diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-content-parts.test.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-content-parts.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d2142150937
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-content-parts.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import type {
+  AgentJournalItemBody,
+  AgentJournalItemIdentity
+} from '../../shared/agent-session-journal-types'
+import type { StructuredAgentSessionEventSink } from '../native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-event-sink'
+import { createClaudeJournalTranslator } from './claude-structured-journal-translation'
+
+function sinkState() {
+  const items: { identity: AgentJournalItemIdentity; body: AgentJournalItemBody }[] = []
+  const sink: StructuredAgentSessionEventSink = {
+    appendItem: (identity, body) => items.push({ identity, body }),
+    appendTombstone: () => {},
+    publish: vi.fn()
+  }
+  return { sink, items }
+}
+
+function providerRows(items: { body: AgentJournalItemBody }[]) {
+  return items.flatMap((item) =>
+    item.body.kind === 'status' && item.body.providerFrame
+      ? [{ kind: item.body.providerFrame.kind, text: item.body.text }]
+      : []
+  )
+}
+
+function userMessageWith(part: unknown) {
+  return {
+    type: 'message' as const,
+    sessionId: 'orca-session',
+    startsTurn: true as const,
+    message: {
+      type: 'user',
+      uuid: 'user-1',
+      session_id: 'claude-session',
+      parent_tool_use_id: null,
+      isReplay: true,
+      message: { role: 'user', content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'look at this' }, part] }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/** Exactly what claudeDispatchMessageContent sends for a local attachment. */
+const BASE64_IMAGE = {
+  type: 'image',
+  source: { type: 'base64', media_type: 'image/png', data: 'iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUg==' }
+}
+
+describe('Claude message content parts', () => {
+  it('does not leak a wire kind for a locally attached image', () => {
+    const state = sinkState()
+    const translator = createClaudeJournalTranslator({ sink: state.sink })
+
+    translator.handle(userMessageWith(BASE64_IMAGE))
+
+    expect(providerRows(state.items)).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('still renders an image the CLI sends by url', () => {
+    const state = sinkState()
+    const translator = createClaudeJournalTranslator({ sink: state.sink })
+
+    translator.handle(
+      userMessageWith({ type: 'image', source: { type: 'url', url: 'https://x.test/a.png' } })
+    )
+
+    expect(providerRows(state.items)).toEqual([])
+    expect(
+      state.items.flatMap((item) => (item.body.kind === 'message' ? item.body.blocks : []))
+    ).toContainEqual({ type: 'image-ref', url: 'https://x.test/a.png' })
+  })
+
+  it('says what is true for a content part it cannot render, not the wire kind', () => {
+    const state = sinkState()
+    const translator = createClaudeJournalTranslator({ sink: state.sink })
+
+    translator.handle(userMessageWith({ type: 'some_future_part', payload: { a: 1 } }))
+
+    const rows = providerRows(state.items)
+    expect(rows).toHaveLength(1)
+    // The kind stays on the row for debugging, behind the disclosure.
+    expect(rows[0].kind).toBe('message:user:content:some_future_part')
+    // ...but the visible text is a sentence, not the opcode.
+    expect(rows[0].text).not.toContain('message:user:content')
+    expect(rows[0].text.toLowerCase()).toContain('claude')
+  })
+
+  it('prefers a readable sentence the part carries over the placeholder', () => {
+    const state = sinkState()
+    const translator = createClaudeJournalTranslator({ sink: state.sink })
+
+    translator.handle(
+      userMessageWith({ type: 'some_future_part', message: 'the server refused the upload' })
+    )
+
+    expect(providerRows(state.items)[0].text).toBe('the server refused the upload')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-effort-reporting.test.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-effort-reporting.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..61ff1700bf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-effort-reporting.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { AgentSessionOptionRejectedError } from '../native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-option-error'
+import { setClaudeStructuredOption } from './claude-structured-options'
+import { readClaudeSettingsEffort } from './claude-structured-session-options'
+import type { ClaudeSession } from './claude-structured-session-state'
+import type { ClaudeStructuredSessionEvent } from './claude-structured-session-adapter'
+import { acquired, fakeClaude } from './claude-structured-session-test-support'
+
+/** Verbatim from Claude Code 2.1.258's get_settings response. */
+const REAL_SETTINGS = {
+  applied: { model: 'claude-opus-5[1m]', effort: 'high', advisor: null, ultracode: false },
+  effective: { model: 'claude-opus-5[1m]', effortLevel: 'high', env: {} },
+  sources: {}
+}
+
+describe('Claude effort reporting', () => {
+  it('reads the effort get_settings reports', () => {
+    expect(readClaudeSettingsEffort(REAL_SETTINGS)).toBe('high')
+  })
+
+  it.each([
+    [
+      'the provider stops reporting it',
+      { applied: { effort: 'high' }, effective: {}, sources: {} }
+    ],
+    ['the payload carries no effective block', { applied: { effort: 'high' } }],
+    ['the request failed outright', null]
+  ])('reports no effort when %s', (_case, settings) => {
+    // Never defaulted: an effort nothing measured would be worse than a blank
+    // pill, and this is the assertion that goes red if the key is renamed.
