diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/hooks/use-ask.test.tsx b/frontend/src/lib/hooks/use-ask.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f2ec7f7d68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/hooks/use-ask.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any */
+import { StrictMode } from 'react'
+import { renderHook, act } from '@testing-library/react'
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest'
+import { useAsk } from './use-ask'
+import { searchApi } from '@/lib/api/search'
+
+vi.mock('@/lib/api/search', () => ({
+  searchApi: { askKnowledgeBase: vi.fn() },
+}))
+
+vi.mock('sonner', () => ({
+  toast: { error: vi.fn(), success: vi.fn() },
+}))
+
+const MODELS = {
+  strategy: 'model:strategy',
+  answer: 'model:answer',
+  finalAnswer: 'model:final',
+}
+
+// Build a ReadableStream of SSE frames shaped like the backend's
+// `data: {json}\n\n` output (api/routers/search.py stream_ask_response).
+function sseStream(events: Array<Record<string, unknown>>) {
+  const encoder = new TextEncoder()
+  return new ReadableStream<Uint8Array>({
+    start(controller) {
+      for (const event of events) {
+        controller.enqueue(encoder.encode(`data: ${JSON.stringify(event)}\n\n`))
+      }
+      controller.close()
+    },
+  })
+}
+
+// Regression coverage for the mountedRef guard. StrictMode mounts, unmounts and
+// remounts, which is exactly the sequence that used to leave mountedRef.current
+// false forever and turn every state update in this hook into a no-op. These
+// assertions fail without the `mountedRef.current = true` setup assignment.
+describe('useAsk under React StrictMode', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks()
+  })
+
+  it('clears the loading state and exposes the answer when the stream completes', async () => {
+    vi.mocked(searchApi.askKnowledgeBase).mockResolvedValue(
+      sseStream([
+        { type: 'strategy', reasoning: 'because', searches: [{ term: 't', instructions: 'i' }] },
+        { type: 'answer', content: 'partial answer' },
+        { type: 'final_answer', content: 'the final answer' },
+        { type: 'complete', final_answer: 'the final answer' },
+      ]) as any
+    )
+
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useAsk(), { wrapper: StrictMode })
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await result.current.sendAsk('why?', MODELS)
+    })
+
+    expect(result.current.isStreaming).toBe(false)
+    expect(result.current.finalAnswer).toBe('the final answer')
+    expect(result.current.strategy?.searches).toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(result.current.answers).toEqual(['partial answer'])
+  })
+
+  it('surfaces an in-band error event instead of loading forever', async () => {
+    vi.mocked(searchApi.askKnowledgeBase).mockResolvedValue(
+      sseStream([
+        { type: 'strategy', reasoning: 'because', searches: [] },
+        { type: 'error', message: 'The AI provider is temporarily unavailable.' },
+      ]) as any
+    )
+
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useAsk(), { wrapper: StrictMode })
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await result.current.sendAsk('why?', MODELS)
+    })
+
+    expect(result.current.isStreaming).toBe(false)
+    expect(result.current.error).toBe('The AI provider is temporarily unavailable.')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/hooks/use-ask.ts b/frontend/src/lib/hooks/use-ask.ts
index 19dec643c4..36d574b794 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/hooks/use-ask.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/hooks/use-ask.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,10 @@ export function useAsk() {
   const mountedRef = useRef(true)
 
   useEffect(() => {
+    // Must be re-set on every mount: React Strict Mode mounts, unmounts and
+    // remounts in development, and the cleanup below would otherwise leave this
+    // false forever, making every mountedRef guard dead code.
+    mountedRef.current = true
     return () => {
       mountedRef.current = false
       if (streamTimeoutRef.current) {