diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-composer-submit.ts b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-composer-submit.ts
index fff0b8153fcd..9d34ddfca3f1 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-composer-submit.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-composer-submit.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { enqueueQueuedPrompt, type QueuedPromptEntry } from '@/store/composer-qu
 
 import { cloneAttachments, type QueueEditState } from '../composer-utils'
 import { onComposerSubmitRequest } from '../focus'
+import { pathifyRefs } from '../path-refs'
 import { composerPlainText } from '../rich-editor'
 import { useComposerScope } from '../scope'
 import type { ChatBarProps } from '../types'
@@ -139,7 +140,10 @@ export function useComposerSubmit({
       }
     }
 
-    const text = draftRef.current
+    // A path that never got its committing space (`@apps/desktop/` left by a Tab
+    // descend, then Enter) is still the reference the user picked — promote it
+    // on the way out so it attaches instead of submitting as inert text.
+    const text = pathifyRefs(draftRef.current)
     const payloadPresent = text.trim().length > 0 || attachments.length > 0
 
     // A clarify card parked on this session owns the turn: the agent is blocked
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/index.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/index.tsx
index 18aa1b97801a..356767d57e39 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/index.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/index.tsx
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import { useComposerUrlDialog } from './hooks/use-composer-url-dialog'
 import { useComposerVoice } from './hooks/use-composer-voice'
 import { useSlashCompletions } from './hooks/use-slash-completions'
 import { useSessionStatusPresence } from './hooks/use-status-presence'
+import { chipTypedPathOnSpace, pathifyRefs } from './path-refs'
 import { QueuePanel } from './queue-panel'
 import {
   composerPlainText,
@@ -449,9 +450,9 @@ export function ChatBar({
 
     // Links in the paste land as `@url:` chips rather than a wall of URL text —
     // the same reference the "Add URL" dialog inserts, parsed in place so a link
-    // mid-sentence keeps its position.
+    // mid-sentence keeps its position. Bare `@path` tokens promote the same way.
     recordUndoPoint()
-    insertComposerContentsAtCaret(event.currentTarget, linkifyUrls(pastedText))
+    insertComposerContentsAtCaret(event.currentTarget, pathifyRefs(linkifyUrls(pastedText)))
     scheduleFlushEditorToDraft(event.currentTarget)
   }
 
