Show one live question as a row in the chat

src/Capacitor.App/App.axaml

@@ -76,9 +76,15 @@
              ring and fill would read as a second box. Fluent's default placeholder follows the
              system theme and goes near-black on our dark surfaces — pin a readable muted tone. -->
         <Style Selector="TextBox.kcapEmbedded">
+            <Setter Property="Background" Value="Transparent" />
+            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{StaticResource KcapTextBrush}" />
+            <Setter Property="CaretBrush" Value="{StaticResource KcapTextBrush}" />
+            <Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="0" />
             <Setter Property="PlaceholderForeground" Value="{StaticResource KcapMutedBrush}" />
         </Style>
-        <Style Selector="TextBox.kcapEmbedded:focus /template/ Border#PART_BorderElement, TextBox.kcapEmbedded:pointerover /template/ Border#PART_BorderElement">
+        <Style Selector="TextBox.kcapEmbedded /template/ Border#PART_BorderElement,
+                         TextBox.kcapEmbedded:focus /template/ Border#PART_BorderElement,
+                         TextBox.kcapEmbedded:pointerover /template/ Border#PART_BorderElement">
             <Setter Property="Background" Value="Transparent" />
             <Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="0" />
         </Style>
@@ -378,6 +384,11 @@
         <Style Selector="Border.attachTarget.dragOver">
             <Setter Property="BorderBrush" Value="{StaticResource KcapPrimaryBrush}" />
         </Style>
+        <Style Selector="TextBlock.toolKindChip">
+            <Setter Property="FontSize" Value="10" />
+            <Setter Property="FontWeight" Value="SemiBold" />
+            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{StaticResource KcapMutedBrush}" />
+        </Style>
         <!-- Live tool-call status: a soft pulse so an in-flight row is never a blank gap. -->
         <Style Selector="Border.toolRunning">
             <Style.Animations>

src/Capacitor.App/Services/PendingPermissionRequest.cs

@@ -100,6 +100,27 @@ static PendingPermissionRequest FromReconciledClaude(string sessionId, PendingIn
     internal long LiveSequence { get; set; }
     public bool IsQuestion => Questions is not null || AcpQuestion is not null;
 
+    /// Local AskUserQuestion and the hub elicitation share no id until the daemon maps them;
+    /// same session plus overlapping question text is the join. Permission prompts never match.
+    internal bool SameQuestionAs(PendingPermissionRequest other) {
+        if (!IsQuestion || !other.IsQuestion) return false;
+        if (!string.Equals(SessionId, other.SessionId, StringComparison.Ordinal)) return false;
+        return QuestionFingerprints().ToHashSet(StringComparer.Ordinal).Overlaps(other.QuestionFingerprints());
+    }
+
+    IEnumerable<string> QuestionFingerprints() {
+        if (AcpQuestion?.Prompt?.Trim() is { Length: > 0 } prompt)
+            yield return prompt;
+        if (Questions is not { Questions.Length: > 0 } parsed) yield break;
+        var question = parsed.Questions[0].Question.Trim();
+        if (question.Length == 0) yield break;
+        yield return question;
+        if (parsed.Questions[0].Header is { Length: > 0 } header) {
+            yield return $"{header}\n{question}";
+            yield return $"{header}\n\n{question}";
+        }
+    }
+
     static DateTimeOffset ParseTime(string s) =>
         DateTimeOffset.TryParse(s, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.RoundtripKind, out var t) ? t : DateTimeOffset.MinValue;
 }

src/Capacitor.App/Services/PermissionService.cs

@@ -245,6 +245,7 @@ void UpsertLocal(PermissionPendingDto dto) {
             var item = new PendingPermissionRequest(dto);
             _cache.AddOrUpdate(item);
             Shadow(dto.ServerRequestId);
+            ShadowMatchingServerQuestions(item);
         }
     }
 
