From 82419eaad60d4618fa2e8d644a968a54468f9aa6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tak Hoffman <781889+Takhoffman@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2026 12:37:22 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] Web UI: show Compaction divider in chat history (#11341)

---
 src/gateway/session-utils.fs.test.ts | 48 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/gateway/session-utils.fs.ts      | 17 ++++++++++
 ui/src/styles/chat/grouped.css       | 27 ++++++++++++++++
 ui/src/ui/types/chat-types.ts        |  1 +
 ui/src/ui/views/chat.ts              | 24 ++++++++++++++
 5 files changed, 117 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.test.ts b/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.test.ts
index 3d04223d4a..6d4a628c40 100644
--- a/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.test.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, test } from "vitest";
 import {
   readFirstUserMessageFromTranscript,
   readLastMessagePreviewFromTranscript,
+  readSessionMessages,
   readSessionPreviewItemsFromTranscript,
 } from "./session-utils.fs.js";
 
@@ -343,6 +344,53 @@ describe("readLastMessagePreviewFromTranscript", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("readSessionMessages", () => {
+  let tmpDir: string;
+  let storePath: string;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    tmpDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-session-fs-test-"));
+    storePath = path.join(tmpDir, "sessions.json");
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    fs.rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  test("includes synthetic compaction markers for compaction entries", () => {
+    const sessionId = "test-session-compaction";
+    const transcriptPath = path.join(tmpDir, `${sessionId}.jsonl`);
+    const lines = [
+      JSON.stringify({ type: "session", version: 1, id: sessionId }),
+      JSON.stringify({ message: { role: "user", content: "Hello" } }),
+      JSON.stringify({
+        type: "compaction",
+        id: "comp-1",
+        timestamp: "2026-02-07T00:00:00.000Z",
+        summary: "Compacted history",
+        firstKeptEntryId: "x",
+        tokensBefore: 123,
+      }),
+      JSON.stringify({ message: { role: "assistant", content: "World" } }),
+    ];
+    fs.writeFileSync(transcriptPath, lines.join("\n"), "utf-8");
+
+    const out = readSessionMessages(sessionId, storePath);
+    expect(out).toHaveLength(3);
+    const marker = out[1] as {
+      role: string;
+      content?: Array<{ text?: string }>;
+      __openclaw?: { kind?: string; id?: string };
+      timestamp?: number;
+    };
+    expect(marker.role).toBe("system");
+    expect(marker.content?.[0]?.text).toBe("Compaction");
+    expect(marker.__openclaw?.kind).toBe("compaction");
+    expect(marker.__openclaw?.id).toBe("comp-1");
+    expect(typeof marker.timestamp).toBe("number");
+  });
+});
+
 describe("readSessionPreviewItemsFromTranscript", () => {
   let tmpDir: string;
   let storePath: string;
diff --git a/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.ts b/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.ts
index 421bae3f0d..70a5b7adfe 100644
--- a/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,23 @@ export function readSessionMessages(
       const parsed = JSON.parse(line);
       if (parsed?.message) {
         messages.push(parsed.message);
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      // Compaction entries are not "message" records, but they're useful context for debugging.
+      // Emit a lightweight synthetic message that the Web UI can render as a divider.
+      if (parsed?.type === "compaction") {
+        const ts = typeof parsed.timestamp === "string" ? Date.parse(parsed.timestamp) : Number.NaN;
+        const timestamp = Number.isFinite(ts) ? ts : Date.now();
+        messages.push({
+          role: "system",
+          content: [{ type: "text", text: "Compaction" }],
+          timestamp,
+          __openclaw: {
+            kind: "compaction",
+            id: typeof parsed.id === "string" ? parsed.id : undefined,
+          },
+        });
       }
     } catch {
       // ignore bad lines
diff --git a/ui/src/styles/chat/grouped.css b/ui/src/styles/chat/grouped.css
index e91989dfc1..c43743267a 100644
--- a/ui/src/styles/chat/grouped.css
+++ b/ui/src/styles/chat/grouped.css
@@ -54,6 +54,33 @@
   opacity: 0.7;
 }
 
+/* Chat divider (e.g., compaction marker) */
+.chat-divider {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 10px;
+  margin: 18px 8px;
+  color: var(--muted);
+  font-size: 11px;
+  letter-spacing: 0.08em;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+  user-select: none;
+}
+
+.chat-divider__line {
+  flex: 1 1 0;
+  height: 1px;
+  background: var(--border);
+  opacity: 0.9;
+}
+
+.chat-divider__label {
+  padding: 2px 10px;
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: 999px;
+  background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.02);
+}
+
 /* Avatar Styles */
 .chat-avatar {
   width: 40px;
diff --git a/ui/src/ui/types/chat-types.ts b/ui/src/ui/types/chat-types.ts
index 0638f494d4..aba1b17301 100644
--- a/ui/src/ui/types/chat-types.ts
+++ b/ui/src/ui/types/chat-types.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 /** Union type for items in the chat thread */
 export type ChatItem =
   | { kind: "message"; key: string; message: unknown }
+  | { kind: "divider"; key: string; label: string; timestamp: number }
   | { kind: "stream"; key: string; text: string; startedAt: number }
   | { kind: "reading-indicator"; key: string };
 
diff --git a/ui/src/ui/views/chat.ts b/ui/src/ui/views/chat.ts
index 8c36b59114..70ceeb9131 100644
--- a/ui/src/ui/views/chat.ts
+++ b/ui/src/ui/views/chat.ts
@@ -224,6 +224,16 @@ export function renderChat(props: ChatProps) {
         buildChatItems(props),
         (item) => item.key,
         (item) => {
+          if (item.kind === "divider") {
+            return html`
+              <div class="chat-divider" role="separator" data-ts=${String(item.timestamp)}>
+                <span class="chat-divider__line"></span>
+                <span class="chat-divider__label">${item.label}</span>
+                <span class="chat-divider__line"></span>
+              </div>
+            `;
+          }
+
           if (item.kind === "reading-indicator") {
             return renderReadingIndicatorGroup(assistantIdentity);
           }
@@ -477,6 +487,20 @@ function buildChatItems(props: ChatProps): Array<ChatItem | MessageGroup> {
   for (let i = historyStart; i < history.length; i++) {
     const msg = history[i];
     const normalized = normalizeMessage(msg);
+    const raw = msg as Record<string, unknown>;
+    const marker = raw.__openclaw as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+    if (marker && marker.kind === "compaction") {
+      items.push({
+        kind: "divider",
+        key:
+          typeof marker.id === "string"
+            ? `divider:compaction:${marker.id}`
+            : `divider:compaction:${normalized.timestamp}:${i}`,
+        label: "Compaction",
+        timestamp: normalized.timestamp ?? Date.now(),
+      });
+      continue;
+    }
 
     if (!props.showThinking && normalized.role.toLowerCase() === "toolresult") {
       continue;