diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/view/ChatInputView.tsx b/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/view/ChatInputView.tsx
index 607ddff8..fa8a0c5c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/view/ChatInputView.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/view/ChatInputView.tsx
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import { AttachmentChips } from './AttachmentChips';
 import { EditorSurface } from './EditorSurface';
 import { ChatInputToolbar } from '../toolbar/ChatInputToolbar';
 import { ChatInputOverlays } from './ChatInputOverlays';
+import { setLastFocusedComposer } from '@/shared/composerFocus';
 
 type ThinkingLevel = 'off' | 'low' | 'medium' | 'high' | 'auto';
 interface ModeConf { label: string; icon: React.ReactNode; color: string }
@@ -113,6 +114,7 @@ export const ChatInputView: React.FC<Props> = (p) => {
     <Box
       ref={p.containerRef}
       data-osw-composer={p.sessionId ?? 'dashboard'}
+      onFocusCapture={() => setLastFocusedComposer(p.sessionId ?? 'dashboard')}
       onDragOver={p.handleDragOver}
       onDragLeave={p.handleDragLeave}
       onDrop={p.handleDrop}
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/hooks/state/useDashboardController.ts b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/hooks/state/useDashboardController.ts
index effefa25..d503a8cb 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/hooks/state/useDashboardController.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/hooks/state/useDashboardController.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { useAppSelector } from '@/shared/hooks';
+import { store } from '@/shared/state/store';
+import { selectViewportCoveringCardId } from '@/shared/state/dashboardLayoutSlice';
 import { useClaudeTokens } from '@/shared/styles/ThemeContext';
 import { useElementSelection } from '@/app/components/editor/ElementSelectionContext';
 import { clipboardCardToSelectedElement } from '@/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/hooks/pasteCards';
@@ -239,12 +241,15 @@ export function useDashboardController(dashboardId: string, isActive: boolean) {
     }
   }, [toolbarOpen, toolbarPrefill, toolbarPrefillMode]);
 
-  // Dictation with no field focused lands HERE instead of vanishing: the composer opens with the transcript typed in, unsent.
+  // Dictation with no field focused lands HERE instead of vanishing: the composer opens with the transcript typed in, unsent. Claiming = cancelling the event; a card that owns the screen hides this composer, so the words stay unclaimed and fall to the clipboard instead of into a toolbar nobody can see.
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!isActive) return;
     const onDictation = (e: Event): void => {
       const text = (e as CustomEvent).detail?.text;
-      if (typeof text === 'string' && text.trim()) handleStarter(text);
+      if (typeof text !== 'string' || !text.trim()) return;
+      if (selectViewportCoveringCardId(store.getState())) return;
+      e.preventDefault();
+      handleStarter(text);
     };
     window.addEventListener('openswarm:dictation-fallback', onDictation);
     return () => window.removeEventListener('openswarm:dictation-fallback', onDictation);
diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/composerFocus.ts b/frontend/src/shared/composerFocus.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2ed8a0fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/composerFocus.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+// The composer the user last typed in, by its data-osw-composer owner id. Dictation with no cursor anywhere lands there (expanding a collapsed card on the way) instead of in a brand-new chat, so a pending attachment or draft is never stranded.
+let lastFocusedComposerId: string | null = null;
+
+export function setLastFocusedComposer(ownerId: string): void {
+  lastFocusedComposerId = ownerId;
+}
+
+export function getLastFocusedComposer(): string | null {
+  return lastFocusedComposerId;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectAtFocus.ts b/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectAtFocus.ts
index 313cb2db..1b0f1b56 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectAtFocus.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectAtFocus.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import { getLastInteractedBrowser } from '@/shared/browserFocus';
+import { getLastFocusedComposer } from '@/shared/composerFocus';
 import { getWebview } from '@/shared/browserRegistry';
+import { store } from '@/shared/state/store';
+import { expandSession } from '@/shared/state/agentsSlice';
+import { selectViewportCoveringCardId } from '@/shared/state/dashboardLayoutSlice';
 import { takeInjectSnapshot, setInjectSnapshot, isUsableTarget } from './injectTargetSnapshot';
 import { guestHasEditableFocus } from './guestHasEditableFocus';
 
@@ -8,6 +12,72 @@ import { guestHasEditableFocus } from './guestHasEditableFocus';
 // card forwards into the guest page's field, anything else falls back to the OS-level paste.
 export type InjectTarget = 'field' | 'webview' | 'composer' | null;
 
