diff --git a/frontend/src/app/components/Layout/AppShell.tsx b/frontend/src/app/components/Layout/AppShell.tsx
index b932035c..3063e4fd 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/components/Layout/AppShell.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/components/Layout/AppShell.tsx
@@ -467,6 +467,13 @@ const AppShell: React.FC = () => {
     else root.style.removeProperty('--osw-header-inset');
     return () => { root.style.removeProperty('--osw-header-inset'); };
   }, [sidebarAway]);
+  // When the sidebar is docked, the macOS traffic lights sit over its top strip, which is a window
+  // drag region that swallows mousemove, so the canvas hover-reveal can never fire there. Broadcast
+  // "chrome docked" so the canvas keeps the native lights visible while the sidebar is open (they only
+  // hide-until-hover in the immersive collapsed/fullscreen state). detail.docked = sidebar is present.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('openswarm:chrome-docked', { detail: { docked: !sidebarAway } }));
+  }, [sidebarAway]);
   // Close-on-leave with a grace delay (cancelled on re-enter): a bare mouseLeave closed the peek the
   // instant the cursor dipped past the panel edge while reaching for an item, so clicks never landed.
   const peekCloseTimerRef = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null>(null);
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/canvas/DashboardCanvas.tsx b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/canvas/DashboardCanvas.tsx
index 7eb4b036..6341f302 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/canvas/DashboardCanvas.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/canvas/DashboardCanvas.tsx
@@ -187,11 +187,21 @@ const DashboardCanvas: React.FC<DashboardCanvasProps> = ({
     return () => window.removeEventListener('keydown', onKey, true);
   }, [fullscreenCardId, dispatch]);
 
+  // While the sidebar is docked, its top strip (a window drag region) hides the traffic lights AND
+  // eats the hover that would reveal them, so keep them visible the whole time the sidebar is open,
+  // like every Mac app with a sidebar. Only the immersive collapsed/fullscreen state hover-reveals.
+  const [chromeDocked, setChromeDocked] = React.useState(false);
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const onDocked = (e: Event): void => setChromeDocked(!!(e as CustomEvent).detail?.docked);
+    window.addEventListener('openswarm:chrome-docked', onDocked);
+    return () => window.removeEventListener('openswarm:chrome-docked', onDocked);
+  }, []);
+
   // Arc-style chrome: the mac traffic lights ride the top-edge hover, in fullscreen too (Arc/Zen both
   // keep the native buttons reachable in compact/fullscreen; Zen even exempts them from hover-leave).
   useEffect(() => {
-    window.openswarm?.setWindowButtonsVisible?.(headerRevealed);
-  }, [headerRevealed]);
+    window.openswarm?.setWindowButtonsVisible?.(headerRevealed || chromeDocked);
+  }, [headerRevealed, chromeDocked]);
 
   // Reveal on any pointer graze of the top edge. The old 22px strip Box was dead in practice: the
   // hidden header overlay's pointer-events:auto children sat above it and ate the mouseenter.