/chat new command fails with "Session not found: new" in TUI mode (v1.28.1)

[BSwansonAW]

Before opening, please confirm:

• I have searched for duplicate or closed issues

Operating System

WSL2 (Ubuntu) on Windows

Kiro Version

1.28.1

Bug Description

The /chat new slash command was announced in the 1.28.0 changelog as a way to start fresh conversations without restarting the CLI:

You also get /chat new for starting fresh conversations without restarting the CLI

However, running /chat new in TUI mode produces the following error in red text:

Failed to start session: Session not found: new

It appears the /chat command handler is interpreting new as a session ID rather than recognizing it as a subcommand.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start kiro-cli in TUI mode (kiro-cli --tui or with chat.ui set to "tui")
2. Type /chat new in the chat input
3. Observe the error: Failed to start session: Session not found: new

Also tested:

• Different working directories — same error
• Separate fresh session — same error

Expected Behavior

/chat new should start a fresh conversation session within the current CLI instance, as described in the 1.28.0 changelog.

Conversation ID

N/A — error occurs before a new session is created

Additional Context

• The classic (legacy) UI also does not recognize /chat new
• kiro-cli chat --help does not list new as a subcommand or option
• The slash commands documentation does not appear to document /chat new yet

[github-actions]

Thanks for the detailed bug report and for cross-referencing the changelog! 🙏 It's really helpful that you've documented the /chat new subcommand being interpreted as a session ID rather than triggering a fresh conversation — great detective work narrowing that down. A maintainer will take a look at this soon, and your thorough reproduction steps will make it much easier to track down the issue. We appreciate you helping make Kiro better! 💪

[camerondurham]

(note: I'm not an official maintainer)

Hey @BSwansonAW , sorry about this asymmetry. The /chat new has not yet landed in the --tui version.

Trying to merge the change into the CLI to have feature parity.

And thanks for the feedback on the docs though I believe they just recently were updated to include /chat new? https://kiro.dev/docs/cli/reference/slash-commands/#chat