diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-pty-process-inspection.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-pty-process-inspection.ts
index bbc44568501..00f3757153e 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/daemon-pty-process-inspection.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-pty-process-inspection.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {
   type SessionInfo
 } from './types'
 import type { PtyProcessInspection } from '../providers/pty-process-inspection'
+import type { PtyProcessInspectionEvidence } from '../../shared/pty-process-inspection-evidence'
 
 export abstract class DaemonPtyProcessInspection extends DaemonPtyBufferSnapshots {
   // Why: daemon-backed PTYs can host long-lived agents while detached; cleanup prompts must not treat them as idle shells.
@@ -42,6 +43,12 @@ export abstract class DaemonPtyProcessInspection extends DaemonPtyBufferSnapshot
     return this.client.request<{
       foregroundProcess: string | null
       hasChildProcesses: boolean
+      // Why optional: daemons survive in-place app updates, so a pre-evidence
+      // daemon omits the field and readers fall back to the legacy collapse
+      // (readPtyProcessInspectionEvidence). The composed pre-v27 result above
+      // stays evidence-less for the same reason: an old daemon's published
+      // values are the only answer it can give.
+      processEvidence?: PtyProcessInspectionEvidence
     }>('inspectProcess', { sessionId: id })
   }
 
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-confirmation-provenance.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-confirmation-provenance.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a2d48da95f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-confirmation-provenance.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,209 @@
+/* The confirmation scan's provenance. Everything below the `ps` fork is real: the shared
+ * process-table snapshot cache (its TTL, its dedupe and its scan-start stamps), the agent
+ * resolver that reads it, and the tracker that keeps or retires the pane's identity. Only the
+ * OS scan itself is substituted, so the orderings under test are the ones production has. */
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+
+const { execFileMock } = vi.hoisted(() => {
+  const mock = vi.fn()
+  // promisify() runs while the snapshot module is evaluated — before this file's body — so the
+  // custom hook has to be attached here, or the reader awaits a bare stdout instead of
+  // `{ stdout }` and every scan resolves to undefined.
+  Object.defineProperty(mock, Symbol.for('nodejs.util.promisify.custom'), {
+    value: mock,
+    configurable: true,
+    writable: true
+  })
+  return { execFileMock: mock }
+})
+
+vi.mock('node:child_process', () => ({ execFile: execFileMock }))
+
+import { createPtyForegroundProcessTracker } from './pty-subprocess/foreground-process-tracker'
+import { resetProcessTableSnapshotForTests } from '../../shared/process-table-snapshot'
+import type * as pty from 'node-pty'
+
+const SHELL_PID = 4242
+const SHELL_PATH = '/bin/zsh'
+// Why not 0: the refresh throttle compares `Date.now()` against a `lastRefreshStartedAt` that
+// initialises to 0, so a clock parked at the epoch throttles away the pane's first scan.
+const BASE = 1_700_000_000_000
+
+/** `ps -axo pid=,ppid=,stat=,command=` rows for a pane with no agent under its shell. */
+function agentFreeTable(): string {
+  return `${SHELL_PID} 1 Ss+ ${SHELL_PATH}\n`
+}
+
+type Deferred = { resolve: (stdout: string) => void }
+
+/** Queues one controllable `ps` answer per scan, so a scan can be held open across other work. */
+function queueScans(): { next: () => Deferred; settleAll: (stdout: string) => Promise<void> } {
+  const pending: Deferred[] = []
+  execFileMock.mockImplementation(
+    () =>
+      new Promise<{ stdout: string }>((resolvePromise) => {
+        pending.push({ resolve: (stdout) => resolvePromise({ stdout }) })
+      })
+  )
+  return {
+    next: () => {
+      const deferred = pending.shift()
+      if (!deferred) {
+        throw new Error('no ps scan was started')
+      }
+      return deferred
+    },
+    settleAll: async (stdout) => {
+      // Flush first: the scan is only registered once the resolver's own awaits have run.
+      await flush()
+      while (pending.length > 0) {
+        pending.shift()!.resolve(stdout)
+        await flush()
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+async function flush(): Promise<void> {
+  for (let i = 0; i < 12; i++) {
+    await Promise.resolve()
+  }
+}
+
+function trackerFor(ptyTitle: {
+  value: string
+}): ReturnType<typeof createPtyForegroundProcessTracker> {
+  const fakePty = {
+    pid: SHELL_PID,
+    get process() {
+      return ptyTitle.value
+    }
+  } as unknown as pty.IPty
+  return createPtyForegroundProcessTracker({
+    process: fakePty,
+    shellPath: SHELL_PATH,
+    sessionId: 'wt-1::/repo@@abc',
+    startupAgentRecognition: null,
+    isDead: () => false
+  })
+}
+
+describe('a confirmation scan that resolves after an agent was recognized', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE)
+    resetProcessTableSnapshotForTests()
+    execFileMock.mockReset()
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers()
+    resetProcessTableSnapshotForTests()
+  })
+
+  it('does not retire the newer live-agent identity it never had a chance to see', async () => {
+    const title = { value: 'zsh' }
+    const tracker = trackerFor(title)
+    const scans = queueScans()
+
+    // A settled, agent-free scan first: this is what later gives a shell-shaped title the
+    // corroboration it needs, and it is only safe while no newer agent evidence outranks it.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE)
+    tracker.observeForegroundProcess()
+    await scans.settleAll(agentFreeTable())
+
+    // The confirmation scan starts here, and its process table is sampled now.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 10)
+    const confirmation = tracker.confirmForegroundProcess()
+    await flush()
+    const confirmationScan = scans.next()
+
+    // While it is out, the agent starts and the pty title names it. The synchronous fast path
+    // stamps it without a scan, so this identity is strictly newer than the table above.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 20)
+    title.value = 'claude'
+    expect(tracker.observeForegroundProcess().processName).toBe('claude')
+
+    // Only now does the older scan answer, reporting a table taken before the agent existed.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 25)
+    title.value = 'zsh'
+    confirmationScan.resolve(agentFreeTable())
+    await confirmation
+    await flush()
+
+    // Inside the identity's 1s TTL the cache answers directly, so this reads whether the
+    // confirmation retired it at all.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 100)
+    expect(tracker.observeForegroundProcess().processName).toBe('claude')
+
+    // Past the TTL the fast path can no longer answer, which is where the retirement's real
+    // cost lands: whether a shell-shaped title now counts as corroborated exit evidence.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 1_500)
+    const observation = tracker.observeForegroundProcess()
+
+    expect(
+      observation.evidence.verdict,
+      'a scan that sampled the table before the agent started cannot report it gone'
+    ).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  /** The caller's own clock is not the table's. A fresh scan is queued behind whatever is
+   *  already running, so an agent can be stamped after this call was made and still be older
+   *  than the process table the answer is built from — in which case the scan really did look
+   *  for it. Ordering on the request time instead would hold a dead agent name forever. */
+  it("retires an identity the scan's own table was late enough to have seen", async () => {
+    const title = { value: 'zsh' }
+    const tracker = trackerFor(title)
+    const scans = queueScans()
+
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE)
+    tracker.observeForegroundProcess()
+    await scans.settleAll(agentFreeTable())
+
+    // The confirmation is requested here, but its scan has not started yet.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 50)
+    const confirmation = tracker.confirmForegroundProcess()
+
+    // The agent is stamped after the request...
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 60)
+    title.value = 'claude'
+    expect(tracker.observeForegroundProcess().processName).toBe('claude')
+
+    // ...but before the queued scan actually samples the table, so that table did see the pane
+    // as it is now and its silence about an agent is a real observation.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 70)
+    title.value = 'zsh'
+    await scans.settleAll(agentFreeTable())
+    await confirmation
+    await flush()
+
+    // Inside the TTL, so a surviving identity would answer here: it must not.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 100)
+    expect(tracker.observeForegroundProcess().processName).toBe('zsh')
+  })
+
+  it('still retires an identity a later scan really did look for', async () => {
+    const title = { value: 'claude' }
+    const tracker = trackerFor(title)
+    const scans = queueScans()
+
+    // The agent is recognized first...
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE)
+    expect(tracker.observeForegroundProcess().processName).toBe('claude')
+
+    // ...and the confirmation scan starts strictly after it, so its table did see the pane
+    // as the agent left it. This answer is entitled to retire the identity.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 50)
+    title.value = 'zsh'
+    const confirmation = tracker.confirmForegroundProcess()
+    await flush()
+    await scans.settleAll(agentFreeTable())
+    await confirmation
+    await flush()
+
+    // Inside the TTL the cached identity would still answer if it had been kept.
+    vi.setSystemTime(BASE + 100)
+
+    expect(tracker.observeForegroundProcess().processName).toBe('zsh')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-degraded-scan.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-degraded-scan.test.ts
index 8d37578bcf3..334d0c1c175 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-degraded-scan.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-degraded-scan.test.ts
@@ -218,6 +218,9 @@ describe('daemon pty foreground degraded-scan handling', () => {
 
     await readForegroundAt(handle, 0)
     expect(await readForegroundAt(handle, 120_000)).toBe('claude')
+    // A read returns before the scan it schedules settles, so the hold has to
+    // outlive that scan too -- an unreadable job stays unverifiable at any age.
+    expect(await readForegroundAt(handle, 120_001)).toBe('claude')
   })
 
