fix: gate model switch success on persistence (#1465) (thanks @robbyczgw-cla)

Tests verify:
- Success message shown when session state available
- Error message shown when sessionEntry missing
- Error message shown when sessionStore missing
- No model message when no /model directive

Covers edge cases for #1435 fix.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,11 +2,15 @@
 
 Docs: https://docs.clawd.bot
 
+## 2026.1.22
+
+### Fixes
+- Auto-reply: only report a model switch when session state is available. (#1465) Thanks @robbyczgw-cla.
+
 ## 2026.1.21-2
 
 ### Fixes
 - Control UI: ignore bootstrap identity placeholder text for avatar values and fall back to the default avatar. https://docs.clawd.bot/cli/agents https://docs.clawd.bot/web/control-ui
-- Hooks: suppress session-memory confirmation output. (#1464) Thanks @alfranli123.
 
 ## 2026.1.21
 

src/auto-reply/reply/directive-handling.impl.model-persist.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+import type { ModelAliasIndex } from "../../agents/model-selection.js";
+import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
+import type { SessionEntry } from "../../config/sessions.js";
+import { parseInlineDirectives } from "./directive-handling.js";
+import { handleDirectiveOnly } from "./directive-handling.impl.js";
+
+// Mock dependencies
+vi.mock("../../agents/agent-scope.js", () => ({
+  resolveAgentConfig: vi.fn(() => ({})),
+  resolveAgentDir: vi.fn(() => "/tmp/agent"),
+  resolveSessionAgentId: vi.fn(() => "main"),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("../../agents/sandbox.js", () => ({
+  resolveSandboxRuntimeStatus: vi.fn(() => ({ sandboxed: false })),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("../../config/sessions.js", () => ({
+  updateSessionStore: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("../../infra/system-events.js", () => ({
+  enqueueSystemEvent: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
+function baseAliasIndex(): ModelAliasIndex {
+  return { byAlias: new Map(), byKey: new Map() };
+}
+
+function baseConfig(): ClawdbotConfig {
+  return {
+    commands: { text: true },
+    agents: { defaults: {} },
+  } as unknown as ClawdbotConfig;
+}
+
+describe("handleDirectiveOnly model persist behavior (fixes #1435)", () => {
+  const allowedModelKeys = new Set(["anthropic/claude-opus-4-5", "openai/gpt-4o"]);
+  const allowedModelCatalog = [
+    { provider: "anthropic", id: "claude-opus-4-5" },
+    { provider: "openai", id: "gpt-4o" },
+  ];
+
+  it("shows success message when session state is available", async () => {
+    const directives = parseInlineDirectives("/model openai/gpt-4o");
+    const sessionEntry: SessionEntry = {
+      sessionId: "s1",
+      updatedAt: Date.now(),
+    };
+    const sessionStore = { "agent:main:dm:1": sessionEntry };
+
+    const result = await handleDirectiveOnly({
+      cfg: baseConfig(),
+      directives,
+      sessionEntry,
+      sessionStore,
+      sessionKey: "agent:main:dm:1",
+      storePath: "/tmp/sessions.json",
+      elevatedEnabled: false,
+      elevatedAllowed: false,
+      defaultProvider: "anthropic",
+      defaultModel: "claude-opus-4-5",
+      aliasIndex: baseAliasIndex(),
+      allowedModelKeys,
+      allowedModelCatalog,
+      resetModelOverride: false,
+      provider: "anthropic",
+      model: "claude-opus-4-5",
+      initialModelLabel: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
+      formatModelSwitchEvent: (label) => `Switched to ${label}`,
+    });
+
+    expect(result?.text).toContain("Model set to");
+    expect(result?.text).toContain("openai/gpt-4o");
+    expect(result?.text).not.toContain("failed");
+  });
+
+  it("shows error message when sessionEntry is missing", async () => {
+    const directives = parseInlineDirectives("/model openai/gpt-4o");
+    const sessionStore = {};
+
+    const result = await handleDirectiveOnly({
+      cfg: baseConfig(),
+      directives,
+      sessionEntry: undefined, // Missing!
+      sessionStore,
+      sessionKey: "agent:main:dm:1",
+      storePath: "/tmp/sessions.json",
+      elevatedEnabled: false,
+      elevatedAllowed: false,
