diff --git a/ui-tui/src/app.tsx b/ui-tui/src/app.tsx
index 726ea9f9c..0a0ec2f03 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/app.tsx
+++ b/ui-tui/src/app.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import { join } from 'node:path'
 import { Box, Text, useApp, useInput, useStdout } from 'ink'
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react'
 
-import { ActivityLane } from './components/activityLane.js'
 import { Banner, SessionPanel } from './components/branding.js'
 import { MaskedPrompt } from './components/maskedPrompt.js'
 import { MessageLine } from './components/messageLine.js'
@@ -14,7 +13,7 @@ import { ApprovalPrompt, ClarifyPrompt } from './components/prompts.js'
 import { QueuedMessages } from './components/queuedMessages.js'
 import { SessionPicker } from './components/sessionPicker.js'
 import { type PasteEvent, TextInput } from './components/textInput.js'
-import { Thinking } from './components/thinking.js'
+import { Thinking, ToolTrail } from './components/thinking.js'
 import { HOTKEYS, INTERPOLATION_RE, PLACEHOLDERS, TOOL_VERBS, ZERO } from './constants.js'
 import { type GatewayClient, type GatewayEvent } from './gatewayClient.js'
 import { useCompletion } from './hooks/useCompletion.js'
@@ -278,6 +277,7 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
   const [pastes, setPastes] = useState<PendingPaste[]>([])
   const [pasteReview, setPasteReview] = useState<{ largeIds: number[]; text: string } | null>(null)
   const [streaming, setStreaming] = useState('')
+  const [turnTrail, setTurnTrail] = useState<string[]>([])
   const [bgTasks, setBgTasks] = useState<Set<string>>(new Set())
   const [catalog, setCatalog] = useState<SlashCatalog | null>(null)
 
@@ -374,6 +374,7 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
   const idle = () => {
     setThinking(false)
     setTools([])
+    setTurnTrail([])
     setBusy(false)
     setClarify(null)
     setApproval(null)
@@ -1005,6 +1006,7 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
           setBusy(true)
           setReasoning('')
           setActivity([])
+          setTurnTrail([])
           turnToolsRef.current = []
 
           break
@@ -1021,7 +1023,11 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
                   p.kind === 'error' ? 'error' : p.kind === 'warn' || p.kind === 'approval' ? 'warn' : 'info'
                 )
               }
-              if (statusTimerRef.current) clearTimeout(statusTimerRef.current)
+
+              if (statusTimerRef.current) {
+                clearTimeout(statusTimerRef.current)
+              }
+
               statusTimerRef.current = setTimeout(() => {
                 statusTimerRef.current = null
                 setStatus(busyRef.current ? 'running…' : 'ready')
@@ -1067,7 +1073,6 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
           break
         case 'tool.complete': {
           const mark = p.error ? '✗' : '✓'
-          const tone = p.error ? 'error' : 'info'
 
           toolCompleteRibbonRef.current = null
           setTools(prev => {
@@ -1077,16 +1082,13 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
             const line = `${label}${ctx ? ': ' + compactPreview(ctx, 72) : ''} ${mark}`
 
             toolCompleteRibbonRef.current = { label, line }
-            turnToolsRef.current = [...turnToolsRef.current.filter(s => !sameToolTrailGroup(label, s)), line].slice(-8)
+            const next = [...turnToolsRef.current.filter(s => !sameToolTrailGroup(label, s)), line].slice(-8)
+            turnToolsRef.current = next
+            setTurnTrail(next)
 
             return prev.filter(t => t.id !== p.tool_id)
           })
 
-          if (toolCompleteRibbonRef.current) {
-            const { line, label } = toolCompleteRibbonRef.current
-            pushActivity(line, tone, label)
-          }
-
           break
         }
 
@@ -1787,16 +1789,14 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
       ))}
 
       <Box flexDirection="column" paddingX={1}>
+        <ToolTrail t={theme} tools={tools} trail={turnTrail} />
+
+        {thinking && !tools.length && !streaming && <Thinking key={turnKey} reasoning={reasoning} t={theme} />}
+
         {streaming && (
           <MessageLine cols={cols} compact={compact} msg={{ role: 'assistant', text: streaming }} t={theme} />
         )}
 
-        {(thinking || tools.length > 0) && (!streaming || tools.length > 0) && (
-          <Thinking key={turnKey} reasoning={reasoning} t={theme} tools={tools} />
-        )}
-
-        {busy && <ActivityLane items={activity} t={theme} />}
-
         {pasteReview && (
           <PromptBox color={theme.color.warn}>
             <Text bold color={theme.color.warn}>
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/components/messageLine.tsx b/ui-tui/src/components/messageLine.tsx
index 76d0d1743..91d1fe8c3 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/components/messageLine.tsx
+++ b/ui-tui/src/components/messageLine.tsx
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import type { Theme } from '../theme.js'
 import type { Msg } from '../types.js'
 
 import { Md } from './markdown.js'
+import { ToolTrail } from './thinking.js'
 
 export const MessageLine = memo(function MessageLine({
   cols,
@@ -19,8 +20,6 @@ export const MessageLine = memo(function MessageLine({
   msg: Msg
   t: Theme
 }) {
-  const { body, glyph, prefix } = ROLE[msg.role](t)
-
   if (msg.role === 'tool') {
     return (
       <Box alignSelf="flex-start" borderColor={t.color.dim} borderStyle="round" marginLeft={3} paddingX={1}>
@@ -29,6 +28,8 @@ export const MessageLine = memo(function MessageLine({
     )
   }
 
