diff --git a/ui-opentui/src/entry/main.tsx b/ui-opentui/src/entry/main.tsx
index b08d6ffade9..579d8440fa0 100644
--- a/ui-opentui/src/entry/main.tsx
+++ b/ui-opentui/src/entry/main.tsx
@@ -538,6 +538,7 @@ export const run = Effect.fn('Tui.run')(function* (input: TuiInput) {
             .map(e => `${e.scope}: ${e.msg}`),
         openDashboard: () => store.openDashboard(),
         openBackgroundPanel: () => store.openBackgroundPanel(),
+        addBgTask: id => store.addBgTask(id),
         openPager: (title, text) => store.openPager(title, text),
         openPicker: picker => store.openPicker(picker),
         openSessionPicker: tab => store.openSessionPicker(tab),
@@ -594,26 +595,9 @@ export const run = Effect.fn('Tui.run')(function* (input: TuiInput) {
       // Live backend: drive a session (create + optional initial prompt) concurrently.
       if (!input.fake) yield* Effect.forkScoped(bootstrapSession(gateway, store, input))
 
-      // Ambient `bg:` badge (A): poll the OS-process registry so the status bar
-      // reflects running background processes even with the panel closed. Cheap
-      // local RPC; scoped fiber → auto-cancelled on shutdown. Adaptive interval:
-      // most sessions have ZERO background processes, so idle-poll slowly (30s)
-      // and tighten to 8s only once something is running.
-      if (!input.fake)
-        yield* Effect.forkScoped(
-          Effect.gen(function* () {
-            while (true) {
-              const idle = store.state.backgroundProcesses.length === 0
-              yield* Effect.sleep(idle ? '30 seconds' : '8 seconds')
-              yield* Effect.promise(() =>
-                backgroundOps
-                  .list()
-                  .then(procs => store.setBackgroundProcesses(procs))
-                  .catch(() => {})
-              )
-            }
-          })
-        )
+      // (No ambient OS-process poll: the `bg:` badge now counts in-flight
+      // background-PROMPT tasks from the event stream, and the /processes panel
+      // fetches `agents.list` on open. Nothing to poll for.)
 
       // Contact point #1: the single render bridge. After this, the screen is Solid's.
       // The theme is sourced reactively from the store (skin events update it).
diff --git a/ui-opentui/src/logic/slash.ts b/ui-opentui/src/logic/slash.ts
index 8e0c89293a9..4217ac4ea22 100644
--- a/ui-opentui/src/logic/slash.ts
+++ b/ui-opentui/src/logic/slash.ts
@@ -73,8 +73,10 @@ export interface SlashContext {
   readonly openPicker: (picker: PickerState) => void
   /** Open the agents dashboard (/agents, /tasks). */
   readonly openDashboard: () => void
-  /** Open the background-process panel (/bg). */
+  /** Open the OS background-process panel (/processes). */
   readonly openBackgroundPanel: () => void
+  /** Track an in-flight background-prompt task id (`/bg` → prompt.background). */
+  readonly addBgTask: (id: string) => void
   /** Cached `/model` picker rows (Epic 7 instant open); undefined until prefetched. */
   readonly modelItems: () => PickerItem[] | undefined
   /** Update the cached `/model` picker rows. */
@@ -212,7 +214,8 @@ const CLIENT_HELP_LINES = [
   '/clear, /new — clear the transcript (confirm)',
   '/compact [on|off|toggle] — compact transcript spacing',
   '/details [hidden|collapsed|expanded|cycle] — tool/reasoning detail',
-  '/bg — background processes (list + stop all)',
+  '/bg <prompt> — launch a background prompt',
+  '/processes — OS background processes (list + stop all)',
   '/replay [n|path] — inspect an archived spawn tree',
   '/mem — live memory stats (diag)',
   '/heapdump — write a V8 heap snapshot (diag)',
@@ -663,11 +666,36 @@ const toolsCmd: ClientHandler = async (arg, ctx) => {
   }
 }
 
