diff --git a/ui-tui/src/__tests__/constants.test.ts b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/constants.test.ts
index c469883079..36ca9a0ad6 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/__tests__/constants.test.ts
+++ b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/constants.test.ts
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ describe('constants', () => {
     })
   })
 
-  it('TOOL_VERBS maps known tools', () => {
-    expect(TOOL_VERBS.terminal).toContain('terminal')
-    expect(TOOL_VERBS.read_file).toContain('reading')
+  it('TOOL_VERBS maps known tools (verb-only, no emoji)', () => {
+    expect(TOOL_VERBS.terminal).toBe('terminal')
+    expect(TOOL_VERBS.read_file).toBe('reading')
   })
 
   it('INTERPOLATION_RE matches {!cmd}', () => {
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/__tests__/text.test.ts b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/text.test.ts
index 1d61b71b1f..55b6a272b3 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/__tests__/text.test.ts
+++ b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/text.test.ts
@@ -1,21 +1,36 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
-import { fmtK, sameToolTrailGroup } from '../lib/text.js'
+import { fmtK, isToolTrailResultLine, lastCotTrailIndex, sameToolTrailGroup } from '../lib/text.js'
+
+describe('isToolTrailResultLine', () => {
+  it('detects completion markers', () => {
+    expect(isToolTrailResultLine('foo ✓')).toBe(true)
+    expect(isToolTrailResultLine('foo ✗')).toBe(true)
+    expect(isToolTrailResultLine('drafting x…')).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('lastCotTrailIndex', () => {
+  it('finds last non-result line', () => {
+    expect(lastCotTrailIndex(['a ✓', 'thinking…'])).toBe(1)
+    expect(lastCotTrailIndex(['only result ✓'])).toBe(-1)
+  })
+})
 
 describe('sameToolTrailGroup', () => {
   it('matches bare check lines', () => {
-    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('🔍 searching', '🔍 searching ✓')).toBe(true)
-    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('🔍 searching', '🔍 searching ✗')).toBe(true)
+    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('searching', 'searching ✓')).toBe(true)
+    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('searching', 'searching ✗')).toBe(true)
   })
 
   it('matches contextual lines', () => {
-    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('🔍 searching', '🔍 searching: * ✓')).toBe(true)
-    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('🔍 searching', '🔍 searching: foo ✓')).toBe(true)
+    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('searching', 'searching: * ✓')).toBe(true)
+    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('searching', 'searching: foo ✓')).toBe(true)
   })
 
   it('rejects other tools', () => {
-    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('🔍 searching', '📖 reading ✓')).toBe(false)
-    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('🔍 searching', '🔍 searching extra ✓')).toBe(false)
+    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('searching', 'reading ✓')).toBe(false)
+    expect(sameToolTrailGroup('searching', 'searching extra ✓')).toBe(false)
   })
 })
 
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/app.tsx b/ui-tui/src/app.tsx
index 0a0ec2f030..06399ba7ad 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/app.tsx
+++ b/ui-tui/src/app.tsx
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import { useCompletion } from './hooks/useCompletion.js'
 import { useInputHistory } from './hooks/useInputHistory.js'
 import { useQueue } from './hooks/useQueue.js'
 import { writeOsc52Clipboard } from './lib/osc52.js'
-import { compactPreview, fmtK, hasInterpolation, pick, sameToolTrailGroup } from './lib/text.js'
+import { compactPreview, fmtK, hasInterpolation, isToolTrailResultLine, pick, sameToolTrailGroup } from './lib/text.js'
 import { DEFAULT_THEME, fromSkin, type Theme } from './theme.js'
 import type {
   ActiveTool,
@@ -363,6 +363,19 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
     })
   }, [])
 
+  const pushTrail = useCallback((line: string) => {
+    setTurnTrail(prev => {
+      if (prev.at(-1) === line) {
+        return prev
+      }
+
+      const next = [...prev, line].slice(-8)
+      turnToolsRef.current = next
+
+      return next
+    })
+  }, [])
+
   const rpc = useCallback(
     (method: string, params: Record<string, unknown> = {}) =>
       gw.request(method, params).catch((e: Error) => {
@@ -1067,6 +1080,13 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
 
           break
 
+        case 'tool.generating':
+          if (p?.name) {
+            pushTrail(`drafting ${p.name}…`)
+          }
+
+          break
+
         case 'tool.start':
           setTools(prev => [...prev, { id: p.tool_id, name: p.name, context: (p.context as string) || '' }])
 
@@ -1082,11 +1102,18 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
             const line = `${label}${ctx ? ': ' + compactPreview(ctx, 72) : ''} ${mark}`
 
             toolCompleteRibbonRef.current = { label, line }
-            const next = [...turnToolsRef.current.filter(s => !sameToolTrailGroup(label, s)), line].slice(-8)
-            turnToolsRef.current = next
-            setTurnTrail(next)
+            const remaining = prev.filter(t => t.id !== p.tool_id)
+            const next = [...turnToolsRef.current.filter(s => !sameToolTrailGroup(label, s)), line]
 