+function isField(el: HTMLElement): boolean {
+  return el.tagName === 'INPUT' || el.tagName === 'TEXTAREA' || el.isContentEditable;
+}
+
+function insertIntoField(active: HTMLElement, text: string): boolean {
+  try {
+    active.focus();
+    // execCommand keeps the undo stack and fires the input events React listens for; the manual
+    // fallback covers fields where Chromium refuses the command (rare, e.g. type=number).
+    const ok = document.execCommand('insertText', false, text);
+    if (!ok && (active.tagName === 'INPUT' || active.tagName === 'TEXTAREA')) {
+      const el = active as HTMLInputElement | HTMLTextAreaElement;
+      const s = el.selectionStart ?? el.value.length;
+      const e = el.selectionEnd ?? el.value.length;
+      el.value = el.value.slice(0, s) + text + el.value.slice(e);
+      el.selectionStart = el.selectionEnd = s + text.length;
+      el.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', { bubbles: true }));
+    }
+    return true;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+// A programmatic focus parks the caret at the START of a contenteditable, which would splice the dictation in front of an existing draft.
+function placeCaretAtEnd(el: HTMLElement): void {
+  if (el.tagName === 'INPUT' || el.tagName === 'TEXTAREA') {
+    const f = el as HTMLInputElement | HTMLTextAreaElement;
+    f.selectionStart = f.selectionEnd = f.value.length;
+    return;
+  }
+  const sel = window.getSelection();
+  if (!sel) return;
+  const range = document.createRange();
+  range.selectNodeContents(el);
+  range.collapse(false);
+  sel.removeAllRanges();
+  sel.addRange(range);
+}
+
+function nextFrame(): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise((r) => requestAnimationFrame(() => r()));
+}
+
+function composerEditor(ownerId: string): HTMLElement | null {
+  const root = document.querySelector<HTMLElement>(`[data-osw-composer="${CSS.escape(ownerId)}"]`);
+  return root?.querySelector<HTMLElement>('[contenteditable="true"], textarea, input') ?? null;
+}
+
+// The one composer a dictation with no cursor can honestly mean: the card owning the screen (its only input), else the composer the user last typed in; a collapsed card is expanded first, and since its chat stays mounted across collapse the draft and pending attachments ride along.
+async function resolveComposerTarget(): Promise<HTMLElement | null> {
+  const state = store.getState();
+  const covering = selectViewportCoveringCardId(state);
+  const ownerId = covering ?? getLastFocusedComposer();
+  if (!ownerId) return null;
+  const editor = composerEditor(ownerId);
+  if (!editor) return null;
+  if (editor.getClientRects().length === 0) {
+    if (!state.agents.sessions[ownerId] || state.agents.expandedSessionIds.includes(ownerId)) return null;
+    store.dispatch(expandSession(ownerId));
+    for (let i = 0; i < 12 && editor.getClientRects().length === 0; i++) await nextFrame();
+    if (editor.getClientRects().length === 0) return null;
+  }
+  return editor;
+}
+
 export async function injectAtFocus(text: string): Promise<InjectTarget> {
   const snap = takeInjectSnapshot();
   // The cursor wins, not where you started. Wispr's grammar, and Eric's call: you dictate, you click
@@ -17,25 +87,7 @@ export async function injectAtFocus(text: string): Promise<InjectTarget> {
   // nothing typeable (a button, the body) while you were talking.
   const live = document.activeElement as HTMLElement | null;
   const active = isUsableTarget(live) ? live : snap.el;
-  if (active && (active.tagName === 'INPUT' || active.tagName === 'TEXTAREA' || active.isContentEditable)) {
-    try {
-      active.focus();
-      // execCommand keeps the undo stack and fires the input events React listens for; the manual
-      // fallback covers fields where Chromium refuses the command (rare, e.g. type=number).
-      const ok = document.execCommand('insertText', false, text);
-      if (!ok && (active.tagName === 'INPUT' || active.tagName === 'TEXTAREA')) {
-        const el = active as HTMLInputElement | HTMLTextAreaElement;
-        const s = el.selectionStart ?? el.value.length;
-        const e = el.selectionEnd ?? el.value.length;
-        el.value = el.value.slice(0, s) + text + el.value.slice(e);
-        el.selectionStart = el.selectionEnd = s + text.length;
-        el.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', { bubbles: true }));
-      }
-      return 'field';
-    } catch {
-      return null;
-    }
-  }
+  if (active && isField(active)) return insertIntoField(active, text) ? 'field' : null;
   // A webview steals focus when the user clicks into a page, so activeElement IS the webview tag.
   // insertText silently no-ops when the guest has no focused editable, which read as the dictation
   // vanishing (ENG-254): confirm the guest target BEFORE claiming success, and await the insert so a
@@ -53,9 +105,15 @@ export async function injectAtFocus(text: string): Promise<InjectTarget> {
       try { wv.focus?.(); await wv.insertText(text); return 'webview'; } catch { /* fall through */ }
     }
   }
-  // No cursor anywhere: open the dashboard composer with the transcript typed in. Words are never dropped.
-  window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('openswarm:dictation-fallback', { detail: { text } }));
-  return 'composer';
+  const composer = await resolveComposerTarget();
+  if (composer) {
+    composer.focus();
+    placeCaretAtEnd(composer);
+    if (insertIntoField(composer, text)) return 'field';
+  }
+  // No composer anywhere: the dashboard toolbar opens with the transcript typed in and claims the event by cancelling it; unclaimed (no dashboard, or a card owns the screen) means nobody took the words, so the caller's clipboard fallback speaks instead of the text vanishing.
+  const claimed = !window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('openswarm:dictation-fallback', { detail: { text }, cancelable: true }));
+  return claimed ? 'composer' : null;
 }
 