+    expect(readClaudeSettingsEffort(settings)).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  it('publishes the effort from get_settings, which system/init never carries', async () => {
+    const claude = fakeClaude({ settings: REAL_SETTINGS })
+    const adapter = await acquired(claude)
+
+    await expect(adapter.readOptions({ sessionId: 'session-1', fence: 7 })).resolves.toMatchObject({
+      current: { effort: 'high' }
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('leaves the effort unreported when the session never learns one', async () => {
+    const claude = fakeClaude({ settings: { applied: {}, effective: {}, sources: {} } })
+    const adapter = await acquired(claude)
+
+    const options = await adapter.readOptions({ sessionId: 'session-1', fence: 7 })
+    expect(options.current.effort).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(options.current.model).toBeTruthy()
+  })
+
+  it('keeps the init fixture free of an effort the real frame never sends', async () => {
+    const events: ClaudeStructuredSessionEvent[] = []
+    await acquired(fakeClaude(), {}, events)
+    const init = events.flatMap((event) =>
+      event.type === 'message' && event.message.subtype === 'init' ? [event.message] : []
+    )
+
+    expect(init).toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(init[0]).toHaveProperty('model')
+    // The regression that hid this defect: a fixture inventing `effortLevel`
+    // kept every gate green over a value that is always empty in production.
+    expect(Object.keys(init[0])).not.toContain('effortLevel')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('Claude effort readback', () => {
+  function sessionWith(reported: string | null, calls: string[] = []) {
+    return {
+      session: {
+        options: new Map<string, string>(),
+        optionMutationSequence: 0,
+        connection: {
+          applyFlagSettings: async (settings: { effortLevel?: string }) => {
+            // The measured behaviour: an unknown effort is accepted and ignored.
+            calls.push(`apply:${settings.effortLevel}`)
+          },
+          getSettings: async () => {
+            calls.push('get_settings')
+            return reported === null
+              ? { applied: {}, effective: {}, sources: {} }
+              : { applied: { effort: reported }, effective: { effortLevel: reported }, sources: {} }
+          }
+        }
+      } as unknown as ClaudeSession,
+      calls
+    }
+  }
+
+  it('refuses to record an effort the child did not adopt', async () => {
+    const { session, calls } = sessionWith('high')
+
+    await expect(
+      setClaudeStructuredOption(session, { key: 'effort', value: 'bogus-effort-xyz' }, undefined)
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(AgentSessionOptionRejectedError)
+    expect(session.options.has('effort')).toBe(false)
+    expect(calls).toEqual(['apply:bogus-effort-xyz', 'get_settings'])
+  })
+
+  it('records an effort the child confirms', async () => {
+    const { session } = sessionWith('low')
+
+    await expect(
+      setClaudeStructuredOption(session, { key: 'effort', value: 'low' }, undefined)
+    ).resolves.toEqual({ effort: 'low' })
+  })
+
+  it('records the request when the readback is unavailable', async () => {
+    // No evidence of a refusal is not evidence of one; the apply itself succeeded.