-            return prev.filter(t => t.id !== p.tool_id)
+            if (!remaining.length) {
+              next.push('analyzing tool output…')
+            }
+
+            const pruned = next.slice(-8)
+            turnToolsRef.current = pruned
+            setTurnTrail(pruned)
+
+            return remaining
           })
 
           break
@@ -1148,7 +1175,7 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
         case 'message.complete': {
           const wasInterrupted = interruptedRef.current
           const savedReasoning = reasoningRef.current.trim()
-          const savedTools = [...turnToolsRef.current]
+          const savedTools = turnToolsRef.current.filter(isToolTrailResultLine)
           const finalText = (p?.rendered ?? p?.text ?? buf.current).trimStart()
 
           idle()
@@ -1204,7 +1231,7 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
           break
       }
     },
-    [appendMessage, dequeue, newSession, pushActivity, send, sys]
+    [appendMessage, dequeue, newSession, pushActivity, pushTrail, send, sys]
   )
 
   onEventRef.current = onEvent
@@ -1789,9 +1816,15 @@ export function App({ gw }: { gw: GatewayClient }) {
       ))}
 
       <Box flexDirection="column" paddingX={1}>
-        <ToolTrail t={theme} tools={tools} trail={turnTrail} />
+        <ToolTrail
+          activity={busy ? activity : []}
+          animateCot={busy && !streaming}
+          t={theme}
+          tools={tools}
+          trail={turnTrail}
+        />
 
-        {thinking && !tools.length && !streaming && <Thinking key={turnKey} reasoning={reasoning} t={theme} />}
+        {busy && !tools.length && !streaming && <Thinking key={turnKey} reasoning={reasoning} t={theme} />}
 
         {streaming && (
           <MessageLine cols={cols} compact={compact} msg={{ role: 'assistant', text: streaming }} t={theme} />
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/components/thinking.tsx b/ui-tui/src/components/thinking.tsx
index be30a3dc4c..5dbcfdab47 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/components/thinking.tsx
+++ b/ui-tui/src/components/thinking.tsx
@@ -3,16 +3,29 @@ import { memo, useEffect, useState } from 'react'
 import spinners, { type BrailleSpinnerName } from 'unicode-animations'
 
 import { FACES, TOOL_VERBS, VERBS } from '../constants.js'
+import { isToolTrailResultLine, lastCotTrailIndex } from '../lib/text.js'
 import type { Theme } from '../theme.js'
-import type { ActiveTool } from '../types.js'
+import type { ActiveTool, ActivityItem } from '../types.js'
 
 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)]!
 
+const tone = (item: ActivityItem, t: Theme) =>
+  item.tone === 'error' ? t.color.error : item.tone === 'warn' ? t.color.warn : t.color.dim
+
+const activityGlyph = (item: ActivityItem) => (item.tone === 'error' ? '✗' : item.tone === 'warn' ? '⚠' : '·')
+
+const TreeFork = ({ last }: { last: boolean }) => <Text dimColor>{last ? '└─ ' : '├─ '}</Text>
+
 export function Spinner({ color, variant = 'think' }: { color: string; variant?: 'think' | 'tool' }) {
-  const [spin] = useState(() => spinners[pick(variant === 'tool' ? TOOL : THINK)])
+  const [spin] = useState(() => {
+    const raw = spinners[pick(variant === 'tool' ? TOOL : THINK)]
+
+    return { ...raw, frames: raw.frames.map(f => [...f][0] ?? '⠀') }
+  })
+
   const [frame, setFrame] = useState(0)
 
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -27,30 +40,81 @@ export function Spinner({ color, variant = 'think' }: { color: string; variant?:
 export const ToolTrail = memo(function ToolTrail({
   t,
   tools = [],
-  trail = []
+  trail = [],
+  activity = [],
+  animateCot = false
 }: {
   t: Theme
   tools?: ActiveTool[]
   trail?: string[]
+  activity?: ActivityItem[]
+  animateCot?: boolean
 }) {
-  if (!trail.length && !tools.length) {
+  if (!trail.length && !tools.length && !activity.length) {
     return null
   }
 
+  const act = activity.slice(-4)
+  const rowCount = trail.length + tools.length + act.length
+  const activeCotIdx = animateCot && !tools.length ? lastCotTrailIndex(trail) : -1
+
   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>
-      ))}
+      {trail.map((line, i) => {
+        const lastInBlock = i === rowCount - 1
 
