diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 1502b558..9f9693e6 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -186,6 +186,8 @@ Codeman is a Claude Code session manager with web interface and autonomous Ralph
 
 **Idle detection**: Multi-layer (completion message → AI check → output silence → token stability). See `docs/respawn-state-machine.md`.
 
+⚠️ **A `❯` sighting is NOT the end of a turn, and neither is silence.** Claude redraws the composer (`❯`) about once a second all through a turn, so the old "saw a ❯, wait 2s → idle" rule flipped every working session to idle two seconds in (measured: a session mid-tool-call at 17 minutes reporting `status:"idle"`). Its working indicator is `✻ Actualizing… (13m 23s · ↓ 47.5k tokens)`: the glyph animates through `· ✢ ✳ ∗ ✻ ✽`, the gerund is randomized, and the finished line (`✻ Cooked for 2m 49s`) carries the same glyph, so neither `SPINNER_PATTERN` (braille, not what current versions draw) nor a keyword list can see it. Matching the new line in the STREAM does not work either: tmux ships partial repaints, so the whole line reaches the PTY only every few tens of seconds. So: `_confirmIdle()` (session.ts) requires the pane to go quiet, and then asks the SCREEN via `capturePaneText()` + `CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN` before believing it; a sustained run of repaints (`session-activity.ts`, pure + unit tested) is what marks a turn as started, with the same screen probe vetoing keystroke echo. Idle now lands ~3-5s after a turn ends instead of 2s into one. Claude-mode only, since an external CLI has no `❯`, so nothing would ever arm the confirmation and the session would latch busy.
+
 **Auto-resume on usage limit** (opt-in per session, top of the Respawn tab): when Claude halts on a subscription limit, `usage-limit-patterns.ts` (pure, unit-tested) parses the reset time and `SessionAutoOps` arms a timer for reset+2min, then sends Esc + `continue`. ⚠️ Respawn cycles are blocked while paused (`isLimitPaused` guard in `onIdleDetected`), which is what prevents `/clear` from wiping the paused conversation. Claude-mode only. → [architecture-invariants#auto-resume-on-usage-limit](docs/architecture-invariants.md#auto-resume-on-usage-limit)
 
 **Plan-usage chip** (statusLine telemetry, `showPlanUsageLimits`, per-device: desktop default **ON**, handhelds OFF via the mobile block in `getDefaultSettings()`): resolve it ONLY through `planUsageChipEnabled()` in settings-ui.js, which backs all three call sites (the App Settings checkbox, the chip's visibility, and the `statusLineTelemetry` flag on session create). A chip shown without telemetry renders `—` forever. Codeman injects its own `statusLine.command` exporter which POSTs Claude's `rate_limits` blob to `POST /api/status-telemetry`. The exporter is identified by a marker, so it only ever adds/updates/removes a statusLine that is **ours**, never a user's hand-authored one, and it prints the footer through so the in-terminal statusline is not blanked. Claude-mode only; distinct from auto-resume, which reacts to the limit *message* rather than showing live %. → [architecture-invariants#plan-usage-chip-statusline-telemetry](docs/architecture-invariants.md#plan-usage-chip-statusline-telemetry), `docs/usage-limits-display-plan.md`
diff --git a/src/mux-interface.ts b/src/mux-interface.ts
index 769705ab..08e95fdb 100644
--- a/src/mux-interface.ts
+++ b/src/mux-interface.ts
@@ -276,4 +276,13 @@ export interface TerminalMultiplexer extends EventEmitter {
    * Pass `{ fullHistory: true }` to capture the entire scrollback (COD-47).
    */
   captureActivePaneBuffer?(muxName: string, opts?: PaneCaptureOptions): string | null;
+
+  /**
+   * Plain text of the visible frame: no styles, no cursor query, no repaint
+   * reconstruction. Deliberately cheaper than `capturePaneBuffer` because idle
+   * detection calls it on a timer: it only needs to read what the CLI is
+   * currently rendering, never to replay it into an xterm. Returns null when the
+   * pane cannot be read.
+   */
+  capturePaneText?(muxName: string, paneTarget?: string): string | null;
 }
diff --git a/src/respawn-patterns.ts b/src/respawn-patterns.ts
index cad91e49..9505fea9 100644
--- a/src/respawn-patterns.ts
+++ b/src/respawn-patterns.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
  * @module respawn-patterns
  */
 
-import { TOKEN_PATTERN } from './utils/index.js';
+import { TOKEN_PATTERN, CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN } from './utils/index.js';
 
 // ========== Constants ==========
 
@@ -108,7 +108,12 @@ export function isCompletionMessage(data: string): boolean {
  * @returns True if any working pattern is found in the window
  */
 export function hasWorkingPattern(window: string): boolean {
-  return WORKING_PATTERNS.some((pattern) => window.includes(pattern));
+  // Current Claude randomizes the gerund ("Actualizing…", "Finagling…"), so the
+  // list above catches only a fraction of turns. The live status line's own shape
+  // (`… (13m 23s · ↓ 47.5k tokens)`) is what identifies the rest. Kept as an
+  // extra signal rather than a replacement: this window is RAW terminal data, and
+  // a partial repaint can split the line across chunks.