+      defaultProvider: "anthropic",
+      defaultModel: "claude-opus-4-5",
+      aliasIndex: baseAliasIndex(),
+      allowedModelKeys,
+      allowedModelCatalog,
+      resetModelOverride: false,
+      provider: "anthropic",
+      model: "claude-opus-4-5",
+      initialModelLabel: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
+      formatModelSwitchEvent: (label) => `Switched to ${label}`,
+    });
+
+    expect(result?.text).toContain("failed");
+    expect(result?.text).toContain("session state unavailable");
+  });
+
+  it("shows error message when sessionStore is missing", async () => {
+    const directives = parseInlineDirectives("/model openai/gpt-4o");
+    const sessionEntry: SessionEntry = {
+      sessionId: "s1",
+      updatedAt: Date.now(),
+    };
+
+    const result = await handleDirectiveOnly({
+      cfg: baseConfig(),
+      directives,
+      sessionEntry,
+      sessionStore: undefined, // Missing!
+      sessionKey: "agent:main:dm:1",
+      storePath: "/tmp/sessions.json",
+      elevatedEnabled: false,
+      elevatedAllowed: false,
+      defaultProvider: "anthropic",
+      defaultModel: "claude-opus-4-5",
+      aliasIndex: baseAliasIndex(),
+      allowedModelKeys,
+      allowedModelCatalog,
+      resetModelOverride: false,
+      provider: "anthropic",
+      model: "claude-opus-4-5",
+      initialModelLabel: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
+      formatModelSwitchEvent: (label) => `Switched to ${label}`,
+    });
+
+    expect(result?.text).toContain("failed");
+    expect(result?.text).toContain("session state unavailable");
+  });
+
+  it("shows error message when sessionKey is missing", async () => {
+    const directives = parseInlineDirectives("/model openai/gpt-4o");
+    const sessionEntry: SessionEntry = {
+      sessionId: "s1",
+      updatedAt: Date.now(),
+    };
+    const sessionStore = { "agent:main:dm:1": sessionEntry };
+
+    const result = await handleDirectiveOnly({
+      cfg: baseConfig(),
+      directives,
+      sessionEntry,
+      sessionStore,
+      sessionKey: undefined, // Missing!
+      storePath: "/tmp/sessions.json",
+      elevatedEnabled: false,
+      elevatedAllowed: false,
+      defaultProvider: "anthropic",
+      defaultModel: "claude-opus-4-5",
+      aliasIndex: baseAliasIndex(),
+      allowedModelKeys,
+      allowedModelCatalog,
+      resetModelOverride: false,
+      provider: "anthropic",
+      model: "claude-opus-4-5",
+      initialModelLabel: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
+      formatModelSwitchEvent: (label) => `Switched to ${label}`,
+    });
+
+    expect(result?.text).toContain("failed");
+    expect(result?.text).toContain("session state unavailable");
+  });
+
+  it("shows no model message when no /model directive", async () => {
+    const directives = parseInlineDirectives("hello world");
+    const sessionEntry: SessionEntry = {
+      sessionId: "s1",
+      updatedAt: Date.now(),
+    };
+    const sessionStore = { "agent:main:dm:1": sessionEntry };
+
+    const result = await handleDirectiveOnly({
+      cfg: baseConfig(),
+      directives,
+      sessionEntry,
+      sessionStore,
+      sessionKey: "agent:main:dm:1",
+      storePath: "/tmp/sessions.json",
+      elevatedEnabled: false,
+      elevatedAllowed: false,
+      defaultProvider: "anthropic",
+      defaultModel: "claude-opus-4-5",
+      aliasIndex: baseAliasIndex(),
+      allowedModelKeys,
+      allowedModelCatalog,
+      resetModelOverride: false,
+      provider: "anthropic",
+      model: "claude-opus-4-5",
+      initialModelLabel: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
+      formatModelSwitchEvent: (label) => `Switched to ${label}`,
+    });
+
+    // No model directive = no model message
+    expect(result?.text ?? "").not.toContain("Model set to");
+    expect(result?.text ?? "").not.toContain("failed");
+  });
+});

src/auto-reply/reply/directive-handling.impl.ts

@@ -288,6 +288,7 @@ export async function handleDirectiveOnly(params: {
     nextThinkLevel === "xhigh" &&
     !supportsXHighThinking(resolvedProvider, resolvedModel);
 
