview, SkillListModal, type PreviewScope } from "./ChatFilePreview";
 import { Select } from "../Select";
 import { Divider, showTerminal } from "./PaneGrid";
-import { interruptRun, submitToRun } from "../../lib/panePaste";
+import {
+  answerRunMenu,
+  chooseRunOption,
+  interruptRun,
+  readRunMenu,
+  submitToRun,
+  type PaneMenu,
+} from "../../lib/panePaste";
 import { useLiveRefresh } from "../../hooks/useLiveRefresh";
 import { openInChanges } from "../../lib/openInChanges";
 import { toast } from "../../lib/toast";
@@ -184,6 +197,108 @@ function PermissionChip({ runId, initial }: { runId: string; initial: Permission
   );
 }
 
+/** The menu the CLI asks with, as buttons: a pick presses its key in the
+ *  pane; its "Type something" row opens a field right there instead —
+ *  pressing that row's digit again would type the digit into the CLI's own. */
+function PaneMenuCard({
+  menu,
+  onChoose,
+  onAnswer,
+  onCancel,
+}: {
+  menu: PaneMenu;
+  onChoose: (index: number) => void;
+  onAnswer: (text: string) => void;
+  onCancel: () => void;
+}) {
+  const { t } = useTranslation("run");
+  const [typing, setTyping] = useState(false);
+  const [draft, setDraft] = useState("");
+  const submit = () => draft.trim() && onAnswer(draft);
+  return (
+    <div
+      data-testid="pane-chat-menu"
+      className="rounded-2xl border border-border bg-surface-1 p-3 shadow-sm"
+    >
+      {menu.question && (
+        <p className="mb-2 whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm font-medium text-fg-primary">
+          {menu.question}
+        </p>
+      )}
+      <div className="flex flex-col gap-1">
+        {menu.options.map((o, i) =>
+          typing && i === menu.typeAt ? (
+            <div
+              key={`${i}-type`}
+              className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-lg border border-accent/50 bg-surface-2 px-3 py-1"
+            >
+              <span className="w-4 flex-shrink-0 font-mono text-xs text-fg-muted">{o.n}</span>
+              <input
+                autoFocus
+                data-testid="pane-chat-menu-input"
+                value={draft}
+                onChange={(e) => setDraft(e.target.value)}
+                onKeyDown={(e) => {
+                  if (isSubmitEnter(e)) {
+                    e.preventDefault();
+                    submit();
+                  } else if (e.key === "Escape") setTyping(false);
+                }}
+                placeholder={t("chat.menu.placeholder")}
+                aria-label={t("chat.menu.placeholder")}
+                className="min-w-0 flex-1 bg-transparent py-0.5 text-sm text-fg-primary outline-none placeholder:text-fg-muted"
+              />
+              <button
+                type="button"
+                data-testid="pane-chat-menu-send"
+                onClick={submit}
+                disabled={!draft.trim()}
+                aria-label={t("chat.send")}
+                title={t("chat.send")}
+                className="flex h-6 w-6 flex-shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-accent-solid text-white transition-opacity hover:opacity-90 disabled:opacity-40"
+              >
+                <ArrowUp className="h-3.5 w-3.5" />
+              </button>
+            </div>
+          ) : (
+            <button
+              key={`${i}-${o.label}`}
+              type="button"
+              onClick={() => (i === menu.typeAt ? setTyping(true) : onChoose(i))}
+              className={`flex items-start gap-2 rounded-lg border px-3 py-1.5 text-left text-sm text-fg-primary hover:bg-surface-3 ${
+                i === menu.cursor ? "border-accent/50 bg-surface-2" : "border-border"
+              }`}
+            >
+              <span className="mt-0.5 w-4 flex-shrink-0 font-mono text-xs text-fg-muted">
+                {o.checked === null ? (
+                  (o.n ?? "↵")
+                ) : o.checked ? (
+                  <SquareCheck className="h-3.5 w-3.5 text-accent" />
+                ) : (
+                  <Square className="h-3.5 w-3.5" />
+                )}
+              </span>
+              <span className="min-w-0 break-words">
+                {o.label}
+                {o.hint && <span className="block text-xs text-fg-muted">{o.hint}</span>}
+              </span>
+            </button>
+          )
+        )}
+      </div>
+      <div className="mt-2 flex items-center gap-2 text-xs text-fg-muted">
+        <button
+          type="button"
+          onClick={onCancel}
+          className="ml-auto rounded-md border border-border px-2 py-0.5 hover:bg-surface-3"
+        >
+          {t("chat.menu.cancel")}
+        </button>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
 export function PaneChat({
   run,
   sessionId,
@@ -247,6 +362,8 @@ export function PaneChat({
   // waits on the user from a Notification (a permission prompt) to the next hook.
   const [working, setWorking] = useState(false);
   const [waiting, setWaiting] = useState(false);
+  // Stop presses, for the conversation's live line (issue #74).
+  const [stops, setStops] = useState(0);
   const readWorking = useCallback(
     () =>
       api.agents
@@ -275,14 +392,41 @@ export function PaneChat({
       (msg.data as { session_id?: string } | undefined)?.session_id === sessionId,
   });
 
