app/src/components/notes/SendToAgentButton.test.tsx

@@ -11,14 +11,22 @@ vi.mock("../../hooks/useTerminal", () => ({
 }));
 
 const setActiveTabKey = vi.fn();
+const requestTerminalFocus = vi.fn();
 const pushToast = vi.fn();
 let projects: Project[] = [];
 
 vi.mock("../../store/appState", () => ({
   useAppState: Object.assign(
     (selector: (s: unknown) => unknown) =>
-      selector({ projects, setActiveTabKey, pushToast }),
-    { getState: () => ({ projects, setActiveTabKey, pushToast }) },
+      selector({ projects, setActiveTabKey, requestTerminalFocus, pushToast }),
+    {
+      getState: () => ({
+        projects,
+        setActiveTabKey,
+        requestTerminalFocus,
+        pushToast,
+      }),
+    },
   ),
   terminalTabKey: (id: string) => `term:${id}`,
 }));
@@ -149,4 +157,35 @@ describe("SendToAgentButton", () => {
     // overflow, so a downward menu at the bottom edge is invisible.
     await waitFor(() => expect(screen.getByRole("menu")).toHaveClass("bottom-full"));
   });
+
+  // Switching to the tab is not enough. When the dock is open beside the
+  // terminal it sends to, that terminal is already the active tab, so
+  // `setActiveTabKey` changes nothing and no effect re-runs — leaving focus on
+  // this button, one click short of the Enter the user came to press.
+  it("hands focus to the terminal so the next keystroke is Enter", async () => {
+    sessions = [session()];
+    render(<SendToAgentButton projectId="p1" body="hello" />);
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /send to agent/i }));
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(requestTerminalFocus).toHaveBeenCalledWith("s1"));
+  });
+
+  it("leaves focus alone when the send failed", async () => {
+    sessions = [session()];
+    sendInput.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("pty gone"));
+    render(<SendToAgentButton projectId="p1" body="hello" />);
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /send to agent/i }));
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(pushToast).toHaveBeenCalled());
+    expect(requestTerminalFocus).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("focuses the session picked from the menu, not the first one", async () => {
+    sessions = [session(), session({ id: "s2", sessionName: "review" })];
+    render(<SendToAgentButton projectId="p1" body="hello" />);
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /send to agent/i }));
+    fireEvent.click(await screen.findByRole("menuitem", { name: "review" }));
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(requestTerminalFocus).toHaveBeenCalledWith("s2"));
+  });
 });

app/src/components/notes/SendToAgentButton.tsx

@@ -36,13 +36,15 @@ export default function SendToAgentButton({
   fullWidth = false,
 }: Props) {
   const { sessions, sendInput } = useTerminal();
-  const { projects, setActiveTabKey, pushToast } = useAppState(
-    useShallow((s) => ({
-      projects: s.projects,
-      setActiveTabKey: s.setActiveTabKey,
-      pushToast: s.pushToast,
-    })),
-  );
+  const { projects, setActiveTabKey, requestTerminalFocus, pushToast } =
+    useAppState(
+      useShallow((s) => ({
+        projects: s.projects,
+        setActiveTabKey: s.setActiveTabKey,
+        requestTerminalFocus: s.requestTerminalFocus,
+        pushToast: s.pushToast,
+      })),
+    );
   const [menuOpen, setMenuOpen] = useState(false);
   const rootRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
 
@@ -86,6 +88,11 @@ export default function SendToAgentButton({
         // A courtesy, not part of the send: if the tab cannot be focused the
         // text still went.
         setActiveTabKey(terminalTabKey(sessionId));
+        // Switching tabs is not the same as taking focus, and when the dock is
+        // open beside the terminal it just sent to, that tab is already the
+        // active one — so nothing above moves the caret off this button. The
+        // note is sitting in the prompt waiting for Enter; put the user there.
+        requestTerminalFocus(sessionId);
       } catch (e) {
         pushToast({
           kind: "error",
@@ -94,7 +101,7 @@ export default function SendToAgentButton({
         });
       }
     },
-    [body, sendInput, setActiveTabKey, pushToast],
+    [body, sendInput, setActiveTabKey, requestTerminalFocus, pushToast],
   );
 