   it('retires an anchored agent immediately when its pid leaves the job, despite a leftover', async () => {
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-observation-evidence.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-observation-evidence.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..41ca6c9ed10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-observation-evidence.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,312 @@
+// The daemon's synchronous foreground read cannot tell node-pty's silent
+// shell-title fallback from a real idle shell on its own, so a shell-shaped
+// title is only an observation while a completed scan corroborates it. Pins
+// how each scan outcome settles (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md).
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import type * as pty from 'node-pty'
+
+const resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
+vi.mock('../providers/agent-foreground-process', () => ({
+  resolveAgentForegroundProcessWithAvailability: (...args: unknown[]) =>
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock(...args)
+}))
+
+import { createDaemonPtySubprocessHandle } from './pty-subprocess/subprocess-handle'
+import { buildDaemonInspectProcessResult } from './terminal-host-process-evidence'
+import type { ForegroundProcessObservation, SubprocessHandle } from './session-subprocess-handle'
+
+const SHELL_PID = 999_999_517
+// Above the idle-shell refresh throttle (5s) so each read starts a fresh scan.
+const PAST_THE_SCAN_THROTTLE_MS = 6_000
+// Bracket the 30s shell-title corroboration window from both sides.
+const INSIDE_CORROBORATION_WINDOW_MS = 25_000
+const PAST_CORROBORATION_WINDOW_MS = 35_000
+
+describe('daemon foreground observation evidence', () => {
+  let platformDescriptor: PropertyDescriptor | undefined
+  let nodePty: pty.IPty & { process: string }
+  let handle: SubprocessHandle
+  let exitListeners: ((event: { exitCode: number; signal?: number }) => void)[]
+
+  function observe(): ForegroundProcessObservation {
+    const observation = handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+    if (!observation) {
+      throw new Error('handle exposes no foreground evidence channel')
+    }
+    return observation
+  }
+
+  /** The children verdict the completion monitor actually acts on. */
+  function childrenVerdict(observation: ForegroundProcessObservation): string | undefined {
+    return buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(observation).processEvidence?.children.verdict
+  }
+
+  function exitPty(): void {
+    for (const listener of exitListeners) {
+      listener({ exitCode: 0 })
+    }
+  }
+
+  async function readAfterSettledScan(): Promise<ReturnType<
+    NonNullable<SubprocessHandle['observeForegroundProcess']>
+  > | null> {
+    // A read schedules the next scan rather than awaiting one, and the
+    // throttle can swallow the read that follows a scan. Two cycles guarantee
+    // one scan both started and settled under the behavior set by this test.
+    for (let cycle = 0; cycle < 2; cycle++) {
+      handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(PAST_THE_SCAN_THROTTLE_MS)
+    }
+    return handle.observeForegroundProcess?.() ?? null
+  }
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+    platformDescriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, 'platform')
+    Object.defineProperty(process, 'platform', { configurable: true, value: 'darwin' })
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockReset()
+    // Default: a scan that runs and finds no agent. Individual tests override.
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockResolvedValue({ available: true, processName: 'zsh' })
+    exitListeners = []
+    nodePty = {
+      pid: SHELL_PID,
+      process: 'zsh',
+      onData: vi.fn(() => ({ dispose: vi.fn() })),
+      onExit: vi.fn((listener) => {
+        exitListeners.push(listener)
+        return { dispose: vi.fn() }
+      }),
+      write: vi.fn(),
+      resize: vi.fn(),
+      kill: vi.fn()
+    } as unknown as pty.IPty & { process: string }
+    handle = createDaemonPtySubprocessHandle({
+      process: nodePty,
+      shellPath: '/bin/zsh',
+      spawnCwd: '/tmp/wt',
+      env: { PATH: '/usr/bin' },
+      startupCommandDeliveredInShellArgs: false,
+      reportsChildExitStatus: true,
+      requestedCwd: '/tmp/wt',
+      sessionId: 'repo-observe::/tmp/wt@@observe01',
+      startupAgentRecognition: null
+    })
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers()
+    if (platformDescriptor) {
+      Object.defineProperty(process, 'platform', platformDescriptor)
+    }
+    vi.restoreAllMocks()
+  })
+
+  it('withholds observation from a shell title no scan has corroborated', () => {
+    const observation = handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+
+    expect(observation?.processName).toBe('zsh')
+    expect(observation?.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('observes the shell once a completed scan agrees the pane is idle', async () => {
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockResolvedValue({ available: true, processName: 'zsh' })
+
+    const observation = await readAfterSettledScan()
+
+    expect(observation?.processName).toBe('zsh')
+    expect(observation?.evidence).toEqual({ verdict: 'observed', processName: 'zsh' })
+  })
+
+  it('withholds observation when the scan ran but could not answer', async () => {
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockResolvedValue({ available: false, processName: 'zsh' })
+
+    const observation = await readAfterSettledScan()
+
+    expect(observation?.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('withholds observation after a corroborating scan is followed by a thrown one', async () => {
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockResolvedValue({ available: true, processName: 'zsh' })
+    expect((await readAfterSettledScan())?.evidence.verdict).toBe('observed')
+
+    // A scan that rejects observed nothing; the corroboration it would have
+    // refreshed must not be inherited from the last one that succeeded.
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockRejectedValue(new Error('ps fork failed'))
+    const observation = await readAfterSettledScan()
+
+    expect(observation?.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('stops observing a shell title once corroboration ages past the 30s bound', async () => {
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockResolvedValue({ available: true, processName: 'zsh' })
+    expect((await readAfterSettledScan())?.evidence.verdict).toBe('observed')
+
+    // A permanently wedged `ps`: the scan starts and never settles, so nothing
+    // refreshes corroboration and it simply ages out. Brackets the 30s bound on
+    // both sides so widening or removing it fails here.
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockReturnValue(new Promise(() => {}))
+
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(INSIDE_CORROBORATION_WINDOW_MS)
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence.verdict).toBe('observed')
+
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(PAST_CORROBORATION_WINDOW_MS - INSIDE_CORROBORATION_WINDOW_MS)
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('keeps a live agent title an observation without needing a scan', () => {
+    nodePty.process = 'codex'
+
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'observed',
+      processName: 'codex'
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('stops corroborating with a settlement older than an agent the title fast path saw', async () => {
+    // The sync fast path stamps a recognized title without running a scan, so the
+    // last agent-free settlement can still be inside the 30s window while an agent
+    // is running. Corroborating from it publishes a live agent as an idle shell.
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockResolvedValue({ available: true, processName: 'zsh' })
+    expect((await readAfterSettledScan())?.evidence.verdict).toBe('observed')
+
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(2_000)
+    nodePty.process = 'codex'
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'observed',
+      processName: 'codex'
+    })
+
+    // A wedged scan never refreshes the settlement, and node-pty's title read
+    // falls back to the spawned shell while the agent is still running.
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockReturnValue(new Promise(() => {}))
+    nodePty.process = 'zsh'
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(2_000)
+
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('stops corroborating with a snapshot captured before an agent the scan could not see', async () => {
+    // A scan stamps its settlement when it SETTLES, but its process snapshot was taken
+    // when it STARTED. An agent that appears in between is invisible to that snapshot,
+    // so settle-time ordering alone still lets a pre-agent scan corroborate the shell.
+    let settleScan: (value: { available: boolean; processName: string }) => void = () => {}
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockReturnValue(
+      new Promise<{ available: boolean; processName: string }>((resolve) => {
+        settleScan = resolve
+      })
+    )
+    // Starts the agent-free scan; its snapshot is taken now.
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+
+    // The agent starts while that scan is still in flight.
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(2_000)
+    nodePty.process = 'codex'
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'observed',
+      processName: 'codex'
+    })
+
+    // Only now does the pre-agent scan settle, so its `at` is newer than the agent stamp.
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(1_000)
+    settleScan({ available: true, processName: 'zsh' })
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(0)
+
+    // The title degrades back to the shell while the agent is still running.
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockReturnValue(new Promise(() => {}))
+    nodePty.process = 'zsh'
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(2_000)
+
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('does not let a pre-agent scan retire the agent it could not see', async () => {
+    // The settling scan finds no agent and retires the cached identity — but its snapshot
+    // predates that agent. Retiring it hands the same stale scan corroboration by way of
+    // the no-evidence arm, so the guard has to hold on both sides.
+    let settleScan: (value: { available: boolean; processName: string }) => void = () => {}
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockReturnValue(
+      new Promise<{ available: boolean; processName: string }>((resolve) => {
+        settleScan = resolve
+      })
+    )
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(2_000)
+    nodePty.process = 'codex'
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'observed',
+      processName: 'codex'
+    })
+
+    // The title degrades back to the shell BEFORE the pre-agent scan settles, so
+    // retirement sees a shell on both sides and clears the agent evidence.
+    nodePty.process = 'zsh'
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(1_000)
+    settleScan({ available: true, processName: 'zsh' })
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(0)
+
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockReturnValue(new Promise(() => {}))
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(2_000)
+
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('leaves the legacy foreground read identical to the observed name', async () => {
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockResolvedValue({ available: false, processName: 'zsh' })
+    await readAfterSettledScan()
+
+    // The wire's legacy field must not change shape when evidence degrades.
+    expect(handle.getForegroundProcess()).toBe('zsh')
+  })
+
+  it('withholds observation when the title read names nothing usable', () => {
+    // node-pty's POSIX title read reports an empty name when the native read
+    // fails on a live pane, so "no name" is a failed read, not an observed exit.
+    nodePty.process = ''
+
+    const observation = observe()
+
+    expect(observation.processName).toBeNull()
+    expect(observation.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+    expect(childrenVerdict(observation)).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('withholds observation when the title read throws', () => {
+    Object.defineProperty(nodePty, 'process', {
+      configurable: true,
+      get: () => {
+        throw new Error('foreground title read failed')
+      }
+    })
+
+    const observation = observe()
+
+    expect(observation.processName).toBeNull()
+    expect(observation.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+    expect(childrenVerdict(observation)).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('withholds observation after a corroborating scan is followed by an unavailable one', async () => {
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockResolvedValue({ available: true, processName: 'zsh' })
+    expect((await readAfterSettledScan())?.evidence.verdict).toBe('observed')
+
+    // A scan that ran but could not answer is a relay host's normal steady
+    // state. It settles too, so the corroboration it failed to refresh must
+    // retire rather than be inherited from the last scan that succeeded.
+    resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock.mockResolvedValue({ available: false, processName: 'zsh' })
+    const observation = await readAfterSettledScan()
+
+    expect(observation?.evidence.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('observes the exit node-pty itself reported', () => {
+    // The conservative arms must not swallow a real completion: once the host
+    // watched the pty exit, absence is something it observed happen.
+    exitPty()
+
+    const observation = observe()
+
+    expect(observation.evidence).toEqual({ verdict: 'observed', processName: null })
+    expect(childrenVerdict(observation)).toBe('exited')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-shared-snapshot-cache.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-shared-snapshot-cache.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e39f03c5acf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess-foreground-shared-snapshot-cache.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+/**
+ * `getProcessTableSnapshot` is a process-wide 500ms cache shared by every pane
+ * (process-table-snapshot.ts), so a refresh can be answered from a table another pane
+ * captured before this pane's agent existed. The scan's own `startedAt` is the time it
+ * ASKED, not the time the table was read, and both ordering guards in
+ * foreground-identity-refresh compare against it. Driven through the real resolver and
+ * the real cache — a resolver double cannot expose the gap, because the gap is the cache.
+ */
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import type * as pty from 'node-pty'
+import type * as childProcess from 'node:child_process'
+
+const execFileMock = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
+vi.mock('node:child_process', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof childProcess>()
+  return { ...actual, execFile: execFileMock }
+})
+
+import { createDaemonPtySubprocessHandle } from './pty-subprocess/subprocess-handle'
+import { buildDaemonInspectProcessResult } from './terminal-host-process-evidence'
+import type { SubprocessHandle } from './session-subprocess-handle'
+import {
+  getProcessTableSnapshot,
+  resetProcessTableSnapshotForTests
+} from '../../shared/process-table-snapshot'
+
+const SHELL_PID = 999_999_611
+const AGENT_PID = 999_999_612
+const T0 = 1_700_000_000_000
+
+/** A table with the pane's shell and no agent beneath it: available, and idle. */
+const NO_AGENT_TABLE = `${SHELL_PID} 1 Ss+ -zsh\n`
+const WITH_AGENT_TABLE = `${SHELL_PID} 1 Ss -zsh\n${AGENT_PID} ${SHELL_PID} S+ codex\n`
+
+describe('foreground scan answered from another pane s cached snapshot', () => {
+  let platformDescriptor: PropertyDescriptor | undefined
+  let nodePty: pty.IPty & { process: string }
+  let handle: SubprocessHandle
+  let psOutput: string
+
+  /** The verdict the completion monitor acts on. */
+  function childrenVerdict(): string | undefined {
+    const observation = handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+    if (!observation) {
+      throw new Error('handle exposes no foreground evidence channel')
+    }
+    return buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(observation).processEvidence?.children.verdict
+  }
+
+  async function settle(): Promise<void> {
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(0)
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(0)
+  }
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0)
+    resetProcessTableSnapshotForTests()
+    platformDescriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, 'platform')
+    Object.defineProperty(process, 'platform', { configurable: true, value: 'darwin' })
+    psOutput = NO_AGENT_TABLE
+    execFileMock.mockReset()
+    execFileMock.mockImplementation(
+      (
+        _command: string,
+        _args: readonly string[],
+        _options: unknown,
+        callback: (error: null, result: { stdout: string }) => void
+      ) => {
+        callback(null, { stdout: psOutput })
+      }
+    )
+    nodePty = {
+      pid: SHELL_PID,
+      process: 'zsh',
+      onData: vi.fn(() => ({ dispose: vi.fn() })),
+      onExit: vi.fn(() => ({ dispose: vi.fn() })),
+      write: vi.fn(),
+      resize: vi.fn(),
+      kill: vi.fn()
+    } as unknown as pty.IPty & { process: string }
+    handle = createDaemonPtySubprocessHandle({
+      process: nodePty,
+      shellPath: '/bin/zsh',
+      spawnCwd: '/tmp/wt',
+      env: { PATH: '/usr/bin' },
+      startupCommandDeliveredInShellArgs: false,
+      reportsChildExitStatus: true,
+      requestedCwd: '/tmp/wt',
+      sessionId: 'repo-cache::/tmp/wt@@cache01',
+      startupAgentRecognition: null
+    })
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    resetProcessTableSnapshotForTests()
+    vi.useRealTimers()
+    if (platformDescriptor) {
+      Object.defineProperty(process, 'platform', platformDescriptor)
+    }
+    vi.restoreAllMocks()
+  })
+
+  it('does not publish a live agent as an idle shell when the table predates it', async () => {
