diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
index db9ea3e..50da6ad 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
@@ -357,6 +357,7 @@
 				SUPPORTS_MACCATALYST = NO;
 				SUPPORTS_MAC_DESIGNED_FOR_IPHONE_IPAD = NO;
 				SUPPORTS_XR_DESIGNED_FOR_IPHONE_IPAD = NO;
+				SWIFT_ACTIVE_COMPILATION_CONDITIONS = "$(inherited) NUCLEIC_APP";
 				SWIFT_EMIT_LOC_STRINGS = YES;
 				SWIFT_VERSION = 5.0;
 				TARGETED_DEVICE_FAMILY = "1,2";
@@ -400,6 +401,7 @@
 				SUPPORTS_MACCATALYST = NO;
 				SUPPORTS_MAC_DESIGNED_FOR_IPHONE_IPAD = NO;
 				SUPPORTS_XR_DESIGNED_FOR_IPHONE_IPAD = NO;
+				SWIFT_ACTIVE_COMPILATION_CONDITIONS = "$(inherited) NUCLEIC_APP";
 				SWIFT_EMIT_LOC_STRINGS = YES;
 				SWIFT_VERSION = 5.0;
 				TARGETED_DEVICE_FAMILY = "1,2";
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/ApprovalIntents.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/ApprovalIntents.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1beebf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/ApprovalIntents.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+import AppIntents
+import NucleicProtocol
+
+// MARK: - Decision option (§6 enums)
+
+/// The decision an approval intent can carry, mapped from the wire `Decision` (`Approval.swift`).
+/// The `allowAlways` cases are the safe subset (session / this-tool); pattern scopes and any allow
+/// on a destructive request are handled by the risk gate, not offered here.
+enum ApprovalDecisionOption: String, AppEnum {
+    case allow
+    case deny
+    case allowAlwaysSession
+    case allowAlwaysTool
+
+    static let typeDisplayRepresentation = TypeDisplayRepresentation(name: "Decision")
+    static let caseDisplayRepresentations: [ApprovalDecisionOption: DisplayRepresentation] = [
+        .allow: "Allow",
+        .deny: "Deny",
+        .allowAlwaysSession: "Always Allow (this session)",
+        .allowAlwaysTool: "Always Allow (this tool)",
+    ]
+
+    /// Whether this decision grants the request (everything but `deny`) — the half the risk gate
+    /// forbids inline on a high-risk approval.
+    var isAllow: Bool { self != .deny }
+
+    /// The wire `Decision` this option resolves to.
+    func decision() -> Decision {
+        switch self {
+        case .allow: .allow(updatedInput: nil)
+        case .deny: .deny(reason: nil)
+        case .allowAlwaysSession: .allowAlways(.session)
+        case .allowAlwaysTool: .allowAlways(.toolName)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// MARK: - Approval entity (§4.6)
+
+/// A pending approval exposed to Shortcuts/Siri. Backed by `RemoteStore.openApprovals`, which the
+/// phone holds in full (id, risk, title) only for the *subscribed* session — so today this surfaces
+/// the approvals of the session you're looking at. (A global pending-approvals feed would need the
+/// host to carry the top approval's id/risk on the wire summary; see §4.1 / the Live Activity note.)
+struct ApprovalEntity: AppEntity, Identifiable {
+    static let typeDisplayRepresentation = TypeDisplayRepresentation(name: "Approval")
+    static let defaultQuery = ApprovalEntityQuery()
+
+    /// `ApprovalID.rawValue`.
+    var id: String
+    /// `SessionID.rawValue` of the owning session — routes the decision to the right Mac.
+    var sessionID: String
+    var toolName: String
+    var requestTitle: String
+    /// `Risk.rawValue`, kept for display; the gate uses `isHighRisk`.
+    var riskLabel: String
+    /// Destructive / network / host-exec — never allowed inline (§3.3).
+    var isHighRisk: Bool
+
+    var displayRepresentation: DisplayRepresentation {
+        DisplayRepresentation(
+            title: "\(toolName): \(requestTitle)",
+            subtitle: "\(riskLabel)")
+    }
+}
+
+extension ApprovalEntity {
+    init(_ r: ApprovalRequest) {
+        self.init(
+            id: r.id.rawValue,
+            sessionID: r.sessionID.rawValue,
+            toolName: r.toolName,
+            requestTitle: r.title,
+            riskLabel: r.risk.label,
+            isHighRisk: r.risk.isHigh)
+    }
+}
+
+struct ApprovalEntityQuery: EntityQuery {
+    @MainActor
+    func entities(for identifiers: [ApprovalEntity.ID]) async throws -> [ApprovalEntity] {
+        let wanted = Set(identifiers)
+        return RemoteStore.shared.openApprovals
+            .filter { wanted.contains($0.id.rawValue) }
+            .map(ApprovalEntity.init)
+    }
+
+    @MainActor
+    func suggestedEntities() async throws -> [ApprovalEntity] {
+        RemoteStore.shared.openApprovals.map(ApprovalEntity.init)
+    }
+}
+
+// MARK: - Answer an approval (§4.1, the flagship)
+
+/// Allow or deny what an agent is asking to do. The risk gate (§3.3) is enforced here so an intent
+/// can never be a softer approval path than the UI: a high-risk request (destructive / network /
+/// host-exec) is never granted inline — it routes to the app's guarded card. Deny always goes
+/// straight through. "Already resolved elsewhere" is a friendly no-op (§3.4), not an error, because
+/// the host de-dupes a lost first-responder race.
+struct AnswerApprovalIntent: AppIntent {
+    static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "Answer Approval"
+    static let description = IntentDescription(
+        "Allow or deny what a Nucleic agent is asking to do.")
+
+    @Parameter(title: "Approval")
+    var approval: ApprovalEntity
+
+    @Parameter(title: "Decision", default: .allow)
+    var decision: ApprovalDecisionOption
+
+    init() {}
+    init(approval: ApprovalEntity, decision: ApprovalDecisionOption) {
+        self.approval = approval
+        self.decision = decision
+    }
+
+    @MainActor
+    func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult & ProvidesDialog {
+        let store = RemoteStore.shared
+        guard store.isPaired else { throw IntentError.notPaired }
+        let approvalID = ApprovalID(rawValue: approval.id)
+        let sessionID = SessionID(rawValue: approval.sessionID)
+
+        // §3.3 — high-risk can't be granted inline; route to the app's biometric-gated card.
+        if approval.isHighRisk, decision.isAllow {
+            store.route(to: sessionID)
+            throw IntentError.needsAppConfirmation
+        }
+
+        guard await store.awaitLiveConnection() else { throw IntentError.macUnreachable }
+        store.respondToApproval(id: approvalID, sessionID: sessionID, decision: decision.decision())
+        return .result(dialog: decision.isAllow ? "Allowed." : "Denied.")
+    }
+
+    static var parameterSummary: some ParameterSummary {
+        Summary("\(\.$decision) \(\.$approval)")
+    }
+}
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/IntentError.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/IntentError.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a73fd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/IntentError.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import AppIntents
+
+/// Friendly, spoken-safe failures for Nucleic's App Intents. The phone is a thin client with no
+/// local authority (docs/APP_INTENTS_OPPORTUNITIES §3.1): an intent that can't reach the paired
+/// Mac must fail *clean* with a dialog, never silently or with a raw error.
+enum IntentError: Error, CustomLocalizedStringResourceConvertible {
+    /// No live channel to any paired Mac (and none came up within the wait window).
+    case macUnreachable
+    /// Not paired with a Mac yet — nothing to act on.
+    case notPaired
+    /// The action needs `control` scope, which this device hasn't been granted.
+    case controlScopeRequired
+    /// A high-risk approval (destructive/network/host-exec) can't be allowed inline — it must be
+    /// confirmed on the app's guarded card (docs/APP_INTENTS_OPPORTUNITIES §3.3).
+    case needsAppConfirmation
+
+    var localizedStringResource: LocalizedStringResource {
+        switch self {
+        case .macUnreachable:
+            "Your Mac isn't reachable right now. Try again when it's online."
+        case .notPaired:
+            "Pair this iPhone with your Mac in Nucleic first."
+        case .controlScopeRequired:
+            "This device can view and approve, but isn't allowed to control sessions."
+        case .needsAppConfirmation:
+            "This one's high-risk — open Nucleic to confirm it on the approval card."
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/NucleicShortcuts.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/NucleicShortcuts.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e16131
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/NucleicShortcuts.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import AppIntents
+
+/// Curates the handful of genuinely voice-worthy actions for Siri / Spotlight (§8: keep the spoken
+/// set to ~4 — approve, unblock, open, "what needs me" — and expose the long tail through Shortcuts
+/// only). Every phrase must name the app; `\(.applicationName)` resolves to "Nucleic".
+struct NucleicShortcuts: AppShortcutsProvider {
+    static var appShortcuts: [AppShortcut] {
+        AppShortcut(
+            intent: SessionsNeedingMeIntent(),
+            phrases: [
+                "What needs me in \(.applicationName)",
+                "What's waiting in \(.applicationName)",
+                "Which agents need me in \(.applicationName)",
+            ],
+            shortTitle: "What Needs Me",
+            systemImageName: "bell.badge")
+
+        AppShortcut(
+            intent: AnswerApprovalIntent(),
+            phrases: [
+                "Approve in \(.applicationName)",
+                "Answer an approval in \(.applicationName)",
+            ],
+            shortTitle: "Answer Approval",
+            systemImageName: "checkmark.shield")
+
+        AppShortcut(
+            intent: SendFollowUpIntent(),
+            phrases: [
+                "Send a follow-up in \(.applicationName)",
+                "Tell an agent in \(.applicationName)",
+            ],
+            shortTitle: "Send Follow-Up",
+            systemImageName: "arrowshape.turn.up.right")
+
+        AppShortcut(
+            intent: OpenSessionIntent(),
+            phrases: [
+                "Open a session in \(.applicationName)",
+                "Open \(.applicationName)",
+            ],
+            shortTitle: "Open Session",
+            systemImageName: "bubble.left.and.text.bubble.right")
+    }
+}
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/SessionEntity.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/SessionEntity.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fff0b8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/SessionEntity.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+import AppIntents
+import NucleicProtocol
+
+/// A Nucleic agent session exposed to Siri / Shortcuts / Spotlight (docs/APP_INTENTS_OPPORTUNITIES
+/// §4.6). Backed by the host's `SessionSummary` projection the phone already holds; the entity id
+/// is the wire `SessionID`, so it maps straight onto the deep-link and control APIs.
+///
+/// A thin, `Sendable` value snapshot — never the live store row. The `EntityQuery` re-reads
+/// `RemoteStore` each time so a stale Siri suggestion never acts on outdated state.
+struct SessionEntity: AppEntity, Identifiable {
+    static let typeDisplayRepresentation = TypeDisplayRepresentation(name: "Session")
+    static let defaultQuery = SessionEntityQuery()
+
+    /// `SessionID.rawValue`.
+    var id: String
+    var title: String
+    var projectName: String
+    var statusLabel: String
+    /// Whether this session is waiting on the user (approval, or a non-completed input turn).
+    var needsAttention: Bool
+
+    var displayRepresentation: DisplayRepresentation {
+        DisplayRepresentation(
+            title: "\(title)",
+            subtitle: "\(projectName) · \(statusLabel)")
+    }
+}
+
+extension SessionEntity {
+    /// Project a wire summary into the entity (falling back to the project name for an untitled
+    /// session, exactly as the session list does).
+    init(_ s: WireSessionSummary) {
+        self.init(
+            id: s.sessionID.rawValue,
+            title: s.title.isEmpty ? s.projectName : s.title,
+            projectName: s.projectName,
+            statusLabel: StatusStyle.label(s.status, disposition: s.disposition),
+            needsAttention: s.status.needsYou(s.disposition))
+    }
+}
+
+/// Resolves `SessionEntity` values for Shortcuts/Siri from the phone's current (or cached) session
+/// list. Discovery paths (`suggestedEntities`, string matching) bootstrap the channel first so a
+/// cold intent process still has data; id resolution stays fast and offline-tolerant.
+struct SessionEntityQuery: EntityQuery {
+    @MainActor
+    func entities(for identifiers: [SessionEntity.ID]) async throws -> [SessionEntity] {
+        let wanted = Set(identifiers)
+        return RemoteStore.shared.liveSessions
+            .filter { wanted.contains($0.sessionID.rawValue) }
+            .map(SessionEntity.init)
+    }
+
+    @MainActor
+    func suggestedEntities() async throws -> [SessionEntity] {
+        let store = RemoteStore.shared
+        store.bootstrapForIntent()
+        return store.liveSessions
+            .sorted(by: StatusStyle.attentionThenRecency)
+            .prefix(12)
+            .map(SessionEntity.init)
+    }
+}
+
+/// Lets Siri match a session by spoken name ("open payment-flow") against title or project.
+extension SessionEntityQuery: EntityStringQuery {
+    @MainActor
+    func entities(matching string: String) async throws -> [SessionEntity] {
+        let store = RemoteStore.shared
+        store.bootstrapForIntent()
+        let needle = string.lowercased()
+        return store.liveSessions
+            .filter {
+                let title = ($0.title.isEmpty ? $0.projectName : $0.title).lowercased()
+                return title.contains(needle) || $0.projectName.lowercased().contains(needle)
+            }
+            .sorted(by: StatusStyle.attentionThenRecency)
+            .map(SessionEntity.init)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/SessionIntents.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/SessionIntents.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e0f0d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/AppIntents/SessionIntents.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+import AppIntents
+import NucleicProtocol
+
+// MARK: - Open a session (deep-link intent, §4.4)
+
+/// Open a specific session in the app. Reuses the existing `nucleic://session/<id>` route via
+/// `RemoteStore.route(to:)` — so a Spotlight result, a Siri phrase, or a Shortcut jumps straight
+/// into the waiting session. `openAppWhenRun` foregrounds the app (this is a navigation action).
+struct OpenSessionIntent: AppIntent {
+    static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "Open Session"
+    static let description = IntentDescription("Open a Nucleic agent session.")
+    static let openAppWhenRun = true
+
+    @Parameter(title: "Session")
+    var session: SessionEntity
+
+    init() {}
+    init(session: SessionEntity) { self.session = session }
+
+    @MainActor
+    func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
+        RemoteStore.shared.route(to: SessionID(rawValue: session.id))
+        return .result()
+    }
+
+    static var parameterSummary: some ParameterSummary {
+        Summary("Open \(\.$session)")
+    }
+}
+
+// MARK: - Unblock with a follow-up (§4.2, approve-scope)
+
+/// Send a follow-up prompt to a paused agent — the "type the next step to unblock it" flow that
+/// stays at `approve` scope (docs/UX_IOS §2). Runs in the background over the app's live channel
+/// (no foregrounding); if the Mac isn't reachable it fails clean with a spoken error (§3.1).
+struct SendFollowUpIntent: AppIntent {
+    static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "Send Follow-Up"
+    static let description = IntentDescription(
+        "Send a follow-up prompt to a Nucleic agent to unblock or steer it.")
+
+    @Parameter(title: "Session")
+    var session: SessionEntity
+
+    @Parameter(title: "Message", requestValueDialog: "What should the agent do next?")
+    var text: String
+
+    init() {}
+    init(session: SessionEntity, text: String) {
+        self.session = session
+        self.text = text
+    }
+
+    @MainActor
+    func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult & ProvidesDialog {
+        let store = RemoteStore.shared
+        guard store.isPaired else { throw IntentError.notPaired }
+        let trimmed = text.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines)
+        guard !trimmed.isEmpty else { return .result(dialog: "That message was empty.") }
+        guard await store.awaitLiveConnection() else { throw IntentError.macUnreachable }
+        store.sendInput(trimmed, to: SessionID(rawValue: session.id))
+        return .result(dialog: "Sent to \(session.title).")
+    }
+
+    static var parameterSummary: some ParameterSummary {
+        Summary("Tell \(\.$session) to \(\.$text)")
+    }
+}
+
+// MARK: - "What needs me?" (§4.3)
+
+/// List the agents waiting on the user — for approval, or a next prompt — using the same attention
+/// rule as the badge and NEEDS YOU section (`SessionStatus.needsYou`). Answers Siri's "what needs me
+/// in Nucleic?" and feeds Shortcuts automations. Runs in the background; returns the list plus a
+/// spoken summary.
+struct SessionsNeedingMeIntent: AppIntent {
+    static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "Sessions Needing Me"
+    static let description = IntentDescription(
+        "List the Nucleic agents waiting on you — for approval or your next prompt.")
+
+    @MainActor
+    func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult & ReturnsValue<[SessionEntity]> & ProvidesDialog {
+        let store = RemoteStore.shared
+        guard store.isPaired else { throw IntentError.notPaired }
+        store.bootstrapForIntent()
+        // Give a cold process a brief moment to bring a channel up so the answer is current; fall
+        // back to the persisted list if the Mac stays unreachable.
+        _ = await store.awaitLiveConnection(timeout: 4)
+        let needy = store.liveSessions
+            .filter { $0.status.needsYou($0.disposition) }
+            .sorted(by: StatusStyle.attentionThenRecency)
+            .map(SessionEntity.init)
+
+        let dialog: IntentDialog
+        switch needy.count {
+        case 0: dialog = "Nothing needs you right now."
+        case 1: dialog = "One agent needs you: \(needy[0].title)."
+        default: dialog = "\(needy.count) agents need you."
+        }
+        return .result(value: needy, dialog: dialog)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/LiveActivityManager.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/LiveActivityManager.swift
index 73dddd9..44b1de3 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/LiveActivityManager.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/LiveActivityManager.swift
@@ -148,22 +148,15 @@ final class LiveActivityManager {
     /// totals on every transcript edit but no status) doesn't spend ActivityKit's update budget. The
     /// fresh churn still rides along on the next status-driven push.
     private func push(_ state: NucleicSessionAttributes.ContentState, hostName: String) {
-        // Apply immediately when the attention signature shifts (start/finish/approval/input — the
-        // alert-worthy changes). Otherwise the only difference is mid-turn churn (diff totals); let
-        // that refresh on a slow cadence so it stays roughly current without spending ActivityKit's
-        // budget on every delta. Elapsed-time gate, not a sleeping timer — a status change is never
-        // held behind it.
-        let signatureChanged = state.attentionSignature != lastState?.attentionSignature
-        let churnRefreshDue = lastPushAt.map {
-            Date().timeIntervalSince($0) >= Self.churnRefreshInterval
-        } ?? true
-        guard signatureChanged || (state != lastState && churnRefreshDue) else { return }
-        lastState = state
-        lastPushAt = Date()
-
-        guard let activity else {
-            // Recover an Activity that survived an app relaunch before starting a new one; the
-            // recovered one still needs the fresh state, so fall through to the update pipeline.
+        guard activity != nil else {
+            // No Activity yet — recover one that survived an app relaunch, or start a fresh one. The
+            // dedup gate below only guards *updates* to a live Activity; creation must never sit
+            // behind it. ActivityKit refuses a start unless the app has a foreground/background-
+            // assertion window, and committing the dedup state *before* the request meant a refused
+            // start left `lastState` matching the aggregate — so the next `sync` deduped the glance
+            // away and it never activated until the session's state changed. Record the pushed state
+            // only once an Activity actually exists; a refused start leaves `lastState` untouched so
+            // the next sync simply retries creation.
             if let existing = Activity<NucleicSessionAttributes>.activities.first {
                 activity = existing
                 observePushToken(existing)
@@ -173,19 +166,35 @@ final class LiveActivityManager {
                 // expanding reveals the fresh one, and `end()` on completion would leave it lingering
                 // on the last "needs attention" glance. Keep exactly one.
                 endStrays(keeping: existing.id)
+                lastState = state
+                lastPushAt = Date()
                 enqueue(state)
-            } else {
+            } else if let started = try? Activity.request(
                 // `pushType: .token` opts the activity into APNs updates — the Macs push new
                 // content-state to the token so the glance stays fresh while the phone is locked.
-                let started = try? Activity.request(
-                    attributes: NucleicSessionAttributes(hostName: hostName),
-                    content: ActivityContent(state: state, staleDate: nil),
-                    pushType: .token)
+                attributes: NucleicSessionAttributes(hostName: hostName),
+                content: ActivityContent(state: state, staleDate: nil),
+                pushType: .token) {
                 activity = started
-                if let started { observePushToken(started) }
+                observePushToken(started)
+                lastState = state
+                lastPushAt = Date()
             }
             return
         }
+
+        // A live Activity exists — spend ActivityKit's update budget only when the glance actually
+        // moved: immediately when the attention signature shifts (start/finish/approval/input — the
+        // alert-worthy changes), otherwise on a slow cadence for mid-turn churn (diff totals ticking
+        // on every transcript delta). Elapsed-time gate, not a sleeping timer — a status change is
+        // never held behind it.
+        let signatureChanged = state.attentionSignature != lastState?.attentionSignature
+        let churnRefreshDue = lastPushAt.map {
+            Date().timeIntervalSince($0) >= Self.churnRefreshInterval
+        } ?? true
+        guard signatureChanged || (state != lastState && churnRefreshDue) else { return }
+        lastState = state
+        lastPushAt = Date()
         enqueue(state)
     }
 
