diff --git a/tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py b/tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py
index 271214fa39..da863360fb 100644
--- a/tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py
@@ -2721,3 +2721,292 @@ def test_session_most_recent_handles_db_unavailable(monkeypatch):
     )
 
     assert resp["result"]["session_id"] is None
+# ── browser.manage ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+def _stub_urlopen(monkeypatch, *, ok: bool):
+    """Patch urllib.request.urlopen used by browser.manage to short-circuit probes."""
+
+    class _Resp:
+        status = 200 if ok else 503
+
+        def __enter__(self):
+            return self
+
+        def __exit__(self, *_):
+            return False
+
+    def _opener(_url, timeout=2.0):  # noqa: ARG001 — match urllib signature
+        if not ok:
+            raise OSError("probe failed")
+        return _Resp()
+
+    import urllib.request
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(urllib.request, "urlopen", _opener)
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_status_reads_env_var(monkeypatch):
+    """Status returns the env var verbatim (no network I/O)."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", "http://127.0.0.1:9222")
+
+    resp = server.handle_request(
+        {"id": "1", "method": "browser.manage", "params": {"action": "status"}}
+    )
+
+    assert resp["result"] == {"connected": True, "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9222"}
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_status_falls_back_to_config_cdp_url(monkeypatch):
+    """When env is unset, status surfaces ``browser.cdp_url`` from
+    config.yaml so users see what the next tool call will read."""
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", raising=False)
+
+    fake_cfg = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        read_raw_config=lambda: {"browser": {"cdp_url": "http://lan:9222"}}
+    )
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"hermes_cli.config": fake_cfg}):
+        resp = server.handle_request(
+            {"id": "1", "method": "browser.manage", "params": {"action": "status"}}
+        )
+
+    assert resp["result"] == {"connected": True, "url": "http://lan:9222"}
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_status_does_not_call_get_cdp_override(monkeypatch):
+    """Regression guard for Copilot's "status must not block" review:
+    status must NOT route through `_get_cdp_override`, which performs a
+    `/json/version` HTTP probe with a multi-second timeout."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", "http://127.0.0.1:9222")
+
+    fake = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        _get_cdp_override=lambda: pytest.fail(  # noqa: PT015 — fail loudly if called
+            "_get_cdp_override must not run on /browser status (network I/O)"
+        )
+    )
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"tools.browser_tool": fake}):
+        resp = server.handle_request(
+            {"id": "1", "method": "browser.manage", "params": {"action": "status"}}
+        )
+
+    assert resp["result"]["connected"] is True
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_connect_sets_env_and_cleans_twice(monkeypatch):
+    """`/browser connect` must reach the live process: set env, reap browser
+    sessions before AND after publishing the new URL.  The double-cleanup
+    closes the supervisor swap window where ``_ensure_cdp_supervisor``
+    could re-attach to the *old* CDP endpoint between steps."""
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", raising=False)
+    cleanup_calls: list[str] = []
+
+    def _cleanup_all():
+        cleanup_calls.append(os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", ""))
+
+    fake = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        cleanup_all_browsers=_cleanup_all,
+        _get_cdp_override=lambda: os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", ""),
+    )
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"tools.browser_tool": fake}):
+        _stub_urlopen(monkeypatch, ok=True)
+        resp = server.handle_request(
+            {
+                "id": "1",
+                "method": "browser.manage",
+                "params": {"action": "connect", "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9222"},
+            }
+        )
+
+    assert resp["result"] == {"connected": True, "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9222"}
+    assert os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL") == "http://127.0.0.1:9222"
+    # First cleanup runs against the OLD env (none here), second against the NEW.
+    assert cleanup_calls == ["", "http://127.0.0.1:9222"]
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_connect_rejects_unreachable_endpoint(monkeypatch):
+    """An unreachable endpoint must NOT mutate the env or reap sessions."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", "http://existing:9222")
+    cleanup_calls: list[str] = []
+    fake = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        cleanup_all_browsers=lambda: cleanup_calls.append(os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", "")),
+        _get_cdp_override=lambda: os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", ""),
+    )
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"tools.browser_tool": fake}):
+        _stub_urlopen(monkeypatch, ok=False)
+        resp = server.handle_request(
+            {
+                "id": "1",
+                "method": "browser.manage",
+                "params": {"action": "connect", "url": "http://unreachable:9222"},
+            }
+        )
+
+    assert "error" in resp
+    # Env preserved; nothing reaped.
+    assert os.environ["BROWSER_CDP_URL"] == "http://existing:9222"
+    assert cleanup_calls == []
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_connect_normalizes_bare_host_port(monkeypatch):
+    """Persist a parsed `scheme://host:port` URL so `_get_cdp_override`
+    can normalize it; storing a bare host:port would break subsequent
+    tool calls (Copilot review on #17120)."""
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", raising=False)
+    fake = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        cleanup_all_browsers=lambda: None,
+        _get_cdp_override=lambda: os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", ""),
+    )
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"tools.browser_tool": fake}):
+        _stub_urlopen(monkeypatch, ok=True)
+        resp = server.handle_request(
+            {
+                "id": "1",
+                "method": "browser.manage",
+                "params": {"action": "connect", "url": "127.0.0.1:9222"},
+            }
+        )
+
+    assert resp["result"]["connected"] is True
+    # Bare host:port got promoted to a full URL with explicit scheme.
+    assert resp["result"]["url"].startswith("http://")
