diff --git a/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ComposerLiveActivityFeed.tsx b/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ComposerLiveActivityFeed.tsx
index 607bda57a..4940e8f12 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ComposerLiveActivityFeed.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ComposerLiveActivityFeed.tsx
@@ -1,16 +1,18 @@
 import * as React from "react";
 
 import { useActiveAgentTurns } from "@/features/agents/activeAgentTurnsStore";
-import { scopeByChannel } from "@/features/agents/ui/agentSessionPanelLayout";
-import { isMeaningfulItem } from "@/features/agents/ui/agentSessionTranscriptPresentation";
 import { ManagedAgentSessionPanel } from "@/features/agents/ui/ManagedAgentSessionPanel";
-import { useAgentTranscript } from "@/features/agents/ui/useObserverEvents";
+import {
+  useAgentTranscript,
+  useArchivedChannelEvents,
+} from "@/features/agents/ui/useObserverEvents";
 import { formatLastLiveLabel } from "@/features/profile/lib/lastLiveLabel";
 import type { UserProfileLookup } from "@/features/profile/lib/identity";
 import { cn } from "@/shared/lib/cn";
 import { useNow } from "@/shared/lib/useNow";
 import { Button } from "@/shared/ui/button";
 import type { BotActivityAgent } from "./BotActivityBar";
+import { deriveLastLiveAt } from "./composerLiveActivity";
 
 /**
  * Single-agent live activity preview for the composer "agents working"
@@ -22,8 +24,10 @@ import type { BotActivityAgent } from "./BotActivityBar";
  * merging, scrolling, and idle handling stay owned by that surface.
  *
  * The whole preview is ONE click target: an overlay button opens the agent's
- * full activity view, and transcript rows underneath are made inert. This
- * avoids nesting interactive transcript controls inside a clickable shell.
+ * full activity view. The panel subtree is wrapped in a native `inert`
+ * container so its rows (which can include keyboard-focusable message links)
+ * are removed from pointer, keyboard-tab, AND assistive-tech interaction —
+ * CSS pointer-events alone would leave them tabbable behind the overlay.
  */
 export function ComposerLiveActivityFeed({
   agent,
@@ -40,26 +44,12 @@ export function ComposerLiveActivityFeed({
 }) {
   const activeTurns = useActiveAgentTurns(agent.pubkey);
   const transcript = useAgentTranscript(true, agent.pubkey);
-  const lastLiveAt = React.useMemo(() => {
-    const scoped = scopeByChannel(transcript, channelId).filter(
-      isMeaningfulItem,
-    );
-    for (let index = scoped.length - 1; index >= 0; index -= 1) {
-      const item = scoped[index];
-      if (!item) {
-        continue;
-      }
-      const millis = Date.parse(item.timestamp);
-      if (!Number.isNaN(millis)) {
-        return millis;
-      }
-    }
-
-    const channelTurn = channelId
-      ? activeTurns.find((turn) => turn.channelId === channelId)
-      : activeTurns[0];
-    return channelTurn?.anchorAt ?? null;
-  }, [activeTurns, channelId, transcript]);
+  const archivedEvents = useArchivedChannelEvents(agent.pubkey, channelId);
+  const lastLiveAt = React.useMemo(
+    () =>
+      deriveLastLiveAt({ activeTurns, archivedEvents, channelId, transcript }),
+    [activeTurns, archivedEvents, channelId, transcript],
+  );
 
   const now = useNow(15_000);
   const lastLiveLabel = formatLastLiveLabel(lastLiveAt, now);
@@ -92,21 +82,27 @@ export function ComposerLiveActivityFeed({
       >
         {lastLiveLabel}
       </Button>
-      <ManagedAgentSessionPanel
-        agent={{ ...agent, avatarUrl }}
-        autoTail={true}
-        channelId={channelId}
-        className="relative z-0 h-full min-h-0 border-0 bg-transparent px-3 text-xs shadow-none **:data-message-id:pointer-events-none"
-        emptyDescription="Live activity will appear here."
-        emptyState="loading"
-        panelPadding={false}
-        profiles={profiles}
-        rawLayout="responsive"
-        showHeader={false}
-        showRaw={false}
-        transcriptContentClassName="py-2"
-        transcriptVariant="compactPreview"
-      />
+      <div
+        className="h-full min-h-0"
+        data-testid="composer-live-activity-inert"
+        inert={true}
+      >
+        <ManagedAgentSessionPanel
+          agent={{ ...agent, avatarUrl }}
+          autoTail={true}
+          channelId={channelId}
+          className="relative z-0 h-full min-h-0 border-0 bg-transparent px-3 text-xs shadow-none"
+          emptyDescription="Live activity will appear here."
+          emptyState="loading"
+          panelPadding={false}
+          profiles={profiles}
+          rawLayout="responsive"
+          showHeader={false}
+          showRaw={false}
+          transcriptContentClassName="py-2"
+          transcriptVariant="compactPreview"
+        />
+      </div>
     </div>
   );
 }
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/composerLiveActivity.test.mjs b/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/composerLiveActivity.test.mjs
index 8726b5edb..16b9c4e24 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/composerLiveActivity.test.mjs
+++ b/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/composerLiveActivity.test.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import test from "node:test";
 
