From 1c01bdb5e799dcf4acc616335c88b380776f1973 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jesse Merhi <79823012+jesse-merhi@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2026 02:27:29 +1000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: disambiguate inline skills from absolute paths

---
 docs/tools/slash-commands.md                         |  2 +-
 ...ply-inline-actions.skip-when-config-empty.test.ts |  4 ++--
 src/skills/discovery/chat-command-invocation.ts      |  4 ++--
 src/skills/discovery/chat-commands.test.ts           | 12 +++++++++---
 ui/src/pages/chat/chat-view.test.ts                  |  2 +-
 .../chat/components/chat-composer-slash-menu.ts      |  6 ++++--
 6 files changed, 19 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/tools/slash-commands.md b/docs/tools/slash-commands.md
index 4bafe7f0ba43..0254394aa01c 100644
--- a/docs/tools/slash-commands.md
+++ b/docs/tools/slash-commands.md
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ See [BTW side questions](/tools/btw) for the full behavior.
     - Command-only messages from allowlisted senders are handled immediately (bypass queue + model).
     - Inline shortcuts (`/help`, `/commands`, `/status`, `/whoami`) also work embedded in normal messages and are stripped before the model sees the remaining text.
     - In Control UI, selecting an inline shortcut runs it separately and removes only that token from the composer; the surrounding draft remains unsent.
-    - Skill commands can be embedded in normal messages (for example, `Please use /weather to check Sydney`). The skill marker selects the skill and the surrounding text becomes its input.
+    - Skill commands can be embedded in normal messages with a colon-terminated marker (for example, `Please use /weather: to check Sydney`). The skill marker selects the skill and the surrounding text becomes its input; bare root-style tokens such as `/weather` remain ordinary text unless selected in the Control UI.
     - Session-changing control commands such as `/reset` remain command-only. This prevents prose that merely mentions a command from executing it.
     - Unauthorized command-only messages are silently ignored; inline `/...` tokens are treated as plain text.
 
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply/get-reply-inline-actions.skip-when-config-empty.test.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply/get-reply-inline-actions.skip-when-config-empty.test.ts
index e1f652a60355..eabc1896b2e5 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply/get-reply-inline-actions.skip-when-config-empty.test.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply/get-reply-inline-actions.skip-when-config-empty.test.ts
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ describe("handleInlineActions", () => {
 
   it("rewrites a skill marker embedded in normal prose", async () => {
     const typing = createTypingController();
-    const body = "Please use /office_hours to build me a deployment plan";
+    const body = "Please use /office_hours: to build me a deployment plan";
     const ctx = buildTestCtx({ Body: body, CommandBody: body });
 
     const result = await handleInlineActions(
@@ -795,7 +795,7 @@ describe("handleInlineActions", () => {
 
   it("keeps unauthorized inline skill markers as plain text", async () => {
     const typing = createTypingController();
-    const body = "Please use /office_hours to build me a deployment plan";
+    const body = "Please use /office_hours: to build me a deployment plan";
     const ctx = buildTestCtx({ Body: body, CommandBody: body });
 
     const result = await handleInlineActions(
diff --git a/src/skills/discovery/chat-command-invocation.ts b/src/skills/discovery/chat-command-invocation.ts
index f18e9261f13e..6e9aa671daa0 100644
--- a/src/skills/discovery/chat-command-invocation.ts
+++ b/src/skills/discovery/chat-command-invocation.ts
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ function resolveInlineSkillCommandInvocation(params: {
   skillCommands: SkillCommandSpec[];
 }): { command: SkillCommandSpec; args?: string; inline: true } | null {
   const body = params.commandBodyNormalized;
-  const directPattern = /(?:^|\s)\/([^\s:]+)(?=$|\s|:)(?:\s*:\s*)?/giu;
+  const directPattern = /(?:^|\s)\/([^\s:]+)\s*:\s*/giu;
   for (const match of body.matchAll(directPattern)) {
     const rawName = match[1] ?? "";
     if (normalizeOptionalLowercaseString(rawName) === "skill") {
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ function resolveInlineSkillCommandInvocation(params: {
     return { command, args: args || undefined, inline: true };
   }
 
