diff --git a/src/documentdb/utils/connectionStringHelpers.ts b/src/documentdb/utils/connectionStringHelpers.ts
index f3a29249..eade39ee 100644
--- a/src/documentdb/utils/connectionStringHelpers.ts
+++ b/src/documentdb/utils/connectionStringHelpers.ts
@@ -19,8 +19,13 @@ import { DocumentDBConnectionString } from './DocumentDBConnectionString';
  * @returns The text with credentials replaced by `<credentials>`
  */
 export const redactCredentialsFromConnectionString = (text: string): string => {
-    // Matches the credentials portion (everything before the last '@' that follows the scheme)
+    // Matches the credentials portion (user:password before the '@' delimiter)
     // in mongodb:// or mongodb+srv:// URIs.
+    //
+    // Note: Per RFC 3986, the '@' character in usernames or passwords MUST be
+    // percent-encoded as '%40'. This regex relies on that assumption — it stops
+    // at the first literal '@' after the scheme, which is the credential delimiter
+    // in any spec-compliant URI. Unencoded '@' in passwords is malformed input.
     return text.replace(/(mongodb(?:\+srv)?:\/\/)[^\s@]*@/gi, '$1<credentials>@');
 };
 
diff --git a/src/webviews/documentdb/collectionView/components/queryInsightsTab/QueryInsightsTab.tsx b/src/webviews/documentdb/collectionView/components/queryInsightsTab/QueryInsightsTab.tsx
index ac3fe7eb..8485ff0c 100644
--- a/src/webviews/documentdb/collectionView/components/queryInsightsTab/QueryInsightsTab.tsx
+++ b/src/webviews/documentdb/collectionView/components/queryInsightsTab/QueryInsightsTab.tsx
@@ -109,10 +109,22 @@ export const QueryInsightsMain = (): JSX.Element => {
     // AbortController ref for cancelling in-flight Stage 3 AI requests
     const stage3AbortControllerRef = useRef<AbortController | null>(null);
 
+    // Timer ref for the delayed tips/error card shown during Stage 3 loading
+    const stage3TipsTimerRef = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null>(null);
+
     // Feedback dialog state
     const [feedbackDialogOpen, setFeedbackDialogOpen] = useState(false);
     const [feedbackSentiment, setFeedbackSentiment] = useState<'positive' | 'negative'>('positive');
 
+    useEffect(() => {
+        return () => {
+            if (stage3TipsTimerRef.current !== null) {
+                clearTimeout(stage3TipsTimerRef.current);
+                stage3TipsTimerRef.current = null;
+            }
+        };
+    }, []);
+
     /**
      * Display error message to user for the given stage
      * Only displays once per error state to avoid duplicate toasts
@@ -452,13 +464,19 @@ export const QueryInsightsMain = (): JSX.Element => {
         // Transition to Stage 3 loading (this will reset UI flags)
         transitionToStage(3, 'loading');
 
+        // Clear any pending tips/error card timer from a previous request
+        if (stage3TipsTimerRef.current) {
+            clearTimeout(stage3TipsTimerRef.current);
+            stage3TipsTimerRef.current = null;
+        }
+
         // Check if Stage 2 has query execution errors
         const hasExecutionError =
             queryInsightsState.stage2Data?.concerns &&
             queryInsightsState.stage2Data.concerns.some((concern) => concern.includes('Query Execution Failed'));
 
         // Show appropriate card after 1 second delay
-        const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+        stage3TipsTimerRef.current = setTimeout(() => {
             if (hasExecutionError) {
                 setShowErrorCard(true);
             } else {
@@ -550,11 +568,15 @@ export const QueryInsightsMain = (): JSX.Element => {
             ...prev,
             stage3Promise: promise,
         }));
-
-        return () => clearTimeout(timer);
     };
 
     const handleCancelAI = () => {
+        // Clear any pending tips/error card timer to prevent stale UI after cancel
+        if (stage3TipsTimerRef.current) {
+            clearTimeout(stage3TipsTimerRef.current);
+            stage3TipsTimerRef.current = null;
+        }
+
         // Abort the in-flight tRPC request so the server can stop work early
         if (stage3AbortControllerRef.current) {
             stage3AbortControllerRef.current.abort();