+    const { session } = sessionWith(null)
+
+    await expect(
+      setClaudeStructuredOption(session, { key: 'effort', value: 'low' }, undefined)
+    ).resolves.toEqual({ effort: 'low' })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-journal-translation.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-journal-translation.ts
index 28c7f1ff2f4..ffaad4da570 100644
--- a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-journal-translation.ts
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-journal-translation.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@ import {
   claudeQuestionItems
 } from './claude-structured-prompt-items'
 import type { ClaudePromptRegistry } from './claude-structured-prompt-replies'
+import { readableProviderFrameText } from '../native-chat/agent-session-wire/unhandled-provider-frame'
 import {
+  CLAUDE_UNRENDERABLE_CONTENT_TEXT,
   claudeProviderFrameKind,
   claudeResultFailure,
   createClaudeProviderFrameFallback,
@@ -171,7 +173,11 @@ export function createClaudeJournalTranslator(
     const unhandledContent = envelope.content.filter((part) => !isModeledClaudeContent(part))
     for (const part of unhandledContent) {
       const partType = claudeText(claudeRecord(part)?.type) ?? 'unknown'
-      providerFallback.append(`message:${envelope.role}:content:${partType}`, part)
+      providerFallback.append(
+        `message:${envelope.role}:content:${partType}`,
+        part,
+        readableProviderFrameText(part) ?? CLAUDE_UNRENDERABLE_CONTENT_TEXT
+      )
       changed = true
     }
     // An empty user frame is a replay with nothing to show, not an unknown kind.
diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-options.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-options.ts
index b6fc07da11c..4d7db7d613a 100644
--- a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-options.ts
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-options.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import {
   AgentSessionOptionRejectedError,
   isAgentSessionOptionRejectedError
 } from '../native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-option-error'
+import { readClaudeSettingsEffort } from './claude-structured-session-options'
 import type { ClaudeSession } from './claude-structured-session-state'
 
 const OPTION_ORDER = ['model', 'effort', 'permissionMode'] as const
@@ -50,9 +51,25 @@ export async function setClaudeStructuredOption(
     }
     throw error
   }
+  // apply_flag_settings answers `success` for an effort it then ignores, so the
+  // absence of a throw proves nothing. Ask what the child actually holds.
+  const adopted =
+    input.key === 'effort'
+      ? await session.connection
+          .getSettings({ timeoutMs })
+          .then(readClaudeSettingsEffort)
+          .catch(() => null)
+      : null
   if (mutationSequence !== session.optionMutationSequence) {
     return Object.fromEntries(session.options)
   }
+  // A readback that could not be taken is not evidence of a refusal; one that
+  // disagrees is, and recording it anyway would show an effort nothing adopted.
+  if (adopted !== null && adopted !== input.value) {
+    throw new AgentSessionOptionRejectedError(
+      `claude kept effort ${adopted} instead of ${input.value}`
+    )
+  }
   session.options.set(input.key, input.value)
   return Object.fromEntries(session.options)
 }
diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-provider-fallback.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-provider-fallback.ts
index afa9125e98f..ea461b173a2 100644
--- a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-provider-fallback.ts
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-provider-fallback.ts
@@ -58,6 +58,15 @@ export function claudeResultFailure(
   return { text: errors.length > 0 ? errors.join('\n') : null }
 }
 
+/**
+ * What a message part that Orca cannot render says for itself. The kinds under
+ * `message:<role>:content:*` are synthesised from whatever `part.type` the CLI
+ * sends, so they can never be catalogued ahead of time; printing one is leaking
+ * wire vocabulary at a user who cannot act on it. The frame stays on the row's
+ * disclosure, so nothing is dropped and the next reader can still name it.
+ */
+export const CLAUDE_UNRENDERABLE_CONTENT_TEXT = 'Claude sent content Orca cannot display yet'
+
 export function isModeledClaudeContent(value: unknown): boolean {
   const part = claudeRecord(value)
   if (!part) {
@@ -68,7 +77,12 @@ export function isModeledClaudeContent(value: unknown): boolean {
   }
   if (part.type === 'image') {
     const source = claudeRecord(part.source)
-    return source?.type === 'url' && claudeText(source.url) !== null
+    if (source?.type === 'url') {
+      return claudeText(source.url) !== null
+    }
+    // A local attachment is replayed as the base64 (or file) source Orca itself
+    // sent, so it is content we recognise -- not an unknown part to surface.
