diff --git a/backend/apps/outputs/webapp_template/frontend/src/toolui/VendoredToolUi.tsx b/backend/apps/outputs/webapp_template/frontend/src/toolui/VendoredToolUi.tsx
index 0fafa6e5..eca181eb 100644
--- a/backend/apps/outputs/webapp_template/frontend/src/toolui/VendoredToolUi.tsx
+++ b/backend/apps/outputs/webapp_template/frontend/src/toolui/VendoredToolUi.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import React, { Suspense, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { useThemeMode } from '@/shared/styles/ThemeContext';
 import { TOOL_UI_REGISTRY } from './registry';
+import { parseLeniently, type Gate } from './parseLeniently';
 
 interface GuardProps { name: string; quiet?: boolean; children: React.ReactNode }
 
@@ -41,104 +42,6 @@ interface VendoredToolUiProps {
 
 const warnedShapes = new Set<string>();
 
-type Gate =
-  | { state: 'pending' }
-  | { state: 'ok'; parsed: Record<string, unknown> }
-  | { state: 'bad'; problem: string };
-
-/** Models pad payloads with invented keys; strip ONLY unrecognized-key issues and retry once, so
-    sloppiness self-heals while genuinely wrong shapes still fall back loudly. */
-function slugFor(label: unknown, i: number): string {
-  const t = typeof label === 'string' ? label.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-').slice(0, 40) : '';
-  return t || `item-${i + 1}`;
-}
-
-// Mechanical repairs for the mistakes agents actually make (numeric ids, ranked priorities, nested
-// row objects, bare action objects). Only ever applied when the strict parse FAILED, and the result
-// is re-validated, so a repair can flip fail->pass but never corrupt a valid payload.
-function repairCommonAgentShapes(props: Record<string, unknown>): Record<string, unknown> {
-  let out: Record<string, unknown>;
-  try {
-    out = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(props ?? {}, (_k, v) => (v === undefined ? null : v)));
-  } catch {
-    return props;
-  }
-  const fixIdLabel = (arr: unknown): unknown => {
-    if (!Array.isArray(arr)) return arr;
-    return arr.map((o, i) => {
-      if (typeof o === 'string') return { id: slugFor(o, i), label: o };
-      if (o && typeof o === 'object' && !Array.isArray(o)) {
-        const obj = { ...(o as Record<string, unknown>) };
-        // Agents reach for value/name/key and title/text as synonyms; honor them before inventing a slug.
-        if (obj.id == null || obj.id === '') obj.id = obj.value ?? obj.key ?? obj.name ?? null;
-        if (obj.id == null || obj.id === '') obj.id = slugFor(obj.label ?? obj.title ?? obj.text, i);
-        else if (typeof obj.id !== 'string') obj.id = String(obj.id);
-        if (typeof obj.label !== 'string' || !obj.label) obj.label = String(obj.label ?? obj.title ?? obj.text ?? obj.name ?? obj.id);
-        return obj;
-      }
-      return o;
-    });
-  };
-  if ('options' in out) out.options = fixIdLabel(out.options);
-  if ('actions' in out) {
-    if (out.actions && !Array.isArray(out.actions) && typeof out.actions === 'object' && 'label' in (out.actions as object)) out.actions = [out.actions];
-    out.actions = fixIdLabel(out.actions);
-  }
-  const PRIORITY_SYNONYMS: Record<string, string> = { '1': 'primary', '2': 'secondary', '3': 'tertiary', high: 'primary', medium: 'secondary', low: 'tertiary', primary: 'primary', secondary: 'secondary', tertiary: 'tertiary' };
-  if (Array.isArray(out.columns)) {
-    out.columns = out.columns.map((c) => {
-      if (c && typeof c === 'object' && 'priority' in (c as object)) {
-        const mapped = PRIORITY_SYNONYMS[String((c as Record<string, unknown>).priority).toLowerCase()];
-        const copy = { ...(c as Record<string, unknown>) };
-        if (mapped) copy.priority = mapped; else delete copy.priority;
-        return copy;
-      }
-      return c;
-    });
-  }
-  if (Array.isArray(out.data)) {
-    // Row arrays (instead of keyed objects) zip against the column keys, in order.