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Localizable.strings b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Localizable.strings
index a690f5a..b9b26a0 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Localizable.strings
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Localizable.strings
@@ -3,3 +3,8 @@
    this localized alert is all the lock screen shows. The app pulls the real approval
    over the encrypted channel on open. */
 "approval.pending" = "A session is waiting for your approval";
+
+/* The same content-free wake, but the block is an agent question (`AskUserQuestion`) rather than
+   a tool approval — the host tags the wake `kind:"question"` so the lock screen reads accurately.
+   Still content-free: the real question is pulled over the encrypted channel on open. */
+"question.pending" = "A session is waiting for your answer";
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/HostConnection.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/HostConnection.swift
index 6021e0a..ef0f7e1 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/HostConnection.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/HostConnection.swift
@@ -61,6 +61,15 @@ final class HostConnection {
     private var transcriptFetchRequestID: String?
     private var didStartFullFetch = false
 
+    /// The in-flight *background* transcript prefetch (one at a time): its request id, target
+    /// session, and accumulated chunks. Independent of the open-session fetch above — replies
+    /// are matched on this id, so the two flows never mix, and prefetching keeps working while a
+    /// different session is open on screen. Driven by RemoteStore, which warms the offline cache
+    /// with the result so a never-before-opened session still opens at its end instantly.
+    private var prefetchRequestID: String?
+    private var prefetchSessionID: SessionID?
+    private var prefetchEvents: [AgentEvent] = []
+
     // MARK: Callbacks up to RemoteStore (aggregate concerns)
 
     /// How a `HostConnection` talks back to `RemoteStore`. All fire on the main actor.
@@ -74,6 +83,10 @@ final class HostConnection {
         /// Backfilled history for the open session (the full-transcript fetch). Merged into the
         /// transcript by seq, not appended — these events precede the tail already on screen.
         var openBackfill: (EventBatch) -> Void = { _ in }
+        /// A background transcript prefetch finished — everything it fetched (empty when the
+        /// host had nothing / the fetch died with the connection). RemoteStore merges it into
+        /// the offline cache and starts the next queued prefetch either way.
+        var transcriptPrefetched: (SessionID, [AgentEvent]) -> Void = { _, _ in }
         /// The open session's full diff arrived.
         var openDiff: (WireSessionDiff) -> Void = { _ in }
         /// An approval was requested (with the resolved session title) — post the notification and,
@@ -571,6 +584,12 @@ final class HostConnection {
             // Session-transfer replies (mesh P5) only reach a *source* Mac; a phone is never one.
             break
         case .transcriptChunk(let chunk):
+            // A slice of a *background prefetch*: accumulate it whole — it never touches the
+            // open transcript's cursor/dedup state, which belongs to the on-screen session.
+            if chunk.requestID == prefetchRequestID {
+                if chunk.sessionID == prefetchSessionID { prefetchEvents.append(contentsOf: chunk.events) }
+                break
+            }
             // One ordered slice of the full-history fetch we started on open. Match on request id so
             // a stale batch from a previous open (session switched underneath us) is ignored.
             guard chunk.requestID == transcriptFetchRequestID, chunk.sessionID == openSessionID else { break }
@@ -582,10 +601,12 @@ final class HostConnection {
             if let maxSeq = chunk.events.map(\.seq).max() { openMaxSeq = max(openMaxSeq ?? 0, maxSeq) }
             if !fresh.isEmpty { callbacks.openBackfill(EventBatch(sessionID: chunk.sessionID, events: fresh)) }
         case .transcriptFetchComplete(let done):
+            if done.requestID == prefetchRequestID { finishPrefetch(delivering: true); break }
             // Terminal success — every batch shipped. Clear the in-flight id; the cursor/dedup state
             // is already advanced by the chunks above.
             if done.requestID == transcriptFetchRequestID { transcriptFetchRequestID = nil }
         case .transcriptUnavailable(let un):
+            if un.requestID == prefetchRequestID { finishPrefetch(delivering: false); break }
             // The host holds no transcript for this session (or can't serve the format). The cold tail
             // still shows; there's just no deeper history to add. Clear the in-flight id.
             if un.requestID == transcriptFetchRequestID { transcriptFetchRequestID = nil }
@@ -671,6 +692,39 @@ final class HostConnection {
         send(.fetchTranscript(TranscriptFetch(requestID: requestID, sessionID: sessionID, afterSeq: 0)))
     }
 
+    /// Whether a background transcript prefetch can start now: live, the host can serve
+    /// transcript fetches, and no prefetch is already in flight (they run one at a time).
+    var canPrefetchTranscript: Bool {
+        connectivity.isLive && capabilities.canSyncTranscripts && client != nil && prefetchRequestID == nil
+    }
+
+    /// Fetch a session's transcript in the background — no subscribe, no open — so the offline
+    /// cache is warm before the user ever opens the session. `afterSeq` bounds the pull to what
+    /// the cache is missing. The result (all chunks, merged) arrives via
+    /// `callbacks.transcriptPrefetched`; returns false when it can't start (caller retries on a
+    /// later session-list update).
+    @discardableResult
+    func prefetchTranscript(_ sessionID: SessionID, afterSeq: UInt64) -> Bool {
+        guard canPrefetchTranscript else { return false }
+        let requestID = UUID().uuidString
+        prefetchRequestID = requestID
+        prefetchSessionID = sessionID
+        prefetchEvents = []
+        send(.fetchTranscript(TranscriptFetch(requestID: requestID, sessionID: sessionID, afterSeq: afterSeq)))
+        return true
+    }
+
+    /// Settle the in-flight prefetch: hand what arrived to RemoteStore (nothing on
+    /// unavailable/disconnect) and clear the slot so the next queued prefetch can start.
+    private func finishPrefetch(delivering: Bool) {
+        guard let sessionID = prefetchSessionID else { return }
+        let events = delivering ? prefetchEvents : []
+        prefetchRequestID = nil
+        prefetchSessionID = nil
+        prefetchEvents = []
+        callbacks.transcriptPrefetched(sessionID, events)
+    }
+
     /// The device's network path changed (Wi-Fi ⇄ cellular, joined/left a network). React now rather
     /// than waiting for a zombie LAN socket to time out or the reconnect backoff to elapse — this is
     /// what makes the transport switch feel immediate. Only reconnect-managed hosts (a pinned host)
@@ -818,6 +872,9 @@ final class HostConnection {
         eventTask?.cancel(); eventTask = nil
         if let client { Task { await client.disconnect() } }
         client = nil
+        // A dropped connection loses the in-flight prefetch's remaining chunks — settle it empty
+        // so RemoteStore's queue isn't left waiting on a completion that will never arrive.
+        finishPrefetch(delivering: false)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/RemoteStore.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/RemoteStore.swift
index f7fe423..1327198 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/RemoteStore.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/RemoteStore.swift
@@ -359,6 +359,10 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
     func onForeground() {
         endBackgroundHold()
         guard !demoMode, isPaired else { return }
+        // Foreground again: the app self-creates its own Live Activity now, so tell the hosts to stop
+        // push-to-starting it (UX_IOS §5.3). Sent to already-live hosts; ones still reconnecting get
+        // it via `didUpdate` once live.
+        setForegroundState(true)
         pathMonitor.refresh()
         // Ensure a connection exists for every paired host (and drop unpaired); this re-dials the
         // ones already known to be offline.
@@ -379,6 +383,10 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
     /// suspends us and the socket dies, which the next `onForeground` revalidation reconnects fast.
     func onBackground() {
         guard !demoMode else { return }
+        // Heading to the background: the app can't reliably start a Live Activity anymore, so tell the
+        // hosts to push-to-start the glance themselves when work begins (UX_IOS §5.3). Sent now while
+        // the socket-hold below still keeps the connection live for a beat.
+        setForegroundState(false)
         #if canImport(UIKit)
         endBackgroundHold()
         backgroundTask = UIApplication.shared.beginBackgroundTask(withName: "nucleic.sync.hold") {
@@ -406,6 +414,10 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
     /// state until the app next runs.
     func handleLiveActivityAdoptWake(completion: @escaping () -> Void) {
         guard !demoMode, isPaired else { completion(); return }
+        // A silent adopt wake means we're background (possibly cold-launched with no scene, where
+        // `isForeground`'s default would otherwise read stale-true) — record that so the reconnect
+        // below reports background and the host keeps owning the glance via push-to-start (§5.3).
+        setForegroundState(false)
         setupLiveActivityBridge()   // starts the push-to-start + adoption observers if not already
         startNetworkingIfNeeded()
         #if canImport(UIKit)
@@ -634,28 +646,47 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
             // the glance cold when work starts before the app is opened.
             self.syncLiveActivityRegistration()
             self.syncPushToStartRegistration()
+            // …and the current foreground state, so it push-to-starts the glance itself when the app
+            // is backgrounded rather than waiting on a self-create that can't happen (UX_IOS §5.3).
+            self.syncForegroundState()
         }
         cb.openSnapshot = { [weak self] snap in
             guard let self, hostID == self.openSessionHostID, snap.summary.sessionID == self.openSessionID else { return }
             // Merge, don't replace: a fresh open merges into an empty transcript (the tail window),
             // while a reconnect's warm-resubscribe delta appends to the history already on screen
-            // instead of truncating it to the host's 200-event tail.
+            // instead of truncating it to the host's 200-event tail. Drain the streaming buffer
+            // first so the seq-dedup merge sees the full stream (a buffered event the snapshot
+            // also carries would otherwise be re-appended as a duplicate after the merge).
+            self.drainPendingOpenEvents()
             self.openEvents = Self.mergedEvents(self.openEvents, snap.recentEvents)
             self.openApprovals = snap.pendingApprovals
             self.persistOpenTranscript()
         }
         cb.openEvents = { [weak self] batch in
             guard let self, hostID == self.openSessionHostID, batch.sessionID == self.openSessionID else { return }
-            self.openEvents.append(contentsOf: batch.events)
-            self.persistOpenTranscript()
+            self.enqueueOpenEvents(batch.events)
         }
         cb.openBackfill = { [weak self] batch in
             guard let self, hostID == self.openSessionHostID, batch.sessionID == self.openSessionID else { return }
             // Full-history backfill precedes what's on screen — merge by seq so it slots in above the
-            // tail rather than appending out of order.
+            // tail rather than appending out of order. Drain first (same reason as openSnapshot).
+            self.drainPendingOpenEvents()
             self.openEvents = Self.mergedEvents(self.openEvents, batch.events)
             self.persistOpenTranscript()
         }
+        cb.transcriptPrefetched = { [weak self] sessionID, events in
+            guard let self else { return }
+            self.prefetchInFlight = nil
+            if !events.isEmpty {
+                // Merge into whatever the cache already holds (the fetch pulled only the gap);
+                // `saveEvents` re-caps to the tail window on write.
+                Task {
+                    let cached = await SessionCache.loadEvents(sessionID)
+                    await SessionCache.saveEvents(Self.mergedEvents(cached, events), for: sessionID)
+                }
+            }
+            self.pumpTranscriptPrefetch()
+        }
         cb.openDiff = { [weak self] diff in
             guard let self, hostID == self.openSessionHostID, diff.sessionID == self.openSessionID else { return }
             self.openDiff = diff
@@ -722,41 +753,57 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
     /// or a representative one. No-op in demo, which seeds the aggregate directly.
     private func rebuildAggregate() {
         guard !demoMode else { return }
+        // Every assignment below goes through `setIfChanged`: `didUpdate` fires on *every* wire
+        // frame from *any* host (session churn, dashboard refresh, diff-stat ticks), and a plain
+        // `@Published` assignment fires `objectWillChange` even when the value is identical —
+        // re-evaluating every view observing the store for nothing. Equality checks over these
+        // small aggregates are far cheaper than a whole-tree SwiftUI invalidation.
         let live = aggregatedSessions()
         if !live.isEmpty {
-            sessions = live
-            cachedSummaries = live
-            persistSummaries(live)
+            if sessions != live {
+                sessions = live
+                cachedSummaries = live
+                persistSummaries(live)
+                // The list moved — new or advanced sessions may need their transcript cache
+                // warmed so a first open starts at the end like a revisit does.
+                scheduleTranscriptPrefetch()
+            }
         } else if connections.values.contains(where: { $0.connectivity.isLive }) {
             // Connected, but the host genuinely has no sessions — reflect that honestly.
-            sessions = []
+            setIfChanged(\.sessions, [])
         } else {
             // Offline: keep showing the saved history rather than blanking the list.
-            sessions = cachedSummaries
+            setIfChanged(\.sessions, cachedSummaries)
         }
-        dashboard = DashboardSnapshot.merged(connections.values.map(\.dashboard))
-        meshPeers = connections.values.flatMap(\.meshPeers)
+        setIfChanged(\.dashboard, DashboardSnapshot.merged(connections.values.map(\.dashboard)))
+        setIfChanged(\.meshPeers, connections.values.flatMap(\.meshPeers))
 