+  return CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test(window) || WORKING_PATTERNS.some((pattern) => window.includes(pattern));
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/session-activity.ts b/src/session-activity.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..324aff1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/session-activity.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+/**
+ * @fileoverview Pure working/idle heuristics for a Claude interactive pane.
+ *
+ * Split out of `session.ts` so the thresholds and the state math are unit
+ * testable without a PTY (same reasoning as `session-order.ts` /
+ * `usage-limit-patterns.ts`).
+ *
+ * **Why activity and not the status line.** Claude Code's working indicator is
+ * `✻ Actualizing… (13m 23s · ↓ 47.5k tokens)`, where the glyph animates through
+ * `· ✢ ✳ ∗ ✻ ✽` and the gerund is randomized per turn. Neither the braille
+ * spinner (`SPINNER_PATTERN`) nor the old keyword list (`Thinking|Writing|
+ * Reading|Running`) matches any of that, so the pane looked idle for a whole
+ * turn. Matching the new line does not rescue the stream either: tmux ships
+ * PARTIAL repaints, so measured on a live worker the complete line reached the
+ * PTY roughly once every 20 seconds, while the composer's `❯` (which is what
+ * ARMS idle detection) arrived every single second.
+ *
+ * What is left is the one thing measured to separate the two states cleanly: a
+ * working pane repaints, an idle pane emits nothing at all. Sampled once per
+ * second for 12s across six live sessions, the two working ones produced output
+ * in 12/12 windows and the four idle ones in 0/12.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * A gap longer than this ends a run of continuous output. Claude repaints at
+ * least once a second while working, so this leaves generous headroom.
+ */
+export const ACTIVITY_GAP_MS = 2000;
+
+/**
+ * Continuous output for this long means the pane is working. Long enough that a
+ * one-off repaint (an update-check line, a rotating tip) cannot reach it.
+ */
+export const WORKING_STREAK_MS = 2000;
+
+/**
+ * Silence for this long is what confirms the pane really went idle. Must stay
+ * above ACTIVITY_GAP_MS, or a pause between two repaints of one turn would
+ * read as the end of the turn.
+ */
+export const IDLE_SILENCE_MS = 2500;
+
+/** How often a pending idle confirmation re-checks a pane that is still noisy. */
+export const IDLE_RECHECK_MS = 500;
+
+/**
+ * Floor between two pane probes for one session. The probe shells out to tmux,
+ * so this is what keeps a screenful of busy sessions from turning idle detection
+ * into a subprocess storm.
+ */
+export const PANE_PROBE_MIN_INTERVAL_MS = 1500;
+
+/**
+ * How long to wait before looking again at a pane the probe just called working.
+ * Claude can sit silent for tens of seconds inside one tool call, so this is the
+ * cadence that carries a long quiet turn, so it is deliberately slow.
+ */
+export const PANE_PROBE_RECHECK_MS = 5000;
+
+/** An unbroken run of PTY output. */
+export interface ActivityStreak {
+  /** When this run began. */
+  startedAt: number;
+  /** The most recent chunk in it. */
+  lastAt: number;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Fold one output chunk into the current streak, starting a new one when the
+ * pane has been quiet longer than `gapMs`.
+ */
+export function trackActivityStreak(
+  streak: ActivityStreak | null,
+  now: number,
+  gapMs: number = ACTIVITY_GAP_MS
+): ActivityStreak {
+  if (!streak || now - streak.lastAt > gapMs) return { startedAt: now, lastAt: now };
+  return { startedAt: streak.startedAt, lastAt: now };
+}
+
+/**
+ * True once a streak has been running long enough to mean work rather than a
+ * single repaint. Measured on the streak's own span (`lastAt - startedAt`), not
+ * against the caller's clock, so a stale streak cannot age into a true.
