fix(vscode): keep file mentions fresh

[marius-kilocode]

Opening an @ file mention in the VS Code sidebar performs a backend search and renders the full suggestion update before the user can efficiently browse the results. The previous flow also issued duplicate updates for the same request and rebuilt more webview state than necessary, making the interaction heavier than it needs to be.

This change makes the zero-query file list available immediately from a short-lived webview snapshot while still refreshing it from the backend. It removes the redundant extension-side prewarm cache and duplicate response path, limits retained directory state, ignores superseded responses, and preserves the highlighted item when fresh results arrive. The result is a lighter file-mention interaction without sacrificing current search results or cross-worktree isolation.

Performance

Comparison of the same @file-search interaction in isolated VS Code, with one controlled profile per side:

Metric	Before	After	Difference
Result latency	1022.0 ms	1009.2 ms	-12.8 ms (-1.3%)
Script time	68.24 ms	55.48 ms	-12.76 ms (-18.7%)
Layout time	11.40 ms	5.96 ms	-5.44 ms (-47.7%)
Paint time	3.37 ms	3.05 ms	-0.32 ms (-9.5%)
Longest task	69.62 ms	59.43 ms	-10.19 ms (-14.6%)
Created nodes	2585	581	-2004 (-77.5%)
Layout objects	3717	1696	-2021 (-54.4%)
Event listeners	324	77	-247 (-76.2%)

The comparison used separate disposable worktrees with the same prompt, selector, wait condition, isolated VS Code executable, and profiling harness. End-to-end latency is network and backend dominated, so the renderer metrics show the clearer improvement.

The implementation also covers the associated lifecycle cases: empty refreshes remove deleted files, session and worktree results remain isolated, superseded responses are ignored, and remembered session-directory mappings are bounded.

[kilo-code-bot]

Code Review Summary

Status: No Issues Found | Recommendation: Merge

Files Reviewed (2 files)

• packages/kilo-vscode/tests/unit/use-file-mention.test.ts
• packages/kilo-vscode/webview-ui/src/hooks/useFileMention.ts

Previous Review Summary (commit c4dcb3d)

Current summary above is authoritative. Previous snapshots are kept for context only.

Previous review (commit c4dcb3d)

Status: 1 Issue Found | Recommendation: Address before merge

Overview

Severity	Count
CRITICAL	0
WARNING	0
SUGGESTION	1

Issue Details (click to expand)

SUGGESTION

File	Line	Issue
packages/kilo-vscode/webview-ui/src/hooks/useFileMention.ts	137	dirs map grows unbounded (one entry per session ID, never pruned) while cache is capped at 8 — minor memory accumulation in long-lived webviews

The revision/scope/request handling in useFileMention.ts is solid: stale responses are discarded by id + revision, scope switches clear pending state, empty-query responses replace the snapshot even when empty, and selection is preserved by identity across refreshes. The extension-side handler now posts exactly one fresh response per request. Tests exercise the real implementation and cover the regression scenarios from the PR description. The single finding is a minor consistency concern, not a blocker.

Fix these issues in Kilo Cloud

Files Reviewed (5 files)

• .changeset/fresh-file-mentions.md
• packages/kilo-vscode/src/kilo-provider/file-search.ts
• packages/kilo-vscode/tests/unit/file-search.test.ts
• packages/kilo-vscode/tests/unit/use-file-mention.test.ts
• packages/kilo-vscode/webview-ui/src/hooks/useFileMention.ts - 1 issue

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_{Reviewed by kimi-k3 · Input: 45.2K · Output: 3.9K · Cached: 270.3K}

_{Review guidance: REVIEW.md from base branch main}