+    assert os.environ["BROWSER_CDP_URL"].startswith("http://")
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_connect_strips_discovery_path(monkeypatch):
+    """User-supplied discovery paths like `/json` or `/json/version`
+    must collapse to bare `scheme://host:port`; otherwise
+    ``_resolve_cdp_override`` will append ``/json/version`` again and
+    produce a duplicate path (Copilot review round-2 on #17120)."""
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", raising=False)
+    fake = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        cleanup_all_browsers=lambda: None,
+        _get_cdp_override=lambda: os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", ""),
+    )
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"tools.browser_tool": fake}):
+        _stub_urlopen(monkeypatch, ok=True)
+        resp = server.handle_request(
+            {
+                "id": "1",
+                "method": "browser.manage",
+                "params": {"action": "connect", "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9222/json"},
+            }
+        )
+
+    assert resp["result"]["connected"] is True
+    assert resp["result"]["url"] == "http://127.0.0.1:9222"
+    assert os.environ["BROWSER_CDP_URL"] == "http://127.0.0.1:9222"
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_connect_preserves_devtools_browser_endpoint(monkeypatch):
+    """Concrete devtools websocket endpoints (e.g. Browserbase) must
+    survive verbatim — we only collapse discovery-style paths."""
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", raising=False)
+    fake = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        cleanup_all_browsers=lambda: None,
+        _get_cdp_override=lambda: os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", ""),
+    )
+    concrete = "ws://browserbase.example/devtools/browser/abc123"
+
+    class _OkSocket:
+        def __enter__(self): return self
+        def __exit__(self, *a): return False
+
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"tools.browser_tool": fake}):
+        # If urlopen is reached for a concrete ws endpoint, the test
+        # would still pass because _stub_urlopen returned ok=True before;
+        # patch it to assert-fail so we prove the HTTP probe is skipped.
+        with patch("urllib.request.urlopen", side_effect=AssertionError("urlopen called")):
+            with patch("socket.create_connection", return_value=_OkSocket()):
+                resp = server.handle_request(
+                    {
+                        "id": "1",
+                        "method": "browser.manage",
+                        "params": {"action": "connect", "url": concrete},
+                    }
+                )
+
+    assert resp["result"]["connected"] is True
+    assert resp["result"]["url"] == concrete
+    assert os.environ["BROWSER_CDP_URL"] == concrete
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_connect_concrete_ws_skips_http_probe(monkeypatch):
+    """Regression for round-2 Copilot review: a hosted CDP endpoint
+    (no HTTP discovery) must connect via TCP-only reachability check.
+    The HTTP probe used to reject these even though they're valid."""
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", raising=False)
+    fake = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        cleanup_all_browsers=lambda: None,
+        _get_cdp_override=lambda: os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", ""),
+    )
+    concrete = "wss://chrome.browserless.io/devtools/browser/sess-1"
+
+    seen_targets: list[tuple[str, int]] = []
+
+    class _OkSocket:
+        def __enter__(self): return self
+        def __exit__(self, *a): return False
+
+    def _fake_create_connection(addr, timeout=None):
+        seen_targets.append(addr)
+        return _OkSocket()
+
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"tools.browser_tool": fake}):
+        # urlopen would 404/ECONNREFUSED on a real hosted CDP endpoint;
+        # asserting it's never called proves the probe was skipped.
+        with patch("urllib.request.urlopen", side_effect=AssertionError("urlopen called")):
+            with patch("socket.create_connection", side_effect=_fake_create_connection):
+                resp = server.handle_request(
+                    {
+                        "id": "1",
+                        "method": "browser.manage",
+                        "params": {"action": "connect", "url": concrete},
+                    }
+                )
+
+    assert resp["result"] == {"connected": True, "url": concrete}
+    # wss → port 443, host preserved verbatim.
+    assert seen_targets == [("chrome.browserless.io", 443)]
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_connect_concrete_ws_tcp_unreachable(monkeypatch):
+    """If the TCP reachability check fails for a concrete ws endpoint,
+    return a clear 5031 error — no fallback to the HTTP probe (which
+    can never succeed for these URLs anyway)."""
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", raising=False)
+    fake = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        cleanup_all_browsers=lambda: None,
+        _get_cdp_override=lambda: os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", ""),
+    )
+    concrete = "ws://offline.example/devtools/browser/missing"
+
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"tools.browser_tool": fake}):
+        with patch("socket.create_connection", side_effect=OSError("ECONNREFUSED")):
+            resp = server.handle_request(
+                {
+                    "id": "1",
+                    "method": "browser.manage",
+                    "params": {"action": "connect", "url": concrete},
+                }
+            )
+
+    assert "error" in resp
+    assert resp["error"]["code"] == 5031
+
+
+def test_browser_manage_disconnect_drops_env_and_cleans(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setenv("BROWSER_CDP_URL", "http://127.0.0.1:9222")
+    cleanup_count = {"n": 0}
+    fake = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        cleanup_all_browsers=lambda: cleanup_count.__setitem__("n", cleanup_count["n"] + 1),
+        _get_cdp_override=lambda: os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", ""),
+    )
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"tools.browser_tool": fake}):
+        resp = server.handle_request(
+            {"id": "1", "method": "browser.manage", "params": {"action": "disconnect"}}
+        )
+
+    assert resp["result"] == {"connected": False}
+    assert "BROWSER_CDP_URL" not in os.environ
+    # Two cleanups: once before env removal, once after, matching connect.
+    assert cleanup_count["n"] == 2
diff --git a/tui_gateway/server.py b/tui_gateway/server.py
index fc70168144..c2d8dc73af 100644
--- a/tui_gateway/server.py
+++ b/tui_gateway/server.py
@@ -4674,12 +4674,51 @@ def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
 # ── Methods: browser / plugins / cron / skills ───────────────────────
 
