Names that fit the chat, and a way to change one

Two things about titles were wrong. Every chat spent a second completion on
its name, including an agent chat whose opening words are already a title --
somebody starting one states an objective, not a topic. An agent chat now
takes `fallback_title` from its first prompt and makes no request at all;
an ordinary chat, which opens with a question whose *answer* is what makes a
title worth asking for, is unchanged.

And renaming existed only as the `/title` slash command, which set the heading
and left the sidebar row showing the old name until the next reload -- a rename
that looks half-applied is one people do twice. There are pencil buttons on the
heading and on every sidebar row now, both PATCHing the route that was already
there, and `update_chat` answers a rename with the out-of-band pair the `done`
frame has always sent, so one response moves both. Only on a rename: sending it
for every PATCH would overwrite the heading from an unrelated save. `/title`
sets both spans itself, being a bare fetch rather than htmx.

The dialog is the `data-prompt` mechanism the folder work added, which is why
the heading keeps a button rather than becoming an inline field: it sits in a
flex row beside the badges and the connection chip, and swapping it for a text
box moves all of them.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/lembas/api/chats.py

@@ -1463,12 +1463,14 @@ async def update_chat(request: Request, db: Db, user: RequiredUser, chat_id: str
     allowed = permissions.resolve(db, user)
     form = await request.form()
 
+    renamed = False
     if "title" in form:
         cleaned = str(form["title"]).strip()[:300]
         if cleaned:
             chat.title = cleaned
             # An explicit rename must not be overwritten by auto-titling later.
             chat.title_generated = True
+            renamed = True
 
     if "folder_id" in form:
         chat.folder_id = str(form["folder_id"]) or None
@@ -1576,6 +1578,16 @@ async def update_chat(request: Request, db: Db, user: RequiredUser, chat_id: str
             chat.params_json = {**(chat.params_json or {}), "reasoning_effort": seeded}
 
     db.commit()
+
+    if renamed:
+        # The two out-of-band spans the `done` frame already uses, so one
+        # response updates the heading *and* the sidebar row. Renaming used to
+        # be the `/title` command alone, which set the heading and left the
+        # sidebar showing the old name until the next reload -- a rename that
+        # looks half-applied is one people do twice.
+        return HTMLResponse(
+            templates.get_template("chat/_title_oob.html").render({"chat": chat})
+        )
     return Response(status_code=status.HTTP_204_NO_CONTENT)
 
 

src/lembas/services/generation.py

@@ -406,6 +406,13 @@ async def _run(generation: Generation) -> None:
             )
             question = _question_from(payload)
             needs_title = not chat.title_generated
+            # An agent chat is titled from its opening words and never costs a
+            # model call for it. That prompt is a good title already -- somebody
+            # starting one states an objective, not a topic -- while an ordinary
+            # chat opens with a question, whose answer is what makes a title
+            # worth asking for. Read here with the rest, because titling happens
+            # after this session has closed.
+            title_from_prompt = chat.kind == KIND_AGENT
             # Read here, with the rest, because titling happens after this
             # session has closed and must not open another one.
             title_prompt = prompts_service.resolve(db, "task.title")
@@ -714,7 +721,7 @@ async def _run(generation: Generation) -> None:
         # a chat title is never worth surfacing an error for.
         title = ""
         if needs_title and question:
-            if generation.error or endpoint is None:
+            if title_from_prompt or generation.error or endpoint is None:
                 title = chat_service.fallback_title(question)
             else:
                 with contextlib.suppress(Exception):

src/lembas/web/static/js/commands.js

@@ -115,9 +115,16 @@
         body.append("title", wanted);
         fetch("/api/chats/" + chat(), { method: "PATCH", body: body, credentials: "same-origin" })
           .then(function () {
-            var heading = el("#chat-title");
-            // textContent, never innerHTML: this is text somebody typed.
-            if (heading) heading.textContent = wanted;
+            /* Both places the title appears. The heading alone left the sidebar
+               row showing the old name until the next reload, which reads as a
+               rename that half worked -- and is the reason the route now hands
+               back the out-of-band pair for every other caller. This one is a
+               bare fetch rather than htmx, so it sets them itself.
+
+               textContent, never innerHTML: this is text somebody typed. */
+            [el("#chat-title"), el("#chat-link-label-" + chat())].forEach(function (node) {
+              if (node) node.textContent = wanted;
+            });
             note("Renamed.");
           });
       }

src/lembas/web/templates/chat/index.html

@@ -25,6 +25,23 @@
 
       <h1 class="topbar__title">
         <span id="chat-title">{{ chat.title if chat else "New chat" }}</span>
+        {#
+          Rename, where the name is. A themed dialog through `data-prompt`
+          rather than an inline field: the heading is in a flex row beside the
+          badges and the connection chip, and swapping it for a text box moves
+          all of them. The response is the same out-of-band pair the `done`
+          frame sends, so the sidebar row follows without a second request.
+        #}
+        {% if chat %}
+        <button class="btn btn--icon btn--sm topbar__rename" type="button"
+                hx-patch="/api/chats/{{ chat.id }}" hx-swap="none"
+                data-prompt="What should this chat be called?"
+                data-prompt-title="Rename chat" data-prompt-field="title"
+                data-prompt-value="{{ chat.title }}"
+                aria-label="Rename chat" title="Rename chat">
+          {{ icon("pencil", "icon--sm") }}
+        </button>
+        {% endif %}
         {# Beside the title because it describes the chat rather than acting on
            it. The way out of it is Keep, in the overflow menu. #}
         {% if chat and chat.temporary %}

src/lembas/web/templates/partials/_chat_link.html

@@ -16,6 +16,17 @@
           {{ '' if chat_item.unread else 'hidden' }} title="New reply"></span>
   </a>
   <span class="nav-item__actions">
+    {# Works from any page carrying the sidebar, not only from inside the chat.
+       The response carries both out-of-band spans, so the heading follows if
+       this happens to be the open chat. #}
+    <button class="btn btn--icon btn--sm" type="button"
+            hx-patch="/api/chats/{{ chat_item.id }}" hx-swap="none"
+            data-prompt="What should this chat be called?"
+            data-prompt-title="Rename chat" data-prompt-field="title"
+            data-prompt-value="{{ chat_item.title }}"
+            aria-label="Rename chat" title="Rename chat">
+      {{ icon("pencil", "icon--sm") }}
+    </button>
     <button class="btn btn--icon btn--sm" type="button"
             hx-delete="/api/chats/{{ chat_item.id }}"
             hx-confirm="Delete “{{ chat_item.title }}”? This cannot be undone."