diff --git a/packages/ui/src/App.tsx b/packages/ui/src/App.tsx
index ec79df9d..7c4d3d07 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/App.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/App.tsx
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ type EmbeddedSessionChatConfig = {
   sessionId: string;
   directory: string | null;
   readOnly: boolean;
+  allowPromptingSubagentSessions?: boolean;
 };
 
 type EmbeddedVisibilityPayload = {
@@ -138,6 +139,9 @@ const readEmbeddedSessionChatConfig = (): EmbeddedSessionChatConfig | null => {
     sessionId,
     directory,
     readOnly: params.get('readOnly') === '1' || params.get('readOnly') === 'true',
+    allowPromptingSubagentSessions: params.has('allowPromptingSubagentSessions')
+      ? params.get('allowPromptingSubagentSessions') === '1'
+      : undefined,
   };
 };
 
@@ -199,7 +203,11 @@ const EmbeddedSessionChatContent: React.FC<{
     <>
       <SyncAppEffects embeddedBackgroundWorkEnabled={embeddedBackgroundWorkEnabled} />
       <OpenCodeUpdateToast />
-      <ChatView readOnly={embeddedSessionChat.readOnly} />
+      <ChatView
+        active={embeddedBackgroundWorkEnabled}
+        readOnly={embeddedSessionChat.readOnly}
+        initialAllowPromptingSubagentSessions={embeddedSessionChat.allowPromptingSubagentSessions}
+      />
       <Toaster />
     </>
   );
@@ -228,7 +236,10 @@ function App({ apis }: AppProps) {
   const [showMemoryDebug, setShowMemoryDebug] = React.useState(false);
   const refreshGitHubAuthStatus = useGitHubAuthStore((state) => state.refreshStatus);
   const [isVSCodeRuntime, setIsVSCodeRuntime] = React.useState<boolean>(() => apis.runtime.isVSCode);
-  const [isEmbeddedVisible, setIsEmbeddedVisible] = React.useState(true);
+  // Embedded chats start inactive until the parent panel identifies the active
+  // tab. Otherwise a newly loaded background tab can focus its composer first
+  // and steal keyboard input from the main chat.
+  const [isEmbeddedVisible, setIsEmbeddedVisible] = React.useState(false);
   const [initRetryExhausted, setInitRetryExhausted] = React.useState(false);
   const [initRetryEpoch, setInitRetryEpoch] = React.useState(0);
   const [runtimeEndpointEpoch, setRuntimeEndpointEpoch] = React.useState(0);
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/chat/ChatContainer.tsx b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/ChatContainer.tsx
index d2e7ffd1..ff38aeba 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/components/chat/ChatContainer.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/ChatContainer.tsx
@@ -535,9 +535,10 @@ type ChatContainerProps = {
     active?: boolean;
     autoOpenDraft?: boolean;
     readOnly?: boolean;
+    initialAllowPromptingSubagentSessions?: boolean;
 };
 
-export const ChatContainer: React.FC<ChatContainerProps> = ({ active = true, autoOpenDraft = true, readOnly = false }) => {
+export const ChatContainer: React.FC<ChatContainerProps> = ({ active = true, autoOpenDraft = true, readOnly = false, initialAllowPromptingSubagentSessions }) => {
     const { t } = useI18n();
     // Session UI state
     const currentSessionId = useSessionUIStore((s) => s.currentSessionId);
@@ -568,6 +569,7 @@ export const ChatContainer: React.FC<ChatContainerProps> = ({ active = true, aut
     const stickyUserHeader = useUIStore((state) => state.stickyUserHeader);
     const promptNavigatorEnabled = useUIStore((state) => state.promptNavigatorEnabled);
     const allowPromptingSubagentSessions = useUIStore((state) => state.allowPromptingSubagentSessions);
+    const [embeddedAllowPrompting, setEmbeddedAllowPrompting] = React.useState(initialAllowPromptingSubagentSessions);
     const isTimelineDialogOpen = useUIStore((s) => s.isTimelineDialogOpen);
     const setTimelineDialogOpen = useUIStore((s) => s.setTimelineDialogOpen);
 