+ */
+export function isSustainedActivity(streak: ActivityStreak | null, streakMs: number = WORKING_STREAK_MS): boolean {
+  return !!streak && streak.lastAt - streak.startedAt >= streakMs;
+}
+
+/** True when the pane has produced nothing for long enough to call it idle. */
+export function isPaneQuiet(lastActivityAt: number, now: number, silenceMs: number = IDLE_SILENCE_MS): boolean {
+  return now - lastActivityAt >= silenceMs;
+}
diff --git a/src/session.ts b/src/session.ts
index 985e74b2..1d2a0364 100644
--- a/src/session.ts
+++ b/src/session.ts
@@ -59,11 +59,21 @@ import type { TerminalMultiplexer, MuxSession } from './mux-interface.js';
 import { TaskTracker, type BackgroundTask } from './task-tracker.js';
 import { RalphTracker } from './ralph-tracker.js';
 import { BashToolParser } from './bash-tool-parser.js';
+import {
+  trackActivityStreak,
+  isSustainedActivity,
+  isPaneQuiet,
+  IDLE_RECHECK_MS,
+  PANE_PROBE_MIN_INTERVAL_MS,
+  PANE_PROBE_RECHECK_MS,
+  type ActivityStreak,
+} from './session-activity.js';
 import {
   BufferAccumulator,
   ANSI_ESCAPE_PATTERN_FULL,
   TOKEN_PATTERN,
   SPINNER_PATTERN,
+  CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN,
   MAX_SESSION_TOKENS,
   execPattern,
   getClaudeCliVersion,
@@ -376,6 +386,9 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
   private _lastPromptTime: number = 0;
   private activityTimeout: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null;
   private _awaitingIdleConfirmation: boolean = false; // Prevents timeout reset during idle detection
+  private _activityStreak: ActivityStreak | null = null; // Unbroken run of PTY repaints (working detection)
+  private _lastPaneProbeAt = 0; // Throttle for the tmux screen probe
+  private _lastPaneProbeWorking: boolean | null = null; // Its last verdict (null = could not read)
   private _trustDialogAccepted: boolean = false; // Prevents repeated trust dialog auto-accept
   private _taskTracker: TaskTracker;
 
@@ -1762,44 +1775,7 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
       }
 
       // === Idle/working detection runs on every chunk (latency-sensitive) ===
-      // Detect if Claude is working or at prompt
-      // The prompt line contains "❯" when waiting for input
-      if (data.includes('❯') || data.includes('\u276f')) {
-        // Only start a new timeout if we're not already awaiting idle confirmation
-        // This prevents status bar redraws (which include ❯) from resetting the timer
-        if (!this._awaitingIdleConfirmation) {
-          if (this.activityTimeout) clearTimeout(this.activityTimeout);
-          this._awaitingIdleConfirmation = true;
-          this.activityTimeout = setTimeout(() => {
-            this._awaitingIdleConfirmation = false;
-            // Emit idle if either:
-            // 1. Claude was working and is now at prompt (normal case)
-            // 2. Session just started and is ready (status is 'busy' but _isWorking is false)
-            const wasWorking = this._isWorking;
-            const isInitialReady = this._status === 'busy' && !this._isWorking;
-            if (wasWorking || isInitialReady) {
-              this._isWorking = false;
-              this._status = 'idle';
-              this._lastPromptTime = Date.now();
-              this.emit('idle');
-            }
-          }, IDLE_DETECTION_DELAY_MS);
-        }
-      }
-
-      // Detect when Claude starts working (thinking, writing, etc)
-      // Fast path: check spinner characters on raw data (Unicode, never in ANSI sequences)
-      const hasSpinner = SPINNER_PATTERN.test(data);
-      if (hasSpinner) {
-        if (!this._isWorking) {
-          this._isWorking = true;
-          this._status = 'busy';
-          this.emit('working');
-          this._autoOps.notifyWorking();
-        }
-        this._awaitingIdleConfirmation = false;
-        if (this.activityTimeout) clearTimeout(this.activityTimeout);
-      }
+      this._detectInteractiveActivity(data);
 
       // === Expensive processing (ANSI strip, Ralph, bash parser) is throttled ===
       // Instead of running regex-heavy parsers on every PTY chunk, we accumulate
@@ -1848,6 +1824,7 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
       this._pid = null;
       this._status = 'idle';
       this._awaitingIdleConfirmation = false;
+      this._activityStreak = null;
       // Clear all timers to prevent memory leaks
       if (this.activityTimeout) {
         clearTimeout(this.activityTimeout);
@@ -1903,6 +1880,134 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
     return this._respawnBlocked;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Per-chunk working/idle detection for an interactive pane. Split out of the
+   * PTY `onData` handler so it can be unit tested without spawning one.
+   *
+   * @param data raw PTY chunk, ANSI included
+   */
+  private _detectInteractiveActivity(data: string): void {
+    // The prompt line contains "❯" when Claude is waiting for input. It only ARMS
+    // the check and is NOT evidence the turn ended: Claude redraws the composer
+    // about once a second all the way through a turn, which is exactly how a
+    // working session used to flip to idle two seconds in. _confirmIdle() waits
+    // for the pane to actually go quiet before believing it.
+    if (data.includes('❯')) {
+      // Only start a new timeout if we're not already awaiting idle confirmation.
+      // This prevents status bar redraws (which include the prompt) from resetting it.
+      if (!this._awaitingIdleConfirmation) {
+        if (this.activityTimeout) clearTimeout(this.activityTimeout);
+        this._awaitingIdleConfirmation = true;
+        this.activityTimeout = setTimeout(() => this._confirmIdle(), IDLE_DETECTION_DELAY_MS);
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Detect when Claude starts working (thinking, writing, etc).