-    const colKeys = Array.isArray(out.columns)
-      ? (out.columns as Array<Record<string, unknown>>).map((c, i) => String((c && typeof c === 'object' ? (c.key ?? c.id ?? c.label) : c) ?? `col${i + 1}`))
-      : null;
-    out.data = out.data.map((row) => {
-      if (Array.isArray(row) && colKeys && colKeys.length > 0) {
-        return Object.fromEntries(row.map((v, i) => [colKeys[i] ?? `col${i + 1}`, v]));
-      }
-      if (!row || typeof row !== 'object' || Array.isArray(row)) return row;
-      return Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(row as Record<string, unknown>).map(([k, v]) => {
-        if (v !== null && typeof v === 'object' && !Array.isArray(v)) return [k, JSON.stringify(v)];
-        if (Array.isArray(v)) return [k, v.map((x) => (x !== null && typeof x === 'object' ? JSON.stringify(x) : x))];
-        return [k, v];
-      }));
-    });
-  }
-  return out;
-}
-
-function parseLeniently(schema: { safeParse: (v: unknown) => any }, props: Record<string, unknown>): Gate {
-  let result = schema.safeParse(props);
-  let base: Record<string, unknown> = props;
-  if (!result.success) {
-    const issues: Array<{ code: string; keys?: string[]; path: Array<string | number>; message: string }> = result.error.issues;
-    if (issues.every((i) => i.code === 'unrecognized_keys')) {
-      const cleaned: Record<string, unknown> = { ...props };
-      for (const issue of issues) {
-        for (const key of issue.keys || []) delete cleaned[key];
-      }
-      base = cleaned;
-      result = schema.safeParse(cleaned);
-    }
-  }
-  if (!result.success) {
-    const repaired = schema.safeParse(repairCommonAgentShapes(base));
-    if (repaired.success) return { state: 'ok', parsed: repaired.data as Record<string, unknown> };
-  }
-  if (result.success) return { state: 'ok', parsed: result.data as Record<string, unknown> };
-  const issues = result.error.issues.slice(0, 2).map((i: { path: Array<string | number>; message: string }) => `${i.path.join('.')}: ${i.message}`).join('; ');
-  return { state: 'bad', problem: issues };
-}
-
 // Rough resting height per component family so the loading skeleton reserves believable space
 // (Lobe/Open WebUI pattern: a breathing block where the card will land, not a tiny sliver).
 function skeletonHeightFor(name: string): number {
diff --git a/backend/apps/outputs/webapp_template/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.test.ts b/backend/apps/outputs/webapp_template/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f6ea8bb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/apps/outputs/webapp_template/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+// Run: npx tsx --test frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.test.ts
+// Every case here is a payload shape a real agent emitted (Eric's 2026-08-09 console capture):
+// widgets users should see were quietly falling back to classic rendering.
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { parseLeniently } from './parseLeniently.ts';
+import { SerializableStatsDisplaySchema } from './components/stats-display/schema.ts';
+import { SerializableProgressTrackerSchema } from './components/progress-tracker/schema.ts';
+import { SerializableDataTableSchema } from './components/data-table/schema.ts';
+
+test('stats-display: missing key and stringy diff.value repair to a valid payload', () => {
+  const gate = parseLeniently(SerializableStatsDisplaySchema, {
+    id: 'revenue-stats',
+    stats: [
+      { label: 'Revenue', value: 1204, diff: { value: '+12%' } },
+      { label: 'Churn', value: '2.1%', diff: '-0.4' },
+    ],
+  });
+  assert.equal(gate.state, 'ok');
+  const stats = (gate as { parsed: { stats: Array<Record<string, unknown>> } }).parsed.stats;
+  assert.equal(stats[0].key, 'revenue');
+  assert.deepEqual(stats[0].diff, { value: 12 });
+  assert.deepEqual(stats[1].diff, { value: -0.4 });
+});
+
+test('progress-tracker: missing step ids, duplicate labels, underscore statuses all repair', () => {
+  const gate = parseLeniently(SerializableProgressTrackerSchema, {
+    id: 'deploy-progress',
+    steps: [
+      { label: 'Build', status: 'completed' },
+      { label: 'Test', status: 'in_progress' },
+      { label: 'Test', status: 'pending' },
+    ],
+  });
+  assert.equal(gate.state, 'ok');
+  const steps = (gate as { parsed: { steps: Array<Record<string, unknown>> } }).parsed.steps;
+  assert.deepEqual(steps.map((s) => s.status), ['completed', 'in-progress', 'pending']);
+  assert.equal(new Set(steps.map((s) => s.id)).size, 3);
+});
+
+test('extra invented top-level keys AND repairable steps in the same payload still pass', () => {
+  const gate = parseLeniently(SerializableProgressTrackerSchema, {
+    id: 'combo',
+    caption: 'invented key the schema rejects',
+    steps: [{ label: 'Only step', status: 'done' }],
+  });
+  assert.equal(gate.state, 'ok');
+});
+
+test('data-table: a non-ISO receipt.at coerces to ISO; an unparseable one costs only the receipt', () => {
+  const base = {
+    id: 'orders',
+    columns: [{ key: 'name', label: 'Name' }],
+    data: [{ name: 'Widget' }],
+  };
+  const coerced = parseLeniently(SerializableDataTableSchema, {
+    ...base,
+    receipt: { outcome: 'confirmed', summary: 'ok', at: '2026-08-08 14:30' },
+  });
+  assert.equal(coerced.state, 'ok');
+  const rec = (coerced as { parsed: { receipt: { at: string; outcome: string } } }).parsed.receipt;
+  assert.ok(rec.at.endsWith('Z') && !Number.isNaN(Date.parse(rec.at)));
+  assert.equal(rec.outcome, 'success');
+  const dropped = parseLeniently(SerializableDataTableSchema, {
+    ...base,
+    receipt: { outcome: 'confirmed', summary: 'ok', at: 'yesterday-ish' },
+  });
+  assert.equal(dropped.state, 'ok');
+  assert.equal((dropped as { parsed: Record<string, unknown> }).parsed.receipt, undefined);
+});
+
+test('a valid payload passes through byte-identical, no repair applied', () => {
+  const payload = {
+    id: 'clean',
+    stats: [{ key: 'a', label: 'A', value: 1, diff: { value: 2 } }],
+  };
+  const gate = parseLeniently(SerializableStatsDisplaySchema, payload);
+  assert.equal(gate.state, 'ok');
+  assert.deepEqual((gate as { parsed: Record<string, unknown> }).parsed.stats, payload.stats);
+});
+
+test('a genuinely wrong shape still fails loudly with a readable problem', () => {
+  const gate = parseLeniently(SerializableStatsDisplaySchema, { id: 'nope', stats: [] });
+  assert.equal(gate.state, 'bad');
+  assert.ok((gate as { problem: string }).problem.length > 0);
+});
diff --git a/backend/apps/outputs/webapp_template/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.ts b/backend/apps/outputs/webapp_template/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6ba8d1ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/apps/outputs/webapp_template/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+// Lenient wire-payload validation for vendored tool-ui components: strict zod parse first, then
+// mechanical repairs for the mistakes agents actually make, re-validated so a repair can flip
+// fail->pass but never corrupt a valid payload.