 
+def _resolve_browser_cdp_url() -> str:
+    """Return the configured browser CDP override without network I/O.
+
+    ``/browser status`` must be fast — calling
+    ``tools.browser_tool._get_cdp_override`` would invoke
+    ``_resolve_cdp_override``, which performs an HTTP probe to
+    ``.../json/version`` for discovery-style URLs.  That probe has
+    a multi-second timeout and would block the TUI on a slow or
+    unreachable host even though status only needs to report whether
+    an override is set.
+
+    Mirrors the env/config precedence of ``_get_cdp_override`` (env
+    var first, then ``browser.cdp_url`` from config.yaml) without the
+    websocket-resolution step, so the answer reflects user intent
+    even when the configured host is not currently reachable.  The
+    actual WS normalization happens in ``browser_navigate`` on the
+    next tool call.
+    """
+    env_url = os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", "").strip()
+    if env_url:
+        return env_url
+    try:
+        from hermes_cli.config import read_raw_config
+
+        cfg = read_raw_config()
+        browser_cfg = cfg.get("browser", {}) if isinstance(cfg, dict) else {}
+        if isinstance(browser_cfg, dict):
+            return str(browser_cfg.get("cdp_url", "") or "").strip()
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+    return ""
+
+
 @method("browser.manage")
 def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
     action = params.get("action", "status")
     if action == "status":
-        url = os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL", "")
-        return _ok(rid, {"connected": bool(url), "url": url})
+        resolved_url = _resolve_browser_cdp_url()
+        return _ok(
+            rid,
+            {
+                "connected": bool(resolved_url),
+                "url": resolved_url,
+            },
+        )
     if action == "connect":
         url = params.get("url", "http://localhost:9222")
         try:
@@ -4690,36 +4729,97 @@ def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
             parsed = urlparse(url if "://" in url else f"http://{url}")
             if parsed.scheme not in {"http", "https", "ws", "wss"}:
                 return _err(rid, 4015, f"unsupported browser url: {url}")
-            probe_root = f"{'https' if parsed.scheme == 'wss' else 'http' if parsed.scheme == 'ws' else parsed.scheme}://{parsed.netloc}"
-            probe_urls = [
-                f"{probe_root.rstrip('/')}/json/version",
-                f"{probe_root.rstrip('/')}/json",
-            ]
-            ok = False
-            for probe in probe_urls:
-                try:
-                    with urllib.request.urlopen(probe, timeout=2.0) as resp:
-                        if 200 <= getattr(resp, "status", 200) < 300:
-                            ok = True
-                            break
-                except Exception:
-                    continue
-            if not ok:
-                return _err(rid, 5031, f"could not reach browser CDP at {url}")
 
