diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/canvas/TetherLayer.tsx b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/canvas/TetherLayer.tsx
index aa72a56e..10321ce8 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/canvas/TetherLayer.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/canvas/TetherLayer.tsx
@@ -70,17 +70,16 @@ const TetherLayer: React.FC<TetherLayerProps> = ({ tethers, c }) => {
             markerEnd="url(#tether-arrow)"
           />
           {t.label && (
+            // Same glass capsule language as the narrator pills; the old white accent-bordered box read as a stray form element.
             <g transform={`translate(${t.labelX},${t.labelY})`}>
               <rect
-                x={-4}
-                y={-14}
-                width={t.label.length * 7.5 + 8}
-                height={20}
-                rx={4}
-                fill={c.bg.surface}
-                stroke={c.accent.primary}
-                strokeWidth={1}
-                opacity={0.95}
+                x={-6}
+                y={-15}
+                width={t.label.length * 7.5 + 12}
+                height={22}
+                rx={11}
+                fill="rgba(24,14,32,0.85)"
+                opacity={0.98}
               />
               <text
                 x={t.label.length * 7.5 / 2}
@@ -89,7 +88,7 @@ const TetherLayer: React.FC<TetherLayerProps> = ({ tethers, c }) => {
                 fontSize={11}
                 fontWeight={600}
                 fontFamily="inherit"
-                fill={c.accent.primary}
+                fill="rgba(255,255,255,0.92)"
               >
                 {t.label}
               </text>
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/AgentNarratorPill.tsx b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/AgentNarratorPill.tsx
index 416b8187..d8e8200f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/AgentNarratorPill.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/AgentNarratorPill.tsx
@@ -40,10 +40,14 @@ function AgentNarratorPill({ label, running, todos, liveSteps, artifact, askPair
   // Live tool steps window to the most recent, since earlier ones are history, not plan.
   const visibleSteps = running && !visibleTodos.length ? (liveSteps || []).slice(-MAX_VISIBLE_TODOS) : [];
   const earlierSteps = running && !visibleTodos.length ? Math.max(0, (liveSteps?.length || 0) - visibleSteps.length) : 0;
+  // A plan/progress widget the agent posted once goes STALE while work continues; live steps outrank
+  // it until the turn ends. Answer-shaped widgets (weather, tables) still win the ladder.
+  const staleplan = running && artifact && /plan|progress/i.test(artifactName(artifact)) && visibleSteps.length > 0;
+  const shownArtifact = staleplan ? null : artifact;
   const ring = selected || highlighted ? { outline: '2px solid #3b82f6', outlineOffset: '2px' } : undefined;
   const liveAsk = askPair && sessionId ? askPair : null;
   // One key per ladder state so a state CHANGE remounts the artifact and replays the one-shot entrance; nothing loops.
-  const artifactKey = liveAsk ? `ask-${liveAsk.id}` : artifact ? 'widget' : browserShot ? 'shot' : visibleTodos.length > 0 ? 'todos' : visibleSteps.length > 0 ? 'steps' : running ? 'thinking' : finalText ? 'final' : 'none';
+  const artifactKey = liveAsk ? `ask-${liveAsk.id}` : shownArtifact ? 'widget' : browserShot ? 'shot' : visibleTodos.length > 0 ? 'todos' : visibleSteps.length > 0 ? 'steps' : running ? 'thinking' : finalText ? 'final' : 'none';
 
   return (
     <Box
@@ -91,9 +95,9 @@ function AgentNarratorPill({ label, running, todos, liveSteps, artifact, askPair
         <PillArtifactFrame key={artifactKey} name="question">
           <AskUiBubble pair={liveAsk} sessionId={sessionId!} isPending suppressReveal />
         </PillArtifactFrame>
-      ) : artifact ? (
-        <PillArtifactFrame key={artifactKey} name={artifactName(artifact)}>
-          <ShowUiWidgetView payload={artifact} ambient />
+      ) : shownArtifact ? (
+        <PillArtifactFrame key={artifactKey} name={artifactName(shownArtifact)}>
+          <ShowUiWidgetView payload={shownArtifact} ambient />
         </PillArtifactFrame>
       ) : browserShot ? (
         <Box
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/PillArtifactFrame.tsx b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/PillArtifactFrame.tsx
index b68f2601..002de3ce 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/PillArtifactFrame.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/PillArtifactFrame.tsx
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ function PillArtifactFrame({ name, children }: Props): React.ReactElement {
 
   return (
     <Box
-      className="osw-artifact"
+      // The "dark" class scopes the vendored tool-ui theme: pill artifacts always sit on the dark glass surface, so a light widget card here read as a white slab.
+      className="osw-artifact dark"
       onPointerDown={(e: React.PointerEvent) => e.stopPropagation()}
       onClick={(e: React.MouseEvent) => e.stopPropagation()}
       onDoubleClick={(e: React.MouseEvent) => e.stopPropagation()}
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/agentLiveSteps.ts b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/agentLiveSteps.ts
index bb41c928..f975bdba 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/agentLiveSteps.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/desktop/agentLiveSteps.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ export function extractLiveSteps(messages: Array<{ role: string; content: unknow
     const tool = String(body.tool || '');
     if (!tool || HIDDEN_TOOLS.test(tool)) continue;
     const done = messages[i + 1]?.role === 'tool_result';
-    const lbl = getToolLabelWithInput(tool, body.input, (m as { id?: string }).id);
+    // MCP names arrive prefixed ("web__WebSearch"); the checklist speaks the bare action's language.
+    const bare = tool.replace(/^.*__/, '');
+    const lbl = getToolLabelWithInput(bare, body.input, (m as { id?: string }).id);
     const label = done ? lbl.past : lbl.present;
     // Consecutive same-verb steps merge so "Read a file" x8 doesn't fill the card.
     const prev = steps[steps.length - 1];
diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/state/sessionDisplay.ts b/frontend/src/shared/state/sessionDisplay.ts
index c68c5af3..3b264916 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shared/state/sessionDisplay.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/state/sessionDisplay.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ export function displayChatTitle(session: AgentSession | null | undefined): stri
   if (session.name && !isLegacyAutoName(session.name)) {
     return session.name;
   }
+  // A spawned sub-agent's first message is its parent's raw instruction; titling the card with it reads as a leak.
+  if (session.parent_session_id) return 'Sub-agent';
   const firstUserMsg = session.messages?.find((m) => m.role === 'user');
   const firstUserContent = firstUserMsg && typeof firstUserMsg.content === 'string'
     ? firstUserMsg.content