+    // Fast path: spinner characters on raw data (Unicode, never inside ANSI sequences).
+    if (SPINNER_PATTERN.test(data)) this._markWorking();
+
+    // Activity fallback: current Claude Code animates `✻ Actualizing…` instead of a
+    // braille spinner, so the fast path above misses entire turns, and matching the
+    // new status line does not rescue it either (tmux repaints partially, so the
+    // complete line reaches the PTY only every few tens of seconds). An unbroken run
+    // of repaints is the signal that survives. See session-activity.ts for the
+    // measurement. Claude only: an external CLI's TUI has no ❯, so nothing would
+    // ever arm the idle confirmation and such a session would latch busy forever.
+    if (!isExternalCliMode(this.mode)) {
+      this._activityStreak = trackActivityStreak(this._activityStreak, Date.now());
+      // A streak is the TRIGGER to look, not the verdict: typing into the composer
+      // also produces a steady stream of repaints. The screen settles it, and only
+      // an explicit "no working line" vetoes; a probe that cannot read the pane
+      // (null) leaves the streak in charge.
+      if (!this._isWorking && isSustainedActivity(this._activityStreak) && this._probePaneWorking() !== false) {
+        this._markWorking();
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Ask the pane what it is rendering right now.
+   *
+   * The PTY stream cannot answer this on its own: measured on a live worker,
+   * Claude repaints roughly once a second for most of a turn but can then sit
+   * completely silent for tens of seconds inside a single tool call, while the
+   * `✻ Elucidating… (39s · ↓ 2.0k tokens)` line stays on screen the whole time.
+   * Silence therefore proves nothing, and the rendered frame is the only cheap
+   * source that is right in both directions.
+   *
+   * Costs one `capture-pane`, floored at PANE_PROBE_MIN_INTERVAL_MS per session
+   * and only ever called at a transition, never on the output hot path.
+   *
+   * @returns true/false when the screen could be read, null when it could not
+   *   (no mux, capture failed, tests). Callers must treat null as "no evidence"
+   *   and fall back to their stream heuristics.
+   */
+  private _probePaneWorking(): boolean | null {
+    if (!this._mux || !this._muxSession) return null;
+    const now = Date.now();
+    if (now - this._lastPaneProbeAt < PANE_PROBE_MIN_INTERVAL_MS) return this._lastPaneProbeWorking;
+    this._lastPaneProbeAt = now;
+    const text = this._mux.capturePaneText?.(this._muxSession.muxName) ?? null;
+    this._lastPaneProbeWorking = text === null ? null : CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test(text);
+    return this._lastPaneProbeWorking;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Mark the pane as working. Idempotent: `working` is emitted on the transition
+   * only, so the per-chunk detectors can all call it freely.
+   *
+   * Deliberately does NOT cancel a pending idle confirmation. That confirmation
+   * is what eventually notices the turn ended, and it already refuses to fire
+   * while the pane is noisy, and cancelling it here would leave a session that
+   * finished during a lull with nothing armed to ever call it idle.
+   */
+  private _markWorking(): void {
+    if (this._isWorking) return;
+    this._isWorking = true;
+    this._status = 'busy';
+    this.emit('working');
+    this._autoOps.notifyWorking();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Decide whether the armed idle confirmation is real.
+   *
+   * A ❯ sighting alone means nothing (Claude redraws the composer through the
+   * whole turn), so the pane must ALSO have gone quiet. While output is still
+   * flowing the check re-arms instead of concluding. That loop is a timestamp
+   * compare every IDLE_RECHECK_MS and ends the moment the pane falls silent.
+   */
+  private _confirmIdle(): void {
+    if (this._isStopped) {
+      this._awaitingIdleConfirmation = false;
+      return;
+    }
+    if (!isPaneQuiet(this._lastActivityAt, Date.now())) {
+      this.activityTimeout = setTimeout(() => this._confirmIdle(), IDLE_RECHECK_MS);
+      return; // stays _awaitingIdleConfirmation, so ❯ redraws do not pile up timers
+    }
+    // Quiet is necessary but NOT sufficient: a turn can go silent mid-tool-call.
+    // Ask the screen before concluding, and keep asking on a slow cadence.
+    if (this._probePaneWorking() === true) {
+      this._markWorking();
+      this.activityTimeout = setTimeout(() => this._confirmIdle(), PANE_PROBE_RECHECK_MS);
+      return;
+    }
+    this._awaitingIdleConfirmation = false;
+    this.activityTimeout = null;
+    // Emit idle if either:
+    // 1. Claude was working and is now at prompt (normal case)
+    // 2. Session just started and is ready (status is 'busy' but _isWorking is false)
+    const wasWorking = this._isWorking;
+    const isInitialReady = this._status === 'busy' && !this._isWorking;
+    if (wasWorking || isInitialReady) {
+      this._isWorking = false;
+      this._status = 'idle';
+      this._lastPromptTime = Date.now();
+      this.emit('idle');
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Process expensive parsers (ANSI strip, Ralph, bash tool, token, CLI info, task descriptions).