-  // A hidden tab says when this session waits on the user or its turn ended.
-  const was = useRef({ working: false, waiting: false });
+  // The menu the terminal underneath shows now. AskUserQuestion fires no
+  // Notification, so this — not `waiting` alone — says the CLI asks.
+  // ponytail: polls the xterm buffer; subscribe to its onRender if it ever shows in a profile.
+  const [menu, setMenu] = useState<PaneMenu | null>(null);
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (waiting) setTabBadge(runId, "waiting");
+    const read = () =>
+      setMenu((prev) => {
+        const next = readRunMenu(runId);
+        return JSON.stringify(next) === JSON.stringify(prev) ? prev : next;
+      });
+    read();
+    const timer = window.setInterval(read, 700);
+    return () => window.clearInterval(timer);
+  }, [runId]);
+  const asking = waiting || menu !== null;
+  // Gone until the pane redraws: no second press on a stale menu.
+  const choose = (index: number) => {
+    if (menu && chooseRunOption(runId, menu, index)) setMenu(null);
+    else toast.error(t("chat.notSent"));
+  };
+  const answer = (reply: string) => {
+    if (menu && answerRunMenu(runId, menu, reply)) {
+      setMenu(null);
+      setFollow((n) => n + 1);
+    } else toast.error(t("chat.notSent"));
+  };
+
+  // A hidden tab says when this session waits on the user or its turn ended.
+  const was = useRef({ working: false, asking: false });
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (asking) setTabBadge(runId, "waiting");
     else if (working) setTabBadge(runId, null);
-    else if (was.current.working || was.current.waiting) setTabBadge(runId, "done");
-    was.current = { working, waiting };
-  }, [runId, working, waiting]);
+    else if (was.current.working || was.current.asking) setTabBadge(runId, "done");
+    was.current = { working, asking };
+  }, [runId, working, asking]);
   useEffect(() => () => setTabBadge(runId, null), [runId]);
   const [context, setContext] = useState<{ tokens: number; model: string | null }>({
     tokens: 0,
@@ -339,7 +483,8 @@ export function PaneChat({
             fill
             live
             follow={follow}
-            waiting={waiting}
+            waiting={asking}
+            stopped={stops}
             onOpenTerminal={() => showTerminal(runId, sessionId)}
             onContext={onContext}
             onNotStarted={setNotStarted}
@@ -366,7 +511,24 @@ export function PaneChat({
         </div>
         <div className="mx-4">
           <div className="mx-auto w-full max-w-[max(48rem,70%)]">
-            <div className="rounded-2xl border border-border bg-surface-1 p-2 shadow-sm transition-colors focus-within:border-accent/50">
+            {menu && (
+              <PaneMenuCard
+                // A new question starts with its field closed.
+                key={menu.question}
+                menu={menu}
+                onChoose={choose}
+                onAnswer={answer}
+                onCancel={() => {
+                  if (interruptRun(runId)) setMenu(null);
+                  else toast.error(t("chat.notSent"));
+                }}
+              />
+            )}
+            {/* In the card's place while the CLI asks: hidden, never unmounted,
+                so a draft or an upload in flight survives the question. */}
+            <div
+              className={`rounded-2xl border border-border bg-surface-1 p-2 shadow-sm transition-colors focus-within:border-accent/50 ${menu ? "hidden" : ""}`}
+            >
               <PromptEditor
                 bare
                 images={images}
@@ -413,8 +575,10 @@ export function PaneChat({
                       data-testid="pane-chat-stop"
                       onClick={() => {
                         // An interrupted turn fires no Stop hook: clear it here.
-                        if (interruptRun(runId)) setWorking(false);
-                        else toast.error(t("chat.notStopped"));
+                        if (interruptRun(runId)) {
+                          setWorking(false);
+                          setStops((n) => n + 1);
+                        } else toast.error(t("chat.notStopped"));
                       }}
                       aria-label={t("chat.stop")}
                       title={t("chat.stop")}

