diff --git a/desktop/src/features/agents/activeAgentTurnsStore.ts b/desktop/src/features/agents/activeAgentTurnsStore.ts
index 9ffd34db6..08a58170a 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/agents/activeAgentTurnsStore.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/agents/activeAgentTurnsStore.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ type ActiveTurn = {
 export type ActiveTurnSummary = {
   channelId: string;
   anchorAt: number;
+  /** Ids of the live turns collapsed into this channel summary. */
+  turnIds: string[];
 };
 
 /** One channel with active agent work, aggregated across agents. */
@@ -420,17 +422,22 @@ export function getActiveTurnsForAgent(
   // should count from when the channel's oldest live turn began. Anchors are
   // derived here (startedAt + offset) so the latest skew estimate applies.
   const earliestByChannel = new Map<string, number>();
-  for (const turn of agentTurns.values()) {
+  const turnIdsByChannel = new Map<string, string[]>();
+  for (const [turnId, turn] of agentTurns.entries()) {
     const prior = earliestByChannel.get(turn.channelId);
     if (prior === undefined || turn.startedAt < prior) {
       earliestByChannel.set(turn.channelId, turn.startedAt);
     }
+    const ids = turnIdsByChannel.get(turn.channelId) ?? [];
+    ids.push(turnId);
+    turnIdsByChannel.set(turn.channelId, ids);
   }
 
   const result = [...earliestByChannel.entries()]
     .map(([channelId, startedAt]) => ({
       channelId,
       anchorAt: startedAt + offset,
+      turnIds: turnIdsByChannel.get(channelId) ?? [],
     }))
     .sort((a, b) => a.channelId.localeCompare(b.channelId));
   cachedTurnSummaries.set(key, result);
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatActivityTranscript.tsx b/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatActivityTranscript.tsx
index 58ff77d19..3ec0dcfbe 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatActivityTranscript.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatActivityTranscript.tsx
@@ -88,16 +88,17 @@ function isSetupLifecycleItem(item: TranscriptItem) {
 }
 
