fix(desktop): preserve active chat when switching models (#648)

Switching models from the command palette called createConversation() on every change, creating a persisted empty "New chat" entry and pulling the user out of their active conversation. Because updateLastAssistant writes the visible messages array without checking the active conversation, a mid-stream switch could also clobber the new chat's view with the old conversation's messages.

Remove the conversation-creation side effect. Model switching now preserves the active chat (matching the pull-completion and delete-fallback paths, which already switched silently); the next request uses the newly selected model with the current conversation context. Preloading, loading state, and logging are unchanged.

.github/clone-stats/badge.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "schemaVersion": 1,
   "label": "Git Clones",
-  "message": "159,322",
+  "message": "163,592",
   "color": "green",
   "namedLogo": "git"
 }

.github/clone-stats/clone-data.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
-  "total_clones": 159322,
-  "last_updated": "2026-07-16T08:08:14Z",
+  "total_clones": 163592,
+  "last_updated": "2026-07-18T07:44:44Z",
   "daily": {
     "2026-03-27": 2189,
     "2026-03-28": 1874,
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@
     "2026-07-12": 1917,
     "2026-07-13": 2102,
     "2026-07-14": 2337,
-    "2026-07-15": 2362
+    "2026-07-15": 2362,
+    "2026-07-16": 2497,
+    "2026-07-17": 1773
   }
 }

frontend/src/components/CommandPalette.tsx

@@ -149,8 +149,7 @@ export function CommandPalette() {
     setCommandPaletteOpen(false);
 
     if (modelId !== previousModel) {
-      const { createConversation, setModelLoading, addLogEntry } = useAppStore.getState();
-      createConversation(modelId);
+      const { setModelLoading, addLogEntry } = useAppStore.getState();
       setModelLoading(true);
       addLogEntry({ timestamp: Date.now(), level: 'info', category: 'model', message: `Switching to ${modelId}...` });
       try {

src/openjarvis/skills/importer.py

@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@ class SkillImporter:
 
         try:
             frontmatter, body = self._read_skill_md(source_md)
-            manifest = self._parser.parse_frontmatter(frontmatter, markdown_content=body)
+            manifest = self._parser.parse_frontmatter(
+                frontmatter, markdown_content=body
+            )
         except Exception as exc:
             result.success = False
             result.warnings.append(f"Parse error: {exc}")

tests/conftest.py

@@ -30,6 +30,19 @@ from openjarvis.core.registry import (
 )
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _no_update_check(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    """Never let the CLI's PyPI update-check nag run during tests.
+
+    ``check_for_updates`` writes its banner to stderr, which ``CliRunner``
+    merges into ``result.output`` — polluting JSON/CSV output of any test
+    that invokes a CLI command. It already self-disables when ``CI`` is
+    set, but that only helps in CI; locally (e.g. a dev with a stale
+    version-check cache and network access) it fires for real.
+    """
+    monkeypatch.setenv("OPENJARVIS_NO_UPDATE_CHECK", "1")
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
 def _clean_registries() -> None:
     """Ensure each test starts with empty registries and a fresh event bus."""

tests/skills/test_importer.py

@@ -255,9 +255,7 @@ class TestDangerousCapabilityGate:
         assert result.success
         assert result.requires_confirmation
         assert any("confirmed by caller" in w for w in result.warnings)
-        content = (
-            tmp_path / "skills" / "hermes" / "my-skill" / ".source"
-        ).read_text()
+        content = (tmp_path / "skills" / "hermes" / "my-skill" / ".source").read_text()
         assert 'trust_tier = "unreviewed"' in content
         assert 'dangerous_capabilities = ["shell:execute"]' in content
 
@@ -269,8 +267,6 @@ class TestDangerousCapabilityGate:
         assert result.success
         assert not result.requires_confirmation
         assert result.dangerous_capabilities == []
-        content = (
-            tmp_path / "skills" / "hermes" / "my-skill" / ".source"
-        ).read_text()
+        content = (tmp_path / "skills" / "hermes" / "my-skill" / ".source").read_text()
         assert 'trust_tier = "unreviewed"' in content
         assert "dangerous_capabilities = []" in content

tests/skills/test_skills.py

@@ -171,9 +171,7 @@ class TestSkillExecutorCapabilities:
         assert result.context.get("result") == "hello"
 
     def test_policy_blocks_missing_capability(self):
-        executor = SkillExecutor(
-            ToolExecutor([EchoTool()]), allowed_capabilities=set()
-        )
+        executor = SkillExecutor(ToolExecutor([EchoTool()]), allowed_capabilities=set())
         result = executor.run(self._manifest())
         assert not result.success
         assert len(result.step_results) == 1

tests/tools/storage/test_dense.py

@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ skipped if the server is unreachable.
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
-import socket
 from pathlib import Path
 
+import httpx
 import pytest
 
 from openjarvis.tools.storage.dense import (
@@ -25,20 +25,58 @@ from openjarvis.tools.storage.dense import (
     chunk_markdown,
     dedupe_chunks,
 )
+from openjarvis.tools.storage.embeddings import OllamaEmbedder
 
