diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/bubbles/MessageBubble.tsx b/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/bubbles/MessageBubble.tsx
index 3358b95b..f84dbead 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/bubbles/MessageBubble.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/bubbles/MessageBubble.tsx
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import { estimateRenderedTextHeight, oversizedCharThreshold, RECHECK_VISIBILITY_
 import { THINKING_LABELS } from '../thinkingLabels';
 import { AgentMessage, retryLastUserMessage } from '@/shared/state/agentsSlice';
 import { openSettingsModal } from '@/shared/state/settingsSlice';
+import { fetchSubscriptionStatus } from '@/shared/state/subscriptionsSlice';
 import { shallowEqual } from 'react-redux';
 import { useAppDispatch, useAppSelector } from '@/shared/hooks';
 import { useClaudeTokens } from '@/shared/styles/ThemeContext';
@@ -209,8 +210,8 @@ function parseOpenSwarmError(text: string, ctx?: OverflowContext): OpenSwarmErro
   if (/No active subscription|Subscription canceled|Subscription past_due|Invalid.*token|Missing bearer token/i.test(text)) {
     return {
       kind: 'auth',
-      title: 'Subscription issue',
-      detail: "We can't find an active OpenSwarm subscription. Check your billing status.",
+      title: 'Connection needs a refresh',
+      detail: "This model's account isn't active right now. Reconnect it in Settings, or switch to a different model.",
       ctaLabel: 'Open Settings',
       ctaAction: 'settings',
     };
@@ -1050,6 +1051,15 @@ const MessageBubble: React.FC<Props> = React.memo(({ message, editing = false, o
     }
   }, [message.id, openswarmError?.kind]);
 
+  // A run that failed on a subscription/connection error means the card may be
+  // showing a stale "Connected" (the optimistic mark, or a token that went stale
+  // mid-session); re-pull the real 9Router/cloud status so it flips to Reconnect.
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    if (openswarmError?.kind === 'auth') {
+      dispatch(fetchSubscriptionStatus());
+    }
+  }, [message.id, openswarmError?.kind, dispatch]);
+
   React.useEffect(() => {
     if (editing) setEditText(rawText);
   }, [editing, rawText]);
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/Settings/sections/subscription/subscriptionConnect.ts b/frontend/src/app/pages/Settings/sections/subscription/subscriptionConnect.ts
index c63447c8..25671357 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/Settings/sections/subscription/subscriptionConnect.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/Settings/sections/subscription/subscriptionConnect.ts
@@ -197,9 +197,26 @@ function runAuthCodeFlow(ctx: ConnectCtx) {
       try { body = await r.json(); } catch {}
       succeeded = r.ok && !!body?.success;
     } catch {}
-    // 9Router /providers lags /exchange; an immediate fetchStatus would clobber the UI.
-    if (succeeded) markConnected(providerId);
+    // /providers lags /exchange by a few seconds, so confirm an actually-active
+    // node within a short window instead of trusting bare HTTP success. A handoff
+    // that returns success but never lands a usable node must NOT show "Connected"
+    // (that was the card-says-connected-but-every-run-fails bug); it resets so the
+    // user sees Connect/retry.
+    let confirmed = false;
+    if (succeeded) {
+      for (let i = 0; i < 6 && !confirmed; i++) {
+        try {
+          const sr = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/agents/subscriptions/status`);
+          const sd = await sr.json();
+          const connections = sd.providers?.connections || [];
+          confirmed = connections.some((p: any) => p.provider === providerId && (p.isActive || p.testStatus === 'active'));
+        } catch {}
+        if (!confirmed) await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 1500));
+      }
+    }
+    if (confirmed) markConnected(providerId);
     setConnecting(null);
+    fetchStatus();
     refreshPickerModels();
   };