diff --git a/src/components/chat/hooks/useChatRealtimeHandlers.ts b/src/components/chat/hooks/useChatRealtimeHandlers.ts
index 342ea117..4ae861db 100644
--- a/src/components/chat/hooks/useChatRealtimeHandlers.ts
+++ b/src/components/chat/hooks/useChatRealtimeHandlers.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import type { Dispatch, MutableRefObject, SetStateAction } from 'react';
 
 import { usePaletteOps } from '../../../contexts/PaletteOpsContext';
 import type { PendingPermissionRequest, SessionNavigationOptions } from '../types/types';
-import type { Project, ProjectSession, LLMProvider } from '../../../types/app';
+import type { ProjectSession, LLMProvider } from '../../../types/app';
 import type { SessionStore, NormalizedMessage } from '../../../stores/useSessionStore';
 
 type PendingViewSession = {
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ type LatestChatMessage = {
 interface UseChatRealtimeHandlersArgs {
   latestMessage: LatestChatMessage | null;
   provider: LLMProvider;
-  selectedProject: Project | null;
   selectedSession: ProjectSession | null;
   currentSessionId: string | null;
   setCurrentSessionId: (sessionId: string | null) => void;
@@ -61,7 +60,6 @@ interface UseChatRealtimeHandlersArgs {
   setTokenBudget: (budget: Record<string, unknown> | null) => void;
   setPendingPermissionRequests: Dispatch<SetStateAction<PendingPermissionRequest[]>>;
   pendingViewSessionRef: MutableRefObject<PendingViewSession | null>;
-  streamBufferRef: MutableRefObject<string>;
   streamTimerRef: MutableRefObject<number | null>;
   accumulatedStreamRef: MutableRefObject<string>;
   onSessionInactive?: (sessionId?: string | null) => void;
@@ -80,7 +78,6 @@ interface UseChatRealtimeHandlersArgs {
 export function useChatRealtimeHandlers({
   latestMessage,
   provider,
-  selectedProject,
   selectedSession,
   currentSessionId,
   setCurrentSessionId,
@@ -90,7 +87,6 @@ export function useChatRealtimeHandlers({
   setTokenBudget,
   setPendingPermissionRequests,
   pendingViewSessionRef,
-  streamBufferRef,
   streamTimerRef,
   accumulatedStreamRef,
   onSessionInactive,
@@ -187,7 +183,6 @@ export function useChatRealtimeHandlers({
     if (msg.kind === 'stream_delta') {
       const text = msg.content || '';
       if (!text) return;
-      streamBufferRef.current += text;
       accumulatedStreamRef.current += text;
       if (!streamTimerRef.current) {
         streamTimerRef.current = window.setTimeout(() => {
@@ -216,12 +211,18 @@ export function useChatRealtimeHandlers({
         sessionStore.finalizeStreaming(sid);
       }
       accumulatedStreamRef.current = '';
-      streamBufferRef.current = '';
       return;
     }
 
     // --- All other messages: route to store ---
-    if (sid) {
+    const shouldPersist =
+      msg.kind !== 'session_created'
+      && msg.kind !== 'complete'
+      && msg.kind !== 'status'
+      && msg.kind !== 'permission_request'
+      && msg.kind !== 'permission_cancelled';
+
+    if (sid && shouldPersist) {
       sessionStore.appendRealtime(sid, msg as NormalizedMessage);
     }
 
@@ -232,6 +233,8 @@ export function useChatRealtimeHandlers({
         if (!newSessionId) break;
 
         if (!currentSessionId || currentSessionId.startsWith('new-session-')) {
+          console.log('Session created with ID:', newSessionId);
+          console.log('Existing session ID:', currentSessionId);
           sessionStorage.setItem('pendingSessionId', newSessionId);
           if (pendingViewSessionRef.current && !pendingViewSessionRef.current.sessionId) {
             pendingViewSessionRef.current.sessionId = newSessionId;
@@ -257,7 +260,6 @@ export function useChatRealtimeHandlers({
           sessionStore.finalizeStreaming(sid);
         }
         accumulatedStreamRef.current = '';
-        streamBufferRef.current = '';
 
         setIsLoading(false);
         setCanAbortSession(false);
@@ -386,7 +388,6 @@ export function useChatRealtimeHandlers({
   }, [
     latestMessage,
     provider,
-    selectedProject,
     selectedSession,
     currentSessionId,
     setCurrentSessionId,
@@ -396,7 +397,6 @@ export function useChatRealtimeHandlers({
     setTokenBudget,
     setPendingPermissionRequests,
     pendingViewSessionRef,
-    streamBufferRef,
     streamTimerRef,
     accumulatedStreamRef,
     onSessionInactive,
diff --git a/src/components/chat/view/ChatInterface.tsx b/src/components/chat/view/ChatInterface.tsx
index 8589f29a..46e95abd 100644
--- a/src/components/chat/view/ChatInterface.tsx
+++ b/src/components/chat/view/ChatInterface.tsx
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ function ChatInterface({
   const { t } = useTranslation('chat');
 
   const sessionStore = useSessionStore();
-  const streamBufferRef = useRef('');
   const streamTimerRef = useRef<number | null>(null);
   const accumulatedStreamRef = useRef('');
   const pendingViewSessionRef = useRef<PendingViewSession | null>(null);
@@ -60,7 +59,6 @@ function ChatInterface({
       clearTimeout(streamTimerRef.current);
       streamTimerRef.current = null;
     }
-    streamBufferRef.current = '';
     accumulatedStreamRef.current = '';
   }, []);
 
@@ -225,7 +223,6 @@ function ChatInterface({
   useChatRealtimeHandlers({
     latestMessage,
     provider,
-    selectedProject,
     selectedSession,
     currentSessionId,
     setCurrentSessionId,
@@ -235,7 +232,6 @@ function ChatInterface({
     setTokenBudget,
     setPendingPermissionRequests,
     pendingViewSessionRef,
-    streamBufferRef,
     streamTimerRef,
     accumulatedStreamRef,
     onSessionInactive,