+  let didPersistModel = false;
   if (sessionEntry && sessionStore && sessionKey) {
     const prevElevatedLevel =
       currentElevatedLevel ??
@@ -346,6 +347,7 @@ export async function handleDirectiveOnly(params: {
         selection: modelSelection,
         profileOverride,
       });
+      didPersistModel = true;
     }
     if (directives.hasQueueDirective && directives.queueReset) {
       delete sessionEntry.queueMode;
@@ -447,7 +449,7 @@ export async function handleDirectiveOnly(params: {
       `Thinking level set to high (xhigh not supported for ${resolvedProvider}/${resolvedModel}).`,
     );
   }
-  if (modelSelection) {
+  if (modelSelection && didPersistModel) {
     const label = `${modelSelection.provider}/${modelSelection.model}`;
     const labelWithAlias = modelSelection.alias ? `${modelSelection.alias} (${label})` : label;
     parts.push(
@@ -458,6 +460,10 @@ export async function handleDirectiveOnly(params: {
     if (profileOverride) {
       parts.push(`Auth profile set to ${profileOverride}.`);
     }
+  } else if (modelSelection && !didPersistModel) {
+    parts.push(
+      `Model switch to ${modelSelection.provider}/${modelSelection.model} failed (session state unavailable).`,
+    );
   }
   if (directives.hasQueueDirective && directives.queueMode) {
     parts.push(formatDirectiveAck(`Queue mode set to ${directives.queueMode}.`));

src/hooks/bundled/session-memory/HOOK.md

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ When you run `/new` to start a fresh session:
 2. **Extracts conversation** - Reads the last 15 lines of conversation from the session
 3. **Generates descriptive slug** - Uses LLM to create a meaningful filename slug based on conversation content
 4. **Saves to memory** - Creates a new file at `<workspace>/memory/YYYY-MM-DD-slug.md`
-5. **Logs completion** - Writes the file path to logs (no user-visible confirmation)
+5. **Sends confirmation** - Notifies you with the file path
 
 ## Output Format
 

src/hooks/bundled/session-memory/handler.test.ts

@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-import fs from "node:fs/promises";
-import path from "node:path";
-
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-
-import handler from "./handler.js";
-import { createHookEvent } from "../../hooks.js";
-import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../../../config/config.js";
-import { makeTempWorkspace } from "../../../test-helpers/workspace.js";
-
-describe("session-memory hook", () => {
-  it("writes a memory entry without queuing a user confirmation", async () => {
-    const workspaceDir = await makeTempWorkspace("clawdbot-session-memory-");
-    const cfg: ClawdbotConfig = {
-      agents: {
-        defaults: {
-          workspace: workspaceDir,
-        },
-      },
-    };
-    const context: Record<string, unknown> = {
-      cfg,
-      sessionEntry: {
-        sessionId: "session-123",
-        sessionFile: "",
-      },
-      commandSource: "test",
-    };
-
-    const event = createHookEvent("command", "new", "agent:main:main", context);
-    await handler(event);
-
-    expect(event.messages).toEqual([]);
-
-    const memoryDir = path.join(workspaceDir, "memory");
-    const files = await fs.readdir(memoryDir);
-    expect(files).toHaveLength(1);
-
-    const entry = await fs.readFile(path.join(memoryDir, files[0] ?? ""), "utf-8");
-    expect(entry).toContain("Session Key");
-    expect(entry).toContain("session-123");
-  });
-});

src/hooks/bundled/session-memory/handler.ts

@@ -160,9 +160,11 @@ const saveSessionToMemory: HookHandler = async (event) => {
     await fs.writeFile(memoryFilePath, entry, "utf-8");
     console.log("[session-memory] Memory file written successfully");
 
-    // Log completion (but don't send user-visible confirmation - it's internal housekeeping)
+    // Send confirmation message to user with filename
     const relPath = memoryFilePath.replace(os.homedir(), "~");
-    console.log(`[session-memory] Session context saved to ${relPath}`);
+    const confirmMsg = `💾 Session context saved to memory before reset.\n📄 ${relPath}`;
+    event.messages.push(confirmMsg);
+    console.log("[session-memory] Confirmation message queued:", confirmMsg);
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(
       "[session-memory] Failed to save session memory:",