@@ -258,6 +259,29 @@ void Shadow(string? serverRequestId) {
     // Caller holds _lock.
     bool IsClaimed(string serverRequestId) => _cache.Items.Any(i => i.Lane == PermissionLane.Local && i.ServerRequestId == serverRequestId);
 
+    // Caller holds _lock. Prompt-text join: the daemon has not yet written ServerRequestId.
+    void ShadowMatchingServerQuestions(PendingPermissionRequest local) {
+        if (!local.IsQuestion) return;
+        foreach (var twin in _cache.Items.Where(i => i.Lane == PermissionLane.Server && local.SameQuestionAs(i)).ToList())
+            ShadowTwin(local, twin);
+    }
+
+    // Caller holds _lock. The twin may already be in the cache or only arriving now.
+    void ShadowTwin(PendingPermissionRequest local, PendingPermissionRequest twin) {
+        if (local.ServerRequestId is null) {
+            local.ServerRequestId = twin.RequestId;
+            _cache.Refresh(local);
+        }
+        _shadowed[twin.Key] = twin;
+        _cache.Remove(twin.Key);
+    }
+
+    // Caller holds _lock.
+    PendingPermissionRequest? LocalQuestionClaimant(PendingPermissionRequest server) {
+        if (!server.IsQuestion) return null;
+        return _cache.Items.FirstOrDefault(i => i.Lane == PermissionLane.Local && i.SameQuestionAs(server));
+    }
+
     void DropLocalLane() {
         lock (_lock) {
             if (_disposed) return;
@@ -303,6 +327,7 @@ internal void UpsertServer(PendingPermissionRequest item) {
             item.AgentId = _sessionAgents.GetValueOrDefault(item.SessionId, "");
             item.LiveSequence = ++_liveSequence;
             if (IsClaimed(item.RequestId)) { _shadowed[item.Key] = item; return; }
+            if (LocalQuestionClaimant(item) is { } claimant) { ShadowTwin(claimant, item); return; }
             if (_cache.Lookup(item.Key) is { HasValue: true, Value: var live }) {
                 live.LiveSequence = item.LiveSequence; // a live card keeps its instance, not its stamp
                 return;

src/Capacitor.App/ViewModels/ChatItems.cs

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 namespace Capacitor.App.ViewModels;
 
-/// One row of the Chat tab. Five shapes, matched by DataTemplates on the concrete type.
+/// One row of the Chat tab. Matched by DataTemplates on the concrete type.
 public abstract class ChatItemViewModel : ReactiveObject { }
 
 public sealed class UserTurnItem(string text) : ChatItemViewModel {
@@ -143,6 +143,14 @@ public string SummaryLine {
     bool _hasFailure;
     public bool HasFailure { get => _hasFailure; private set => this.RaiseAndSetIfChanged(ref _hasFailure, value); }
 
+    bool _packsWithCard;
+    /// A live card answering this group sits in the next row; the view drops the paragraph gap
+    /// so the two read as one block.
+    public bool PacksWithCard {
+        get => _packsWithCard;
+        set => this.RaiseAndSetIfChanged(ref _packsWithCard, value);
+    }
+
     public ToolGroupItem() {
         ToggleCommand = ReactiveCommand.Create(Toggle);
     }
@@ -194,3 +202,9 @@ void Recompute() {
         return text.Length <= cap ? text : text[..(cap - 1)] + "…";
     }
 }
+
+/// A live prompt card sitting in the transcript list so it virtualizes with the thread.
+public sealed class PendingCardItem(PendingCardViewModel card, bool packsWithPrevious = false) : ChatItemViewModel {
+    public PendingCardViewModel Card { get; } = card;
+    public bool PacksWithPrevious { get; } = packsWithPrevious;
+}

src/Capacitor.App/ViewModels/ChatTabViewModel.cs

@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ private set {
         }
     }
 
