diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/assistant-ui/thread.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/assistant-ui/thread.tsx
index 6876ce23e..c4f6fed05 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/assistant-ui/thread.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/assistant-ui/thread.tsx
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ import { useMediaQuery } from "@/hooks/use-media-query";
 import { useElectronAPI } from "@/hooks/use-platform";
 import { captureDisplayToPngDataUrl } from "@/lib/chat/display-media-capture";
 import { getMentionDocKey } from "@/lib/chat/mention-doc-key";
-import { SLIDEOUT_PANEL_OPENED_EVENT } from "@/lib/layout-events";
+import { slideoutOpenedTickAtom } from "@/lib/layout-events";
 import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";
 
 const COMPOSER_PLACEHOLDER = "Ask anything, type / for prompts, type @ to mention docs";
@@ -478,15 +478,18 @@ const Composer: FC = () => {
 		editorRef.current?.focus();
 	}, [isDesktop, showDocumentPopover, showPromptPicker, threadId]);
 
-	// Close document picker when a slide-out panel (inbox, etc.) opens.
+	// Close document picker when a sidebar slide-out panel (inbox, etc.) opens.
+	// React only on changes to the tick — comparing against the previously-seen
+	// value preserves the one-shot semantics of the prior window-event approach
+	// (no retroactive close on mount if a panel had already opened earlier).
+	const slideoutOpenedTick = useAtomValue(slideoutOpenedTickAtom);
+	const lastSeenSlideoutTickRef = useRef(slideoutOpenedTick);
 	useEffect(() => {
-		const handler = () => {
-			setShowDocumentPopover(false);
-			setMentionQuery("");
-		};
-		window.addEventListener(SLIDEOUT_PANEL_OPENED_EVENT, handler);
-		return () => window.removeEventListener(SLIDEOUT_PANEL_OPENED_EVENT, handler);
-	}, []);
+		if (lastSeenSlideoutTickRef.current === slideoutOpenedTick) return;
+		lastSeenSlideoutTickRef.current = slideoutOpenedTick;
+		setShowDocumentPopover(false);
+		setMentionQuery("");
+	}, [slideoutOpenedTick]);
 
 	// Sync editor text into assistant-ui's composer and mirror the chip
 	// atom from the editor's reported ``docs``. The editor is the
diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/layout/ui/sidebar/SidebarSlideOutPanel.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/layout/ui/sidebar/SidebarSlideOutPanel.tsx
index 3fa4dd5d3..52b2cf998 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/layout/ui/sidebar/SidebarSlideOutPanel.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/layout/ui/sidebar/SidebarSlideOutPanel.tsx
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 "use client";
 
+import { useSetAtom } from "jotai";
 import { AnimatePresence, motion } from "motion/react";
 import { useCallback, useEffect } from "react";
 import { useIsMobile } from "@/hooks/use-mobile";
-import { SLIDEOUT_PANEL_OPENED_EVENT } from "@/lib/layout-events";
+import { slideoutOpenedTickAtom } from "@/lib/layout-events";
 
 interface SidebarSlideOutPanelProps {
 	open: boolean;
@@ -29,12 +30,13 @@ export function SidebarSlideOutPanel({
 	children,
 }: SidebarSlideOutPanelProps) {
 	const isMobile = useIsMobile();
+	const bumpSlideoutOpenedTick = useSetAtom(slideoutOpenedTickAtom);
 
 	useEffect(() => {
 		if (open) {
-			window.dispatchEvent(new Event(SLIDEOUT_PANEL_OPENED_EVENT));
+			bumpSlideoutOpenedTick((tick) => tick + 1);
 		}
-	}, [open]);
+	}, [open, bumpSlideoutOpenedTick]);
 
 	const handleEscape = useCallback(
 		(e: KeyboardEvent) => {
diff --git a/surfsense_web/lib/layout-events.ts b/surfsense_web/lib/layout-events.ts
index 45c52f7a4..755329c41 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/lib/layout-events.ts
+++ b/surfsense_web/lib/layout-events.ts
@@ -1 +1,11 @@
-export const SLIDEOUT_PANEL_OPENED_EVENT = "slideout-panel-opened";
+import { atom } from "jotai";
+
+/**
+ * Tick counter that increments each time a sidebar slide-out panel opens.
+ * Consumers read this with `useAtomValue` and store the last-seen value in
+ * a ref so the effect fires only when the tick changes. This preserves the
+ * one-shot semantics of the previous window-event implementation: a
+ * subscriber that mounts after a panel has already opened does not
+ * retroactively re-trigger.
+ */
+export const slideoutOpenedTickAtom = atom(0);