diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/worktree-card-agent-summary.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/worktree-card-agent-summary.test.ts
index 3aa1c857547..bbb115c8f65 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/worktree-card-agent-summary.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/worktree-card-agent-summary.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { createElement } from 'react'
+import { renderToStaticMarkup } from 'react-dom/server'
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 import type { DashboardAgentRow as DashboardAgentRowData } from '@/components/dashboard/useDashboardData'
-import { getCompactAgentSecondary } from './worktree-card-compact-agent-row'
+import { CompactAgentRow, getCompactAgentSecondary } from './worktree-card-compact-agent-row'
 import { getAgentDotState, summarizeAgents } from './worktree-card-agent-summary'
 
 function monitoringAgent(): DashboardAgentRowData {
@@ -39,4 +41,18 @@ describe('worktree card agent summary', () => {
     expect(getCompactAgentSecondary(agent)).toBe('Monitoring background tasks')
     expect(summarizeAgents([agent], 'Agent')).toBe('Agent monitoring')
   })
+
+  it('keeps monitoring visible before a compact row prompt', () => {
+    const agent = monitoringAgent()
+    agent.entry.prompt = 'Run background checks'
+
+    const markup = renderToStaticMarkup(
+      createElement(CompactAgentRow, { agent, now: 2000, onActivate: vi.fn() })
+    )
+
+    expect(markup).toContain('title="Monitoring background tasks - Run background checks"')
+    expect(markup).toMatch(
+      /Monitoring background tasks<\/span><span[^>]*> - Run background checks<\/span>/
+    )
+  })
 })
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/worktree-card-compact-agent-row.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/worktree-card-compact-agent-row.tsx
index 258869b07c3..63163bfe207 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/worktree-card-compact-agent-row.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/worktree-card-compact-agent-row.tsx
@@ -123,6 +123,11 @@ export const CompactAgentRow = React.memo(function CompactAgentRow({
   const primary = getCompactAgentPrimary(agent, conversationName)
   const isLineageChild = agent.lineage?.depth === 1
   const secondary = getCompactAgentSecondary(agent)
+  // Why: sidebar truncation must preserve the passive-vs-active distinction.
+  const leadingText = dotState === 'monitoring' ? secondary : primary
+  const trailingText =
+    dotState === 'monitoring' ? (primary === secondary ? '' : primary) : secondary
+  const rowTitle = `${leadingText}${trailingText ? ` - ${trailingText}` : ''}`
   const model = agent.entry.model?.trim() ?? ''
   const shortTime = getCompactAgentTime(agent, now)
   const cacheTimer = usePromptCacheCountdownForPane(agent.paneKey, cacheTimerActive)
@@ -205,12 +210,12 @@ export const CompactAgentRow = React.memo(function CompactAgentRow({
         {/* Why: the selected-row fill is strong enough to wash out the dimmed
             prompt/secondary text, so lift both toward full foreground when focused. */}
         <span className={isFocusedPane ? 'text-foreground' : 'text-muted-foreground/90'}>
-          {primary}
+          {leadingText}
         </span>
-        {secondary && (
+        {trailingText && (
           <span className={isFocusedPane ? 'text-foreground/70' : 'text-muted-foreground/65'}>
             {' '}
-            - {secondary}
+            - {trailingText}
           </span>
         )}
       </span>
@@ -273,7 +278,7 @@ export const CompactAgentRow = React.memo(function CompactAgentRow({
       role={agent.lineage ? 'treeitem' : undefined}
       aria-level={agent.lineage ? agent.lineage.depth + 1 : undefined}
       aria-expanded={hasChildDisclosure ? childAgentsExpanded : undefined}
-      title={sendTargetDisabledReason ?? `${primary}${secondary ? ` - ${secondary}` : ''}`}
+      title={sendTargetDisabledReason ?? rowTitle}
     >
       {rowBody}
     </div>