diff --git a/src/main/codex-accounts/runtime-home-service.test.ts b/src/main/codex-accounts/runtime-home-service.test.ts
index c0f9e57acc5..5266aa80ee5 100644
--- a/src/main/codex-accounts/runtime-home-service.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/codex-accounts/runtime-home-service.test.ts
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ function createSettings(overrides: Partial<GlobalSettings> = {}): GlobalSettings
     experimentalTerminalAttention: false,
     experimentalCompactWorktreeCards: false,
     experimentalWorktreeSymlinks: false,
+    experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher: false,
     terminalWindowsShell: 'powershell.exe',
     terminalWindowsPowerShellImplementation: 'powershell.exe',
     enableGitHubAttribution: true,
diff --git a/src/main/codex-accounts/service.test.ts b/src/main/codex-accounts/service.test.ts
index 0e45dfbf399..04cb908443b 100644
--- a/src/main/codex-accounts/service.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/codex-accounts/service.test.ts
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ function createSettings(overrides: Partial<GlobalSettings> = {}): GlobalSettings
     experimentalTerminalAttention: false,
     experimentalCompactWorktreeCards: false,
     experimentalWorktreeSymlinks: false,
+    experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher: false,
     terminalWindowsShell: 'powershell.exe',
     terminalWindowsPowerShellImplementation: 'powershell.exe',
     enableGitHubAttribution: true,
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/settings/ExperimentalPane.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/settings/ExperimentalPane.tsx
index 7dde24c0ec2..ac003572738 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/settings/ExperimentalPane.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/settings/ExperimentalPane.tsx
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ export function ExperimentalPane({
   const showWorktreeSymlinks = matchesSettingsSearch(searchQuery, [
     EXPERIMENTAL_SEARCH_ENTRY.symlinks
   ])
+  const showUnifiedNewTabLauncher = matchesSettingsSearch(searchQuery, [
+    EXPERIMENTAL_SEARCH_ENTRY.unifiedNewTabLauncher
+  ])
 
   return (
     <div className="space-y-4">
@@ -230,6 +233,46 @@ export function ExperimentalPane({
         </SearchableSetting>
       ) : null}
 
+      {showUnifiedNewTabLauncher ? (
+        <SearchableSetting
+          title="Smart New Tab menu"
+          description="Type in the New Tab menu to open a terminal, launch an agent, visit a URL, or open/create a file."
+          keywords={EXPERIMENTAL_SEARCH_ENTRY.unifiedNewTabLauncher.keywords}
+          className="space-y-3 py-2"
+        >
+          <div className="flex items-start justify-between gap-4">
+            <div className="min-w-0 shrink space-y-0.5">
+              <Label>Smart New Tab menu</Label>
+              <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+                Type in the New Tab menu to open a terminal, launch an agent, visit a URL, or
+                open/create a file.