    * Called on a throttled schedule (every EXPENSIVE_PROCESS_INTERVAL_MS) instead of on every
@@ -1953,22 +2058,22 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
       this.parseTaskDescriptionsFromTerminalData(getCleanData());
     }
 
-    // Work keyword detection (text-based, needs clean data)
-    // Only check if spinner didn't already trigger working state
+    // Work detection (text-based, needs clean data: the status line is coloured,
+    // so raw data has escape sequences between the `…` and the elapsed timer).
+    // Only check if a faster path didn't already trigger working state.
     if (!this._isWorking) {
       const cleanData = getCleanData();
       if (
+        CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test(cleanData) ||
+        // Legacy gerunds. Current Claude randomizes the word ("Actualizing…",
+        // "Finagling…"), so these catch only a fraction of turns; the pattern
+        // above and the activity streak carry the rest.
         cleanData.includes('Thinking') ||
         cleanData.includes('Writing') ||
         cleanData.includes('Reading') ||
         cleanData.includes('Running')
       ) {
-        this._isWorking = true;
-        this._status = 'busy';
-        this.emit('working');
-        this._autoOps.notifyWorking();
-        this._awaitingIdleConfirmation = false;
-        if (this.activityTimeout) clearTimeout(this.activityTimeout);
+        this._markWorking();
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/tmux-manager.ts b/src/tmux-manager.ts
index aa186b5a..3d83ce04 100644
--- a/src/tmux-manager.ts
+++ b/src/tmux-manager.ts
@@ -3175,6 +3175,30 @@ export class TmuxManager extends EventEmitter implements TerminalMultiplexer {
    *   Used for full page reloads so the user gets back their scroll history.
    *   Caveat: lines tmux has already evicted past its history-limit are gone.
    */
+  /**
+   * Plain visible-frame text for the working/idle probe (see `session.ts`).
+   *
+   * One `capture-pane` and nothing else: no `-e` styles, no `display-message`
+   * cursor query, no repaint reconstruction: this feeds a regex, not a
+   * terminal. Returns null in tests (no tmux) so callers fall back to their
+   * stream heuristics rather than reading an empty screen as "not working".
+   */
+  capturePaneText(muxName: string, paneTarget?: string): string | null {
+    if (IS_TEST_MODE) return null;
+    const target = resolveTmuxPaneTarget(muxName, paneTarget);
+    if (!target) return null;
+    try {
+      return execSync(`${this.tmux()} capture-pane -p -t ${shellescape(target)}`, {
+        encoding: 'utf-8',
+        timeout: EXEC_TIMEOUT_MS,
+      });
+    } catch {
+      // A dead/renamed pane is an ordinary outcome here, not an error worth logging
+      // on a timer; the caller treats null as "no evidence either way".
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+
   capturePaneBuffer(muxName: string, paneTarget?: string, opts?: PaneCaptureOptions): string | null {
     if (IS_TEST_MODE) return '';
     const target = resolveTmuxPaneTarget(muxName, paneTarget);
diff --git a/src/utils/index.ts b/src/utils/index.ts
index 4c813f42..45ffb9f8 100644
--- a/src/utils/index.ts
+++ b/src/utils/index.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ export {
   ANSI_ESCAPE_PATTERN_SIMPLE,
   TOKEN_PATTERN,
   SPINNER_PATTERN,
+  CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN,
   stripAnsi,
   SAFE_PATH_PATTERN,
   execPattern,
diff --git a/src/utils/regex-patterns.ts b/src/utils/regex-patterns.ts
index 6cf28fc1..228dcfc6 100644
--- a/src/utils/regex-patterns.ts
+++ b/src/utils/regex-patterns.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,24 @@ export function stripAnsi(text: string): string {
  */
 export const SPINNER_PATTERN = /[⠋⠙⠹⠸⠼⠴⠦⠧]/;
 
+/**
+ * Claude Code's live working status line, e.g.
+ *   `✻ Actualizing… (13m 23s · ↓ 47.5k tokens)`
+ *   `✽ Herding… (3s · esc to interrupt)`
+ *
+ * Matched on the ELLIPSIS + elapsed timer, never on the leading glyph: the
+ * animation cycles through `· ✢ ✳ ∗ ✻ ✽` (two of those are ordinary punctuation)
+ * and the gerund is randomized per turn, while the finished line (`✻ Cooked for
+ * 2m 49s`) carries the same glyph with no `…` and no parenthesis. Feed this
+ * ANSI-STRIPPED data: tmux colours the timer separately, so the raw stream has
+ * escape sequences sitting between the `…` and the `(`.
+ *
+ * A sighting is proof the pane is working; its ABSENCE proves nothing, because
+ * tmux repaints partially and the whole line reaches the PTY only occasionally
+ * (see `session-activity.ts` for what carries the idle decision instead).
