diff --git a/app/controllers/discourse_ai/admin/ai_personas_controller.rb b/app/controllers/discourse_ai/admin/ai_personas_controller.rb
index 35e9a338..8ef466f1 100644
--- a/app/controllers/discourse_ai/admin/ai_personas_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/discourse_ai/admin/ai_personas_controller.rb
@@ -74,33 +74,6 @@ module DiscourseAi
         end
       end
 
-      class << self
-        POOL_SIZE = 10
-        def thread_pool
-          @thread_pool ||=
-            Concurrent::CachedThreadPool.new(min_threads: 0, max_threads: POOL_SIZE, idletime: 30)
-        end
-
-        def schedule_block(&block)
-          # think about a better way to handle cross thread connections
-          if Rails.env.test?
-            block.call
-            return
-          end
-
-          db = RailsMultisite::ConnectionManagement.current_db
-          thread_pool.post do
-            begin
-              RailsMultisite::ConnectionManagement.with_connection(db) { block.call }
-            rescue StandardError => e
-              Discourse.warn_exception(e, message: "Discourse AI: Unable to stream reply")
-            end
-          end
-        end
-      end
-
-      CRLF = "\r\n"
-
       def stream_reply
         persona =
           AiPersona.find_by(name: params[:persona_name]) ||
@@ -155,6 +128,9 @@ module DiscourseAi
               topic_id: topic_id,
               raw: params[:query],
               skip_validations: true,
+              custom_fields: {
+                DiscourseAi::AiBot::Playground::BYPASS_AI_REPLY_CUSTOM_FIELD => true,
+              },
             )
         else
           post =
@@ -165,6 +141,9 @@ module DiscourseAi
               archetype: Archetype.private_message,
               target_usernames: "#{user.username},#{persona.user.username}",
               skip_validations: true,
+              custom_fields: {
+                DiscourseAi::AiBot::Playground::BYPASS_AI_REPLY_CUSTOM_FIELD => true,
+              },
             )
 
           topic = post.topic
@@ -175,81 +154,19 @@ module DiscourseAi
 
         user = current_user
 
-        self.class.queue_streamed_reply(io, persona, user, topic, post)
+        DiscourseAi::AiBot::ResponseHttpStreamer.queue_streamed_reply(
+          io,
+          persona,
+          user,
+          topic,
+          post,
+        )
       end
 
       private
 
       AI_STREAM_CONVERSATION_UNIQUE_ID = "ai-stream-conversation-unique-id"
 
-      # keeping this in a static method so we don't capture ENV and other bits
-      # this allows us to release memory earlier
-      def self.queue_streamed_reply(io, persona, user, topic, post)
-        schedule_block do
-          begin
-            io.write "HTTP/1.1 200 OK"
-            io.write CRLF
-            io.write "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8"
-            io.write CRLF
-            io.write "Transfer-Encoding: chunked"
-            io.write CRLF
-            io.write "Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate"
-            io.write CRLF
-            io.write "Connection: close"
-            io.write CRLF
-            io.write "X-Accel-Buffering: no"
-            io.write CRLF
-            io.write "X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff"
-            io.write CRLF
-            io.write CRLF
-            io.flush
-
-            persona_class =
-              DiscourseAi::AiBot::Personas::Persona.find_by(id: persona.id, user: user)
-            bot = DiscourseAi::AiBot::Bot.as(persona.user, persona: persona_class.new)
-
-            data =
-              { topic_id: topic.id, bot_user_id: persona.user.id, persona_id: persona.id }.to_json +
-                "\n\n"
-
-            io.write data.bytesize.to_s(16)
-            io.write CRLF
-            io.write data
-            io.write CRLF
-
-            DiscourseAi::AiBot::Playground
-              .new(bot)
-              .reply_to(post) do |partial|
-                next if partial.length == 0
-
-                data = { partial: partial }.to_json + "\n\n"
-
-                data.force_encoding("UTF-8")
-
-                io.write data.bytesize.to_s(16)
-                io.write CRLF
-                io.write data
-                io.write CRLF
-                io.flush
-              end
-
-            io.write "0"
-            io.write CRLF
-            io.write CRLF
-
-            io.flush
-            io.done
-          rescue StandardError => e
-            # make it a tiny bit easier to debug in dev, this is tricky
-            # multi-threaded code that exhibits various limitations in rails
-            p e if Rails.env.development?
-            Discourse.warn_exception(e, message: "Discourse AI: Unable to stream reply")
-          ensure
-            io.close
-          end
-        end
-      end
-
       def stage_user
         unique_id = params[:user_unique_id].to_s
         field = UserCustomField.find_by(name: AI_STREAM_CONVERSATION_UNIQUE_ID, value: unique_id)
diff --git a/lib/ai_bot/playground.rb b/lib/ai_bot/playground.rb
index a4e696db..4f0648cb 100644
--- a/lib/ai_bot/playground.rb
+++ b/lib/ai_bot/playground.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 module DiscourseAi
   module AiBot
     class Playground
+      BYPASS_AI_REPLY_CUSTOM_FIELD = "discourse_ai_bypass_ai_reply"
+
       attr_reader :bot
 
       # An abstraction to manage the bot and topic interactions.
@@ -550,6 +552,7 @@ module DiscourseAi
         return false if bot.bot_user.nil?
         return false if post.topic.private_message? && post.post_type != Post.types[:regular]
         return false if (SiteSetting.ai_bot_allowed_groups_map & post.user.group_ids).blank?
+        return false if post.custom_fields[BYPASS_AI_REPLY_CUSTOM_FIELD].present?
 