+
+export type Gate =
+  | { state: 'pending' }
+  | { state: 'ok'; parsed: Record<string, unknown> }
+  | { state: 'bad'; problem: string };
+
+function slugFor(label: unknown, i: number): string {
+  const t = typeof label === 'string' ? label.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-').slice(0, 40) : '';
+  return t || `item-${i + 1}`;
+}
+
+// Agents write "+12%", "1,204", "$40" where schemas want a number; strip the dressing and parse.
+function numFrom(v: unknown): number | null {
+  if (typeof v === 'number' && Number.isFinite(v)) return v;
+  if (typeof v === 'string') {
+    const n = parseFloat(v.replace(/[+,%$\s]/g, ''));
+    return Number.isFinite(n) ? n : null;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+// Mechanical repairs for the mistakes agents actually make (numeric ids, ranked priorities, nested
+// row objects, bare action objects). Only ever applied when the strict parse FAILED, and the result
+// is re-validated, so a repair can flip fail->pass but never corrupt a valid payload.
+function repairCommonAgentShapes(props: Record<string, unknown>): Record<string, unknown> {
+  let out: Record<string, unknown>;
+  try {
+    out = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(props ?? {}, (_k, v) => (v === undefined ? null : v)));
+  } catch {
+    return props;
+  }
+  const fixIdLabel = (arr: unknown): unknown => {
+    if (!Array.isArray(arr)) return arr;
+    return arr.map((o, i) => {
+      if (typeof o === 'string') return { id: slugFor(o, i), label: o };
+      if (o && typeof o === 'object' && !Array.isArray(o)) {
+        const obj = { ...(o as Record<string, unknown>) };
+        // Agents reach for value/name/key and title/text as synonyms; honor them before inventing a slug.
+        if (obj.id == null || obj.id === '') obj.id = obj.value ?? obj.key ?? obj.name ?? null;
+        if (obj.id == null || obj.id === '') obj.id = slugFor(obj.label ?? obj.title ?? obj.text, i);
+        else if (typeof obj.id !== 'string') obj.id = String(obj.id);
+        if (typeof obj.label !== 'string' || !obj.label) obj.label = String(obj.label ?? obj.title ?? obj.text ?? obj.name ?? obj.id);
+        return obj;
+      }
+      return o;
+    });
+  };
+  const dedupeIds = (arr: unknown): unknown => {
+    if (!Array.isArray(arr)) return arr;
+    const seen = new Map<string, number>();
+    return arr.map((o) => {
+      if (!o || typeof o !== 'object' || Array.isArray(o)) return o;
+      const obj = o as Record<string, unknown>;
+      if (typeof obj.id !== 'string') return o;
+      const count = (seen.get(obj.id) ?? 0) + 1;
+      seen.set(obj.id, count);
+      return count === 1 ? o : { ...obj, id: `${obj.id}-${count}` };
+    });
+  };
+  const STATUS_SYNONYMS: Record<string, string> = { in_progress: 'in-progress', active: 'in-progress', running: 'in-progress', done: 'completed', complete: 'completed', error: 'failed', todo: 'pending', waiting: 'pending' };
+  const fixStepStatus = (arr: unknown): unknown => {
+    if (!Array.isArray(arr)) return arr;
+    return arr.map((o) => {
+      if (!o || typeof o !== 'object' || Array.isArray(o)) return o;
+      const obj = o as Record<string, unknown>;
+      const mapped = STATUS_SYNONYMS[String(obj.status ?? '').toLowerCase()];
+      return mapped ? { ...obj, status: mapped } : o;
+    });
+  };
+  if ('options' in out) out.options = fixIdLabel(out.options);
+  if ('steps' in out) out.steps = fixStepStatus(dedupeIds(fixIdLabel(out.steps)));
+  if ('todos' in out) out.todos = dedupeIds(fixIdLabel(out.todos));
+  if (Array.isArray(out.stats)) {
+    out.stats = out.stats.map((s, i) => {
+      if (!s || typeof s !== 'object' || Array.isArray(s)) return s;
+      const st = { ...(s as Record<string, unknown>) };
+      if (typeof st.key !== 'string' || !st.key) st.key = typeof st.id === 'string' && st.id ? st.id : slugFor(st.label ?? st.name ?? st.title, i);
+      if (typeof st.label !== 'string' || !st.label) st.label = String(st.name ?? st.title ?? st.key);
+      if (st.diff != null && typeof st.diff !== 'object') st.diff = { value: st.diff };
+      if (st.diff && typeof st.diff === 'object' && !Array.isArray(st.diff)) {
+        const d = { ...(st.diff as Record<string, unknown>) };
+        const n = numFrom(d.value);
+        if (n === null) delete st.diff;
+        else { d.value = n; st.diff = d; }
+      }
+      return st;
+    });
+  }
+  const RECEIPT_OUTCOMES: Record<string, string> = { success: 'success', confirmed: 'success', ok: 'success', done: 'success', complete: 'success', completed: 'success', sent: 'success', partial: 'partial', failed: 'failed', error: 'failed', failure: 'failed', cancelled: 'cancelled', canceled: 'cancelled' };
+  const receipt = out.receipt as Record<string, unknown> | null | undefined;
+  if (receipt && typeof receipt === 'object' && !Array.isArray(receipt)) {
+    const fixed = { ...receipt };
+    const outcome = RECEIPT_OUTCOMES[String(fixed.outcome ?? '').toLowerCase()];
+    if (outcome) fixed.outcome = outcome;
+    const t = typeof fixed.at === 'string' ? Date.parse(fixed.at) : NaN;
+    if (!Number.isNaN(t)) fixed.at = new Date(t).toISOString();
+    // A receipt that still can't validate costs the optional chip, never the whole widget.