         let ctx = contextConnection
-        hostName = ctx?.hostName ?? ""
-        capabilities = ctx?.capabilities
-            ?? WireCapabilities(canModifyToolInput: false, allowAlwaysScopes: [])
-        modelCatalog = ctx?.modelCatalog ?? .empty
+        setIfChanged(\.hostName, ctx?.hostName ?? "")
+        setIfChanged(\.capabilities, ctx?.capabilities
+            ?? WireCapabilities(canModifyToolInput: false, allowAlwaysScopes: []))
+        setIfChanged(\.modelCatalog, ctx?.modelCatalog ?? .empty)
 
         if let id = openSessionHostID, let conn = connections[id] {
             // While a transcript is open, the composer/controls act on *that* Mac — its connectivity
             // gates send and its scope drives the control affordances.
-            connectivity = conn.connectivity
-            grantedScope = conn.grantedScope
+            setIfChanged(\.connectivity, conn.connectivity)
+            setIfChanged(\.grantedScope, conn.grantedScope)
         } else {
-            connectivity = aggregateConnectivity()
+            setIfChanged(\.connectivity, aggregateConnectivity())
             // Optimistic new-chat gating: enabled if *any* Mac grants control (the owning Mac still
             // enforces scope when the intent lands there).
-            grantedScope = connections.values
-                .filter { $0.connectivity.isLive }.map(\.grantedScope).max() ?? .approve
+            setIfChanged(\.grantedScope, connections.values
+                .filter { $0.connectivity.isLive }.map(\.grantedScope).max() ?? .approve)
         }
     }
 
+    /// Assign a `@Published` property only when the value actually differs, so a no-op rebuild
+    /// doesn't fire `objectWillChange` (and with it a whole-tree view re-evaluation).
+    private func setIfChanged<T: Equatable>(_ keyPath: ReferenceWritableKeyPath<RemoteStore, T>, _ value: T) {
+        if self[keyPath: keyPath] != value { self[keyPath: keyPath] = value }
+    }
+
     /// Merge transcript events by `seq` (monotonic, globally unique within a session), keeping the
     /// union sorted. Lets a reconnect's snapshot fold its events into the transcript already on
     /// screen without duplicating what's shown or dropping history outside the host's tail window.
@@ -790,10 +837,130 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
         Task { [weak self] in
             let cached = await SessionCache.loadEvents(sessionID)
             guard let self, self.openSessionID == sessionID, !cached.isEmpty else { return }
+            // Drain any live deltas first so the seq-dedup merge sees the complete stream.
+            self.drainPendingOpenEvents()
             self.openEvents = Self.mergedEvents(cached, self.openEvents)
         }
     }
 
+    // MARK: - Background transcript prefetch
+
+    /// Warm the offline transcript cache for recent sessions *before* they're ever opened. A
+    /// fresh open otherwise starts from an empty transcript and waits on the host's snapshot, so
+    /// the view renders at the top and visibly drops to the end as history lands; a session
+    /// opened before seeds instantly from `SessionCache` and opens at its end. Prefetching runs
+    /// the same `fetchTranscript` flow the open path uses — one session at a time, newest first,
+    /// pulling only what the cache is missing — so every recent session opens like a warm one.
+    private var prefetchQueue: [SessionID] = []
+    private var prefetchInFlight: SessionID?
+    /// The summary `lastSeq` each session was last prefetched (or attempted) at, so a session is
+    /// re-queued only after it has moved on — not on every aggregate rebuild.
+    private var prefetchedSeq: [SessionID: UInt64] = [:]
+
+    /// Rebuild the prefetch queue from the freshest summaries. Called when the session list
+    /// actually changes (connect, session churn); cheap when nothing needs pulling.
+    private func scheduleTranscriptPrefetch() {
+        guard !demoMode else { return }
+        prefetchQueue = sessions
+            .filter { !$0.archived && $0.sessionID != openSessionID && $0.sessionID != prefetchInFlight }
+            .sorted { $0.updatedAt > $1.updatedAt }
+            .prefix(8)
+            .filter { $0.lastSeq > (prefetchedSeq[$0.sessionID] ?? 0) }
+            .map(\.sessionID)
+        pumpTranscriptPrefetch()
+    }
+
+    /// Start the next queued prefetch if none is in flight. Serial on purpose — background work
+    /// must trickle behind the live stream, not contend with it.
+    private func pumpTranscriptPrefetch() {
+        guard prefetchInFlight == nil, !prefetchQueue.isEmpty else { return }
+        let id = prefetchQueue.removeFirst()
+        guard let summary = sessions.first(where: { $0.sessionID == id }),
+              let conn = connection(owningSession: id), conn.canPrefetchTranscript
+        else {
+            // Gone / connection busy or incapable — skip; a later list update re-queues it.
+            pumpTranscriptPrefetch()
+            return
+        }
+        prefetchInFlight = id
+        // Mark the attempt at this watermark now, so an empty/unavailable result doesn't
+        // re-queue in a loop; the session re-qualifies once its lastSeq advances.
+        prefetchedSeq[id] = summary.lastSeq
+        Task { [weak self] in
+            // Pull only the gap beyond what's cached; a cold session is bounded to the same
+            // tail window the cache would keep anyway.
+            let cachedLast = await SessionCache.loadEvents(id).last?.seq ?? 0
+            guard let self else { return }
+            if cachedLast >= summary.lastSeq {
+                self.prefetchInFlight = nil  // cache already current
+                self.pumpTranscriptPrefetch()
+                return
+            }
+            let coldFloor = summary.lastSeq > UInt64(SessionCache.eventLimit)
+                ? summary.lastSeq - UInt64(SessionCache.eventLimit) : 0
+            let afterSeq = cachedLast > 0 ? cachedLast : coldFloor
+            if !conn.prefetchTranscript(id, afterSeq: afterSeq) {
+                self.prefetchInFlight = nil  // couldn't start (connection changed) — move on
+                self.pumpTranscriptPrefetch()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Streaming delta coalescing
+
+    /// Streaming transcript deltas arrive one wire frame at a time — often dozens per second
+    /// while the agent talks — and every `openEvents` mutation fires `objectWillChange`, which
+    /// re-evaluates *every* view observing the store (the Sessions/Home tabs stay mounted behind
+    /// the pushed session detail, so they pay this too). Buffer incoming deltas and publish at
+    /// most one append per `openEventsFlushInterval`: the first delta after a quiet gap applies
+    /// immediately (the leading edge — first-token latency stays imperceptible), followers ride
+    /// the next scheduled flush. ~10 UI updates/sec still reads as live streaming; the view tree
+    /// stops being invalidated per wire frame. Merge/close/flush paths drain the buffer first, so
+    /// nothing downstream ever sees a partial stream.
+    private var pendingOpenEvents: [AgentEvent] = []
+    private var openEventsFlushTask: Task<Void, Never>?
+    private var lastOpenEventsFlushAt = Date.distantPast
+    private static let openEventsFlushInterval: TimeInterval = 0.1
+
+    private func enqueueOpenEvents(_ events: [AgentEvent]) {
+        pendingOpenEvents.append(contentsOf: events)
+        guard openEventsFlushTask == nil else { return }  // a trailing flush is already scheduled
+        let elapsed = Date().timeIntervalSince(lastOpenEventsFlushAt)
+        if elapsed >= Self.openEventsFlushInterval {
+            drainPendingOpenEvents()
+        } else {
+            let delay = Self.openEventsFlushInterval - elapsed
+            openEventsFlushTask = Task { [weak self] in
+                try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: UInt64(delay * 1_000_000_000))
+                guard let self, !Task.isCancelled else { return }
+                self.openEventsFlushTask = nil
+                self.drainPendingOpenEvents()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Publish the buffered deltas (and schedule persistence). Called on the flush cadence, and
+    /// eagerly by anything that merges, persists, or clears `openEvents`, so those paths always
+    /// operate on the complete stream.
+    private func drainPendingOpenEvents() {
+        openEventsFlushTask?.cancel()
+        openEventsFlushTask = nil
+        guard !pendingOpenEvents.isEmpty else { return }
+        lastOpenEventsFlushAt = Date()
+        openEvents.append(contentsOf: pendingOpenEvents)
+        pendingOpenEvents.removeAll(keepingCapacity: true)
+        persistOpenTranscript()
+    }
+
+    /// Drop buffered deltas without publishing — for session switch/close/unpair, where the
+    /// buffer belongs to a transcript that is being cleared (a stale session's tail must never
+    /// leak into the next session's freshly-opened transcript).
+    private func discardPendingOpenEvents() {
+        openEventsFlushTask?.cancel()
+        openEventsFlushTask = nil
+        pendingOpenEvents.removeAll(keepingCapacity: true)
+    }
+
     /// Debounced write of the open transcript, called after each batch of events lands.
     private func persistOpenTranscript() {
         guard !demoMode, let id = openSessionID, !openEvents.isEmpty else { return }
@@ -910,6 +1077,7 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
         openSessionID = nil
         compactDetailPresented = false
         openSessionHostID = nil
+        discardPendingOpenEvents()
         openEvents = []; openApprovals = []; openDiff = nil; diffLoading = false
         connectivity = .unpaired
         // No Mac left whose history to hold — drop the offline cache too.
@@ -944,6 +1112,7 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
         openSessionID = nil
         compactDetailPresented = false
         openSessionHostID = nil
+        discardPendingOpenEvents()
         openEvents = []
         openApprovals = []
         openDiff = nil
@@ -972,6 +1141,7 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
         // Record which Mac owns this session (mesh P3) so its connection forwards the transcript and
         // the host-specific projected values follow it.
         openSessionHostID = connection(owningSession: sessionID)?.hostID
+        discardPendingOpenEvents()
         openEvents = []
         openApprovals = []
         openDiff = nil
@@ -1149,6 +1319,8 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
         compactDetailPresented = false
         openSessionHostID = nil
         // Persist the final transcript before clearing it, so it's warm for the next open / offline.
+        // Buffered streaming deltas are part of that transcript — publish them first.
+        drainPendingOpenEvents()
         flushOpenTranscript(target, openEvents)
         openEvents = []
         openApprovals = []
@@ -1225,6 +1397,64 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
     func setSessionAutoShip(_ id: SessionID, _ autoShip: Bool) { send(.setSessionAutoShip(id, autoShip)) }
     func setSessionShipBranch(_ id: SessionID, _ branch: String?) { send(.setSessionShipBranch(id, branch)) }
 
+    // MARK: - App Intents support
+
+    /// Bring networking online and dial the paired host(s) for an App Intent that runs in a *cold*
+    /// background process (Siri / Shortcuts / a widget or Live Activity button), where the SwiftUI
+    /// scene never mounts and `onAppear` never fires. Mirrors the push handler's silent-launch
+    /// bootstrap (`startNetworkingIfNeeded` + `reconnect`). Idempotent; a no-op in demo mode.
+    func bootstrapForIntent() {
+        guard !demoMode else { return }
+        startNetworkingIfNeeded()
+        if isPaired {
+            // Show the persisted session list immediately so a cold intent query (Siri/Spotlight)
+            // has data to answer with before any host connects — same seed as `onAppear`.
+            if sessions.isEmpty { sessions = cachedSummaries }
+            reconnect()
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Whether any paired Mac currently has a live channel.
+    var hasLiveConnection: Bool { connections.values.contains { $0.connectivity.isLive } }
+
+    /// Await a live connection to any paired Mac, up to `timeout` seconds — an intent must act over a
+    /// *live* channel or fail clean (UX_IOS §6, §3.1). Brings networking up first if it's cold, then
+    /// polls until a link comes up or the deadline passes. Returns whether a link is live.
+    func awaitLiveConnection(timeout: TimeInterval = 6) async -> Bool {
+        if demoMode || hasLiveConnection { return true }
+        bootstrapForIntent()
+        let deadline = Date().addingTimeInterval(timeout)
+        while Date() < deadline {
+            try? await Task.sleep(for: .milliseconds(200))
+            if hasLiveConnection { return true }
+        }
+        return hasLiveConnection
+    }
+
+    /// Resolve an approval by id from an App Intent with a full `Decision`. Like
+    /// `respondFromNotification`, it prefers the owning Mac, else broadcasts to every live Mac (the
+    /// owner resolves; the rest see an unknown / `alreadyResolved` id and no-op), and queues briefly
+    /// on a dropped link so a decision made just as the socket blips still lands. `sessionID` (when
+    /// the surface knows it) routes directly. Returns whether it went out over a live channel now.
+    @discardableResult
+    func respondToApproval(id: ApprovalID, sessionID: SessionID?, decision: Decision) -> Bool {
+        if demoMode { demoHandle(.approvalRespond(id, decision)); return true }
+        if let sessionID, let conn = connection(owningSession: sessionID), conn.connectivity.isLive {
+            conn.send(.approvalRespond(id, decision))
+            openApprovals.removeAll { $0.id == id }
+            return true
+        }
+        let live = connections.values.filter { $0.connectivity.isLive }
+        if !live.isEmpty {
+            for conn in live { conn.send(.approvalRespond(id, decision)) }
+            openApprovals.removeAll { $0.id == id }
+            return true
+        }
+        pendingNotificationDecision = (id, decision, Date())
+        reconnect()
+        return false
+    }
+
     // MARK: - Plumbing
 
     /// Route an intent to the Mac that owns its target (mesh P3). Sessions/projects/to-dos are shown
@@ -1273,7 +1503,7 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
         // `requestPairingCode`/`cancelPairingCode` are sent straight to the chosen host by
         // `requestPairingCode()`/`cancelPairingCode()`, not through this owner-routing switch.
         case .hello, .ping, .listPeers, .addressUpdate, .meshRoster,
-             .registerLiveActivity, .endLiveActivity, .registerPushToStartToken,
+             .registerLiveActivity, .endLiveActivity, .registerPushToStartToken, .setForeground,
              .transferOffer, .transferChunk, .transferCommit, .transferCancel, .fetchTranscript,
              .requestPairingCode, .cancelPairingCode, .respondMacPair:
             break
@@ -1296,6 +1526,14 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
     private var pushToStartToken: String?
     /// Host ids that already have the current push-to-start token (mirrors `liveActivitySentTo`).
     private var pushToStartSentTo: Set<String> = []
+    /// Whether the app is currently foreground. Reported to capable Macs (`ClientMsg.setForeground`)
+    /// so they know whether to defer to the phone's own Live Activity creation (foreground) or
+    /// push-to-start the glance themselves (backgrounded — the phone can't reliably start one). Starts
+    /// `true`: `onAppear` runs in the foreground; the background adopt-wake flips it first (§5.3).
+    private var isForeground = true
+    /// Host ids already told the *current* `isForeground` value — cleared whenever it flips so the
+    /// next sync re-notifies every host (mirrors `pushToStartSentTo`).
+    private var foregroundSentTo: Set<String> = []
 
