feat(native-chat): suggest files on @ and name the triggers by AmoabaKelvin · Pull Request #26017 · stablyai/orca

AmoabaKelvin · 2026-10-07T00:40:20Z

ELI5

The chat box used to say "Send a message…" and gave no clue that / and @ do anything. Typing @ only showed a strip repeating what you typed. Now the placeholder tells you about both, and typing @ shows a list of files in the workspace that you can pick from.

What Changed

Before

The empty chat box said "Send a message…".
Typing @ showed a static strip, "Referencing file: @whatever-you-typed". It never looked at the workspace, so there was nothing to choose.

After

The empty chat box says "Ask anything, @ to mention files, / for commands".
Typing @ opens a list of workspace files above the chat box, recently opened files first, up to 20. Each row shows the file name with its folder beside it.
Typing more narrows the list. Up/Down move the highlight. Enter, Tab or a click inserts @path (quoted if the path contains spaces).
Escape closes the list for that @ word only, and does not interrupt the agent.
If the list is still loading, Enter waits instead of sending a half-typed message.
A message brought back with the Up arrow does not pop the list open until you edit it, so Up then Enter still resends it.

How it works

The chat box already detected an @ word; it just had nothing to show. That detection now carries the same "which word is this" key the / menu uses, so Escape and re-opening behave the same for both.
The files come from the file search Quick Open already uses, including its ranking and its recently-opened list. That is why this works the same on local, SSH and folder workspaces.
The file list is drawn with the same list and row components as the / menu, and the file row is the same one the tab bar's "new tab" search uses.

Two small changes to the / menu, because both menus now share the same key handling and row button:

Shift+Enter adds a new line and Shift+Tab moves focus back, instead of picking the highlighted row.
Right-click and middle-click on a row no longer pick it.

Why

People had no way to discover / or @ from the chat box, and @ did nothing useful once found.

Alternatives considered:

A new file search just for chat. Rejected: Quick Open's search already handles SSH, folder workspaces, ranking and recent files. A second one would drift from it.
A separate popup component for the file list. Rejected: the / menu already has the right look and keyboard behaviour, so the file list reuses it.
Turning a picked file into a chip inside the text. Left out to keep this small. Picks are inserted as plain @path text, which is what the agents read.

Known limits, left for follow-ups:

Files only, no folders.
In a local workspace with more than about 20,000 files, a file past that limit is not found. Quick Open has the same limit today.
A chat started inside a subfolder still gets a path from the workspace root.

Visual Proof

Before:

After:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d3cb43f5-3fce-4a97-aca3-cbfd7dc71158

Testing

Unit tests cover: when the list opens and closes, what gets inserted (including quoting), Enter/Tab/Escape, Shift+Enter and Shift+Tab, Enter while loading, right-click, the empty/loading/error rows, and recalled messages.
A new end-to-end test drives the real app: type @, see the files, filter, press Enter, check the inserted text, close with Escape, and confirm a new @ opens the list again.
Three existing tests that find the chat box by its placeholder text were updated.
Run on macOS only. SSH, Linux and Windows were not run; the file list on those goes through the same search Quick Open already uses there.
I manually tested these changes locally
Automated tests added/updated, or explained why not below

Agent skill upstream boundary

Not applicable, or this change follows docs/reference/agent-skill-sharing-upstream-boundary.md and copies or mechanically translates no upstream skill-installer source, tests, fixtures, registry entries, path tables, comments, or documentation.

Notes

Performance: nothing extra runs while there is no @ word in the chat box. With one open, ranking a 20,000-file workspace measured about 3.6 ms per keystroke.
SSH / remote: files are searched on the machine that owns the workspace, one search per keystroke after a short pause, so the list shows "Loading files..." between keystrokes there.
Mobile: not touched; the mobile app has its own chat box.
Compatibility: no changes to anything sent between a client and a host.
Translations: the new text is added in all six languages. The non-English strings were machine-written and would benefit from a native read.

Checklist

This PR is small and focused
I explained what changed and why (ELI5, the user-facing before/after, the mechanism, and why over the alternatives)
Before/after screenshots or videos attached for UI changes, or N/A with reason
Self-reviewed for correctness, security, and performance
Cross-platform, SSH/remote, and path/shortcut impact considered (or N/A)
pnpm lint, pnpm typecheck, pnpm test, and pnpm build pass (or CI will cover; local preferred)

Shift+Enter and right-click no longer pick a row in the / menu either.

coderabbitai · 2026-10-07T00:55:43Z

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

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Configuration used: Repository UI
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Run ID: b20e542c-3251-4537-a13f-715dbd783605

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 9c6702b and 0eed344.

