Avoid liveness races when starting side conversations

codex-rs/tui/src/app/session_lifecycle.rs

@@ -408,9 +408,13 @@ impl App {
             return Ok(());
         }
 
-        if !self
-            .refresh_agent_picker_thread_liveness(app_server, thread_id)
-            .await
+        // A tracked side thread stays loaded until it is explicitly discarded and already has a
+        // replay channel, so another liveness read cannot add anything before selection.
+        if !(self.side_threads.contains_key(&thread_id)
+            && self.thread_event_channels.contains_key(&thread_id)
+            || self
+                .refresh_agent_picker_thread_liveness(app_server, thread_id)
+                .await)
         {
             self.chat_widget
                 .add_error_message(format!("Agent thread {thread_id} is no longer available."));

codex-rs/tui/src/app/side.rs

@@ -587,6 +587,14 @@ impl App {
                 }
                 self.side_threads
                     .insert(child_thread_id, SideThreadState::new(parent_thread_id));
+                // `thread/started` is delivered after the fork response; seed navigation before
+                // the first selection without blocking on another app-server read.
+                self.upsert_agent_picker_thread(
+                    child_thread_id,
+                    /*agent_nickname*/ None,
+                    /*agent_role*/ None,
+                    /*is_closed*/ false,
+                );
                 if let Err(err) = app_server
                     .thread_inject_items(child_thread_id, vec![Self::side_boundary_prompt_item()])
                     .await

codex-rs/tui/src/app/tests.rs

@@ -1989,6 +1989,104 @@ async fn refresh_agent_picker_thread_liveness_prunes_closed_metadata_only_thread
     Ok(())
 }
 
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn handle_start_side_seeds_navigation_before_thread_started() -> Result<()> {
+    let (mut app, mut app_event_rx, _op_rx) = make_test_app_with_channels().await;
+    let config = app.chat_widget.config_ref().clone();
+    let parent_thread_id = ThreadId::from_string(
+        &app_test_support::create_fake_rollout(
+            config.codex_home.as_path(),
+            "2025-01-05T12-00-00",
+            "2025-01-05T12:00:00Z",
+            "Saved user message",
+            Some(config.model_provider_id.as_str()),
+            /*git_info*/ None,
+        )
+        .expect("create source rollout"),
+    )?;
+    let mut app_server = Box::pin(crate::start_embedded_app_server_for_picker(&config)).await?;
+    let started = app_server
+        .resume_thread(
+            config,
+            parent_thread_id,
+            crate::app_server_session::ResumeModelSettings::RestoreFromThread,
+        )
+        .await?;
+    app.enqueue_primary_thread_session(started.session, started.turns)
+        .await?;
+    while app_event_rx.try_recv().is_ok() {}
+    let mut tui = crate::tui::test_support::make_test_tui()?;
+
+    let control = Box::pin(app.handle_start_side(
+        &mut tui,
+        &mut app_server,
+        parent_thread_id,
+        /*user_message*/ None,
+    ))
+    .await?;
+
+    let side_thread_id = app
+        .active_thread_id
+        .expect("side conversation should become active");
+    assert!(matches!(control, AppRunControl::Continue));
+    assert_ne!(side_thread_id, parent_thread_id);
+    assert!(app.side_threads.contains_key(&side_thread_id));
+    assert!(app.thread_event_channels.contains_key(&side_thread_id));
+    assert!(
+        !app.agent_navigation
+            .get(&side_thread_id)
+            .expect("side start should seed navigation before thread/started")
+            .is_closed
+    );
+
+    let mut saw_thread_started = false;
+    for _ in 0..20 {
+        let event = time::timeout(
+            std::time::Duration::from_secs(/*secs*/ 2),
+            app_server.next_event(),
+        )
+        .await
+        .expect("app-server should emit an event")
+        .expect("app-server event stream should remain open");
+        if let codex_app_server_client::AppServerEvent::ServerNotification(
+            ServerNotification::ThreadStarted(notification),
+        ) = event
+            && notification.thread.id == side_thread_id.to_string()
+        {
+            saw_thread_started = true;
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    assert!(saw_thread_started);
+    app_server.shutdown().await?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn select_uncached_agent_thread_still_refreshes_liveness() -> Result<()> {
+    let mut app = Box::pin(make_test_app()).await;
+    let mut app_server = Box::pin(crate::start_embedded_app_server_for_picker(
+        app.chat_widget.config_ref(),
+    ))
+    .await?;
+    let thread_id = ThreadId::new();
+    app.agent_navigation.upsert(
+        thread_id,
+        Some("Ghost".to_string()),
+        Some("worker".to_string()),
+        /*is_closed*/ false,
+    );
+    let mut tui = crate::tui::test_support::make_test_tui()?;
+
+    Box::pin(app.select_agent_thread(&mut tui, &mut app_server, thread_id)).await?;
+
+    assert_eq!(app.active_thread_id, None);
+    assert_eq!(app.agent_navigation.get(&thread_id), None);
+    app_server.shutdown().await?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn open_agent_picker_prompts_to_enable_multi_agent_when_disabled() -> Result<()> {
     let (mut app, mut app_event_rx, _op_rx) = Box::pin(make_test_app_with_channels()).await;

codex-rs/tui/src/app_server_session.rs

@@ -641,9 +641,12 @@ impl AppServerSession {
             .map_err(|err| {
                 bootstrap_request_error("thread/fork failed during TUI bootstrap", err)
             })?;
-        let fork_parent_title = self
-            .fork_parent_title_from_app_server(response.thread.forked_from_id.as_deref())
-            .await;
+        let fork_parent_title = if presentation == ForkPresentation::SideConversation {
+            None
+        } else {
+            self.fork_parent_title_from_app_server(response.thread.forked_from_id.as_deref())
+                .await
+        };
         let mut started =
             started_thread_from_fork_response(response, &config, self.thread_params_mode()).await?;
         started.session.fork_parent_title = fork_parent_title;
@@ -2444,6 +2447,52 @@ mod tests {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn side_fork_skips_parent_title_lookup_but_normal_ephemeral_fork_keeps_it() -> Result<()>
+    {
+        let codex_home = tempfile::tempdir().expect("tempdir");
+        let config = build_config(&codex_home).await;
+        let source_thread_id = ThreadId::from_string(
+            &create_fake_rollout(
+                codex_home.path(),
+                "2025-01-05T12-00-00",
+                "2025-01-05T12:00:00Z",
+                "Saved user message",
+                Some(config.model_provider_id.as_str()),
+                /*git_info*/ None,
+            )
+            .expect("create source rollout"),
+        )?;
+        let mut app_server = crate::start_embedded_app_server_for_picker(&config).await?;
+        app_server
+            .resume_thread(
+                config.clone(),
+                source_thread_id,
+                ResumeModelSettings::RestoreFromThread,
+            )
+            .await?;
+        app_server
+            .thread_set_name(source_thread_id, "Source thread".to_string())
+            .await?;
+
+        let mut ephemeral_config = config;
+        ephemeral_config.ephemeral = true;
+        let normal_ephemeral_fork = app_server
+            .fork_thread(ephemeral_config.clone(), source_thread_id)
+            .await?;
+        let side_fork = app_server
+            .fork_side_thread(ephemeral_config, source_thread_id)
+            .await?;
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            normal_ephemeral_fork.session.fork_parent_title.as_deref(),
+            Some("Source thread")
+        );
+        assert_eq!(side_fork.session.fork_parent_title, None);
+        app_server.shutdown().await?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn config_request_overrides_preserve_implicit_personality_default() {
         let temp_dir = tempfile::tempdir().expect("tempdir");