+    if (!outcome || Number.isNaN(t)) delete out.receipt;
+    else out.receipt = fixed;
+  }
+  if ('actions' in out) {
+    if (out.actions && !Array.isArray(out.actions) && typeof out.actions === 'object' && 'label' in (out.actions as object)) out.actions = [out.actions];
+    out.actions = fixIdLabel(out.actions);
+  }
+  const PRIORITY_SYNONYMS: Record<string, string> = { '1': 'primary', '2': 'secondary', '3': 'tertiary', high: 'primary', medium: 'secondary', low: 'tertiary', primary: 'primary', secondary: 'secondary', tertiary: 'tertiary' };
+  if (Array.isArray(out.columns)) {
+    out.columns = out.columns.map((c) => {
+      if (c && typeof c === 'object' && 'priority' in (c as object)) {
+        const mapped = PRIORITY_SYNONYMS[String((c as Record<string, unknown>).priority).toLowerCase()];
+        const copy = { ...(c as Record<string, unknown>) };
+        if (mapped) copy.priority = mapped; else delete copy.priority;
+        return copy;
+      }
+      return c;
+    });
+  }
+  if (Array.isArray(out.data)) {
+    // Row arrays (instead of keyed objects) zip against the column keys, in order.
+    const colKeys = Array.isArray(out.columns)
+      ? (out.columns as Array<Record<string, unknown>>).map((c, i) => String((c && typeof c === 'object' ? (c.key ?? c.id ?? c.label) : c) ?? `col${i + 1}`))
+      : null;
+    out.data = out.data.map((row) => {
+      if (Array.isArray(row) && colKeys && colKeys.length > 0) {
+        return Object.fromEntries(row.map((v, i) => [colKeys[i] ?? `col${i + 1}`, v]));
+      }
+      if (!row || typeof row !== 'object' || Array.isArray(row)) return row;
+      return Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(row as Record<string, unknown>).map(([k, v]) => {
+        if (v !== null && typeof v === 'object' && !Array.isArray(v)) return [k, JSON.stringify(v)];
+        if (Array.isArray(v)) return [k, v.map((x) => (x !== null && typeof x === 'object' ? JSON.stringify(x) : x))];
+        return [k, v];
+      }));
+    });
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+// Drop top-level keys the schema rejects (models pad payloads with invented ones) and reparse.
+// Runs even when OTHER issues coexist, so a payload with extra keys AND a repairable shape can
+// still be saved by the repair pass instead of failing on the first problem it happens to hit.
