story-kit: start 245_bug_chat_history_persistence_lost_on_page_refresh_story_145_regression

.story_kit/work/2_current/245_bug_chat_history_persistence_lost_on_page_refresh_story_145_regression.md

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+---
+name: "Chat history persistence lost on page refresh (story 145 regression)"
+agent: coder-opus
+---
+
+## Rejection Notes
+
+**2026-03-16:** Previous coder produced zero code changes — feature branch had no diff against master. The coder must actually use `git bisect` to find the breaking commit and produce a surgical fix. Do not submit with no code changes.
+
+**2026-03-17:** Re-opened. Multiple fix attempts have failed. See investigation notes below for the actual root cause.
+
+# Bug 245: Chat history persistence lost on page refresh (story 145 regression)
+
+## Description
+
+Story 145 implemented localStorage persistence for chat history across page reloads. This is no longer working — refreshing the page loses all conversation context. This is a regression of the feature delivered in story 145.
+
+## How to Reproduce
+
+1. Open the web UI and have a conversation with the agent
+2. Refresh the page (F5 or Cmd+R)
+3. Send a new message
+4. The LLM has no knowledge of the prior conversation
+
+## Actual Result
+
+Chat history is gone after refresh — the UI shows a blank conversation. Even if messages appear in the UI (loaded from localStorage), the LLM does not receive them as context on the next exchange.
+
+## Expected Result
+
+Chat history is restored from localStorage on page load, as implemented in story 145. The LLM should receive the full conversation history when the user sends a new message after refresh.
+
+## Acceptance Criteria
+
+- [ ] Chat messages survive a full page refresh (visible in UI)
+- [ ] Chat messages are restored from localStorage on component mount
+- [ ] After refresh, the LLM receives full prior conversation history as context when the user sends the next message
+- [ ] Behaviour matches the original acceptance criteria from story 145
+
+## Investigation Notes (2026-03-17)
+
+### Root cause analysis
+
+The frontend correctly:
+1. Persists messages to localStorage in `useChatHistory.ts` (key: `storykit-chat-history:{projectPath}`)
+2. Loads them on mount
+3. Sends the FULL history array to the backend via `wsRef.current?.sendChat(newHistory, config)` in `Chat.tsx` line ~558
+
+The backend bug is in `server/src/llm/chat.rs`:
+- The `chat()` function receives the full `messages: Vec<Message>` from the client
+- Line ~283: `let mut current_history = messages.clone()` — correctly clones full history
+- Lines ~299-318: Adds 2 system prompts at position 0 and 1
+- Lines ~323-404: Main LLM loop generates new assistant/tool messages
+- **Line ~407: `ChatResult { messages: new_messages }` — BUG: returns ONLY the newly generated turn, not the full `current_history`**
+
+During streaming, the `on_update()` callbacks DO send `current_history[2..]` (full history minus system prompts), which is correct. But there may be a reconciliation issue on the frontend where the final state doesn't include the full history.
+
+### Key files
+- `frontend/src/hooks/useChatHistory.ts` — localStorage persistence
+- `frontend/src/components/Chat.tsx` — sends full history, handles `onUpdate` callbacks
+- `frontend/src/api/client.ts` — WebSocket client
+- `server/src/http/ws.rs` — WebSocket handler, passes messages to chat()
+- `server/src/llm/chat.rs` — **THE BUG** at line ~407, ChatResult returns only new_messages
+
+### What NOT to do
+- Do NOT layer on a new localStorage implementation. The localStorage code works fine.
+- Do NOT add server-side persistence. The "dumb pipe" architecture is correct.
+- The fix should be surgical — ensure the full conversation history round-trips correctly through the backend.