feat: auto-focus chatbox when task is opened or created

src/core/webview/ClineProvider.ts

@@ -1166,7 +1166,12 @@ export class ClineProvider
 			await this.initClineWithHistoryItem(historyItem) // Clears existing task.
 		}
 
-		await this.postMessageToWebview({ type: "action", action: "chatButtonClicked" })
+		// Combine both actions into a single message to avoid race condition
+		await this.postMessageToWebview({
+			type: "action",
+			action: "chatButtonClicked",
+			followUpAction: "focusInput",
+		})
 	}
 
 	async exportTaskWithId(id: string) {

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

@@ -288,6 +288,8 @@ export const webviewMessageHandler = async (
 			// agentically running promises in old instance don't affect our new
 			// task. This essentially creates a fresh slate for the new task.
 			await provider.initClineWithTask(message.text, message.images)
+			// Focus the input after creating a new task
+			await provider.postMessageToWebview({ type: "action", action: "focusInput" })
 			break
 		case "customInstructions":
 			await provider.updateCustomInstructions(message.text)
@@ -432,7 +434,11 @@ export const webviewMessageHandler = async (
 			}
 			break
 		case "showTaskWithId":
-			provider.showTaskWithId(message.text!)
+			await provider.showTaskWithId(message.text!)
+			// Handle any follow-up action if specified
+			if (message.followUpAction) {
+				await provider.postMessageToWebview({ type: "action", action: message.followUpAction })
+			}
 			break
 		case "condenseTaskContextRequest":
 			provider.condenseTaskContext(message.text!)

src/shared/ExtensionMessage.ts

@@ -132,6 +132,8 @@ export interface ExtensionMessage {
 		| "didBecomeVisible"
 		| "focusInput"
 		| "switchTab"
+		| string // Allow any string for flexibility
+	followUpAction?: string // For follow-up actions after main message handling
 	invoke?: "newChat" | "sendMessage" | "primaryButtonClick" | "secondaryButtonClick" | "setChatBoxMessage"
 	state?: ExtensionState
 	images?: string[]

src/shared/WebviewMessage.ts

@@ -249,6 +249,7 @@ export interface WebviewMessage {
 	visibility?: ShareVisibility // For share visibility
 	hasContent?: boolean // For checkRulesDirectoryResult
 	checkOnly?: boolean // For deleteCustomMode check
+	followUpAction?: string // For follow-up actions after main message handling
 	codeIndexSettings?: {
 		// Global state settings
 		codebaseIndexEnabled: boolean

webview-ui/src/components/chat/ChatView.tsx

@@ -703,7 +703,11 @@ const ChatViewComponent: React.ForwardRefRenderFunction<ChatViewRef, ChatViewPro
 		}
 	}, [])
 
-	const startNewTask = useCallback(() => vscode.postMessage({ type: "clearTask" }), [])
+	const startNewTask = useCallback(() => {
+		vscode.postMessage({ type: "clearTask" })
+		// Focus the textarea directly after starting a new task
+		textAreaRef.current?.focus()
+	}, [])
 
 	// This logic depends on the useEffect[messages] above to set clineAsk,
 	// after which buttons are shown and we then send an askResponse to the