+function stripUnrecognizedKeys(props: Record<string, unknown>, issues: Array<{ code: string; keys?: string[] }>): Record<string, unknown> | null {
+  const unrecognized = issues.filter((i) => i.code === 'unrecognized_keys');
+  if (unrecognized.length === 0) return null;
+  const cleaned: Record<string, unknown> = { ...props };
+  for (const issue of unrecognized) {
+    for (const key of issue.keys || []) delete cleaned[key];
+  }
+  return cleaned;
+}
+
+export function parseLeniently(schema: { safeParse: (v: unknown) => any }, props: Record<string, unknown>): Gate {
+  let result = schema.safeParse(props);
+  let base: Record<string, unknown> = props;
+  if (!result.success) {
+    const cleaned = stripUnrecognizedKeys(props, result.error.issues);
+    if (cleaned) {
+      base = cleaned;
+      result = schema.safeParse(cleaned);
+    }
+  }
+  if (!result.success) {
+    const repairedBase = repairCommonAgentShapes(base);
+    let repaired = schema.safeParse(repairedBase);
+    if (!repaired.success) {
+      const cleaned = stripUnrecognizedKeys(repairedBase, repaired.error.issues);
+      if (cleaned) repaired = schema.safeParse(cleaned);
+    }
+    if (repaired.success) return { state: 'ok', parsed: repaired.data as Record<string, unknown> };
+  }
+  if (result.success) return { state: 'ok', parsed: result.data as Record<string, unknown> };
+  const issues = result.error.issues.slice(0, 2).map((i: { path: Array<string | number>; message: string }) => `${i.path.join('.')}: ${i.message}`).join('; ');
+  return { state: 'bad', problem: issues };
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/toolui/VendoredToolUi.tsx b/frontend/src/toolui/VendoredToolUi.tsx
index 0fafa6e5..eca181eb 100644
--- a/frontend/src/toolui/VendoredToolUi.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/toolui/VendoredToolUi.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import React, { Suspense, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { useThemeMode } from '@/shared/styles/ThemeContext';
 import { TOOL_UI_REGISTRY } from './registry';
+import { parseLeniently, type Gate } from './parseLeniently';
 
 interface GuardProps { name: string; quiet?: boolean; children: React.ReactNode }
 
@@ -41,104 +42,6 @@ interface VendoredToolUiProps {
 
 const warnedShapes = new Set<string>();
 
-type Gate =
-  | { state: 'pending' }
-  | { state: 'ok'; parsed: Record<string, unknown> }
-  | { state: 'bad'; problem: string };
-
-/** Models pad payloads with invented keys; strip ONLY unrecognized-key issues and retry once, so
-    sloppiness self-heals while genuinely wrong shapes still fall back loudly. */
-function slugFor(label: unknown, i: number): string {
-  const t = typeof label === 'string' ? label.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-').slice(0, 40) : '';
-  return t || `item-${i + 1}`;
-}
-
-// Mechanical repairs for the mistakes agents actually make (numeric ids, ranked priorities, nested
-// row objects, bare action objects). Only ever applied when the strict parse FAILED, and the result
-// is re-validated, so a repair can flip fail->pass but never corrupt a valid payload.
-function repairCommonAgentShapes(props: Record<string, unknown>): Record<string, unknown> {
-  let out: Record<string, unknown>;
-  try {
-    out = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(props ?? {}, (_k, v) => (v === undefined ? null : v)));
-  } catch {
-    return props;
-  }
-  const fixIdLabel = (arr: unknown): unknown => {
-    if (!Array.isArray(arr)) return arr;
-    return arr.map((o, i) => {
-      if (typeof o === 'string') return { id: slugFor(o, i), label: o };
-      if (o && typeof o === 'object' && !Array.isArray(o)) {
-        const obj = { ...(o as Record<string, unknown>) };
-        // Agents reach for value/name/key and title/text as synonyms; honor them before inventing a slug.
-        if (obj.id == null || obj.id === '') obj.id = obj.value ?? obj.key ?? obj.name ?? null;
-        if (obj.id == null || obj.id === '') obj.id = slugFor(obj.label ?? obj.title ?? obj.text, i);
-        else if (typeof obj.id !== 'string') obj.id = String(obj.id);
-        if (typeof obj.label !== 'string' || !obj.label) obj.label = String(obj.label ?? obj.title ?? obj.text ?? obj.name ?? obj.id);
-        return obj;
-      }
-      return o;
-    });
-  };
-  if ('options' in out) out.options = fixIdLabel(out.options);
-  if ('actions' in out) {
-    if (out.actions && !Array.isArray(out.actions) && typeof out.actions === 'object' && 'label' in (out.actions as object)) out.actions = [out.actions];
-    out.actions = fixIdLabel(out.actions);
-  }
-  const PRIORITY_SYNONYMS: Record<string, string> = { '1': 'primary', '2': 'secondary', '3': 'tertiary', high: 'primary', medium: 'secondary', low: 'tertiary', primary: 'primary', secondary: 'secondary', tertiary: 'tertiary' };
-  if (Array.isArray(out.columns)) {
-    out.columns = out.columns.map((c) => {
-      if (c && typeof c === 'object' && 'priority' in (c as object)) {
-        const mapped = PRIORITY_SYNONYMS[String((c as Record<string, unknown>).priority).toLowerCase()];
-        const copy = { ...(c as Record<string, unknown>) };
-        if (mapped) copy.priority = mapped; else delete copy.priority;
-        return copy;
-      }
-      return c;
-    });
-  }
-  if (Array.isArray(out.data)) {
-    // Row arrays (instead of keyed objects) zip against the column keys, in order.