     /// Guards `setupLiveActivityBridge` — it's called from both `onAppear` and the background adopt
     /// wake, and installing the callbacks / observers once is enough.
@@ -1361,6 +1599,32 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Tell every capable, live host the current foreground state so it can pick the Live Activity
+    /// path: defer to the phone's own creation while foreground, or push-to-start the glance while
+    /// backgrounded (UX_IOS §5.3). De-duped per host against the value already sent; the set is
+    /// cleared by `setForegroundState` when the value flips, and a host that dropped re-learns it when
+    /// it returns (via the `didUpdate` re-sync). Gated on the dedicated capability bit — an older host
+    /// (even one advertising push-to-start) throws on the unknown `setForeground` tag.
+    private func syncForegroundState() {
+        foregroundSentTo = foregroundSentTo.filter { connections[$0]?.connectivity.isLive == true }
+        for (id, conn) in connections {
+            guard conn.connectivity.isLive, conn.capabilities.canReceiveForegroundState,
+                  !foregroundSentTo.contains(id) else { continue }
+            conn.send(.setForeground(isForeground))
+            foregroundSentTo.insert(id)
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Record a foreground/background transition and push it to the hosts. No-op when unchanged so an
+    /// `inactive`↔`active` flutter (or a repeat call) doesn't re-notify; on a real flip it clears the
+    /// per-host dedup so `syncForegroundState` re-sends to everyone.
+    private func setForegroundState(_ foreground: Bool) {
+        guard isForeground != foreground else { return }
+        isForeground = foreground
+        foregroundSentTo.removeAll()
+        syncForegroundState()
+    }
+
     // MARK: - Demo simulator (offline, interactive)
     //
     // In demo mode there's no host, so writes can't go over the wire. Instead they mutate the
@@ -1418,7 +1682,7 @@ final class RemoteStore: ObservableObject {
              .addressUpdate, .meshRoster,
              // Live Activity push registration is a real-connection concern (there's no host to
              // push in demo), so it's inert here.
-             .registerLiveActivity, .endLiveActivity, .registerPushToStartToken,
+             .registerLiveActivity, .endLiveActivity, .registerPushToStartToken, .setForeground,
              // Session transfer (mesh P5) is a Mac↔Mac flow — the phone never originates these,
              // and demo has no peer Macs, so they're inert here.
              .transferOffer, .transferChunk, .transferCommit, .transferCancel,
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/SessionCache.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/SessionCache.swift
index fa8b0f2..ed68dba 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/SessionCache.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/SessionCache.swift
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@ enum SessionCache {
     /// files) are pruned on every save so the cache stays bounded.
     private static let sessionLimit = 50
     /// Keep the newest N events per session — the tail is what a returning reader wants, and it
-    /// bounds a long-running session's file.
-    private static let eventLimit = 1500
+    /// bounds a long-running session's file. Internal (not private) so the background transcript
+    /// prefetch can bound a cold session's pull to the same window this cache would keep anyway.
+    static let eventLimit = 1500
 
     // MARK: - Paths
 
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Notifications.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Notifications.swift
index fb2d0dc..b2c601f 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Notifications.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Notifications.swift
@@ -108,21 +108,15 @@ final class NotificationRouter: NSObject {
         center.removePendingNotificationRequests(withIdentifiers: [identifier])
     }
 
-    /// Recall the shared "waiting for your approval" attention notification once nothing is pending
-    /// anywhere. This is the remote wake tickle (delivered under `approvalTickleIdentifier`) that a
-    /// prior push left on the lock screen — the counterpart to the per-approval `withdrawApproval`.
-    /// Arrives two ways: the relay's silent `clear` push (phone was away), or the store's own
-    /// reconcile when a live socket sees the last approval resolve. Also sweeps any per-approval
-    /// locals a live socket posted but hasn't individually withdrawn, so the lock screen ends clean.
+    /// Recall the generic remote wake tickle ("A session is waiting for your approval") once no
+    /// approval is pending anywhere. This targets *only* the shared tickle (delivered under
+    /// `approvalTickleIdentifier`, its APNs collapse-id) — the content-free push a phone gets while
+    /// away. Per-approval notifications are each recalled by `withdrawApproval(_:)` as they resolve,
+    /// so a still-pending approval's own banner is never swept away by this.
     func withdrawApprovalAttention() {
         let center = UNUserNotificationCenter.current()
         center.removeDeliveredNotifications(withIdentifiers: [Self.approvalTickleIdentifier])
         center.removePendingNotificationRequests(withIdentifiers: [Self.approvalTickleIdentifier])
-        center.getDeliveredNotifications { delivered in
-            let stale = delivered.map(\.request.identifier).filter { $0.hasPrefix("approval-") }
-            guard !stale.isEmpty else { return }
-            UNUserNotificationCenter.current().removeDeliveredNotifications(withIdentifiers: stale)
-        }
     }
 
     /// Keep the app-icon badge equal to the NEEDS YOU count (UX_IOS §8).
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/SessionDetailView.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/SessionDetailView.swift
index 8247caf..73323df 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/SessionDetailView.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/SessionDetailView.swift
@@ -31,56 +31,66 @@ struct SessionDetailView: View {
     }
 
     var body: some View {
-        TranscriptList(events: store.openEvents,
-                       scrollToBottomRequest: scrollToBottomRequest,
-                       isScrolledToBottom: $isScrolledToBottom)
-            // Measure the transcript's full height (the floating bar overlays it via safeAreaInset,
-            // so this frame is the whole screen area the card has to live within) and hand it to the
-            // action card so it can bound itself.
-            .background {
-                GeometryReader { proxy in
-                    Color.clear.preference(key: AvailableHeightKey.self, value: proxy.size.height)
+        // The detail's height comes from the enclosing GeometryReader — a value fixed by the parent
+        // (the navigation content area), never by anything inside it. The attention cards (approval /
+        // question) cap themselves to this so their buttons stay on-screen. Sourcing it from a
+        // GeometryReader — rather than measuring the transcript, whose height the cards' own bottom
+        // `safeAreaInset` resizes — makes the measurement categorically independent of the card, so
+        // the card can't feed its height back into the value it's sized from. That feedback was an
+        // unresolved layout cycle that pinned the main thread at 100% CPU during the push transition;
+        // it showed up intermittently because a feedback loop only diverges for some content/card-
+        // height combinations. It bit only the attention path (a card consumes this value; the plain
+        // composer doesn't), which is why a "Working" tap opened fine and an "attention" tap hung.
+        GeometryReader { proxy in
+            TranscriptList(events: store.openEvents,
+                           scrollToBottomRequest: scrollToBottomRequest,
+                           isScrolledToBottom: $isScrolledToBottom)
+                // The chat bar floats over the scrolling content on Liquid Glass instead of sitting
+                // in a boxed strip below it, so the transcript runs the full height of the screen.
+                .safeAreaInset(edge: .bottom) { actionArea }
+                .navigationTitle(summary?.title ?? "Session")
+                .navigationBarTitleDisplayMode(.inline)
+                // With a session open the floating chat bar owns the bottom edge, so the compact
+                // shell's `NucleicTabBar` slides away while this detail is pushed — driven by the
+                // `open`/`closeOpen` below, which set `store.compactDetailPresented` (so the bar hides
+                // from any entry point, not just the Sessions list), not a per-navigation tab-bar
+                // toolbar hide (which restored the system bar late and made the "+" jump). A no-op in
+                // the iPad split, which has no tab bar.
+                .toolbar {
+                    ToolbarItem(placement: .topBarTrailing) { sessionMenu }
+                }
+                .sheet(isPresented: $showDiff) { diffSheet }
+                .alert("Rename chat", isPresented: $showRename) {
+                    TextField("Title", text: $renameDraft)
+                    Button("Cancel", role: .cancel) {}
+                    Button("Rename") { store.renameSession(sessionID, to: renameDraft) }
+                }
+                .confirmationDialog("Integrate this branch", isPresented: $showIntegrate, titleVisibility: .visible) {
+                    Button("Merge") { store.integrate(sessionID, .merge) }
+                    Button("Squash & merge") { store.integrate(sessionID, .squash) }
+                    Button("Rebase") { store.integrate(sessionID, .rebase) }
+                    Button("Cancel", role: .cancel) {}
+                }
+                .confirmationDialog(
+                    "Discard this session's branch and worktree? Unmerged work is lost.",
+                    isPresented: $showDiscard, titleVisibility: .visible
+                ) {
+                    Button("Discard", role: .destructive) { store.discard(sessionID) }
+                    Button("Cancel", role: .cancel) {}
+                }
+                .onAppear { store.open(sessionID) }
+                // Pass our own id so an iPad split-view A→B switch (which may mount B before A
+                // disappears) unsubscribes A without tearing down B's just-opened state.
+                .onDisappear { store.closeOpen(sessionID) }
+                .background { interruptShortcut }
+                // Publish the parent-determined height to the cards. `initial: true` seeds it on the
+                // first layout; it refreshes if the container resizes (rotation, keyboard, iPad split
+                // resize). Because `proxy.size.height` never depends on the card, updating this can't
+                // re-drive the measurement — no cycle.
+                .onChange(of: proxy.size.height, initial: true) { _, height in
+                    availableHeight = height
                 }
-            }
-            .onPreferenceChange(AvailableHeightKey.self) { availableHeight = $0 }
-            // The chat bar floats over the scrolling content on Liquid Glass instead of sitting
-            // in a boxed strip below it, so the transcript runs the full height of the screen.
-            .safeAreaInset(edge: .bottom) { actionArea }
-            .navigationTitle(summary?.title ?? "Session")
-            .navigationBarTitleDisplayMode(.inline)
-            // With a session open the floating chat bar owns the bottom edge, so the compact
-            // shell's `NucleicTabBar` slides away while this detail is pushed — driven by the
-            // `open`/`closeOpen` below, which set `store.compactDetailPresented` (so the bar hides
-            // from any entry point, not just the Sessions list), not a per-navigation tab-bar
-            // toolbar hide (which restored the system bar late and made the "+" jump). A no-op in
-            // the iPad split, which has no tab bar.
-            .toolbar {
-                ToolbarItem(placement: .topBarTrailing) { sessionMenu }
-            }
-            .sheet(isPresented: $showDiff) { diffSheet }
-        .alert("Rename chat", isPresented: $showRename) {
-            TextField("Title", text: $renameDraft)
-            Button("Cancel", role: .cancel) {}
-            Button("Rename") { store.renameSession(sessionID, to: renameDraft) }
         }
-        .confirmationDialog("Integrate this branch", isPresented: $showIntegrate, titleVisibility: .visible) {
-            Button("Merge") { store.integrate(sessionID, .merge) }
-            Button("Squash & merge") { store.integrate(sessionID, .squash) }
-            Button("Rebase") { store.integrate(sessionID, .rebase) }
-            Button("Cancel", role: .cancel) {}
-        }
-        .confirmationDialog(
-            "Discard this session's branch and worktree? Unmerged work is lost.",
-            isPresented: $showDiscard, titleVisibility: .visible
-        ) {
-            Button("Discard", role: .destructive) { store.discard(sessionID) }
-            Button("Cancel", role: .cancel) {}
-        }
-        .onAppear { store.open(sessionID) }
-        // Pass our own id so an iPad split-view A→B switch (which may mount B before A
-        // disappears) unsubscribes A without tearing down B's just-opened state.
-        .onDisappear { store.closeOpen(sessionID) }
-        .background { interruptShortcut }
     }
 
     /// ⌘. interrupts a running session (the Mac's "stop" convention) — the action is otherwise
@@ -113,17 +123,37 @@ struct SessionDetailView: View {
             set: { store.setSessionEffort(sessionID, $0) })
     }
 
+    /// Memo for the context-occupancy scan below. The backward scan usually stops at the last
+    /// turn's usage event, but a stream with sparse (or no) usage reporting walks the whole
+    /// transcript — and `body` re-evaluates on every store change and keystroke, so an O(N) scan
+    /// per evaluation quietly compounds on long sessions. `(count, lastSeq)` pins the stream, as
+    /// in the projection cache; a class held in `@State` so updating it from `body` doesn't
+    /// itself invalidate the view.
+    private final class ContextScanCache {
+        var count = -1
+        var lastSeq: UInt64 = 0
+        var used: Int?
+    }
+    @State private var contextScanCache = ContextScanCache()
+
     /// Live context-window occupancy (newest turn's input tokens ÷ the model's window), read
-    /// from the transcript exactly as the Mac header does.
+    /// from the transcript exactly as the Mac header does. Only the token scan is memoized —
+    /// the window division stays live, so a model switch reflects immediately.
     private var contextPercent: Int? {
-        let used = store.openEvents.reversed().lazy.compactMap { event -> Int? in
-            switch event.kind {
-            case .turnCompleted(let turn): return turn.usage?.contextInputTokens
-            case .usage(let usage): return usage.contextInputTokens
-            default: return nil
-            }
-        }.first { $0 > 0 }
-        guard let used else { return nil }
+        let events = store.openEvents
+        let cache = contextScanCache
+        if cache.count != events.count || cache.lastSeq != (events.last?.seq ?? 0) {
+            cache.count = events.count
+            cache.lastSeq = events.last?.seq ?? 0
+            cache.used = events.reversed().lazy.compactMap { event -> Int? in
+                switch event.kind {
+                case .turnCompleted(let turn): return turn.usage?.contextInputTokens
+                case .usage(let usage): return usage.contextInputTokens
+                default: return nil
+                }
+            }.first { $0 > 0 }
+        }
+        guard let used = cache.used else { return nil }
         let window = store.modelCatalog.contextWindow(summary?.model)
         guard window > 0 else { return nil }
         return min(100, Int((Double(used) / Double(window)) * 100))
@@ -254,15 +284,6 @@ struct SessionDetailView: View {
     /// pending. Content scrolls beneath it; nothing renders when there's nothing to act on.
     private var actionArea: some View {
         VStack(spacing: 8) {
-            // The jump-to-bottom chevron rides here, immediately above the chat bar — not as a
-            // transcript overlay, which aligned to the scroll view's full-height bounds and so sat
-            // behind this floating bar at the screen's bottom edge. Shown only while scrolled up; a
-            // tap bumps the same scroll request the send button uses, so following resumes once the
-            // transcript reaches the bottom. Mirrors the Mac's `JumpToBottomButton`.
-            if !isScrolledToBottom {
-                JumpToBottomButton { scrollToBottomRequest += 1 }
-                    .transition(.move(edge: .bottom).combined(with: .opacity))
-            }
             // Interacting with a chat while the owning Mac is unreachable surfaces this first, so a
             // disabled composer reads as "offline / read-only history" rather than broken.
             if !store.connectivity.isLive { disconnectedBanner }
@@ -270,6 +291,29 @@ struct SessionDetailView: View {
         }
         .padding(.horizontal, 12)
         .padding(.bottom, 8)
+        // The jump-to-bottom chevron floats just above the chat bar as an *overlay* — deliberately
+        // not a stack member. This whole action area is the transcript's bottom `safeAreaInset`,
+        // so a stack-member chevron changed the scroll view's bottom inset by ~38pt every time it
+        // appeared — and its visibility is *decided by* that same scroll geometry
+        // (`isScrolledToBottom`). That geometry→chevron→geometry cycle could oscillate every
+        // frame near the follow threshold, re-layouting the whole eager transcript each time and
+        // pinning the main thread at 100% with the UI locked. An overlay contributes nothing to
+        // the inset height, so showing or hiding it can't move the scroll geometry at all.
+        // (It's not a transcript overlay either — that aligned to the scroll view's full-height
+        // bounds and sat behind this floating bar at the screen's bottom edge.) A tap bumps the
+        // same scroll request the send button uses, so following resumes once the transcript
+        // reaches the bottom. Mirrors the Mac's `JumpToBottomButton`.
+        .overlay(alignment: .top) {
+            if !isScrolledToBottom {
+                JumpToBottomButton { scrollToBottomRequest += 1 }
+                    // Hang the button fully *above* the bar: top-aligned, then shifted up by its
+                    // own 30pt height plus an 8pt gap. A render-time offset (not an alignment
+                    // guide, which misplaced it half-overlapping the bar's top edge) so the
+                    // placement is exact and — critically — contributes nothing to the inset.
+                    .offset(y: -38)
+                    .transition(.move(edge: .bottom).combined(with: .opacity))
+            }
+        }
         .animation(.easeInOut(duration: 0.15), value: isScrolledToBottom)
     }
 