+/** `/bg <prompt>` (aliases /background, /btw) — launch a background PROMPT via
+ *  `prompt.background` (Ink parity): echo "bg <id> started" and track the task so
+ *  the `bg: N` badge counts it until `background.complete` clears it. NOT the OS
+ *  process panel (that's /processes). */
+const backgroundCmd: ClientHandler = async (arg, ctx) => {
+  const text = arg.trim()
+  if (!text) {
+    ctx.pushSystem('/bg <prompt> — launch a background prompt')
+    return
+  }
+  try {
+    const r = await ctx.request('prompt.background', { session_id: ctx.sessionId(), text })
+    const taskId = readStr(r, 'task_id')
+    if (taskId) {
+      ctx.addBgTask(taskId)
+      ctx.pushSystem(`bg ${taskId} started`)
+    } else {
+      ctx.pushSystem('/bg: no task id returned')
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    ctx.pushSystem(`/bg: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'failed'}`)
+  }
+}
+
 /** The TUI-only client commands (run in-process, never hit the gateway). */
 const CLIENT: Record<string, ClientHandler> = {
   agents: (_arg, ctx) => ctx.openDashboard(),
-  background: (_arg, ctx) => ctx.openBackgroundPanel(),
-  bg: (_arg, ctx) => ctx.openBackgroundPanel(),
+  background: backgroundCmd,
+  bg: backgroundCmd,
+  btw: backgroundCmd,
   clear: (_arg, ctx) => ctx.confirm('Clear the transcript?', ctx.clearTranscript),
   compact: compactCmd,
   copy: (arg, ctx) => {
@@ -678,8 +706,9 @@ const CLIENT: Record<string, ClientHandler> = {
   details: detailsCmd,
   exit: (_arg, ctx) => ctx.quit(),
   heapdump: heapdumpCmd,
-  jobs: (_arg, ctx) => ctx.openBackgroundPanel(),
   mem: memCmd,
+  processes: (_arg, ctx) => ctx.openBackgroundPanel(),
+  procs: (_arg, ctx) => ctx.openBackgroundPanel(),
   model: modelCmd,
   replay: replayCmd,
   resume: resumeCmd,
diff --git a/ui-opentui/src/logic/store.ts b/ui-opentui/src/logic/store.ts
index ff65eeb98ee..acec3305655 100644
--- a/ui-opentui/src/logic/store.ts
+++ b/ui-opentui/src/logic/store.ts
@@ -257,10 +257,13 @@ export interface StoreState {
   dashboard: boolean
   /** Subagent id the dashboard should preselect on open (tray Enter — Epic 2.7). */
   dashboardAgent: string | undefined
-  /** Whether the background-process panel overlay is open (/bg). */
+  /** Whether the OS background-process panel overlay is open (/processes). */
   backgroundPanel: boolean
-  /** OS background processes (polled from `agents.list`) — the panel + the `bg:` badge. */
+  /** OS background processes (from `agents.list`) — shown in the /processes panel. */
   backgroundProcesses: BackgroundProcess[]
+  /** In-flight background-PROMPT task ids (`/bg` → `prompt.background`, cleared on
+   *  `background.complete`) — drives the `bg: N` status-bar badge. */
+  bgTasks: string[]
   /** Transient busy indicator (the kaomoji face/verb from `thinking.delta`/`status.update`);
    *  shown above the composer WHILE a turn runs, cleared on `message.complete`. NOT transcript. */
   status: string | undefined
@@ -474,6 +477,7 @@ export function createSessionStore(options?: SessionStoreOptions) {
     dashboardAgent: undefined,
     backgroundPanel: false,
     backgroundProcesses: [],
+    bgTasks: [],
     lastNotification: undefined,
     status: undefined,
     // startedAt is set ONCE here (store creation ≈ session start) — the status
@@ -649,10 +653,20 @@ export function createSessionStore(options?: SessionStoreOptions) {
   function closeBackgroundPanel() {
     setState('backgroundPanel', false)
   }
-  /** Replace the polled OS-process snapshot (drives the panel + the `bg:` badge). */
+  /** Replace the OS-process snapshot (drives the /processes panel). */
   function setBackgroundProcesses(procs: BackgroundProcess[]) {
     setState('backgroundProcesses', procs)
   }
+  /** Track an in-flight background-prompt task (`/bg` start) — drives the `bg:` badge. */
+  function addBgTask(id: string) {
+    if (!state.bgTasks.includes(id)) setState('bgTasks', [...state.bgTasks, id])
+  }
+  function removeBgTask(id: string) {
+    setState(
+      'bgTasks',
+      state.bgTasks.filter(t => t !== id)
+    )
+  }
 