-    const colKeys = Array.isArray(out.columns)
-      ? (out.columns as Array<Record<string, unknown>>).map((c, i) => String((c && typeof c === 'object' ? (c.key ?? c.id ?? c.label) : c) ?? `col${i + 1}`))
-      : null;
-    out.data = out.data.map((row) => {
-      if (Array.isArray(row) && colKeys && colKeys.length > 0) {
-        return Object.fromEntries(row.map((v, i) => [colKeys[i] ?? `col${i + 1}`, v]));
-      }
-      if (!row || typeof row !== 'object' || Array.isArray(row)) return row;
-      return Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(row as Record<string, unknown>).map(([k, v]) => {
-        if (v !== null && typeof v === 'object' && !Array.isArray(v)) return [k, JSON.stringify(v)];
-        if (Array.isArray(v)) return [k, v.map((x) => (x !== null && typeof x === 'object' ? JSON.stringify(x) : x))];
-        return [k, v];
-      }));
-    });
-  }
-  return out;
-}
-
-function parseLeniently(schema: { safeParse: (v: unknown) => any }, props: Record<string, unknown>): Gate {
-  let result = schema.safeParse(props);
-  let base: Record<string, unknown> = props;
-  if (!result.success) {
-    const issues: Array<{ code: string; keys?: string[]; path: Array<string | number>; message: string }> = result.error.issues;
-    if (issues.every((i) => i.code === 'unrecognized_keys')) {
-      const cleaned: Record<string, unknown> = { ...props };
-      for (const issue of issues) {
-        for (const key of issue.keys || []) delete cleaned[key];
-      }
-      base = cleaned;
-      result = schema.safeParse(cleaned);
-    }
-  }
-  if (!result.success) {
-    const repaired = schema.safeParse(repairCommonAgentShapes(base));
-    if (repaired.success) return { state: 'ok', parsed: repaired.data as Record<string, unknown> };
-  }
-  if (result.success) return { state: 'ok', parsed: result.data as Record<string, unknown> };
-  const issues = result.error.issues.slice(0, 2).map((i: { path: Array<string | number>; message: string }) => `${i.path.join('.')}: ${i.message}`).join('; ');
-  return { state: 'bad', problem: issues };
-}
-
 // Rough resting height per component family so the loading skeleton reserves believable space
 // (Lobe/Open WebUI pattern: a breathing block where the card will land, not a tiny sliver).
 function skeletonHeightFor(name: string): number {
diff --git a/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.test.ts b/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f6ea8bb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+// Run: npx tsx --test frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.test.ts
+// Every case here is a payload shape a real agent emitted (Eric's 2026-08-09 console capture):
+// widgets users should see were quietly falling back to classic rendering.
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { parseLeniently } from './parseLeniently.ts';
+import { SerializableStatsDisplaySchema } from './components/stats-display/schema.ts';
+import { SerializableProgressTrackerSchema } from './components/progress-tracker/schema.ts';
+import { SerializableDataTableSchema } from './components/data-table/schema.ts';
+
+test('stats-display: missing key and stringy diff.value repair to a valid payload', () => {
+  const gate = parseLeniently(SerializableStatsDisplaySchema, {
+    id: 'revenue-stats',
+    stats: [
+      { label: 'Revenue', value: 1204, diff: { value: '+12%' } },
+      { label: 'Churn', value: '2.1%', diff: '-0.4' },
+    ],
+  });
+  assert.equal(gate.state, 'ok');
+  const stats = (gate as { parsed: { stats: Array<Record<string, unknown>> } }).parsed.stats;
+  assert.equal(stats[0].key, 'revenue');
+  assert.deepEqual(stats[0].diff, { value: 12 });
+  assert.deepEqual(stats[1].diff, { value: -0.4 });
+});
+
+test('progress-tracker: missing step ids, duplicate labels, underscore statuses all repair', () => {
+  const gate = parseLeniently(SerializableProgressTrackerSchema, {
+    id: 'deploy-progress',
+    steps: [
+      { label: 'Build', status: 'completed' },
+      { label: 'Test', status: 'in_progress' },
+      { label: 'Test', status: 'pending' },
+    ],
+  });
+  assert.equal(gate.state, 'ok');
+  const steps = (gate as { parsed: { steps: Array<Record<string, unknown>> } }).parsed.steps;
+  assert.deepEqual(steps.map((s) => s.status), ['completed', 'in-progress', 'pending']);
+  assert.equal(new Set(steps.map((s) => s.id)).size, 3);
+});
+
+test('extra invented top-level keys AND repairable steps in the same payload still pass', () => {
+  const gate = parseLeniently(SerializableProgressTrackerSchema, {
+    id: 'combo',
+    caption: 'invented key the schema rejects',
+    steps: [{ label: 'Only step', status: 'done' }],
+  });
+  assert.equal(gate.state, 'ok');
+});
+
+test('data-table: a non-ISO receipt.at coerces to ISO; an unparseable one costs only the receipt', () => {
+  const base = {
+    id: 'orders',
+    columns: [{ key: 'name', label: 'Name' }],
+    data: [{ name: 'Widget' }],
+  };
+  const coerced = parseLeniently(SerializableDataTableSchema, {
+    ...base,
+    receipt: { outcome: 'confirmed', summary: 'ok', at: '2026-08-08 14:30' },
+  });
+  assert.equal(coerced.state, 'ok');
+  const rec = (coerced as { parsed: { receipt: { at: string; outcome: string } } }).parsed.receipt;
+  assert.ok(rec.at.endsWith('Z') && !Number.isNaN(Date.parse(rec.at)));
+  assert.equal(rec.outcome, 'success');
+  const dropped = parseLeniently(SerializableDataTableSchema, {
+    ...base,
+    receipt: { outcome: 'confirmed', summary: 'ok', at: 'yesterday-ish' },
+  });
+  assert.equal(dropped.state, 'ok');
+  assert.equal((dropped as { parsed: Record<string, unknown> }).parsed.receipt, undefined);
+});
+
+test('a valid payload passes through byte-identical, no repair applied', () => {
+  const payload = {
+    id: 'clean',
+    stats: [{ key: 'a', label: 'A', value: 1, diff: { value: 2 } }],
+  };
+  const gate = parseLeniently(SerializableStatsDisplaySchema, payload);
+  assert.equal(gate.state, 'ok');
+  assert.deepEqual((gate as { parsed: Record<string, unknown> }).parsed.stats, payload.stats);
+});
+
+test('a genuinely wrong shape still fails loudly with a readable problem', () => {
+  const gate = parseLeniently(SerializableStatsDisplaySchema, { id: 'nope', stats: [] });
+  assert.equal(gate.state, 'bad');
+  assert.ok((gate as { problem: string }).problem.length > 0);
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.ts b/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6ba8d1ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/toolui/parseLeniently.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+// Lenient wire-payload validation for vendored tool-ui components: strict zod parse first, then
+// mechanical repairs for the mistakes agents actually make, re-validated so a repair can flip
+// fail->pass but never corrupt a valid payload.