 export function ChatActivityTranscript({
+  activeTurnIds,
   agent,
   blocks,
   identityPubkey,
-  isTurnActive = false,
   profiles,
 }: {
+  /** Turn ids currently live in this channel — drives per-turn rendering. */
+  activeTurnIds?: ReadonlySet<string>;
   agent: ManagedAgent | null;
   blocks: ChatActivityRenderBlock[];
   identityPubkey?: string;
-  isTurnActive?: boolean;
   profiles?: UserProfileLookup;
 }) {
   if (blocks.length === 0) {
@@ -111,7 +112,10 @@ export function ChatActivityTranscript({
           agent={agent}
           block={renderBlock.block}
           identityPubkey={identityPubkey}
-          isTurnActive={isTurnActive}
+          isTurnActive={
+            renderBlock.block.kind === "turn" &&
+            (activeTurnIds?.has(renderBlock.block.turnId) ?? false)
+          }
           key={renderBlock.id}
           profiles={profiles}
           suppressPromptMessage={renderBlock.suppressPromptMessage}
@@ -132,6 +136,7 @@ function ChatActivityBlockView({
   agent: ManagedAgent | null;
   block: TranscriptDisplayBlock;
   identityPubkey?: string;
+  /** Whether THIS block's turn is live (per-turn, never channel-wide). */
   isTurnActive: boolean;
   profiles?: UserProfileLookup;
   suppressPromptMessage: boolean;
@@ -172,7 +177,7 @@ function ChatActivityBlockView({
           suppressPromptMessage={suppressPromptMessage}
         />
       ))}
-      {!hasLiveActivityItem(block) ? (
+      {isTurnActive && !hasLiveActivityItem(block) ? (
         <LiveTurnMarker
           agentPubkey={agent?.pubkey}
           icon={liveTurnMarkerIcon(block)}
@@ -466,6 +471,7 @@ function ChatTranscriptMessageRow({
           </Bubble>
         ) : (
           <Markdown
+            agentAuthored
             className="w-full max-w-none text-sm leading-6"
             content={displayText || text || " "}
           />
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatConversationRows.tsx b/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatConversationRows.tsx
index e95bfc798..33f33ca1a 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatConversationRows.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatConversationRows.tsx
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ export function ChatMessageRow({
         </MessageHeader>
         {isAgent ? (
           <Markdown
+            agentAuthored
             className="w-full max-w-none text-sm leading-6"
             content={content || " "}
           />
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatDetail.tsx b/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatDetail.tsx
index ab66839f3..6d0806843 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatDetail.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/ChatDetail.tsx
@@ -110,10 +110,19 @@ export function ChatDetail({
   const updateMetadataMutation = useUpdateChatMetadataMutation();
   const hasObserver = defaultAgent ? isManagedAgentActive(defaultAgent) : false;
   const activeAgentTurns = useActiveAgentTurns(defaultAgent?.pubkey);
-  const isChatTurnActive = React.useMemo(
-    () => activeAgentTurns.some((turn) => turn.channelId === chat.id),
+  // Per-turn ids, not a channel-wide boolean: while a new turn runs, older
+  // turn blocks must still render as completed (and never show their own
+  // "Working" marker).
+  const activeTurnIds = React.useMemo(
+    () =>
+      new Set(
+        activeAgentTurns
+          .filter((turn) => turn.channelId === chat.id)
+          .flatMap((turn) => turn.turnIds),
+      ),
     [activeAgentTurns, chat.id],
   );
+  const isChatTurnActive = activeTurnIds.size > 0;
   const transcript = useAgentTranscript(hasObserver, defaultAgent?.pubkey);
   const scopedTranscript = React.useMemo(
     () => scopeByChannel(transcript, chat.id),
@@ -509,7 +518,7 @@ export function ChatDetail({
                               agent={defaultAgent}
                               blocks={activityBlocks}
                               identityPubkey={identityPubkey}
-                              isTurnActive={isChatTurnActive}
+                              activeTurnIds={activeTurnIds}
                               profiles={profiles}
                             />
                           </MessageScrollerItem>
@@ -535,7 +544,7 @@ export function ChatDetail({
                         agent={defaultAgent}
                         blocks={chatActivity.unplacedBlocks}
                         identityPubkey={identityPubkey}
-                        isTurnActive={isChatTurnActive}
+                        activeTurnIds={activeTurnIds}
                         profiles={profiles}
                       />
                     </MessageScrollerItem>
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/QuickStartChat.tsx b/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/QuickStartChat.tsx
index 699b4e0dd..3f3196952 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/QuickStartChat.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/chats/ui/QuickStartChat.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import * as React from "react";
+import { useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import {
   Check,
   ChevronDown,
@@ -12,7 +13,10 @@ import { toast } from "sonner";
 import { useChannelTemplatesQuery } from "@/features/channel-templates/hooks";
 import { useApplyTemplate } from "@/features/channel-templates/useApplyTemplate";
 import { ChatHeader } from "@/features/chat/ui/ChatHeader";
-import { useManagedAgentsQuery } from "@/features/agents/hooks";
+import {
+  managedAgentsQueryKey,
+  useManagedAgentsQuery,
+} from "@/features/agents/hooks";
 import {
   useCreateChatMutation,
   useSendChatContextMessageMutation,
@@ -88,6 +92,7 @@ export function QuickStartChat({
     string | null
   >(() => initialProjectSelection(initialProjectId, projects));
   const [isCreating, setIsCreating] = React.useState(false);
+  const queryClient = useQueryClient();
   const identityQuery = useIdentityQuery();
   const createChatMutation = useCreateChatMutation();
   const updateMetadataMutation = useUpdateChatMetadataMutation();
@@ -168,6 +173,13 @@ export function QuickStartChat({
         void applyAgents(templateId, chat.id);
 
