5. Leave and switch safely

Leaving is a view change

In ordinary focused chat, Escape does not cancel the tan.

• Nonempty text draft: Escape clears the text and leaves you focused on the tan.
• Empty text draft: Escape returns you to Main.

This is not a universal “press Escape twice” macro. If you started with an empty draft, one Escape already returned you. Another press can affect Main.

Worked scenario: leave with an unfinished draft

You are focused on the label-audit tan and have typed—but not submitted:

Please also rewrite the visitor FAQ.

You decide not to send it.

1. Press Escape once.
2. Confirm the text is gone and you are still viewing the tan.
3. Inspect any attachment state.
4. With an empty draft, press Escape again.
5. Confirm Returned to main session or the corresponding return notice.

Expected outcome: no FAQ request was submitted. Leaving did not cancel the running audit.

If you want to preserve the draft instead, copy its text before clearing it. Do not assume separate per-agent draft buffers.

Worked scenario: switch between Main and two tans

• Main → tan: open Hub, select exact ID, Enter.
• Tan → Main: ordinary empty-draft Escape, or empty-editor double-left.
• Tan A → Tan B: open Hub, select Tan B’s exact ID, Enter.
• Hub → prior chat: close the Hub. Closing the overlay does not by itself mean “return to Main.”

Recheck the focus notice after every transition.

Automatic returns need the same target check

The focus controller returns to Main when the focused agent is:

• Parked.
• Marked aborted.
• Removed from the registry.

The initial /tan run normally parks at completion, so completion normally causes this automatic return.

A later revived tan can finish a prompt and become idle without immediately returning you to Main. An idle transition alone is not the auto-unfocus trigger.

Draft safety rule: a draft intended for the tan is not permanently addressed to it. If the tan parks while you type and the view returns to Main, the next submission is now a Main submission.

Do not replay an already-submitted message merely because the screen returned to Main afterward. First check whether that submission reached the tan.

Escape has higher-priority owners

The ordinary focused-chat rule is conditional.

The input controller handles certain owners before the focused Escape branch, including:

• Active MCP-test cancellation handlers.
• Side panels such as /btw, /omfg, and /cleanse.
• Speech playback.
• Global loop mode.

Loop mode is particularly important: if enabled, Escape can act on Main’s streaming loop iteration even while a tan is focused. If Main is idle, it can pause the loop and cancel its pending submission instead. It may not unfocus the tan.

Resolve the topmost surface or mode, then inspect where you are. Do not keep pressing Escape until something disappears.

Do not use whole-application controls to leave one tan

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+D, closing the terminal, and process suspension are not Tan-navigation controls.

In this input controller, a first Ctrl+C clears the editor; a rapid second press requests application shutdown. Ctrl+D exits. Shutdown can cancel owned background work.

Returning to Main is also different from creating, clearing, deleting, or switching Main’s logical session. Session-boundary operations can affect jobs, delivery, and retained files. Use focus controls when you only want to change the view.