Fix clarify card showing literal backslash-quote escapes

src/chrome/src/agent/agent.js

@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ import { resolveMaxOutputTokens } from '../providers/context-windows.js';
 import { generateImage, readMediaConfig } from './generative-media.js';
 import { GENERATIVE_MEDIA_SETUP_NOTE, isImageGenConfigured, mediaPermissionUrl, validateMediaConfig } from './media-config.js';
 import { extractFirstJsonObject } from './json-extract.js';
-import { repairAssistantDisplayText, sanitizeText as sanitizePlannerText } from './text-sanitize.js';
+import { repairAssistantDisplayText, repairClarifyText, sanitizeText as sanitizePlannerText } from './text-sanitize.js';
 import { emptyOutputFailureMessage, modelOutputDiagnostics } from './model-output-diagnostics.js';
 import { buildCustomSkillsPrompt, buildSkillLoaderDefinition, buildSkillToolDefinitions, buildSkillToolRegistry, getEligibleCustomSkills, getEligibleSkillCatalog, normalizeCustomSkills } from './skills.js';
 import { OTP_EMAIL_PROVIDER_IDS, OTP_EMAIL_SKILL_ID, OTP_EMAIL_TOOL_NAME, otpEmailCandidates, otpEmailProviderForUrl, otpEmailUrlLooksLikeMessage, otpOpenMessageRootRef, otpRedactRefs, otpServiceDisplay, otpServiceKey, otpVerificationMessageExcerpt, selectOtpMailboxTab, selectUniqueOtpCandidateByPreview } from './otp-email-tool.js';
@@ -38263,18 +38263,21 @@ If the user has already named or confirmed this exact recipient, do NOT ask agai
     if (name === 'clarify') {
       args = await this._socialDraftClarificationArgs(tabId, args);
       const clarificationGuard = this._planExecutionGuards.get(tabId);
-      const question = String(args?.question || '').trim();
+      // Models sometimes copy a JSON-escaped post body into clarify text,
+      // leaving literal `\"` after the tool-call JSON is parsed. The card
+      // renders via textContent, so repair before display/storage.
+      const question = repairClarifyText(String(args?.question || '').trim()).slice(0, 600);
       if (!question) {
         return { success: false, error: 'clarify: `question` is required (a single sentence asking the user something specific).' };
       }
       const rawOptions = Array.isArray(args?.options) ? args.options.slice(0, 4) : [];
-      const normalizedOptions = rawOptions.map(s => String(s).trim().slice(0, 200));
+      const normalizedOptions = rawOptions.map(s => repairClarifyText(String(s).trim()).slice(0, 200));
       const hasVisibleOptionContent = option => /[\p{L}\p{N}\p{P}\p{S}]/u.test(option.replace(/[\p{Default_Ignorable_Code_Point}\u2800]/gu, ''));
       const options = normalizedOptions.every(hasVisibleOptionContent)
         ? normalizedOptions
         : [];
       const safeFirst = args?.safe_first === true && options.length > 0;
-      const reason = args?.reason ? String(args.reason).slice(0, 300) : null;
+      const reason = args?.reason ? repairClarifyText(String(args.reason)).slice(0, 300) : null;
       const purpose = args?.purpose === 'research_escalation'
         ? 'research_escalation'
         : (args?.purpose === 'recipient_change'
@@ -38301,8 +38304,8 @@ If the user has already named or confirmed this exact recipient, do NOT ask agai
       }
       const isResearchEscalation = purpose === 'research_escalation';
       const requireExplicitAnswer = isResearchEscalation || args?.require_explicit_answer === true;
-      const researchRequest = isResearchEscalation ? normalizeResearchRequest(args?.research_request) : '';
-      const approveOption = isResearchEscalation ? String(args?.approve_option || '').trim().slice(0, 200) : '';
+      const researchRequest = isResearchEscalation ? repairClarifyText(normalizeResearchRequest(args?.research_request)) : '';
+      const approveOption = isResearchEscalation ? repairClarifyText(String(args?.approve_option || '').trim()).slice(0, 200) : '';
       if (isResearchEscalation) {
         if (!this.researchEscalationEnabled) {
           return { success: false, error: 'Research escalation is disabled in Settings. Continue the research locally.' };