@@ -800,7 +802,11 @@ export const ChatContainer: React.FC<ChatContainerProps> = ({ active = true, aut
             {t('chat.container.returnToParent.label')}
         </Button>
     ) : null;
-    const promptReadOnly = resolveChatPromptReadOnly(currentSession, allowPromptingSubagentSessions, readOnly);
+    const promptReadOnly = resolveChatPromptReadOnly(
+        currentSession,
+        embeddedAllowPrompting ?? allowPromptingSubagentSessions,
+        readOnly,
+    );
 
     React.useEffect(() => {
         // VS Code/Cursor/Positron webviews delete window.parent (and window.top).
@@ -813,6 +819,7 @@ export const ChatContainer: React.FC<ChatContainerProps> = ({ active = true, aut
 
         const parentWindow = window.parent;
         const applySetting = (value: boolean) => {
+            setEmbeddedAllowPrompting(value);
             useUIStore.getState().setAllowPromptingSubagentSessions(value);
         };
         const scopedWindow = window as typeof window & {
@@ -1100,7 +1107,7 @@ export const ChatContainer: React.FC<ChatContainerProps> = ({ active = true, aut
 									: 'flex-1 items-center justify-center bg-background px-0 pb-[6vh]'
 						)}
 					>
-                          {promptReadOnly ? <ReadOnlyPromptBanner /> : <ChatInput scrollToBottom={scrollToBottomOnSend} />}
+                          {promptReadOnly ? <ReadOnlyPromptBanner /> : <ChatInput active={active} scrollToBottom={scrollToBottomOnSend} />}
 					</div>
 					{workStatusOverlayMountable ? (
 						<WorkStatusPanel
@@ -1144,7 +1151,7 @@ export const ChatContainer: React.FC<ChatContainerProps> = ({ active = true, aut
 						</div>
 					</div>
 					<div className="relative z-10 bg-background">
-						{promptReadOnly ? <ReadOnlyPromptBanner /> : <ChatInput scrollToBottom={scrollToBottomOnSend} />}
+						{promptReadOnly ? <ReadOnlyPromptBanner /> : <ChatInput active={active} scrollToBottom={scrollToBottomOnSend} />}
 					</div>
 				</div>
 			);
@@ -1198,7 +1205,7 @@ export const ChatContainer: React.FC<ChatContainerProps> = ({ active = true, aut
 							: 'bg-background'
 					)}
 				>
-                    {promptReadOnly ? <ReadOnlyPromptBanner /> : <ChatInput scrollToBottom={scrollToBottomOnSend} />}
+                    {promptReadOnly ? <ReadOnlyPromptBanner /> : <ChatInput active={active} scrollToBottom={scrollToBottomOnSend} />}
 				</div>
             </div>
         );
@@ -1233,7 +1240,7 @@ export const ChatContainer: React.FC<ChatContainerProps> = ({ active = true, aut
 							: 'bg-background'
 					)}
 				>
-                    {promptReadOnly ? <ReadOnlyPromptBanner /> : <ChatInput scrollToBottom={scrollToBottomOnSend} />}
+                    {promptReadOnly ? <ReadOnlyPromptBanner /> : <ChatInput active={active} scrollToBottom={scrollToBottomOnSend} />}
 				</div>
             </div>
         );
@@ -1291,7 +1298,7 @@ export const ChatContainer: React.FC<ChatContainerProps> = ({ active = true, aut
                         onClick={navigation.resumeToLatest}
                     />
                 )}
-                {promptReadOnly ? <ReadOnlyPromptBanner /> : <ChatInput scrollToBottom={scrollToBottomOnSend} />}
+                {promptReadOnly ? <ReadOnlyPromptBanner /> : <ChatInput active={active} scrollToBottom={scrollToBottomOnSend} />}
             </div>
 
             {/* Inside the chat column, not beside it: as a row sibling it took
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/chat/ChatInput.tsx b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/ChatInput.tsx
index 5ff1d8ab..1df58ebb 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/components/chat/ChatInput.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/ChatInput.tsx
@@ -221,6 +221,7 @@ const MemoStatusRow = React.memo(StatusRow);
 interface ChatInputProps {
     onOpenSettings?: () => void;
     scrollToBottom?: () => void;
+    active?: boolean;
 }
 
 const resolveChatDraftIdentity = (sessionId: string | null): ChatDraftIdentity | null => {
@@ -234,7 +235,7 @@ const resolveChatDraftIdentity = (sessionId: string | null): ChatDraftIdentity |
     return createChatDraftIdentity(getRuntimeKey(), directory, sessionId);
 };
 