-      {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 ? `: ${tool.context}` : ''}
-        </Text>
-      ))}
+        if (isToolTrailResultLine(line)) {
+          return (
+            <Text
+              color={line.endsWith(' ✗') ? t.color.error : t.color.dim}
+              dimColor={!line.endsWith(' ✗')}
+              key={`t-${i}`}
+            >
+              <TreeFork last={lastInBlock} />
+              {line}
+            </Text>
+          )
+        }
+
+        if (i === activeCotIdx) {
+          return (
+            <Text color={t.color.dim} key={`c-${i}`}>
+              <TreeFork last={lastInBlock} />
+              <Spinner color={t.color.amber} variant="think" /> {line}
+            </Text>
+          )
+        }
+
+        return (
+          <Text color={t.color.dim} dimColor key={`c-${i}`}>
+            <TreeFork last={lastInBlock} />
+            {line}
+          </Text>
+        )
+      })}
+
+      {tools.map((tool, j) => {
+        const lastInBlock = trail.length + j === rowCount - 1
+
+        return (
+          <Text color={t.color.dim} key={tool.id}>
+            <TreeFork last={lastInBlock} />
+            <Spinner color={t.color.amber} variant="tool" /> {TOOL_VERBS[tool.name] ?? tool.name}
+            {tool.context ? `: ${tool.context}` : ''}
+          </Text>
+        )
+      })}
+
+      {act.map((item, k) => {
+        const lastInBlock = trail.length + tools.length + k === rowCount - 1
+
+        return (
+          <Text color={tone(item, t)} dimColor={item.tone === 'info'} key={`a-${item.id}`}>
+            <TreeFork last={lastInBlock} />
+            {activityGlyph(item)} {item.text}
+          </Text>
+        )
+      })}
     </>
   )
 })
@@ -66,14 +130,18 @@ export const Thinking = memo(function Thinking({ reasoning, t }: { reasoning: st
 
   const tail = reasoning.slice(-160).replace(/\n/g, ' ')
 
-  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>
+  return (
+    <>
+      <Text color={t.color.dim}>
+        <Spinner color={t.color.dim} /> {FACES[tick % FACES.length] ?? '(•_•)'}{' '}
+        {VERBS[tick % VERBS.length] ?? 'thinking'}…
+      </Text>
+
+      {tail ? (
+        <Text color={t.color.dim} dimColor wrap="truncate-end">
+          💭 {tail}
+        </Text>
+      ) : null}
+    </>
   )
 })
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/constants.ts b/ui-tui/src/constants.ts
index 2d755c3420..59fc639282 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/constants.ts
+++ b/ui-tui/src/constants.ts
@@ -60,23 +60,24 @@ export const ROLE: Record<Role, (t: Theme) => { body: string; glyph: string; pre
 }
 
 export const TOOL_VERBS: Record<string, string> = {
-  browser: '🌐 browsing',
-  clarify: '❓ asking',
-  create_file: '📝 creating',
-  delegate_task: '🤖 delegating',
-  delete_file: '🗑️ deleting',
-  execute_code: '⚡ executing',
-  image_generate: '🎨 generating',
-  list_files: '📂 listing',
-  memory: '🧠 remembering',
-  patch: '🩹 patching',
-  read_file: '📖 reading',
-  run_command: '⚙️ running',
-  search_code: '🔍 searching',
-  search_files: '🔍 searching',
-  terminal: '💻 terminal',
-  web_search: '🌐 searching',
-  write_file: '✏️ writing'
+  browser: 'browsing',
+  clarify: 'asking',
+  create_file: 'creating',
+  delegate_task: 'delegating',
+  delete_file: 'deleting',
+  execute_code: 'executing',
+  image_generate: 'generating',
+  list_files: 'listing',
+  memory: 'remembering',
+  patch: 'patching',
+  read_file: 'reading',
+  run_command: 'running',
+  search_code: 'searching',
+  search_files: 'searching',
+  terminal: 'terminal',
+  web_extract: 'extracting',
+  web_search: 'searching',
+  write_file: 'writing'
 }
 
 export const VERBS = [
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/lib/text.ts b/ui-tui/src/lib/text.ts
index 44d6a31522..ddb6f9fdd4 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/lib/text.ts
+++ b/ui-tui/src/lib/text.ts
@@ -35,10 +35,24 @@ export const compactPreview = (s: string, max: number) => {
   return !one ? '' : one.length > max ? one.slice(0, max - 1) + '…' : one
 }
 
+/** Tool completed / failed row in the inline trail (not CoT prose). */
+export const isToolTrailResultLine = (line: string) => line.endsWith(' ✓') || line.endsWith(' ✗')
+
 /** Whether a persisted/activity tool line belongs to the same tool label as a newer line. */
 export const sameToolTrailGroup = (label: string, entry: string) =>
   entry === `${label} ✓` || entry === `${label} ✗` || entry.startsWith(`${label}:`)
 
+/** Index of the last non-result trail line, or -1. */
+export const lastCotTrailIndex = (trail: readonly string[]) => {
+  for (let i = trail.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+    if (!isToolTrailResultLine(trail[i]!)) {
+      return i
+    }
+  }
+
+  return -1
+}
+
 export const estimateRows = (text: string, w: number, compact = false) => {
   let inCode = false
   let rows = 0