@@ -352,6 +396,18 @@ struct SessionDetailView: View {
                                     .textFieldStyle(.plain)
                                     .lineLimit(1...4)
                                     .padding(.vertical, 3)
+                                // Stop the in-flight turn (the Mac's ⌘. / "Interrupt"). Shown only
+                                // while running and at control scope; send stays at the far right so
+                                // its position never shifts. Mirrors `interruptShortcut`.
+                                if running && store.canControl {
+                                    Button { store.interrupt(sessionID) } label: {
+                                        Image(systemName: "stop.circle.fill")
+                                            .font(.title2)
+                                            .foregroundStyle(.secondary)
+                                    }
+                                    .disabled(!store.connectivity.isLive)
+                                    .accessibilityLabel("Stop")
+                                }
                                 Button {
                                     store.sendInput(draft, to: sessionID)
                                     draft = ""
@@ -448,15 +504,6 @@ struct SessionDetailView: View {
     }
 }
 
-/// The transcript's measured height, fed to the floating action card so it can bound itself to the
-/// screen (see `availableHeight`).
-private struct AvailableHeightKey: PreferenceKey {
-    static var defaultValue: CGFloat { 0 }
-    static func reduce(value: inout CGFloat, nextValue: () -> CGFloat) {
-        value = max(value, nextValue())
-    }
-}
-
 struct TranscriptList: View {
     let events: [AgentEvent]
     /// Bumped by the parent when the user sends a message — a deliberate "show me what happens
@@ -481,8 +528,61 @@ struct TranscriptList: View {
     /// settling — a `.task(id:)` debounces it to detect when the opening layout has come to rest.
     @State private var transcriptContentHeight: CGFloat = 0
 
+    /// Incremental transcript projection (docs/TRANSCRIPT_INCREMENTAL_PROJECTION.md). Two layers:
+    /// a read memo that collapses the redundant `body` re-evaluations (settling layout bumps
+    /// `transcriptContentHeight` every frame while opening, and each bump re-runs `body` against
+    /// an unchanged stream), and — when the stream *has* grown — a stable-prefix fold that seals
+    /// everything before the live turn once and re-folds only the tail, so a streaming delta
+    /// costs O(live-tail) instead of re-folding all N events (which made long sessions cost
+    /// O(N²) over their lifetime). A class held in `@State` so reading/updating it from `body`
+    /// doesn't itself invalidate the view (SwiftUI stores the reference, never diffs interior).
+    @State private var projectionCache = IncrementalTranscriptProjection()
+
+    /// The in-flight background Markdown pre-warm (below), cancelled when a newer one supersedes
+    /// it or the transcript goes away — so a long warm can't outlive the view or stack up behind
+    /// row churn.
+    @State private var prewarmTask: Task<Void, Never>?
+
+    /// How many projected rows the pre-warm has already covered, so each later trigger snapshots
+    /// only the *new* rows instead of re-walking (and re-hashing) the whole transcript on every
+    /// row that lands — which would quietly re-introduce an O(N) main-thread pass per row. Held
+    /// in a box (not `@State` value) because updating it from `body`-adjacent code must not
+    /// invalidate the view.
+    private final class PrewarmProgress { var count = 0 }
+    @State private var prewarmProgress = PrewarmProgress()
+
     private var items: [TranscriptItem] {
-        TranscriptProjection.build(events, showRaw: showRaw, showLockEvents: showLockEvents)
+        projectionCache.items(for: events, showRaw: showRaw, showLockEvents: showLockEvents)
+    }
+
+    /// Kick off (or restart) the off-main Markdown pre-warm for the visible messages. `MarkdownText`
+    /// parses every prose line with `AttributedString(markdown:)` during the eager first layout — a
+    /// cost that lands on the main thread right as the session is pushed and the tab bar slides
+    /// away, jittering the load-in. Snapshot the message bodies here on the main actor (a cheap read
+    /// of the memoized projection), then parse them on a background task so that first layout finds
+    /// the caches already warm. Idempotent and self-cancelling; the parse results are the same
+    /// whichever thread fills the (thread-safe) caches. Incremental: only rows beyond the last
+    /// covered count are snapshotted (coalescing can shuffle nearby indices, but a missed body just
+    /// parses on first layout as before — the warm is an optimization, never a correctness gate).
+    private func prewarmMarkdown() {
+        let current = items
+        if current.count < prewarmProgress.count { prewarmProgress.count = 0 }  // stream reset
+        let bodies: [String] = current[prewarmProgress.count...].compactMap {
+            if case .message(_, let text) = $0.kind { return text } else { return nil }
+        }
+        prewarmProgress.count = current.count
+        guard !bodies.isEmpty else { return }
+        // Chain batches instead of cancelling the in-flight one: each batch covers *new* rows
+        // only, so cancelling a predecessor (say, the big open batch, superseded by the first
+        // streamed row) would permanently drop its coverage. `onDisappear` cancels the head of
+        // the chain; a predecessor mid-parse just finishes its bounded batch into shared caches.
+        prewarmTask = Task.detached(priority: .utility) { [previous = prewarmTask] in
+            await previous?.value
+            for body in bodies {
+                if Task.isCancelled { return }
+                MarkdownText.prewarm(body)
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     /// How much content may still sit below the viewport's bottom edge and still count as "at
@@ -490,6 +590,43 @@ struct TranscriptList: View {
     /// the Mac's `bottomFollowThreshold`.
     private let bottomFollowThreshold: CGFloat = 24
 
+    /// How far a *user* scroll must move away from the bottom before following disengages. Wider
+    /// than the re-engage threshold above on purpose (hysteresis): the action bar's height isn't
+    /// constant (composer lines grow, the working row appears, the keyboard dismisses
+    /// interactively), and every inset change perturbs the scroll geometry by tens of points. A
+    /// single threshold read both ways let one such perturbation flip the gate, whose reactions
+    /// (anchor toggle, bar animation) perturbed the geometry again — an oscillation that
+    /// re-layouted the whole eager transcript every frame and pinned the main thread at 100%.
+    /// The band is wider than any bar-height delta, so only a deliberate scroll crosses it.
+    private let bottomUnfollowThreshold: CGFloat = 64
+
+    /// The live scroll phase, used to tell *user* scrolling (an active drag / flick decelerating)
+    /// from programmatic motion (autoscroll animations, anchor re-pins, inset changes). Only a
+    /// user-driven phase may disengage bottom-following — a programmatic perturbation can only
+    /// ever re-engage it — which structurally breaks every geometry→state→geometry feedback
+    /// cycle: no chain of layout reactions can take the gate false and sustain itself.
+    ///
+    /// `.tracking` (finger down, no displacement yet) deliberately does NOT count: a finger
+    /// resting on the transcript scrolls nothing, but touching down *stops a live deceleration*,
+    /// and that stop emits a final far-from-bottom geometry reading under `.tracking`. Tapping
+    /// the chevron mid-deceleration raced exactly that emission against the tap's "follow again"
+    /// — when the stop reading landed after it, following disengaged right back and the chevron
+    /// stuck until a second tap. Real scroll-aways always pass through `.interacting`.
+    @State private var scrollPhase: ScrollPhase = .idle
+    private var isUserScrolling: Bool {
+        scrollPhase == .interacting || scrollPhase == .decelerating
+    }
+
+    /// True from an explicit jump (chevron / send) until the scroll actually reaches the bottom.
+    /// While set, the unfollow branch is suppressed entirely: phase changes and geometry
+    /// emissions are delivered on separate callbacks with no ordering guarantee, so a stopping
+    /// fling could emit one last far-from-bottom reading whose *recorded* phase was still
+    /// user-driven (`.decelerating`) — landing after the tap's "follow again" and disengaging it,
+    /// which left the chevron up until a second tap. The latch outlives any stale emission and
+    /// clears on arrival at the bottom, or the moment the user genuinely grabs the transcript
+    /// again (`.interacting`), so a mid-jump scroll-away still works.
+    @State private var jumpingToBottom = false
+
     var body: some View {
         ScrollViewReader { proxy in
             ScrollView {
@@ -527,22 +664,35 @@ struct TranscriptList: View {
             // they scroll away, which lets new content land off-screen below instead of dragging
             // the viewport, and restore `.bottom` once they're back at the end.
             .defaultScrollAnchor(isScrolledToBottom ? .bottom : nil)
+            .onScrollPhaseChange { _, newPhase in
+                scrollPhase = newPhase
+                // A real grab (drag displacement, not a mere touch-down) takes over from an
+                // in-flight programmatic jump: the user may scroll away again immediately.
+                if newPhase == .interacting { jumpingToBottom = false }
+            }
             // Track the live scroll position straight from the scroll view's geometry: how much
-            // content still sits below the viewport bottom. Within the slack threshold means the
-            // user is parked at the end (live output keeps following); scrolling up flips this
-            // false, which drops the anchor (above) and reveals the jump-to-bottom chevron.
-            .onScrollGeometryChange(for: Bool.self) { geo in
-                geo.contentSize.height - geo.containerSize.height - geo.contentOffset.y
-                    <= bottomFollowThreshold
-            } action: { _, atBottom in
-                // While the chat is opening the layout grows over a few passes and the scroll
-                // offset lags each growth by a frame — sampling that frame reads "not at bottom"
-                // even though `.defaultScrollAnchor(.bottom)` is about to re-pin. So during the
-                // open window accept only "at bottom" readings; honor real scroll-ups after.
-                if transcriptSettling {
-                    if atBottom { isScrolledToBottom = true }
-                } else {
-                    isScrolledToBottom = atBottom
+            // content still sits below the viewport bottom. Parked within the follow threshold
+            // means live output keeps following; a *user* scroll past the (wider) unfollow
+            // threshold flips it false, which drops the anchor (above) and reveals the chevron.
+            // Asymmetric on purpose — see `bottomUnfollowThreshold` / `isUserScrolling`: a
+            // programmatic geometry change (anchor re-pin, bar resize, keyboard, autoscroll
+            // animation) may re-engage following but can never disengage it, so no layout
+            // feedback cycle through this gate can sustain itself. Tracking the rounded distance
+            // (not a Bool) also means every scroll emits fresh values, so the gate can't latch
+            // against a stale reading (the old settle-window latch bug).
+            .onScrollGeometryChange(for: CGFloat.self) { geo in
+                (geo.contentSize.height - geo.containerSize.height - geo.contentOffset.y).rounded()
+            } action: { _, distance in
+                if distance <= bottomFollowThreshold {
+                    isScrolledToBottom = true
+                    jumpingToBottom = false  // arrived — the jump is complete
+                } else if !transcriptSettling, distance > bottomUnfollowThreshold, isUserScrolling,
+                          !jumpingToBottom {
+                    // While the chat is opening the layout grows over a few passes and the offset
+                    // lags each growth by a frame — those frames read "not at bottom" even though
+                    // `.defaultScrollAnchor(.bottom)` is about to re-pin, so settling accepts
+                    // only re-engagement (the `!transcriptSettling` above).
+                    isScrolledToBottom = false
                 }
             }
             // Detect when the opening layout has come to rest: track the content height while
@@ -556,19 +706,54 @@ struct TranscriptList: View {
                 guard transcriptSettling, transcriptContentHeight > 0 else { return }
                 try? await Task.sleep(for: .milliseconds(80))
                 if Task.isCancelled { return }
+                // Pin to the true bottom before opening the gate. The settling layout lands a
+                // hair off the bottom, so the passive `.defaultScrollAnchor` alone leaves the
+                // scroll geometry reading "not at bottom" — and that stale reading latches
+                // `onScrollGeometryChange`'s tracked value at `false` while the gate above holds
+                // `isScrolledToBottom` at `true`. Because the callback only fires on a *change*,
+                // the user's first real scroll-up (still `false`) then never fires it: the chevron
+                // never appears and live output keeps yanking the view to the bottom, until a
+                // down-then-up round-trip finally re-emits the change. An explicit pin nudges the
+                // offset the last hair, forcing a fresh "at bottom" emission that re-syncs the
+                // tracker with the gate. Mirrors the Mac's reveal pin.
+                scrollToEnd(proxy, animated: false)
                 transcriptSettling = false
             }
             // Coalescing means item count lags event count; key the autoscroll on the raw stream
             // so every streamed delta keeps the view pinned to the bottom — but only while the
-            // user is already parked there. Scrolling up to read history is never yanked down.
+            // user is already parked there. Scrolling up to read history is never yanked down,
+            // and a finger actively on the transcript is never fought mid-drag (the drag that
+            // takes them past the unfollow threshold flips the gate; until then the native
+            // bottom anchor alone keeps content pinned, without a scroll grabbing the viewport
+            // back out of their hand). Never animated: while pinned, the bottom anchor provides
+            // the visual continuity and this call only closes the last few points — but a
+            // session still *opening* keeps receiving history merges (cached transcript,
+            // reconnect backfill) after the settle window closes, and animating those rode the
+            // viewport visibly down through the whole transcript instead of landing at the end.
             .onChange(of: events.count) {
-                if isScrolledToBottom { scrollToEnd(proxy, animated: !transcriptSettling) }
+                if isScrolledToBottom, !isUserScrolling {
+                    scrollToEnd(proxy, animated: false)
+                }
             }
-            // An explicit jump — the chevron or sending a message — always wins. The chevron
-            // itself lives in the parent's chat bar (above the composer), not as an overlay here,
-            // so it sits over the composer instead of behind the floating bar; a tap bumps this
-            // same request, and following resumes once the geometry reader sees the bottom.
-            .onChange(of: scrollToBottomRequest) { scrollToEnd(proxy) }
+            // An explicit jump — the chevron or sending a message — always wins, and it *is* the
+            // user saying "follow again": re-engage the gate directly rather than waiting for the
+            // geometry to confirm. The animated scroll can come to rest a few points short of the
+            // follow threshold (content padding, inset rounding), which sat inside the hysteresis
+            // band — following never re-engaged and the chevron lingered until the user manually
+            // scrolled the last few points. Setting the gate here hides the chevron immediately
+            // and hands pinning back to the bottom anchor; a later real scroll-up still
+            // disengages it as usual.
+            .onChange(of: scrollToBottomRequest) {
+                isScrolledToBottom = true
+                jumpingToBottom = true
+                scrollToEnd(proxy)
+            }
+            // Warm the Markdown parse caches off the main thread whenever the row set grows —
+            // `initial: true` fires it for the batch that lands on open (the expensive case), and
+            // each later new row tops it up. Keyed on the row *count*, so streaming deltas into an
+            // existing row (which don't change the count) never re-arm it. `items.count` is O(1).
+            .onChange(of: items.count, initial: true) { _, _ in prewarmMarkdown() }
+            .onDisappear { prewarmTask?.cancel() }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/SessionsView.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/SessionsView.swift
index cd4be2a..9b6ef9d 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/SessionsView.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/SessionsView.swift
@@ -11,9 +11,15 @@ struct SessionsView: View {
     private var grouped: [(title: String, rows: [WireSessionSummary])] {
         let pool = (showArchived ? store.sessions : store.liveSessions)
             .sorted(by: StatusStyle.attentionThenRecency)
-        let needs = pool.filter { $0.status.needsYou($0.disposition) }
-        let running = pool.filter { $0.status == .running || $0.status == .provisioning || $0.status == .idle }
-        let done = pool.filter { !needs.contains($0) && !running.contains($0) }
+        // One pass, first bucket wins — the old `done = pool.filter { !needs.contains($0) … }`
+        // ran O(rows²) full-summary equality scans on every body evaluation.
+        var needs: [WireSessionSummary] = [], running: [WireSessionSummary] = [], done: [WireSessionSummary] = []
+        for summary in pool {
+            if summary.status.needsYou(summary.disposition) { needs.append(summary) }
+            else if summary.status == .running || summary.status == .provisioning || summary.status == .idle {
+                running.append(summary)
+            } else { done.append(summary) }
+        }
         return [("Needs you", needs), ("Running", running), ("Done", done)].filter { !$0.rows.isEmpty }
     }
 