 /** Called at press-start so the words land where the user was looking, not where focus drifted. */
diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectTargetSnapshot.test.ts b/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectTargetSnapshot.test.ts
index 6fdd201e..3c54ab6b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectTargetSnapshot.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectTargetSnapshot.test.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,12 @@ import { test, beforeEach } from 'node:test';
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import { setInjectSnapshot, clearInjectSnapshot, takeInjectSnapshot, isUsableTarget } from './injectTargetSnapshot.ts';
 
-const field = (connected = true) => ({ tagName: 'TEXTAREA', isConnected: connected, isContentEditable: false }) as unknown as HTMLElement;
+// Rendered by default: the predicate refuses anything with no layout box (a composer inside a collapsed card is display:none).
+const el = (tagName: string, o: { connected?: boolean; editable?: boolean; rendered?: boolean } = {}) => ({
+  tagName, isConnected: o.connected ?? true, isContentEditable: o.editable ?? false,
+  getClientRects: () => ((o.rendered ?? true) ? [{}] : []),
+}) as unknown as HTMLElement;
+const field = (connected = true) => el('TEXTAREA', { connected });
 
 beforeEach(() => clearInjectSnapshot());
 
@@ -20,9 +25,9 @@ test('a detached field is refused, so a dead origin can never be the destination
 });
 
 test('a non-typeable element never wins', () => {
-  assert.equal(isUsableTarget({ tagName: 'DIV', isConnected: true, isContentEditable: false } as unknown as HTMLElement), false);
-  assert.equal(isUsableTarget({ tagName: 'DIV', isConnected: true, isContentEditable: true } as unknown as HTMLElement), true);
-  assert.equal(isUsableTarget({ tagName: 'WEBVIEW', isConnected: true, isContentEditable: false } as unknown as HTMLElement), true);
+  assert.equal(isUsableTarget(el('DIV')), false);
+  assert.equal(isUsableTarget(el('DIV', { editable: true })), true);
+  assert.equal(isUsableTarget(el('WEBVIEW')), true);
 });
 
 test('taking consumes it, so one take can never leak into the next', () => {
@@ -42,11 +47,20 @@ test('a cancelled take leaves nothing behind', () => {
 // injectAtFocus needs a live DOM, so what is pinned here is the predicate that decides whether the
 // live element is allowed to win at all. Getting this wrong is how the text lands in a stranger's box.
 test('a live click target only beats the origin when it is really typeable', () => {
-  const typeable = { tagName: 'INPUT', isConnected: true, isContentEditable: false } as unknown as HTMLElement;
-  const button = { tagName: 'BUTTON', isConnected: true, isContentEditable: false } as unknown as HTMLElement;
-  const body = { tagName: 'BODY', isConnected: true, isContentEditable: false } as unknown as HTMLElement;
+  const typeable = el('INPUT');
+  const button = el('BUTTON');
+  const body = el('BODY');
   assert.equal(isUsableTarget(typeable), true, 'clicking another field must take the text');
   assert.equal(isUsableTarget(button), false, 'clicking a button must NOT take the text');
   assert.equal(isUsableTarget(body), false, 'clicking empty space must NOT take the text');
   assert.equal(isUsableTarget(null), false);
 });
+
+test('a hidden field is refused: a collapsed card\'s composer cannot take a caret', () => {
+  const hidden = el('DIV', { editable: true, rendered: false });
+  assert.equal(isUsableTarget(hidden), false);
+  setInjectSnapshot({ el: hidden, browserId: null });
+  const taken = takeInjectSnapshot();
+  assert.equal(taken.el, null);
+  assert.equal(taken.targetLost, true, 'it was aimed at and then hidden, which is a lost target, not no target');
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectTargetSnapshot.ts b/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectTargetSnapshot.ts
index dc937cf0..a98d7107 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectTargetSnapshot.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/voice/injectTargetSnapshot.ts
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ export function clearInjectSnapshot(): void {
   p_snapshot = null;
 }
 
-/** A snapshot is only worth honoring while its element is still attached and still typeable. */
+/** A snapshot is only worth honoring while its element is still attached, still typeable, and still rendered: a composer inside a collapsed card is display:none and can't take a caret. */
 export function isUsableTarget(el: HTMLElement | null): boolean {
-  if (!el || !el.isConnected) return false;
+  if (!el || !el.isConnected || el.getClientRects().length === 0) return false;
   return el.tagName === 'INPUT' || el.tagName === 'TEXTAREA' || el.tagName === 'WEBVIEW' || el.isContentEditable;
 }