@@ -519,6 +520,16 @@ export function ChatBar({
       return
     }
 
+    // Same for a bare `@path` — a hand-typed or Tab-descended path chips into
+    // the `@file:`/`@folder:` ref it means, instead of submitting as plain text
+    // the backend never resolves.
+    if (withUndoPoint(() => chipTypedPathOnSpace(event))) {
+      event.preventDefault()
+      flushEditorToDraft(event.currentTarget)
+
+      return
+    }
+
     // Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+K drains the next queued message. Plain Cmd/Ctrl+K is
     // reserved for the global command palette.
     if ((event.metaKey || event.ctrlKey) && !event.altKey && event.shiftKey && event.key.toLowerCase() === 'k') {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/path-refs.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/path-refs.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..da7cf1dc6f15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/path-refs.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+import type { KeyboardEvent } from 'react'
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+import { chipTypedPathOnSpace, pathifyRefs } from './path-refs'
+import { composerPlainText, RICH_INPUT_SLOT } from './rich-editor'
+
+/**
+ * Tab-descending into a folder from the `@` popover leaves a bare
+ * `@apps/desktop/` in the editor. That is not a reference — the backend's
+ * REFERENCE_PATTERN only matches `@kind:value` — so it used to submit as plain
+ * text and silently attach nothing.
+ */
+
+/** An editor holding `text` with a collapsed caret at its end, plus the space
+ *  keydown the composer would hand `chipTypedPathOnSpace`. */
+const spaceOn = (text: string) => {
+  const editor = document.createElement('div')
+  editor.dataset.slot = RICH_INPUT_SLOT
+  editor.textContent = text
+  document.body.append(editor)
+
+  const selection = window.getSelection()!
+  const range = document.createRange()
+
+  range.setStart(editor.firstChild!, text.length)
+  range.collapse(true)
+  selection.removeAllRanges()
+  selection.addRange(range)
+
+  return { editor, event: { currentTarget: editor, key: ' ' } as KeyboardEvent<HTMLDivElement> }
+}
+
+describe('pathifyRefs', () => {
+  it('promotes a Tab-descended folder token', () => {
+    expect(pathifyRefs('look at @apps/desktop/')).toBe('look at @folder:`apps/desktop`')
+  })
+
+  it('promotes a typed file path', () => {
+    expect(pathifyRefs('read @src/main.ts please')).toBe('read @file:`src/main.ts` please')
+  })
+
+  it('promotes every bare path in one message', () => {
+    expect(pathifyRefs('@apps/desktop/ and @src/main.ts')).toBe('@folder:`apps/desktop` and @file:`src/main.ts`')
+  })
+
+  it('leaves an already-typed directive alone', () => {
+    const text = 'look at @folder:`apps/desktop` ok'
+
+    expect(pathifyRefs(text)).toBe(text)
+  })
+
+  it('leaves a handle alone', () => {
+    expect(pathifyRefs('cc @teknium1 on this')).toBe('cc @teknium1 on this')
+  })
+
+  it('leaves simple refs alone', () => {
+    expect(pathifyRefs('check @diff and @staged')).toBe('check @diff and @staged')
+  })
+
+  it('leaves an email alone', () => {
+    expect(pathifyRefs('mail me at brooklyn@nous.dev/x')).toBe('mail me at brooklyn@nous.dev/x')
+  })
+
+  it('is a no-op without an @', () => {
+    expect(pathifyRefs('nothing here')).toBe('nothing here')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('chipTypedPathOnSpace', () => {
+  it('chips a Tab-descended folder token into a real @folder: chip', () => {
+    const { editor, event } = spaceOn('look at @apps/desktop/')
+
+    expect(chipTypedPathOnSpace(event)).toBe(true)
+
+    const chip = editor.querySelector('[data-ref-text]')
+
+    expect(chip?.getAttribute('data-ref-kind')).toBe('folder')
+    expect(chip?.getAttribute('data-ref-id')).toBe('apps/desktop')
+    expect(chip?.textContent).toContain('desktop')
+    expect(composerPlainText(editor)).toBe('look at @folder:`apps/desktop` ')
+  })
+
+  it('chips a typed file path', () => {
+    const { editor, event } = spaceOn('read @src/main.ts')
+
+    expect(chipTypedPathOnSpace(event)).toBe(true)
+    expect(editor.querySelector('[data-ref-kind="file"]')).not.toBeNull()
+    expect(composerPlainText(editor)).toBe('read @file:`src/main.ts` ')
+  })
+
+  it('leaves a handle alone', () => {
+    const { editor, event } = spaceOn('cc @teknium1')
+
+    expect(chipTypedPathOnSpace(event)).toBe(false)
+    expect(editor.querySelector('[data-ref-text]')).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  it('leaves an already-typed ref alone', () => {
+    const { event } = spaceOn('look at @folder:`apps/desktop`')
+
+    expect(chipTypedPathOnSpace(event)).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/path-refs.ts b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/path-refs.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c326727afa21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/path-refs.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/**
+ * Bare-path recognition for the composer. Walking into a folder from the `@`
+ * popover (Tab) re-types the token as a bare `@apps/desktop/` so the next