+ */
+export const CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN = /…\s*\((?:\d+h\s+)?(?:\d+m\s+)?\d+s\b|esc to interrupt/;
+
 export const SAFE_PATH_PATTERN = /^[\p{L}\p{N}_/\-. ~]+$/u;
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/web/public/mobile.css b/src/web/public/mobile.css
index 72f17aab..8177e262 100644
--- a/src/web/public/mobile.css
+++ b/src/web/public/mobile.css
@@ -2522,6 +2522,51 @@ html.mobile-init .file-browser-panel {
     border-color: var(--red);
   }
 
+  /* Working is not an alert, so it gets a calm green breathing edge rather than a
+     blink: at a glance the row reads "this one is moving", without competing with
+     the two states that actually want you. Slower than both of them on purpose. */
+  .mobile-overview-row--working {
+    border-color: var(--green);
+    animation: mobile-overview-breathe-green 2.2s ease-in-out infinite;
+  }
+
+  @keyframes mobile-overview-breathe-green {
+    0%,
+    100% {
+      background: var(--bg-card);
+      border-color: var(--border);
+    }
+    50% {
+      background: rgba(34, 197, 94, 0.1);
+      border-color: var(--green);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /* The pill picks up a three-dot ellipsis that fills in and empties, so the row
+     still reads as active on a skin where the border tint is subtle. */
+  .mobile-overview-pill--working::after {
+    content: '';
+    display: inline-block;
+    width: 0.75em;
+    text-align: left;
+    animation: mobile-overview-pill-dots 1.5s steps(1, end) infinite;
+  }
+
+  @keyframes mobile-overview-pill-dots {
+    0% {
+      content: '';
+    }
+    25% {
+      content: '.';
+    }
+    50% {
+      content: '..';
+    }
+    75% {
+      content: '...';
+    }
+  }
+
   @keyframes mobile-overview-blink-red {
     0%,
     100% {
@@ -2603,6 +2648,25 @@ html.mobile-init .file-browser-panel {
     will-change: opacity;
   }
 
+  /* Ring the pulsing dot with the SAME spinner a tab shows while it loads: same
+     2px ring, same bright leading edge, same `tab-load-spin` keyframes from
+     styles.css (reused, not re-declared, so the two can never drift). Green
+     rather than the tab's blue because here it means "running", not "loading":
+     the motion is the shared part, the color still belongs to the state. */
+  .mobile-overview-dot {
+    position: relative;
+  }
+
+  .mobile-overview-dot--working::after {
+    content: '';
+    position: absolute;
+    inset: -4px;
+    border: 2px solid rgba(34, 197, 94, 0.25);
+    border-top-color: var(--green);
+    border-radius: 50%;
+    animation: tab-load-spin 0.7s linear infinite;
+  }
+
   .mobile-overview-dot--idle {
     background: var(--green);
   }
@@ -2713,6 +2777,24 @@ html.mobile-init .file-browser-panel {
   .mobile-overview-dot--working {
     animation: none;
   }
+
+  /* The ring stays as a static full circle: it still marks the row, it just
+     stops turning. */
+  .mobile-overview-dot--working::after {
+    border-color: var(--green);
+    animation: none;
+  }
+
+  /* Working is only informational, so it drops to a static green edge and a
+     static ellipsis rather than holding a tint the way the alerts do. */
+  .mobile-overview-row--working {
+    animation: none;
+  }
+
+  .mobile-overview-pill--working::after {
+    content: '...';
+    animation: none;
+  }
 }
 
 /* Light-skin compatibility for mobile-only chrome. These components predate
diff --git a/test/respawn-patterns.test.ts b/test/respawn-patterns.test.ts
index 3060d8cb..60442c1f 100644
--- a/test/respawn-patterns.test.ts
+++ b/test/respawn-patterns.test.ts
@@ -115,6 +115,21 @@ describe('hasWorkingPattern', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('current Claude status line', () => {
+    it('should detect the randomized gerund by the elapsed timer', () => {
+      // Live captures on Claude Code 2.1.220. The word changes every turn, so the
+      // WORKING_PATTERNS list above cannot see any of these.
+      expect(hasWorkingPattern('✻ Actualizing… (15m 17s · ↓ 47.5k tokens)')).toBe(true);
+      expect(hasWorkingPattern('· Finagling… (4m 45s · ↓ 13.3k tokens)')).toBe(true);
+      expect(hasWorkingPattern('✽ Herding… (3s · esc to interrupt)')).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('should NOT treat the completion line as working', () => {
+      expect(hasWorkingPattern('✻ Cooked for 2m 49s')).toBe(false);
+      expect(hasWorkingPattern('✻ Brewed for 18m 41s')).toBe(false);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('spinner characters', () => {
     it('should detect braille spinner characters', () => {
       expect(hasWorkingPattern('Loading... \u280B')).toBe(true);
diff --git a/test/session-activity.test.ts b/test/session-activity.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a95337f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/session-activity.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,248 @@
+/**
+ * Working/idle detection for an interactive Claude pane.