-    public string PhaseNote => Phase switch {
+    public string PhaseNote => _items.Count > 0 ? "" : Phase switch {
         ChatTabPhase.Waiting     => "Waiting for the transcript…",
         ChatTabPhase.Missing     => _missingNote ?? "The transcript file is missing",
         ChatTabPhase.Unavailable => _unavailableNote ?? "No chat view for this harness",
@@ -361,6 +361,7 @@ public ChatTabViewModel(
                     }
                 }
                 Reconcile();
+                SyncPendingCardItems();
             })
             .DisposeWith(_disposables);
 
@@ -550,6 +551,7 @@ void SwitchFeed(string key, Func<string, IChatTranscriptFeed> open) {
         // The rows are gone, so the view has to re-read what stands in for them even when the phase
         // is unchanged — and only then, since the setter itself raises the note on a real change.
         if (wasWaiting) this.RaisePropertyChanged(nameof(PhaseNote));
+        SyncPendingCardItems();
         OnTick();
     }
 
@@ -649,6 +651,7 @@ void Apply(int generation, FeedRead read) {
             queued.Rebase(_inputGeneration, read.SnapshotOffset ?? CurrentOffset ?? 0);
         RefreshQueue();
         if (read.Lines.Count == 0) {
+            SyncPendingCardItems();
             RefreshActivityNote();
             return;
         }
@@ -699,9 +702,44 @@ void Apply(int generation, FeedRead read) {
         if (fresh.Count > 0) _items.AddRange(fresh);
         RefreshQueue();
         Reconcile();
+        SyncPendingCardItems();
         RefreshActivityNote();
     }
 
+    /// Cards ride the same virtualizing list as the thread, always last, so a path switch or a
+    /// transcript reset cannot bury them in the middle of replayed rows.
+    void SyncPendingCardItems() {
+        var cards = PendingCards;
+        var start = _items.Count;
+        while (start > 0 && _items[start - 1] is PendingCardItem) start--;
+        if (TrailingCardsMatch(start, cards)) return;
+
+        foreach (var item in _items)
+            if (item is ToolGroupItem { PacksWithCard: true } packed)
+                packed.PacksWithCard = false;
+
+        var wasEmpty = _items.Count == 0;
+        for (var i = _items.Count - 1; i >= 0; i--)
+            if (_items[i] is PendingCardItem) _items.RemoveAt(i);
+
+        var packs = cards.Count > 0 && _items.Count > 0 && _items[^1] is ToolGroupItem;
+        if (packs) ((ToolGroupItem)_items[^1]).PacksWithCard = true;
+        var first = true;
+        foreach (var card in cards) {
+            _items.Add(new PendingCardItem(card, packsWithPrevious: first && packs));
+            first = false;
+        }
+        if (wasEmpty != (_items.Count == 0))
+            this.RaisePropertyChanged(nameof(PhaseNote));
+    }
+
+    bool TrailingCardsMatch(int start, ReadOnlyObservableCollection<PendingCardViewModel> cards) {
+        if (_items.Count - start != cards.Count) return false;
+        for (var i = 0; i < cards.Count; i++)
+            if (!ReferenceEquals(((PendingCardItem)_items[start + i]).Card, cards[i])) return false;
+        return true;
+    }
+
     /// A row is marked iff some pending request targets it: by tool-use id when the request has
     /// one, else the sole running call. Recomputed whole on every change to either set and diffed
     /// against the last marks, because a settled call has already left _pendingTools by the time