src/chrome/src/agent/text-sanitize.js

@@ -142,3 +142,35 @@ function repairJsonQuotedPageTitleLines(value) {
 export function repairAssistantDisplayText(value) {
   return repairJsonQuotedPageTitleLines(repairDoubleEscapedAssistantText(value));
 }
+
+/**
+ * Strip one extra JSON-escaping layer from clarify question/options/reason.
+ *
+ * Models sometimes copy a JSON-escaped post body into a clarify tool call
+ * (e.g. Publish: "Just finished \"The Last Economy\" ..."), leaving literal
+ * `\"` sequences after the tool-call JSON itself has already been parsed.
+ * The clarify card renders via textContent, so those backslashes show up
+ * verbatim in the UI ("\" ??" bug). Runs of backslashes immediately before a
+ * single or double quote are therefore treated as display noise and removed.
+ *
+ * Known edge (accepted): a trailing path separator before a closing quote
+ * (e.g. Save to "C:\Temp\") loses its slash and renders as "C:\Temp". That
+ * prose is rare in single-sentence clarify prompts and stays readable;
+ * showing literal `\"` in every publish confirmation is worse.
+ *
+ * A surviving `\\` (double backslash) is the same over-escaping artifact for
+ * a literal backslash, so it is collapsed once — except a UNC leading `\\`
+ * (start of string or after whitespace/quote/paren/bracket + word char),
+ * which is preserved. Lone single backslashes (e.g. tab\tx) are left alone.
+ */
+export function repairClarifyText(value) {
+  if (typeof value !== 'string' || !value) return value == null ? '' : String(value);
+  if (!value.includes('\\')) return value;
+  const stripped = value.replace(/\\+(?=["'])/g, '');
+  return stripped.replace(/\\\\/g, (match, offset, str) => {
+    const before = offset === 0 ? '' : str[offset - 1];
+    const after = str[offset + 2] || '';
+    if ((offset === 0 || /[\s"'(\[{]/.test(before)) && /[A-Za-z0-9]/.test(after)) return match;
+    return '\\';
+  });
+}

src/chrome/src/agent/tools.js

@@ -884,12 +884,12 @@ export const AGENT_TOOLS = [
         properties: {
           question: {
             type: 'string',
-            description: 'The question to show the user. One sentence, plain English. Frame it as a real either/or, not "is this OK?" — e.g. "Did you mean the WordPress REST API application password, or a specific plugin\'s API key?" not "Should I proceed?"',
+            description: 'The question to show the user. One sentence, plain English. Frame it as a real either/or, not "is this OK?" — e.g. "Did you mean the WordPress REST API application password, or a specific plugin\'s API key?" not "Should I proceed?" Write plain text with real quotation marks only — never include backslash escapes like \\". Stray escapes are stripped before display, so include only characters you want shown.',
           },
           options: {
             type: 'array',
             items: { type: 'string' },
-            description: 'Optional list of 2-4 suggested answers shown as buttons. The user can also type a custom answer. If the user does not answer before the clarify timeout, options[0] is auto-selected — put the safe/default choice first. Omit if the question is genuinely open-ended (timeout then yields a non-confirmation timeout marker, not user approval).',
+            description: 'Optional list of 2-4 suggested answers shown as buttons. The user can also type a custom answer. If the user does not answer before the clarify timeout, options[0] is auto-selected — put the safe/default choice first. Omit if the question is genuinely open-ended (timeout then yields a non-confirmation timeout marker, not user approval). Write plain text with real quotation marks only — never include backslash escapes like \\". Stray escapes are stripped before display.',
           },
           safe_first: {
             type: 'boolean',