client/src/components/run/__tests__/PaneChat.test.tsx

@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
  * activity panel, collapsed into a file button with the output count, whose
  * files open a preview in its place; a file in a turn's "Edited N files" card
  * opens in the Workspace's Changes panel when it is in the pane's folder; and
- * Stop in Send's place while the main agent works, pressing Esc in the pane.
+ * Stop in Send's place while the main agent works, pressing Esc in the pane;
+ * and the menu the CLI asks with, shown as buttons that press its keys, a
+ * message sent meanwhile typed as its "Type something" answer.
  * @author Nguyễn Ngọc Trí Vĩ <vinnt@smartgift.vn>
  */
 
@@ -16,7 +18,14 @@ import { MemoryRouter } from "react-router-dom";
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { PaneChat, contextWindow } from "../PaneChat";
 import { api } from "../../../lib/api";
-import { interruptRun, submitToRun } from "../../../lib/panePaste";
+import {
+  answerRunMenu,
+  chooseRunOption,
+  interruptRun,
+  readRunMenu,
+  submitToRun,
+  type PaneMenu,
+} from "../../../lib/panePaste";
 import { OPEN_IN_CHANGES_EVENT } from "../../../lib/openInChanges";
 
 vi.mock("../../conversation/ConversationView", () => ({
@@ -41,6 +50,9 @@ vi.mock("../../../lib/confirm", () => ({ confirmDialog }));
 vi.mock("../../../lib/panePaste", () => ({
   submitToRun: vi.fn(() => true),
   interruptRun: vi.fn(() => true),
+  readRunMenu: vi.fn(() => null),
+  chooseRunOption: vi.fn(() => true),
+  answerRunMenu: vi.fn(() => true),
 }));
 vi.mock("../../../lib/api", async (importOriginal) => {
   const actual = await importOriginal<Record<string, unknown>>();
@@ -412,3 +424,51 @@ describe("PaneChat — the unsent prompt", () => {
     expect(confirmDialog).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 });
+
+describe("PaneChat — a menu the CLI asks with", () => {
+  const MENU: PaneMenu = {
+    question: "Which color?",
+    options: [
+      { n: 1, label: "Red", hint: "warm", checked: null },
+      { n: 2, label: "Type something.", hint: "", checked: null },
+    ],
+    cursor: 0,
+    multi: false,
+    typeAt: 1,
+  };
+
+  it("shows the question as buttons in the box's place, and a pick presses its key", async () => {
+    vi.mocked(readRunMenu).mockReturnValue(MENU);
+    try {
+      renderChat();
+      const card = await screen.findByTestId("pane-chat-menu");
+      expect(card).toHaveTextContent("Which color?");
+      expect(card).toHaveTextContent("warm");
+      // The prompt box is hidden (kept mounted) while the CLI asks.
+      expect(screen.getByPlaceholderText("Write a message…").closest(".hidden")).not.toBeNull();
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByText("Red"));
+      expect(chooseRunOption).toHaveBeenCalledWith("agenthub-lane-1", MENU, 0);
+    } finally {
+      vi.mocked(readRunMenu).mockReturnValue(null);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("types the answer in the card's own field, never pressing that row's key", async () => {
+    vi.mocked(readRunMenu).mockReturnValue(MENU);
+    vi.mocked(chooseRunOption).mockClear();
+    vi.mocked(submitToRun).mockClear();
+    try {
+      renderChat();
+      fireEvent.click(await screen.findByText("Type something."));
+      expect(chooseRunOption).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      const field = screen.getByTestId("pane-chat-menu-input");
+      expect(field).toHaveFocus();
+      fireEvent.change(field, { target: { value: "purple" } });
+      fireEvent.keyDown(field, { key: "Enter" });
+      expect(answerRunMenu).toHaveBeenCalledWith("agenthub-lane-1", MENU, "purple");
+      expect(submitToRun).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    } finally {
+      vi.mocked(readRunMenu).mockReturnValue(null);
+    }
+  });
+});