+
+export type Gate =
+  | { state: 'pending' }
+  | { state: 'ok'; parsed: Record<string, unknown> }
+  | { state: 'bad'; problem: string };
+
+function slugFor(label: unknown, i: number): string {
+  const t = typeof label === 'string' ? label.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-').slice(0, 40) : '';
+  return t || `item-${i + 1}`;
+}
+
+// Agents write "+12%", "1,204", "$40" where schemas want a number; strip the dressing and parse.
+function numFrom(v: unknown): number | null {
+  if (typeof v === 'number' && Number.isFinite(v)) return v;
+  if (typeof v === 'string') {
+    const n = parseFloat(v.replace(/[+,%$\s]/g, ''));
+    return Number.isFinite(n) ? n : null;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+// Mechanical repairs for the mistakes agents actually make (numeric ids, ranked priorities, nested
+// row objects, bare action objects). Only ever applied when the strict parse FAILED, and the result
+// is re-validated, so a repair can flip fail->pass but never corrupt a valid payload.
+function repairCommonAgentShapes(props: Record<string, unknown>): Record<string, unknown> {
+  let out: Record<string, unknown>;
+  try {
+    out = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(props ?? {}, (_k, v) => (v === undefined ? null : v)));
+  } catch {
+    return props;
+  }
+  const fixIdLabel = (arr: unknown): unknown => {
+    if (!Array.isArray(arr)) return arr;
+    return arr.map((o, i) => {
+      if (typeof o === 'string') return { id: slugFor(o, i), label: o };
+      if (o && typeof o === 'object' && !Array.isArray(o)) {
+        const obj = { ...(o as Record<string, unknown>) };
+        // Agents reach for value/name/key and title/text as synonyms; honor them before inventing a slug.
+        if (obj.id == null || obj.id === '') obj.id = obj.value ?? obj.key ?? obj.name ?? null;
+        if (obj.id == null || obj.id === '') obj.id = slugFor(obj.label ?? obj.title ?? obj.text, i);
+        else if (typeof obj.id !== 'string') obj.id = String(obj.id);
+        if (typeof obj.label !== 'string' || !obj.label) obj.label = String(obj.label ?? obj.title ?? obj.text ?? obj.name ?? obj.id);
+        return obj;
+      }
+      return o;
+    });
+  };
+  const dedupeIds = (arr: unknown): unknown => {
+    if (!Array.isArray(arr)) return arr;
+    const seen = new Map<string, number>();
+    return arr.map((o) => {
+      if (!o || typeof o !== 'object' || Array.isArray(o)) return o;
+      const obj = o as Record<string, unknown>;
+      if (typeof obj.id !== 'string') return o;
+      const count = (seen.get(obj.id) ?? 0) + 1;
+      seen.set(obj.id, count);
+      return count === 1 ? o : { ...obj, id: `${obj.id}-${count}` };
+    });
+  };
+  const STATUS_SYNONYMS: Record<string, string> = { in_progress: 'in-progress', active: 'in-progress', running: 'in-progress', done: 'completed', complete: 'completed', error: 'failed', todo: 'pending', waiting: 'pending' };
+  const fixStepStatus = (arr: unknown): unknown => {
+    if (!Array.isArray(arr)) return arr;
+    return arr.map((o) => {
+      if (!o || typeof o !== 'object' || Array.isArray(o)) return o;
+      const obj = o as Record<string, unknown>;
+      const mapped = STATUS_SYNONYMS[String(obj.status ?? '').toLowerCase()];
+      return mapped ? { ...obj, status: mapped } : o;
+    });
+  };
+  if ('options' in out) out.options = fixIdLabel(out.options);
+  if ('steps' in out) out.steps = fixStepStatus(dedupeIds(fixIdLabel(out.steps)));
+  if ('todos' in out) out.todos = dedupeIds(fixIdLabel(out.todos));
+  if (Array.isArray(out.stats)) {
+    out.stats = out.stats.map((s, i) => {
+      if (!s || typeof s !== 'object' || Array.isArray(s)) return s;
+      const st = { ...(s as Record<string, unknown>) };
+      if (typeof st.key !== 'string' || !st.key) st.key = typeof st.id === 'string' && st.id ? st.id : slugFor(st.label ?? st.name ?? st.title, i);
+      if (typeof st.label !== 'string' || !st.label) st.label = String(st.name ?? st.title ?? st.key);
+      if (st.diff != null && typeof st.diff !== 'object') st.diff = { value: st.diff };
+      if (st.diff && typeof st.diff === 'object' && !Array.isArray(st.diff)) {
+        const d = { ...(st.diff as Record<string, unknown>) };
+        const n = numFrom(d.value);
+        if (n === null) delete st.diff;
+        else { d.value = n; st.diff = d; }
+      }
+      return st;
+    });
+  }
+  const RECEIPT_OUTCOMES: Record<string, string> = { success: 'success', confirmed: 'success', ok: 'success', done: 'success', complete: 'success', completed: 'success', sent: 'success', partial: 'partial', failed: 'failed', error: 'failed', failure: 'failed', cancelled: 'cancelled', canceled: 'cancelled' };
+  const receipt = out.receipt as Record<string, unknown> | null | undefined;
+  if (receipt && typeof receipt === 'object' && !Array.isArray(receipt)) {
+    const fixed = { ...receipt };
+    const outcome = RECEIPT_OUTCOMES[String(fixed.outcome ?? '').toLowerCase()];
+    if (outcome) fixed.outcome = outcome;
+    const t = typeof fixed.at === 'string' ? Date.parse(fixed.at) : NaN;
+    if (!Number.isNaN(t)) fixed.at = new Date(t).toISOString();
+    // A receipt that still can't validate costs the optional chip, never the whole widget.