src/chrome/src/ui/sidepanel.js

@@ -10935,6 +10935,29 @@ function workflowHealingTargetLabel(target) {
 
 function renderClarifyCard(data) {
   // A clarification / permission card needs the user's attention right now.
+  // Repair display-side too so cards persisted before the agent-side fix (or
+  // arriving via an older background) no longer show literal `\"`. Inlined
+  // (no external helper) so function-extraction test harnesses keep working.
+  if (data && typeof data === 'object') {
+    // Mirrors repairClarifyText agent-side, inlined so function-extraction
+    // test harnesses keep working. Preserves UNC leading `\\`.
+    const cleanClarify = v => {
+      if (typeof v !== 'string' || !v.includes('\\')) return v;
+      const stripped = v.replace(/\\+(?=["'])/g, '');
+      return stripped.replace(/\\\\/g, (m, offset, str) => {
+        const before = offset === 0 ? '' : str[offset - 1];
+        const after = str[offset + 2] || '';
+        if ((offset === 0 || /[\s"'(\[{]/.test(before)) && /[A-Za-z0-9]/.test(after)) return m;
+        return '\\';
+      });
+    };
+    if (typeof data.question === 'string') data = { ...data, question: cleanClarify(data.question) };
+    if (typeof data.reason === 'string') data = { ...data, reason: cleanClarify(data.reason) };
+    if (Array.isArray(data.options)) data = { ...data, options: data.options.map(opt => typeof opt === 'string' ? cleanClarify(opt) : opt) };
+    if (data.researchEscalation && typeof data.researchEscalation.request === 'string') {
+      data = { ...data, researchEscalation: { ...data.researchEscalation, request: cleanClarify(data.researchEscalation.request) } };
+    }
+  }
   const tabId = data?.scheduledTabId ?? data?.tabId ?? currentTabId;
   if (tabId == null) return;
   const scheduledJobId = data?.scheduledJobId ? String(data.scheduledJobId) : '';