   /** Open a local Y/N confirm dialog (non-gateway; e.g. /clear). */
   function setConfirm(message: string, onConfirm: () => void) {
@@ -825,6 +839,19 @@ export function createSessionStore(options?: SessionStoreOptions) {
         if (key) clearNotificationCards(key)
         break
       }
+      // A background PROMPT (`/bg`) finished: drop it from the in-flight set (the
+      // `bg:` badge) and surface its result as a distinct inline completion card
+      // (a completion-ish kind → also fires the OSC desktop ping).
+      case 'background.complete': {
+        removeBgTask(event.payload.task_id)
+        pushNotification({
+          id: `bg:${event.payload.task_id}`,
+          kind: 'background task complete',
+          level: 'info',
+          text: `bg ${event.payload.task_id} → ${event.payload.text}`
+        })
+        break
+      }
       // reasoning.delta is the model's actual reasoning — a (dim) transcript part.
       case 'reasoning.delta': {
         const text = event.payload?.text ?? ''
@@ -1142,6 +1169,7 @@ export function createSessionStore(options?: SessionStoreOptions) {
     openBackgroundPanel,
     closeBackgroundPanel,
     setBackgroundProcesses,
+    addBgTask,
     hydrate,
     beginBuffer,
     commitSnapshot,
diff --git a/ui-opentui/src/test/notificationCard.test.tsx b/ui-opentui/src/test/notificationCard.test.tsx
index a834252148f..1036ee14e75 100644
--- a/ui-opentui/src/test/notificationCard.test.tsx
+++ b/ui-opentui/src/test/notificationCard.test.tsx
@@ -43,6 +43,19 @@ describe('notification store wiring', () => {
     store.apply({ type: 'notification.show', payload: { level: 'warn', kind: 'x' } })
     expect(store.state.messages.some(m => m.role === 'notification')).toBe(false)
   })
+
+  test('background.complete → a completion card + drops the bg task from the badge count', () => {
+    const store = createSessionStore()
+    store.apply({ type: 'gateway.ready' })
+    store.addBgTask('bg_abc')
+    expect(store.state.bgTasks).toEqual(['bg_abc'])
+    store.apply({ type: 'background.complete', payload: { task_id: 'bg_abc', text: 'all done' } })
+    expect(store.state.bgTasks).toEqual([]) // untracked → bg: badge decrements
+    const last = store.state.messages.at(-1)
+    expect(last?.role).toBe('notification')
+    expect(last?.notification?.text).toContain('bg_abc')
+    expect(last?.notification?.text).toContain('all done')
+  })
 })
 