+    // This pane's own first scan, so its refresh throttle is armed from T0.
+    handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+    await settle()
+    expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+
+    // T0+900: ANOTHER pane scans. Its snapshot — still agent-free — becomes the shared
+    // cache entry, and it is the one this pane will be answered from.
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0 + 900)
+    await getProcessTableSnapshot()
+    expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+
+    // T0+950: the agent starts. The sync title fast path stamps it without any scan.
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0 + 950)
+    psOutput = WITH_AGENT_TABLE
+    nodePty.process = 'codex'
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'observed',
+      processName: 'codex'
+    })
+
+    // T0+1000: node-pty's title read degrades back to the spawned shell, and the pane's
+    // refresh throttle (1s) is up, so a scan runs — and is served the T0+900 table,
+    // which never saw the agent. No third `ps` fork proves the cache answered.
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0 + 1000)
+    nodePty.process = 'zsh'
+    handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+    await settle()
+    expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+
+    // The agent is running. Reporting `exited` here is the completion monitor's cue to
+    // publish the agent as finished.
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0 + 1100)
+    expect(childrenVerdict()).toBe('live')
+  })
+
+  it('does not let a table captured in the agent s own millisecond retire it', async () => {
+    // Same shape, with the cached scan and the agent stamped at the same millisecond.
+    // Date.now() cannot order two events inside one tick, and both guards read that tie as
+    // "the scan is at least as new as the agent" — the one reading that publishes an exit.
+    handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+    await settle()
+    expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+
+    // T0+900: another pane captures an agent-free table, and in that same millisecond the
+    // agent starts and the title fast path stamps it. Neither observed the other.
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0 + 900)
+    await getProcessTableSnapshot()
+    expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+    psOutput = WITH_AGENT_TABLE
+    nodePty.process = 'codex'
+    expect(handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()?.evidence).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'observed',
+      processName: 'codex'
+    })
+
+    // T0+1000: the title read degrades to the shell and the throttle is up, so a scan runs
+    // and is answered from that same-millisecond table. No third fork: the cache answered.
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0 + 1000)
+    nodePty.process = 'zsh'
+    handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+    await settle()
+    expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0 + 1100)
+    expect(childrenVerdict()).toBe('live')
+  })
+
+  it('does not corroborate a shell title with a table from the agent s own millisecond', async () => {
+    // Past the identity's 1s TTL the corroboration guard is what answers, and it faces the
+    // same tie: the only settled scan started in the millisecond the agent was stamped.
+    handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+    await settle()
+
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0 + 900)
+    await getProcessTableSnapshot()
+    psOutput = WITH_AGENT_TABLE
+    nodePty.process = 'codex'
+    handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0 + 1000)
+    nodePty.process = 'zsh'
+    handle.observeForegroundProcess?.()
+    await settle()
+    expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+
+    // T0+2000: the identity is older than its TTL, so the shell title now needs the scan to
+    // corroborate it. That scan cannot: it may never have sampled the agent.
+    vi.setSystemTime(T0 + 2000)
+    expect(childrenVerdict()).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/foreground-identity-refresh.ts b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/foreground-identity-refresh.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..53415f1d3c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/foreground-identity-refresh.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,289 @@
+import type * as pty from 'node-pty'
+import { resolveAgentForegroundProcessWithAvailability } from '../../providers/agent-foreground-process'
+import {
+  judgeCachedAgentJobEvidence,
+  WINDOWS_DETACHED_DESCENDANT_IDENTITY_MAX_AGE_MS
+} from '../../providers/windows-cached-agent-revalidation'
+import {
+  isWindowsPtyJobReadable,
+  readWindowsPtyJobProcessIds
+} from '../../providers/windows-pty-job-membership'
+import {
+  isAgentForegroundWrapperProcess,
+  recognizeAgentProcess
+} from '../../../shared/agent-process-recognition'
+import { shouldInspectOuterWrapperForegroundProcess } from '../../../shared/foreground-wrapper-agent'
+import { isShellProcess } from '../../../shared/shell-process-detection'
+
+export const FOREGROUND_AGENT_CACHE_TTL_MS = 1000
+const SHELL_FOREGROUND_REFRESH_RETRY_MS = 5_000
+const WINDOWS_IDLE_SHELL_FOREGROUND_REFRESH_RETRY_MS = 15_000
+const SHELL_FOREGROUND_OUTPUT_HOT_WINDOW_MS = 10_000
+// Why 30s: comfortably above the slowest idle refresh cadence (15s on Windows)
+// so a healthy idle pane always holds corroboration, while a pane whose scans
+// stopped settling loses shell-exit authority within seconds.
+const SHELL_TITLE_SCAN_CORROBORATION_MAX_AGE_MS = 30_000
+
+// `pid` anchors the identity to the row that proved it (null when ambiguous).
+export type CachedAgentForeground = {
+  processName: string
+  pid: number | null
+  refreshedAt: number
+}
+
+/** Outcome of the most recently settled identity scan. `sawAgent` is only
+ *  meaningful when `available` — an unavailable scan observed nothing.
+ *  `startedAt` dates the process snapshot the scan read; `at` dates the answer. An
+ *  agent that appears between the two is invisible to the snapshot, so ordering
+ *  against other evidence must use `startedAt`. */
+export type ForegroundScanSettlement = {
+  at: number
+  startedAt: number
+  available: boolean
+  sawAgent: boolean
+}
+
+export type ForegroundIdentityState = {
+  cachedAgentForeground: CachedAgentForeground | null
+  startupAgentForeground: { processName: string; expiresAt: number } | null
+  lastScanSettlement: ForegroundScanSettlement | null
+  refreshInFlight: boolean
+  lastRefreshStartedAt: number
+  lastOutputAt: number
+}
+
+export function getActiveStartupAgent(
+  state: ForegroundIdentityState,
+  now = Date.now()
+): { processName: string; expiresAt: number } | null {
+  if (!state.startupAgentForeground) {
+    return null
+  }
+  if (now > state.startupAgentForeground.expiresAt) {
+    state.startupAgentForeground = null
+    return null
+  }
+  return state.startupAgentForeground
+}
+
+/**
+ * A shell-shaped title is exit evidence only when a completed scan agrees the
+ * pane is idle. node-pty's POSIX title read silently falls back to the spawned
+ * shell file when the native read fails, so under the same distress that
+ * degrades the scan, "title == shell" observes nothing — and a scan that last
+ * saw the agent cannot corroborate its absence either.
+ *
+ * `agentEvidence` outdates the settlement: the synchronous title fast path stamps a
+ * recognized agent without running a scan, so an agent-free settlement can still be
+ * inside the window while an agent that started after it is live. Compared against
+ * `startedAt`, not `at` — a scan that settles after the agent appeared still read a
+ * process table from before it.
+ *
+ * Strictly newer, because equal stamps are unordered rather than simultaneous: Date.now()
+ * cannot separate two events inside one millisecond, so a table captured in the agent's own
+ * millisecond may or may not have seen it. Only a scan that demonstrably started after the
+ * agent was stamped can speak for its absence; the tie keeps the agent.
+ */
+export function isShellTitleCorroborated(
+  settlement: ForegroundScanSettlement | null,
+  now: number,
+  agentEvidence: CachedAgentForeground | null
+): boolean {
+  return (
+    settlement !== null &&
+    settlement.available &&
+    !settlement.sawAgent &&
+    now - settlement.at <= SHELL_TITLE_SCAN_CORROBORATION_MAX_AGE_MS &&
+    !agentEvidenceOutdatesScan(agentEvidence, settlement.startedAt)
+  )
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether the pane's agent identity postdates the process table a scan read. Such a scan cannot
+ * speak for that agent's absence: the table it sampled at `scanStartedAt` may never have had the
+ * chance to contain it, so its silence is not an observation.
+ *
+ * Strictly newer, because equal stamps are unordered rather than simultaneous: Date.now() cannot
+ * separate two events inside one millisecond, so a table captured in the agent's own millisecond
+ * may or may not have seen it. An unknown order is not proof of an exit; the tie keeps the agent.
+ */
+export function agentEvidenceOutdatesScan(
+  agentEvidence: CachedAgentForeground | null,
+  scanStartedAt: number
+): boolean {
+  return agentEvidence !== null && agentEvidence.refreshedAt >= scanStartedAt
+}
+
+/**
+ * The throttled async identity scan behind the tracker's synchronous reads:
+ * resolves the pane's real foreground agent through the process table, keeps
+ * or retires the cached identity, and records how its last scan settled so
+ * the sync read can tell an observed idle shell from a degraded read.
+ */
+export function createForegroundIdentityRefresh(args: {
+  process: pty.IPty
+  state: ForegroundIdentityState
+  contextPaths: string[]
+  isDead: () => boolean
+  getFallbackProcess: () => string | null
+  shouldInspectFallback: (fallbackProcess: string | null) => boolean
+}): (fallbackProcess: string | null) => void {
+  const proc = args.process
+  const state = args.state
+  return (fallbackProcess) => {
+    if (args.isDead() || !proc.pid) {
+      return
+    }
+    const fallbackIsShell = fallbackProcess !== null && isShellProcess(fallbackProcess)
+    const fallbackRecognition = recognizeAgentProcess(fallbackProcess)
+    if (
+      !fallbackProcess ||
+      (fallbackRecognition !== null &&
+        !shouldInspectOuterWrapperForegroundProcess(fallbackRecognition)) ||
+      !args.shouldInspectFallback(fallbackProcess)
+    ) {
+      return
+    }
+    const now = Date.now()
+    const idleNoEvidenceShell =
+      fallbackIsShell && !getActiveStartupAgent(state, now) && !state.cachedAgentForeground
+    const retryMs = !idleNoEvidenceShell
+      ? FOREGROUND_AGENT_CACHE_TTL_MS
+      : process.platform === 'win32' &&
+          now - state.lastOutputAt > SHELL_FOREGROUND_OUTPUT_HOT_WINDOW_MS
+        ? WINDOWS_IDLE_SHELL_FOREGROUND_REFRESH_RETRY_MS
+        : SHELL_FOREGROUND_REFRESH_RETRY_MS
+    if (state.refreshInFlight || now - state.lastRefreshStartedAt < retryMs) {
+      return
+    }
+    state.refreshInFlight = true
+    state.lastRefreshStartedAt = now
+    // Why not `now` everywhere below: the POSIX process table is a process-wide cache
+    // shared by every pane, so this scan can be answered from one another pane started
+    // earlier. `now` is when this pane ASKED; the table can be a TTL older, and an agent
+    // that began in between is simply missing from it. Replaced by the measured scan
+    // start once the resolver reports one.
+    let scanStartedAt = now
+    const identityOlderThan = (ms: number): boolean =>
+      state.cachedAgentForeground !== null &&
+      Date.now() - state.cachedAgentForeground.refreshedAt > ms
+    const retireStaleForegroundIdentity = ({ onlyWhenAged = false } = {}): void => {
+      // This scan sampled the process table at `scanStartedAt`; an identity stamped at or
+      // after that is evidence it may never have had a chance to see, so it cannot be retired
+      // on this answer. Equal stamps are unordered, not simultaneous — Date.now() cannot say
+      // which came first inside a millisecond — and an unknown order is not proof of an exit.
+      if (agentEvidenceOutdatesScan(state.cachedAgentForeground, scanStartedAt)) {
+        return
+      }
+      const currentFallbackProcess = args.getFallbackProcess()
+      if (
+        fallbackIsShell &&
+        !getActiveStartupAgent(state) &&
+        currentFallbackProcess !== null &&
+        isShellProcess(currentFallbackProcess) &&
+        (!onlyWhenAged || identityOlderThan(WINDOWS_DETACHED_DESCENDANT_IDENTITY_MAX_AGE_MS))
+      ) {
+        state.cachedAgentForeground = null
+        state.startupAgentForeground = null
+      } else if (
+        identityOlderThan(FOREGROUND_AGENT_CACHE_TTL_MS) &&
+        currentFallbackProcess !== null &&
+        isAgentForegroundWrapperProcess(currentFallbackProcess)
+      ) {
+        state.cachedAgentForeground = null
+      }
+    }
+    const anchor = state.cachedAgentForeground
+    void resolveAgentForegroundProcessWithAvailability(proc.pid, fallbackProcess, {
+      contextPaths: args.contextPaths,
+      ...(anchor?.pid != null
+        ? { anchorProcessId: anchor.pid, anchorProcessName: anchor.processName }
+        : {})
+    })
+      .then<string | void>(
+        ({ processName, processId, available, anchorPidForeign, tableScanStartedAtMs }) => {
+          scanStartedAt = tableScanStartedAtMs ?? now
+          state.lastScanSettlement = {
+            at: Date.now(),
+            startedAt: scanStartedAt,
+            available,
+            sawAgent: available && recognizeAgentProcess(processName) !== null
+          }
+          if (args.isDead() || !available) {
+            return
+          }
+          if (!processName || !recognizeAgentProcess(processName)) {
+            if (
+              process.platform === 'win32' &&
+              fallbackIsShell &&
+              state.cachedAgentForeground !== null
+            ) {
+              // Job, not console: needs no console attachment, so no fork (#10857).
+              const verdict = judgeCachedAgentJobEvidence({
+                jobProcessIds: readWindowsPtyJobProcessIds(proc),
+                jobSupported: isWindowsPtyJobReadable(),
+                shellPid: proc.pid,
+                anchorProcessId: state.cachedAgentForeground.pid,
+                identityAgeMs: Date.now() - state.cachedAgentForeground.refreshedAt
+              })
+              // Unverifiable is never exit proof (ssh-execution-boundary.md): hold.
+              if (verdict === 'unavailable') {
+                return
+              }
+              if (verdict === 'unsupported') {
+                // No job to consult on this build, and the scan that got here was
+                // available and found no agent. Trust it, as every other platform
+                // does, rather than holding a dead name forever (#16059).
+                retireStaleForegroundIdentity()
+                return
+              }
+              if (verdict === 'confirmed' || verdict === 'recheck') {
+                if (anchorPidForeign === true) {
+                  // The scan proved the pid recycled to a non-agent: retire now.
+                  retireStaleForegroundIdentity()
+                  return
+                }
+                // The anchor pid is still in the job: the scan lost the row, not
+                // the agent. Restamp so a live agent never ages out (#9258).
+                state.cachedAgentForeground = {
+                  ...state.cachedAgentForeground,
+                  refreshedAt: Date.now()
+                }
+                return
+              }
+              if (verdict === 'exited' || verdict === 'anchor-exited') {
+                // Safe mid-restart: an available scan already found no agent.
+                retireStaleForegroundIdentity()
+                return
+              }
+              // Unanchored superset evidence cannot tell a working agent from a
+              // leftover; the age bound settles it.
+              retireStaleForegroundIdentity({ onlyWhenAged: true })
+              return
+            }
+            retireStaleForegroundIdentity()
+            return
+          }
+          state.cachedAgentForeground = {
+            processName,
+            pid: processId ?? null,
+            refreshedAt: Date.now()
+          }
+          state.startupAgentForeground = null
+          return processName
+        }
+      )
+      .catch(() => {
+        // Best-effort only: foreground enrichment must never affect PTY health.
+        state.lastScanSettlement = {
+          at: Date.now(),
+          startedAt: scanStartedAt,
+          available: false,
+          sawAgent: false
+        }
+      })
+      .finally(() => {
+        state.refreshInFlight = false
+      })
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/foreground-process-tracker.ts b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/foreground-process-tracker.ts
index 115b795202d..7f281d85514 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/foreground-process-tracker.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/foreground-process-tracker.ts
@@ -2,15 +2,6 @@ import type * as pty from 'node-pty'
 import { getAgentForegroundContextPaths } from '../../providers/agent-foreground-context-paths'
 import { resolveAgentForegroundProcessWithAvailability } from '../../providers/agent-foreground-process'
 import { confirmPtyShellForeground } from './pty-shell-foreground-confirmation'
-import {
-  judgeCachedAgentJobEvidence,
-  WINDOWS_DETACHED_DESCENDANT_IDENTITY_MAX_AGE_MS
-} from '../../providers/windows-cached-agent-revalidation'
-import {
-  isWindowsPtyJobReadable,
-  readWindowsPtyJobProcessIds
-} from '../../providers/windows-pty-job-membership'
-
 import { readWindowsConsoleAttachedProcessIds } from '../../providers/windows-console-attached-processes'
 import {
   isAgentForegroundWrapperProcess,
@@ -24,19 +15,23 @@ import {
 import { isShellProcess } from '../../../shared/shell-process-detection'
 import { resolveFallbackForegroundProcess } from './foreground-fallback-process'
 import { parsePtySessionId } from '../pty-session-id'
+import type { ForegroundProcessObservation } from '../session-subprocess-handle'
+import {
+  createForegroundIdentityRefresh,
+  FOREGROUND_AGENT_CACHE_TTL_MS,
+  agentEvidenceOutdatesScan,
+  getActiveStartupAgent,
+  isShellTitleCorroborated,
+  type ForegroundIdentityState
+} from './foreground-identity-refresh'
 