-const ChatInputComponent: React.FC<ChatInputProps> = ({ onOpenSettings, scrollToBottom }) => {
+const ChatInputComponent: React.FC<ChatInputProps> = ({ onOpenSettings, scrollToBottom, active = true }) => {
     const { t } = useI18n();
     // Track if we restored a draft on mount (for text selection)
     const initialDraftRef = React.useRef<string | null>(null);
@@ -2039,10 +2040,10 @@ const ChatInputComponent: React.FC<ChatInputProps> = ({ onOpenSettings, scrollTo
 
     React.useEffect(() => {
 
-        if (currentSessionId && composerRef.current && !isMobile) {
+        if (active && currentSessionId && composerRef.current && !isMobile) {
             composerRef.current.focus();
         }
-    }, [currentSessionId, isMobile]);
+    }, [active, currentSessionId, isMobile]);
 
     React.useEffect(() => {
         if (!isMobile) {
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/chat/chatPromptReadOnly.test.ts b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/chatPromptReadOnly.test.ts
index 38ccc362..c78f7afc 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/components/chat/chatPromptReadOnly.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/chatPromptReadOnly.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
 import type { Session } from '@opencode-ai/sdk/v2';
 
 import { resolveChatPromptReadOnly } from './chatPromptReadOnly';
+import { withReviewSessionMarker } from '@/lib/sessionReviewMetadata';
 
 const session = (parentID?: string): Session => ({
     id: 'session',
@@ -27,4 +28,14 @@ describe('resolveChatPromptReadOnly', () => {
         expect(resolveChatPromptReadOnly(session(), true, true)).toBe(true);
         expect(resolveChatPromptReadOnly(session(), true, false)).toBe(false);
     });
+
+    test('treats a marked code review as an independent session even with a stale parent ID', () => {
+        const reviewSession = {
+            ...session('original'),
+            metadata: withReviewSessionMarker({}, 'original'),
+        } as Session;
+
+        expect(resolveChatPromptReadOnly(reviewSession, false, false)).toBe(false);
+        expect(resolveChatPromptReadOnly(reviewSession, true, true)).toBe(true);
+    });
 });
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/chat/chatPromptReadOnly.ts b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/chatPromptReadOnly.ts
index 1fcc78af..2e1f5c2e 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/components/chat/chatPromptReadOnly.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/chatPromptReadOnly.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,18 @@
 import type { Session } from '@opencode-ai/sdk/v2';
+import { isReviewSession } from '@/lib/sessionReviewMetadata';
 
 export const resolveChatPromptReadOnly = (
     session: Session | null | undefined,
     allowPromptingSubagentSessions: boolean,
     readOnly: boolean,
 ): boolean => {
+    // Review sessions are independent conversations even if an older server or
+    // cached record still carries parentID. Their explicit metadata is the
+    // authority; only the surface itself may make them read-only.
+    if (isReviewSession(session)) {
+        return readOnly;
+    }
+
     if (session?.parentID) {
         return !allowPromptingSubagentSessions;
     }
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/layout/ContextPanel.tsx b/packages/ui/src/components/layout/ContextPanel.tsx
index 6b173209..43872d90 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/components/layout/ContextPanel.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/layout/ContextPanel.tsx
@@ -2528,8 +2528,8 @@ export const ContextPanel: React.FC = () => {
       lightThemeId,
       darkThemeId,
       currentTheme,
-    });
-  }, [currentTheme, darkThemeId, directoryKey, lightThemeId, themeMode]);
+    }, { allowPromptingSubagentSessions });
+  }, [allowPromptingSubagentSessions, currentTheme, darkThemeId, directoryKey, lightThemeId, themeMode]);
 
   const activeChatSrc = activeChatTab && activeChatSessionID
     ? getEmbeddedChatSrc(activeChatTab.id, activeChatSessionID, activeChatTab.readOnly)
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/layout/contextPanelEmbeddedChat.test.ts b/packages/ui/src/components/layout/contextPanelEmbeddedChat.test.ts
index 08992565..1c2cb866 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/components/layout/contextPanelEmbeddedChat.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/layout/contextPanelEmbeddedChat.test.ts
@@ -128,6 +128,17 @@ describe('embedded session chat URL', () => {
     expect(new URL(second).searchParams.get('themeVariant')).toBe('dark');
   });
 
