diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-typing-indicator.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-typing-indicator.test.ts
index 65af547b7c0..db572e57364 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-typing-indicator.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-typing-indicator.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { NATIVE_CHAT_STREAMING_ID } from '../../../../shared/native-chat-streaming'
 import type { NativeChatMessage } from '../../../../shared/native-chat-types'
+import type { AgentJournalRenderItem } from '../../../../shared/agent-session-journal-types'
+import { projectStructuredItemsToNativeChat } from '../../../../shared/structured-agent-session-projection'
 import { shouldShowNativeChatTypingIndicator } from './native-chat-typing-indicator'
 
 function message(id: string, role: NativeChatMessage['role'], text = id): NativeChatMessage {
@@ -82,3 +84,55 @@ describe('shouldShowNativeChatTypingIndicator', () => {
     expect(shouldShowNativeChatTypingIndicator({ messages: [], isWorking: true })).toBe(true)
   })
 })
+
+// These build rows through the REAL structured projection instead of hand-made
+// `command:` marker ids. The hand-made ids only exist on the PTY transport, so
+// tests using them were blind to how the shipping transport actually looks.
+describe('with rows projected from the structured journal', () => {
+  function toolCallItem(sequence: number): AgentJournalRenderItem {
+    return {
+      itemId: `codex:thread-1:turn-1:${sequence}`,
+      revision: 1,
+      sequence,
+      observedAt: 1_800_000_000_000,
+      body: {
+        kind: 'tool-call',
+        name: 'shell',
+        state: 'running',
+        input: { command: 'sed -n 1,240p README.md' }
+      }
+    } as AgentJournalRenderItem
+  }
+
+  function assistantTextItem(sequence: number): AgentJournalRenderItem {
+    return {
+      itemId: `codex:thread-1:turn-1:${sequence}`,
+      revision: 1,
+      sequence,
+      observedAt: 1_800_000_000_000,
+      body: {
+        kind: 'message',
+        role: 'assistant',
+        blocks: [{ type: 'text', text: "I'm checking PR 14696's metadata." }]
+      }
+    } as AgentJournalRenderItem
+  }
+
+  it('keeps showing while a running command is the newest row', () => {
+    // The screenshot case: prose landed, then codex started running shell commands
+    // and the chat body went still for the length of the command.
+    const messages = projectStructuredItemsToNativeChat([assistantTextItem(1), toolCallItem(2)])
+    expect(messages.at(-1)?.role).toBe('assistant')
+    expect(shouldShowNativeChatTypingIndicator({ messages, isWorking: true })).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('still hides once prose is the newest row', () => {
+    const messages = projectStructuredItemsToNativeChat([toolCallItem(1), assistantTextItem(2)])
+    expect(shouldShowNativeChatTypingIndicator({ messages, isWorking: true })).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('stays hidden when the turn is not working, command row or not', () => {
+    const messages = projectStructuredItemsToNativeChat([toolCallItem(1)])
+    expect(shouldShowNativeChatTypingIndicator({ messages, isWorking: false })).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-typing-indicator.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-typing-indicator.ts
index db3f5fb696f..095e01983c3 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-typing-indicator.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/native-chat/native-chat-typing-indicator.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,29 @@
-// When the trailing "…" row is allowed to render. The rule is pure so the two
-// transports can't drift: the PTY path grows a synthetic streaming bubble while
-// the structured path appends real journal items, but both mean the same thing —
-// the turn's own assistant row is on screen, so a second placeholder below it is
-// just an extra row that reflows the list when it later disappears.
+// When the trailing "…" row is allowed to render.
+//
+// The rule suppresses the dots once the turn's own assistant ANSWER is on screen,
+// because a placeholder below streamed text reflows the list when it disappears.
+// It must not suppress on a row that only reports tool work: a shell command can
+// run for a minute with nothing else arriving, and that is precisely when the
+// user needs to see that the turn is still alive.
+//
+// Both transports have to agree, and matching on `role` alone does not get there:
+// the PTY path emits synthetic `command:` marker rows, while the structured path
+// projects a journal tool-call item as `role: 'assistant'` with tool blocks. Same
+// meaning, different shape — so the predicate is about the row's CONTENT.
 
 import type { NativeChatMessage } from '../../../../shared/native-chat-types'
 import { NATIVE_CHAT_STREAMING_ID } from '../../../../shared/native-chat-streaming'
 import { isCommandMarkerId } from './native-chat-pending'
 
+/** A row carrying only tool activity — no prose. It is progress, not an answer. */
+function isToolActivityOnlyRow(message: NativeChatMessage): boolean {
+  const blocks = message.blocks
+  if (!blocks || blocks.length === 0) {
+    return false
+  }
+  return blocks.every((block) => block.type === 'tool-call' || block.type === 'tool-result')
+}
+
 export function shouldShowNativeChatTypingIndicator(args: {
   messages: readonly NativeChatMessage[]
   isWorking: boolean
@@ -23,6 +39,11 @@ export function shouldShowNativeChatTypingIndicator(args: {
     if (!message || message.role === 'user' || isCommandMarkerId(message.id)) {
       return true
     }
+    // Tool work is the strongest reason to KEEP the dots, so it decides here
+    // rather than falling through to the assistant-role check below.
+    if (isToolActivityOnlyRow(message)) {
+      return true
+    }
     // Status/system rows interleave mid-turn; they neither suppress nor unsuppress,
     // otherwise the dots would flicker back on between assistant chunks.
     if (message.role === 'assistant' || message.id === NATIVE_CHAT_STREAMING_ID) {