-const FOREGROUND_AGENT_CACHE_TTL_MS = 1000
-const SHELL_FOREGROUND_REFRESH_RETRY_MS = 5_000
-const WINDOWS_IDLE_SHELL_FOREGROUND_REFRESH_RETRY_MS = 15_000
-const SHELL_FOREGROUND_OUTPUT_HOT_WINDOW_MS = 10_000
 const STARTUP_AGENT_FOREGROUND_BOOTSTRAP_MS = 5_000
 
-type CachedAgentForeground = { processName: string; pid: number | null; refreshedAt: number }
-
 export type PtyForegroundProcessTracker = {
   recordOutput(data: string): void
   markDead(): void
   getForegroundProcess(): string | null
+  observeForegroundProcess(): ForegroundProcessObservation
   confirmForegroundProcess(): Promise<string | null>
   confirmShellForeground(): Promise<boolean>
 }
@@ -50,214 +45,121 @@ export function createPtyForegroundProcessTracker(args: {
   isDead: () => boolean
 }): PtyForegroundProcessTracker {
   const proc = args.process
-  let lastOutputAt = 0
-  // `pid` anchors the identity to the row that proved it (null when ambiguous).
-  let cachedAgentForeground: CachedAgentForeground | null = null
   const contextPaths = getAgentForegroundContextPaths({
     cwd: args.cwd,
     worktreeId: parsePtySessionId(args.sessionId).worktreeId
   })
-  let startupAgentForeground: { processName: string; expiresAt: number } | null =
-    args.startupAgentRecognition
+  const state: ForegroundIdentityState = {
+    cachedAgentForeground: null,
+    startupAgentForeground: args.startupAgentRecognition
       ? {
           processName: args.startupAgentRecognition.processName,
           expiresAt: Date.now() + STARTUP_AGENT_FOREGROUND_BOOTSTRAP_MS
         }
-      : null
-  let foregroundRefreshInFlight = false
-  let lastForegroundRefreshStartedAt = 0
+      : null,
+    lastScanSettlement: null,
+    refreshInFlight: false,
+    lastRefreshStartedAt: 0,
+    lastOutputAt: 0
+  }
   const getFallbackProcess = (): string | null =>
     resolveFallbackForegroundProcess(proc.process, args.shellPath)
-  const getActiveStartupAgent = (
-    now = Date.now()
-  ): { processName: string; expiresAt: number } | null => {
-    if (!startupAgentForeground) {
-      return null
-    }
-    if (now > startupAgentForeground.expiresAt) {
-      startupAgentForeground = null
-      return null
-    }
-    return startupAgentForeground
-  }
   const shouldInspectFallback = (fallbackProcess: string | null): boolean =>
     fallbackProcess !== null &&
     (isShellProcess(fallbackProcess) ||
       isAgentForegroundWrapperProcess(fallbackProcess) ||
       shouldInspectOuterWrapperForegroundName(fallbackProcess) ||
       process.platform !== 'win32')
+  const scheduleRefresh = createForegroundIdentityRefresh({
+    process: proc,
+    state,
+    contextPaths,
+    isDead: args.isDead,
+    getFallbackProcess,
+    shouldInspectFallback
+  })
 
-  const scheduleRefresh = (fallbackProcess: string | null): void => {
-    if (args.isDead() || !proc.pid) {
-      return
+  const observed = (processName: string | null): ForegroundProcessObservation => ({
+    processName,
+    evidence: { verdict: 'observed', processName }
+  })
+  const unverifiable = (
+    processName: string | null,
+    reason: string
+  ): ForegroundProcessObservation => ({
+    processName,
+    evidence: { verdict: 'unverifiable', reason }
+  })
+
+  const observeForegroundProcess = (): ForegroundProcessObservation => {
+    if (args.isDead()) {
+      // The pty's own exit marked death: a host observation, not a failed read.
+      return observed(null)
     }
-    const fallbackIsShell = fallbackProcess !== null && isShellProcess(fallbackProcess)
-    const fallbackRecognition = recognizeAgentProcess(fallbackProcess)
-    if (
-      !fallbackProcess ||
-      (fallbackRecognition !== null &&
-        !shouldInspectOuterWrapperForegroundProcess(fallbackRecognition)) ||
-      !shouldInspectFallback(fallbackProcess)
-    ) {
-      return
-    }
-    const now = Date.now()
-    const idleNoEvidenceShell =
-      fallbackIsShell && !getActiveStartupAgent(now) && !cachedAgentForeground
-    const retryMs = !idleNoEvidenceShell
-      ? FOREGROUND_AGENT_CACHE_TTL_MS
-      : process.platform === 'win32' && now - lastOutputAt > SHELL_FOREGROUND_OUTPUT_HOT_WINDOW_MS
-        ? WINDOWS_IDLE_SHELL_FOREGROUND_REFRESH_RETRY_MS
-        : SHELL_FOREGROUND_REFRESH_RETRY_MS
-    if (foregroundRefreshInFlight || now - lastForegroundRefreshStartedAt < retryMs) {
-      return
-    }
-    foregroundRefreshInFlight = true
-    lastForegroundRefreshStartedAt = now
-    const identityOlderThan = (ms: number): boolean =>
-      cachedAgentForeground !== null && Date.now() - cachedAgentForeground.refreshedAt > ms
-    const retireStaleForegroundIdentity = ({ onlyWhenAged = false } = {}): void => {
-      const currentFallbackProcess = getFallbackProcess()
-      if (
-        fallbackIsShell &&
-        !getActiveStartupAgent() &&
-        currentFallbackProcess !== null &&
-        isShellProcess(currentFallbackProcess) &&
-        (!onlyWhenAged || identityOlderThan(WINDOWS_DETACHED_DESCENDANT_IDENTITY_MAX_AGE_MS))
-      ) {
-        cachedAgentForeground = null
-        startupAgentForeground = null
-      } else if (
-        identityOlderThan(FOREGROUND_AGENT_CACHE_TTL_MS) &&
-        currentFallbackProcess !== null &&
-        isAgentForegroundWrapperProcess(currentFallbackProcess)
-      ) {
-        cachedAgentForeground = null
+    try {
+      const fallbackProcess = getFallbackProcess()
+      const fallbackRecognition = recognizeAgentProcess(fallbackProcess)
+      const inspectOuterWrapper =
+        fallbackRecognition !== null &&
+        shouldInspectOuterWrapperForegroundProcess(fallbackRecognition)
+      if (fallbackProcess && fallbackRecognition && !inspectOuterWrapper) {
+        state.cachedAgentForeground = {
+          processName: fallbackProcess,
+          pid: null,
+          refreshedAt: Date.now()
+        }
+        state.startupAgentForeground = null
+        return observed(fallbackProcess)
       }
+      scheduleRefresh(fallbackProcess)
+      const now = Date.now()
+      if (
+        state.cachedAgentForeground &&
+        now - state.cachedAgentForeground.refreshedAt <= FOREGROUND_AGENT_CACHE_TTL_MS
+      ) {
+        return observed(state.cachedAgentForeground.processName)
+      }
+      if (
+        state.cachedAgentForeground &&
+        fallbackProcess !== null &&
+        (isAgentForegroundWrapperProcess(fallbackProcess) ||
+          inspectOuterWrapper ||
+          (process.platform === 'win32' && isShellProcess(fallbackProcess)))
+      ) {
+        return observed(state.cachedAgentForeground.processName)
+      }
+      const activeStartupAgentForeground = getActiveStartupAgent(state, now)
+      if (fallbackProcess && isShellProcess(fallbackProcess) && activeStartupAgentForeground) {
+        return observed(activeStartupAgentForeground.processName)
+      }
+      if (fallbackProcess === null) {
+        // A successful read that named nothing usable observed nothing.
+        return unverifiable(null, 'pty reported no usable foreground title')
+      }
+      if (
+        isShellProcess(fallbackProcess) &&
+        !isShellTitleCorroborated(state.lastScanSettlement, now, state.cachedAgentForeground)
+      ) {
+        return unverifiable(fallbackProcess, 'shell title without a corroborating foreground scan')
+      }
+      return observed(fallbackProcess)
+    } catch {
+      return unverifiable(null, 'foreground title read threw')
     }
-    const anchor = cachedAgentForeground
-    void resolveAgentForegroundProcessWithAvailability(proc.pid, fallbackProcess, {
-      contextPaths,
-      ...(anchor?.pid != null
-        ? { anchorProcessId: anchor.pid, anchorProcessName: anchor.processName }
-        : {})
-    })
-      .then<string | void>(({ processName, processId, available, anchorPidForeign }) => {
-        if (args.isDead() || !available) {
-          return
-        }
-        if (!processName || !recognizeAgentProcess(processName)) {
-          if (process.platform === 'win32' && fallbackIsShell && cachedAgentForeground !== null) {
-            // Job, not console: needs no console attachment, so no fork (#10857).
-            const verdict = judgeCachedAgentJobEvidence({
-              jobProcessIds: readWindowsPtyJobProcessIds(proc),
-              jobSupported: isWindowsPtyJobReadable(),
-              shellPid: proc.pid,
-              anchorProcessId: cachedAgentForeground.pid,
-              identityAgeMs: Date.now() - cachedAgentForeground.refreshedAt
-            })
-            // Unverifiable is never exit proof (ssh-execution-boundary.md): hold.
-            if (verdict === 'unavailable') {
-              return
-            }
-            if (verdict === 'unsupported') {
-              // No job to consult on this build, and the scan that got here was
-              // available and found no agent. Trust it, as every other platform
-              // does, rather than holding a dead name forever (#16059).
-              retireStaleForegroundIdentity()
-              return
-            }
-            if (verdict === 'confirmed' || verdict === 'recheck') {
-              if (anchorPidForeign === true) {
-                // The scan proved the pid recycled to a non-agent: retire now.
-                retireStaleForegroundIdentity()
-                return
-              }
-              // The anchor pid is still in the job: the scan lost the row, not
-              // the agent. Restamp so a live agent never ages out (#9258).
-              cachedAgentForeground = { ...cachedAgentForeground, refreshedAt: Date.now() }
-              return
-            }
-            if (verdict === 'exited' || verdict === 'anchor-exited') {
-              // Safe mid-restart: an available scan already found no agent.
-              retireStaleForegroundIdentity()
-              return
-            }
-            // Unanchored superset evidence cannot tell a working agent from a
-            // leftover; the age bound settles it.
-            retireStaleForegroundIdentity({ onlyWhenAged: true })
-            return
-          }
-          retireStaleForegroundIdentity()
-          return
-        }
-        cachedAgentForeground = { processName, pid: processId ?? null, refreshedAt: Date.now() }
-        startupAgentForeground = null
-        return processName
-      })
-      .catch(() => {
-        // Best-effort only: foreground enrichment must never affect PTY health.
-      })
-      .finally(() => {
-        foregroundRefreshInFlight = false
-      })
   }
 
