diff --git a/apps/web/src/components/Sidebar.logic.test.ts b/apps/web/src/components/Sidebar.logic.test.ts
index 616ff8c4ec05..52c08fd7ee59 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/components/Sidebar.logic.test.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/components/Sidebar.logic.test.ts
@@ -2096,8 +2096,22 @@ describe("navigation after parking a thread", () => {
 
 describe("unseen completion with background work", () => {
   it.each([
-    { kind: "command", status: "ready", topStatus: "done", receded: false, pill: "Completed" },
-    { kind: "monitor", status: "waiting", topStatus: "waiting", receded: true, pill: "Waiting" },
+    {
+      kind: "command",
+      status: "ready",
+      topStatus: "done",
+      receded: false,
+      working: true,
+      pill: "Completed",
+    },
+    {
+      kind: "monitor",
+      status: "waiting",
+      topStatus: "waiting",
+      receded: true,
+      working: true,
+      pill: "Waiting",
+    },
   ] as const)("presents a completed thread with a $kind roster", (expected) => {
     const thread = presentThreadShell(localEnvironmentId, {
       ...makeThreadFixture().source,
@@ -2122,7 +2136,7 @@ describe("unseen completion with background work", () => {
         isSelected: false,
       }),
     ).toBe(expected.receded);
-    expect(isSidebarThreadWorking(thread)).toBe(expected.receded);
+    expect(isSidebarThreadWorking(thread)).toBe(expected.working);
     expect(resolveThreadStatusPill({ thread })).toMatchObject({ label: expected.pill });
   });
 });
@@ -2143,6 +2157,7 @@ describe("Working shelf (beta)", () => {
     hasPendingUserInput: false,
     interactionMode: "default" as const,
     latestRun: makeLatestRun(),
+    pendingBackgroundTasks: [],
     runtime: null,
   };
   // Stopped with background tasks still open: V2's "waiting" sidebar status.
@@ -2166,6 +2181,29 @@ describe("Working shelf (beta)", () => {
     ).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it("folds away every background kind, commands included", () => {
+    const completed = { ...runtime, status: "completed" as const };
+    for (const kind of ["command", "monitor", "subagent", "background_task"] as const) {
+      expect(
+        isSidebarThreadWorking({
+          ...idle,
+          runtime: completed,
+          pendingBackgroundTasks: [{ taskId: "bg-1", kind }],
+        }),
+      ).toBe(true);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a failed thread in the inbox while a command still runs", () => {
+    expect(
+      isSidebarThreadWorking({
+        ...idle,
+        runtime: { ...runtime, status: "failed" as const, lastError: "boom" },
+        pendingBackgroundTasks: [{ taskId: "bg-1", kind: "command" as const }],
+      }),
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   it("keeps a ready plan in the inbox while background work runs", () => {
     expect(
       isSidebarThreadWorking({
diff --git a/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadInbox.test.ts b/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadInbox.test.ts
index 2ae5670933c7..b1bc4bc58884 100644
--- a/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadInbox.test.ts
+++ b/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadInbox.test.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ function thread(id: string, working: boolean) {
     createdAt: "2026-06-01T00:00:00.000Z",
     unsettledAt: null,
     latestRun: null,
+    pendingBackgroundTasks: [],
     hasActionableProposedPlan: false,
     hasPendingApprovals: false,
     hasPendingUserInput: false,
diff --git a/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadInbox.ts b/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadInbox.ts
index 0a7ed0918afe..df9f65ff34de 100644
--- a/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadInbox.ts
+++ b/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadInbox.ts
@@ -11,15 +11,25 @@ type WorkingThreadInput = Pick<
   | "hasPendingUserInput"
   | "interactionMode"
   | "latestRun"
+  | "pendingBackgroundTasks"
   | "runtime"
 >;
 
 /** Threads busy with work that does not need the user fold into the Working
-    section: a running run, or one stopped with background work that will wake
-    it. Approvals, questions, plan prompts, and failures stay in the inbox. */
+    section: a running run, or one stopped with any background work still
+    live. Commands count here even though they do not hold completion: the
+    agent may be waiting on one, and a dev server is still visibly running.
+    Approvals, questions, plan prompts, and failures stay in the inbox. */
 export function isThreadWorking(thread: WorkingThreadInput): boolean {
   if (thread.hasPendingApprovals || thread.hasPendingUserInput) return false;
-  if (!threadRuntimeIsActive(thread.runtime) && thread.runtime?.status !== "idle") return false;
+  if (thread.runtime?.status === "failed") return false;
+  if (
+    !threadRuntimeIsActive(thread.runtime) &&
+    thread.runtime?.status !== "idle" &&
+    thread.pendingBackgroundTasks.length === 0
+  ) {
+    return false;
+  }
   // A plan prompt outranks lingering background work: the user has to act on it.
   const run = thread.latestRun;
   const runSettled =