Fix: Focus inline reply textarea after generating suggestion

[Infinite-Null]

What?

Fixes an issue where the inline reply textarea fails to retain focus after an AI-suggested reply is generated.

Why?

Previously, when a reply suggestion was generated, the code attempted to focus the textarea while the reply form was still disabled. Because of this the focus was lost.

How?

• Removed the textarea.focus() call from the populateReplyTextarea function.
• Moved the textarea.focus() call to the runGeneration function. This ensures the textarea is re-enabled and interactive before attempting to set focus to it.

Use of AI Tools

AI assistance: Yes
Tool(s): Claude
Model(s): Sonnet 4.6
Used for: Code review, PR description

Testing Instructions

1. Go to the Comments screen in the WordPress admin.
2. Find a comment and click the "Suggest reply" action link (or click "Reply", then click the "Suggest Reply" button).
3. Wait for the AI reply to be generated.
4. Verify that once the generation is complete and the text is inserted, the cursor focus is automatically placed inside the textarea so you can immediately start typing or editing.

Changelog Entry

Fixed - Inline reply textarea not receiving focus after generating a suggested reply.

Before

Screen.Recording.2026-07-17.at.9.43.10.AM.mov

After

Screen.Recording.2026-07-17.at.9.42.24.AM.mov

[github-actions]

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Co-authored-by: Infinite-Null <ankitkumarshah@git.wordpress.org>

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[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 78.44%. Comparing base (8c3606a) to head (8e8cdda).
⚠️ Report is 5 commits behind head on develop.

Additional details and impacted files

@@              Coverage Diff              @@
##             develop     #877      +/-   ##
=============================================
+ Coverage      78.40%   78.44%   +0.04%     
  Complexity      2454     2454              
=============================================
  Files            104      104              
  Lines           9918     9925       +7     
=============================================
+ Hits            7776     7786      +10     
+ Misses          2142     2139       -3     

Flag	Coverage Δ
unit	78.44% <ø> (+0.04%)	⬆️

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