fix(chat): preserve midturn steer and session marker ordering (#1241)

app/src/main/java/com/m57/hermescontrol/data/local/ChatMessageDao.kt

@@ -53,7 +53,12 @@ interface ChatMessageDao {
     suspend fun upsert(message: ChatMessageEntity) {
         val existing = getMessage(message.id)
         val restId = message.restId ?: existing?.restId
-        val canonicalOrder = canonicalMessageOrder(restId ?: message.id, message.sessionId)
+        val canonicalOrder =
+            if (message.isSessionStartMarker()) {
+                -1L
+            } else {
+                canonicalMessageOrder(restId ?: message.id, message.sessionId)
+            }
         writeMessage(
             message.copy(
                 restId = restId,

app/src/main/java/com/m57/hermescontrol/data/local/ChatMessageEntity.kt

@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ data class ChatMessageEntity(
     val sortOrder: Long = 0,
 )
 
+internal fun ChatMessageEntity.isSessionStartMarker(): Boolean =
+    role == "SYSTEM" && (content == "Session created" || content == "Session branched")
+
 /** Only the exact session prefix and a nonnegative decimal suffix identify a canonical row. */
 internal fun canonicalMessageOrder(
     id: String,

app/src/main/java/com/m57/hermescontrol/data/local/ChatMessageMapper.kt

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ fun ChatMessageEntity.toUiModel(): ChatMessage =
         tps = tps,
         completionId = completionId,
         restId = restId,
-        localOrder = sortOrder.takeIf { sortGroup == 1 && it > 0 },
+        localOrder = sortOrder.takeIf { sortGroup == 1 && it > 0 && !isSessionStartMarker() },
     )
 
 fun ChatMessage.toEntity(sessionId: String): ChatMessageEntity =

app/src/main/java/com/m57/hermescontrol/ui/chat/ChatListEntries.kt

@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ private const val MAX_ITERATIONS_SYSTEM_MARKER =
  */
 internal fun ChatMessage.isUserTurnBoundary(): Boolean =
     role == MessageRole.USER &&
-        displayKind == null &&
+        (displayKind == null || displayKind == "steer") &&
         !content.startsWith(MAX_ITERATIONS_SYSTEM_MARKER)
 
 /**

app/src/main/java/com/m57/hermescontrol/ui/chat/ChatServerMessageMapper.kt

@@ -164,7 +164,11 @@ internal fun mapServerMessages(
         // Keep the actual @file:/@image: token here: unlike the dedupe path,
         // REST-only hydration cannot prove that reference was not user-authored.
         var finalContent =
-            if (role == MessageRole.USER) stripGatewayAttachedContext(rawContent) else rawContent
+            if (role == MessageRole.USER) {
+                stripGatewayAttachedContext(stripGatewaySteerWrapper(rawContent))
+            } else {
+                rawContent
+            }
         var attachments: List<Attachment>? = null
         if (role == MessageRole.ASSISTANT && rawContent.contains("MEDIA:")) {
             val items = HostMediaExtractor.extract(rawContent)

app/src/main/java/com/m57/hermescontrol/ui/chat/ChatTranscriptMerge.kt

@@ -14,6 +14,30 @@ private val CONTEXT_REF_RE =
         """@(file|folder|url|image|tool|terminal):(?:"[^"\n]+"|'[^'\n]+'|`[^`\n]+`|\S+)""",
     )
 
