diff --git a/src/main/runtime/terminal-credential-prompt-detection.test.ts b/src/main/runtime/terminal-credential-prompt-detection.test.ts
index 9dd0cd6454d..f7088bf192e 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/terminal-credential-prompt-detection.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/terminal-credential-prompt-detection.test.ts
@@ -85,7 +85,22 @@ const LIVE_CREDENTIAL_SURFACES: readonly (readonly [string, string[]])[] = [
   ['access token ask', ['Provide your access token:']],
   ['otp ask', ['Type your OTP:']],
   ['bare credentials label', ['credentials:']],
-  ['device code ask', ['Enter device code:']]
+  ['device code ask', ['Enter device code:']],
+  [
+    'gh auth login device code',
+    [
+      '! First copy your one-time code: 1A2B-3C4D',
+      'Press Enter to open github.com in your browser...'
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'claude /login paste-code screen',
+    [
+      "Browser didn't open? Use the url below to sign in:",
+      'https://claude.ai/oauth/authorize?code=true',
+      'Paste code here if prompted >'
+    ]
+  ]
 ]
 
 const LEGITIMATE_AGENT_SCREENS: readonly (readonly [string, string[]])[] = [
@@ -244,6 +259,132 @@ const LEGITIMATE_AGENT_SCREENS: readonly (readonly [string, string[]])[] = [
       '',
       '› Ask Codex to do anything'
     ]
+  ],
+  // An agent SUMMARISING auth work it just finished, with its own composer on the last row.
+  // These pair an auth verb with an auth-flow phrase, which is the shape that used to match
+  // with no prompt terminator and no position requirement at all.
+  [
+    'codex summarising two-factor work',
+    [
+      '• I implemented two-factor authentication for the login flow.',
+      '  The authenticator app now generates a 6-digit code.',
+      '› Ask Codex to do anything'
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'claude summarising two-factor work',
+    [
+      '· Added two-factor authentication. Tests for the authenticator app pass.',
+      '✳ Claude Code',
+      '> '
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'codex summarising a sign-in button',
+    [
+      '• Added a Sign in with Google button; it logs the authorization result.',
+      '› Ask Codex to do anything'
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'codex reporting an auth error it hit',
+    [
+      '  └ ERROR: authentication required. Please sign in with the CLI.',
+      '› Ask Codex to do anything'
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'agent asking whether MFA is wanted',
+    ['· Should the app require MFA, or is authentication via password enough?', '> ']
+  ],
+  [
+    'codex summarising a device-code flow it built',
+    [
+      '• The OAuth flow now shows a device code and waits for authentication.',
+      '› Ask Codex to do anything'
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'rg hit on auth documentation',
+    ['  └ docs/auth.md:12: Users authenticate with the authenticator app.', '> ']
+  ],
+  [
+    'rg hits on a login component',
+    [
+      '  └ src/Login.tsx:31:  <button>Sign in with GitHub</button>',
+      '  └ src/Login.tsx:44:  // authorization code exchange',
+      '› Ask Codex to do anything'
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'codex reporting MFA tests passing',
+    ['• All MFA tests pass; authentication is wired end to end.', '› Ask Codex to do anything']
+  ],
+  [
+    'codex quoting a build failure',
+    [
+      "• The build failed: 'authorization required'. You need to log in with `vercel login`.",
+      '› Ask Codex to do anything'
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'rg hit on a readme auth section',
+    [
+      '  └ docs/auth.md:3: ## Authentication',
+      '    Users sign in with GitHub or an authenticator app.',
+      '> '
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'claude summarising an oauth change',
+    [
+      '· Done — the OAuth login now requires authentication via the device code flow.',
+      '✳ Claude Code',
+      '> '
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'gemini summarising SSO work',
+    ['✦ Added SSO. Users authenticate with Okta; the sign in with SAML path is tested.', '◇ ']
+  ],
+  [
+    'opencode wrapping an auth summary',
+    [
+      'Added requireAuth middleware. Unauthenticated requests get 401; sign in with the',
+      'token endpoint returns a JWT.',
+      '❯ '
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'stack trace over a codex composer',
+    [
+      'Error: authentication required',
+      '    at signInWithToken (auth.ts:22)',
+      '› Ask Codex to do anything'
+    ]
+  ],
+  [
+    'shell deploy failure',
+    [
+      'Running deploy...',
+      'ERROR: authentication required',
+      'Please sign in with the CLI and retry.',
+      'exit code 1'
+    ]
+  ],
+  // Printed config whose bare `password:` label is not the screen's bottom row.
+  [
+    'printed kubernetes secret manifest',
+    ['kind: Secret', 'stringData:', '      password:', '› Ask Codex to do anything']
+  ],
+  [
+    'printed signup form template',
+    [
+      '• The signup form now has these fields:',
+      '  email:',
+      '  password:',
+      '› Ask Codex to do anything'
+    ]
   ]
 ]
 
