.living_spec/stories/20_start_new_session.md

# Story 20: Start New Session / Clear Chat History

## User Story
As a user, I want to be able to start a fresh conversation without restarting the entire application, so that I can begin a new task with clean context while keeping the same project open.

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] There is a visible "New Session" or "Clear Chat" button in the UI
- [ ] Clicking the button clears all messages from the chat history
- [ ] The input field remains enabled and ready for a new message
- [ ] The button asks for confirmation before clearing (to prevent accidental data loss)
- [ ] After clearing, the chat shows an empty state or welcome message
- [ ] The project path and model settings are preserved (only messages are cleared)
- [ ] Any ongoing streaming or tool execution is cancelled before clearing
- [ ] The action is immediate and provides visual feedback

## Out of Scope
- Saving/exporting previous sessions before clearing
- Multiple concurrent chat sessions or tabs
- Undo functionality after clearing
- Automatic session management or limits
- Session history or recovery

## Technical Notes
- Frontend state (`messages`) needs to be cleared
- Backend may need to be notified to cancel any in-flight operations
- Should integrate with the cancellation mechanism from Story 13 (if implemented)
- Button should be placed in the header area near the model selector
- Consider using a modal dialog for confirmation
- State: `setMessages([])` to clear the array

## Design Considerations
- Button placement: Header area (top right or near model controls)
- Button style: Secondary/subtle to avoid accidental clicks
- Confirmation dialog: "Are you sure? This will clear all messages."
- Icon suggestion: 🔄 or "New" text label
Story 18: Token-by-token streaming responses - Backend: Added OllamaProvider::chat_stream() with newline-delimited JSON parsing - Backend: Emit chat:token events for each token received from Ollama - Backend: Added futures dependency and stream feature for reqwest - Frontend: Added streamingContent state and chat:token event listener - Frontend: Real-time token display with auto-scroll - Frontend: Markdown and syntax highlighting support for streaming content - Fixed all TypeScript errors (tsc --noEmit) - Fixed all Biome warnings and errors - Fixed all Clippy warnings - Added comprehensive code quality documentation - Added tsc --noEmit to verification checklist Tested and verified: - Tokens stream in real-time - Auto-scroll works during streaming - Tool calls interrupt streaming correctly - Multi-turn conversations work - Smooth performance with no lag 2025-12-27 16:50:18 +00:00			`# Story 20: Start New Session / Clear Chat History`

			`## User Story`
			`As a user, I want to be able to start a fresh conversation without restarting the entire application, so that I can begin a new task with clean context while keeping the same project open.`

			`## Acceptance Criteria`
			`- [ ] There is a visible "New Session" or "Clear Chat" button in the UI`
			`- [ ] Clicking the button clears all messages from the chat history`
			`- [ ] The input field remains enabled and ready for a new message`
			`- [ ] The button asks for confirmation before clearing (to prevent accidental data loss)`
			`- [ ] After clearing, the chat shows an empty state or welcome message`
			`- [ ] The project path and model settings are preserved (only messages are cleared)`
			`- [ ] Any ongoing streaming or tool execution is cancelled before clearing`
			`- [ ] The action is immediate and provides visual feedback`

			`## Out of Scope`
			`- Saving/exporting previous sessions before clearing`
			`- Multiple concurrent chat sessions or tabs`
			`- Undo functionality after clearing`
			`- Automatic session management or limits`
			`- Session history or recovery`

			`## Technical Notes`
			- Frontend state (`messages`) needs to be cleared
			`- Backend may need to be notified to cancel any in-flight operations`
			`- Should integrate with the cancellation mechanism from Story 13 (if implemented)`
			`- Button should be placed in the header area near the model selector`
			`- Consider using a modal dialog for confirmation`
			- State: `setMessages([])` to clear the array

			`## Design Considerations`
			`- Button placement: Header area (top right or near model controls)`
			`- Button style: Secondary/subtle to avoid accidental clicks`
			`- Confirmation dialog: "Are you sure? This will clear all messages."`
			`- Icon suggestion: 🔄 or "New" text label`