+private val OUT_OF_BAND_START_RE =
+    Regex("""\[OUT-OF-BAND USER MESSAGE[^\n\]]*\]\s*""", RegexOption.IGNORE_CASE)
+private val OUT_OF_BAND_END_RE =
+    Regex("""\s*\[/OUT-OF-BAND USER MESSAGE\]""", RegexOption.IGNORE_CASE)
+
+/**
+ * Remove a gateway-generated `[OUT-OF-BAND USER MESSAGE ...]` wrapper from
+ * mid-turn steering messages while preserving the user-authored prompt.
+ */
+internal fun stripGatewaySteerWrapper(content: String): String {
+    val trimmed = content.trimStart()
+    val startMatch = OUT_OF_BAND_START_RE.find(trimmed) ?: return content
+    if (startMatch.range.first != 0) return content
+    val afterStart = trimmed.substring(startMatch.range.last + 1)
+    val endMatch = OUT_OF_BAND_END_RE.find(afterStart)
+    val unwrapped =
+        if (endMatch != null) {
+            afterStart.substring(0, endMatch.range.first)
+        } else {
+            afterStart
+        }
+    return unwrapped.trim()
+}
+
 /**
  * Remove a gateway-generated `--- Attached Context ---` suffix while
  * preserving the user-authored portion of the message.
@@ -231,7 +255,7 @@ internal fun matchTranscriptMessages(
  * run_agent). Blank lines left behind are dropped too.
  */
 internal fun stripAttachmentRefLines(content: String): String =
-    stripGatewayAttachedContext(content)
+    stripGatewayAttachedContext(stripGatewaySteerWrapper(content))
         .lines()
         .map { it.trim() }
         .filterNot { line ->
@@ -276,7 +300,11 @@ internal fun dedupeCachedMessages(
             }.toMap()
     return unique.filterNot { it.id in echoes }.map { message ->
         aliases[message.id]?.let {
-            message.copy(restId = it.canonicalRestId, completionId = message.completionId ?: it.completionId)
+            message.copy(
+                restId = it.canonicalRestId,
+                completionId = message.completionId ?: it.completionId,
+                displayKind = message.displayKind ?: it.displayKind,
+            )
         } ?: message
     }
 }
@@ -306,6 +334,7 @@ internal fun mergeCachedTranscriptPage(
                         id = match.id,
                         restId = message.canonicalRestId ?: match.canonicalRestId,
                         completionId = match.completionId ?: message.completionId,
+                        displayKind = message.displayKind ?: match.displayKind,
                     )
             }.toMap()
     return (
@@ -333,6 +362,7 @@ internal fun mergeTranscriptWithLive(
                 match?.role == MessageRole.USER -> {
                     match.copy(
                         restId = (message.canonicalRestId ?: match.canonicalRestId).takeUnless { it == match.id },
+                        displayKind = message.displayKind ?: match.displayKind,
                     )
                 }
 
@@ -378,8 +408,16 @@ private fun List<ChatMessage>.inTranscriptOrder(): List<ChatMessage> =
             .thenBy { it.canonicalOrder ?: it.localOrder ?: Long.MAX_VALUE },
     )
 
+internal fun ChatMessage.isSessionStartMarker(): Boolean =
+    role == MessageRole.SYSTEM && (content == "Session created" || content == "Session branched")
+
 private val ChatMessage.canonicalOrder: Long?
-    get() = if (localOrder != null && restId == null) null else canonicalRestId?.substringAfterLast('-')?.toLongOrNull()
+    get() =
+        when {
+            isSessionStartMarker() -> -1L
+            localOrder != null && restId == null -> null
+            else -> canonicalRestId?.substringAfterLast('-')?.toLongOrNull()
+        }
 
 /** Retain the canonical trace once, without copying it across a user/system/tool boundary. */
 private fun List<ChatMessage>.reconcileReasoningRows(): List<ChatMessage> =

app/src/main/java/com/m57/hermescontrol/ui/chat/fullbleed/FullBleedTurns.kt

@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ private fun ChatMessage.isSyntheticSystemRow(): Boolean =
         displayKind == null &&
         content.startsWith(MAX_ITERATIONS_SYSTEM_MARKER)
 
+internal fun ChatMessage.isTimelineMarker(): Boolean = displayKind != null && displayKind != "steer"
+
 /**
  * Split a flat message list into turns for the full-bleed renderer.
  *
@@ -80,11 +82,12 @@ fun groupIntoTurns(messages: List<ChatMessage>): List<ChatTurn> {
             // Timeline markers (display_kind) ride as role=user rows but are
             // NOT user turns — group them as system-style timeline entries so
             // they render as centered chips, not fake user bubbles (issue #904).
+            // Steer messages (display_kind == "steer") are genuine user turns.
             // The backend's max-iterations nudge is a role=user row with NO
             // display_kind (it's stripped on persistence); detect it by its
             // stable content prefix and route it as a system event too, tagging
             // it so the timeline chip can name it.
-            message.displayKind != null -> {
+            message.isTimelineMarker() -> {
                 agentEntries += AgentEntry.SystemEvent(message)
             }