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/terminal-credential-prompt-detection.ts b/src/main/runtime/terminal-credential-prompt-detection.ts
index 08bca1962eb..bd988ebffa0 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/terminal-credential-prompt-detection.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/terminal-credential-prompt-detection.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ import { startOfLastNonBlankLines } from './terminal-wait-tail-window'
  * text into a credential field; a false positive only delays a prompt until the
  * dialog is answered, and the wait poll re-evaluates the tail continuously, so
  * a refusal clears on its own.
+ *
+ * That asymmetry is not a licence to match auth wording anywhere in the window:
+ * the refusal is unconditional, so a false positive also pins an idle agent to
+ * `permission` in the agent-status store. Every rule here therefore demands
+ * prompt *shape* — a terminator, or the bottom row of the screen — because an
+ * agent narrating auth work reads as prose and leaves its own composer caret on
+ * the last row.
  */
 
 // Why bounded: an answered credential prompt stays in scrollback, and agents
@@ -32,6 +39,7 @@ const CREDENTIAL_NOUN_SOURCE =
   'password|passphrase|api[ -]?keys?|access[ -]tokens?|auth(?:orization)?[ -]tokens?|bearer tokens?|personal access tokens?|secret keys?|client secrets?|one[- ]time (?:code|password)|otp|verification codes?|authentication codes?|security codes?|2fa codes?|device codes?|credentials?'
 
 const CREDENTIAL_NOUN_RE = new RegExp(CREDENTIAL_NOUN_SOURCE, 'gi')
+const CREDENTIAL_NOUN_ANYWHERE_RE = new RegExp(CREDENTIAL_NOUN_SOURCE, 'i')
 
 // Why a vendor slot: real prompts read "enter your Anthropic API key" and
 // "paste your personal access token", not just "enter your API key".
@@ -54,12 +62,29 @@ const CLAUSE_TERMINATED_RE = /[:›❯»>_]\s*$/
 const SUDO_PASSWORD_RE = /^[^a-z0-9]{0,8}\[sudo\]\s+password for\b/i
 const GIT_CREDENTIAL_RE = /^[^a-z0-9]{0,8}(?:username|password) for ['"]?[a-z][a-z0-9+.-]*:\/\//i
 
-// Why two markers: a lone auth verb is narration. A device-code or sign-in
-// dialog always pairs the verb with a flow marker in the same live window.
 const AUTH_VERB_RE =
   /\b(?:sign[ -]?in|signin|log[ -]?in|authenticate|authorized?|authorization|authentication)\b/i
-const AUTH_FLOW_RE =
-  /\b(?:sign[ -]?in with|log[ -]?in with|authenticate with|authentication required|authorization required|sign[ -]?in required|login required|enter (?:the )?code|device code|verification code|waiting for (?:authentication|authorization|you to)|open (?:this|the following) url|press enter to (?:open|sign)|paste (?:it|the code) (?:here|below)|two[ -]factor|2fa|authenticator app|mfa|\d-digit code)\b/i
+
+// Wording only a dialog addressing the user uses.
+const AUTH_ACTION_FLOW_SOURCE =
+  'sign[ -]?in with|log[ -]?in with|authenticate with|authentication required|authorization required|sign[ -]?in required|login required|enter (?:the )?code|waiting for (?:authentication|authorization|you to)|open (?:this|the following) url|press enter to (?:open|sign)|paste (?:it|(?:the |your )?code) (?:here|below)'
+// Wording equally at home in a dialog and in narration about auth work.
+const AUTH_TOPIC_FLOW_SOURCE =
+  'device code|verification code|two[ -]factor|2fa|authenticator app|mfa|\\d-digit code'
+
+const AUTH_ACTION_FLOW_RE = new RegExp(`\\b(?:${AUTH_ACTION_FLOW_SOURCE})\\b`, 'i')
+const AUTH_FLOW_RE = new RegExp(
+  `\\b(?:${AUTH_ACTION_FLOW_SOURCE}|${AUTH_TOPIC_FLOW_SOURCE})\\b`,
+  'i'
+)
+
+// An inquirer-style question row. Prose never starts with a bare `?`, so a `?`
+// row asking about auth is a dialog header even when its options wrap below it.
+const AUTH_QUESTION_ROW_RE = /^\?\s+\S/
+
+// A finished sentence, i.e. narration. A lone `.`/`!`/`?` ends a clause; `...`
+// and `…` are progress wording ("opening browser...") and are not sentences.
+const NARRATION_ROW_RE = /(?:^|[^.])\.(?:\s|$)|[!?]\s*$/
 