-import { resolveSelectedActivityAgent } from "./composerLiveActivity.ts";
+import {
+  deriveLastLiveAt,
+  resolveSelectedActivityAgent,
+} from "./composerLiveActivity.ts";
 
 const alice = { pubkey: "ALICE-pubkey", name: "Alice" };
 const bob = { pubkey: "bob-pubkey", name: "Bob" };
@@ -50,3 +53,65 @@ test("returns null with no working agents", () => {
   });
   assert.equal(agent, null);
 });
+
+const CHANNEL = "channel-1";
+const OTHER_CHANNEL = "channel-2";
+
+test("deriveLastLiveAt prefers the newest channel-scoped transcript item", () => {
+  const lastLiveAt = deriveLastLiveAt({
+    activeTurns: [],
+    archivedEvents: [],
+    channelId: CHANNEL,
+    transcript: [
+      { channelId: CHANNEL, timestamp: "2026-07-23T00:00:01.000Z" },
+      { channelId: OTHER_CHANNEL, timestamp: "2026-07-23T00:00:09.000Z" },
+      { channelId: CHANNEL, timestamp: "2026-07-23T00:00:05.000Z" },
+    ],
+  });
+  assert.equal(lastLiveAt, Date.parse("2026-07-23T00:00:05.000Z"));
+});
+
+test("deriveLastLiveAt sees archived content the panel renders", () => {
+  // Regression: archived rows are visible in the preview even when the live
+  // transcript window is empty — the pill must not say "No activity yet".
+  const lastLiveAt = deriveLastLiveAt({
+    activeTurns: [],
+    archivedEvents: [{ timestamp: "2026-07-20T10:00:00.000Z" }],
+    channelId: CHANNEL,
+    transcript: [],
+  });
+  assert.equal(lastLiveAt, Date.parse("2026-07-20T10:00:00.000Z"));
+});
+
+test("deriveLastLiveAt takes the newest across live, archive, and turn anchor", () => {
+  const lastLiveAt = deriveLastLiveAt({
+    activeTurns: [
+      { anchorAt: Date.parse("2026-07-23T00:00:30.000Z"), channelId: CHANNEL },
+    ],
+    archivedEvents: [{ timestamp: "2026-07-23T00:00:10.000Z" }],
+    channelId: CHANNEL,
+    transcript: [{ channelId: CHANNEL, timestamp: "2026-07-23T00:00:20.000Z" }],
+  });
+  assert.equal(lastLiveAt, Date.parse("2026-07-23T00:00:30.000Z"));
+});
+
+test("deriveLastLiveAt falls back to the active-turn anchor with no items", () => {
+  const anchorAt = Date.parse("2026-07-23T00:01:00.000Z");
+  const lastLiveAt = deriveLastLiveAt({
+    activeTurns: [{ anchorAt, channelId: CHANNEL }],
+    archivedEvents: [],
+    channelId: CHANNEL,
+    transcript: [],
+  });
+  assert.equal(lastLiveAt, anchorAt);
+});
+
+test("deriveLastLiveAt ignores other-channel turns and returns null when idle", () => {
+  const lastLiveAt = deriveLastLiveAt({
+    activeTurns: [{ anchorAt: 1, channelId: OTHER_CHANNEL }],
+    archivedEvents: [],
+    channelId: CHANNEL,
+    transcript: [],
+  });
+  assert.equal(lastLiveAt, null);
+});
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/composerLiveActivity.ts b/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/composerLiveActivity.ts
index 6ff72ab03..c07ea768b 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/composerLiveActivity.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/channels/ui/composerLiveActivity.ts
@@ -30,3 +30,67 @@ export function resolveSelectedActivityAgent<T extends { pubkey: string }>({
     null
   );
 }
+
+/**
+ * Latest activity timestamp (ms) for the composer preview's "Last live" pill.
+ *
+ * Reads the same sources the preview panel renders — the live transcript
+ * window AND the channel-scoped archive — so the pill can never claim
+ * "No activity yet" while archived rows are visible underneath. Falls back
+ * to the active-turn anchor when a turn is running but no items exist yet.
+ */
+export function deriveLastLiveAt({
+  activeTurns,
+  archivedEvents,
+  channelId,
+  transcript,
+}: {
+  activeTurns: readonly { anchorAt: number; channelId: string }[];
+  archivedEvents: readonly { timestamp: string }[];
+  channelId: string | null;
+  transcript: readonly {
+    channelId?: string | null;
+    timestamp: string;
+  }[];
+}): number | null {
+  let latest: number | null = null;
+  const record = (timestamp: number) => {
+    if (latest === null || timestamp > latest) {
+      latest = timestamp;
+    }
+  };
+
+  for (let index = transcript.length - 1; index >= 0; index -= 1) {
+    const item = transcript[index];
+    if (!item || (channelId && item.channelId !== channelId)) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    const millis = Date.parse(item.timestamp);
+    if (!Number.isNaN(millis)) {
+      record(millis);
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Archived events are already channel-scoped by the store, sorted ascending.
+  for (let index = archivedEvents.length - 1; index >= 0; index -= 1) {
+    const event = archivedEvents[index];
+    if (!event) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    const millis = Date.parse(event.timestamp);
+    if (!Number.isNaN(millis)) {
+      record(millis);
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const channelTurn = channelId
+    ? activeTurns.find((turn) => turn.channelId === channelId)
+    : activeTurns[0];
+  if (channelTurn) {
+    record(channelTurn.anchorAt);
+  }
+
+  return latest;
+}