diff --git a/client/src/components/Chat/Input/SkillsCommand.tsx b/client/src/components/Chat/Input/SkillsCommand.tsx
index f204acf714..1d2604e78a 100644
--- a/client/src/components/Chat/Input/SkillsCommand.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/Chat/Input/SkillsCommand.tsx
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import { useSkillsInfiniteQuery } from '~/data-provider';
 import { useAgentsMapContext } from '~/Providers';
 import { ephemeralAgentByConvoId } from '~/store';
 import { isEphemeralAgent } from '~/common';
-import { removeCharIfLast } from '~/utils';
 import MentionItem from './MentionItem';
 import store from '~/store';
 
@@ -176,6 +175,7 @@ function SkillsCommandContent({
     inputRef,
     textAreaRef,
     commandChar,
+    preserveTextAfterCursor: true,
     setSearchValue,
     setOpen,
   });
@@ -190,10 +190,6 @@ function SkillsCommandContent({
       setOpen(false);
       setShowSkillsPopover(false);
 
-      if (textAreaRef.current) {
-        removeCharIfLast(textAreaRef.current, commandChar);
-      }
-
       setEphemeralAgent((prev) => {
         if (prev?.skills) {
           return prev;
diff --git a/client/src/components/Chat/Input/__tests__/SkillsCommand.spec.tsx b/client/src/components/Chat/Input/__tests__/SkillsCommand.spec.tsx
index a4951798dd..e032206950 100644
--- a/client/src/components/Chat/Input/__tests__/SkillsCommand.spec.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/Chat/Input/__tests__/SkillsCommand.spec.tsx
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  * PR has to honor: when a user picks a skill in the `$` popover the
  * component must (a) push the skill name onto the per-conversation
  * `pendingManualSkillsByConvoId` atom, (b) flip `ephemeralAgent.skills`
- * to true, and (c) insert `$skill-name ` into the textarea.
+ * to true, and (c) consume only the `$` command prefix from the textarea.
  *
  * Also covers the Phase 2 filter composition: per-agent skill scope
  * intersects with the ACL catalog, and per-user active-state toggles
@@ -115,9 +115,10 @@ jest.mock('react-virtualized', () => ({
 
 import SkillsCommand, { filterSkillsForPopover } from '../SkillsCommand';
 
-const makeTextarea = (initial = '$') => {
+const makeTextarea = (initial = '$', selectionStart = initial.length) => {
   const textarea = document.createElement('textarea');
   textarea.value = initial;
+  textarea.setSelectionRange(selectionStart, selectionStart);
   document.body.appendChild(textarea);
   return { current: textarea } as React.MutableRefObject<HTMLTextAreaElement | null>;
 };
@@ -189,6 +190,47 @@ describe('SkillsCommand', () => {
     expect(container).toBeEmptyDOMElement();
   });
 
+  it('preserves an existing draft when $ is inserted at the beginning', async () => {
+    const user = userEvent.setup();
+    const textAreaRef = makeTextarea('$Keep this draft', 1);
+
+    render(<SkillsCommand index={0} textAreaRef={textAreaRef} conversationId={CONVO_ID} />);
+
+    expect(screen.getByPlaceholderText('com_ui_skills_command_placeholder')).toHaveValue('');
+    expect(textAreaRef.current).toHaveValue('Keep this draft');
+    expect(textAreaRef.current?.selectionStart).toBe(0);
+
+    await user.click(await screen.findByRole('button', { name: /Brand Guidelines/i }));
+
+    expect(textAreaRef.current).toHaveValue('Keep this draft');
+    expect(document.activeElement).toBe(textAreaRef.current);
+  });
+
+  it('preserves a trailing $ in the existing draft after selecting a skill', async () => {
+    const user = userEvent.setup();
+    const textAreaRef = makeTextarea('$Keep this $', 1);
+
+    render(<SkillsCommand index={0} textAreaRef={textAreaRef} conversationId={CONVO_ID} />);
+
+    await user.click(await screen.findByRole('button', { name: /Brand Guidelines/i }));
+
+    expect(textAreaRef.current).toHaveValue('Keep this $');
+  });
+
+  it('does not consume a preserved leading $ when the popover input ref reattaches', () => {
+    const textAreaRef = makeTextarea('$$100', 1);
+    const { rerender } = render(
+      <SkillsCommand index={0} textAreaRef={textAreaRef} conversationId={CONVO_ID} />,
+    );
+    const nextTextAreaRef = {
+      current: textAreaRef.current,
+    } as React.MutableRefObject<HTMLTextAreaElement | null>;
+
+    rerender(<SkillsCommand index={0} textAreaRef={nextTextAreaRef} conversationId={CONVO_ID} />);
+
+    expect(nextTextAreaRef.current).toHaveValue('$100');
+  });
+
   it('selecting a skill pushes to pendingManualSkillsByConvoId, flips ephemeralAgent.skills, strips the $ trigger from the textarea, and closes the popover', async () => {
     const user = userEvent.setup();
     const textAreaRef = makeTextarea('$');
diff --git a/client/src/hooks/Input/useHandleKeyUp.spec.ts b/client/src/hooks/Input/useHandleKeyUp.spec.ts
index c50b63e8d5..fdfe836e0d 100644
--- a/client/src/hooks/Input/useHandleKeyUp.spec.ts
+++ b/client/src/hooks/Input/useHandleKeyUp.spec.ts
@@ -177,6 +177,15 @@ describe('useHandleKeyUp', () => {
 