+    if (!outcome || Number.isNaN(t)) delete out.receipt;
+    else out.receipt = fixed;
+  }
+  if ('actions' in out) {
+    if (out.actions && !Array.isArray(out.actions) && typeof out.actions === 'object' && 'label' in (out.actions as object)) out.actions = [out.actions];
+    out.actions = fixIdLabel(out.actions);
+  }
+  const PRIORITY_SYNONYMS: Record<string, string> = { '1': 'primary', '2': 'secondary', '3': 'tertiary', high: 'primary', medium: 'secondary', low: 'tertiary', primary: 'primary', secondary: 'secondary', tertiary: 'tertiary' };
+  if (Array.isArray(out.columns)) {
+    out.columns = out.columns.map((c) => {
+      if (c && typeof c === 'object' && 'priority' in (c as object)) {
+        const mapped = PRIORITY_SYNONYMS[String((c as Record<string, unknown>).priority).toLowerCase()];
+        const copy = { ...(c as Record<string, unknown>) };
+        if (mapped) copy.priority = mapped; else delete copy.priority;
+        return copy;
+      }
+      return c;
+    });
+  }
+  if (Array.isArray(out.data)) {
+    // Row arrays (instead of keyed objects) zip against the column keys, in order.
+    const colKeys = Array.isArray(out.columns)
+      ? (out.columns as Array<Record<string, unknown>>).map((c, i) => String((c && typeof c === 'object' ? (c.key ?? c.id ?? c.label) : c) ?? `col${i + 1}`))
+      : null;
+    out.data = out.data.map((row) => {
+      if (Array.isArray(row) && colKeys && colKeys.length > 0) {
+        return Object.fromEntries(row.map((v, i) => [colKeys[i] ?? `col${i + 1}`, v]));
+      }
+      if (!row || typeof row !== 'object' || Array.isArray(row)) return row;
+      return Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(row as Record<string, unknown>).map(([k, v]) => {
+        if (v !== null && typeof v === 'object' && !Array.isArray(v)) return [k, JSON.stringify(v)];
+        if (Array.isArray(v)) return [k, v.map((x) => (x !== null && typeof x === 'object' ? JSON.stringify(x) : x))];
+        return [k, v];
+      }));
+    });
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+// Drop top-level keys the schema rejects (models pad payloads with invented ones) and reparse.
+// Runs even when OTHER issues coexist, so a payload with extra keys AND a repairable shape can
+// still be saved by the repair pass instead of failing on the first problem it happens to hit.
+function stripUnrecognizedKeys(props: Record<string, unknown>, issues: Array<{ code: string; keys?: string[] }>): Record<string, unknown> | null {
+  const unrecognized = issues.filter((i) => i.code === 'unrecognized_keys');
+  if (unrecognized.length === 0) return null;
+  const cleaned: Record<string, unknown> = { ...props };
+  for (const issue of unrecognized) {
+    for (const key of issue.keys || []) delete cleaned[key];
+  }
+  return cleaned;
+}
+
+export function parseLeniently(schema: { safeParse: (v: unknown) => any }, props: Record<string, unknown>): Gate {
+  let result = schema.safeParse(props);
+  let base: Record<string, unknown> = props;
+  if (!result.success) {
+    const cleaned = stripUnrecognizedKeys(props, result.error.issues);
+    if (cleaned) {
+      base = cleaned;
+      result = schema.safeParse(cleaned);
+    }
+  }
+  if (!result.success) {
+    const repairedBase = repairCommonAgentShapes(base);
+    let repaired = schema.safeParse(repairedBase);
+    if (!repaired.success) {
+      const cleaned = stripUnrecognizedKeys(repairedBase, repaired.error.issues);
+      if (cleaned) repaired = schema.safeParse(cleaned);
+    }
+    if (repaired.success) return { state: 'ok', parsed: repaired.data as Record<string, unknown> };
+  }
+  if (result.success) return { state: 'ok', parsed: result.data as Record<string, unknown> };
+  const issues = result.error.issues.slice(0, 2).map((i: { path: Array<string | number>; message: string }) => `${i.path.join('.')}: ${i.message}`).join('; ');
+  return { state: 'bad', problem: issues };
+}