         const agent = await ensureWelcomeGuideAgentInChannel(chat.id, relayUrl);
+        // The agent may have just been created/started outside the mutation
+        // hooks — refresh the managed-agents cache so the new chat resolves
+        // its default agent immediately (agent replies render as agent rows,
+        // not member bubbles).
+        await queryClient.invalidateQueries({
+          queryKey: managedAgentsQueryKey,
+        });
         const setupContext = buildProjectSetupContext({
           agent,
           project: selectedProject,
@@ -260,6 +272,7 @@ export function QuickStartChat({
       identityQuery.data?.pubkey,
       isCreating,
       managedAgentsQuery.data,
+      queryClient,
       onCreated,
       onProjectCreated,
       relayUrl,
diff --git a/desktop/src/shared/ui/link-preview-attachment.tsx b/desktop/src/shared/ui/link-preview-attachment.tsx
index c16c29181..c9a90e872 100644
--- a/desktop/src/shared/ui/link-preview-attachment.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/shared/ui/link-preview-attachment.tsx
@@ -227,6 +227,93 @@ export function GithubPullRequestCard({
   );
 }
 
+/**
+ * Prominent PR card for agent-authored messages — when the agent reports a
+ * pull request it created, the card reads as a piece of delivered work
+ * (banner layout, status pill, full-width diff stats) rather than a pasted
+ * link. Falls back to the standard rich card without live data.
+ */
+export function AgentPullRequestCard({
+  className,
+  preview,
+}: {
+  className?: string;
+  preview: SupportedLinkPreview;
+}) {
+  const ref = parseGithubPullRequestRef(preview.href);
+  const query = useGithubPullRequestQuery(ref);
+  const info = query.data ?? null;
+
+  if (!ref || !info) {
+    return <GithubPullRequestCard className={className} preview={preview} />;
+  }
+
+  const status = githubPullRequestStatus(info);
+  const meta = PR_STATUS_META[status];
+  const StatusIcon = meta.icon;
+
+  return (
+    <Attachment
+      className={cn(
+        "w-full max-w-xl shrink-0 gap-2 px-4 py-3 no-underline shadow-none",
+        className,
+      )}
+      data-link-preview="github-pull-request-agent"
+      data-pr-status={status}
+      orientation="vertical"
+    >
+      <div className="flex w-full min-w-0 items-center gap-1.5 text-xs font-medium leading-4 text-muted-foreground">
+        <GitHubLogo className="h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0" />
+        <span className="min-w-0 truncate">
+          {ref.owner}/{ref.repo}
+        </span>
+        <span aria-hidden="true">·</span>
+        <span className="shrink-0">Pull request #{ref.number}</span>
+        <span
+          className={cn(
+            "ml-auto inline-flex shrink-0 items-center gap-1 rounded-full border border-border/70 bg-background px-2 py-0.5 text-2xs font-semibold",
+            meta.className,
+          )}
+        >
+          <StatusIcon className="h-3 w-3" />
+          {meta.label}
+        </span>
+      </div>
+      <div className="w-full min-w-0 truncate text-sm font-semibold leading-5 text-foreground">
+        {info.title || preview.title}
+      </div>
+      <div className="flex w-full min-w-0 items-center gap-2 text-xs leading-4">
+        <span className="shrink-0 font-medium text-[color:var(--status-added)]">
+          +{info.additions.toLocaleString()}
+        </span>
+        <span className="shrink-0 font-medium text-[color:var(--status-deleted)]">
+          −{info.deletions.toLocaleString()}
+        </span>
+        <span className="min-w-0 truncate text-muted-foreground">
+          {info.changedFiles.toLocaleString()}{" "}
+          {info.changedFiles === 1 ? "file" : "files"} changed
+        </span>
+        <ExternalLink
+          aria-hidden="true"
+          className="ml-auto h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0 text-muted-foreground opacity-0 transition-opacity group-hover/attachment:opacity-100 group-focus-within/attachment:opacity-100"
+        />
+      </div>
+      <AttachmentTrigger asChild>
+        <a
+          aria-label={`Open GitHub PR ${ref.owner}/${ref.repo} #${ref.number}: ${info.title || preview.title}`}
+          href={preview.href}
+          rel="noreferrer"
+          target="_blank"
+        >
+          <span className="sr-only">
+            Open GitHub PR {ref.owner}/{ref.repo} #{ref.number}
+          </span>
+        </a>
+      </AttachmentTrigger>
+    </Attachment>
+  );
+}
+
 export function LinkPreviewAttachment({
   className,
   preview,
diff --git a/desktop/src/shared/ui/markdown.tsx b/desktop/src/shared/ui/markdown.tsx
index 90c3510d7..93a4092cd 100644
--- a/desktop/src/shared/ui/markdown.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/shared/ui/markdown.tsx
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import remarkMessageLinks from "@/features/messages/lib/remarkMessageLinks";
 import { AttachmentGroup } from "@/shared/ui/attachment";
 import { ConfigNudgeCard } from "@/shared/ui/config-nudge-attachment";
 import {
+  AgentPullRequestCard,
   GithubPullRequestCard,
   LinkPreviewAttachment,
 } from "@/shared/ui/link-preview-attachment";
@@ -1918,6 +1919,7 @@ function createMarkdownComponents(
 }
 
