fix: resolve chat message edit/delete duplication issues #7793

daniel-lxs · 2025-09-08T20:13:00Z

Summary

This PR fixes critical issues with chat message edit and delete operations that were causing duplication and errors.

Problems Fixed

1. Message Editing Bug

Issue: When editing a chat message, the exported chat history contained duplicated entries. The edited message appeared twice instead of replacing the original.
Root Cause: When apiConversationHistoryIndex was -1 (message not found in API history), the code wasn't properly truncating the API conversation history.

2. Message Deletion Bug

Issue: Users encountered "Couldn't find timestamp" errors and messages weren't being deleted properly.
Root Cause: Similar to edit issue - incorrect handling when apiConversationHistoryIndex was -1, plus missing UI refresh after deletion.

Solution Implemented

Timestamp-Based Fallback Logic

Added fallback logic to both edit and delete operations when the exact API history index cannot be found:

When the API history index is -1, the code now searches for the first API message with timestamp >= target message timestamp
This ensures proper truncation of subsequent messages even when the exact message isn't in API history

UI State Refresh

Added explicit UI state refresh after message deletion to ensure the interface reflects the changes.

Changes Made

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts: Added timestamp-based fallback and UI refresh
src/core/webview/ClineProvider.ts: Added timestamp-based fallback for checkpoint-driven edits
src/core/webview/tests/webviewMessageHandler.edit.spec.ts: Comprehensive edit test coverage
src/test/webviewMessageHandler.delete.spec.ts: Comprehensive delete test coverage

Testing

All tests passing:

✅ Normal message deletion with valid indices
✅ Timestamp-based fallback when API index is -1
✅ Handling of messages not found in API history
✅ Complete message history clearing
✅ UI state updates after deletion
✅ Message editing with and without API history

Impact

This fix ensures:

Chat message edits correctly replace the original message without duplication
Message deletion works reliably without errors
The UI properly reflects changes after deletion
Better error handling through the fallback mechanism

Important

Fixes chat message edit/delete duplication issues by implementing timestamp-based fallback logic and enhancing UI updates.

Behavior:
- Fixes duplication in chat message edits by replacing original messages instead of duplicating them.
- Resolves message deletion errors by ensuring proper handling when apiConversationHistoryIndex is -1.
- Adds UI refresh after message deletion to reflect changes.
Implementation:
- Adds timestamp-based fallback logic in webviewMessageHandler.ts and ClineProvider.ts for edit/delete operations.
- Updates webviewMessageHandler.ts to handle cases where messages are not found in API history.
Testing:
- Adds comprehensive test coverage for edit and delete operations in webviewMessageHandler.edit.spec.ts and webviewMessageHandler.delete.spec.ts.
Localization:
- Updates error messages in multiple language files to improve clarity and consistency.

^{This description was created by}^{for 890ed27. You can customize this summary. It will automatically update as commits are pushed.}

- Implement timestamp-based fallback for API history truncation - Fix message duplication when editing chat messages - Fix 'Couldn't find timestamp' error when deleting messages - Add UI state refresh after message deletion - Add comprehensive test coverage for delete functionality - Add detailed logging for debugging message operations Fixes issues where edited messages appeared twice in exported history and deletion operations failed with timestamp errors.

- Remove all console.log statements added for debugging - Remove CHAT_MESSAGE_FIX_SUMMARY.md working document - Keep core fix logic for timestamp-based fallback - Keep UI update after deletion - Keep comprehensive test coverage All tests passing after cleanup

ellipsis-dev · 2025-09-08T20:16:16Z

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

 			// Edit this message and delete subsequent
-			await removeMessagesThisAndSubsequent(currentCline, messageIndex, apiConversationHistoryIndex)
+			// If apiConversationHistoryIndex is -1, use timestamp-based fallback
+			let effectiveApiIndex = apiConversationHistoryIndex


The fallback logic in handleEditMessageConfirm (lines 347-357) duplicates similar logic in removeMessagesThisAndSubsequent; consider refactoring to avoid duplication.

roomote

Thank you for your contribution! I've reviewed the changes and found that this is a solid fix for the chat message edit/delete duplication issues. The timestamp-based fallback logic is a clever solution for handling missing API history entries. The code is well-tested and focused on the specific problem. I have some suggestions for improvement below.

roomote · 2025-09-08T20:17:41Z

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts


-		if (apiConversationHistoryIndex !== -1) {
+		// If apiConversationHistoryIndex is -1, use timestamp-based fallback
+		let effectiveApiIndex = apiConversationHistoryIndex


I notice the timestamp-based fallback logic is duplicated here and at lines 347-358 (edit operation) and in ClineProvider.ts:920-931. Could we extract this into a shared utility function to improve maintainability?

roomote · 2025-09-08T20:17:41Z

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

+			}
+		}
+
+		if (effectiveApiIndex !== -1) {


When no API messages match the timestamp criteria (fallbackIndex remains -1), we don't call overwriteApiConversationHistory. Is this intentional? It might be worth adding a comment explaining why we skip the API history update in this case for future maintainers.

