From 931e20d814d838dc25e9d27e97ad752d2d90216d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Bohdan Triapitsyn <artmore@protonmail.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2026 17:53:55 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] fix: preserve history coverage during tail refresh

Keeps an existing complete cursor/coverage after refreshing the latest messages
Prevents tail refreshes from reintroducing an incorrect "load older" state
Adds a regression test for complete history coverage across refreshes
---
 .../src/sync/session-message-loader.test.ts   | 22 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../ui/src/sync/session-message-loader.ts     | 11 ++++++++--
 2 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/ui/src/sync/session-message-loader.test.ts b/packages/ui/src/sync/session-message-loader.test.ts
index 769ae573..f7fcd275 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/sync/session-message-loader.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/sync/session-message-loader.test.ts
@@ -89,6 +89,28 @@ describe("SessionMessageLoader", () => {
     childStores.disposeAll()
   })
 
+  test("preserves complete history coverage across a tail refresh", async () => {
+    let calls = 0
+    const { childStores, loader } = createLoader(async ({ sessionID }) => {
+      calls += 1
+      return calls === 1
+        ? response([createRecord(sessionID, "msg_1")])
+        : response([createRecord(sessionID, "msg_2")], "stale-tail-cursor")
+    })
+    const target = { directory: "/repo", sessionID: "session-a" }
+
+    await loader.ensure(target)
+    expect(loader.getSnapshot(target).complete).toBe(true)
+    expect(loader.getSnapshot(target).cursor).toBe(undefined)
+
+    await loader.refreshTail(target, 2)
+
+    expect(loader.getSnapshot(target).complete).toBe(true)
+    expect(loader.getSnapshot(target).cursor).toBe(undefined)
+    loader.dispose()
+    childStores.disposeAll()
+  })
+
   test("does not deduplicate identical session IDs across directories", async () => {
     const calls: string[] = []
     const { childStores, loader } = createLoader(async ({ directory, sessionID }) => {
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/sync/session-message-loader.ts b/packages/ui/src/sync/session-message-loader.ts
index be6d1ec8..540c6232 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/sync/session-message-loader.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/sync/session-message-loader.ts
@@ -265,18 +265,25 @@ export class SessionMessageLoader {
     const store = this.childStores.ensureChild(normalized.directory, { bootstrap: false })
     this.bumpGeneration(entry)
     return this.startLoad(normalized, entry, store, "refresh", async (isCurrent) => {
+      const previousCoverage = entry.snapshot.resolved
+        ? { cursor: entry.snapshot.cursor, complete: entry.snapshot.complete }
+        : null
       const page = await this.fetchPage(normalized, Math.max(1, limit))
       if (!isCurrent()) return
       const committed = this.commitPage(normalized, entry, store, page, "merge", isCurrent)
       if (!committed || !isCurrent()) return
+      const coverage = previousCoverage ?? page
       this.patchEntry(entry, {
         status: "ready",
         loadingKind: null,
         error: null,
         resolved: true,
         limit: Math.max(entry.snapshot.limit, committed.messages.length),
-        cursor: page.cursor,
-        complete: page.complete,
+        // A tail refresh uses a deliberately small window. Its cursor only
+        // describes that window, so it must not replace the established
+        // history coverage and spuriously expose "load older".
+        cursor: coverage.cursor,
+        complete: coverage.complete,
         updatedAt: Date.now(),
       })
       this.persistCoverage(normalized, entry.snapshot)