diff --git a/src/components/AiPanelChrome.performance.test.tsx b/src/components/AiPanelChrome.performance.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e83b1ac9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/AiPanelChrome.performance.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import { useState } from 'react'
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { fireEvent, render, screen } from '@testing-library/react'
+import { AiPanelMessageHistory } from './AiPanelChrome'
+
+const aiMessageRender = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
+
+vi.mock('./AiMessage', () => ({
+  AiMessage: (props: { id?: string; response: string }) => {
+    aiMessageRender(props.id)
+    return <div data-testid="ai-message">{props.response}</div>
+  },
+}))
+
+const noop = () => {}
+
+function HistoryRerenderHarness() {
+  const [draft, setDraft] = useState('')
+  const [messages] = useState([{
+    userMessage: 'Explain the note',
+    actions: [],
+    response: 'Here is a long answer with [[Test Note]].',
+    id: 'msg-stable',
+  }])
+
+  return (
+    <>
+      <button type="button" onClick={() => setDraft('typing')}>type</button>
+      <span data-testid="draft">{draft}</span>
+      <AiPanelMessageHistory
+        agentLabel="Claude Code"
+        agentReadiness="ready"
+        messages={messages}
+        isActive={false}
+        onOpenNote={noop}
+        onNavigateWikilink={noop}
+        hasContext
+      />
+    </>
+  )
+}
+
+describe('AiPanelChrome performance', () => {
+  it('keeps stable message history from re-rendering while composer state changes', () => {
+    render(<HistoryRerenderHarness />)
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('ai-message')).toHaveTextContent('Here is a long answer')
+    expect(aiMessageRender).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    aiMessageRender.mockClear()
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'type' }))
+
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('draft')).toHaveTextContent('typing')
+    expect(aiMessageRender).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/components/AiPanelChrome.tsx b/src/components/AiPanelChrome.tsx
index 05d43511..c6284926 100644
--- a/src/components/AiPanelChrome.tsx
+++ b/src/components/AiPanelChrome.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react'
+import { memo, useEffect, useRef } from 'react'
 import { Robot, X, PaperPlaneRight, Plus, Link } from '@phosphor-icons/react'
 import { AiMessage } from './AiMessage'
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button'
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ function AiPanelEmptyState({
   )
 }
 
-export function AiPanelHeader({
+export const AiPanelHeader = memo(function AiPanelHeader({
   agentLabel,
   agentReadiness,
   locale = 'en',
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ export function AiPanelHeader({
       />
     </div>
   )
-}
+})
 
 function AiPermissionModeToggle({
   value,
@@ -277,7 +277,11 @@ function AiPermissionModeToggle({
   )
 }
 
-export function AiPanelContextBar({ activeEntry, linkedCount, locale = 'en' }: AiPanelContextBarProps) {
+export const AiPanelContextBar = memo(function AiPanelContextBar({
+  activeEntry,
+  linkedCount,
+  locale = 'en',
+}: AiPanelContextBarProps) {
   const t = createTranslator(locale)
 
   return (
@@ -293,9 +297,9 @@ export function AiPanelContextBar({ activeEntry, linkedCount, locale = 'en' }: A
       )}
     </div>
   )
-}
+})
 
-export function AiPanelMessageHistory({
+export const AiPanelMessageHistory = memo(function AiPanelMessageHistory({
   agentLabel,
   agentReadiness,
   locale = 'en',
@@ -332,7 +336,7 @@ export function AiPanelMessageHistory({
       <div ref={endRef} />
     </div>
   )
-}
+})
 
 export function AiPanelComposer({
   entries,
diff --git a/src/components/WikilinkChatInput.test.tsx b/src/components/WikilinkChatInput.test.tsx
index e6eb8bb9..3ce8193d 100644
--- a/src/components/WikilinkChatInput.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/WikilinkChatInput.test.tsx
@@ -437,6 +437,26 @@ describe('WikilinkChatInput', () => {
     expect(screen.queryByTestId('inline-wikilink-chip')).toBeNull()
   })
 
+  it('lets native modified delete shortcuts reach the browser editor pipeline', () => {
+    const onDraftChange = vi.fn()
+    render(<Controlled onDraftChange={onDraftChange} />)
+    updateEditorText('delete the previous words')
+    onDraftChange.mockClear()
+
+    const editor = screen.getByTestId('agent-input')
+    const optionBackspace = createEvent.keyDown(editor, { key: 'Backspace', altKey: true })
+    fireEvent(editor, optionBackspace)
+    const commandBackspace = createEvent.keyDown(editor, { key: 'Backspace', metaKey: true })
+    fireEvent(editor, commandBackspace)
+    const controlDelete = createEvent.keyDown(editor, { key: 'Delete', ctrlKey: true })
+    fireEvent(editor, controlDelete)
+
+    expect(optionBackspace.defaultPrevented).toBe(false)
+    expect(commandBackspace.defaultPrevented).toBe(false)
+    expect(controlDelete.defaultPrevented).toBe(false)
+    expect(onDraftChange).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
   it('submits serialized wikilink text and resolved references', () => {
     const onSend = vi.fn()
     render(<Controlled onSend={onSend} />)
diff --git a/src/components/inlineWikilinkKeydown.ts b/src/components/inlineWikilinkKeydown.ts
index 5bf64a1c..9e7922be 100644
--- a/src/components/inlineWikilinkKeydown.ts
+++ b/src/components/inlineWikilinkKeydown.ts
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ function handleDeleteKeys({
   onDeleteContent,
 }: HandleDeleteKeysArgs): boolean {
   if (isInlineWikilinkCompositionEvent(event, isComposing)) return false
+  if (event.altKey || event.ctrlKey || event.metaKey) return false
 
   if (event.key === 'Backspace') {
     event.preventDefault()