## ADDED Requirements

### Requirement: Message display

The chat page SHALL display messages in a vertically scrolling list, with each message showing the sender role (user or assistant), the message content, and a visual distinction between user and assistant messages (e.g., alignment, color, or avatar).

#### Scenario: User message displayed

- **WHEN** the user sends a message
- **THEN** the message appears in the message list aligned or styled to indicate it is from the user

#### Scenario: Assistant message displayed

- **WHEN** the assistant responds
- **THEN** the response appears in the message list with distinct styling from user messages (different alignment, color, or avatar)

#### Scenario: Message ordering

- **WHEN** multiple messages exist in the conversation
- **THEN** messages are displayed in chronological order, oldest at top

### Requirement: Message input

The chat page SHALL provide a text input area at the bottom of the page where the user can type and submit messages.

#### Scenario: Submit via button

- **WHEN** the user types text and clicks the send button
- **THEN** the message is added to the conversation and the input is cleared

#### Scenario: Submit via Enter key

- **WHEN** the user types text and presses Enter
- **THEN** the message is submitted (same as clicking send)

#### Scenario: Empty input blocked

- **WHEN** the user attempts to send an empty or whitespace-only message
- **THEN** nothing is sent and no message is added

### Requirement: Hardcoded response

In this phase, the assistant SHALL reply with a hardcoded message to every user input. This stubs the AI integration point for future phases.

#### Scenario: Bot replies to any input

- **WHEN** the user sends any message
- **THEN** the assistant replies with a hardcoded response (e.g., "This is a placeholder response. AI integration coming soon!")

### Requirement: Auto-scroll

The message list SHALL automatically scroll to the newest message when a new message is added.

#### Scenario: New message scrolls into view

- **WHEN** a new message (user or assistant) is added to the conversation
- **THEN** the message list scrolls to the bottom so the new message is visible

### Requirement: Chat page is default route

The chat page SHALL be the default route (`/`) of the application.

#### Scenario: App opens to chat

- **WHEN** the user navigates to the root URL
- **THEN** the chat page is displayed