diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatWidget.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatWidget.ts
index 1c5601958ad..34354670c0c 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatWidget.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatWidget.ts
@@ -348,10 +348,14 @@ export class ChatWidget extends Disposable implements IChatWidget {
 
 		this.container.setAttribute('data-session-id', model.sessionId);
 		this.viewModel = this.instantiationService.createInstance(ChatViewModel, model);
-		this.viewModelDisposables.add(this.viewModel.onDidChange(() => {
+		this.viewModelDisposables.add(this.viewModel.onDidChange(e => {
 			this.slashCommandsPromise = undefined;
 			this.requestInProgress.set(this.viewModel!.requestInProgress);
 			this.onDidChangeItems();
+			if (e?.kind === 'addRequest') {
+				revealLastElement(this.tree);
+				this.focusInput();
+			}
 		}));
 		this.viewModelDisposables.add(this.viewModel.onDidDisposeModel(() => {
 			// Disposes the viewmodel and listeners
@@ -380,7 +384,6 @@ export class ChatWidget extends Disposable implements IChatWidget {
 			const input = query ?? editorValue;
 			const result = await this.chatService.sendRequest(this.viewModel.sessionId, input);
 			if (result) {
-				revealLastElement(this.tree);
 				this.inputPart.acceptInput(query);
 				result.responseCompletePromise.then(() => {
 					const responses = this.viewModel?.getItems().filter(isResponseVM);
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/chatViewModel.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/chatViewModel.ts
index fb1cc56bb45..5c3998f7fd0 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/chatViewModel.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/chatViewModel.ts
@@ -19,19 +19,25 @@ export function isRequestVM(item: unknown): item is IChatRequestViewModel {
 }
 
 export function isResponseVM(item: unknown): item is IChatResponseViewModel {
-	return !!item && typeof (item as IChatResponseViewModel).onDidChange !== 'undefined';
+	return !!item && typeof (item as IChatResponseViewModel).setVote !== 'undefined';
 }
 
 export function isWelcomeVM(item: unknown): item is IChatWelcomeMessageViewModel {
 	return !!item && typeof item === 'object' && 'content' in item;
 }
 
+export type IChatViewModelChangeEvent = IChatAddRequestEvent | null;
+
+export interface IChatAddRequestEvent {
+	kind: 'addRequest';
+}
+
 export interface IChatViewModel {
 	readonly isInitialized: boolean;
 	readonly providerId: string;
 	readonly sessionId: string;
 	readonly onDidDisposeModel: Event<void>;
-	readonly onDidChange: Event<void>;
+	readonly onDidChange: Event<IChatViewModelChangeEvent>;
 	readonly requestInProgress: boolean;
 	readonly inputPlaceholder?: string;
 	getItems(): (IChatRequestViewModel | IChatResponseViewModel | IChatWelcomeMessageViewModel)[];
@@ -64,7 +70,6 @@ export interface IChatLiveUpdateData {
 }
 
 export interface IChatResponseViewModel {
-	readonly onDidChange: Event<void>;
 	readonly id: string;
 	readonly sessionId: string;
 	/** This ID updates every time the underlying data changes */
@@ -91,7 +96,7 @@ export class ChatViewModel extends Disposable implements IChatViewModel {
 	private readonly _onDidDisposeModel = this._register(new Emitter<void>());
 	readonly onDidDisposeModel = this._onDidDisposeModel.event;
 
-	private readonly _onDidChange = this._register(new Emitter<void>());
+	private readonly _onDidChange = this._register(new Emitter<IChatViewModelChangeEvent>());
 	readonly onDidChange = this._onDidChange.event;
 
 	private readonly _items: (ChatRequestViewModel | ChatResponseViewModel)[] = [];
@@ -154,13 +159,13 @@ export class ChatViewModel extends Disposable implements IChatViewModel {
 				}
 			}
 
-			this._onDidChange.fire();
+			this._onDidChange.fire(e.kind === 'addRequest' ? { kind: 'addRequest' } : null);
 		}));
 	}
 
 	private onAddResponse(responseModel: IChatResponseModel) {
 		const response = this.instantiationService.createInstance(ChatResponseViewModel, responseModel);
-		this._register(response.onDidChange(() => this._onDidChange.fire()));
+		this._register(response.onDidChange(() => this._onDidChange.fire(null)));
 		this._items.push(response);
 	}