fix(transcription): guard @mention fetch against stale responses

Tag each runSearch with an incrementing requestId; discard responses
whose id no longer matches the latest onSearch. Prevents a slow fetch
from repopulating the dropdown after the user has cleared the search.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

frontend/src/lib/shared/discussion/PersonMentionEditor.svelte

@@ -187,24 +187,33 @@ onMount(() => {
 							clientRect?: (() => DOMRect | null) | null;
 						};
 
+						// Request-token guard: every onSearch invocation bumps `requestId`;
+						// runSearch captures the id active when its fetch starts and discards
+						// the response if a newer onSearch has fired since. Without this, a
+						// late response can repopulate the dropdown after the user cleared
+						// the search input. Sara on PR #629.
+						let requestId = 0;
 						const runSearch = async (query: string) => {
+							const id = requestId;
 							try {
 								const res = await fetch(`/api/persons?q=${encodeURIComponent(query)}`);
+								if (id !== requestId) return;
 								if (!res.ok) {
 									dropdownState.items = [];
 									return;
 								}
-								dropdownState.items = ((await res.json()) as Person[]).slice(
+								const data = (await res.json()) as Person[];
-									0,
+								if (id !== requestId) return;
-									SEARCH_RESULT_LIMIT
+								dropdownState.items = data.slice(0, SEARCH_RESULT_LIMIT);
-								);
 							} catch {
+								if (id !== requestId) return;
 								dropdownState.items = [];
 							}
 						};
 						const debouncedSearch = debounce(runSearch, SEARCH_DEBOUNCE_MS);
 						cancelPendingSearch = () => debouncedSearch.cancel();
 						const onSearch = (query: string) => {
+							requestId++;
 							if (query.trim() === '') {
 								debouncedSearch.cancel();
 								dropdownState.items = [];

frontend/src/lib/shared/discussion/PersonMentionEditor.svelte.spec.ts

@@ -237,6 +237,36 @@ describe('PersonMentionEditor — AC-2/3: search input drives fetch', () => {
 	});
 });
 
+// ─── Stale-response race (Sara on PR #629) ───────────────────────────────────
+
+describe('PersonMentionEditor — stale-response race', () => {
+	it('discards a stale response that resolves after the search has been cleared', async () => {
+		let resolveFetch!: (v: { ok: boolean; json: () => Promise<Person[]> }) => void;
+		const pendingResponse = new Promise<{ ok: boolean; json: () => Promise<Person[]> }>((r) => {
+			resolveFetch = r;
+		});
+		const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockReturnValue(pendingResponse);
+		vi.stubGlobal('fetch', fetchMock);
+		renderHost();
+
+		// Open the dropdown and let the debounce fire so a fetch is in flight.
+		await userEvent.type(page.getByRole('textbox'), '@Aug');
+		await vi.waitFor(() => {
+			expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining('/api/persons?q=Aug'));
+		});
+
+		// Clear the search input *before* the fetch resolves.
+		await userEvent.clear(page.getByRole('searchbox'));
+		await expect.element(page.getByRole('searchbox')).toHaveValue('');
+
+		// The stale fetch now resolves with persons. The dropdown must stay empty.
+		resolveFetch({ ok: true, json: () => Promise.resolve([AUGUSTE]) });
+		await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 50));
+
+		await expect.element(page.getByText('Auguste Raddatz')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+	});
+});
+
 // ─── AC-1: search input prefilled with text typed after @ ───────────────────
 
 describe('PersonMentionEditor — AC-1: search input prefill', () => {