         true
       end
diff --git a/lib/ai_bot/response_http_streamer.rb b/lib/ai_bot/response_http_streamer.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..382c47f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ai_bot/response_http_streamer.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module DiscourseAi
+  module AiBot
+    class ResponseHttpStreamer
+      CRLF = "\r\n"
+      POOL_SIZE = 10
+
+      class << self
+        def thread_pool
+          @thread_pool ||=
+            Concurrent::CachedThreadPool.new(min_threads: 0, max_threads: POOL_SIZE, idletime: 30)
+        end
+
+        def schedule_block(&block)
+          # think about a better way to handle cross thread connections
+          if Rails.env.test?
+            block.call
+            return
+          end
+
+          db = RailsMultisite::ConnectionManagement.current_db
+          thread_pool.post do
+            begin
+              RailsMultisite::ConnectionManagement.with_connection(db) { block.call }
+            rescue StandardError => e
+              Discourse.warn_exception(e, message: "Discourse AI: Unable to stream reply")
+            end
+          end
+        end
+
+        # keeping this in a static method so we don't capture ENV and other bits
+        # this allows us to release memory earlier
+        def queue_streamed_reply(io, persona, user, topic, post)
+          schedule_block do
+            begin
+              io.write "HTTP/1.1 200 OK"
+              io.write CRLF
+              io.write "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8"
+              io.write CRLF
+              io.write "Transfer-Encoding: chunked"
+              io.write CRLF
+              io.write "Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate"
+              io.write CRLF
+              io.write "Connection: close"
+              io.write CRLF
+              io.write "X-Accel-Buffering: no"
+              io.write CRLF
+              io.write "X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff"
+              io.write CRLF
+              io.write CRLF
+              io.flush
+
+              persona_class =
+                DiscourseAi::AiBot::Personas::Persona.find_by(id: persona.id, user: user)
+              bot = DiscourseAi::AiBot::Bot.as(persona.user, persona: persona_class.new)
+
+              data =
+                {
+                  topic_id: topic.id,
+                  bot_user_id: persona.user.id,
+                  persona_id: persona.id,
+                }.to_json + "\n\n"
+
+              io.write data.bytesize.to_s(16)
+              io.write CRLF
+              io.write data
+              io.write CRLF
+
+              DiscourseAi::AiBot::Playground
+                .new(bot)
+                .reply_to(post) do |partial|
+                  next if partial.length == 0
+
+                  data = { partial: partial }.to_json + "\n\n"
+
+                  data.force_encoding("UTF-8")
+
+                  io.write data.bytesize.to_s(16)
+                  io.write CRLF
+                  io.write data
+                  io.write CRLF
+                  io.flush
+                end
+
+              io.write "0"
+              io.write CRLF
+              io.write CRLF
+
+              io.flush
+              io.done
+            rescue StandardError => e
+              # make it a tiny bit easier to debug in dev, this is tricky
+              # multi-threaded code that exhibits various limitations in rails
+              p e if Rails.env.development?
+              Discourse.warn_exception(e, message: "Discourse AI: Unable to stream reply")
+            ensure
+              io.close
+            end
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/requests/admin/ai_personas_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/admin/ai_personas_controller_spec.rb
index bc7d10ef..50f71009 100644
--- a/spec/requests/admin/ai_personas_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/admin/ai_personas_controller_spec.rb
@@ -490,13 +490,16 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseAi::Admin::AiPersonasController do
 
     it "is able to create a new conversation" do
       Jobs.run_immediately!
+      # trust level 0
+      SiteSetting.ai_bot_allowed_groups = "10"
 
       fake_endpoint.fake_content = ["This is a test! Testing!", "An amazing title"]
 
       ai_persona.create_user!
       ai_persona.update!(
-        allowed_group_ids: [Group::AUTO_GROUPS[:staff]],
+        allowed_group_ids: [Group::AUTO_GROUPS[:trust_level_0]],
         default_llm: "custom:#{llm.id}",
+        allow_personal_messages: true,
       )
 
       io_out, io_in = IO.pipe
@@ -530,6 +533,7 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseAi::Admin::AiPersonasController do
       expect(topic.topic_allowed_users.count).to eq(2)
       expect(topic.archetype).to eq(Archetype.private_message)
       expect(topic.title).to eq("An amazing title")
+      expect(topic.posts.count).to eq(2)
 
       # now let's try to make a reply with a tool call
       function_call = <<~XML
@@ -546,6 +550,16 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseAi::Admin::AiPersonasController do
 
       ai_persona.update!(tools: ["Categories"])
 
+      # lets also unstage the user and add the user to tl0
+      # this will ensure there are no feedback loops
+      new_user = user_post.user
+      new_user.update!(staged: false)
+      Group.user_trust_level_change!(new_user.id, new_user.trust_level)
+
+      # double check this happened and user is in group
+      personas = AiPersona.allowed_modalities(user: new_user.reload, allow_personal_messages: true)
+      expect(personas.count).to eq(1)
+
       io_out, io_in = IO.pipe
 
       post "/admin/plugins/discourse-ai/ai-personas/stream-reply.json",
@@ -579,6 +593,8 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseAi::Admin::AiPersonasController do
       expect(user_post.user.custom_fields).to eq(
         { "ai-stream-conversation-unique-id" => "site:test.com:user_id:1" },
       )
+
+      expect(topic.posts.count).to eq(4)
     end
   end
 end