Fix gpt-5.4-mini tool calls and stuck chat thinking indicators.

Omit reasoning_effort when calling OpenAI with function tools, clear thinking state on stream complete, and surface expired JWT so chat no longer silently stalls.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

multi_llm_chatbot_backend/app/llm/openai_fallback_client.py

@@ -36,7 +36,11 @@ class OpenAIFallbackClient(LLMClient):
 
     _ALLOWED_ROLES = {"system", "assistant", "user", "function", "tool", "developer"}
 
-    def _reasoning_kwargs(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    def _reasoning_kwargs(self, *, with_tools: bool = False) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        # gpt-5.4-mini (and similar) reject reasoning_effort together with
+        # function tools on /v1/chat/completions. Omit it for tool calls.
+        if with_tools:
+            return {}
         if not self.reasoning_effort or self.reasoning_effort == "none":
             return {}
         return {"reasoning_effort": self.reasoning_effort}
@@ -120,6 +124,7 @@ class OpenAIFallbackClient(LLMClient):
         ]
         openai_tools = tool_definitions or []
         all_tool_calls: List[ToolCallInfo] = []
+        has_tools = bool(openai_tools)
 
         try:
             for _round in range(self._MAX_TOOL_ROUNDS):
@@ -129,7 +134,7 @@ class OpenAIFallbackClient(LLMClient):
                     messages=self._normalize_messages(messages),
                     tools=openai_tools or None,
                     **{token_kwarg: max_tokens},
-                    **self._reasoning_kwargs(),
+                    **self._reasoning_kwargs(with_tools=has_tools),
                 )
                 if not self._uses_completion_tokens_param():
                     tool_kwargs["temperature"] = temperature

phd-advisor-frontend/src/pages/ChatPage.js

@@ -242,14 +242,14 @@ const ChatPage = ({ user, authToken, onNavigateToHome, onNavigateToCanvas, onSig
         setCurrentSessionTitle(newSession.title);
         
         console.log('MongoDB session created:', newSession.id);
-        return newSession.id;
+        return { id: newSession.id, status: response.status };
       } else {
         console.error('Failed to create new session');
-        return null;
+        return { id: null, status: response.status };
       }
     } catch (error) {
       console.error('Error creating new session:', error);
-      return null;
+      return { id: null, status: 0 };
     }
   };
 
@@ -394,7 +394,8 @@ const handleNewChat = async (sessionId = null) => {
         const result = await response.json();
         if (result.status === 'success') {
           // Step 2: Immediately create MongoDB session
-          const newSessionId = await createNewSession(`Chat ${new Date().toLocaleDateString()}`);
+          const created = await createNewSession(`Chat ${new Date().toLocaleDateString()}`);
+          const newSessionId = created?.id || null;
           
           if (newSessionId) {
             // Reset all state to fresh with the new session
@@ -482,9 +483,22 @@ const handleNewChat = async (sessionId = null) => {
     // Create new session if we don't have one
     let sessionId = currentSessionId;
     if (!sessionId) {
-      sessionId = await createNewSession(inputMessage);
+      const created = await createNewSession(inputMessage);
+      sessionId = created?.id || null;
       if (!sessionId) {
         console.error('Failed to create session');
+        const authExpired = created?.status === 401;
+        setMessages(prev => [...prev, {
+          id: generateMessageId(),
+          type: 'error',
+          content: authExpired
+            ? 'Your login expired. Please sign in again to continue chatting.'
+            : 'Could not start a chat session. Please try again.',
+          timestamp: new Date()
+        }]);
+        if (authExpired && onSignOut) {
+          onSignOut();
+        }
         return;
       }
     }
@@ -514,12 +528,16 @@ const handleNewChat = async (sessionId = null) => {
     setThinkingAdvisors(['system']);
 
     try {
+      const controller = new AbortController();
+      const streamTimeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 120000);
+
       const response = await fetch(`${process.env.REACT_APP_API_URL}/chat-stream`, {
         method: 'POST',
         headers: {
           'Content-Type': 'application/json',
           'Authorization': `Bearer ${authToken}`,
         },
+        signal: controller.signal,
         body: JSON.stringify({
           user_input: inputMessage,
           response_length: 'medium',
@@ -564,7 +582,9 @@ const handleNewChat = async (sessionId = null) => {
               };
               setMessages(prev => [...prev, msg]);
               setThinkingAdvisors(prev => prev.filter(a => a !== d.persona_id));
-              await saveMessageToSession(msg, sessionId);
+              saveMessageToSession(msg, sessionId).catch(err =>
+                console.error('Failed to persist advisor message:', err)
+              );
               break;
             }
             case 'clarification':
@@ -587,6 +607,7 @@ const handleNewChat = async (sessionId = null) => {
                 break;
               }
               if (d.phase === 'complete') {
+                setThinkingAdvisors([]);
                 break;
               }
               if (d.persona_id != null) {
@@ -607,12 +628,17 @@ const handleNewChat = async (sessionId = null) => {
         }
       }
 
+      clearTimeout(streamTimeout);
+
     } catch (error) {
       console.error('Error sending message:', error);
+      const isAbort = error?.name === 'AbortError';
       setMessages(prev => [...prev, {
         id: generateMessageId(),
         type: 'error',
-        content: `Failed to send message: ${error.message}`,
+        content: isAbort
+          ? 'The advisor panel took too long to respond. Please try again.'
+          : `Failed to send message: ${error.message}`,
         timestamp: new Date()
       }]);
     } finally {
@@ -626,9 +652,11 @@ const handleNewChat = async (sessionId = null) => {
   // Ensure we have a session before proceeding
   let sessionId = currentSessionId;
   if (!sessionId) {
-    sessionId = await createNewSession(inputMessage);
+    const created = await createNewSession(inputMessage);
+    sessionId = created?.id || null;
     if (!sessionId) {
       console.error('Failed to create session for reply');
+      if (created?.status === 401 && onSignOut) onSignOut();
       return;
     }
   }