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/IncrementalTranscriptProjection.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/IncrementalTranscriptProjection.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f76c9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/IncrementalTranscriptProjection.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,419 @@
+import Foundation
+import NucleicProtocol
+
+/// Stable-prefix incremental projector (docs/TRANSCRIPT_INCREMENTAL_PROJECTION.md).
+///
+/// `TranscriptProjection.build` folds the whole stream on every read, so a streaming turn of K
+/// deltas over an N-event transcript costs O(N·K) ≈ O(N²) per session. But the stream is
+/// immutable except at the tail: everything before the live turn is frozen — its `messageID`s and
+/// `toolCallID`s never recur. So this projector **seals** the longest provably-stable prefix of
+/// the folded item list once, and re-folds only the unstable suffix per delta: O(live-tail)
+/// instead of O(N).
+///
+/// The seal point (an index into the raw event stream) is chosen so that
+/// `fold(prefix) ++ fold(tail)` is byte-identical to `fold(whole)`:
+///
+/// 1. **No coalescing key crosses the seam.** Text/thinking/tool items coalesce on
+///    `messageID`/`toolCallID` (and a subagent's events name their parent Task). An exact
+///    interval check over the current stream forbids any seam inside an id's first→last
+///    reference span, so no item can straddle it.
+/// 2. **No id can recur after the seam.** Future arrivals are fenced by closure rules read off
+///    the stream itself: a tool is closed once its result arrived; a message/thinking block once
+///    a different message has started in its scope; everything, once its turn completed. These
+///    are the premises of the design doc ("the stream is immutable except at the tail"); if one
+///    is ever violated — a tail event referencing a sealed id — it is *detected* and the
+///    projector resets and re-folds from scratch, so correctness never rests on them.
+/// 3. **No tool run is split.** `coalesceToolRuns` merges adjacent `.tool` items, so the seam
+///    only falls where the last folded item is a hard separator — a visible non-tool row that a
+///    future tool call can't merge across. (Empty redacted-thinking rows are transparent to runs
+///    and therefore to this rule too.)
+/// 4. **Lock notes fold exactly, even across the seam.** A lock's `released` note lands when the
+///    file lands in the parent — potentially many turns after the edit it brackets — so sealed
+///    edit cards stay reachable through a registry (`TranscriptProjection.PriorEdit`): a tail
+///    note that path-matches a sealed edit patches that card, exactly where a whole-stream fold
+///    would put it. No lag heuristic, no divergence.
+/// 5. **`worktreeRoot` is a carried constant.** Lock-path normalization needs the seq-0
+///    `sessionStarted` cwd; nothing seals until it is known, and it never changes once found.
+///
+/// The equivalence test (`IncrementalProjectionEquivalenceTests`) replays streams and asserts
+/// `incremental(prefix) == build(prefix)` for **every** prefix — the whole correctness argument,
+/// checked mechanically.
+///
+/// A class held in `@State` so reads/updates from `body` don't invalidate the view; not
+/// thread-safe (main-actor use only, like the `ProjectionCache` it replaces).
+final class IncrementalTranscriptProjection {
+
+    // MARK: - Sealed state
+
+    /// Folded output of the stable prefix — appended to at each seal, never re-walked.
+    private var sealedItems: [TranscriptItem] = []
+    /// Watermark into the raw stream: `events[0..<sealedEventCount]` produced `sealedItems`.
+    private var sealedEventCount = 0
+    /// `events[sealedEventCount - 1].seq` at seal time — detects a rewritten/merged prefix
+    /// (a reconnect backfill slotting events in by seq) that shifts history under the watermark.
+    private var sealedLastSeq: UInt64 = 0
+    /// The stream's first seq — detects a session switch / stream reset.
+    private var streamFirstSeq: UInt64?
+    /// Carried constant from the first non-empty `sessionStarted.cwd`. Nothing seals while nil
+    /// (a root arriving later would retroactively change sealed lock folds).
+    private var worktreeRoot: String?
+    /// Every `messageID`/`toolCallID` referenced by a sealed event. A later event referencing one
+    /// would mutate sealed output — detected here, answered with a full reset (self-healing).
+    private var sealedIDs: Set<String> = []
+    /// Sealed edit-class calls in item order, for cross-seam lock-note folding (rule 4).
+    private var sealedEdits: [TranscriptProjection.PriorEdit] = []
+    /// Where each sealed edit's card sits in `sealedItems` (it may live inside a `.toolBlock`).
+    private var sealedEditIndex: [String: Int] = [:]
+    /// Display toggles are fold inputs; flipping either resets.
+    private var showRaw = false
+    private var showLockEvents = true
+
+    // MARK: - Read memo
+
+    /// `body` re-evaluates far more often than the stream changes (settling layout, scroll
+    /// geometry); this collapses those redundant reads to a cached return, as the previous
+    /// `ProjectionCache` did. The stream is append-only with strictly increasing seq, so
+    /// `(count, firstSeq, lastSeq)` pins it.
+    private struct MemoKey: Equatable {
+        var count: Int
+        var firstSeq: UInt64
+        var lastSeq: UInt64
+        var showRaw: Bool
+        var showLockEvents: Bool
+    }
+    private var memoKey: MemoKey?
+    private var memoValue: [TranscriptItem] = []
+
+    /// Hold-back from the stream edge: never seal into the newest few events. Decoders emit
+    /// tightly-coupled events in one batch (a `toolResult` and its inferred `fileChange`; a
+    /// whole-message's final chunks) that sync may deliver one at a time — holding the edge back
+    /// keeps a mid-batch read from sealing an entity whose trailing batch-mates are still in
+    /// flight. Cheap insurance on top of the closure rules; violations would only cost a reset.
+    private let edgeLag = 4
+
+    /// Test hook: how far the watermark has advanced (the equivalence suite also asserts sealing
+    /// actually happens, so a regression to "never seal" can't pass silently).
+    var sealedEventCountForTesting: Int { sealedEventCount }
+
+    // MARK: - Read
+
+    func items(for events: [AgentEvent], showRaw: Bool, showLockEvents: Bool) -> [TranscriptItem] {
+        let key = MemoKey(count: events.count, firstSeq: events.first?.seq ?? 0,
+                          lastSeq: events.last?.seq ?? 0, showRaw: showRaw, showLockEvents: showLockEvents)
+        if memoKey == key { return memoValue }
+
+        if needsReset(events, showRaw: showRaw, showLockEvents: showLockEvents) { reset() }
+        self.showRaw = showRaw
+        self.showLockEvents = showLockEvents
+        streamFirstSeq = events.first?.seq
+        if worktreeRoot == nil {
+            // Only the unsealed region needs scanning: sealing requires the root, so a sealed
+            // region can only exist after it was found.
+            worktreeRoot = TranscriptProjection.worktreeRoot(in: events[sealedEventCount...])
+        }
+
+        var watermark = chooseWatermark(events)
+        if watermark == nil {
+            // A tail event referenced a sealed id — a closure premise was violated (late file
+            // change, resumed message, post-result subagent child). Refold from scratch; with no
+            // sealed ids the second pass cannot be violated.
+            reset()
+            streamFirstSeq = events.first?.seq
+            worktreeRoot = TranscriptProjection.worktreeRoot(in: events[...])
+            watermark = chooseWatermark(events)
+        }
+        seal(events, upTo: watermark ?? sealedEventCount)
+
+        let result = render(events)
+        memoKey = key
+        memoValue = result
+        return result
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Reset / identity
+
+    private func needsReset(_ events: [AgentEvent], showRaw: Bool, showLockEvents: Bool) -> Bool {
+        if showRaw != self.showRaw || showLockEvents != self.showLockEvents { return true }
+        if events.count < sealedEventCount { return true }
+        if sealedEventCount > 0 {
+            if events.first?.seq != streamFirstSeq { return true }
+            if events[sealedEventCount - 1].seq != sealedLastSeq { return true }
+        } else if streamFirstSeq != nil, events.first?.seq != streamFirstSeq {
+            return true  // nothing sealed, but the carried worktreeRoot belongs to the old stream
+        }
+        return false
+    }
+
+    private func reset() {
+        sealedItems = []
+        sealedEventCount = 0
+        sealedLastSeq = 0
+        streamFirstSeq = nil
+        worktreeRoot = nil
+        sealedIDs = []
+        sealedEdits = []
+        sealedEditIndex = [:]
+        memoKey = nil
+        memoValue = []
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Watermark selection
+
+    /// The coalescing ids an event mentions: its `messageID` or `toolCallID`, plus the parent
+    /// Task id for subagent-owned events. Two events sharing an id must land on the same side of
+    /// the seam; the parent link chains a subagent's whole scope (and, transitively, deeper
+    /// descendants) to its spawn.
+    private static func refs(of event: AgentEvent) -> [String] {
+        switch event.kind {
+        case .userText(let c), .assistantText(let c), .thinking(let c):
+            if let parent = c.parentToolCallID { return [c.messageID, parent] }
+            return [c.messageID]
+        case .toolCallStarted(let c), .toolCallCompleted(let c):
+            if let parent = c.parentToolCallID { return [c.toolCallID, parent] }
+            return [c.toolCallID]
+        case .toolCallInputDelta(let d): return [d.toolCallID]
+        case .toolResult(let r): return [r.toolCallID]
+        case .fileChange(let f): return f.toolCallID.map { [$0] } ?? []
+        default: return []
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// One id's life within the unsealed region.
+    private struct IDSpan {
+        var firstRef: Int
+        var lastRef: Int
+        /// Result arrived → the tool (or Task, with its children) is done.
+        var resultSeen = false
+        /// A later chunk with a different messageID in the same scope → this message is done
+        /// (its authoritative non-partial text can only arrive before the next message starts).
+        var closedByChunk = false
+        /// For message/thinking ids: the owning subagent scope ("" = top level). The owner
+        /// Task's result closes everything inside it.
+        var chunkScope: String?
+    }
+
+    /// What an event *creates* in the folded item list, for the run-split rule (3).
+    private enum Creation {
+        /// A visible, never-dropped, non-tool row — a safe last-item for a seam.
+        case separator
+        /// A `.tool` row a future adjacent call could merge with.
+        case tool
+        /// A thinking row: a separator iff its final text is non-empty (an empty redacted block
+        /// is transparent to run coalescing, so it must be transparent to the seam rule too).
+        case thinking(String)
+        /// A lock note that may fold away (dropping it can fuse the runs around it), so it
+        /// counts as nothing — the seam just waits for the next hard separator.
+        case transparent
+    }
+
+    /// The furthest event index the stream can be sealed to right now, or nil when a region event
+    /// references an already-sealed id (premise violation → caller resets).
+    private func chooseWatermark(_ events: [AgentEvent]) -> Int? {
+        let start = sealedEventCount
+        let n = events.count - start
+        // Everything below needs the worktree root (rule 5); without it, just verify no sealed-id
+        // violation … but nothing is sealed if no root was ever found, so there is nothing to do.
+        guard worktreeRoot != nil else { return start }
+        guard n > edgeLag else {
+            // Too little unsealed to advance, but tail refs must still be validated against
+            // sealed ids so a violation triggers the reset path.
+            for r in 0..<n where Self.refs(of: events[start + r]).contains(where: sealedIDs.contains) {
+                return nil
+            }
+            return start
+        }
+
+        var spans: [String: IDSpan] = [:]
+        var creations: [Creation?] = Array(repeating: nil, count: n)
+        var thinkingText: [String: String] = [:]
+        var seenMessageItem = Set<String>()
+        var seenThinkingItem = Set<String>()
+        var seenToolItem = Set<String>()
+        var lastChunkInScope: [String: String] = [:]
+        var lastBoundary = -1  // region index of the latest turnCompleted/runFinished
+
+        for r in 0..<n {
+            let event = events[start + r]
+            for id in Self.refs(of: event) {
+                if sealedIDs.contains(id) { return nil }
+                if var span = spans[id] {
+                    span.lastRef = r
+                    spans[id] = span
+                } else {
+                    spans[id] = IDSpan(firstRef: r, lastRef: r)
+                }
+            }
+            switch event.kind {
+            case .userText(let c), .assistantText(let c):
+                trackChunk(c, in: &spans, lastChunkInScope: &lastChunkInScope)
+                if seenMessageItem.insert(c.messageID).inserted { creations[r] = .separator }
+            case .thinking(let c):
+                trackChunk(c, in: &spans, lastChunkInScope: &lastChunkInScope)
+                let existing = thinkingText[c.messageID] ?? ""
+                thinkingText[c.messageID] = c.isPartial ? existing + c.text : c.text
+                if seenThinkingItem.insert(c.messageID).inserted { creations[r] = .thinking(c.messageID) }
+            case .toolCallStarted(let c), .toolCallCompleted(let c):
+                if seenToolItem.insert(c.toolCallID).inserted { creations[r] = .tool }
+            case .toolResult(let result):
+                spans[result.toolCallID]?.resultSeen = true
+            case .toolCallInputDelta, .fileChange, .approvalResolved:
+                break  // refs (if any) tracked above; creates nothing
+            case .turnCompleted, .runFinished:
+                creations[r] = .separator
+                lastBoundary = r
+            case .sessionStarted, .usage, .rateLimit, .approvalRequested, .error:
+                creations[r] = .separator
+            case .note(let note):
+                if note.lockEvent && !showLockEvents { break }
+                if let lock = note.lock, !lock.paths.isEmpty { creations[r] = .transparent }
+                else { creations[r] = .separator }
+            case .raw:
+                if showRaw { creations[r] = .separator }
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Future-proofing (rule 2): an id wholly before the seam must be *closed* — provably done
+        // taking new events. An open id caps the seam at its first reference (it stays whole in
+        // the tail).
+        var cap = n - edgeLag
+        for (_, span) in spans where !isClosed(span, spans: spans, lastBoundary: lastBoundary) {
+            cap = min(cap, span.firstRef)
+        }
+
+        // Interval isolation (rule 1): no seam inside any id's [firstRef, lastRef] span.
+        // maxLastFromBefore[w] = the furthest lastRef among ids first referenced before w; a seam
+        // at w is isolation-safe iff that never reaches w.
+        var maxLastAtFirst = [Int](repeating: -1, count: n)
+        for span in spans.values {
+            maxLastAtFirst[span.firstRef] = max(maxLastAtFirst[span.firstRef], span.lastRef)
+        }
+
+        // Run-split rule (3): replay creations in item order; a seam is placeable after event r
+        // only while the last solid (visible, surviving) item is a hard separator. The replay
+        // resolves each thinking row against its *final* region text, which is exactly what the
+        // sealed fold will contain (open ids were already excluded by `cap`).
+        var separatorOK = [Bool](repeating: false, count: n)
+        var lastSolidIsSeparator = true  // sealed prefix is empty or ends with a separator (invariant)
+        for r in 0..<n {
+            switch creations[r] {
+            case .separator: lastSolidIsSeparator = true
+            case .tool: lastSolidIsSeparator = false
+            case .thinking(let id):
+                let text = thinkingText[id] ?? ""
+                if !text.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines).isEmpty {
+                    lastSolidIsSeparator = true
+                }
+            case .transparent, nil: break
+            }
+            separatorOK[r] = lastSolidIsSeparator
+        }
+
+        var runningMaxLast = -1
+        var best = 0
+        if cap >= 1 {
+            for w in 1...cap {
+                runningMaxLast = max(runningMaxLast, maxLastAtFirst[w - 1])
+                if separatorOK[w - 1] && runningMaxLast < w { best = w }
+            }
+        }
+        return start + best
+    }
+
+    /// Track a text/thinking chunk for message-closure: a new messageID in a scope closes the
+    /// previous one (chunks of one message never resume after the next begins — decoder order).
+    private func trackChunk(
+        _ chunk: TextChunk, in spans: inout [String: IDSpan], lastChunkInScope: inout [String: String]
+    ) {
+        let scope = chunk.parentToolCallID ?? ""
+        spans[chunk.messageID]?.chunkScope = scope
+        if let previous = lastChunkInScope[scope], previous != chunk.messageID {
+            spans[previous]?.closedByChunk = true
+        }
+        lastChunkInScope[scope] = chunk.messageID
+    }
+
+    private func isClosed(_ span: IDSpan, spans: [String: IDSpan], lastBoundary: Int) -> Bool {
+        if span.lastRef < lastBoundary { return true }  // its turn completed; ids don't cross turns
+        if span.resultSeen { return true }
+        if span.closedByChunk { return true }
+        if let scope = span.chunkScope, !scope.isEmpty, spans[scope]?.resultSeen == true {
+            return true  // the owning subagent returned; its inner stream is done
+        }
+        return false
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Sealing
+
+    private func seal(_ events: [AgentEvent], upTo watermark: Int) {
+        guard watermark > sealedEventCount else { return }
+        let slice = events[sealedEventCount..<watermark]
+        let segment = TranscriptProjection.buildSegment(
+            slice, worktreeRoot: worktreeRoot, priorEdits: sealedEdits,
+            showRaw: showRaw, showLockEvents: showLockEvents)
+
+        // Lock notes in this segment that folded onto edits sealed earlier: bake them in — the
+        // note is now sealed too, so the fold is final.
+        for patch in segment.priorLockPatches {
+            Self.applyLock(patch.lock, to: patch.toolCallID, at: sealedEditIndex, in: &sealedItems)
+        }
+        let editIDs = Set(segment.edits.map(\.toolCallID))
+        for item in segment.items {
+            let index = sealedItems.count
+            switch item.kind {
+            case .tool(let group) where editIDs.contains(group.toolCallID):
+                sealedEditIndex[group.toolCallID] = index
+            case .toolBlock(let groups):
+                for group in groups where editIDs.contains(group.toolCallID) {
+                    sealedEditIndex[group.toolCallID] = index
+                }
+            default:
+                break
+            }
+            sealedItems.append(item)
+        }
+        sealedEdits.append(contentsOf: segment.edits)
+        for event in slice {
+            for id in Self.refs(of: event) { sealedIDs.insert(id) }
+        }
+        sealedEventCount = watermark
+        sealedLastSeq = events[watermark - 1].seq
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Rendering
+
+    private func render(_ events: [AgentEvent]) -> [TranscriptItem] {
+        let tailSlice = events[sealedEventCount...]
+        guard !tailSlice.isEmpty else { return sealedItems }
+        let tail = TranscriptProjection.buildSegment(
+            tailSlice, worktreeRoot: worktreeRoot, priorEdits: sealedEdits,
+            showRaw: showRaw, showLockEvents: showLockEvents)
+        if tail.priorLockPatches.isEmpty { return sealedItems + tail.items }
+        // A live (unsealed) lock note folded onto a sealed edit card: patch a copy per read —
+        // the note may still be re-evaluated until it seals, so the base stays unpatched.
+        var patched = sealedItems
+        for patch in tail.priorLockPatches {
+            Self.applyLock(patch.lock, to: patch.toolCallID, at: sealedEditIndex, in: &patched)
+        }
+        return patched + tail.items
+    }
+
+    /// Append a folded lock line to a sealed edit's card, whether it renders alone or inside a
+    /// coalesced `.toolBlock`.
+    private static func applyLock(
+        _ lock: NoteLock, to toolCallID: String, at index: [String: Int],
+        in items: inout [TranscriptItem]
+    ) {
+        guard let i = index[toolCallID] else { return }
+        switch items[i].kind {
+        case .tool(var group) where group.toolCallID == toolCallID:
+            group.lockLines.append(lock)
+            items[i].kind = .tool(group)
+        case .toolBlock(var groups):
+            guard let k = groups.firstIndex(where: { $0.toolCallID == toolCallID }) else { return }
+            groups[k].lockLines.append(lock)
+            items[i].kind = .toolBlock(groups)
+        default:
+            break
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/MarkdownText.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/MarkdownText.swift
index 4655543..3f5fb5e 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/MarkdownText.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/MarkdownText.swift
@@ -40,14 +40,19 @@ struct MarkdownText: View {
     /// (scrolling, a sibling row streaming) and on every chat reopen, yet structural parsing
     /// is independent of `bodySize` — so the source string is a complete key. Bounded;
     /// `NSCache` also evicts under memory pressure.
+    ///
+    /// The whole parse pipeline (both caches and the statics below) is `nonisolated`: `prewarm`
+    /// runs it from a detached background task by design, and as `View` statics they'd otherwise
+    /// be implicitly MainActor (a Swift 6 error for that call). `(unsafe)` on the caches is
+    /// sound because `NSCache` is thread-safe and the boxed values are immutable.
     private final class ParsedBlocks { let blocks: [Block]; init(_ b: [Block]) { self.blocks = b } }
-    private static let blockCache: NSCache<NSString, ParsedBlocks> = {
+    nonisolated(unsafe) private static let blockCache: NSCache<NSString, ParsedBlocks> = {
         let cache = NSCache<NSString, ParsedBlocks>()
         cache.countLimit = 2048
         return cache
     }()
 