src/firefox/src/agent/agent.js

@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ import { resolveMaxOutputTokens } from '../providers/context-windows.js';
 import { generateImage, readMediaConfig } from './generative-media.js';
 import { GENERATIVE_MEDIA_SETUP_NOTE, isImageGenConfigured, mediaPermissionUrl, validateMediaConfig } from './media-config.js';
 import { extractFirstJsonObject } from './json-extract.js';
-import { repairAssistantDisplayText, sanitizeText as sanitizePlannerText } from './text-sanitize.js';
+import { repairAssistantDisplayText, repairClarifyText, sanitizeText as sanitizePlannerText } from './text-sanitize.js';
 import { emptyOutputFailureMessage, modelOutputDiagnostics } from './model-output-diagnostics.js';
 import { buildCustomSkillsPrompt, buildSkillLoaderDefinition, buildSkillToolDefinitions, buildSkillToolRegistry, getEligibleCustomSkills, getEligibleSkillCatalog, normalizeCustomSkills } from './skills.js';
 import { OTP_EMAIL_PROVIDER_IDS, OTP_EMAIL_SKILL_ID, OTP_EMAIL_TOOL_NAME, otpEmailCandidates, otpEmailProviderForUrl, otpEmailUrlLooksLikeMessage, otpOpenMessageRootRef, otpRedactRefs, otpServiceDisplay, otpServiceKey, otpVerificationMessageExcerpt, selectOtpMailboxTab, selectUniqueOtpCandidateByPreview } from './otp-email-tool.js';
@@ -34799,18 +34799,21 @@ Rules: no prose intro, no conclusion, no "this screenshot shows...", no layout d
     if (name === 'clarify') {
       args = await this._socialDraftClarificationArgs(tabId, args);
       const clarificationGuard = this._planExecutionGuards.get(tabId);
-      const question = String(args?.question || '').trim();
+      // Models sometimes copy a JSON-escaped post body into clarify text,
+      // leaving literal `\"` after the tool-call JSON is parsed. The card
+      // renders via textContent, so repair before display/storage.
+      const question = repairClarifyText(String(args?.question || '').trim()).slice(0, 600);
       if (!question) {
         return { success: false, error: 'clarify: `question` is required (a single sentence asking the user something specific).' };
       }
       const rawOptions = Array.isArray(args?.options) ? args.options.slice(0, 4) : [];
-      const normalizedOptions = rawOptions.map(s => String(s).trim().slice(0, 200));
+      const normalizedOptions = rawOptions.map(s => repairClarifyText(String(s).trim()).slice(0, 200));
       const hasVisibleOptionContent = option => /[\p{L}\p{N}\p{P}\p{S}]/u.test(option.replace(/[\p{Default_Ignorable_Code_Point}\u2800]/gu, ''));
       const options = normalizedOptions.every(hasVisibleOptionContent)
         ? normalizedOptions
         : [];
       const safeFirst = args?.safe_first === true && options.length > 0;
-      const reason = args?.reason ? String(args.reason).slice(0, 300) : null;
+      const reason = args?.reason ? repairClarifyText(String(args.reason)).slice(0, 300) : null;
       const purpose = args?.purpose === 'research_escalation'
         ? 'research_escalation'
         : (args?.purpose === 'recipient_change'
@@ -34837,8 +34840,8 @@ Rules: no prose intro, no conclusion, no "this screenshot shows...", no layout d
       }
       const isResearchEscalation = purpose === 'research_escalation';
       const requireExplicitAnswer = isResearchEscalation || args?.require_explicit_answer === true;
-      const researchRequest = isResearchEscalation ? normalizeResearchRequest(args?.research_request) : '';
-      const approveOption = isResearchEscalation ? String(args?.approve_option || '').trim().slice(0, 200) : '';
+      const researchRequest = isResearchEscalation ? repairClarifyText(normalizeResearchRequest(args?.research_request)) : '';
+      const approveOption = isResearchEscalation ? repairClarifyText(String(args?.approve_option || '').trim()).slice(0, 200) : '';
       if (isResearchEscalation) {
         if (!this.researchEscalationEnabled) {
           return { success: false, error: 'Research escalation is disabled in Settings. Continue the research locally.' };

src/firefox/src/agent/text-sanitize.js

@@ -142,3 +142,35 @@ function repairJsonQuotedPageTitleLines(value) {
 export function repairAssistantDisplayText(value) {
   return repairJsonQuotedPageTitleLines(repairDoubleEscapedAssistantText(value));
 }
+
+/**
+ * Strip one extra JSON-escaping layer from clarify question/options/reason.
+ *
+ * Models sometimes copy a JSON-escaped post body into a clarify tool call
+ * (e.g. Publish: "Just finished \"The Last Economy\" ..."), leaving literal
+ * `\"` sequences after the tool-call JSON itself has already been parsed.
+ * The clarify card renders via textContent, so those backslashes show up
+ * verbatim in the UI ("\" ??" bug). Runs of backslashes immediately before a
+ * single or double quote are therefore treated as display noise and removed.
+ *
+ * Known edge (accepted): a trailing path separator before a closing quote
+ * (e.g. Save to "C:\Temp\") loses its slash and renders as "C:\Temp". That
+ * prose is rare in single-sentence clarify prompts and stays readable;
+ * showing literal `\"` in every publish confirmation is worse.
+ *
+ * A surviving `\\` (double backslash) is the same over-escaping artifact for
+ * a literal backslash, so it is collapsed once — except a UNC leading `\\`
+ * (start of string or after whitespace/quote/paren/bracket + word char),
+ * which is preserved. Lone single backslashes (e.g. tab\tx) are left alone.
+ */
+export function repairClarifyText(value) {
+  if (typeof value !== 'string' || !value) return value == null ? '' : String(value);
+  if (!value.includes('\\')) return value;
+  const stripped = value.replace(/\\+(?=["'])/g, '');
+  return stripped.replace(/\\\\/g, (match, offset, str) => {
+    const before = offset === 0 ? '' : str[offset - 1];
+    const after = str[offset + 2] || '';
+    if ((offset === 0 || /[\s"'(\[{]/.test(before)) && /[A-Za-z0-9]/.test(after)) return match;
+    return '\\';
+  });
+}

