Classic-CLI /steer typed during an active agent run was queued through
self._pending_input alongside ordinary user input. process_loop, which
drains that queue, is blocked inside self.chat() for the entire run,
so the queued command was not pulled until AFTER _agent_running had
flipped back to False — at which point process_command() took the idle
fallback ("No agent running; queued as next turn") and delivered the
steer as an ordinary next-turn user message.
From Utku's bug report on PR #13205: mid-run /steer arrived minutes
later at the end of the turn as a /queue-style message, completely
defeating its purpose.
Fix: add _should_handle_steer_command_inline() gating — when
_agent_running is True and the user typed /steer, dispatch
process_command(text) directly from the prompt_toolkit Enter handler
on the UI thread instead of queueing. This mirrors the existing
_should_handle_model_command_inline() pattern for /model and is
safe because agent.steer() is thread-safe (uses _pending_steer_lock,
no prompt_toolkit state mutation, instant return).
No changes to the idle-path behavior: /steer typed with no active
agent still takes the normal queue-and-drain route so the fallback
"No agent running; queued as next turn" message is preserved.
Validation:
- 7 new unit tests in tests/cli/test_cli_steer_busy_path.py covering
the detector, dispatch path, and idle-path control behavior.
- All 21 existing tests in tests/run_agent/test_steer.py still pass.
- Live PTY end-to-end test with real agent + real openrouter model:
22:36:22 API call #1 (model requested execute_code)
22:36:26 ENTER FIRED: agent_running=True, text='/steer ...'
22:36:26 INLINE STEER DISPATCH fired
22:36:43 agent.log: 'Delivered /steer to agent after tool batch'
22:36:44 API call #2 included the steer; response contained marker
Same test on the tip of main without this fix shows the steer
landing as a new user turn ~20s after the run ended.
