From 937b8e2210ea848b8cd6575dbbc2c27f6a36fdfd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Thomas Petersen <thomasp@squareup.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:17:48 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix(desktop): keep sidebar replies at current layer

Stop sending sidebar replies through the agent reply-parent override path and keep same-branch replies visually flat so plain in-thread sends stay at the current drilled level.

Made-with: Cursor
---
 desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ChannelScreen.tsx | 2 --
 desktop/src/features/messages/lib/threadBranch.ts  | 7 ++++++-
 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ChannelScreen.tsx b/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ChannelScreen.tsx
index fc31dace7..8d313fa54 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ChannelScreen.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ChannelScreen.tsx
@@ -397,11 +397,9 @@ export function ChannelScreen({
       if (!parentEventId) {
         return;
       }
-      const agentReplyParentId = currentThreadHeadId ?? null;
       const branchHeadId = currentThreadHeadId ?? null;
 
       await sendMessageMutation.mutateAsync({
-        agentReplyParentId,
         branchHeadId,
         content,
         mentionPubkeys,
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/threadBranch.ts b/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/threadBranch.ts
index 68fbb3aee..8a98db53e 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/threadBranch.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/threadBranch.ts
@@ -74,7 +74,12 @@ export function collectThreadBranch(
     )
     .map((message) => ({
       ...message,
-      depth: Math.max(0, message.depth - depthOffset),
+      // Keep normal replies in the drilled branch visually flat.
+      // Only explicitly drilled nested branches get their own branchHeadId and collapse link.
+      depth:
+        message.branchHeadId === branchHeadId
+          ? 0
+          : Math.max(0, message.depth - depthOffset),
     }));
 
   return {