   return {
     recordOutput: (data) => {
       if (data.length > 0) {
-        lastOutputAt = Date.now()
+        state.lastOutputAt = Date.now()
       }
     },
     markDead: () => {
-      cachedAgentForeground = null
-      startupAgentForeground = null
-    },
-    getForegroundProcess: () => {
-      if (args.isDead()) {
-        return null
-      }
-      try {
-        const fallbackProcess = getFallbackProcess()
-        const fallbackRecognition = recognizeAgentProcess(fallbackProcess)
-        const inspectOuterWrapper =
-          fallbackRecognition !== null &&
-          shouldInspectOuterWrapperForegroundProcess(fallbackRecognition)
-        if (fallbackProcess && fallbackRecognition && !inspectOuterWrapper) {
-          cachedAgentForeground = {
-            processName: fallbackProcess,
-            pid: null,
-            refreshedAt: Date.now()
-          }
-          startupAgentForeground = null
-          return fallbackProcess
-        }
-        scheduleRefresh(fallbackProcess)
-        const now = Date.now()
-        if (
-          cachedAgentForeground &&
-          now - cachedAgentForeground.refreshedAt <= FOREGROUND_AGENT_CACHE_TTL_MS
-        ) {
-          return cachedAgentForeground.processName
-        }
-        if (
-          cachedAgentForeground &&
-          fallbackProcess !== null &&
-          (isAgentForegroundWrapperProcess(fallbackProcess) ||
-            inspectOuterWrapper ||
-            (process.platform === 'win32' && isShellProcess(fallbackProcess)))
-        ) {
-          return cachedAgentForeground.processName
-        }
-        const activeStartupAgentForeground = getActiveStartupAgent(now)
-        if (fallbackProcess && isShellProcess(fallbackProcess) && activeStartupAgentForeground) {
-          return activeStartupAgentForeground.processName
-        }
-        return fallbackProcess
-      } catch {
-        return null
-      }
+      state.cachedAgentForeground = null
+      state.startupAgentForeground = null
     },
+    getForegroundProcess: () => observeForegroundProcess().processName,
+    observeForegroundProcess,
     confirmForegroundProcess: async () => {
       if (args.isDead() || !proc.pid) {
         return null
@@ -274,6 +176,10 @@ export function createPtyForegroundProcessTracker(args: {
         ) {
           return fallbackProcess
         }
+        // Why stamped before the call: the POSIX table is a process-wide cache, so this answer
+        // can come from a scan another pane started. Replaced by the measured scan start when
+        // the resolver reports one; this is only the floor for the Windows path, which has none.
+        const scanRequestedAt = Date.now()
         const resolution = await resolveAgentForegroundProcessWithAvailability(
           proc.pid,
           fallbackProcess,
@@ -294,16 +200,26 @@ export function createPtyForegroundProcessTracker(args: {
         }
         const recognized = recognizeAgentProcess(resolution.processName)
         if (recognized) {
-          cachedAgentForeground = {
+          state.cachedAgentForeground = {
             processName: recognized.processName,
             pid: resolution.processId ?? null,
             refreshedAt: Date.now()
           }
-          startupAgentForeground = null
+          state.startupAgentForeground = null
           return recognized.processName
         }
-        cachedAgentForeground = null
-        startupAgentForeground = null
+        // An agent recognized while this scan was in flight is evidence the scan's table could
+        // not have held, so this answer may not retire it — and retiring it would also strip the
+        // shell-title corroboration gate of the very evidence that holds it closed.
+        if (
+          !agentEvidenceOutdatesScan(
+            state.cachedAgentForeground,
+            resolution.tableScanStartedAtMs ?? scanRequestedAt
+          )
+        ) {
+          state.cachedAgentForeground = null
+          state.startupAgentForeground = null
+        }
         return resolution.processName
       } catch {
         return null
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/subprocess-handle.ts b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/subprocess-handle.ts
index e2abd59c6ea..fdbf438ab79 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/subprocess-handle.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/subprocess-handle.ts
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ export function createDaemonPtySubprocessHandle(args: {
       ? { startupCommandDeliveredInShellArgs: true }
       : {}),
     getForegroundProcess: foreground.getForegroundProcess,
+    observeForegroundProcess: foreground.observeForegroundProcess,
     confirmForegroundProcess: foreground.confirmForegroundProcess,
     confirmShellForeground: foreground.confirmShellForeground,
     write: (data) => {
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/session-subprocess-handle.ts b/src/main/daemon/session-subprocess-handle.ts
index f14469afbb4..5095f72d401 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/session-subprocess-handle.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/session-subprocess-handle.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,26 @@
 import type { TerminalExitCause } from '../../shared/terminal-exit-cause'
+import type { PtyForegroundProcessEvidence } from '../../shared/pty-process-inspection-evidence'
 
 import type { JobTerminationOutcome } from '../windows/windows-pty-job'
 
+/** A foreground read plus the evidence verdict behind it. `processName` keeps
+ *  the exact legacy collapse every existing caller sees; the evidence says
+ *  whether anything actually observed the pane, so a degraded read is never
+ *  exit evidence (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md). */
+export type ForegroundProcessObservation = {
+  processName: string | null
+  evidence: PtyForegroundProcessEvidence
+}
+
 export type SubprocessHandle = {
   pid: number
   /** Live foreground process name of the PTY (node-pty's `.process`), e.g.
    *  'claude' / 'codex' / 'zsh'. Null once the child has exited. */
   getForegroundProcess(): string | null
+  /** getForegroundProcess plus the evidence verdict behind the read. Optional so
+   *  a handle that cannot report evidence reads as `unverifiable` (Session's
+   *  fallback) rather than as an observation — the conservative arm. */
+  observeForegroundProcess?(): ForegroundProcessObservation
   /** Await process-table evidence captured after this confirmation request. */
   confirmForegroundProcess?(): Promise<string | null>
   /** Proves a fresh post-boundary PTY process tree contains only the shell. */
@@ -44,3 +58,22 @@ export type SubprocessHandle = {
   /** Release the native PTY handle via node-pty's destroy(). Idempotent; safe to call after exit. */
   dispose(): void
 }
+
+/** Read a handle's foreground observation. A handle with no evidence channel
+ *  proves nothing about the pane, so it reads as `unverifiable` rather than as
+ *  an observation (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md). */
+export function observeSubprocessForeground(
+  subprocess: Pick<SubprocessHandle, 'getForegroundProcess' | 'observeForegroundProcess'>
+): ForegroundProcessObservation {
+  const observe = subprocess.observeForegroundProcess
+  if (observe) {
+    return observe.call(subprocess)
+  }
+  return {
+    processName: subprocess.getForegroundProcess(),
+    evidence: {
+      verdict: 'unverifiable',
+      reason: 'subprocess handle reports no foreground evidence'
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/session.ts b/src/main/daemon/session.ts
index b0f1dfa538d..6cdb544b001 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/session.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/session.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ import {
   SessionTerminationController,
   IMMEDIATE_KILL_PHYSICAL_EXIT_TIMEOUT_MS
 } from './session-termination-controller'
-import type { SubprocessHandle } from './session-subprocess-handle'
+import { observeSubprocessForeground } from './session-subprocess-handle'
+import type { ForegroundProcessObservation, SubprocessHandle } from './session-subprocess-handle'
 import type { JobTerminationOutcome } from '../windows/windows-pty-job'
 import type { SessionOptions } from './session-options'
 import type { TuiAgent } from '../../shared/tui-agent'
@@ -252,8 +253,8 @@ export class Session {
     return this.output.getCwd()
   }
 
-  getForegroundProcess(): string | null {
-    return this.subprocess.getForegroundProcess()
+  observeForegroundProcess(): ForegroundProcessObservation {
+    return observeSubprocessForeground(this.subprocess)
   }
 
