diff --git a/internal/app/app.go b/internal/app/app.go
index c15d2433..0179ca2e 100644
--- a/internal/app/app.go
+++ b/internal/app/app.go
@@ -78,6 +78,13 @@ type App struct {
 	// (~1 frame) so new updates are always let through once the TUI has had a
 	// chance to process the pending event.
 	widgetUpdatePending atomic.Bool
+
+	// steerDrainFn is the test seam used by releaseBusyAfterCompact to pull
+	// any steer messages that arrived during compaction. In production it is
+	// nil and the helper falls back to a.opts.Kit.DrainSteer(); tests that
+	// need to exercise the steer-drain path without standing up a full
+	// *kit.Kit can set this field directly to inject fake items.
+	steerDrainFn func() []queueItem
 }
 
 // New creates a new App with the provided options and pre-loaded messages.
@@ -503,9 +510,14 @@ func (a *App) CompactAsync(customInstructions string, onComplete func(), onError
 // fresh drainQueue goroutine to deliver them as a single batched turn.
 func (a *App) releaseBusyAfterCompact() {
 	// Pull steer messages outside the app mutex; DrainSteer takes its own
-	// internal lock and we don't want to nest the two.
+	// internal lock and we don't want to nest the two. The test seam
+	// (a.steerDrainFn) takes precedence so unit tests can inject fake
+	// steer items without a real *kit.Kit.
 	var steerItems []queueItem
-	if a.opts.Kit != nil {
+	switch {
+	case a.steerDrainFn != nil:
+		steerItems = a.steerDrainFn()
+	case a.opts.Kit != nil:
 		if leftover := a.opts.Kit.DrainSteer(); len(leftover) > 0 {
 			steerItems = make([]queueItem, len(leftover))
 			for i, sm := range leftover {
diff --git a/internal/app/app_test.go b/internal/app/app_test.go
index f6582e95..645dfe7b 100644
--- a/internal/app/app_test.go
+++ b/internal/app/app_test.go
@@ -850,6 +850,95 @@ func TestReleaseBusyAfterCompact_idleWhenQueueEmpty(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestReleaseBusyAfterCompact_splicesSteerAheadOfQueue exercises the SDK
+// steer-drain branch of releaseBusyAfterCompact (issue #27 follow-up).
+//
+// Production wires a.opts.Kit.DrainSteer() to pull messages that arrived via
+// Steer/SteerWithFiles during compaction, but Options.Kit is *kit.Kit (a
+// concrete struct) so unit tests cannot stand up a real instance without a
+// full LLM backend. The test uses the unexported steerDrainFn seam to inject
+// fake steer items, then asserts that:
+//
+//   - Steer items are dispatched ahead of any prompts that piled up in
+//     a.queue (steer retains "act now" priority over ordinary queued
+//     prompts), and
+//   - the helper still hands off to drainQueue so the steer item actually
+//     fires (the previous behaviour left them stranded — see #27).
+func TestReleaseBusyAfterCompact_splicesSteerAheadOfQueue(t *testing.T) {
+	var pmu sync.Mutex
+	var firstPrompt string
+	stub := newStubWithFuncs(
+		func(ctx context.Context) (*kit.TurnResult, error) {
+			return turnResult("steer dispatched"), nil
+		},
+	)
+	// Wrap PromptFunc so we can capture the prompt text the stub receives
+	// (newStubWithFuncs's fns ignore prompt; we need it to verify ordering).
+	capturingPrompt := func(ctx context.Context, prompt string) (*kit.TurnResult, error) {
+		pmu.Lock()
+		if firstPrompt == "" {
+			firstPrompt = prompt
+		}
+		pmu.Unlock()
+		return stub.fn(ctx, prompt)
+	}
+	app := New(Options{PromptFunc: capturingPrompt}, nil)
+	defer app.Close()
+
+	// Inject fake steer items via the test seam. In production the same
+	// items would have been delivered through Kit.InjectSteerWithFiles
+	// during /compact and pulled by DrainSteer here.
+	app.steerDrainFn = func() []queueItem {
+		return []queueItem{
+			{Prompt: "steer-1"},
+			{Prompt: "steer-2"},
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Simulate the state at the end of compaction: busy is set and a couple
+	// of regular Run() prompts have piled up after the steer messages.
+	app.mu.Lock()
+	app.busy = true
+	app.queue = append(app.queue,
+		queueItem{Prompt: "queued-1"},
+		queueItem{Prompt: "queued-2"},
+	)
+	app.mu.Unlock()
+
+	app.releaseBusyAfterCompact()
+
+	// Wait for the dispatched batch to complete.
+	ok := waitForCondition(2*time.Second, func() bool {
+		app.mu.Lock()
+		defer app.mu.Unlock()
+		return !app.busy
+	})
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatal("app did not become idle after steer-spliced releaseBusyAfterCompact")
+	}
+	app.wg.Wait()
+
+	// drainQueue picks up `first` directly and batches the rest. With
+	// PromptFunc set, executeBatch invokes us with items[0] only — that
+	// item must be the first steer message, proving steer items were
+	// spliced ahead of the previously queued prompts.
+	pmu.Lock()
+	got := firstPrompt
+	pmu.Unlock()
+	if got != "steer-1" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected first dispatched prompt to be steer item %q (steer items must come before queued prompts), got %q",
+			"steer-1", got)
+	}
+
+	// Queue should be fully drained and PromptFunc must have actually fired.
+	if n := app.QueueLength(); n != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected empty queue after drain, got %d entries", n)
+	}
+	if n := stub.callCount(); n == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("expected stub PromptFunc to fire at least once after splice")
+	}
+}
+
 // TestReleaseBusyAfterCompact_dropsQueueWhenClosed verifies that if the app
 // was closed during compaction the helper discards any pending items rather
 // than spawning drainQueue against a torn-down App.