roomote · 2025-09-08T20:17:41Z

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

 				})
+
+				// Update the UI to reflect the deletion
+				await provider.postStateToWebview()


Good addition of UI state refresh after deletion! Should we also add await provider.postStateToWebview() after successful edit operations (around line 383) for consistency?

roomote · 2025-09-08T20:17:41Z

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

-			if (message.messageTs) {
-				await handleDeleteMessageConfirm(message.messageTs, message.restoreCheckpoint)
+			if (!message.messageTs) {
+				await vscode.window.showErrorMessage("Cannot delete message: missing timestamp")


Could we make this error message more descriptive? For example: 'Cannot delete message with timestamp ${message.messageTs}: timestamp is missing'

And translate pls

roomote · 2025-09-08T20:17:41Z

src/core/webview/__tests__/webviewMessageHandler.edit.spec.ts

+		expect(mockCurrentTask.overwriteClineMessages).toHaveBeenCalledWith([])
+
+		// API history should not be truncated when fallback finds no matching messages
+		// The effectiveApiIndex remains -1


Excellent test coverage! Consider adding a test case for when the timestamp fallback logic fails to find any matching messages in the API history (when all API messages have timestamps < target timestamp). This would ensure the edge case is properly handled.

- Truncate from preceding user_feedback message - Remove timestamp fallback logic - Update tests to match new behavior

The tests were expecting handleWebviewAskResponse to be called, but PR #7793 changed the implementation to use submitUserMessage instead to fix chat message edit/delete duplication issues. This commit updates the tests to match the new implementation.

mrubens · 2025-09-09T15:22:10Z

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

-				console.log("[webviewMessageHandler] Message not found! Looking for ts:", messageTs)
-			}
+		if (!currentCline) {
+			await vscode.window.showErrorMessage("No active task to delete messages from")


Mind translating this?

mrubens · 2025-09-09T15:22:57Z

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

 			}
+
+			if (typeof message.messageTs !== "number") {
+				await vscode.window.showErrorMessage("Cannot delete message: invalid timestamp")


- Added translation keys for all error messages in message edit/delete operations - Updated webviewMessageHandler.ts to use t() function for all error messages - Added translations to all 17 supported languages for the new keys: - message.no_active_task_to_delete - message.invalid_timestamp_for_deletion - message.cannot_delete_missing_timestamp - message.cannot_delete_invalid_timestamp - message.message_not_found - message.error_deleting_message - message.error_editing_message This addresses review feedback from mrubens about hardcoded English strings.

The test was expecting the actual translated message but since t() is mocked to return the key, it should expect the translation key instead.

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daniel-lxs added 2 commits September 8, 2025 13:11

daniel-lxs requested review from cte, jr and mrubens as code owners September 8, 2025 20:13

github-project-automation bot added this to Roo Code Roadmap and Roo Code Roadmap Sep 8, 2025

github-project-automation bot moved this to New in Roo Code Roadmap Sep 8, 2025

github-project-automation bot moved this to Triage in Roo Code Roadmap Sep 8, 2025

daniel-lxs moved this from Triage to PR [Needs Prelim Review] in Roo Code Roadmap Sep 8, 2025

dosubot bot added size:XL This PR changes 500-999 lines, ignoring generated files. bug Something isn't working labels Sep 8, 2025

ellipsis-dev bot reviewed Sep 8, 2025

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roomote bot reviewed Sep 8, 2025

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hannesrudolph added the PR - Needs Preliminary Review label Sep 8, 2025

daniel-lxs added 2 commits September 8, 2025 18:25

fix(webview): edited messages replace original and send immediately

d909a50

- Truncate from preceding user_feedback message - Remove timestamp fallback logic - Update tests to match new behavior

fix: prevent edited messages from being linked to pending tool calls

b40a5e8

daniel-lxs moved this from PR [Needs Prelim Review] to PR [Needs Review] in Roo Code Roadmap Sep 9, 2025

hannesrudolph added PR - Needs Review and removed PR - Needs Preliminary Review labels Sep 9, 2025

mrubens reviewed Sep 9, 2025

View reviewed changes

daniel-lxs added 3 commits September 9, 2025 10:34

fix: update test to expect translation key instead of translated string

adc35f5

The test was expecting the actual translated message but since t() is mocked to return the key, it should expect the translation key instead.

test: update tests to expect translation keys instead of hardcoded er…

890ed27

…ror messages

mrubens approved these changes Sep 9, 2025

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dosubot bot added the lgtm This PR has been approved by a maintainer label Sep 9, 2025

mrubens merged commit 88b5d66 into main Sep 9, 2025
9 checks passed

mrubens deleted the fix/chat-message-edit-delete-duplication branch September 9, 2025 16:26

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fix: resolve chat message edit/delete duplication issues #7793

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daniel-lxs commented Sep 8, 2025 •

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Summary

Problems Fixed

1. Message Editing Bug

2. Message Deletion Bug

Solution Implemented

Timestamp-Based Fallback Logic

UI State Refresh

Changes Made

Testing

Impact

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daniel-lxs commented Sep 8, 2025 •

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