   async confirmForegroundProcess(): Promise<string | null> {
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/terminal-host-inspection-degraded-handle.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/terminal-host-inspection-degraded-handle.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7cdb0b5fe95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/daemon/terminal-host-inspection-degraded-handle.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+// A subprocess handle with no evidence channel proves nothing about the pane.
+// Session must read it as `unverifiable` rather than letting the legacy
+// foreground collapse reach the completion monitor as an observation
+// (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md).
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { TerminalHost } from './terminal-host'
+import type { SubprocessHandle } from './session-subprocess-handle'
+
+vi.mock('../pty-descendant-termination', () => ({ killWithDescendantSweep: vi.fn() }))
+
+function createEvidencelessSubprocess(readForeground: () => string | null): SubprocessHandle {
+  let onExitCb: ((code: number) => void) | null = null
+  return {
+    pid: 999_999_412,
+    getForegroundProcess: readForeground,
+    write: vi.fn(),
+    resize: vi.fn(),
+    kill: vi.fn(() => setTimeout(() => onExitCb?.(0), 5)),
+    terminateOwnedTree: () => 'unavailable' as const,
+    forceKill: vi.fn(() => onExitCb?.(137)),
+    signal: vi.fn(),
+    onData: vi.fn(),
+    onExit(cb) {
+      onExitCb = cb
+    },
+    dispose: vi.fn()
+  } as unknown as SubprocessHandle
+}
+
+describe('daemon inspection of a handle that cannot report evidence', () => {
+  const SESSION_ID = 'repo-degraded-handle::/tmp/wt@@degraded01'
+  let host: TerminalHost
+  let platformDescriptor: PropertyDescriptor | undefined
+  let foreground: string | null
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    platformDescriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, 'platform')
+    Object.defineProperty(process, 'platform', { configurable: true, value: 'linux' })
+    foreground = 'zsh'
+    host = new TerminalHost({
+      spawnSubprocess: () => createEvidencelessSubprocess(() => foreground)
+    })
+    await host.createOrAttach({
+      sessionId: SESSION_ID,
+      cols: 80,
+      rows: 24,
+      streamClient: { onData: vi.fn(), onExit: vi.fn() }
+    })
+  })
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    await host.dispose()
+    if (platformDescriptor) {
+      Object.defineProperty(process, 'platform', platformDescriptor)
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('publishes unverifiable evidence beside the unchanged legacy fields', () => {
+    const result = host.inspectProcess(SESSION_ID)
+
+    expect(result.foregroundProcess).toBe('zsh')
+    expect(result.hasChildProcesses).toBe(false)
+    expect(result.processEvidence?.foreground.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+    expect(result.processEvidence?.children.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('does not upgrade a named agent to observed either', () => {
+    // The conservative arm cuts both ways: an unverifiable read cannot prove
+    // the agent is live any more than it can prove it exited.
+    foreground = 'codex'
+    const result = host.inspectProcess(SESSION_ID)
+
+    expect(result.hasChildProcesses).toBe(true)
+    expect(result.processEvidence?.foreground.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+    expect(result.processEvidence?.children.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+  })
+
+  it('leaves the legacy foreground read untouched', () => {
+    expect(host.getForegroundProcess(SESSION_ID)).toBe('zsh')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/terminal-host-process-evidence.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/terminal-host-process-evidence.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4dfa89389de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/daemon/terminal-host-process-evidence.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+// Pins the direction every arm of the daemon inspection collapse falls in: a
+// foreground read that observed nothing must reach the caller as
+// `unverifiable`, never as the `exited` the completion monitor acts on
+// (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md).
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { buildDaemonInspectProcessResult } from './terminal-host-process-evidence'
+import type { ForegroundProcessObservation } from './session-subprocess-handle'
+
+function observed(processName: string | null): ForegroundProcessObservation {
+  return { processName, evidence: { verdict: 'observed', processName } }
+}
+
+function unverifiable(processName: string | null, reason: string): ForegroundProcessObservation {
+  return { processName, evidence: { verdict: 'unverifiable', reason } }
+}
+
+describe('buildDaemonInspectProcessResult', () => {
+  it('reports a degraded read as unverifiable on both probes, never as an exit', () => {
+    const result = buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(unverifiable('zsh', 'scan never settled'))
+
+    expect(result.processEvidence?.foreground).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'unverifiable',
+      reason: 'scan never settled'
+    })
+    expect(result.processEvidence?.children).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'unverifiable',
+      reason: 'scan never settled'
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('keeps the legacy fields byte-identical to the pre-evidence collapse', () => {
+    // The exact payload an old client still receives: a degraded read publishes
+    // the shell title it fell back to and hasChildProcesses:false. Only the
+    // additive evidence field distinguishes it from an observed idle shell.
+    const degraded = buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(unverifiable('zsh', 'scan never settled'))
+    expect(degraded.foregroundProcess).toBe('zsh')
+    expect(degraded.hasChildProcesses).toBe(false)
+
+    const live = buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(observed('codex'))
+    expect(live.foregroundProcess).toBe('codex')
+    expect(live.hasChildProcesses).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('calls children live only when the observation named a non-shell process', () => {
+    expect(buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(observed('codex')).processEvidence?.children).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'live'
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('calls children exited only on a positive observation of an idle pane', () => {
+    expect(buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(observed('zsh')).processEvidence?.children).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'exited'
+    })
+    // The host watched the pty die: absence it observed itself.
+    expect(buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(observed(null)).processEvidence?.children).toEqual({
+      verdict: 'exited'
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('never lets the children verdict outrank an unverifiable foreground', () => {
+    // An agent name carried by a read nothing corroborated is still not proof
+    // the agent is live, and a shell name is still not proof it exited.
+    for (const name of ['codex', 'zsh', null]) {
+      const children = buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(unverifiable(name, 'title read threw'))
+        .processEvidence?.children
+      expect(children?.verdict).toBe('unverifiable')
+    }
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/terminal-host-process-evidence.ts b/src/main/daemon/terminal-host-process-evidence.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..990d82b1015
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/daemon/terminal-host-process-evidence.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import { isShellProcess } from '../../shared/agent-detection'
+import type { PtyChildProcessesEvidence } from '../../shared/pty-process-inspection-evidence'
+import type { PtyProcessInspection } from '../providers/pty-process-inspection'
+import type { ForegroundProcessObservation } from './session-subprocess-handle'
+
+/**
+ * Wire result for the daemon 'inspectProcess' request. The legacy fields keep
+ * the exact pre-evidence collapse (a degraded read still publishes the shell
+ * title it fell back to); only the optional `processEvidence` distinguishes
+ * "observed idle" from "could not ask", so a degraded read is never exit
+ * evidence (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md). The field is additive:
+ * older app clients ignore it and see byte-identical content.
+ */
+export function buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(
+  observation: ForegroundProcessObservation
+): PtyProcessInspection {
+  const foregroundProcess = observation.processName
+  return {
+    foregroundProcess,
+    hasChildProcesses: foregroundProcess !== null && !isShellProcess(foregroundProcess),
+    processEvidence: {
+      foreground: observation.evidence,
+      children: deriveChildProcessesEvidence(observation)
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/** A daemon pane's only child signal IS the foreground observation, so the
+ *  children verdict can never outrank the foreground's. Observed null means
+ *  the host itself watched the pane die — positive absence, not a failure. */
+function deriveChildProcessesEvidence(
+  observation: ForegroundProcessObservation
+): PtyChildProcessesEvidence {
+  if (observation.evidence.verdict !== 'observed') {
+    return { verdict: 'unverifiable', reason: observation.evidence.reason }
+  }
+  const processName = observation.evidence.processName
+  if (processName !== null && !isShellProcess(processName)) {
+    return { verdict: 'live' }
+  }
+  return { verdict: 'exited' }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/terminal-host.ts b/src/main/daemon/terminal-host.ts
index f85980b5453..8fd1ed2f105 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/terminal-host.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/terminal-host.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ import { resolveTerminalHostSessionCwd } from './terminal-host-session-cwd'
 import { TerminalHostTombstones } from './terminal-host-tombstones'
 import { listLiveTerminalHostSessions } from './terminal-host-session-listing'
 import { createOrAttachTerminalSession } from './terminal-host-session-create'
-import { isShellProcess } from '../../shared/agent-detection'
+import { buildDaemonInspectProcessResult } from './terminal-host-process-evidence'
+import type { PtyProcessInspection } from '../providers/pty-process-inspection'
 import { TerminalAttachCanceledError } from './daemon-errors'
 
 export type { CreateOrAttachOptions, CreateOrAttachResult } from './terminal-host-create-contract'
@@ -211,18 +212,13 @@ export class TerminalHost {
     if (!session || !session.isAlive) {
       return null
     }
-    return session.getForegroundProcess()
+    return session.observeForegroundProcess().processName
   }
 
-  inspectProcess(sessionId: string): {
-    foregroundProcess: string | null
-    hasChildProcesses: boolean
-  } {
-    const foregroundProcess = this.getAliveSession(sessionId).getForegroundProcess()
-    return {
-      foregroundProcess,
-      hasChildProcesses: foregroundProcess !== null && !isShellProcess(foregroundProcess)
-    }
+  inspectProcess(sessionId: string): PtyProcessInspection {
+    return buildDaemonInspectProcessResult(
+      this.getAliveSession(sessionId).observeForegroundProcess()
+    )
   }
 
   async confirmForegroundProcess(sessionId: string): Promise<string | null> {
diff --git a/src/main/providers/agent-foreground-process-snapshot-availability.test.ts b/src/main/providers/agent-foreground-process-snapshot-availability.test.ts
index 3331f4409b7..a6a20bd0921 100644
--- a/src/main/providers/agent-foreground-process-snapshot-availability.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/providers/agent-foreground-process-snapshot-availability.test.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ function mockPs(stdout: string): void {
   })
 }
 
+const SCAN_AT_MS = 1_700_000_000_000
+
 /** A cached snapshot that never contained the pane observed nothing about it:
  *  it must degrade (`available: false`) instead of reading as "no agent". */
 describe('cached snapshot pane availability', () => {
@@ -50,11 +52,21 @@ describe('cached snapshot pane availability', () => {
   })
 
   it('still scans a cached snapshot that has the pane children but lost the shell row', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+    vi.setSystemTime(SCAN_AT_MS)
     mockPs('101 100 S+ node /Users/dev/.nvm/versions/node/bin/codex')
 
-    await expect(resolveAgentForegroundProcessWithAvailability(100, 'node')).resolves.toEqual({
-      available: true,
-      processName: 'codex'
-    })
+    try {
+      await expect(resolveAgentForegroundProcessWithAvailability(100, 'node')).resolves.toEqual({
+        available: true,
+        processName: 'codex',
+        // The scan's own start travels with the rows. A pane served this snapshot from
+        // the shared cache asks later than this, so it must order the table by when the
+        // table was read — its own clock would claim the rows are newer than they are.
+        tableScanStartedAtMs: SCAN_AT_MS
+      })
+    } finally {
+      vi.useRealTimers()
+    }
   })
 })
diff --git a/src/main/providers/agent-foreground-process.ts b/src/main/providers/agent-foreground-process.ts
index 089630d18b8..89788bdd3f2 100644
--- a/src/main/providers/agent-foreground-process.ts
+++ b/src/main/providers/agent-foreground-process.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ import { recognizeAgentProcessFromCommandLine } from '../../shared/agent-process
 import { resolveOuterWrapperForegroundProcess } from '../../shared/foreground-wrapper-agent'
 import {
   getFreshProcessTableSnapshot,
-  getProcessTableSnapshot,
+  getFreshProcessTableSnapshotProvenance,
+  getProcessTableSnapshotProvenance,
   type ProcessTableRow
 } from '../../shared/process-table-snapshot'
 import {
@@ -25,6 +26,10 @@ export type AgentForegroundProcessResolution = {
   processId?: number
   /** Windows: the scan proved the caller's `anchorProcessId` is now a non-agent. */
   anchorPidForeign?: boolean
+  /** When the scan behind this answer began. Present only for POSIX process-table
+   *  reads, which share a process-wide cache: the caller's own clock can be up to a
+   *  TTL newer than the table it was handed, so ordering must use this instead. */
+  tableScanStartedAtMs?: number
 }
 
 type ShellForegroundConfirmationOptions = {
@@ -167,9 +172,9 @@ export async function resolveAgentForegroundProcessWithAvailability(
   }
 
   try {
-    const rows = options.fresh
-      ? await getFreshProcessTableSnapshot()
-      : await getProcessTableSnapshot()
+    const { value: rows, scanStartedAtMs } = options.fresh
+      ? await getFreshProcessTableSnapshotProvenance()
+      : await getProcessTableSnapshotProvenance()
     if (options.fresh && !rows.some((row) => row.pid === shellPid)) {
       return { available: false, processName: fallbackProcess }
     }
@@ -181,7 +186,8 @@ export async function resolveAgentForegroundProcessWithAvailability(
     }
     return {
       available: true,
-      processName: resolveAgentForegroundProcessFromPs(rows, shellPid) ?? fallbackProcess
+      processName: resolveAgentForegroundProcessFromPs(rows, shellPid) ?? fallbackProcess,
+      tableScanStartedAtMs: scanStartedAtMs
     }
   } catch {
     // Why: a failed scan cannot prove fallback ownership; callers retain the last recognized agent.
diff --git a/src/shared/process-table-snapshot.ts b/src/shared/process-table-snapshot.ts
index 9827d1e8523..7a349f207c4 100644
--- a/src/shared/process-table-snapshot.ts
+++ b/src/shared/process-table-snapshot.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export function parseProcessTableRows(stdout: string): ProcessTableRow[] {
   return rows
 }
 
-type Snapshot<T> = { value: T; capturedAtMs: number }
+type Snapshot<T> = { value: T; capturedAtMs: number; scanStartedAtMs: number }
 
 type ProcessTableSnapshotReaderDeps<T> = {
   runPs: () => Promise<T>
@@ -71,23 +71,30 @@ export function createProcessTableSnapshotReader<T = string>(
 ): {
   getSnapshot: () => Promise<T>
   getFreshSnapshot: () => Promise<T>
+  getSnapshotProvenance: () => Promise<Snapshot<T>>
+  getFreshSnapshotProvenance: () => Promise<Snapshot<T>>
   reset: () => void
 } {
   const ttlMs = deps.ttlMs ?? DEFAULT_SNAPSHOT_TTL_MS
   let cached: Snapshot<T> | null = null
-  let inFlight: Promise<T> | null = null
+  let inFlight: Promise<Snapshot<T>> | null = null
   let sequence = 0
-  let freshQueued: { promise: Promise<T>; startSequence: number | null } | null = null
+  let freshQueued: { promise: Promise<Snapshot<T>>; startSequence: number | null } | null = null
 