 /**
  * Cheap superset of everything `findCredentialPromptIndex` can match, tested
@@ -68,11 +93,17 @@ const AUTH_FLOW_RE =
  */
 export const TERMINAL_CREDENTIAL_PROMPT_SENTINEL_RE = new RegExp(
   `(?:(?:${CREDENTIAL_NOUN_SOURCE}|username for)[^\\n]{0,64}[:?>›❯»_]\\s*$)|` +
-    `(?:${AUTH_FLOW_RE.source})`,
+    `(?:${AUTH_FLOW_RE.source})|` +
+    `(?:^\\s*\\?\\s+[^\\n]{0,120}(?:${AUTH_VERB_RE.source}))`,
   'im'
 )
 
-function isCredentialPromptLine(line: string): boolean {
+/**
+ * Whether `line` is itself a credential prompt. `isLastRow` gates the bare-label
+ * form (`password:`) because a label with no ask verb is also how printed k8s
+ * manifests and form templates read; only the screen's bottom row is a prompt.
+ */
+function isCredentialPromptLine(line: string, isLastRow: boolean): boolean {
   if (line.length > MAX_CREDENTIAL_LINE_LENGTH) {
     return false
   }
@@ -93,7 +124,10 @@ function isCredentialPromptLine(line: string): boolean {
     if (!terminated) {
       continue
     }
-    if (CREDENTIAL_ASK_PREFIX_RE.test(prefix) || CREDENTIAL_LABEL_PREFIX_RE.test(prefix)) {
+    if (CREDENTIAL_ASK_PREFIX_RE.test(prefix)) {
+      return true
+    }
+    if (isLastRow && CREDENTIAL_LABEL_PREFIX_RE.test(prefix)) {
       return true
     }
   }
@@ -104,24 +138,44 @@ function isCredentialPromptLine(line: string): boolean {
 export function findCredentialPromptIndex(normalized: string): number | null {
   const windowStart = startOfLastNonBlankLines(normalized, CREDENTIAL_TAIL_LINES)
   const tail = normalized.slice(windowStart)
+  const raws = tail.split('\n')
+  // Why: dialogs are drawn inside box rules, which otherwise glue the frame to the wording.
+  const lines = raws.map((raw) => raw.replace(/[\u2500-\u257f]+/g, ' ').trim())
+  const lastRow = lines.findLastIndex((line) => line.length > 0)
+
   let offset = 0
   let promptIndex: number | null = null
   let sawAuthVerb = false
-  let sawAuthFlow = false
-  for (const raw of tail.split('\n')) {
-    // Why: dialogs are drawn inside box rules, which otherwise glue the frame to the wording.
-    const line = raw.replace(/[\u2500-\u257f]+/g, ' ').trim()
-    if (isCredentialPromptLine(line)) {
+  let sawCredentialNoun = false
+  let sawAuthQuestion = false
+  for (let index = 0; index < lines.length; index += 1) {
+    const line = lines[index]
+    if (isCredentialPromptLine(line, index === lastRow)) {
       promptIndex = windowStart + offset
     }
     if (line.length <= MAX_CREDENTIAL_LINE_LENGTH) {
       sawAuthVerb = sawAuthVerb || AUTH_VERB_RE.test(line)
-      sawAuthFlow = sawAuthFlow || AUTH_FLOW_RE.test(line)
+      sawCredentialNoun = sawCredentialNoun || CREDENTIAL_NOUN_ANYWHERE_RE.test(line)
+      sawAuthQuestion =
+        sawAuthQuestion ||
+        (AUTH_QUESTION_ROW_RE.test(line) && (AUTH_VERB_RE.test(line) || AUTH_FLOW_RE.test(line)))
     }
-    offset += raw.length + 1
+    offset += raws[index].length + 1
   }
   if (promptIndex !== null) {
     return promptIndex
   }
-  return sawAuthVerb && sawAuthFlow ? windowStart : null
+  // A flow marker alone is narration ("added the 2fa tests"). It is a live auth
+  // surface only when it owns the bottom row as an unfinished request, or when
+  // an interactive auth question drew the screen.
+  const bottomRow = lastRow === -1 ? '' : lines[lastRow]
+  const bottomRowAsks =
+    AUTH_ACTION_FLOW_RE.test(bottomRow) ||
+    (AUTH_FLOW_RE.test(bottomRow) && CLAUSE_TERMINATED_RE.test(bottomRow))
+  const authFlowOwnsBottom =
+    bottomRow.length <= MAX_CREDENTIAL_LINE_LENGTH &&
+    bottomRowAsks &&
+    !NARRATION_ROW_RE.test(bottomRow) &&
+    (sawAuthVerb || sawCredentialNoun)
+  return authFlowOwnsBottom || sawAuthQuestion ? windowStart : null
 }