diff --git a/src/components/room/RoomChatPanel.tsx b/src/components/room/RoomChatPanel.tsx
index 3976829..da31b7f 100644
--- a/src/components/room/RoomChatPanel.tsx
+++ b/src/components/room/RoomChatPanel.tsx
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ import { RoomThreadPanel } from './RoomThreadPanel';
 
 const MENTION_PATTERN = /@([^:@\s]*)(:([^\s]*))?$/;
 const MENTION_POPOVER_KEYS = ['Enter', 'Tab', 'ArrowUp', 'ArrowDown'];
+/** Module-level ref shared between ChatInputArea (writes) and RoomChatPanel (reads) */
+const mentionConfirmRef = { current: (() => {}) as () => void };
 
 export interface ChatInputAreaHandle {
   insertMention: (id: string, label: string, type: 'user' | 'ai') => void;
@@ -283,8 +285,6 @@ export function RoomChatPanel({ room, isAdmin, onClose, onDelete }: RoomChatPane
 
   const messagesEndRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
   const chatInputRef = useRef<ChatInputAreaHandle>(null);
-  /** Shared ref: MentionPopover writes the confirm fn here; ChatInputArea reads and calls it */
-  const mentionConfirmRef = useRef<() => void>(() => {});
 
   const [replyingTo, setReplyingTo] = useState<MessageWithMeta | null>(null);
   const [editingMessage, setEditingMessage] = useState<MessageWithMeta | null>(null);