-  async function runSnapshot(): Promise<T> {
-    const promise = deps.runPs()
+  async function runSnapshot(): Promise<Snapshot<T>> {
+    // Why both stamps: TTL reuse must not hand back a snapshot already older than
+    // its window, so freshness dates the answer. But ordering this table against
+    // other evidence needs the earliest moment it could have been read — a process
+    // that started after the scan began may be missing from it either way.
+    const scanStartedAtMs = deps.now()
+    const promise = deps.runPs().then((value) => {
+      const snapshot: Snapshot<T> = { value, capturedAtMs: deps.now(), scanStartedAtMs }
+      cached = snapshot
+      return snapshot
+    })
     inFlight = promise
     try {
-      const value = await promise
-      // Why: stamp capture time AFTER the scan returns so a slow scan can't
-      // hand back a snapshot that is already older than its TTL.
-      cached = { value, capturedAtMs: deps.now() }
-      return value
+      return await promise
     } finally {
       if (inFlight === promise) {
         inFlight = null
@@ -95,9 +102,9 @@ export function createProcessTableSnapshotReader<T = string>(
     }
   }
 
-  async function getSnapshot(): Promise<T> {
+  async function getSnapshot(): Promise<Snapshot<T>> {
     if (cached && deps.now() - cached.capturedAtMs < ttlMs) {
-      return cached.value
+      return cached
     }
     if (inFlight) {
       return inFlight
@@ -110,14 +117,14 @@ export function createProcessTableSnapshotReader<T = string>(
     return runSnapshot()
   }
 
-  function getFreshSnapshot(): Promise<T> {
+  function getFreshSnapshot(): Promise<Snapshot<T>> {
     const requestSequence = ++sequence
     if (freshQueued?.startSequence === null) {
       return freshQueued.promise
     }
     const priorFresh = freshQueued?.promise ?? null
     const priorScan = inFlight
-    const entry: { promise: Promise<T>; startSequence: number | null } = {
+    const entry: { promise: Promise<Snapshot<T>>; startSequence: number | null } = {
       promise: Promise.resolve(undefined as never),
       startSequence: null
     }
@@ -152,8 +159,11 @@ export function createProcessTableSnapshotReader<T = string>(
   }
 
   return {
-    getSnapshot,
-    getFreshSnapshot,
+    getSnapshot: async () => (await getSnapshot()).value,
+    getFreshSnapshot: async () => (await getFreshSnapshot()).value,
+    /** The same reads, with the provenance an ordering comparison needs. */
+    getSnapshotProvenance: getSnapshot,
+    getFreshSnapshotProvenance: getFreshSnapshot,
     // Why: lets tests that mock `ps` per case clear the cross-call cache so one
     // case's snapshot can't satisfy the next within the TTL window.
     reset: () => {
@@ -193,6 +203,21 @@ export function getFreshProcessTableSnapshot(): Promise<ProcessTableRow[]> {
   return defaultReader.getFreshSnapshot()
 }
 