src/firefox/src/agent/tools.js

@@ -746,12 +746,12 @@ export const AGENT_TOOLS = [
         properties: {
           question: {
             type: 'string',
-            description: 'The question to show the user. One sentence, plain English. Frame it as a real either/or, not "is this OK?" — e.g. "Did you mean the WordPress REST API application password, or a specific plugin\'s API key?" not "Should I proceed?"',
+            description: 'The question to show the user. One sentence, plain English. Frame it as a real either/or, not "is this OK?" — e.g. "Did you mean the WordPress REST API application password, or a specific plugin\'s API key?" not "Should I proceed?" Write plain text with real quotation marks only — never include backslash escapes like \\". Stray escapes are stripped before display, so include only characters you want shown.',
           },
           options: {
             type: 'array',
             items: { type: 'string' },
-            description: 'Optional list of 2-4 suggested answers shown as buttons. The user can also type a custom answer. If the user does not answer before the clarify timeout, options[0] is auto-selected — put the safe/default choice first. Omit if the question is genuinely open-ended (timeout then yields a non-confirmation timeout marker, not user approval).',
+            description: 'Optional list of 2-4 suggested answers shown as buttons. The user can also type a custom answer. If the user does not answer before the clarify timeout, options[0] is auto-selected — put the safe/default choice first. Omit if the question is genuinely open-ended (timeout then yields a non-confirmation timeout marker, not user approval). Write plain text with real quotation marks only — never include backslash escapes like \\". Stray escapes are stripped before display.',
           },
           safe_first: {
             type: 'boolean',

src/firefox/src/ui/sidepanel.js

@@ -10444,6 +10444,29 @@ function workflowHealingTargetLabel(target) {
 }
 
 function renderClarifyCard(data) {
+  // Repair display-side too so cards persisted before the agent-side fix (or
+  // arriving via an older background) no longer show literal `\"`. Inlined
+  // (no external helper) so function-extraction test harnesses keep working.
+  if (data && typeof data === 'object') {
+    // Mirrors repairClarifyText agent-side, inlined so function-extraction
+    // test harnesses keep working. Preserves UNC leading `\\`.
+    const cleanClarify = v => {
+      if (typeof v !== 'string' || !v.includes('\\')) return v;
+      const stripped = v.replace(/\\+(?=["'])/g, '');
+      return stripped.replace(/\\\\/g, (m, offset, str) => {
+        const before = offset === 0 ? '' : str[offset - 1];
+        const after = str[offset + 2] || '';
+        if ((offset === 0 || /[\s"'(\[{]/.test(before)) && /[A-Za-z0-9]/.test(after)) return m;
+        return '\\';
+      });
+    };
+    if (typeof data.question === 'string') data = { ...data, question: cleanClarify(data.question) };
+    if (typeof data.reason === 'string') data = { ...data, reason: cleanClarify(data.reason) };
+    if (Array.isArray(data.options)) data = { ...data, options: data.options.map(opt => typeof opt === 'string' ? cleanClarify(opt) : opt) };
+    if (data.researchEscalation && typeof data.researchEscalation.request === 'string') {
+      data = { ...data, researchEscalation: { ...data.researchEscalation, request: cleanClarify(data.researchEscalation.request) } };
+    }
+  }
   const tabId = data?.scheduledTabId ?? data?.tabId ?? currentTabId;
   if (tabId == null) return;
   const scheduledJobId = data?.scheduledJobId ? String(data.scheduledJobId) : '';