   const onClick = useCallback(() => {

app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.test.tsx

@@ -538,3 +538,59 @@ describe("TerminalView — reaching the URL prompt without a mouse", () => {
     expect(document.activeElement).toBe(before);
   });
 });
+
+describe("TerminalView — focus on request", () => {
+  /** Mount, then deliberately give focus away, so what the assertions below
+   *  observe is the *request* taking effect and never the focus `active`
+   *  already grants on mount. That distinction is the whole point: the notes
+   *  dock sends to a terminal whose tab is already active, where nothing
+   *  changes and no `active` effect re-runs. */
+  async function mountAndBlur() {
+    const view = mountSession("claude");
+    await act(async () => {});
+    const elsewhere = document.createElement("button");
+    document.body.appendChild(elsewhere);
+    elsewhere.focus();
+    expect(document.activeElement).toBe(elsewhere);
+    return view;
+  }
+
+  it("focuses the terminal named by the request", async () => {
+    const view = await mountAndBlur();
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      useAppState.getState().requestTerminalFocus("s1");
+    });
+
+    expect(document.activeElement).toBe(helperTextarea(view.container));
+  });
+
+  it("ignores a request meant for another session", async () => {
+    const view = await mountAndBlur();
+    const before = document.activeElement;
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      useAppState.getState().requestTerminalFocus("s2");
+    });
+
+    expect(document.activeElement).toBe(before);
+    expect(document.activeElement).not.toBe(helperTextarea(view.container));
+  });
+
+  it("clears the request, so a second send focuses again", async () => {
+    const view = await mountAndBlur();
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      useAppState.getState().requestTerminalFocus("s1");
+    });
+    expect(useAppState.getState().pendingTerminalFocus).toBeNull();
+
+    const elsewhere = document.querySelector("button");
+    (elsewhere as HTMLButtonElement).focus();
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      useAppState.getState().requestTerminalFocus("s1");
+    });
+    expect(document.activeElement).toBe(helperTextarea(view.container));
+  });
+});

app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.tsx

@@ -731,6 +731,21 @@ export default function TerminalView({ sessionId, active }: Props) {
     }
   }, [active, gpuRenderingSetting]);
 
+  // Focus on demand, for the caller that cannot rely on the effect above.
+  // That one keys off `active`, so it covers switching *to* a terminal and
+  // nothing else — and the notes dock sends to the terminal already on screen,
+  // where `active` never changes. Consumed once and cleared, so asking twice
+  // for the same terminal works.
+  const pendingTerminalFocus = useAppState((s) => s.pendingTerminalFocus);
+  const clearPendingTerminalFocus = useAppState(
+    (s) => s.clearPendingTerminalFocus,
+  );
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (pendingTerminalFocus !== sessionId) return;
+    termRef.current?.focus();
+    clearPendingTerminalFocus();
+  }, [pendingTerminalFocus, sessionId, clearPendingTerminalFocus]);
+
   // Auto-dismiss toast after 30 seconds — unless the user is standing in it.
   // A keyboard user who has just jumped into the toast is mid-decision, and
   // pulling it out from under them costs them the only route to finishing a

app/src/store/appState.test.ts

@@ -112,3 +112,27 @@ describe("toasts", () => {
     expect(toasts()).toHaveLength(2);
   });
 });
+
+describe("terminal focus requests", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => useAppState.setState({ pendingTerminalFocus: null }));
+
+  const pending = () => useAppState.getState().pendingTerminalFocus;
+
+  it("names the session that should take focus", () => {
+    useAppState.getState().requestTerminalFocus("s1");
+    expect(pending()).toBe("s1");
+  });
+
+  // Consumed once, exactly like `pendingHomeTab`. Without the clear, the
+  // second send to a terminal already holding the request would set the same
+  // value, no state would change, and no effect would re-run — which is the
+  // failure this whole mechanism exists to fix.
+  it("is cleared once consumed, so the same terminal can be asked again", () => {
+    useAppState.getState().requestTerminalFocus("s1");
+    useAppState.getState().clearPendingTerminalFocus();
+    expect(pending()).toBeNull();
+
+    useAppState.getState().requestTerminalFocus("s1");
+    expect(pending()).toBe("s1");
+  });
+});

app/src/store/appState.ts

@@ -144,6 +144,21 @@ interface AppState {
   /** Consumed once by `ProjectHome`, then cleared. */
   pendingHomeTab: { projectId: string; tab: string } | null;
   clearPendingHomeTab: () => void;
+  /**
+   * Ask a terminal to take keyboard focus.
+   *
+   * `TerminalView` already focuses when its tab *becomes* active, which covers
+   * switching to a terminal. It cannot cover being asked to focus the terminal
+   * that is already on screen — nothing changes, so no effect re-runs — and
+   * that is the ordinary case for the notes dock, which sits beside the
+   * terminal it sends to.
+   *
+   * Consumed once and cleared, like `pendingHomeTab`: holding the id would
+   * make a second request for the same terminal a no-op state write.
+   */
+  pendingTerminalFocus: string | null;
+  requestTerminalFocus: (sessionId: string) => void;
+  clearPendingTerminalFocus: () => void;
   closeHomeTab: (projectId: string) => void;
   setActiveTabKey: (key: string) => void;
   cycleTab: (delta: number) => void;
@@ -352,6 +367,9 @@ export const useAppState = create<AppState>((set) => ({
     }),
   pendingHomeTab: null,
   clearPendingHomeTab: () => set({ pendingHomeTab: null }),
+  pendingTerminalFocus: null,
+  requestTerminalFocus: (sessionId) => set({ pendingTerminalFocus: sessionId }),
+  clearPendingTerminalFocus: () => set({ pendingTerminalFocus: null }),
   closeHomeTab: (projectId) =>
     set((state) => {
       const key = homeTabKey(projectId);