+export type ProcessTableSnapshotProvenance = {
+  value: ProcessTableRow[]
+  /** When the scan behind these rows began. A pane reading a cached snapshot asked
+   *  later than this, so its own clock overstates how current the table is. */
+  scanStartedAtMs: number
+}
+
+export function getProcessTableSnapshotProvenance(): Promise<ProcessTableSnapshotProvenance> {
+  return defaultReader.getSnapshotProvenance()
+}
+
+export function getFreshProcessTableSnapshotProvenance(): Promise<ProcessTableSnapshotProvenance> {
+  return defaultReader.getFreshSnapshotProvenance()
+}
+
 /**
  * Test-only: clear the shared snapshot cache so suites that mock `ps` between
  * cases don't have one case's snapshot served to the next within the TTL.
diff --git a/tests/e2e/daemon-completion-evidence/daemon-inspection-evidence-wire.unit.test.ts b/tests/e2e/daemon-completion-evidence/daemon-inspection-evidence-wire.unit.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..378efdcebf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/daemon-completion-evidence/daemon-inspection-evidence-wire.unit.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { rmSync } from 'node:fs'
+import type * as pty from 'node-pty'
+
+const { execFileMock, execFileSyncMock, killWithDescendantSweepMock, forceKillPosixMock } =
+  vi.hoisted(() => ({
+    execFileMock: vi.fn(),
+    execFileSyncMock: vi.fn(),
+    killWithDescendantSweepMock: vi.fn(),
+    forceKillPosixMock: vi.fn()
+  }))
+
+// The identity scan's `ps -axo` fork; scripted to fail so no scan can settle.
+vi.mock('child_process', () => ({
+  execFile: execFileMock,
+  execFileSync: execFileSyncMock
+}))
+
+vi.mock('../../../src/main/pty-descendant-termination', () => ({
+  killWithDescendantSweep: killWithDescendantSweepMock
+}))
+
+// Teardown escalation must never signal a real process group from a test.
+vi.mock('../../../src/main/pty/posix-pty-process-groups', () => ({
+  forceKillPosixPtyProcessGroups: forceKillPosixMock
+}))
+
+import { createDaemonPtySubprocessHandle } from '../../../src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/subprocess-handle'
+import {
+  startDaemonAdapterHarness,
+  type DaemonAdapterHarness
+} from '../../../src/main/daemon/daemon-pty-adapter-test-harness'
+import { inspectPtyProviderProcessForRenderer } from '../../../src/main/providers/pty-process-inspection'
+
+/**
+ * The daemon inspection evidence must survive the REAL wire: DaemonServer →
+ * request router → JSON socket → DaemonPtyAdapter. The sibling suite proves
+ * the monitor consequences in-process; this one proves the `processEvidence`
+ * field actually crosses the daemon protocol, beside byte-identical legacy
+ * fields, on the exact socket a macOS daemon pane uses.
+ */
+describe('daemon inspection evidence over the daemon socket', () => {
+  const SHELL_PID = 999_999_311
+  const AGENT_SESSION_ID = 'repo-daemon-wire::/tmp/wt@@wire0001'
+  const SHELL_SESSION_ID = 'repo-daemon-wire::/tmp/wt@@wire0002'
+
+  type MockNodePty = pty.IPty & { process: string; _fireExit: (exitCode: number) => void }
+
+  function createMockNodePtyProcess(): MockNodePty {
+    const exitListeners: ((e: { exitCode: number; signal?: number }) => void)[] = []
+    const proc = {
+      pid: SHELL_PID,
+      cols: 80,
+      rows: 24,
+      process: 'codex',
+      handleFlowControl: false,
+      onData: vi.fn(() => ({ dispose: vi.fn() })),
+      onExit: vi.fn((cb: (e: { exitCode: number; signal?: number }) => void) => {
+        exitListeners.push(cb)
+        return { dispose: vi.fn() }
+      }),
+      write: vi.fn(),
+      resize: vi.fn(),
+      clear: vi.fn(),
+      pause: vi.fn(),
+      resume: vi.fn(),
+      kill: vi.fn(() => {
+        setTimeout(() => proc._fireExit(0), 5)
+      }),
+      _fireExit: (exitCode: number) => {
+        exitListeners.forEach((cb) => cb({ exitCode, signal: 0 }))
+      }
+    }
+    return proc as unknown as MockNodePty
+  }
+
+  let harness: DaemonAdapterHarness
+  let procsBySession: Map<string, MockNodePty>
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    execFileMock.mockReset()
+    execFileMock.mockImplementation(
+      (_command: string, _args: string[], _opts: unknown, cb: unknown) => {
+        ;(cb as (err: Error | null, result: { stdout: string; stderr: string }) => void)(
+          new Error('ps unavailable in wire test'),
+          { stdout: '', stderr: '' }
+        )
+      }
+    )
+    killWithDescendantSweepMock.mockReset()
+    killWithDescendantSweepMock.mockResolvedValue(undefined)
+    forceKillPosixMock.mockReset()
+    procsBySession = new Map()
+    forceKillPosixMock.mockImplementation(() => {
+      setTimeout(() => procsBySession.forEach((proc) => proc._fireExit(137)), 1)
+    })
+    harness = await startDaemonAdapterHarness((opts) => {
+      const proc = createMockNodePtyProcess()
+      proc.process = opts.sessionId === AGENT_SESSION_ID ? 'codex' : 'zsh'
+      procsBySession.set(opts.sessionId, proc)
+      return createDaemonPtySubprocessHandle({
+        process: proc,
+        shellPath: '/bin/zsh',
+        spawnCwd: '/tmp/wt',
+        env: { PATH: '/usr/bin' },
+        startupCommandDeliveredInShellArgs: false,
+        reportsChildExitStatus: true,
+        requestedCwd: '/tmp/wt',
+        sessionId: opts.sessionId,
+        startupAgentRecognition: null
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    harness.adapter?.dispose()
+    await harness.server?.shutdown()
+    rmSync(harness.dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    vi.restoreAllMocks()
+  })
+
+  it('carries observed and unverifiable evidence across the socket, legacy fields intact', async () => {
+    const agentPane = await harness.adapter.spawn({
+      sessionId: AGENT_SESSION_ID,
+      cols: 80,
+      rows: 24
+    })
+    const shellPane = await harness.adapter.spawn({
+      sessionId: SHELL_SESSION_ID,
+      cols: 80,
+      rows: 24
+    })
+
+    // A recognized agent title is a direct observation — no scan involved.
+    expect(await inspectPtyProviderProcessForRenderer(harness.adapter, agentPane.id)).toEqual({
+      foregroundProcess: 'codex',
+      hasChildProcesses: true,
+      processEvidence: {
+        foreground: { verdict: 'observed', processName: 'codex' },
+        children: { verdict: 'live' }
+      }
+    })
+
+    // A shell-shaped title with no settled scan: node-pty's silent shell
+    // fallback makes it indistinguishable from a degraded read. The legacy
+    // fields keep the exact pre-evidence collapse the monitor used to read as
+    // exit proof; the evidence now says "could not ask".
+    expect(await inspectPtyProviderProcessForRenderer(harness.adapter, shellPane.id)).toEqual({
+      foregroundProcess: 'zsh',
+      hasChildProcesses: false,
+      processEvidence: {
+        foreground: { verdict: 'unverifiable', reason: expect.any(String) },
+        children: { verdict: 'unverifiable', reason: expect.any(String) }
+      }
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/tests/e2e/daemon-completion-evidence/daemon-inspection-unverifiable-completion.unit.test.ts b/tests/e2e/daemon-completion-evidence/daemon-inspection-unverifiable-completion.unit.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8acec1d5820
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/daemon-completion-evidence/daemon-inspection-unverifiable-completion.unit.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,373 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import type * as pty from 'node-pty'
+
+const { execFileMock, execFileSyncMock, killWithDescendantSweepMock, forceKillPosixMock } =
+  vi.hoisted(() => ({
+    execFileMock: vi.fn(),
+    execFileSyncMock: vi.fn(),
+    killWithDescendantSweepMock: vi.fn(),
+    forceKillPosixMock: vi.fn()
+  }))
+
+// The process-table snapshot (`ps -axo`) reads through node:child_process
+// execFile; the foreground resolver and tracker stay REAL so this suite
+// exercises the production degraded-read handling, not a stub of it.
+vi.mock('child_process', () => ({
+  execFile: execFileMock,
+  execFileSync: execFileSyncMock
+}))
+
+vi.mock('../../../src/main/pty-descendant-termination', () => ({
+  killWithDescendantSweep: killWithDescendantSweepMock
+}))
+
+// Teardown escalation must never signal a real process group from a test.
+vi.mock('../../../src/main/pty/posix-pty-process-groups', () => ({
+  forceKillPosixPtyProcessGroups: forceKillPosixMock
+}))
+
+import { TerminalHost } from '../../../src/main/daemon/terminal-host'
+import { createDaemonPtySubprocessHandle } from '../../../src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess/subprocess-handle'
+import { DaemonPtyAdapter } from '../../../src/main/daemon/daemon-pty-adapter'
+import { inspectPtyProviderProcessForRenderer } from '../../../src/main/providers/pty-process-inspection'
+import { resetProcessTableSnapshotForTests } from '../../../src/shared/process-table-snapshot'
+import {
+  createAgentCompletionCoordinator,
+  resetAgentCompletionCoordinatorIdentitiesForTest
+} from '../../../src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/agent-completion-coordinator'
+import { resetAgentProcessInspectionQueueForTests } from '../../../src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/agent-process-inspection-queue'
+import type { RuntimeTerminalProcessInspection } from '../../../src/renderer/src/runtime/runtime-terminal-inspection'
+
+/**
+ * "Failure becomes fact" coercion, DAEMON terminal-host inspection site — the
+ * default macOS path: local panes are daemon-hosted, so the completion
+ * monitor's inspectProcess lands in TerminalHost.inspectProcess via
+ * DaemonPtyProcessInspection.
+ *
+ * The daemon's synchronous foreground read degrades in ways that used to be
+ * indistinguishable from an observation: node-pty's POSIX title read silently
+ * falls back to the spawned shell file when the native read fails, and the
+ * async identity scan behind the 1s cache can be degraded (truncated table /
+ * failed ps fork) so the cached agent identity goes stale without ever being
+ * disproven. Both used to collapse into `{ foregroundProcess: <shell>,
+ * hasChildProcesses: false }` — the exact payload the agent-completion monitor
+ * reads as positive exit evidence. The truth is "could not ask", which must
+ * stay `unverifiable` and never become a completion
+ * (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md). Relay leg and local-provider leg
+ * fixed by the two parent changes; this is the daemon leg.
+ */
+describe('daemon terminal-host inspection under degraded reads', () => {
+  // Implausibly high so a leaked signal can never hit a real process.
+  const SHELL_PID = 999_999_242
+  // Minted worktree ids are `${repoId}::${path}`; the parser rejects anything else.
+  const WORKTREE_ID = 'repo-daemon-evidence::/tmp/wt'
+  const SESSION_ID = `${WORKTREE_ID}@@repro001`
+
+  type PsBehavior = 'healthy' | 'table-missing-pane' | 'ps-failure' | 'agent-exited'
+  let psBehavior: PsBehavior = 'healthy'
+
+  function timeoutKilledError(command: string): Error {
+    const error = new Error(`spawn ${command} ETIMEDOUT`) as Error & {
+      killed: boolean
+      signal: string
+      code: null
+    }
+    error.killed = true
+    error.signal = 'SIGTERM'
+    error.code = null
+    return error
+  }
+
+  function installExecFile(): void {
+    execFileMock.mockImplementation(
+      (command: string, args: string[], _opts: unknown, cb: unknown) => {
+        const callback = cb as (
+          err: Error | null,
+          result: { stdout: string; stderr: string }
+        ) => void
+        if (command !== 'ps' || args[0] !== '-axo') {
+          callback(new Error(`unexpected command ${command}`), { stdout: '', stderr: '' })
+          return
+        }
+        switch (psBehavior) {
+          case 'healthy':
+            callback(null, {
+              stdout: [
+                `${SHELL_PID} 1 Ss   -zsh`,
+                `999999555 ${SHELL_PID} S+   node /home/dev/.local/bin/codex`
+              ].join('\n'),
+              stderr: ''
+            })
+            return
+          case 'table-missing-pane':
+            // The scan "succeeded" but the table never contained the pane's
+            // shell or its descendants.
+            callback(null, { stdout: '1 0 Ss   /sbin/launchd', stderr: '' })
+            return
+          case 'ps-failure':
+            callback(timeoutKilledError(command), { stdout: '', stderr: '' })
+            return
+          case 'agent-exited':
+            callback(null, { stdout: `${SHELL_PID} 1 Ss+  -zsh`, stderr: '' })
+        }
+      }
+    )
+  }
+
+  type MockNodePty = pty.IPty & {
+    process: string
+    _fireExit: (exitCode: number) => void
+  }
+
+  function createMockNodePtyProcess(): MockNodePty {
+    const exitListeners: ((e: { exitCode: number; signal?: number }) => void)[] = []
+    const proc = {
+      pid: SHELL_PID,
+      cols: 80,
+      rows: 24,
+      // node-pty reports the wrapper entrypoint for node-launched agents; the
+      // daemon's descendant scan resolves it to the real agent.
+      process: 'node',
+      handleFlowControl: false,
+      onData: vi.fn(() => ({ dispose: vi.fn() })),
+      onExit: vi.fn((cb: (e: { exitCode: number; signal?: number }) => void) => {
+        exitListeners.push(cb)
+        return { dispose: vi.fn() }
+      }),
+      write: vi.fn(),
+      resize: vi.fn(),
+      clear: vi.fn(),
+      pause: vi.fn(),
+      resume: vi.fn(),
+      kill: vi.fn(() => {
+        setTimeout(() => proc._fireExit(0), 5)
+      }),
+      _fireExit: (exitCode: number) => {
+        exitListeners.forEach((cb) => cb({ exitCode, signal: 0 }))
+      }
+    }
+    return proc as unknown as MockNodePty
+  }
+
+  let platformDescriptor: PropertyDescriptor | undefined
+  let host: TerminalHost
+  let adapter: DaemonPtyAdapter
+  let mockProc: MockNodePty
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+    vi.spyOn(Math, 'random').mockReturnValue(0.5)
+    // The default macOS topology: a daemon-hosted local pane.
+    platformDescriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, 'platform')
+    Object.defineProperty(process, 'platform', { configurable: true, value: 'darwin' })
+    psBehavior = 'healthy'
+    execFileMock.mockReset()
+    installExecFile()
+    killWithDescendantSweepMock.mockReset()
+    killWithDescendantSweepMock.mockResolvedValue(undefined)
+    forceKillPosixMock.mockReset()
+    resetProcessTableSnapshotForTests()
+
+    mockProc = createMockNodePtyProcess()
+    // Teardown escalation must still produce a physical exit for the session.
+    forceKillPosixMock.mockImplementation(() => {
+      setTimeout(() => mockProc._fireExit(137), 1)
+    })
+    host = new TerminalHost({
+      // The REAL daemon subprocess handle (and with it the real foreground
+      // tracker) over a scripted node-pty process.
+      spawnSubprocess: (opts) =>
+        createDaemonPtySubprocessHandle({
+          process: mockProc,
+          shellPath: '/bin/zsh',
+          spawnCwd: '/tmp/wt',
+          env: { PATH: '/usr/bin' },
+          startupCommandDeliveredInShellArgs: false,
+          reportsChildExitStatus: true,
+          requestedCwd: '/tmp/wt',
+          sessionId: opts.sessionId,
+          startupAgentRecognition: null
+        })
+    })
+    await host.createOrAttach({
+      sessionId: SESSION_ID,
+      cols: 80,
+      rows: 24,
+      streamClient: { onData: vi.fn(), onExit: vi.fn() }
+    })
+
+    // The REAL app-side client leg: DaemonPtyAdapter.inspectProcess with its
+    // socket call routed straight to the host. The daemon-request-router's
+    // 'inspectProcess' / 'listSessions' cases are one-line delegations to
+    // TerminalHost, so this preserves every production code path around the
+    // wire itself (which the sibling wire test covers over a real socket).
+    adapter = new DaemonPtyAdapter({
+      socketPath: join(tmpdir(), 'daemon-evidence-unused.sock'),
+      tokenPath: join(tmpdir(), 'daemon-evidence-unused.token')
+    })
+    type ClientInternals = {
+      client: {
+        request: (type: string, payload: unknown) => Promise<unknown>
+        disconnect: () => void
+        ensureConnected: () => Promise<void>
+        ensureConnectedWithin: (ms: number) => Promise<void>
+        getDaemonIdentity: () => null
+        onEvent: (cb: (raw: unknown) => void) => () => void
+      }
+    }
+    ;(adapter as unknown as ClientInternals).client = {
+      request: async (type: string, payload: unknown) => {
+        if (type === 'inspectProcess') {
+          return host.inspectProcess((payload as { sessionId: string }).sessionId)
+        }
+        if (type === 'listSessions') {
+          return { sessions: host.listSessions() }
+        }
+        throw new Error(`unexpected daemon request: ${type}`)
+      },
+      disconnect: () => {},
+      ensureConnected: async () => {},
+      ensureConnectedWithin: async () => {},
+      getDaemonIdentity: () => null,
+      onEvent: () => () => {}
+    }
+    // The production adoption flow that teaches the adapter about
+    // daemon-surviving sessions (and makes hasPty answer for them).
+    await adapter.reconcileOnStartup(new Set([WORKTREE_ID]))
+  })
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    resetAgentProcessInspectionQueueForTests()
+    resetAgentCompletionCoordinatorIdentitiesForTest()
+    resetProcessTableSnapshotForTests()
+    adapter?.dispose()
+    vi.useRealTimers()
+    await host?.dispose()
+    if (platformDescriptor) {
+      Object.defineProperty(process, 'platform', platformDescriptor)
+    }
+    vi.restoreAllMocks()
+  })
+
+  function createCoordinator(paneKey: string, dispatchCompletion: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>) {
+    return createAgentCompletionCoordinator({
+      paneKey,
+      getPtyId: () => SESSION_ID,
+      getSettings: () => null,
+      // Real production adapter chain for a daemon-hosted pane: the renderer's
+      // window.api.pty.inspectProcess lands in the pty IPC handler, which
+      // calls exactly this.
+      inspectProcess: async (_settings, ptyId) =>
+        (await inspectPtyProviderProcessForRenderer(
+          adapter,
+          ptyId
+        )) as RuntimeTerminalProcessInspection,
+      dispatchCompletion,
+      isLive: () => true
+    })
+  }
+
+  it('does not conclude an agent finished when the daemon reads degrade', async () => {
+    const dispatchCompletion = vi.fn()
+    const coordinator = createCoordinator('tab-1:leaf-1', dispatchCompletion)
+
+    coordinator.startProcessTracking()
+    coordinator.observeTitle('Codex working')
+
+    // Healthy polls: the first poll's identity scan proves codex is live in
+    // this pane; the next poll surfaces it through the wrapper-hold.
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(5_000)
+    expect(dispatchCompletion).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+    // Distress: the cached table stops containing the pane's subtree, and
+    // node-pty's native title read degrades to the spawn file (the shell) —
+    // its documented fallback. Codex is still running; nothing observed it.
+    psBehavior = 'table-missing-pane'
+    mockProc.process = 'zsh'
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(4_000)
+
+    // Full distress: the ps fork now fails outright.
+    psBehavior = 'ps-failure'
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(20_000)
+
+    expect(dispatchCompletion).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+    coordinator.dispose()
+  })
+
+  it('still confirms a real exit once the table answers again', async () => {
+    const dispatchCompletion = vi.fn()
+    const coordinator = createCoordinator('tab-2:leaf-1', dispatchCompletion)
+
+    coordinator.startProcessTracking()
+    coordinator.observeTitle('Codex working')
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(5_000)
+
+    psBehavior = 'ps-failure'
+    mockProc.process = 'zsh'
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(10_000)
+    expect(dispatchCompletion).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+    // Recovery, and the agent has genuinely exited: the shell holds the
+    // foreground again and the table positively shows no descendants.
+    psBehavior = 'agent-exited'
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(30_000)
+
+    expect(dispatchCompletion).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(dispatchCompletion).toHaveBeenCalledWith('codex', {
+      source: 'process-exit',
+      quietedHookDone: false,
+      terminalIdleConfirmed: true
+    })
+
+    coordinator.dispose()
+  })
+
+  it('publishes unchanged legacy fields beside the evidence', async () => {
+    // Warm the identity: a healthy scan resolves the node wrapper to codex.
+    await inspectPtyProviderProcessForRenderer(adapter, SESSION_ID)
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(600)
+    const healthy = await inspectPtyProviderProcessForRenderer(adapter, SESSION_ID)
+    expect(healthy).toEqual({
+      foregroundProcess: 'codex',
+      hasChildProcesses: true,
+      processEvidence: {
+        foreground: { verdict: 'observed', processName: 'codex' },
+        children: { verdict: 'live' }
+      }
+    })
+
+    // Degraded scan with a shell-fallback title: the legacy fields keep the
+    // exact pre-evidence collapse; the evidence says "could not ask".
+    psBehavior = 'ps-failure'
+    mockProc.process = 'zsh'
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(2_000)
+    const degraded = await inspectPtyProviderProcessForRenderer(adapter, SESSION_ID)
+    expect(degraded).toEqual({
+      foregroundProcess: 'zsh',
+      hasChildProcesses: false,
+      processEvidence: {
+        foreground: { verdict: 'unverifiable', reason: expect.any(String) },
+        children: { verdict: 'unverifiable', reason: expect.any(String) }
+      }
+    })
+
+    // A real exit is a real observation: legacy and evidence agree. The first
+    // read schedules the corroborating scan; the second observes its verdict.
+    psBehavior = 'agent-exited'
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(2_000)
+    await inspectPtyProviderProcessForRenderer(adapter, SESSION_ID)
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(1_500)
+    const exited = await inspectPtyProviderProcessForRenderer(adapter, SESSION_ID)
+    expect(exited).toEqual({
+      foregroundProcess: 'zsh',
+      hasChildProcesses: false,
+      processEvidence: {
+        foreground: { verdict: 'observed', processName: 'zsh' },
+        children: { verdict: 'exited' }
+      }
+    })
+  })
+})