+              </p>
+            </div>
+            <button
+              type="button"
+              role="switch"
+              aria-checked={settings.experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher}
+              onClick={() =>
+                updateSettings({
+                  experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher: !settings.experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher
+                })
+              }
+              className={`relative inline-flex h-5 w-9 shrink-0 cursor-pointer items-center rounded-full border border-transparent transition-colors ${
+                settings.experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher
+                  ? 'bg-foreground'
+                  : 'bg-muted-foreground/30'
+              }`}
+            >
+              <span
+                className={`inline-block h-3.5 w-3.5 transform rounded-full bg-background shadow-sm transition-transform ${
+                  settings.experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher ? 'translate-x-4' : 'translate-x-0.5'
+                }`}
+              />
+            </button>
+          </div>
+        </SearchableSetting>
+      ) : null}
+
       {hiddenExperimentalUnlocked ? <HiddenExperimentalGroup /> : null}
     </div>
   )
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/settings/experimental-search.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/settings/experimental-search.ts
index 47f12c6997e..15ad2e7fdc6 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/settings/experimental-search.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/settings/experimental-search.ts
@@ -79,6 +79,26 @@ export const EXPERIMENTAL_PANE_SEARCH_ENTRIES: SettingsSearchEntry[] = [
       'env',
       'node_modules'
     ]
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Smart New Tab menu',
+    description:
+      'Type in the New Tab menu to open a terminal, launch an agent, visit a URL, or open/create a file.',
+    keywords: [
+      'experimental',
+      'smart',
+      'new tab',
+      'new tab menu',
+      'launcher',
+      'unified',
+      'plus',
+      'terminal',
+      'agents',
+      'claude',
+      'codex',
+      'url',
+      'file'
+    ]
   }
 ]
 
@@ -98,5 +118,6 @@ export const EXPERIMENTAL_SEARCH_ENTRY = {
   activity: findEntry('Agents View'),
   terminalAttention: findEntry('Terminal attention'),
   compactWorktreeCards: findEntry('Compact worktree cards'),
-  symlinks: findEntry('Symlinks on worktrees')
+  symlinks: findEntry('Symlinks on worktrees'),
+  unifiedNewTabLauncher: findEntry('Smart New Tab menu')
 } as const
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBar.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBar.tsx
index 13f61e3c584..9437f923cb2 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBar.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBar.tsx
@@ -219,11 +219,17 @@ function TabBarInner({
     const repo = worktree ? s.repos?.find((entry) => entry.id === worktree.repoId) : null
     return Boolean(repo?.connectionId)
   })
+  const unifiedNewTabLauncherEnabled = useAppStore(
+    (s) => s.settings?.experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher === true
+  )
   const defaultAgent = useAppStore((s) => s.settings?.defaultTuiAgent)
   const agentCmdOverrides = useAppStore(
     (s) => s.settings?.agentCmdOverrides ?? EMPTY_AGENT_CMD_OVERRIDES
   )
   const connectionId = useAppStore((s) => {
+    if (!unifiedNewTabLauncherEnabled) {
+      return undefined
+    }
     const allWorktrees = Object.values(s.worktreesByRepo ?? {}).flat()
     const worktree = allWorktrees.find((w) => w.id === worktreeId)
     if (!worktree) {
@@ -844,7 +850,7 @@ function TabBarInner({
         <DropdownMenuContent
           align="start"
           sideOffset={6}
-          className="w-72 max-w-[calc(100vw-1rem)] rounded-[11px] border-border/80 p-1 shadow-[0_16px_36px_rgba(0,0,0,0.24)]"
+          className={`${unifiedNewTabLauncherEnabled ? 'w-72 max-w-[calc(100vw-1rem)]' : 'min-w-[11rem]'} rounded-[11px] border-border/80 p-1 shadow-[0_16px_36px_rgba(0,0,0,0.24)]`}
           onCloseAutoFocus={(e) => {
             // Why: terminal-producing menu actions activate a freshly-mounted
             // xterm. Radix's default focus restore sends focus back to the "+"
@@ -853,7 +859,7 @@ function TabBarInner({
             runPendingNewTabMenuFocusAfterClose()
           }}
         >
-          {!terminalOnly && onOpenEntry ? (
+          {!terminalOnly && onOpenEntry && unifiedNewTabLauncherEnabled ? (
             <>
               <TabBarCreateEntry
                 worktreeId={worktreeId}
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBar.windows-shell-launch.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBar.windows-shell-launch.test.ts
