[Feature]: Make workspace file links in Chat clickable and navigate to file tree / editor.

[hongyi-zhao]

Problem

In the Studio Chat panel, AI-generated markdown messages frequently reference workspace files, e.g.:

The assembly script is at [assemble_full_fig2.py](assemble_full_fig2.py), and the delivery notes
are in [FIG2_FULL_NINE_PANEL_DELIVERY.md](FIG2_FULL_NINE_PANEL_DELIVERY.md).

Currently, renderer.link renders all [text](href) uniformly as <a href="..." target="_blank">. Clicking these links causes the browser to open a new tab with a URL like:

http://127.0.0.1:20999/home/werner/DeepScientist/quests/001/.ds/worktrees/.../assemble_full_fig2.py

The web server has no matching route, so the request 404s. The links are effectively dead.

Code trail

Location	Role
src/ui/src/lib/plugins/ai-manus/lib/markdown.ts → renderer.link	Renders all markdown links as <a href="..." target="_blank">
src/ui/src/lib/plugins/ai-manus/AiManusChatView.tsx L1468, L8343–8377	Already has useOpenFile() → findNodeByPath + openFileInTab for file navigation
src/ui/src/components/workspace/QuestWorkspaceSurface.tsx L4650–4679	Same — complete file-tree-click-to-open implementation

Key observation: the file navigation infrastructure already exists (findNodeByPath + openFileInTab); the markdown rendering layer simply does not hook into it.

Proposed implementation

Layer 1 — Link classification

Introduce a utility function that categorizes an href into one of three types:

Type	Condition	Behavior
Workspace file	Relative path, or absolute path rooted under the quest worktree	findNodeByPath + openFileInTab
Internal page	Same-origin URL	SPA navigation
External link	Any other URL (http/https)	Keep current behavior — target="_blank"

function classifyHref(href: string, questRoot: string):
  | { type: 'workspace-file'; relativePath: string }
  | { type: 'internal'; url: string }
  | { type: 'external'; url: string }

Layer 2 — Click interception

Since renderer.link returns a static HTML string (not a React component), direct React event binding is not possible. Two approaches:

Approach A — Event delegation (recommended, minimal diff)

Add a delegated onClick handler on the Chat message container:

const handleLinkClick = useCallback((e: React.MouseEvent<HTMLDivElement>) => {
  const anchor = (e.target as HTMLElement).closest('a[href]')
  if (!anchor) return
  const href = anchor.getAttribute('href') ?? ''
  const classified = classifyHref(href, questRoot)
  if (classified.type === 'workspace-file') {
    e.preventDefault()
    const node = findNodeByPath(classified.relativePath)
    if (node) openFileInTab(node)
  }
  // external and internal links fall through to default behavior
}, [questRoot, findNodeByPath, openFileInTab])

Approach B — Custom React component for <a> tags

Switch markdown rendering from dangerouslySetInnerHTML to react-markdown's component mapping, supplying a custom React component for a. Larger diff but better type safety.

Layer 3 — Mark workspace links at render time (optional enhancement)

Add data-* attributes in renderer.link for workspace file hrefs, so the event delegate can classify links without re-parsing:

renderer.link = ({ href, title, text }: Tokens.Link) => {
  const safeHref = href ?? ''
  const titleAttr = title ? ` title="${title}"` : ''
  const classified = classifyHref(safeHref, questRoot)
  if (classified.type === 'workspace-file') {
    return `<a href="${safeHref}" data-ws-path="${escapeHtml(classified.relativePath)}" class="ds-file-link"${titleAttr}>${text}</a>`
  }
  return `<a href="${safeHref}" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"${titleAttr}>${text}</a>`
}

This also removes target="_blank" from workspace links, preventing an empty tab from opening on click.

Layer 4 — Backend file serving route (optional enhancement)

Register a file serving endpoint (e.g. GET /api/v1/quests/:questId/files/*) so that workspace file links also work when right-click / middle-click opened in a new tab (preview or download). Lower priority than the frontend interception.

