What task are you trying to do?

Users should be able to type a file reference like @src/app.ts in the prompt composer and have PawWork turn it into a real file chip when the reference clearly identifies one file. This keeps prompt writing fast while making the file reference explicit and stable.

Which area would this change affect?

App flow or product behavior; UI or design system.

What do you do today?

Today, typing @... opens the file suggestion list, but the text only becomes a file chip after the user explicitly selects a suggestion. If the user keeps typing and sends, the @... text is just plain text. Separately, selected file chips can still carry display paths that are shorter than the full filesystem path, so follow-up work should make the internal file reference absolute even if the UI shows a short label.

What would a good result look like?

When the user types a complete @file reference and PawWork can match exactly one file, PawWork converts it into an inline file chip without requiring an extra menu selection. The chip should internally point to the full absolute path, while the composer can continue showing a short, readable filename or relative display path.

What would count as done?

• Typing an @... file reference that uniquely matches one file converts it into a file chip on a natural boundary such as whitespace, punctuation, newline, or before send.
• Ambiguous or missing matches remain ordinary text and do not block sending.
• Converted chips store an absolute file path internally, even if the UI displays a short path.
• The conversion does not steal focus, jump the cursor unexpectedly, or auto-select the first fuzzy match.
• Keyboard behavior remains predictable: suggestion navigation still works with arrow keys and explicit selection.
• Tests cover unique match, ambiguous match, missing match, and send-before-boundary behavior.

What should stay out of scope?

• Do not bundle this with the prompt leakage fix. The leakage fix should land separately first.
• Do not add source-directory badges or warnings in the composer.
• Do not force users to resolve unmatched @... text before sending.

Which audience does this matter to most?

Both.

Extra context

This is a follow-up improvement split from the prompt leakage investigation. The immediate bug fix should make homepage draft carry-over safe and make selected file chips use absolute paths. This issue is the separate UX improvement for manually typed @file text.

Research notes from autocomplete / combobox guidance:

• W3C ARIA combobox guidance treats typed input and suggestions as separate until the user accepts a suggestion.
• UX guidance recommends predictable keyboard behavior and avoiding unexpected focus or selection changes.
• For PawWork, the compromise is conservative auto-conversion only when the typed @... text has a single clear file match.