fix: hide empty new chats from sidebar until first message (#1162)

src/components/layout/Sidebar.tsx

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import { useChatStore } from '@/stores/chat';
 import { useGatewayStore } from '@/stores/gateway';
 import { useAgentsStore } from '@/stores/agents';
 import { groupSessionsByWorkspace } from './session-buckets';
+import { shouldIncludeSessionInSidebarList } from '@/stores/chat/session-key-utils';
 import { CHANNEL_NAMES } from '@shared/types/channel';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import { Input } from '@/components/ui/input';
@@ -320,8 +321,12 @@ export function Sidebar() {
     () => Object.fromEntries((agents ?? []).map((agent) => [agent.id, agent.name])),
     [agents],
   );
+  const sidebarSessions = useMemo(
+    () => sessions.filter((session) => shouldIncludeSessionInSidebarList(session)),
+    [sessions],
+  );
   const workspaceSessionGroups = groupSessionsByWorkspace(
-    sessions,
+    sidebarSessions,
     sessionLastActivity,
     t('chat:workspace.defaultLabel'),
     chatWorkspacePath,
@@ -476,7 +481,7 @@ export function Sidebar() {
       </nav>
 
       {/* Session list — below Settings, only when expanded */}
-      {!sidebarCollapsed && sessions.length > 0 && (
+      {!sidebarCollapsed && sidebarSessions.length > 0 && (
         <div className="mt-4 flex-1 overflow-y-auto overflow-x-hidden px-2 pb-2">
           <div className="mb-1 flex items-center justify-between gap-2 pl-2.5">
             <span className="text-tiny font-semibold uppercase tracking-[0.08em] text-muted-foreground/70">

src/stores/chat/session-key-utils.ts

@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ export function findHiddenOpenClawHeartbeatSession(sessionKey: string, sessions:
 
 export function shouldIncludeSessionInSidebarList(session: ChatSession): boolean {
   if (!session.key) return false;
+  // Hide renderer-local placeholders created by New Chat until the first message
+  // creates the backing ACP session (acknowledgeAcpSessionCreated clears the flag).
+  if (session.createdLocally) return false;
   if (isOpenClawHeartbeatOnlySession(session)) return false;
   if (isChannelSessionKey(session.key)) {
     return !isPlaceholderChannelSession(session);

tests/e2e/chat-new-session-date.spec.ts

@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ test.describe('ClawX chat workspace session list', () => {
     }
   });
 
-  test('new chat appears in the default workspace group', async ({ launchElectronApp }) => {
+  test('new chat stays hidden in the sidebar until the first message', async ({ launchElectronApp }) => {
     const app = await launchElectronApp({ skipSetup: true });
     const oldTimestampMs = Date.now() - 35 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
     const seededHistory = [
@@ -189,8 +189,9 @@ test.describe('ClawX chat workspace session list', () => {
 
       await page.getByTestId('sidebar-new-chat').click();
 
-      await expect(page.getByTestId(defaultWorkspaceSessionGroupTestId()).getByText(/agent:main:session-/)).toBeVisible();
+      await expect(page.getByTestId(defaultWorkspaceSessionGroupTestId()).getByText(/agent:main:session-/)).toHaveCount(0);
       await expect(page.getByTestId(defaultWorkspaceSessionGroupToggleTestId())).toHaveAttribute('aria-expanded', 'true');
+      await expect(page.getByTestId('acp-chat-empty-state')).toBeVisible();
     } finally {
       await closeElectronApp(app);
     }

tests/e2e/chat-workspace-context.spec.ts

@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ test.describe('ClawX chat workspace context', () => {
     }
   });
 