 function MarkdownInner({
+  agentAuthored = false,
   channelNames,
   className,
   configNudgeAuthorPubkey,
@@ -2077,7 +2079,11 @@ function MarkdownInner({
           >
             {resolvedLinkPreviews.map((preview) =>
               preview.kind === "github-pull-request" ? (
-                <GithubPullRequestCard key={preview.href} preview={preview} />
+                agentAuthored ? (
+                  <AgentPullRequestCard key={preview.href} preview={preview} />
+                ) : (
+                  <GithubPullRequestCard key={preview.href} preview={preview} />
+                )
               ) : (
                 <LinkPreviewAttachment key={preview.href} preview={preview} />
               ),
@@ -2093,6 +2099,7 @@ export const Markdown = React.memo(
   MarkdownInner,
   (prev, next) =>
     prev.content === next.content &&
+    prev.agentAuthored === next.agentAuthored &&
     prev.className === next.className &&
     prev.customEmoji === next.customEmoji &&
     prev.interactive === next.interactive &&
diff --git a/desktop/src/shared/ui/markdown/types.ts b/desktop/src/shared/ui/markdown/types.ts
index beea8852f..86fea5b72 100644
--- a/desktop/src/shared/ui/markdown/types.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/shared/ui/markdown/types.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ export type MarkdownRuntime = {
 };
 
 export type MarkdownProps = {
+  /**
+   * Message author is an agent — link previews it authored (e.g. PR links)
+   * render their richer agent-work variants.
+   */
+  agentAuthored?: boolean;
   channelNames?: string[];
   className?: string;
   content: string;
diff --git a/desktop/tests/e2e/chats-first-message.spec.ts b/desktop/tests/e2e/chats-first-message.spec.ts
index 39664bdb9..bb16fdff1 100644
--- a/desktop/tests/e2e/chats-first-message.spec.ts
+++ b/desktop/tests/e2e/chats-first-message.spec.ts
@@ -96,17 +96,24 @@ test("first message in a new chat is sent and rendered", async ({ page }) => {
         __BUZZ_E2E_EMIT_MOCK_MESSAGE__?: (input: {
           channelName: string;
           content: string;
+          createdAt?: number;
           pubkey?: string;
         }) => unknown;
       };
+      // Explicit ascending timestamps: same-second events sort unstably and
+      // can flip which agent reply the run-collapse keeps visible.
+      const base = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
       win.__BUZZ_E2E_EMIT_MOCK_MESSAGE__?.({
         channelName: "Hello Fizz, first message",
         content: "Sure — that first message says hello.",
+        createdAt: base,
         pubkey: pubkey ?? undefined,
       });
       win.__BUZZ_E2E_EMIT_MOCK_MESSAGE__?.({
         channelName: "Hello Fizz, first message",
-        content: "Anything else you want to check while we're here?",
+        content:
+          "Done! I've opened https://github.com/block/buzz/pull/1460 with the changes.",
+        createdAt: base + 2,
         pubkey: pubkey ?? undefined,
       });
     },
@@ -133,4 +140,11 @@ test("first message in a new chat is sent and rendered", async ({ page }) => {
       }),
     )
     .toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(-1);
+
+  // Agent-authored PR links render the prominent agent-work card variant
+  // (banner layout with status pill), not the compact link chip.
+  await expect(
+    page.locator("[data-link-preview='github-pull-request-agent']"),
+  ).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
+  await page.screenshot({ path: "test-results/agent-pr-card.png" });
 });