Concrete minimal implementation (~15 lines, 2 files)

The existing code already provides all the building blocks. The assistant message container at ChatMessage.tsx L784 already has an onClick={handleAssistantClick} handler that dispatches to handleMarkdownAction and handleCitationClick. The onFileClick prop pattern is already established. The fix threads a new onFileLinkClick callback through the same path.

File 1: src/ui/src/lib/plugins/ai-manus/components/ChatMessage.tsx

1a. Add prop (L52, inside ChatMessageProps):

  onFileClick?: (fileId: string) => void
  onFileLinkClick?: (path: string) => void       // ← new

1b. Destructure it (around L267 where other props are destructured):

  onFileLinkClick,

1c. Extend handleAssistantClick (L623–629) — add file link interception before existing handlers:

  const handleAssistantClick = useCallback(
    (event: React.MouseEvent<HTMLElement>) => {
      // --- file link interception (new) ---
      const anchor = (event.target as HTMLElement).closest('a[href]')
      if (anchor) {
        const href = anchor.getAttribute('href') ?? ''
        if (href && !href.startsWith('http') && !href.startsWith('mailto:')) {
          event.preventDefault()
          onFileLinkClick?.(href)
          return
        }
      }
      // --- existing handlers ---
      if (handleMarkdownAction(event)) return
      handleCitationClick(event)
    },
    [handleCitationClick, handleMarkdownAction, onFileLinkClick]
  )

File 2: src/ui/src/lib/plugins/ai-manus/AiManusChatView.tsx

2a. Pass the callback (L8709, where <ChatMessage> is rendered):

  onFileLinkClick={async (path) => {
    const node = findNodeByPath(path)
    if (node) {
      await openFileInTab(node, { customData: projectId ? { projectId } : undefined })
    }
  }}

findNodeByPath and openFileInTab are already in scope (L1468–1470).

Why this works

• handleAssistantClick already fires on every click inside the assistant message div (L784).
• closest('a[href]') catches clicks on the link text, nested <code> spans, etc.
• Non-URL hrefs (relative paths, absolute filesystem paths) are the only ones that don't start with http or mailto:, which is exactly the set of workspace file references.
• External links (http://...) fall through to the existing target="_blank" behavior unchanged.

Suggested priority

1. P0 — The minimal implementation above (~15 lines across 2 files): intercept non-URL hrefs in handleAssistantClick, route to findNodeByPath + openFileInTab
2. P1 — Add data-ws-path marker and remove target="_blank" in renderer.link for workspace paths (Layer 3 above) to avoid the brief blank-tab flash
3. P1 — Register a backend file serving route for new-tab / direct-URL access (Layer 4 above)
4. P2 — Visual differentiation: style workspace file links differently from external links (e.g. file icon prefix)

Environment

• DeepScientist v1.5.17
• Ubuntu, Chrome / Firefox

Proposed solution

See above.

User-facing impact

See above.

Alternatives considered

No response

Expected scope

No response

Compatibility or migration concerns

No response

[ResearAI]

Fixed on main in commit b63a179.

What changed:

• Workspace file links in the ai-manus chat path are no longer treated as plain external anchors.
• Chat markdown now classifies workspace file references and renders them as inline button-style links (same visual style, no extra box).
• Clicking those links now resolves the corresponding quest file, reveals it in the Explorer, and opens it in the center editor tab instead of navigating the browser to a dead URL.
• The resolver now also covers more real-world file link shapes we saw in practice, including relative paths, quest document asset URLs, and quest-root absolute/full URLs.
• I also added a null-guard for the scoped Explorer selection path so the file-open flow no longer crashes on scope_paths when the manual scoped explorer is active without a live selection.

Validation:

• Added regression tests for workspace link resolution and ai-manus markdown rendering.
• Rebuilt the UI bundle locally after the fix.

If you still see the old behavior in a running local instance, please hard-refresh once so the browser picks up the new frontend bundle.

[hongyi-zhao]

1. 鼠标放到对应的链接上，路径显示不全：

2. 鼠标点击链接没有任何反应。

3. 右键菜单--> open in reading mode, 出错如下：