bug: message is silently lost when sending fails (e.g. network offline)

[ebifrier]

Problem

When sending a chat message fails (network offline, server unreachable, or a non-2xx response), the message silently disappears. The input is cleared, the optimistic user message flashes and is removed, no error is shown, and the text is gone. The only trace is an unhandled TypeError: Failed to fetch in the console.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open a chat and type a message (optionally attach a file).
2. Make the request fail, e.g. DevTools → Network → Offline, or stop the server.
3. Press Enter.

Actual: the message appears for a moment, then vanishes; the input and attachments are empty; no toast. For a new chat the tab title keeps the first 40 characters of the lost message.

Expected: an error is shown and the message (and attachments) stay in the input so it can be re-sent.

Root cause

In ChatPanel.svelte send():

• inputText = '' and chatInputEl.clearUploads() run before apiSendMessage is awaited.
• The catch block only removes the optimistic message and rethrows. Nothing restores the draft and no toast is shown.
• ChatInput calls onsend() without awaiting, so the rethrown error becomes an unhandled rejection and never reaches the user.
• The streaming/queue branch has the same problem (its catch only logs).

Proposed fix

• Capture the untransformed draft text and the attached files before sending.
• On failure, restore both, reset currentMessageId, and reset the new-chat tab label.
• Replace throw e with toast.error(...), matching how compact/fork failures are reported. ApiError messages from the server are shown as-is; other failures (network) use a new chat.sendFailed string.
• Apply the same restoration in the queue branch.
• ChatInput gets a small restoreUploads() counterpart to clearUploads().

Deliberately minimal: no retry button or "failed" marker on the message; happy to adjust if you prefer a different UX.

Verification

Playwright (headless Chromium) against a local build, aborting POST /api/chats with internetdisconnected:

	before	after
input after failed send	empty	text restored
toast	none	"Failed to send message"
new-chat tab title	first 40 chars of the lost message	"New Chat"
unhandled rejection	yes	no

Additional context

Implemented on a fork (4 files, +20/-3):
main...ebifrier:computer:fix/keep-message-on-send-failure

Related but different cause: #262 (prompt deleted when moving the window) does not involve sending.

[owui-terminator]

🔍 Related Issues Found

I found some existing issues that might be related. Please check if any of these are duplicates or contain helpful solutions:

1. 🟢 #262 bug: prompt DELETED when moving around window
   Related in that both reports describe user-entered prompt text being lost unexpectedly in the chat UI. However, this issue is about text disappearing when moving/resizing the window, not when a send request fails, so the cause is different.
   by Classic298

2. 🟣 #50 Gateway connection hangs in OpenWebUI
   This is the closest send-path related issue found: it reports a chat request hanging/failing in the gateway path. It is not the same symptom as the message being deleted from the input, but it does concern failure handling in the chat submission flow.
   by naqerl

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💡 If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and add any additional details to the existing issue instead.

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