diff --git a/src/components/room/MentionPopover.tsx b/src/components/room/MentionPopover.tsx
index 2479f34..9922d8c 100644
--- a/src/components/room/MentionPopover.tsx
+++ b/src/components/room/MentionPopover.tsx
@@ -223,19 +223,13 @@ export function MentionPopover({
   onCategoryEnterRef.current = onCategoryEnter;
 
   // Parse mention state
-  mentionStateRef.current = useMemo(
-    () => {
-      const before = inputValue.slice(0, cursorPosition);
-      const match = before.match(/@([^:@\s<]*)(:([^\s<]*))?$/);
-      if (!match) return null;
-      return { category: match[1].toLowerCase(), item: (match[3] ?? '').toLowerCase(), hasColon: match[2] !== undefined };
-    },
-    // Inline — not used as dependency
-    inputValue, cursorPosition,
-  );
-  // Force update reference
-  const [, setTick] = useState(0);
-  useEffect(() => { setTick(t => t + 1); }, [inputValue, cursorPosition]);
+  const mentionState = useMemo(() => {
+    const before = inputValue.slice(0, cursorPosition);
+    const match = before.match(/@([^:@\s<]*)(:([^\s<]*))?$/);
+    if (!match) return null;
+    return { category: match[1].toLowerCase(), item: (match[3] ?? '').toLowerCase(), hasColon: match[2] !== undefined };
+  }, [inputValue, cursorPosition]);
+  mentionStateRef.current = mentionState;
 
   visibleSuggestionsRef.current = suggestions;
   selectedIndexRef.current = selectedIndex;
@@ -314,7 +308,7 @@ export function MentionPopover({
 
   useLayoutEffect(() => {
     if (!containerRef.current) return;
-    if (!mentionStateRef.current) return;
+    if (!mentionState) return;
 
     const textarea = containerRef.current;
     const styles = window.getComputedStyle(textarea);
@@ -328,8 +322,7 @@ export function MentionPopover({
     tempDiv.style.pointerEvents = 'none';
     document.body.appendChild(tempDiv);
 
-    const ms = mentionStateRef.current;
-    const pattern = ms.hasColon ? `@${ms.category}:${ms.item}` : `@${ms.category}`;
+    const pattern = mentionState.hasColon ? `@${mentionState.category}:${mentionState.item}` : `@${mentionState.category}`;
     tempDiv.textContent = inputValue.slice(0, cursorPosition - pattern.length + (inputValue.slice(0, cursorPosition).lastIndexOf(pattern)));
 
     const span = document.createElement('span');
@@ -381,7 +374,7 @@ export function MentionPopover({
 
     // Simple approach: just use the textarea bounds + estimated offset
     // This is sufficient for most cases
-  }, [inputValue, cursorPosition, containerRef, mentionStateRef, suggestions.length]);
+  }, [inputValue, cursorPosition, containerRef, mentionState, suggestions.length]);
 
   // ─── Keyboard Navigation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -434,18 +427,16 @@ export function MentionPopover({
 
   // Hide when mention state is gone
   useEffect(() => {
-    const ms = mentionStateRef.current;
-    if (!ms) closePopover();
-  }, [inputValue, cursorPosition, closePopover]);
+    if (!mentionState) closePopover();
+  }, [inputValue, cursorPosition, closePopover, mentionState]);
 
   // Don't render if no valid mention context
-  const ms = mentionStateRef.current;
-  if (!ms) return null;
+  if (!mentionState) return null;
 
-  const isLoading = (ms.category === 'repository' && reposLoading) ||
-    (ms.category === 'ai' && aiConfigsLoading);
+  const isLoading = (mentionState.category === 'repository' && reposLoading) ||
+    (mentionState.category === 'ai' && aiConfigsLoading);
 
-  const currentCategory = ms.hasColon ? ms.category : null;
+  const currentCategory = mentionState.hasColon ? mentionState.category : null;
   const catConfig = currentCategory ? CATEGORY_CONFIG[currentCategory] : null;
 
   return (
@@ -456,12 +447,12 @@ export function MentionPopover({
           <span className="text-xs font-semibold text-muted-foreground">@</span>
         </div>
         <div className="flex-1 flex items-center gap-1.5 min-w-0">
-          {ms.hasColon ? (
+          {mentionState.hasColon ? (
             <>
-              <span className={cn('text-xs font-medium px-1.5 py-0.5 rounded-md', catConfig?.bgColor, catConfig?.color)}>{ms.category}</span>
-              {ms.item && (<>
+              <span className={cn('text-xs font-medium px-1.5 py-0.5 rounded-md', catConfig?.bgColor, catConfig?.color)}>{mentionState.category}</span>
+              {mentionState.item && (<>
                 <span className="text-muted-foreground">/</span>
-                <span className="text-xs text-foreground font-medium truncate">{ms.item}</span>
+                <span className="text-xs text-foreground font-medium truncate">{mentionState.item}</span>
               </>)}
             </>
           ) : (
@@ -488,7 +479,7 @@ export function MentionPopover({
                 <SuggestionItem key={s.mentionId || s.label + i} suggestion={s} isSelected={i === selectedIndex}
                   onSelect={() => doInsert(s)}
                   onMouseEnter={() => { setSelectedIndex(i); selectedIndexRef.current = i; }}
-                  searchTerm={ms.item} />
+                  searchTerm={mentionState.item} />
               </div>
             ))}
           </div>