fix(ui): keep oversized chat replies readable (#45559)

* fix(ui): keep oversized chat replies readable

* Update ui/src/ui/markdown.ts

Co-authored-by: greptile-apps[bot] <165735046+greptile-apps[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

* fix(ui): preserve oversized markdown whitespace

---------

Co-authored-by: greptile-apps[bot] <165735046+greptile-apps[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Signal/config validation: add `channels.signal.groups` schema support so per-group `requireMention`, `tools`, and `toolsBySender` overrides no longer get rejected during config validation. (#27199) Thanks @unisone.
 - Config/discovery: accept `discovery.wideArea.domain` in strict config validation so unicast DNS-SD gateway configs no longer fail with an unrecognized-key error. (#35615) Thanks @ingyukoh.
 - Telegram/media errors: redact Telegram file URLs before building media fetch errors so failed inbound downloads do not leak bot tokens into logs. Thanks @space08.
+- Dashboard/chat UI: render oversized plain-text replies as normal paragraphs instead of capped gray code blocks, so long desktop chat responses stay readable without tab-switching refreshes.
 
 ## 2026.3.12
 

ui/src/styles/components.css

@@ -1302,6 +1302,14 @@
   background: var(--bg);
 }
 
+.markdown-plain-text-fallback {
+  display: block;
+  white-space: pre-wrap;
+  overflow-wrap: anywhere;
+  word-break: break-word;
+  font: inherit;
+}
+
 /* ===========================================
    Lists
    =========================================== */

ui/src/ui/markdown.test.ts

@@ -105,6 +105,47 @@ describe("toSanitizedMarkdownHtml", () => {
     expect(html).toContain("link");
   });
 
+  it("keeps oversized plain-text replies readable instead of forcing code-block chrome", () => {
+    const input =
+      Array.from(
+        { length: 320 },
+        (_, i) => `Paragraph ${i + 1}: ${"Long plain-text reply. ".repeat(8)}`,
+      ).join("\n\n") + "\n";
+
+    const html = toSanitizedMarkdownHtml(input);
+
+    expect(html).not.toContain('<pre class="code-block">');
+    expect(html).toContain('class="markdown-plain-text-fallback"');
+    expect(html).toContain("Paragraph 1:");
+    expect(html).toContain("Paragraph 320:");
+  });
+
+  it("preserves indentation in oversized plain-text replies", () => {
+    const input = `${"Header line\n".repeat(5000)}\n    indented log line\n        deeper indent`;
+    const html = toSanitizedMarkdownHtml(input);
+
+    expect(html).toContain('class="markdown-plain-text-fallback"');
+    expect(html).toContain("    indented log line");
+    expect(html).toContain("        deeper indent");
+  });
+
+  it("exercises the cached oversized fallback branch", () => {
+    const input =
+      Array.from(
+        { length: 240 },
+        (_, i) => `Paragraph ${i + 1}: ${"Cacheable long reply. ".repeat(8)}`,
+      ).join("\n\n") + "\n";
+
+    expect(input.length).toBeGreaterThan(40_000);
+    expect(input.length).toBeLessThan(50_000);
+
+    const first = toSanitizedMarkdownHtml(input);
+    const second = toSanitizedMarkdownHtml(input);
+
+    expect(first).toContain('class="markdown-plain-text-fallback"');
+    expect(second).toBe(first);
+  });
+
   it("falls back to escaped plain text if marked.parse throws (#36213)", () => {
     const parseSpy = vi.spyOn(marked, "parse").mockImplementation(() => {
       throw new Error("forced parse failure");

ui/src/ui/markdown.ts

@@ -124,8 +124,10 @@ export function toSanitizedMarkdownHtml(markdown: string): string {
     ? `\n\n… truncated (${truncated.total} chars, showing first ${truncated.text.length}).`
     : "";
   if (truncated.text.length > MARKDOWN_PARSE_LIMIT) {
-    const escaped = escapeHtml(`${truncated.text}${suffix}`);
-    const html = `<pre class="code-block">${escaped}</pre>`;
+    // Large plain-text replies should stay readable without inheriting the
+    // capped code-block chrome, while still preserving whitespace for logs
+    // and other structured text that commonly trips the parse guard.
+    const html = renderEscapedPlainTextHtml(`${truncated.text}${suffix}`);
     const sanitized = DOMPurify.sanitize(html, sanitizeOptions);
     if (input.length <= MARKDOWN_CACHE_MAX_CHARS) {
       setCachedMarkdown(input, sanitized);
@@ -218,3 +220,7 @@ function escapeHtml(value: string): string {
     .replace(/"/g, "&quot;")
     .replace(/'/g, "&#39;");
 }
+
+function renderEscapedPlainTextHtml(value: string): string {
+  return `<div class="markdown-plain-text-fallback">${escapeHtml(value.replace(/\r\n?/g, "\n"))}</div>`;
+}