📒 Files selected for processing (36)

src/renderer/src/components/QuickOpen.selection.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/QuickOpen.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/file-path-cursor-tooltip.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/NativeChatAutocompleteMenus.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/NativeChatAutocompleteMenus.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/NativeChatComposer.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/NativeChatComposerField.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/NativeChatContextUsageRing.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-composer-autogrow.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-composer-composition.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-composer-placeholder.test.ts
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-composer-state.test.ts
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-composer-state.ts
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-composer-target.ts
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-composer-workspace-file-drop.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-structured-send-composition-clear.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/use-native-chat-composer-catalog.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/use-native-chat-composer-keydown.steer.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/use-native-chat-composer-keydown.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/use-native-chat-composer-keydown.ts
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/use-native-chat-mention-files.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/use-native-chat-mention-files.ts
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/use-native-chat-picker-state.test.tsx
src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/use-native-chat-picker-state.ts
src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBarCreateEntryRow.tsx
src/renderer/src/i18n/locales/en.json
src/renderer/src/i18n/locales/es.json
src/renderer/src/i18n/locales/fr.json
src/renderer/src/i18n/locales/ja.json
src/renderer/src/i18n/locales/ko.json
src/renderer/src/i18n/locales/zh.json
src/renderer/src/lib/quick-open-file-history.ts
tests/e2e/helpers/native-chat-view.ts
tests/e2e/native-chat-copy-image.spec.ts
tests/e2e/native-chat-file-mention.spec.ts
tests/e2e/omp-image-clipboard.spec.ts

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The native chat composer now loads workspace file suggestions for @ queries and supports displaying, navigating, and selecting those files. Selecting a file inserts a formatted reference into the draft. The change also updates autocomplete state, loading and empty-result messages, and end-to-end tests. Quick-open history is now available through a React hook and contributes to suggestion ranking.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 0eed3

No actionable issue currently prevents merging the file-mention changes after normal checks.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 3 | ❌ 2

❌ Failed checks (2 warnings)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Description check	⚠️ Warning	The description explains the user-facing changes, implementation, rationale, testing, visual proof, and known limits. It does not include the required Linked Issue section or an actual issue reference…	Add the Linked Issue section with an actual issue reference and populate “Fixes #”. If the author is a maintainer and no new issue is needed, link a relevant pre-existing issue when one exists.
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 6.45% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 31 functions across 30 files. (6 skipped: …	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (3 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly summarizes the main change: native chat now suggests files when users type @ and explains the @ and / triggers.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

Full details: Description check

Explanation

The description explains the user-facing changes, implementation, rationale, testing, visual proof, and known limits. It does not include the required Linked Issue section or an actual issue reference.

Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

Docstring coverage is 6.45% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 31 functions across 30 files. (6 skipped: 6 unsupported.)

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brennanb2025 · 2026-10-07T06:29:15Z

Looks great! 👍

…e test (#26097) #25835 kept the onAcceptMention prop that #26017 replaced with onChooseMentionFile and mentionFiles, so the web typecheck fails on main.

feat(native-chat): suggest files on @ and name the triggers

0eed344

Shift+Enter and right-click no longer pick a row in the / menu either.

AmoabaKelvin requested a review from brennanb2025 as a code owner October 7, 2026 00:40

brennanb2025 merged commit 8f42451 into stablyai:main Oct 7, 2026
36 checks passed

Jinwoo-H mentioned this pull request Oct 7, 2026

fix(native-chat): repair main's web typecheck after the @-mention prop rename #26097

Merged

9 tasks done

brennanb2025 mentioned this pull request Oct 7, 2026

[STA-6940] Deliver chat, workspace composer, and feedback file drops at their elements (3/6) #25781

Merged

8 of 9 tasks

nwparker mentioned this pull request Oct 7, 2026

[CI] test(native-chat): update the resume fixture for mention menus #26102

Closed

8 of 10 tasks

This was referenced Oct 7, 2026

feat(native-chat): say in the chat why Orca stopped a reply, and offer Continue #25675

Merged

feat(native-chat): teach chat agents to show inline visuals in their own folder #26099

Merged

brennanb2025 mentioned this pull request Oct 19, 2026

feat(native-chat): $ opens Codex skills in the composer #30827

Merged

9 tasks done

nwparker mentioned this pull request Oct 22, 2026

[Feature]: @ file mention picker in the chat input (fuzzy + optional semantic search) #23210

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feat(native-chat): suggest files on @ and name the triggers - #26017

feat(native-chat): suggest files on @ and name the triggers#26017
brennanb2025 merged 1 commit into
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AmoabaKelvin:native-chat-composer-file-mentions

AmoabaKelvin commented Oct 7, 2026

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AmoabaKelvin commented Oct 7, 2026

ELI5

What Changed

Why

Visual Proof

Testing

Agent skill upstream boundary

Notes

Checklist

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coderabbitai Bot commented Oct 7, 2026

Walkthrough

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