+  test('bootstraps subagent prompting before the embedded chat first renders', () => {
+    const src = buildEmbeddedSessionChatURL('ses_1', '/repo', false, {
+      mode: 'system',
+      lightThemeId: 'light-a',
+      darkThemeId: 'dark-a',
+      currentTheme: makeTheme('dark-a', 'dark'),
+    }, { allowPromptingSubagentSessions: true });
+
+    expect(new URL(src).searchParams.get('allowPromptingSubagentSessions')).toBe('1');
+  });
+
   test('rebuilds cached src when readOnly changes for an existing tab', () => {
     const cache = new Map<string, EmbeddedSessionChatURLCacheEntry>();
     const theme = {
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/layout/contextPanelEmbeddedChat.ts b/packages/ui/src/components/layout/contextPanelEmbeddedChat.ts
index 57789111..05068ca6 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/components/layout/contextPanelEmbeddedChat.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/layout/contextPanelEmbeddedChat.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ export type EmbeddedSessionChatThemeBootstrap = {
   currentTheme: Theme;
 };
 
+export type EmbeddedSessionChatSettingsBootstrap = {
+  allowPromptingSubagentSessions: boolean;
+};
+
 export type EmbeddedSessionChatURLCacheEntry = {
   signature: string;
   src: string;
@@ -111,6 +115,7 @@ export const buildEmbeddedSessionChatURL = (
   directory: string | null,
   readOnly: boolean,
   theme: EmbeddedSessionChatThemeBootstrap,
+  settings?: EmbeddedSessionChatSettingsBootstrap,
 ): string => {
   if (typeof window === 'undefined') {
     return '';
@@ -134,6 +139,9 @@ export const buildEmbeddedSessionChatURL = (
   url.searchParams.set('lightThemeId', theme.lightThemeId);
   url.searchParams.set('darkThemeId', theme.darkThemeId);
   url.searchParams.set('themeVariant', theme.currentTheme.metadata.variant === 'dark' ? 'dark' : 'light');
+  if (settings) {
+    url.searchParams.set('allowPromptingSubagentSessions', settings.allowPromptingSubagentSessions ? '1' : '0');
+  }
 
   url.hash = '';
   return url.toString();
@@ -146,6 +154,7 @@ export const getOrCreateEmbeddedSessionChatURL = (
   directory: string | null,
   readOnly: boolean,
   theme: EmbeddedSessionChatThemeBootstrap,
+  settings?: EmbeddedSessionChatSettingsBootstrap,
 ): string => {
   const signature = buildEmbeddedSessionChatURLSignature(sessionID, directory, readOnly);
   const existing = cache.get(tabID);
@@ -153,7 +162,7 @@ export const getOrCreateEmbeddedSessionChatURL = (
     return existing.src;
   }
 
-  const src = buildEmbeddedSessionChatURL(sessionID, directory, readOnly, theme);
+  const src = buildEmbeddedSessionChatURL(sessionID, directory, readOnly, theme, settings);
   cache.set(tabID, { signature, src });
   return src;
 };
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/views/ChatView.tsx b/packages/ui/src/components/views/ChatView.tsx
index 152998f4..bcba8dc7 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/components/views/ChatView.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/views/ChatView.tsx
@@ -6,14 +6,19 @@ import { useSessionUIStore } from '@/sync/session-ui-store';
 type ChatViewProps = {
     active?: boolean;
     readOnly?: boolean;
+    initialAllowPromptingSubagentSessions?: boolean;
 };
 
-export const ChatView: React.FC<ChatViewProps> = ({ active = true, readOnly = false }) => {
+export const ChatView: React.FC<ChatViewProps> = ({ active = true, readOnly = false, initialAllowPromptingSubagentSessions }) => {
     const currentSessionId = useSessionUIStore((state) => state.currentSessionId);
 
     return (
         <ChatErrorBoundary sessionId={currentSessionId || undefined}>
-            <ChatContainer active={active} readOnly={readOnly} />
+            <ChatContainer
+                active={active}
+                readOnly={readOnly}
+                initialAllowPromptingSubagentSessions={initialAllowPromptingSubagentSessions}
+            />
         </ChatErrorBoundary>
     );
 };