-  test('new unbound chat appears under the selected global workspace group from an ACP-only page', async ({ launchElectronApp }) => {
+  test('new unbound chat stays hidden until it has content and then appears under the selected global workspace group', async ({ launchElectronApp }) => {
     const app = await launchElectronApp({ skipSetup: true });
 
     try {
@@ -282,9 +282,11 @@ test.describe('ClawX chat workspace context', () => {
 
       await expect(async () => {
         await page.getByTestId('sidebar-new-chat').click();
-        await expect(globalWorkspaceGroup.getByText(/agent:main:session-/)).toBeVisible({ timeout: 500 });
+        await expect(globalWorkspaceGroup.getByText(/agent:main:session-/)).toHaveCount(0, { timeout: 500 });
       }).toPass({ timeout: 30_000 });
 
+      await expect(page.getByTestId('acp-chat-empty-state')).toBeVisible();
+
       await expect(workspaceSelector).toHaveText(GLOBAL_WORKSPACE_LABEL);
       await expect(workspaceSelector).toHaveAttribute('title', GLOBAL_WORKSPACE);
       await expect(workspaceSelector).not.toHaveAttribute('aria-disabled', 'true');

tests/unit/session-key-utils.test.ts

@@ -36,6 +36,38 @@ describe('session-key-utils', () => {
     expect(shouldIncludeSessionInSidebarList(placeholder)).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it('hides locally-created desktop sessions until the first message', () => {
+    const pending: ChatSession = {
+      key: 'agent:main:session-1710000000000',
+      displayName: 'agent:main:session-1710000000000',
+      createdLocally: true,
+    };
+
+    expect(shouldIncludeSessionInSidebarList(pending)).toBe(false);
+
+    const acknowledged: ChatSession = {
+      ...pending,
+      createdLocally: false,
+    };
+
+    expect(shouldIncludeSessionInSidebarList(acknowledged)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('hides locally-created New Chat placeholders until the first message', () => {
+    const pending: ChatSession = {
+      key: 'agent:main:session-1710000000000',
+      displayName: 'agent:main:session-1710000000000',
+      createdLocally: true,
+    };
+    expect(shouldIncludeSessionInSidebarList(pending)).toBe(false);
+
+    const acknowledged: ChatSession = {
+      ...pending,
+      createdLocally: false,
+    };
+    expect(shouldIncludeSessionInSidebarList(acknowledged)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it('includes channel sessions once they have a message preview', () => {
     const active: ChatSession = {
       key: 'agent:main:feishu:ou_abc123',

tests/unit/sidebar-session-buckets.test.ts

@@ -70,6 +70,42 @@ afterEach(() => {
 });
 
 describe('sidebar session helpers', () => {
+  it('hides locally-created empty sessions until they have content', () => {
+    const pendingKey = 'agent:main:session-pending';
+    seedSidebarState();
+    useChatStore.setState({
+      sessions: [
+        { key: pendingKey, displayName: pendingKey, createdLocally: true },
+        { key: sidebarSessionKey, displayName: 'Existing chat', updatedAt: 1 },
+      ],
+      currentSessionKey: pendingKey,
+      sessionLastActivity: { [sidebarSessionKey]: 1 },
+    });
+
+    renderSidebar();
+
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId(`sidebar-session-${pendingKey}`)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByTestId(`sidebar-session-${sidebarSessionKey}`)).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('hides locally-created empty sessions until they have content', () => {
+    const pendingKey = 'agent:main:session-pending';
+    seedSidebarState();
+    useChatStore.setState({
+      sessions: [
+        { key: sidebarSessionKey, displayName: 'Existing chat', updatedAt: 1 },
+        { key: pendingKey, displayName: pendingKey, createdLocally: true, updatedAt: 2 },
+      ],
+      currentSessionKey: pendingKey,
+      sessionLastActivity: { [sidebarSessionKey]: 1 },
+    });
+
+    renderSidebar();
+
+    expect(screen.getByTestId(`sidebar-session-${sidebarSessionKey}`)).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId(`sidebar-session-${pendingKey}`)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
   it('marks the current chat session button as the current page', () => {
     seedSidebarState();