+ *
+ * The bug this pins: Claude redraws the composer (`❯`) about once a second all
+ * the way through a turn, so the old "saw a ❯, wait 2s, call it idle" rule
+ * flipped a busy session to idle two seconds into every turn. Measured on a live
+ * worker: `GET /api/sessions` reported `idle` for a session that had been
+ * running for 17 minutes and was mid-tool-call.
+ *
+ * The status-line fixtures below are verbatim captures from live panes
+ * (`tmux -L codeman capture-pane -p`) on Claude Code 2.1.220.
+ */
+import { describe, expect, it, vi, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { Session } from '../src/session.js';
+import { CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN } from '../src/utils/regex-patterns.js';
+import {
+  trackActivityStreak,
+  isSustainedActivity,
+  isPaneQuiet,
+  ACTIVITY_GAP_MS,
+  WORKING_STREAK_MS,
+  IDLE_SILENCE_MS,
+} from '../src/session-activity.js';
+
+type SessionInternals = {
+  _handleTerminalOutput(data: string): void;
+  _detectInteractiveActivity(data: string): void;
+};
+
+/** One PTY chunk: what the pane emitted, exactly as the interactive handler sees it. */
+function feed(session: Session, data: string): void {
+  const internals = session as unknown as SessionInternals;
+  internals._handleTerminalOutput(data);
+  internals._detectInteractiveActivity(data);
+}
+
+/**
+ * A session whose mux reports a fixed (or scripted) screen, so the pane probe has
+ * something to read. Only `capturePaneText` is exercised by these paths.
+ */
+function withFakePane(screen: string | (() => string)): Session {
+  const read = typeof screen === 'function' ? screen : () => screen;
+  const mux = {
+    isAvailable: () => true,
+    capturePaneText: () => read(),
+  } as unknown as NonNullable<Parameters<typeof Session.prototype.constructor>[0]>['mux'];
+  return new Session({
+    workingDir: '/tmp',
+    mode: 'claude',
+    mux,
+    muxSession: { muxName: 'codeman-test', sessionId: 'test', createdAt: Date.now() },
+  } as ConstructorParameters<typeof Session>[0]);
+}
+
+/** A composer repaint: the frame Claude ships roughly once a second while working. */
+const COMPOSER_REPAINT =
+  '\x1b[31;1H\x1b[38;5;246m❯\xa0\x1b[39m\x1b[0m\x1b[33;1H  \x1b[38;5;246mOpus 5  in:143,699 out:669  ctx:14%\x1b[39m';
+
+describe('CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN', () => {
+  it('matches the live status line, whatever the glyph and gerund are', () => {
+    // Captured from three different live panes: the glyph animates through
+    // `· ✢ ✳ ∗ ✻ ✽` and the gerund is randomized per turn, so neither is matchable.
+    expect(CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test('✻ Actualizing… (15m 17s · ↓ 47.5k tokens)')).toBe(true);
+    expect(CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test('* Implementing the backend… (18m 59s · ↓ 69.9k tokens)')).toBe(true);
+    expect(CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test('· Finagling… (4m 45s · ↓ 13.3k tokens)')).toBe(true);
+    expect(CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test('✽ Herding… (3s · esc to interrupt)')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('does not match the FINISHED line, which carries the same glyph', () => {
+    // `✻ Cooked for 2m 49s` sits on screen for the whole idle period afterwards.
+    // Matching the glyph alone would pin such a session at "working" forever.
+    expect(CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test('✻ Cooked for 2m 49s')).toBe(false);
+    expect(CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test('✻ Brewed for 18m 41s')).toBe(false);
+    expect(CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test('✻ Worked for 2m 46s')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('ignores ordinary prose and the idle footer', () => {
+    expect(CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test(COMPOSER_REPAINT)).toBe(false);
+    expect(CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test('  ⏵⏵ bypass permissions on (shift+tab to cycle) · ← for agents')).toBe(
+      false
+    );
+    expect(CLAUDE_WORKING_LINE_PATTERN.test('the build took 45s to finish')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('activity streak helpers', () => {
+  it('extends a streak while chunks keep arriving', () => {
+    let streak = trackActivityStreak(null, 1000);
+    streak = trackActivityStreak(streak, 2000);
+    streak = trackActivityStreak(streak, 3000);
+    expect(streak).toEqual({ startedAt: 1000, lastAt: 3000 });
+  });
+
+  it('restarts the streak after a gap', () => {
+    const first = trackActivityStreak(null, 1000);
+    const after = trackActivityStreak(first, 1000 + ACTIVITY_GAP_MS + 1);
+    expect(after.startedAt).toBe(1000 + ACTIVITY_GAP_MS + 1);
+  });
+
+  it('calls it working only once the streak spans the threshold', () => {
+    expect(isSustainedActivity(null)).toBe(false);
+    expect(isSustainedActivity({ startedAt: 0, lastAt: WORKING_STREAK_MS - 1 })).toBe(false);
+    expect(isSustainedActivity({ startedAt: 0, lastAt: WORKING_STREAK_MS })).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('measures the streak on its own span, so a stale streak cannot age into working', () => {
+    // A single old chunk stays a single chunk no matter how much later we ask.