-    private static func parse(_ markdown: String) -> [Block] {
+    nonisolated private static func parse(_ markdown: String) -> [Block] {
         let key = markdown as NSString
         if let hit = blockCache.object(forKey: key) { return hit.blocks }
         let blocks = parseUncached(markdown)
@@ -55,7 +60,7 @@ struct MarkdownText: View {
         return blocks
     }
 
-    private static func parseUncached(_ markdown: String) -> [Block] {
+    nonisolated private static func parseUncached(_ markdown: String) -> [Block] {
         var blocks: [Block] = []
         var textBuffer: [String] = []
         func flush() {
@@ -100,12 +105,12 @@ struct MarkdownText: View {
 
     /// A GitHub-style table: a `|`-bearing header line immediately followed by a
     /// `|---|:--:|` separator line.
-    private static func isTableStart(_ lines: [String], _ index: Int) -> Bool {
+    nonisolated private static func isTableStart(_ lines: [String], _ index: Int) -> Bool {
         guard lines[index].contains("|"), index + 1 < lines.count else { return false }
         return isSeparatorRow(lines[index + 1])
     }
 
-    private static func isSeparatorRow(_ line: String) -> Bool {
+    nonisolated private static func isSeparatorRow(_ line: String) -> Bool {
         let cells = tableCells(line)
         guard !cells.isEmpty else { return false }
         return cells.allSatisfy { cell in
@@ -115,7 +120,7 @@ struct MarkdownText: View {
 
     /// Split a table row into trimmed cells, dropping the empties created by the
     /// leading/trailing pipes.
-    private static func tableCells(_ line: String) -> [String] {
+    nonisolated private static func tableCells(_ line: String) -> [String] {
         var trimmed = line.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces)
         if trimmed.hasPrefix("|") { trimmed.removeFirst() }
         if trimmed.hasSuffix("|") { trimmed.removeLast() }
@@ -167,31 +172,59 @@ struct MarkdownText: View {
         .lineSpacing(4)
     }
 
+    /// One prose line's classification: the exact string that gets inline-parsed — the cache key
+    /// `prewarm` must match — paired with how it's styled. Single source of truth for both the
+    /// live `lineView` and the off-main `prewarm`, so a warmed key can never drift from the key
+    /// the layout later looks up (any drift and the warm entry would silently miss).
+    private enum LineStyle {
+        case blank
+        case heading(content: String, scale: CGFloat, weight: Font.Weight)
+        case bullet(content: String)
+        case plain(content: String)
+
+        /// The string handed to `inline(_:)`, or nil for a line that renders without a parse.
+        var inlineContent: String? {
+            switch self {
+            case .blank: return nil
+            case .heading(let c, _, _), .bullet(let c), .plain(let c): return c
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Classify one raw prose line. Headings are checked before bullets (a heading marker wins),
+    /// and the plain case keeps the *raw* line (not the trimmed one) exactly as the old cascade
+    /// did — the inline parser preserves leading whitespace under `.inlineOnlyPreservingWhitespace`.
+    nonisolated private static func classify(_ raw: String) -> LineStyle {
+        let trimmed = raw.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces)
+        if trimmed.isEmpty { return .blank }
+        // Headings scale relative to the base prose size so the hierarchy holds at any base and
+        // never collapses to the body size.
+        if trimmed.hasPrefix("### ") { return .heading(content: String(trimmed.dropFirst(4)), scale: 1.13, weight: .semibold) }
+        if trimmed.hasPrefix("## ") { return .heading(content: String(trimmed.dropFirst(3)), scale: 1.28, weight: .bold) }
+        if trimmed.hasPrefix("# ") { return .heading(content: String(trimmed.dropFirst(2)), scale: 1.5, weight: .bold) }
+        if let bullet = bulletContent(trimmed) { return .bullet(content: bullet) }
+        return .plain(content: raw)
+    }
+
     @ViewBuilder
     private func lineView(_ raw: String) -> some View {
-        let trimmed = raw.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces)
-        if trimmed.isEmpty {
+        switch Self.classify(raw) {
+        case .blank:
             Color.clear.frame(height: 3)
-        } else if trimmed.hasPrefix("### ") {
-            // Headings scale relative to the base prose size so the hierarchy holds
-            // at any base and never collapses to the body size.
-            inline(String(trimmed.dropFirst(4))).font(.system(size: bodySize * 1.13, weight: .semibold))
-        } else if trimmed.hasPrefix("## ") {
-            inline(String(trimmed.dropFirst(3))).font(.system(size: bodySize * 1.28, weight: .bold))
-        } else if trimmed.hasPrefix("# ") {
-            inline(String(trimmed.dropFirst(2))).font(.system(size: bodySize * 1.5, weight: .bold))
-        } else if let bullet = Self.bulletContent(trimmed) {
+        case .heading(let content, let scale, let weight):
+            inline(content).font(.system(size: bodySize * scale, weight: weight))
+        case .bullet(let content):
             HStack(alignment: .firstTextBaseline, spacing: 6) {
                 Text("•").foregroundStyle(.secondary)
-                inline(bullet)
+                inline(content)
             }
-        } else {
-            inline(raw)
+        case .plain(let content):
+            inline(content)
         }
     }
 
     /// Returns the content after a `- `, `* `, `+ ` or `N. ` list marker, else nil.
-    private static func bulletContent(_ trimmed: String) -> String? {
+    nonisolated private static func bulletContent(_ trimmed: String) -> String? {
         for marker in ["- ", "* ", "+ "] where trimmed.hasPrefix(marker) {
             return String(trimmed.dropFirst(marker.count))
         }
@@ -213,13 +246,13 @@ struct MarkdownText: View {
     /// recur across re-renders and reopens, so memoize the parsed result. Independent of
     /// `bodySize` (callers apply the font), so the source string is a complete key.
     private final class InlineBox { let value: AttributedString; init(_ v: AttributedString) { self.value = v } }
-    private static let inlineCache: NSCache<NSString, InlineBox> = {
+    nonisolated(unsafe) private static let inlineCache: NSCache<NSString, InlineBox> = {
         let cache = NSCache<NSString, InlineBox>()
         cache.countLimit = 16384
         return cache
     }()
 
-    private static func attributedInline(_ string: String) -> AttributedString {
+    nonisolated private static func attributedInline(_ string: String) -> AttributedString {
         let key = string as NSString
         if let hit = inlineCache.object(forKey: key) { return hit.value }
         let options = AttributedString.MarkdownParsingOptions(
@@ -230,4 +263,35 @@ struct MarkdownText: View {
         inlineCache.setObject(InlineBox(parsed), forKey: key)
         return parsed
     }
+
+    // MARK: - Pre-warming
+
+    /// Populate the block and inline caches for `markdown` ahead of layout. `AttributedString(markdown:)`
+    /// is the dominant per-row cost when a long transcript first lays out, and the eager `VStack`
+    /// runs it for every prose line synchronously — right as the session is pushed and the tab bar
+    /// is sliding away, which is what makes the load-in jitter. Calling this off the main thread
+    /// (see `TranscriptList`) does that parsing in the background so the first layout hits ready
+    /// results instead.
+    ///
+    /// Safe to call from any thread and redundantly: the caches are `NSCache` (thread-safe) and
+    /// keyed only by the source string (independent of `bodySize`), so a warm value equals what
+    /// the main thread would compute, and a repeat call is a cheap cache hit. Cooperatively
+    /// cancellable — a huge transcript's warm loop bails the moment its owning task is cancelled.
+    nonisolated static func prewarm(_ markdown: String) {
+        for block in parse(markdown) {          // also warms the block cache
+            if Task.isCancelled { return }
+            switch block {
+            case .code:
+                break  // a code block renders via `Text(code)` — no inline parse to warm
+            case .text(let text):
+                for raw in text.components(separatedBy: "\n") {
+                    if let content = classify(raw).inlineContent { _ = attributedInline(content) }
+                }
+            case .table(let rows):
+                for row in rows where !Task.isCancelled {
+                    for cell in row { _ = attributedInline(cell) }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/TranscriptProjection.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/TranscriptProjection.swift
index 38e04fc..6f52da4 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/TranscriptProjection.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Transcript/TranscriptProjection.swift
@@ -102,26 +102,71 @@ enum TranscriptProjection {
     /// owns them, project the main agent's own events at the top level, and recursively project
     /// each subagent's events into the `children` of its spawn — so a subagent's inner work nests
     /// under its card instead of leaking (and interleaving) into the main transcript.
+    ///
+    /// One-shot form: folds the whole stream in one pass. The live transcript uses
+    /// `IncrementalTranscriptProjection`, which folds the stream as seam-delimited segments via
+    /// `buildSegment` — this wrapper is the `priorEdits: []` whole-stream case of that.
     static func build(_ events: [AgentEvent], showRaw: Bool, showLockEvents: Bool) -> [TranscriptItem] {
+        buildSegment(events[...], worktreeRoot: worktreeRoot(in: events[...]), priorEdits: [],
+                     showRaw: showRaw, showLockEvents: showLockEvents).items
+    }
+
+    /// An edit-class tool call folded in an *earlier* segment, carried forward so a later
+    /// segment's lock notes can still fold onto it across the seam (a lock's `released` note
+    /// lands when the file *lands* in the parent — potentially many turns after the edit).
+    struct PriorEdit: Equatable {
+        let toolCallID: String
+        /// Repo-relative, normalized paths this call writes (`editedPaths` ∘ `normalizeForLock`).
+        let paths: [String]
+    }
+
+    /// The folded output of one contiguous slice of the stream.
+    struct SegmentFold {
+        var items: [TranscriptItem]
+        /// Lock lines whose backward path-match crossed the seam onto a `priorEdits` entry, in
+        /// note order. The caller owns those already-folded items and must attach these to them —
+        /// that's what keeps `fold(prefix) ++ fold(tail)` byte-identical to `fold(whole)` even
+        /// for a lock note released turns after its edit.
+        var priorLockPatches: [(toolCallID: String, lock: NoteLock)]
+        /// This segment's own edit-class calls (in item order), for the caller's registry.
+        var edits: [PriorEdit]
+    }
+
+    /// Fold one contiguous slice of the stream with an injected worktree root (a mid-stream
+    /// slice lacks the seq-0 `sessionStarted` that `build` rescans for). The slice must be
+    /// seam-delimited — no coalescing key, subagent scope, or open tool run straddling either
+    /// end — which is exactly what `IncrementalTranscriptProjection` guarantees before calling.
+    static func buildSegment(
+        _ events: ArraySlice<AgentEvent>, worktreeRoot root: String?, priorEdits: [PriorEdit],
+        showRaw: Bool, showLockEvents: Bool
+    ) -> SegmentFold {
         let (topLevel, byParent) = partition(events)
         // Fold lock-lifecycle notes onto the edit cards they bracket, exactly as the Mac's
         // `items(_:worktreeRoot:)` does — matched against the session's working directory so an
         // edit's absolute `file_path` compares against the note's repo-relative paths. Folding
         // happens only at the top level (a subagent's inner edits are literal, unlocked); the
         // subagent recursion below stays plain, matching the desktop projection.
-        let root = worktreeRoot(in: topLevel)
+        var patches: [(toolCallID: String, lock: NoteLock)] = []
         let flat = foldLockNotes(flatItems(topLevel, showRaw: showRaw, showLockEvents: showLockEvents),
-                                 worktreeRoot: root)
-        return coalesceToolRuns(flat).map {
+                                 worktreeRoot: root, priorEdits: priorEdits, priorLockPatches: &patches)
+        let items = coalesceToolRuns(flat).map {
             attachSubagentChildren($0, byParent: byParent, depth: 0,
                                    showRaw: showRaw, showLockEvents: showLockEvents)
         }
+        let edits = flat.compactMap { item -> PriorEdit? in
+            guard case .tool(let group) = item.kind else { return nil }
+            let paths = editedPaths(toolName: group.name, input: group.input)
+                .map { normalizeForLock($0, worktreeRoot: root) }
+                .filter { !$0.isEmpty }
+            return paths.isEmpty ? nil : PriorEdit(toolCallID: group.toolCallID, paths: paths)
+        }
+        return SegmentFold(items: items, priorLockPatches: patches, edits: edits)
     }
 