-            os.environ["BROWSER_CDP_URL"] = url
+            # A concrete ``ws[s]://.../devtools/browser/<id>`` endpoint is
+            # already directly connectable — those are the URLs Browserbase
+            # / browserless / hosted CDP providers return, and they
+            # generally DON'T serve the discovery-style ``/json/version``
+            # path.  Probing it would just reject valid endpoints.  Skip
+            # the HTTP probe and do a TCP-level reachability check instead;
+            # the actual CDP handshake happens on the next ``browser_navigate``.
+            is_concrete_ws = (
+                parsed.scheme in {"ws", "wss"}
+                and parsed.path.startswith("/devtools/browser/")
+            )
+            if is_concrete_ws:
+                import socket
+
+                host = parsed.hostname
+                port = parsed.port or (443 if parsed.scheme == "wss" else 80)
+                if not host:
+                    return _err(rid, 4015, f"missing host in browser url: {url}")
+                try:
+                    with socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout=2.0):
+                        pass
+                except OSError as e:
+                    return _err(rid, 5031, f"could not reach browser CDP at {url}: {e}")
+            else:
+                probe_root = f"{'https' if parsed.scheme == 'wss' else 'http' if parsed.scheme == 'ws' else parsed.scheme}://{parsed.netloc}"
+                probe_urls = [
+                    f"{probe_root.rstrip('/')}/json/version",
+                    f"{probe_root.rstrip('/')}/json",
+                ]
+                ok = False
+                for probe in probe_urls:
+                    try:
+                        with urllib.request.urlopen(probe, timeout=2.0) as resp:
+                            if 200 <= getattr(resp, "status", 200) < 300:
+                                ok = True
+                                break
+                    except Exception:
+                        continue
+                if not ok:
+                    return _err(rid, 5031, f"could not reach browser CDP at {url}")
+
+            # Persist a normalized URL for downstream CDP resolution.
+            # Discovery-style inputs (`http://host:port` or
+            # `http://host:port/json[/version]`) collapse to bare
+            # ``scheme://host:port`` so ``_resolve_cdp_override`` can
+            # safely append ``/json/version`` without producing a
+            # double-discovery path like ``.../json/json/version``.
+            # Concrete websocket endpoints (``/devtools/browser/<id>``
+            # — what Browserbase and other cloud providers return)
+            # are preserved verbatim.
+            if parsed.path.startswith("/devtools/browser/"):
+                normalized = parsed.geturl()
+            else:
+                normalized = parsed._replace(
+                    path="",
+                    params="",
+                    query="",
+                    fragment="",
+                ).geturl()
+
+            # Order matters: clear any cached browser sessions BEFORE
+            # publishing the new env var so an in-flight tool call
+            # observing the old supervisor is reaped first, and the
+            # next call freshly resolves the new URL.  The previous
+            # ordering left a brief window where ``_ensure_cdp_supervisor``
+            # could re-attach to the *old* supervisor.
+            cleanup_all_browsers()
+            os.environ["BROWSER_CDP_URL"] = normalized
+            # Drain any further cached state that could outlive the
+            # cleanup pass (CDP supervisor for the default task,
+            # cached agent-browser timeouts, etc.) so the next
+            # ``browser_navigate`` definitively reaches ``normalized``.
             cleanup_all_browsers()
         except Exception as e:
             return _err(rid, 5031, str(e))
-        return _ok(rid, {"connected": True, "url": url})
+        return _ok(rid, {"connected": True, "url": normalized})
     if action == "disconnect":
-        os.environ.pop("BROWSER_CDP_URL", None)
         try:
             from tools.browser_tool import cleanup_all_browsers
 