+ * `complete.path` lists that folder's children. That's right while typing, but
+ * a bare token is not a reference: `REFERENCE_PATTERN` only matches
+ * `@kind:value`, so a draft sent with one attaches nothing and renders as
+ * plain text instead of a chip.
+ *
+ * So the bare token is promoted to its typed form on the way out — the same
+ * shape `url-refs.ts` uses for bare links.
+ */
+import type { KeyboardEvent } from 'react'
+
+import { quoteRefValue, REF_RE, refChipElement, replaceBeforeCaret } from './rich-editor'
+import { textBeforeCaret } from './text-utils'
+
+// A `/` is required, exactly like URL_RE requires an explicit scheme: `@teknium1`
+// and `@diff` are a handle and a simple ref, not paths, and guessing wrong turns
+// someone's name into a file reference. A separator is the cheap signal that the
+// user meant a path. The token also can't start with a `:` kind prefix — that is
+// already a typed ref and REF_RE owns it.
+const BARE_PATH_RE = /(?<![\w@/])@((?!(?:file|folder|url|image|tool|line|terminal|session|git):)[^\s@:]*\/[^\s@:]*)/g
+const TYPED_BARE_PATH_RE = new RegExp(`${BARE_PATH_RE.source}$`)
+
+/** Trailing `/` means a directory — that's how the gateway's completion emits
+ *  folders, and what Tab-descending leaves behind. */
+export function barePathRef(path: string) {
+  const trimmed = path.replace(/\/+$/, '')
+
+  return trimmed ? `@${path.endsWith('/') ? 'folder' : 'file'}:${quoteRefValue(trimmed)}` : null
+}
+
+/** Rewrite bare `@path` tokens as typed `@file:`/`@folder:` directives, leaving
+ *  anything already inside a directive alone. Returns `text` unchanged when
+ *  there are none. */
+export function pathifyRefs(text: string) {
+  if (!text.includes('@')) {
+    return text
+  }
+
+  REF_RE.lastIndex = 0
+
+  const fenced = Array.from(text.matchAll(REF_RE)).map(match => {
+    const start = match.index ?? 0
+
+    return { end: start + match[0].length, start }
+  })
+
+  let out = ''
+  let cursor = 0
+
+  for (const match of text.matchAll(BARE_PATH_RE)) {
+    const start = match.index ?? 0
+    const ref = barePathRef(match[1] || '')
+
+    if (!ref || fenced.some(span => start >= span.start && start < span.end)) {
+      continue
+    }
+
+    out += `${text.slice(cursor, start)}${ref}`
+    cursor = start + match[0].length
+  }
+
+  return out + text.slice(cursor)
+}
+
+/** A plain space finishing a typed `@path` commits it as a chip, so a hand-typed
+ *  path chips the same way a picked one does. Returns whether it ran, so a
+ *  keydown handler can fall through on anything else. */
+export function chipTypedPathOnSpace(event: KeyboardEvent<HTMLDivElement>) {
+  if (event.key !== ' ' || event.metaKey || event.ctrlKey || event.altKey) {
+    return false
+  }
+
+  const editor = event.currentTarget
+
+  // Runs on every space, so bail on the cheap native read before paying for the
+  // caret range walk (same guard shape as the trigger detector).
+  if (!editor.textContent?.includes('@')) {
+    return false
+  }
+
+  const before = textBeforeCaret(editor)
+  const match = before ? TYPED_BARE_PATH_RE.exec(before) : null
+  const token = match?.[0]
+  const ref = match?.[1] ? barePathRef(match[1]) : null
+
+  if (!token || !ref) {
+    return false
+  }
+
+  const directive = ref.match(/^@([^:]+):(.+)$/)
+
+  if (!directive) {
+    return false
+  }
+
+  const fragment = document.createDocumentFragment()
+
+  fragment.append(refChipElement(directive[1], directive[2]), document.createTextNode(' '))
+
+  return replaceBeforeCaret(editor, token.length, fragment)
+}
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/thread/user-edit-composer.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/thread/user-edit-composer.tsx
index 12ff50eb2227..52411d6bd3e9 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/thread/user-edit-composer.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/thread/user-edit-composer.tsx
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import {
   type InlineRefInput,
   insertInlineRefsIntoEditor
 } from '@/app/chat/composer/inline-refs'
+import { chipTypedPathOnSpace, pathifyRefs } from '@/app/chat/composer/path-refs'
 import {
   composerPlainText,
   insertComposerContentsAtCaret,
@@ -543,7 +544,7 @@ export const UserEditComposer: FC<UserEditComposerProps> = ({ cwd, gateway, sess
     recordUndoPoint()
 
     // Links land as `@url:` chips, same as the main composer.
-    insertComposerContentsAtCaret(event.currentTarget, linkifyUrls(pastedText))
+    insertComposerContentsAtCaret(event.currentTarget, pathifyRefs(linkifyUrls(pastedText)))
     syncDraftFromEditor(event.currentTarget)
   }
 
@@ -685,6 +686,15 @@ export const UserEditComposer: FC<UserEditComposerProps> = ({ cwd, gateway, sess
       return
     }
 
+    // Same for a bare `@path`.
+    if (withUndoPoint(() => chipTypedPathOnSpace(event))) {
+      event.preventDefault()
+      rememberInitialDraft()
+      syncDraftFromEditor(event.currentTarget)
+
+      return
+    }
+
     if (event.key === 'Enter' && !event.shiftKey) {
       event.preventDefault()
       submitEdit(event.currentTarget)