From 7904a14af1dfcda492125dab6d2708623934ea7b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 01:59:05 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: render TUI pickers as overlays

---
 CHANGELOG.md                 |  1 +
 src/tui/tui-overlays.test.ts | 60 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/tui/tui-overlays.ts      | 19 ++++++++++++
 src/tui/tui.ts               | 23 ++------------
 4 files changed, 83 insertions(+), 20 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 src/tui/tui-overlays.test.ts
 create mode 100644 src/tui/tui-overlays.ts

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1584a2fc8..b104362e2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 ### Fixes
  - Mac: pass auth token/password to dashboard URL for authenticated access. (#918) — thanks @rahthakor.
  - UI: use application-defined WebSocket close code (browser compatibility). (#918) — thanks @rahthakor.
+- TUI: render picker overlays via the overlay stack so /models and /settings display. (#921) — thanks @grizzdank.
 - Gateway/Dev: ensure `pnpm gateway:dev` always uses the dev profile config + state (`~/.clawdbot-dev`).
 - macOS: fix cron preview/testing payload to use `channel` key. (#867) — thanks @wes-davis.
 - Telegram: honor `channels.telegram.timeoutSeconds` for grammY API requests. (#863) — thanks @Snaver.
diff --git a/src/tui/tui-overlays.test.ts b/src/tui/tui-overlays.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a612c8c76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tui/tui-overlays.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import type { Component } from "@mariozechner/pi-tui";
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+import { createOverlayHandlers } from "./tui-overlays.js";
+
+class DummyComponent implements Component {
+  render() {
+    return ["dummy"];
+  }
+
+  invalidate() {}
+}
+
+describe("createOverlayHandlers", () => {
+  it("routes overlays through the TUI overlay stack", () => {
+    const showOverlay = vi.fn();
+    const hideOverlay = vi.fn();
+    const setFocus = vi.fn();
+    let open = false;
+
+    const host = {
+      showOverlay: (component: Component) => {
+        open = true;
+        showOverlay(component);
+      },
+      hideOverlay: () => {
+        open = false;
+        hideOverlay();
+      },
+      hasOverlay: () => open,
+      setFocus,
+    };
+
+    const { openOverlay, closeOverlay } = createOverlayHandlers(host, new DummyComponent());
+    const overlay = new DummyComponent();
+
+    openOverlay(overlay);
+    expect(showOverlay).toHaveBeenCalledWith(overlay);
+
+    closeOverlay();
+    expect(hideOverlay).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(setFocus).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("restores focus when closing without an overlay", () => {
+    const setFocus = vi.fn();
+    const host = {
+      showOverlay: vi.fn(),
+      hideOverlay: vi.fn(),
+      hasOverlay: () => false,
+      setFocus,
+    };
+    const fallback = new DummyComponent();
+
+    const { closeOverlay } = createOverlayHandlers(host, fallback);
+    closeOverlay();
+
+    expect(setFocus).toHaveBeenCalledWith(fallback);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/tui/tui-overlays.ts b/src/tui/tui-overlays.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..51ba45a98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tui/tui-overlays.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import type { Component, TUI } from "@mariozechner/pi-tui";
+
+type OverlayHost = Pick<TUI, "showOverlay" | "hideOverlay" | "hasOverlay" | "setFocus">;
+
+export function createOverlayHandlers(host: OverlayHost, fallbackFocus: Component) {
+  const openOverlay = (component: Component) => {
+    host.showOverlay(component);
+  };
+
+  const closeOverlay = () => {
+    if (host.hasOverlay()) {
+      host.hideOverlay();
+      return;
+    }
+    host.setFocus(fallbackFocus);
+  };
+
+  return { openOverlay, closeOverlay };
+}
diff --git a/src/tui/tui.ts b/src/tui/tui.ts
index 309839353..d43fcaeb0 100644
--- a/src/tui/tui.ts
+++ b/src/tui/tui.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,4 @@
-import {
-  CombinedAutocompleteProvider,
-  type Component,
-  Container,
-  ProcessTerminal,
-  Text,
-  TUI,
-} from "@mariozechner/pi-tui";
+import { CombinedAutocompleteProvider, Container, ProcessTerminal, Text, TUI } from "@mariozechner/pi-tui";
 import { resolveDefaultAgentId } from "../agents/agent-scope.js";
 import { loadConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import {
@@ -22,6 +15,7 @@ import { editorTheme, theme } from "./theme/theme.js";
 import { createCommandHandlers } from "./tui-command-handlers.js";
 import { createEventHandlers } from "./tui-event-handlers.js";
 import { formatTokens } from "./tui-formatters.js";
+import { createOverlayHandlers } from "./tui-overlays.js";
 import { createSessionActions } from "./tui-session-actions.js";
 import type {
   AgentSummary,
@@ -188,10 +182,8 @@ export async function runTui(opts: TuiOptions) {
   const footer = new Text("", 1, 0);
   const chatLog = new ChatLog();
   const editor = new CustomEditor(editorTheme);
-  const overlay = new Container();
   const root = new Container();
   root.addChild(header);
-  root.addChild(overlay);
   root.addChild(chatLog);
   root.addChild(status);
   root.addChild(footer);
@@ -300,16 +292,7 @@ export async function runTui(opts: TuiOptions) {
     );
   };
 
-  const closeOverlay = () => {
-    overlay.clear();
-    tui.setFocus(editor);
-  };
-
-  const openOverlay = (component: Component) => {
-    overlay.clear();
-    overlay.addChild(component);
-    tui.setFocus(component);
-  };
+  const { openOverlay, closeOverlay } = createOverlayHandlers(tui, editor);
 
   const initialSessionAgentId = (() => {
     if (!initialSessionInput) return null;