Own the conversation lifecycle

A view borrows state; an application owns work. This distinction keeps hidden panels, multiple observers, and late responses from accidentally creating or destroying conversations.

These contracts describe experimental, private React source-build APIs.

Choose the owner boundary

An application owner can live for a page, a selected conversation, or a longer workspace. It holds the session, message-content projection, subscriptions, and pending operations appropriate to that boundary.

useAgent only manages its own subscription. Mounting, StrictMode observation, changing the observed object, and unmounting do not submit, stop, or dispose a session.

The streaming example makes ownership explicit: application.ts owns session and content; app.tsx registers cleanup for that application; main.tsx owns the React root and runtime bridge.

Retire work before replacing it

On disposal, invalidate pending operations so obsolete callbacks cannot publish. Release session subscriptions, dispose content, clear application listeners, and await session disposal where the application requires it.

Use an operation identity or cancellation boundary for asynchronous creation and submission. An old promise settling must not overwrite a newer conversation. Cancellation alone is not confirmation that remote work never began.

The streaming owner makes disposal idempotent and refuses publication after retirement. Its New action disposes the previous owner before installing another one.

Keep presentation separate

Closing ChatPopup or ChatSidebar retains mounted children. It is not cleanup. A draft, transcript, and active response can remain alive while hidden.

If Chat receives app-owned content, it does not dispose it. Custom message views also borrow their Markdown and reasoning snapshots. Retire these owners when their conversation lifetime ends, not whenever a row renders.

Treat Stop, New, view hiding, and application disposal as distinct user or owner actions. Error handling explains why uncertain work must not turn into an implicit retry.