 _FIXTURE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "fixtures" / "docs"
-_OLLAMA_HOST = os.environ.get("OLLAMA_HOST", "localhost")
-_OLLAMA_PORT = int(os.environ.get("OLLAMA_PORT", "11434"))
+_EMBED_MODEL = "nomic-embed-text"
+
+
+def _ollama_base_url() -> str:
+    """Resolve the Ollama base URL from ``OLLAMA_HOST``.
+
+    The project documents ``OLLAMA_HOST`` as a full URL
+    (``http://<remote-ip>:11434``), but Ollama's own convention also
+    allows bare ``host`` / ``host:port`` forms — accept all three so
+    the probe and the embedder under test agree on one endpoint.
+    """
+    host = os.environ.get("OLLAMA_HOST", "")
+    if not host:
+        return "http://localhost:11434"
+    if host.startswith(("http://", "https://")):
+        return host.rstrip("/")
+    if ":" in host:
+        return f"http://{host}"
+    return f"http://{host}:11434"
 
 
 def _ollama_up() -> bool:
+    """True only if Ollama is reachable *and* the embed model is pulled.
+
+    A bare TCP connect isn't enough — a machine can run Ollama for chat
+    models without ever having pulled ``nomic-embed-text``, which makes
+    ``/api/embed`` 404 instead of the tests skipping as intended.
+    """
     try:
-        with socket.create_connection((_OLLAMA_HOST, _OLLAMA_PORT), timeout=1.0):
-            return True
-    except OSError:
+        resp = httpx.get(f"{_ollama_base_url()}/api/tags", timeout=1.0)
+        resp.raise_for_status()
+        models = {m.get("model", "") for m in resp.json().get("models", [])}
+        return any(m.startswith(_EMBED_MODEL) for m in models)
+    except (httpx.HTTPError, ValueError):
         return False
 
 
+def _make_backend() -> DenseMemory:
+    """DenseMemory wired to the same Ollama endpoint the probe checked.
+
+    ``DenseMemory()`` alone would build an ``OllamaEmbedder`` with its
+    hard-coded localhost default, so a remote ``OLLAMA_HOST`` could pass
+    the probe and then have every test call the wrong server.
+    """
+    return DenseMemory(
+        embedder=OllamaEmbedder(model=_EMBED_MODEL, base_url=_ollama_base_url())
+    )
+
+
 ollama_required = pytest.mark.skipif(
     not _ollama_up(),
     reason=(
@@ -48,6 +86,65 @@ ollama_required = pytest.mark.skipif(
 )
 
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Skip-guard unit tests (no Ollama required)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class _FakeTagsResponse:
+    def __init__(self, payload: dict) -> None:
+        self._payload = payload
+
+    def raise_for_status(self) -> None:
+        pass
+
+    def json(self) -> dict:
+        return self._payload
+
+
+class TestOllamaProbe:
+    def test_base_url_accepts_all_documented_forms(self, monkeypatch):
+        cases = {
+            "http://remote:11434": "http://remote:11434",
+            "http://remote:11434/": "http://remote:11434",
+            "https://ollama.internal": "https://ollama.internal",
+            "remote:8080": "http://remote:8080",
+            "remote": "http://remote:11434",
+        }
+        for raw, expected in cases.items():
+            monkeypatch.setenv("OLLAMA_HOST", raw)
+            assert _ollama_base_url() == expected, raw
+        monkeypatch.delenv("OLLAMA_HOST", raising=False)
+        assert _ollama_base_url() == "http://localhost:11434"
+
+    def test_probe_false_when_server_down(self, monkeypatch):
+        def _refuse(url, timeout):
+            raise httpx.ConnectError("connection refused")
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(httpx, "get", _refuse)
+        assert _ollama_up() is False
+
+    def test_probe_false_when_model_missing(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setattr(
+            httpx,
+            "get",
+            lambda url, timeout: _FakeTagsResponse({"models": [{"model": "llama3"}]}),
+        )
+        assert _ollama_up() is False
+
+    def test_probe_true_with_tagged_model_on_configured_url(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("OLLAMA_HOST", "http://remote:9999")
+        seen = {}
+
+        def _get(url, timeout):
+            seen["url"] = url
+            return _FakeTagsResponse({"models": [{"model": "nomic-embed-text:latest"}]})
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(httpx, "get", _get)
+        assert _ollama_up() is True
+        assert seen["url"] == "http://remote:9999/api/tags"
+
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Chunking unit tests (no Ollama required)
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -283,7 +380,7 @@ def indexed_backend():
     if not _ollama_up():
         pytest.skip("Ollama not reachable")
 
-    backend = DenseMemory()
+    backend = _make_backend()
     md_files = sorted(_FIXTURE_DIR.glob("*.md"))
     assert md_files, f"no fixtures at {_FIXTURE_DIR}"
 
@@ -452,7 +549,7 @@ def test_score_distribution_vs_threshold(indexed_backend, capsys):
 class TestDenseMemoryAPI:
     @ollama_required
     def test_store_and_delete(self):
-        backend = DenseMemory()
+        backend = _make_backend()
         doc_id = backend.store("the cat sat on the mat", source="a.txt")
         assert backend.count() == 1
         hits = backend.retrieve("where is the cat", top_k=1)
@@ -463,12 +560,12 @@ class TestDenseMemoryAPI:
 
     @ollama_required
     def test_empty_retrieve(self):
-        backend = DenseMemory()
+        backend = _make_backend()
         assert backend.retrieve("anything", top_k=3) == []
 
     @ollama_required
     def test_clear(self):
-        backend = DenseMemory()
+        backend = _make_backend()
         backend.store("foo")
         backend.store("bar")
         backend.clear()

tests/tools/test_knowledge_sql.py

@@ -70,9 +70,7 @@ def test_allows_select_with_keyword_substring(store: KnowledgeStore) -> None:
     from openjarvis.tools.knowledge_sql import KnowledgeSQLTool
 
     tool = KnowledgeSQLTool(store=store)
-    result = tool.execute(
-        query="SELECT author AS created_author FROM knowledge_chunks"
-    )
+    result = tool.execute(query="SELECT author AS created_author FROM knowledge_chunks")
     assert result.success, result.content
     assert "Alice" in result.content