+    const oneChunk = { startedAt: 0, lastAt: 0 };
+    expect(isSustainedActivity(oneChunk)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('calls the pane quiet only after the silence window', () => {
+    expect(isPaneQuiet(1000, 1000 + IDLE_SILENCE_MS - 1)).toBe(false);
+    expect(isPaneQuiet(1000, 1000 + IDLE_SILENCE_MS)).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('Session interactive idle detection', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+  });
+
+  it('stays busy through a long turn of composer repaints', () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const session = new Session({ workingDir: '/tmp', mode: 'claude' });
+    const events: string[] = [];
+    session.on('idle', () => events.push('idle'));
+    session.on('working', () => events.push('working'));
+
+    // 30 seconds of the once-a-second repaint a working pane emits. Every one of
+    // these carries a ❯; the old rule went idle after the first two seconds.
+    for (let i = 0; i < 30; i++) {
+      feed(session, COMPOSER_REPAINT);
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(1000);
+    }
+
+    expect(events).toEqual(['working']);
+    expect(session.status).toBe('busy');
+  });
+
+  it('goes idle once the pane falls silent', () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const session = new Session({ workingDir: '/tmp', mode: 'claude' });
+    const events: string[] = [];
+    session.on('idle', () => events.push('idle'));
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
+      feed(session, COMPOSER_REPAINT);
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(1000);
+    }
+    expect(events).toEqual([]);
+
+    // Turn over: nothing more is emitted.
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(IDLE_SILENCE_MS + 1000);
+
+    expect(events).toEqual(['idle']);
+    expect(session.status).toBe('idle');
+  });
+
+  it('emits idle once, not once per re-check', () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const session = new Session({ workingDir: '/tmp', mode: 'claude' });
+    const events: string[] = [];
+    session.on('idle', () => events.push('idle'));
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
+      feed(session, COMPOSER_REPAINT);
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(1000);
+    }
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(60_000);
+
+    expect(events).toEqual(['idle']);
+  });
+
+  it('refuses to go idle while the screen still shows the working line', () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    // A turn can go completely silent inside one tool call (measured at 20+
+    // seconds on a live worker) while `✻ Elucidating… (39s · ↓ 2.0k tokens)`
+    // sits on screen the whole time. Silence alone must not end the turn.
+    const session = withFakePane('✻ Elucidating… (39s · ↓ 2.0k tokens)\n❯ \n');
+    const events: string[] = [];
+    session.on('idle', () => events.push('idle'));
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+      feed(session, COMPOSER_REPAINT);
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(1000);
+    }
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(60_000); // silent for a minute
+
+    expect(events).toEqual([]);
+    expect(session.status).toBe('busy');
+  });
+
+  it('goes idle once the working line leaves the screen', () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const pane = { text: '✻ Elucidating… (39s · ↓ 2.0k tokens)\n❯ \n' };
+    const session = withFakePane(() => pane.text);
+    const events: string[] = [];
+    session.on('idle', () => events.push('idle'));
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+      feed(session, COMPOSER_REPAINT);
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(1000);
+    }
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(20_000);
+    expect(events).toEqual([]);
+
+    // Turn over: the same glyph remains, on the FINISHED line this time.
+    pane.text = '✻ Cooked for 2m 49s\n❯ \n';
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(20_000);
+
+    expect(events).toEqual(['idle']);
+    expect(session.status).toBe('idle');
+  });
+
+  it('does not call typing into the composer "working"', () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    // Keystroke echo is a steady stream of repaints too, so the streak alone
+    // would call it work. The screen has no working line, which vetoes it.
+    const session = withFakePane('❯ some prompt being typed\n');
+    const events: string[] = [];
+    session.on('working', () => events.push('working'));
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+      feed(session, '\x1b[31;3Hx');
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(300);
+    }
+
+    expect(events).toEqual([]);
+    expect(session.status).toBe('idle');
+  });
+
+  it('does not mark an external CLI pane working off raw activity', () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    // Codex/Gemini/OpenCode render their own TUIs and have no ❯, so nothing would
+    // arm the idle confirmation, so a session marked working here would never recover.
+    const session = new Session({ workingDir: '/tmp', mode: 'codex' });
+    const events: string[] = [];
+    session.on('working', () => events.push('working'));
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+      feed(session, '\x1b[2K▌ Working (12s)');
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(1000);
+    }
+
+    expect(events).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});