+  const { body, glyph, prefix } = ROLE[msg.role](t)
+
   const content = (() => {
     if (msg.role === 'assistant') {
       return hasAnsi(msg.text) ? <Text wrap="wrap">{msg.text}</Text> : <Md compact={compact} t={t} text={msg.text} />
@@ -59,6 +60,12 @@ export const MessageLine = memo(function MessageLine({
         </Text>
       )}
 
+      {msg.tools?.length ? (
+        <Box flexDirection="column" marginBottom={1}>
+          <ToolTrail t={t} trail={msg.tools} />
+        </Box>
+      ) : null}
+
       <Box>
         <Box flexShrink={0} width={3}>
           <Text bold={msg.role === 'user'} color={prefix}>
@@ -68,20 +75,6 @@ export const MessageLine = memo(function MessageLine({
 
         <Box width={Math.max(20, cols - 5)}>{content}</Box>
       </Box>
-
-      {!!msg.tools?.length && (
-        <Box flexDirection="column" marginBottom={1} marginTop={1}>
-          {msg.tools.map((tool, i) => (
-            <Text
-              color={tool.endsWith(' ✗') ? t.color.error : t.color.dim}
-              dimColor={!tool.endsWith(' ✗')}
-              key={`${tool}-${i}`}
-            >
-              {t.brand.tool} {tool}
-            </Text>
-          ))}
-        </Box>
-      )}
     </Box>
   )
 })
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/components/thinking.tsx b/ui-tui/src/components/thinking.tsx
index b2aff0355..be30a3dc4 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/components/thinking.tsx
+++ b/ui-tui/src/components/thinking.tsx
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@ import { FACES, TOOL_VERBS, VERBS } from '../constants.js'
 import type { Theme } from '../theme.js'
 import type { ActiveTool } from '../types.js'
 
-const THINK_POOL: BrailleSpinnerName[] = ['helix', 'breathe', 'orbit', 'dna', 'waverows', 'snake', 'pulse']
-const TOOL_POOL: BrailleSpinnerName[] = ['cascade', 'scan', 'diagswipe', 'fillsweep', 'rain', 'columns', 'sparkle']
+const THINK: BrailleSpinnerName[] = ['helix', 'breathe', 'orbit', 'dna', 'waverows', 'snake', 'pulse']
+const TOOL: BrailleSpinnerName[] = ['cascade', 'scan', 'diagswipe', 'fillsweep', 'rain', 'columns', 'sparkle']
 
 const pick = <T,>(a: T[]) => a[Math.floor(Math.random() * a.length)]!
 
-function Spinner({ color, variant = 'think' }: { color: string; variant?: 'think' | 'tool' }) {
-  const [spin] = useState(() => spinners[pick(variant === 'tool' ? TOOL_POOL : THINK_POOL)])
+export function Spinner({ color, variant = 'think' }: { color: string; variant?: 'think' | 'tool' }) {
+  const [spin] = useState(() => spinners[pick(variant === 'tool' ? TOOL : THINK)])
   const [frame, setFrame] = useState(0)
 
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -24,15 +24,38 @@ function Spinner({ color, variant = 'think' }: { color: string; variant?: 'think
   return <Text color={color}>{spin.frames[frame]}</Text>
 }
 
-export const Thinking = memo(function Thinking({
-  reasoning,
+export const ToolTrail = memo(function ToolTrail({
   t,
-  tools
+  tools = [],
+  trail = []
 }: {
-  reasoning: string
   t: Theme
-  tools: ActiveTool[]
+  tools?: ActiveTool[]
+  trail?: string[]
 }) {
+  if (!trail.length && !tools.length) {
+    return null
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <>
+      {trail.map((line, i) => (
+        <Text color={line.endsWith(' ✗') ? t.color.error : t.color.dim} dimColor={!line.endsWith(' ✗')} key={`t-${i}`}>
+          {t.brand.tool} {line}
+        </Text>
+      ))}
+
+      {tools.map(tool => (
+        <Text color={t.color.dim} key={tool.id}>
+          <Spinner color={t.color.amber} variant="tool" /> {TOOL_VERBS[tool.name] ?? tool.name}
+          {tool.context ? `: ${tool.context}` : ''}
+        </Text>
+      ))}
+    </>
+  )
+})
+
+export const Thinking = memo(function Thinking({ reasoning, t }: { reasoning: string; t: Theme }) {
   const [tick, setTick] = useState(0)
 
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -41,31 +64,16 @@ export const Thinking = memo(function Thinking({
     return () => clearInterval(id)
   }, [])
 
-  const verb = VERBS[tick % VERBS.length] ?? 'thinking'
-  const face = FACES[tick % FACES.length] ?? '(•_•)'
   const tail = reasoning.slice(-160).replace(/\n/g, ' ')
-  const hasReasoning = !!tail
 
-  return (
-    <>
-      {tools.map(tool => (
-        <Text color={t.color.dim} key={tool.id}>
-          <Spinner color={t.color.amber} variant="tool" /> {TOOL_VERBS[tool.name] ?? tool.name}
-          {tool.context ? `: ${tool.context}` : ''}
-        </Text>
-      ))}
-
-      {!tools.length && !hasReasoning && (
-        <Text color={t.color.dim}>
-          <Spinner color={t.color.dim} /> {face} {verb}…
-        </Text>
-      )}
-
-      {tail && (
-        <Text color={t.color.dim} dimColor wrap="truncate-end">
-          💭 {tail}
-        </Text>
-      )}
-    </>
+  return tail ? (
+    <Text color={t.color.dim} dimColor wrap="truncate-end">
+      💭 {tail}
+    </Text>
+  ) : (
+    <Text color={t.color.dim}>
+      <Spinner color={t.color.dim} /> {FACES[tick % FACES.length] ?? '(•_•)'} {VERBS[tick % VERBS.length] ?? 'thinking'}
+      …
+    </Text>
   )
 })