 describe('NotificationCard frame', () => {
diff --git a/ui-opentui/src/test/slash.test.ts b/ui-opentui/src/test/slash.test.ts
index e63566a8904..3053c609cf3 100644
--- a/ui-opentui/src/test/slash.test.ts
+++ b/ui-opentui/src/test/slash.test.ts
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ function makeCtx(request: (method: string, params: Record<string, unknown>) => P
     setModelItems: items => (modelCache.value = items),
     openDashboard: () => (dashboard.value = true),
     openBackgroundPanel: () => {},
+    addBgTask: () => {},
     openPager: (title, text) => paged.push({ text, title }),
     openPicker: p => pickers.push(p),
     openSessionPicker: tab => sessionPickers.push(tab),
diff --git a/ui-opentui/src/test/utilityCommands.test.ts b/ui-opentui/src/test/utilityCommands.test.ts
index 2872c5b5a53..eb334213b9d 100644
--- a/ui-opentui/src/test/utilityCommands.test.ts
+++ b/ui-opentui/src/test/utilityCommands.test.ts
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ function makeCtx(request: (method: string, params: Record<string, unknown>) => P
     setModelItems: () => {},
     openDashboard: () => {},
     openBackgroundPanel: () => {},
+    addBgTask: () => {},
     openPager: (title, text) => paged.push({ text, title }),
     openPicker: () => {},
     openSessionPicker: () => {},
diff --git a/ui-opentui/src/view/overlays/backgroundPanel.tsx b/ui-opentui/src/view/overlays/backgroundPanel.tsx
index 6bcd456c7c2..e9799d03f79 100644
--- a/ui-opentui/src/view/overlays/backgroundPanel.tsx
+++ b/ui-opentui/src/view/overlays/backgroundPanel.tsx
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { type BoxRenderable } from '@opentui/core'
 import { useKeyboard } from '@opentui/solid'
 import { For, type JSXElement, onMount, Show } from 'solid-js'
 
-import { procIsRunning, type BackgroundProcess } from '../../logic/backgroundActivity.ts'
+import { procIsRunning, runningCount, type BackgroundProcess } from '../../logic/backgroundActivity.ts'
 import { truncRight } from '../../logic/truncate.ts'
 import { useDimensions } from '../dimensions.tsx'
 import { useCloseLayer } from '../keymap.tsx'
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export function BackgroundPanel(props: {
   const dims = useDimensions()
   let rootRef: BoxRenderable | undefined
 
-  const running = () => props.processes.filter(p => procIsRunning(p.status)).length
+  const running = () => runningCount(props.processes)
 
   // Focus the root so the focus-within close layer is active; refresh once on
   // open so the list is fresh.
diff --git a/ui-opentui/src/view/statusBar.tsx b/ui-opentui/src/view/statusBar.tsx
index c0ae3d7e3bd..ef33b559895 100644
--- a/ui-opentui/src/view/statusBar.tsx
+++ b/ui-opentui/src/view/statusBar.tsx
@@ -29,8 +29,9 @@
  * metrics + labels, ok/warn dot, level-tinted ctx bar and cmp count.
  *
  * Background-activity chrome (glitch 2026-06-13): `⚡ N` = running subagents
- * (folded here from the old agents-tray line), `bg: N` = running OS background
- * processes (polled from `agents.list`). Both hidden at zero.
+ * (folded here from the old agents-tray line), `bg: N` = in-flight background
+ * PROMPTS (`/bg` → prompt.background, cleared on background.complete). Both
+ * hidden at zero. (OS background processes live in the /processes panel.)
  *
  * Parity notes (data that does not reach this TUI yet — reported, not faked):
  *   - `display.show_cost`: Ink reads it from its `config.get` polling loop,
@@ -42,7 +43,6 @@
 import { useKeyboard } from '@opentui/solid'
 import { createEffect, createMemo, createSignal, onCleanup, Show } from 'solid-js'
 
-import { runningCount } from '../logic/backgroundActivity.ts'
 import type { SessionStore } from '../logic/store.ts'
 import { truncLeft, truncRight } from '../logic/truncate.ts'
 import { isTrayAgent } from './agentsTray.tsx'
@@ -253,10 +253,10 @@ export function StatusBar(props: { store: SessionStore }) {
     const n = info().mcpServers ?? 0
     return segs().mcp && n > 0 ? `mcp: ${n}` : ''
   })
-  // `bg: N` — running OS background processes (polled into the store); the
-  // ambient half of the background-activity notifications (glitch 2026-06-13).
+  // `bg: N` — in-flight background-PROMPT tasks (`/bg` → prompt.background,
+  // cleared on background.complete), mirroring Ink's bgTasks count.
   const bgText = createMemo(() => {
-    const n = runningCount(props.store.state.backgroundProcesses)
+    const n = props.store.state.bgTasks.length
     return segs().bg && n > 0 ? `bg: ${n}` : ''
   })
   // `⚡ N` — running subagents. The ambient count lives HERE now (P4 input-density