index 0c6403630a4..744493946ed 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBar.windows-shell-launch.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBar.windows-shell-launch.test.ts
@@ -11,10 +11,6 @@ const appStoreSnapshot: {
   worktreesByRepo: Record<string, { id: string; repoId: string }[]>
   unifiedTabsByWorktree: Record<string, unknown[]>
   activeGroupIdByWorktree: Record<string, string>
-  detectedAgentIds: string[] | null
-  remoteDetectedAgentIds: Record<string, string[]>
-  isDetectingAgents: boolean
-  isDetectingRemoteAgents: Record<string, boolean>
 } = {
   activeTabId: null,
   activeTabType: null,
@@ -22,11 +18,7 @@ const appStoreSnapshot: {
   repos: [],
   worktreesByRepo: {},
   unifiedTabsByWorktree: {},
-  activeGroupIdByWorktree: {},
-  detectedAgentIds: null,
-  remoteDetectedAgentIds: {},
-  isDetectingAgents: false,
-  isDetectingRemoteAgents: {}
+  activeGroupIdByWorktree: {}
 }
 const pinTabMock: (tabId: string) => void = vi.fn()
 const unpinTabMock: (tabId: string) => void = vi.fn()
@@ -41,10 +33,6 @@ const useAppStoreMock = vi.fn(
       worktreesByRepo: Record<string, { id: string; repoId: string }[]>
       unifiedTabsByWorktree: Record<string, unknown[]>
       activeGroupIdByWorktree: Record<string, string>
-      detectedAgentIds: string[] | null
-      remoteDetectedAgentIds: Record<string, string[]>
-      isDetectingAgents: boolean
-      isDetectingRemoteAgents: Record<string, boolean>
       pinTab: typeof pinTabMock
       unpinTab: typeof unpinTabMock
       settings: {
@@ -62,10 +50,6 @@ const useAppStoreMock = vi.fn(
       worktreesByRepo: appStoreSnapshot.worktreesByRepo,
       unifiedTabsByWorktree: appStoreSnapshot.unifiedTabsByWorktree,
       activeGroupIdByWorktree: appStoreSnapshot.activeGroupIdByWorktree,
-      detectedAgentIds: appStoreSnapshot.detectedAgentIds,
-      remoteDetectedAgentIds: appStoreSnapshot.remoteDetectedAgentIds,
-      isDetectingAgents: appStoreSnapshot.isDetectingAgents,
-      isDetectingRemoteAgents: appStoreSnapshot.isDetectingRemoteAgents,
       pinTab: pinTabMock,
       unpinTab: unpinTabMock,
       settings: {
@@ -123,10 +107,6 @@ useAppStoreExport.getState = vi.fn(() => ({
   worktreesByRepo: appStoreSnapshot.worktreesByRepo,
   unifiedTabsByWorktree: appStoreSnapshot.unifiedTabsByWorktree,
   activeGroupIdByWorktree: appStoreSnapshot.activeGroupIdByWorktree,
-  detectedAgentIds: appStoreSnapshot.detectedAgentIds,
-  remoteDetectedAgentIds: appStoreSnapshot.remoteDetectedAgentIds,
-  isDetectingAgents: appStoreSnapshot.isDetectingAgents,
-  isDetectingRemoteAgents: appStoreSnapshot.isDetectingRemoteAgents,
   pinTab: pinTabMock,
   unpinTab: unpinTabMock,
   settings: {
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBarCreateEntry.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBarCreateEntry.tsx
index 90f07105945..8783fdecc61 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBarCreateEntry.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/TabBarCreateEntry.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import React, { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react'
-import { FilePlus, FileText, Globe, Loader2 } from 'lucide-react'
+import { FilePlus, FileText, Globe, Loader2, Search } from 'lucide-react'
 import { Input } from '@/components/ui/input'
 import { AgentIcon } from '@/lib/agent-catalog'
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils'
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ export default function TabBarCreateEntry({
   const statusMessage =
     statusOption?.classification.kind === 'empty' || statusOption?.classification.kind === 'blocked'
       ? statusOption.classification.message
-      : 'Open any file, URL, agent, ...'
+      : 'URL, file, or new file'
 
   const submitOption = (option?: ActiveOption) => {
     if (disabled || pending) {
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ export default function TabBarCreateEntry({
 
   return (
     <form
-      className="pb-1"
+      className="px-1 pb-1"
       onSubmit={(event) => {
         event.preventDefault()
         submitOption()
@@ -164,7 +164,11 @@ export default function TabBarCreateEntry({
       }}
       onPointerDown={(event) => event.stopPropagation()}
     >
-      <div className="-mx-1 flex items-center border-b border-black/14 px-3 dark:border-white/14">
+      <div className="relative">
+        <Search
+          className="pointer-events-none absolute left-2 top-1/2 size-3.5 -translate-y-1/2 text-muted-foreground"
+          aria-hidden="true"
+        />
         <Input
           ref={inputRef}
           value={query}
@@ -173,14 +177,14 @@ export default function TabBarCreateEntry({
             setError(null)
           }}
           disabled={disabled}
-          aria-label="Open any file, URL, agent, ..."