+    return source?.type === 'base64' || source?.type === 'file'
   }
   if (part.type === 'tool_use') {
     return claudeText(part.id) !== null && claudeText(part.name) !== null
diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-real-cli.test.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-real-cli.test.ts
index af799318cbb..b7269060ac1 100644
--- a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-real-cli.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-real-cli.test.ts
@@ -127,6 +127,45 @@ describe.skipIf(!realClaudeAvailable)('Claude structured real CLI handshake', ()
     10_000
   )
 
+  // Unit tests can only pin the shape we read, which is exactly how the blank
+  // Effort pill survived every gate: the fixture invented an `effortLevel` on a
+  // frame the CLI does not send. This asserts both halves against the live
+  // binary — that get_settings reports the effort, and that init does not.
+  it.skipIf(!realClaudeAuthenticated)(
+    'reports the current effort through get_settings and never on the init frame',
+    async () => {
+      const providerSessionId = randomUUID()
+      const claudeConfigDir = process.env.CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR?.trim() || join(homedir(), '.claude')
+      const events: ClaudeStructuredSessionEvent[] = []
+      const adapter = realAdapter(providerSessionId, claudeConfigDir, events)
+
+      try {
+        await adapter.acquire({
+          identity: identity(providerSessionId),
+          fence: 1,
+          spawnToken: 'real-cli-effort'
+        })
+        const published = events.flatMap((event) =>
+          event.type === 'message' ? [event.message] : []
+        )
+        const options = await adapter.readOptions({ sessionId: 'real-cli-handshake', fence: 1 })
+
+        expect(published.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+        // Not just the init frame: no frame the CLI publishes carries an effort
+        // at all. Goes red the day one does, which is when the simpler fix
+        // becomes available. Which frame proves the session varies by host, so
+        // this asserts over all of them rather than picking one.
+        expect(published.filter((frame) => 'effortLevel' in frame)).toEqual([])
+        // Goes red if `effective.effortLevel` is renamed or dropped, which no
+        // fixture-backed test can see.
+        expect(options.current.effort).toEqual(expect.any(String))
+      } finally {
+        await adapter.closeAll()
+      }
+    },
+    15_000
+  )
+
   // Mobile native chat never reads the structured journal — it reads the CLI's own
   // transcript through native-chat/session-file-resolver.ts. So this resolves the way
   // transcript-read-cache.ts:104 does, with NO root override, and checks the answer
diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-acquisition.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-acquisition.ts
index e15a866fa41..955b55c7fc6 100644
--- a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-acquisition.ts
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-acquisition.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import {
 } from './claude-structured-options'
 import { ClaudePromptRegistry } from './claude-structured-prompt-replies'
 import { createClaudeSessionJournalTranslator } from './claude-structured-journal-translation'
+import { readClaudeSettingsEffort } from './claude-structured-session-options'
 import { createClaudeSessionPublication } from './claude-structured-session-publication'
 import {
   cancelClaudeAcquisitionAttempt,
@@ -243,6 +244,7 @@ export async function acquireClaudeSession({
       claudeConfigDir: launch.claudeConfigDir,
       leafUuid: observedLeafUuid,
       fence: input.fence,
+      effort: readClaudeSettingsEffort(settings),
       resumed: launch.resumed,
       prompts,
       translator,
diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-adapter.test.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-adapter.test.ts
index 678e7f59fa4..693b08f5e47 100644
--- a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-adapter.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-adapter.test.ts
@@ -82,9 +82,11 @@ describe('ClaudeStructuredSessionAdapter.acquire', () => {
       options: { model: 'opus', effort: 'high' }
     })
 
-    expect(claude.connections[0].calls.slice(-2)).toEqual([
+    expect(claude.connections[0].calls.slice(-3)).toEqual([
       { subtype: 'set_model', params: { model: 'opus' } },
-      { subtype: 'apply_flag_settings', params: { settings: { effortLevel: 'high' } } }
+      { subtype: 'apply_flag_settings', params: { settings: { effortLevel: 'high' } } },
+      // The effort is only recorded once the child reports having adopted it.
+      { subtype: 'get_settings' }
     ])
     await expect(adapter.readOptions({ sessionId: 'session-1', fence: 7 })).resolves.toMatchObject({
       current: { model: 'opus', effort: 'high' }
diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-options.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-options.ts
index d61db72fbc5..7b6cad63d74 100644
--- a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-options.ts
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-options.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,16 @@ function text(value: unknown): string | null {
   return typeof value === 'string' && value.trim() ? value : null
 }
 
+/**
+ * The session's current effort, which only `get_settings` reports: the
+ * `system/init` frame carries `model` but has never carried an effort of any
+ * kind. Null when the provider stops reporting it, so the pill goes empty
+ * rather than showing an effort nothing measured.