src/Capacitor.App/Views/ChatTabView.axaml

@@ -4,7 +4,21 @@
              xmlns:views="clr-namespace:Capacitor.App.Views"
              x:Class="Capacitor.App.Views.ChatTabView"
              x:DataType="vm:ChatTabViewModel">
-    <Grid RowDefinitions="*,Auto,Auto,Auto,Auto">
+    <UserControl.Styles>
+        <Style Selector="Border.toolGroup">
+            <Setter Property="Margin" Value="0,4,0,22" />
+        </Style>
+        <Style Selector="Border.toolGroup.packsWithCard">
+            <Setter Property="Margin" Value="0,4,0,4" />
+        </Style>
+        <Style Selector="ContentControl.pendingCard">
+            <Setter Property="Margin" Value="0,8,0,12" />
+        </Style>
+        <Style Selector="ContentControl.pendingCard.packsWithPrevious">
+            <Setter Property="Margin" Value="0,4,0,12" />
+        </Style>
+    </UserControl.Styles>
+    <Grid RowDefinitions="*,Auto,Auto,Auto">
         <!-- The template owns the ScrollViewer: that is the shape Avalonia virtualizes. An
              ItemsControl inside an external ScrollViewer is measured at infinite height. -->
         <ItemsControl x:Name="ChatItems" Grid.Row="0" ItemsSource="{Binding Items}">
@@ -76,7 +90,8 @@
                 <DataTemplate x:DataType="vm:ToolGroupItem">
                     <!-- Stretch to the chat column (capped like assistant text) so lone cards are
                          not content-width pills. -->
-                    <Border MaxWidth="660" MinWidth="320" Margin="0,4,0,22" Padding="12,10" CornerRadius="10"
+                    <Border Classes="toolGroup" Classes.packsWithCard="{Binding PacksWithCard}"
+                            MaxWidth="660" MinWidth="320" Padding="12,10" CornerRadius="10"
                             Background="{StaticResource KcapSurfaceBrush}"
                             BorderBrush="{StaticResource KcapBorderBrush}" BorderThickness="1"
                             HorizontalAlignment="Stretch">
@@ -85,8 +100,6 @@
                                  Plain text (no chip chrome) so it lines up with the detail. -->
                             <Grid ColumnDefinitions="*,Auto" IsVisible="{Binding ShowsKindChip}">
                                 <TextBlock Classes="toolKindChip" Text="{Binding KindChip}"
-                                           FontSize="10" FontWeight="SemiBold"
-                                           Foreground="{StaticResource KcapMutedBrush}"
                                            VerticalAlignment="Center" />
                                 <Panel Grid.Column="1" DataContext="{Binding LoneCall}" VerticalAlignment="Center">
                                     <Border Classes="toolStatus" Width="14" Height="8" CornerRadius="4"
@@ -123,6 +136,16 @@
                         </StackPanel>
                     </Border>
                 </DataTemplate>
+                <DataTemplate x:DataType="vm:PendingCardItem">
+                    <ContentControl Classes="pendingCard" Classes.packsWithPrevious="{Binding PacksWithPrevious}"
+                                    Content="{Binding Card}" MaxWidth="660" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch">
+                        <ContentControl.DataTemplates>
+                            <StaticResource ResourceKey="PermissionCardTemplate" />
+                            <StaticResource ResourceKey="QuestionCardTemplate" />
+                            <StaticResource ResourceKey="AcpQuestionCardTemplate" />
+                        </ContentControl.DataTemplates>
+                    </ContentControl>
+                </DataTemplate>
             </ItemsControl.DataTemplates>
         </ItemsControl>
 
@@ -139,22 +162,7 @@
                        VerticalAlignment="Center" />
         </StackPanel>
 
-        <Border x:Name="NeedsYouRow" Grid.Row="2" Margin="22,0,22,4" IsVisible="{Binding HasPendingCards}">
-            <StackPanel Spacing="6">
-                <TextBlock Text="NEEDS YOU" FontSize="10" FontWeight="SemiBold" Foreground="{StaticResource KcapMutedBrush}" />
-                <ScrollViewer MaxHeight="420" VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto">
-                    <ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding PendingCards}">
-                        <ItemsControl.DataTemplates>
-                            <StaticResource ResourceKey="PermissionCardTemplate" />
-                            <StaticResource ResourceKey="QuestionCardTemplate" />
-                            <StaticResource ResourceKey="AcpQuestionCardTemplate" />
-                        </ItemsControl.DataTemplates>
-                    </ItemsControl>
-                </ScrollViewer>
-            </StackPanel>
-        </Border>
-
-        <Border x:Name="QueuedMessagesBanner" Grid.Row="3" Margin="22,4,22,0" Padding="13,10"
+        <Border x:Name="QueuedMessagesBanner" Grid.Row="2" Margin="22,4,22,0" Padding="13,10"
                 Background="{StaticResource KcapSurfaceBrush}" BorderBrush="{StaticResource KcapBorderBrush}"
                 BorderThickness="1" CornerRadius="8" IsVisible="{Binding HasQueuedMessages}">
             <StackPanel Spacing="6">
@@ -180,15 +188,14 @@
             </StackPanel>
         </Border>
 