+          aria-label="Open URL, file, or new file"
           aria-invalid={error ? true : undefined}
-          placeholder="Open any file, URL, agent, ..."
-          className="h-9 rounded-none border-0 bg-transparent px-0 text-[12px] shadow-none focus-visible:border-0 focus-visible:ring-0 aria-invalid:border-0 aria-invalid:ring-0 dark:bg-transparent"
+          placeholder="URL, file, or new file"
+          className="h-8 rounded-[7px] pl-7 pr-2 text-[12px]"
         />
       </div>
       {error || activeOptions.length > 0 || hasQuery ? (
-        <div className="mt-1 space-y-0.5 px-1">
+        <div className="mt-1 space-y-0.5">
           {error ? (
             <EntryStatusRow message={error} />
           ) : activeOptions.length > 0 ? (
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/tab-create-entry-classifier.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/tab-create-entry-classifier.ts
index 1a68effa620..dcfe9fde228 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/tab-create-entry-classifier.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/tab-bar/tab-create-entry-classifier.ts
@@ -226,9 +226,7 @@ export function getTabEntryOptions(
 ): TabEntryOption[] {
   const trimmed = query.trim()
   if (!trimmed) {
-    return [
-      { id: 'empty', classification: { kind: 'empty', message: 'Open any file, URL, agent, ...' } }
-    ]
+    return [{ id: 'empty', classification: { kind: 'empty', message: 'URL, file, or new file' } }]
   }
 
   const explicitUrl = classifyExplicitUrl(trimmed)
diff --git a/src/shared/constants.ts b/src/shared/constants.ts
index 8cd7a342e50..88ef27732fc 100644
--- a/src/shared/constants.ts
+++ b/src/shared/constants.ts
@@ -306,6 +306,7 @@ export function getDefaultSettings(homedir: string): GlobalSettings {
     experimentalTerminalAttention: false,
     experimentalCompactWorktreeCards: false,
     experimentalWorktreeSymlinks: false,
+    experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher: false,
     // Why: local desktop remains the default server until the user explicitly
     // selects a saved runtime environment.
     activeRuntimeEnvironmentId: null,
diff --git a/src/shared/telemetry-events.ts b/src/shared/telemetry-events.ts
index ee378369b64..53f96fd839e 100644
--- a/src/shared/telemetry-events.ts
+++ b/src/shared/telemetry-events.ts
@@ -278,6 +278,7 @@ export const SETTINGS_CHANGED_WHITELIST = [
   'experimentalActivity',
   'experimentalTerminalAttention',
   'experimentalWorktreeSymlinks',
+  'experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher',
   'geminiCliOAuthEnabled'
 ] as const satisfies readonly BooleanGlobalSettingsKey[]
 export const settingsChangedKeySchema = z.enum(SETTINGS_CHANGED_WHITELIST)
diff --git a/src/shared/types.ts b/src/shared/types.ts
index 731af475c3f..77cec28a881 100644
--- a/src/shared/types.ts
+++ b/src/shared/types.ts
@@ -2266,7 +2266,9 @@ export type GlobalSettings = {
    *  configuration surface and edge cases (conflicts with existing paths,
    *  cleanup on worktree delete) are still being worked out. */
   experimentalWorktreeSymlinks: boolean
-
+  /** Experimental: replaces the New Tab menu's static preview row with a
+   *  command-style launcher for terminals, detected agents, URLs, and files. */
+  experimentalUnifiedNewTabLauncher: boolean
   /** Active non-local runtime environment for client-routed RPC. `null`
    *  preserves the current local desktop behavior. */
   activeRuntimeEnvironmentId?: string | null