             cleanup_all_browsers()
         except Exception:
             pass
+        os.environ.pop("BROWSER_CDP_URL", None)
+        try:
+            from tools.browser_tool import cleanup_all_browsers as _again
+
+            _again()
+        except Exception:
+            pass
         return _ok(rid, {"connected": False})
     return _err(rid, 4015, f"unknown action: {action}")
 
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/app/slash/commands/ops.ts b/ui-tui/src/app/slash/commands/ops.ts
index ef1b240604..7443552740 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/app/slash/commands/ops.ts
+++ b/ui-tui/src/app/slash/commands/ops.ts
@@ -98,13 +98,16 @@ export const opsCommands: SlashCommand[] = [
       const action = (rawAction || 'status').toLowerCase()
 
       if (!['connect', 'disconnect', 'status'].includes(action)) {
-        return ctx.transcript.sys('usage: /browser [connect|disconnect|status] [url]')
+        return ctx.transcript.sys(
+          'usage: /browser [connect|disconnect|status] [url] · persistent: set browser.cdp_url in config.yaml'
+        )
       }
 
       const payload: Record<string, unknown> = { action }
+      const requested = rest.join(' ').trim()
 
       if (action === 'connect') {
-        payload.url = rest.join(' ').trim() || 'http://localhost:9222'
+        payload.url = requested || 'http://localhost:9222'
       }
 
       ctx.gateway
@@ -113,14 +116,21 @@ export const opsCommands: SlashCommand[] = [
           ctx.guarded<BrowserManageResponse>(r => {
             if (action === 'status') {
               return ctx.transcript.sys(
-                r.connected ? `browser connected: ${r.url || '(url unavailable)'}` : 'browser not connected'
+                r.connected
+                  ? `browser connected: ${r.url || '(url unavailable)'}`
+                  : 'browser not connected (try /browser connect <url> or set browser.cdp_url in config.yaml)'
               )
             }
 
             if (action === 'connect') {
-              return ctx.transcript.sys(
-                r.connected ? `browser connected: ${r.url || '(url unavailable)'}` : 'browser connect failed'
-              )
+              if (r.connected) {
+                ctx.transcript.sys(`browser connected: ${r.url || '(url unavailable)'}`)
+                ctx.transcript.sys('next browser tool call will use this CDP endpoint')
+
+                return
+              }
+
+              return ctx.transcript.sys('browser connect failed')
             }
 
             ctx.transcript.sys('browser disconnected')