diff --git a/examples/server/public/index.html.gz b/examples/server/public/index.html.gz
index dc8a4fc6..c7a3c426 100644
Binary files a/examples/server/public/index.html.gz and b/examples/server/public/index.html.gz differ
diff --git a/examples/server/tests/utils.py b/examples/server/tests/utils.py
index a8250423..f32a439f 100644
--- a/examples/server/tests/utils.py
+++ b/examples/server/tests/utils.py
@@ -26,7 +26,10 @@ from re import RegexFlag
 import wget
 
 
-DEFAULT_HTTP_TIMEOUT = 12 if "LLAMA_SANITIZE" not in os.environ else 30
+DEFAULT_HTTP_TIMEOUT = 12
+
+if "LLAMA_SANITIZE" in os.environ or "GITHUB_ACTION" in os.environ:
+    DEFAULT_HTTP_TIMEOUT = 30
 
 
 class ServerResponse:
diff --git a/examples/server/webui/src/components/ChatScreen.tsx b/examples/server/webui/src/components/ChatScreen.tsx
index d7a246cf..79de3053 100644
--- a/examples/server/webui/src/components/ChatScreen.tsx
+++ b/examples/server/webui/src/components/ChatScreen.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { CallbackGeneratedChunk, useAppContext } from '../utils/app.context';
 import ChatMessage from './ChatMessage';
 import { CanvasType, Message, PendingMessage } from '../utils/types';
-import { classNames, throttle } from '../utils/misc';
+import { classNames, cleanCurrentUrl, throttle } from '../utils/misc';
 import CanvasPyInterpreter from './CanvasPyInterpreter';
 import StorageUtils from '../utils/storage';
 import { useVSCodeContext } from '../utils/llama-vscode';
@@ -18,6 +18,24 @@ export interface MessageDisplay {
   isPending?: boolean;
 }
 
+/**
+ * If the current URL contains "?m=...", prefill the message input with the value.
+ * If the current URL contains "?q=...", prefill and SEND the message.
+ */
+const prefilledMsg = {
+  content() {
+    const url = new URL(window.location.href);
+    return url.searchParams.get('m') ?? url.searchParams.get('q') ?? '';
+  },
+  shouldSend() {
+    const url = new URL(window.location.href);
+    return url.searchParams.has('q');
+  },
+  clear() {
+    cleanCurrentUrl(['m', 'q']);
+  },
+};
+
 function getListMessageDisplay(
   msgs: Readonly<Message[]>,
   leafNodeId: Message['id']
@@ -81,7 +99,7 @@ export default function ChatScreen() {
     canvasData,
     replaceMessageAndGenerate,
   } = useAppContext();
-  const [inputMsg, setInputMsg] = useState('');
+  const [inputMsg, setInputMsg] = useState(prefilledMsg.content());
   const inputRef = useRef<HTMLTextAreaElement>(null);
 
   const { extraContext, clearExtraContext } = useVSCodeContext(
@@ -172,6 +190,22 @@ export default function ChatScreen() {
 
   const hasCanvas = !!canvasData;
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (prefilledMsg.shouldSend()) {
+      // send the prefilled message if needed
+      sendNewMessage();
+    } else {
+      // otherwise, focus on the input and move the cursor to the end
+      if (inputRef.current) {
+        inputRef.current.focus();
+        inputRef.current.selectionStart = inputRef.current.value.length;
+      }
+    }
+    prefilledMsg.clear();
+    // no need to keep track of sendNewMessage
+    // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+  }, [inputRef]);
+
   // due to some timing issues of StorageUtils.appendMsg(), we need to make sure the pendingMsg is not duplicated upon rendering (i.e. appears once in the saved conversation and once in the pendingMsg)
   const pendingMsgDisplay: MessageDisplay[] =
     pendingMsg && messages.at(-1)?.msg.id !== pendingMsg.id
diff --git a/examples/server/webui/src/utils/misc.ts b/examples/server/webui/src/utils/misc.ts
index d4632286..87f55b2a 100644
--- a/examples/server/webui/src/utils/misc.ts
+++ b/examples/server/webui/src/utils/misc.ts
@@ -118,3 +118,11 @@ export const throttle = <T extends unknown[]>(
     }, delay);
   };
 };
+
+export const cleanCurrentUrl = (removeQueryParams: string[]) => {
+  const url = new URL(window.location.href);
+  removeQueryParams.forEach((param) => {
+    url.searchParams.delete(param);
+  });
+  window.history.replaceState({}, '', url.toString());
+};