diff --git a/src/vs/sessions/contrib/chat/browser/chat.contribution.ts b/src/vs/sessions/contrib/chat/browser/chat.contribution.ts
index 960b5b63cb0..f39bb24fb41 100644
--- a/src/vs/sessions/contrib/chat/browser/chat.contribution.ts
+++ b/src/vs/sessions/contrib/chat/browser/chat.contribution.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ class NewChatInSessionsWindowAction extends Action2 {
 			id: NEW_SESSION_ACTION_ID,
 			title: localize2('chat.newEdits.label', "New Chat"),
 			category: CHAT_CATEGORY,
+			f1: true,
 			keybinding: {
 				weight: KeybindingWeight.WorkbenchContrib + 2,
 				// Don't shadow Ctrl/Cmd+N (and Ctrl/Cmd+L) when focus is in the
diff --git a/test/automation/src/agentsWindow.ts b/test/automation/src/agentsWindow.ts
index 8f4d6317996..6d97bf69823 100644
--- a/test/automation/src/agentsWindow.ts
+++ b/test/automation/src/agentsWindow.ts
@@ -36,14 +36,15 @@ export class AgentsWindow {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Start a new session from inside the Agents Window via the
-	 * `workbench.action.sessions.newChat` keybinding (Ctrl+L). The action
-	 * is not exposed in the command palette, so we drive it through its
-	 * key chord which works cross-platform (mac uses WinCtrl+L as the
-	 * secondary binding, which maps to plain Ctrl+L).
+	 * Start a new session from inside the Agents Window by executing
+	 * `workbench.action.sessions.newChat` via the command palette. We
+	 * avoid a raw keybinding dispatch because the action's Ctrl+L
+	 * binding is gated on `!editorAreaFocus`, which is false after
+	 * interacting with the chat editor.
 	 */
 	async startNewSession(): Promise<void> {
-		await this.code.dispatchKeybinding('ctrl+l', async () => this.waitForNewSessionView());
+		await this.quickaccess.runCommand('workbench.action.sessions.newChat');
+		await this.waitForNewSessionView();
 	}
 
 	/**