-  const skillPattern = /(?:^|\s)\/skill(?=$|\s|:)(?:\s*:\s*|\s+)([^\s:]+)/giu;
+  const skillPattern = /(?:^|\s)\/skill\s*:\s*([^\s:]+)/giu;
   for (const match of body.matchAll(skillPattern)) {
     const command = findSkillCommand(params.skillCommands, match[1] ?? "");
     if (!command || command.modelVisible === false || match.index === undefined) {
diff --git a/src/skills/discovery/chat-commands.test.ts b/src/skills/discovery/chat-commands.test.ts
index 5413a0a7efe6..d45cfc1a4fec 100644
--- a/src/skills/discovery/chat-commands.test.ts
+++ b/src/skills/discovery/chat-commands.test.ts
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ describe("resolveSkillCommandInvocation", () => {
 
   it("matches direct skill invocations embedded in a sentence", () => {
     const invocation = resolveSkillCommandInvocation({
-      commandBodyNormalized: "Please use /demo_skill to do the thing",
+      commandBodyNormalized: "Please use /demo_skill: to do the thing",
       skillCommands: [{ name: "demo_skill", skillName: "demo-skill", description: "Demo" }],
     });
     expect(invocation?.command.skillName).toBe("demo-skill");
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ describe("resolveSkillCommandInvocation", () => {
 
   it("matches /skill invocations embedded in a sentence", () => {
     const invocation = resolveSkillCommandInvocation({
-      commandBodyNormalized: "Please ask /skill demo_skill about this",
+      commandBodyNormalized: "Please ask /skill:demo_skill about this",
       skillCommands: [{ name: "demo_skill", skillName: "demo-skill", description: "Demo" }],
     });
     expect(invocation?.command.name).toBe("demo_skill");
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ describe("resolveSkillCommandInvocation", () => {
     expect(invocation?.inline).toBe(true);
   });
 
-  it.each(["Please use /hidden_skill for this", "Please use /skill hidden_skill for this"])(
+  it.each(["Please use /hidden_skill: for this", "Please use /skill:hidden_skill for this"])(
     "does not resolve model-hidden inline skill invocations in %j",
     (commandBodyNormalized) => {
       expect(
@@ -263,6 +263,12 @@ describe("resolveSkillCommandInvocation", () => {
         skillCommands,
       }),
     ).toBeNull();
+    expect(
+      resolveSkillCommandInvocation({
+        commandBodyNormalized: "Open /demo_skill please",
+        skillCommands,
+      }),
+    ).toBeNull();
   });
 
   it("normalizes /skill lookup names", () => {
diff --git a/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-view.test.ts b/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-view.test.ts
index 3a69676d3347..3768e4717adc 100644
--- a/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-view.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/pages/chat/chat-view.test.ts
@@ -3749,7 +3749,7 @@ describe("chat slash menu accessibility", () => {
     keydownComposer(container, "Enter");
 
     expect(onSlashCommand).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    expect(draft).toBe("Please use /weather ");
+    expect(draft).toBe("Please use /weather: ");
   });
 
   it("does not offer session-changing commands in the middle of prose", () => {
diff --git a/ui/src/pages/chat/components/chat-composer-slash-menu.ts b/ui/src/pages/chat/components/chat-composer-slash-menu.ts
index 8d04a245d35d..3f5b5776c332 100644
--- a/ui/src/pages/chat/components/chat-composer-slash-menu.ts
+++ b/ui/src/pages/chat/components/chat-composer-slash-menu.ts
@@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ export function selectSlashCommand(
   requestUpdate: () => void,
 ) {
   const state = getChatComposerState(props.paneId);
+  const inlineReplacement = cmd.source === "skill" ? `/${cmd.name}:` : `/${cmd.name}`;
   if (beginInlineSlashArguments(cmd, props, state, requestUpdate)) {
     return;
   }
@@ -314,7 +315,7 @@ export function selectSlashCommand(
     props.onSlashCommand(`/${cmd.name}`);
     return;
   }
-  if (commitInlineSlashSelection(`/${cmd.name}`, props, state)) {
+  if (commitInlineSlashSelection(inlineReplacement, props, state)) {
     state.slashMenuOpen = false;
     resetSlashMenuState(state);
     requestUpdate();
@@ -349,10 +350,11 @@ export function tabCompleteSlashCommand(
   requestUpdate: () => void,
 ) {
   const state = getChatComposerState(props.paneId);
+  const inlineReplacement = cmd.source === "skill" ? `/${cmd.name}:` : `/${cmd.name}`;
   if (beginInlineSlashArguments(cmd, props, state, requestUpdate)) {
     return;
   }
-  if (commitInlineSlashSelection(`/${cmd.name}`, props, state)) {
+  if (commitInlineSlashSelection(inlineReplacement, props, state)) {
     state.slashMenuOpen = false;
     resetSlashMenuState(state);
     requestUpdate();