+ */
+export function readClaudeSettingsEffort(settings: unknown): string | null {
+  return text(record(record(settings)?.effective)?.effortLevel)
+}
+
 function effortLabel(value: string): string {
   return value === 'xhigh' ? 'Extra high' : `${value.charAt(0).toUpperCase()}${value.slice(1)}`
 }
diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-publication.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-publication.ts
index 652d897128b..3dec735d3aa 100644
--- a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-publication.ts
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-publication.ts
@@ -21,9 +21,11 @@ export function createClaudeSessionPublication(input: {
   observedAt: number
   options?: ReadonlyMap<string, string>
   capabilities: readonly string[]
+  /** Read from `get_settings`; `system/init` never reports an effort. */
+  effort: string | null
 }): { acquisition: AgentSessionAcquisition; session: ClaudeSession } {
   const model = readClaudeFrameString(input.init.message, 'model')
-  const effort = readClaudeFrameString(input.init.message, 'effortLevel')
+  const effort = input.effort
   return {
     acquisition: {
       process: input.process,
diff --git a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-test-support.ts b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-test-support.ts
index 2cb8e15d882..6b0768b5134 100644
--- a/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-test-support.ts
+++ b/src/main/claude/claude-structured-session-test-support.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ export function fakeClaude(
     initSessionId?: string
     initUuid?: string
     initModel?: string
-    initEffort?: string
     initProof?: 'init' | 'session-start' | 'none'
     initAccount?: unknown
     exitBeforeInit?: string
@@ -97,13 +96,15 @@ export function fakeClaude(
             uuid: options.initUuid ?? 'init-uuid'
           })
         } else if (options.initProof !== 'none') {
+          // Keys mirror the real system/init frame, which carries `model` but no
+          // effort of any kind: the current effort only comes back from
+          // get_settings. Never add a field the CLI does not send.
           handlers.onMessage?.({
             type: 'system',
             subtype: 'init',
             session_id: options.initSessionId ?? PROVIDER_SESSION_ID,
             uuid: options.initUuid ?? 'init-uuid',
             model: options.initModel ?? 'claude-sonnet-5',
-            effortLevel: options.initEffort ?? 'high',
             apiKeySource: 'none',
             ...(options.capabilities ? { capabilities: options.capabilities } : {})
           })
@@ -115,7 +116,15 @@ export function fakeClaude(
       },
       getSettings: async () => {
         connection.calls.push({ subtype: 'get_settings' })
-        return options.settings ?? { env: {} }
+        // Shape measured from Claude Code 2.1.258: {applied, effective, sources},
+        // and the only place the session's current effort is reported.
+        return (
+          options.settings ?? {
+            applied: { model: 'claude-sonnet-5', effort: 'high', advisor: null, ultracode: false },
+            effective: { model: 'claude-sonnet-5', effortLevel: 'high', env: {} },
+            sources: {}
+          }
+        )
       },
       supportedModels: async () => {
         connection.calls.push({ subtype: 'list_models' })
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/unhandled-provider-frame.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/unhandled-provider-frame.ts
index b4651cfc952..336d90e724e 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/unhandled-provider-frame.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/unhandled-provider-frame.ts
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ function directReadableMessage(payload: unknown): string | null {
   return null
 }
 
-function readableMessage(payload: unknown): string | null {
+/** The provider's own sentence for a frame, when it carries one. */
+export function readableProviderFrameText(payload: unknown): string | null {
   const direct = directReadableMessage(payload)
   if (direct || typeof payload !== 'object' || payload === null || Array.isArray(payload)) {
     return direct
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@ export function unhandledProviderFrameJournalItem(
   // Why: the opcode alone ("codex · notification:warning") tells the user nothing
   // and reads as protocol noise. Lead with the provider's own sentence when it has
   // one; the raw frame stays behind the row's disclosure either way.
-  const message = readableMessage(payload)
+  const message = readableProviderFrameText(payload)
   const display = message ? boundInlineText(message, limits) : null
   return {
     body: {