     /// The session's working directory, read from its `sessionStarted` event, so an edit's
     /// absolute `file_path` can be made repo-relative to compare against a lock note's
     /// repo-relative paths. `nil` before the start event is seen (nothing to fold against yet).
-    private static func worktreeRoot(in events: [AgentEvent]) -> String? {
+    static func worktreeRoot(in events: ArraySlice<AgentEvent>) -> String? {
         for event in events {
             if case .sessionStarted(let started) = event.kind, !started.cwd.isEmpty {
                 return started.cwd
@@ -138,7 +183,15 @@ enum TranscriptProjection {
     /// `file_path` is stripped of `worktreeRoot` and normalized so it compares against the note's
     /// repo-relative paths. A note overlapping no preceding edit is left in place (renders
     /// standalone), matching the Mac's `foldLockNotes`.
-    private static func foldLockNotes(_ flat: [TranscriptItem], worktreeRoot: String?) -> [TranscriptItem] {
+    ///
+    /// The backward scan continues past the front of `flat` into `priorEdits` — the edits of
+    /// already-folded earlier segments, oldest first — so a note whose edit was sealed in a prior
+    /// segment (a lock released turns later) still folds exactly where a whole-stream fold would
+    /// put it. Those hits are reported via `priorLockPatches` for the caller to attach.
+    private static func foldLockNotes(
+        _ flat: [TranscriptItem], worktreeRoot: String?, priorEdits: [PriorEdit],
+        priorLockPatches: inout [(toolCallID: String, lock: NoteLock)]
+    ) -> [TranscriptItem] {
         // Each tool item's repo-relative edited paths (only edit-class tools have any), by index.
         var editsByIndex: [Int: (id: String, paths: [String])] = [:]
         for (i, item) in flat.enumerated() {
@@ -148,7 +201,8 @@ enum TranscriptProjection {
                 .filter { !$0.isEmpty }
             if !paths.isEmpty { editsByIndex[i] = (group.toolCallID, paths) }
         }
-        guard !editsByIndex.isEmpty else { return flat }
+        guard !editsByIndex.isEmpty || !priorEdits.isEmpty else { return flat }
+        let priorIDs = Set(priorEdits.map(\.toolCallID))
 
         var locksByCall: [String: [NoteLock]] = [:]
         var folded = Set<Int>()
@@ -167,13 +221,26 @@ enum TranscriptProjection {
                     guard let edit = editsByIndex[j] else { continue }
                     if edit.paths.contains(where: { pathsOverlap($0, path) }) { hitID = edit.id; break }
                 }
+                if hitID == nil {
+                    // Nothing in this segment — keep scanning backward across the seam, newest
+                    // prior edit first, exactly where a whole-stream scan would look next.
+                    for prior in priorEdits.reversed()
+                    where prior.paths.contains(where: { pathsOverlap($0, path) }) {
+                        hitID = prior.toolCallID
+                        break
+                    }
+                }
                 guard let hitID else { matchedAll = false; break }
                 if let k = indexByID[hitID] { perCard[k].paths.append(path) }
                 else { indexByID[hitID] = perCard.count; perCard.append((hitID, [path])) }
             }
             guard matchedAll, !perCard.isEmpty else { continue }
             for card in perCard {
-                locksByCall[card.id, default: []].append(NoteLock(state: lock.state, paths: card.paths))
+                if priorIDs.contains(card.id) {
+                    priorLockPatches.append((card.id, NoteLock(state: lock.state, paths: card.paths)))
+                } else {
+                    locksByCall[card.id, default: []].append(NoteLock(state: lock.state, paths: card.paths))
+                }
             }
             folded.insert(i)
         }
@@ -235,7 +302,7 @@ enum TranscriptProjection {
 
     /// Split a scope's events into the main agent's own (`topLevel`) and each subagent's, keyed by
     /// the spawning `Task`'s id.
-    private static func partition(_ events: [AgentEvent])
+    private static func partition(_ events: ArraySlice<AgentEvent>)
         -> (topLevel: [AgentEvent], byParent: [String: [AgentEvent]])
     {
         let parentOf = toolParentMap(events)
@@ -254,7 +321,7 @@ enum TranscriptProjection {
     /// Maps each tool-call id to its parent subagent's id, built from the call start/complete
     /// events. A tool *result* or *file change* names only a tool id, so it inherits its subagent
     /// scope from the call it belongs to via this map.
-    private static func toolParentMap(_ events: [AgentEvent]) -> [String: String] {
+    private static func toolParentMap(_ events: ArraySlice<AgentEvent>) -> [String: String] {
         var map: [String: String] = [:]
         for event in events {
             switch event.kind {
@@ -512,4 +579,21 @@ extension JSONValue {
         default: return false
         }
     }
+
+    /// A one-line gist of a tool input/result for the collapsed row. Lives here (not with the
+    /// row views) because the projection folds it into `.raw` bodies, and this file also builds
+    /// standalone as the host-testable `NucleicRemoteProjection` SwiftPM target.
+    var compactSummary: String {
+        switch self {
+        case .string(let s): return s
+        case .object(let o):
+            if let cmd = o["command"]?.stringValue { return cmd }
+            if let path = o["file_path"]?.stringValue ?? o["path"]?.stringValue { return path }
+            return o.keys.sorted().joined(separator: ", ")
+        case .array(let a): return "[\(a.count) items]"
+        case .number(let n): return String(n)
+        case .bool(let b): return String(b)
+        case .null: return "null"
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/TranscriptRow.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/TranscriptRow.swift
index f492cec..ebe23b2 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/TranscriptRow.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/TranscriptRow.swift
@@ -250,20 +250,8 @@ extension JSONValue {
         return canonical == "null" ? "" : canonical
     }
 
-    /// A one-line gist of a tool input/result for the collapsed row.
-    var compactSummary: String {
-        switch self {
-        case .string(let s): return s
-        case .object(let o):
-            if let cmd = o["command"]?.stringValue { return cmd }
-            if let path = o["file_path"]?.stringValue ?? o["path"]?.stringValue { return path }
-            return o.keys.sorted().joined(separator: ", ")
-        case .array(let a): return "[\(a.count) items]"
-        case .number(let n): return String(n)
-        case .bool(let b): return String(b)
-        case .null: return "null"
-        }
-    }
+    // (`compactSummary` — the one-line gist — lives in TranscriptProjection.swift, which builds
+    // standalone as the host-testable NucleicRemoteProjection SwiftPM target and needs it there.)
 
     /// The full, **untruncated** content of a tool input for the approval card —
     /// the user must see exactly what they are granting before allowing. Unlike
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemoteWidgets/SessionLiveActivity.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemoteWidgets/SessionLiveActivity.swift
index 5e2f336..8619626 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemoteWidgets/SessionLiveActivity.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemoteWidgets/SessionLiveActivity.swift
@@ -50,10 +50,12 @@ struct SessionLiveActivity: Widget {
                     }
                 }
             } compactLeading: {
+                // Calm state shows the Nucleic Control brand mark (the purple atom); when the
+                // user is needed it switches to the amber approval glyph.
                 Image(systemName: state.needsAttention
-                    ? ActivityPalette.glyph(.approval) : ActivityPalette.glyph(.running))
+                    ? ActivityPalette.glyph(.approval) : "atom")
                     .foregroundStyle(state.needsAttention
-                        ? ActivityPalette.attention : ActivityPalette.active)
+                        ? ActivityPalette.attention : ActivityPalette.brand)
             } compactTrailing: {
                 Text("\(state.needsAttention ? max(state.approvalCount, state.needsYouCount) : state.runningCount)")
                     .font(.caption2.bold())
@@ -131,15 +133,42 @@ private struct LockScreenView: View {
 private struct SessionRow: View {
     let line: NucleicSessionAttributes.SessionLine
 
+    /// An approval this row can resolve inline: it's blocked on an approval, carries that approval's
+    /// id, and isn't high-risk (§3.3 — high-risk keeps the plain tap-to-open row and is answered on
+    /// the app's guarded card). `nil` until the producer populates `approvalID` — an older host, or
+    /// today's summary that doesn't yet carry it, so the row stays a deep-link exactly as before.
+    private var inlineApprovalID: String? {
+        guard line.kind == .approval, (line.approvalIsHighRisk ?? false) == false else { return nil }
+        return line.approvalID
+    }
+
     var body: some View {
-        if let url = NucleicDeepLink.session(line.id) {
+        if let approvalID = inlineApprovalID {
+            actionableRow(approvalID: approvalID)
+        } else if let url = NucleicDeepLink.session(line.id) {
             Link(destination: url) { rowContent }
         } else {
             rowContent
         }
     }
 
-    private var rowContent: some View {
+    /// An approval row with inline Allow/Deny. The identity still deep-links to the session; the
+    /// buttons fire `ApproveFromActivityIntent`, which the system performs in the app's background
+    /// process — allow/deny without unlocking (§4.1).
+    private func actionableRow(approvalID: String) -> some View {
+        HStack(spacing: 8) {
+            if let url = NucleicDeepLink.session(line.id) {
+                Link(destination: url) { rowIdentity }
+            } else {
+                rowIdentity
+            }
+            Spacer(minLength: 6)
+            ApprovalButtons(sessionID: line.id, approvalID: approvalID)
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The glyph + title + "project · Backend" — the row's identity, minus the trailing status.
+    private var rowIdentity: some View {
         HStack(spacing: 8) {
             Image(systemName: ActivityPalette.glyph(line.kind))
                 .font(.footnote)
@@ -159,6 +188,12 @@ private struct SessionRow: View {
                 .foregroundStyle(.secondary)
                 .lineLimit(1)
             }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private var rowContent: some View {
+        HStack(spacing: 8) {
+            rowIdentity
             Spacer(minLength: 6)
             Text(line.detail)
                 .font(.caption2.weight(.medium))
@@ -169,6 +204,33 @@ private struct SessionRow: View {
     }
 }
 
+/// The compact inline Allow/Deny pair for an actionable approval row. Each button fires
+/// `ApproveFromActivityIntent` (a low/medium-risk decision — high-risk never reaches here).
+private struct ApprovalButtons: View {
+    let sessionID: String
+    let approvalID: String
+
+    var body: some View {
+        HStack(spacing: 6) {
+            Button(intent: intent(allow: false)) {
+                Image(systemName: "xmark").font(.caption2.bold())
+            }
+            .tint(ActivityPalette.danger)
+            Button(intent: intent(allow: true)) {
+                Image(systemName: "checkmark").font(.caption2.bold())
+            }
+            .tint(ActivityPalette.success)
+        }
+        .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent)
+        .controlSize(.small)
+    }
+
+    private func intent(allow: Bool) -> ApproveFromActivityIntent {
+        ApproveFromActivityIntent(
+            approvalID: approvalID, sessionID: sessionID, isHighRisk: false, allow: allow)
+    }
+}
+
 /// Headline count chips: running (blue), waiting (teal), approvals (amber). Only nonzero show.
 private struct CountChips: View {
     let state: NucleicSessionAttributes.ContentState
@@ -220,6 +282,7 @@ private enum ActivityPalette {
     static let success = Color(red: 0.30, green: 0.78, blue: 0.45)    // done green
     static let danger = Color(red: 0.92, green: 0.34, blue: 0.34)     // error red
     static let neutral = Color.secondary
+    static let brand = Color(red: 0.62, green: 0.51, blue: 0.93)      // Nucleic Control purple
     static let added = Color(red: 0.30, green: 0.78, blue: 0.45)
     static let removed = Color(red: 0.92, green: 0.34, blue: 0.34)
 
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/Shared/ApproveFromActivityIntent.swift b/NucleicRemote/Shared/ApproveFromActivityIntent.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..747baad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NucleicRemote/Shared/ApproveFromActivityIntent.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+import AppIntents
+#if NUCLEIC_APP
+import NucleicProtocol
+#endif
+
+/// The interactive approve / deny an aggregate Live Activity (or widget) button fires — the flagship
+/// "resolve from the lock screen without unlocking" path (docs/APP_INTENTS_OPPORTUNITIES §4.1).
+///
+/// It lives in the **Shared** group so both the app and the widget extension can reference it in
+/// `Button(intent:)`. It carries plain `String` ids and compiles its real work only into the app,
+/// gated on `#if NUCLEIC_APP` (a custom compilation condition set on the app target only). That's
+/// sound because iOS runs a widget/Live-Activity button's intent in the **app's background
+/// process** — where `RemoteStore` owns the live E2EE channel — never in the extension. The
+/// extension-side copy exists solely to satisfy the `Button(intent:)` type reference.
+///
+/// NB: the guard is `#if NUCLEIC_APP`, *not* `#if canImport(NucleicProtocol)`. `canImport` tests
+/// module findability, not linkage — and because the app builds `NucleicProtocol` into the shared
+/// DerivedData products dir, it's findable from the widget extension too. So `canImport` is `true`
+/// in the extension, which would compile this branch there and fail on the app-only `RemoteStore`
+/// / `IntentError` types. `NUCLEIC_APP` tracks target membership, which is what we actually mean.
+///
+/// Not discoverable in Shortcuts/Spotlight: it's button-only, driven by ids embedded at render time
+/// (a human uses `AnswerApprovalIntent` for the spoken/Shortcuts path).
+struct ApproveFromActivityIntent: AppIntent {
+    static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "Approve from Live Activity"
+    static let isDiscoverable = false
+
+    @Parameter(title: "Approval ID")
+    var approvalID: String
+    @Parameter(title: "Session ID")
+    var sessionID: String
+    @Parameter(title: "High Risk")
+    var isHighRisk: Bool
+    /// `true` = allow, `false` = deny.
+    @Parameter(title: "Allow")
+    var allow: Bool
+
+    init() {}
+    init(approvalID: String, sessionID: String, isHighRisk: Bool, allow: Bool) {
+        self.approvalID = approvalID
+        self.sessionID = sessionID
+        self.isHighRisk = isHighRisk
+        self.allow = allow
+    }
+
+    @MainActor
+    func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
+        #if NUCLEIC_APP
+        let store = RemoteStore.shared
+        // §3.3 — a high-risk allow is never resolved inline; route to the app's biometric-gated card.
+        // (Surfaces shouldn't render an inline Allow for high-risk in the first place; this is the
+        // backstop so the intent can never be a softer path than the UI.)
+        if isHighRisk, allow {
+            store.route(to: SessionID(rawValue: sessionID))
+            throw IntentError.needsAppConfirmation
+        }
+        // Best-effort bring-up; `respondToApproval` queues briefly on a dropped link (§3.1). A lost
+        // first-responder race is de-duped host-side (§3.4), so we never surface an error for it.
+        _ = await store.awaitLiveConnection()
+        let decision: Decision = allow ? .allow(updatedInput: nil) : .deny(reason: nil)
+        store.respondToApproval(
+            id: ApprovalID(rawValue: approvalID),
+            sessionID: SessionID(rawValue: sessionID),
+            decision: decision)
+        return .result()
+        #else
+        // Widget-extension build: never executed (the system performs this in the app process).
+        return .result()
+        #endif
+    }
+}
diff --git a/NucleicRemote/Shared/SessionActivityAttributes.swift b/NucleicRemote/Shared/SessionActivityAttributes.swift
index 9809710..b352ef9 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/Shared/SessionActivityAttributes.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/Shared/SessionActivityAttributes.swift
@@ -48,6 +48,30 @@ struct NucleicSessionAttributes: ActivityAttributes {
         /// A compact right-aligned status: its diff ("3 files +42 −7"), "2 to approve",
         /// "Waiting on you", "Working…", etc.
         var detail: String
+        /// The single most-urgent pending approval on this session, when it has one — the id the
+        /// inline Allow/Deny buttons resolve (`ApproveFromActivityIntent`). `nil` when the session
+        /// isn't blocked on an approval, or when the producer doesn't carry it (an older host, or a
+        /// summary that predates the field) — in which case the row falls back to a plain deep-link
+        /// tap, exactly as before. Optional so a host that omits it still decodes.
+        var approvalID: String?
+        /// Whether that approval is high-risk (destructive / network / host-exec). The surface hides
+        /// inline Allow on a high-risk request (§3.3) — only Deny / open-the-app is offered. `nil`
+        /// (treated as unknown → no inline Allow) when the producer doesn't carry it.
+        var approvalIsHighRisk: Bool?
+
+        init(
+            id: String, title: String, project: String, backend: Backend, kind: Kind,
+            detail: String, approvalID: String? = nil, approvalIsHighRisk: Bool? = nil
+        ) {
+            self.id = id
+            self.title = title
+            self.project = project
+            self.backend = backend
+            self.kind = kind
+            self.detail = detail
+            self.approvalID = approvalID
+            self.approvalIsHighRisk = approvalIsHighRisk
+        }
     }
 
     struct ContentState: Codable, Hashable {