-        <Border x:Name="ComposerCard" Classes="attachTarget" Grid.Row="4" Margin="22,8,22,18"
+        <Border x:Name="ComposerCard" Classes="attachTarget" Grid.Row="3" Margin="22,8,22,18"
                 Background="{StaticResource KcapSurfaceBrush}"
                 BorderThickness="1" CornerRadius="10" Padding="13,12">
             <StackPanel Spacing="6">
                 <views:AttachmentChipStrip x:Name="ChipStrip" Tray="{Binding Tray}"
                                            IsVisible="{Binding Tray.HasAttachments}" />
                 <TextBox x:Name="ComposerInput" Classes="kcapEmbedded" Text="{Binding ComposerText}" AcceptsReturn="True" TextWrapping="Wrap"
-                         MinHeight="38" MaxHeight="160" Background="Transparent" BorderThickness="0"
-                         PlaceholderText="Write a message" IsVisible="{Binding ShowsComposer}" />
+                         MinHeight="38" MaxHeight="160" PlaceholderText="Write a message" IsVisible="{Binding ShowsComposer}" />
                 <!-- A flow participant is addressed through the flow protocol, never messaged
                      directly, so the banner replaces the input rather than overlaying a dead one. -->
                 <Border x:Name="ReadOnlyBanner" IsVisible="{Binding IsReadOnlyParticipant}"

src/Capacitor.App/Views/ChatTabView.axaml.cs

@@ -71,18 +71,30 @@ protected override void OnDetachedFromVisualTree(VisualTreeAttachmentEventArgs e
     }
 
     void OnReaderGesture(object? sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
+        // A TextBox in the list (Other…, free-text) is editing, not reading: arming follow-tail
+        // would ScrollToEnd and recycle its virtualizing row, which drops the caret.
+        if (OriginatesFromTextBox(e)) return;
         if (_readerGesture) return;
         _readerGesture = true;
         Dispatcher.UIThread.Post(() => _readerGesture = false, DispatcherPriority.Background);
     }
 
     void OnScrollChanged(object? sender, ScrollChangedEventArgs e) {
         if (sender is not ScrollViewer scroll) return;
+        if (ListTextBoxOwnsFocus()) return;
         var atBottom = scroll.Offset.Y + scroll.Viewport.Height >= scroll.Extent.Height - BottomTolerance;
         _followTail = _readerGesture ? atBottom : _followTail || atBottom;
         if (_followTail && !atBottom) scroll.ScrollToEnd();
     }
 
+    static bool OriginatesFromTextBox(RoutedEventArgs e) =>
+        e.Source is Visual visual && (visual is TextBox || visual.GetVisualAncestors().OfType<TextBox>().Any());
+
+    bool ListTextBoxOwnsFocus() {
+        if (TopLevel.GetTopLevel(this)?.FocusManager?.GetFocusedElement() is not TextBox box) return false;
+        return box.GetVisualAncestors().OfType<ItemsControl>().Any(c => ReferenceEquals(c, ChatItems));
+    }
+
     /// The composer wraps, so the rendered rows, not the newlines, say whether the caret has a row
     /// above or below it; the newline count stands in only before the box has a text presenter.
     (int Line, int Lines) ComposerCaretLine() {