       expect(setShowSkillsPopover).toHaveBeenCalledWith(true);
     });
+
+    it('triggers $ skill command when $ is inserted before an existing draft', () => {
+      const ref = makeTextAreaRef('$Keep this draft', 1);
+      const { handleKeyUp, setShowSkillsPopover } = renderUseHandleKeyUp(ref);
+
+      act(() => handleKeyUp(makeKeyEvent('$')));
+
+      expect(setShowSkillsPopover).toHaveBeenCalledWith(true);
+    });
   });
 
   describe('fast typing — cursor past position 1 but text is short', () => {
diff --git a/client/src/hooks/Input/useInitPopoverInput.ts b/client/src/hooks/Input/useInitPopoverInput.ts
index 8fd2507396..a3a28a2633 100644
--- a/client/src/hooks/Input/useInitPopoverInput.ts
+++ b/client/src/hooks/Input/useInitPopoverInput.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,18 @@
 import { useCallback } from 'react';
 
-/** Creates a callback ref that focuses the popover input, transfers the command text as a search prefix, and clears the textarea. */
+/** Creates a callback ref that focuses the popover input and transfers command text into search. */
 const useInitPopoverInput = ({
   inputRef,
   textAreaRef,
   commandChar,
+  preserveTextAfterCursor = false,
   setSearchValue,
   setOpen,
 }: {
   inputRef: React.MutableRefObject<HTMLInputElement | null>;
   textAreaRef: React.MutableRefObject<HTMLTextAreaElement | null>;
   commandChar: string;
+  preserveTextAfterCursor?: boolean;
   setSearchValue: (value: string) => void;
   setOpen: (value: boolean) => void;
 }) =>
@@ -20,23 +22,26 @@ const useInitPopoverInput = ({
       if (!node) {
         return;
       }
+      const textarea = textAreaRef.current;
+      const text = textarea?.value;
+      const selectionStart = textarea?.selectionStart;
       node.focus();
       setOpen(true);
-      const textarea = textAreaRef.current;
-      if (!textarea) {
+      if (!textarea || typeof text !== 'string' || typeof selectionStart !== 'number') {
         return;
       }
-      const text = textarea.value;
-      if (text.length > 0 && text[0] === commandChar) {
-        if (text.length > 1) {
-          setSearchValue(text.slice(1));
-        }
-        textarea.value = '';
-        textarea.setSelectionRange(0, 0);
-        textarea.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', { bubbles: true }));
+      if (!text.startsWith(commandChar) || selectionStart < commandChar.length) {
+        return;
       }
+      const commandEnd = preserveTextAfterCursor ? selectionStart : text.length;
+      if (commandEnd > commandChar.length) {
+        setSearchValue(text.slice(commandChar.length, commandEnd));
+      }
+      textarea.value = preserveTextAfterCursor ? text.slice(selectionStart) : '';
+      textarea.setSelectionRange(0, 0);
+      textarea.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', { bubbles: true }));
     },
-    [inputRef, textAreaRef, commandChar, setSearchValue, setOpen],
+    [inputRef, textAreaRef, commandChar, preserveTextAfterCursor, setSearchValue, setOpen],
   );
 
 export default useInitPopoverInput;