diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChat.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChat.svelte
index 301a8dba54..129faa9f01 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChat.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChat.svelte
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 	import HideButton from '$lib/components/apps/editor/settingsPanel/HideButton.svelte'
 	import { SUPPORTED_CHAT_SCRIPT_LANGUAGES } from './script/core'
 	import { copilotInfo } from '$lib/aiStore'
+	import type { ComposerSelection } from './composerBox'
 
 	let {
 		hideHeader = false,
@@ -20,7 +21,8 @@
 		emptyHint,
 		inputPreface,
 		initialInstructions = undefined,
-		onDraftChange = undefined
+		onDraftChange = undefined,
+		placeholder = undefined
 	}: {
 		hideHeader?: boolean
 		hideModeSelector?: boolean
@@ -39,6 +41,8 @@
 		// Seed / observe the composer's draft text (forwarded to AIChatDisplay).
 		initialInstructions?: string
 		onDraftChange?: (text: string) => void
+		/** Composer placeholder for the first message. Falls back to the per-AI-mode wording. */
+		placeholder?: string
 	} = $props()
 
 	const isAdmin = $derived($userStore?.is_admin || $userStore?.is_super_admin)
@@ -106,8 +110,8 @@
 		aiChatManager.sendRequest(options)
 	}
 
-	export function focusInput() {
-		aiChatDisplay?.focusInput()
+	export function focusInput(selection?: ComposerSelection) {
+		aiChatDisplay?.focusInput(selection)
 	}
 
 	const historyManager = aiChatManager.historyManager
@@ -201,4 +205,5 @@
 	{inputPreface}
 	{initialInstructions}
 	{onDraftChange}
+	{placeholder}
 ></AIChatDisplay>
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatDisplay.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatDisplay.svelte
index b233728a19..845126b4ef 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatDisplay.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatDisplay.svelte
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 	import ToolGroupDisplay from './ToolGroupDisplay.svelte'
 	import { chatItemKey, groupToolRuns } from './toolGroups'
 	import AIChatInput from './AIChatInput.svelte'
+	import type { ComposerSelection } from './composerBox'
 	import AttachedFilesBar from './files/AttachedFilesBar.svelte'
 	import QueuedMessageChip from './QueuedMessageChip.svelte'
 	import JobsSegment from './JobsSegment.svelte'
@@ -357,8 +358,8 @@
 		chatHost.sendRequest({ instructions: suggestion })
 	}
 
-	export function focusInput() {
-		aiChatInput?.focusInput()
+	export function focusInput(selection?: ComposerSelection) {
+		aiChatInput?.focusInput(selection)
 	}
 
 	$effect(() => {
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatInput.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatInput.svelte
index 41ea788fac..cd95da5a88 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatInput.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatInput.svelte
@@ -13,7 +13,12 @@
 	import { AIMode } from './AIChatManager.svelte'
 	import { CHAT_INPUT_PADDING, getAiChatManager } from './aiChatManagerContext'
 	import { getChatViewHost } from './chatViewHost'
-	import { composerBoxClass, COMPOSER_FIELD_RESET } from './composerBox'
+	import {
+		composerBoxClass,
+		COMPOSER_FIELD_RESET,
+		globalComposerSuggestion,
+		type ComposerSelection
+	} from './composerBox'
 	import { formatMention, hasMention, removeMentionFromText } from './mention'
 	import { twMerge } from 'tailwind-merge'
 	import { tick, untrack, type Snippet } from 'svelte'
@@ -119,44 +124,12 @@
 		pendingQuestionToolCallId = undefined
 	}: Props = $props()
 
-	// GLOBAL-mode suggestion pool. We pick one at mount-time so each new
-	// session lands on a different prompt; the choice stays stable for
-	// the lifetime of this input so the placeholder doesn't shuffle as
-	// the user is reading it.
-	const GLOBAL_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS = [
-		'Write a hello-world flow',
-		'Create a script that lists files in an S3 bucket',
-		'Build a CRUD app for a customer table',
-		'Schedule a daily cleanup of old runs',
-		'Wrap an existing script into a flow with retries',
-		'Add an HTTP trigger to an existing script',
-		'Generate a report from a SQL query and email it',
-		'Create a Postgres resource and a script that queries it',
-		'Refactor a script to add error handling',
-		'List my workspace flows and scripts'
-	]
-	// An operator authors nothing, so nothing above is theirs to ask for; one with the
-	// workspace's builder right can compose flows out of deployed scripts as well.
-	const OPERATOR_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS = [
-		'List my workspace flows and scripts',
-		'Show the runs that failed today and why',
-		'Find the script that sends a report and run it',
-		'Rerun the last failed run of a flow'
-	]
-	const BUILDER_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS = [
-		...OPERATOR_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS,
-		'Compose a flow that chains two deployed scripts'
-	]
+	// Picked at mount-time so each new session lands on a different prompt.
 	const permissions = useSessionPermissions(() => chatHost.operatingWorkspace)
 	const suggestionPick = Math.random()
-	const globalSuggestion = $derived.by(() => {
-		const pool = permissions.canOpenEditor('script')
-			? GLOBAL_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS
-			: permissions.canOpenEditor('flow')
-				? BUILDER_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS
-				: OPERATOR_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS
-		return pool[Math.floor(suggestionPick * pool.length)]
-	})
+	const globalSuggestion = $derived(
+		globalComposerSuggestion(suggestionPick, permissions.canOpenEditor)
+	)
 
 	// Generate mode-specific placeholder
 	const modePlaceholder = $derived.by(() => {
@@ -636,11 +609,14 @@
 		draft.text = removeMentionFromText(draft.text, title)
 	}
 
-	export function focusInput() {
+	export function focusInput(selection?: ComposerSelection) {
 		if (isContextEnabledMode) {
-			contextTextareaComponent?.focus()
+			contextTextareaComponent?.focus(selection)
 		} else {
 			instructionsTextareaComponent?.focus()
+			if (selection) {
+				instructionsTextareaComponent?.setSelectionRange(selection.start, selection.end)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/ComposerPlaceholder.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/ComposerPlaceholder.svelte
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..17c95086ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/ComposerPlaceholder.svelte
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+<script lang="ts">
+	import { ArrowUp } from 'lucide-svelte'
+	import { twMerge } from 'tailwind-merge'
+	import { Button } from '$lib/components/common'
+	import autosize from '$lib/autosize'
+	import { CHAT_INPUT_PADDING } from './aiChatManagerContext'
+	import { composerBoxClass, COMPOSER_FIELD_RESET, type ComposerSelection } from './composerBox'
+
+	/**
+	 * The chat composer's box, drawn while the chat code loads. It must import nothing of
+	 * AIChat's: it exists so the page can show and type into the composer before that code
+	 * arrives. The host passes `value` and the last selection to the real composer when it mounts.
+	 */
+	let {
+		value = $bindable(),
+		placeholder,
+		disabled = false,
+		autofocus = false,
+		onSelectionChange,
+		onCompositionChange
+	}: {
+		value: string
+		placeholder?: string
+		disabled?: boolean
+		autofocus?: boolean
+		/** The caret while the field has focus, undefined once the user moves to another element. */
+		onSelectionChange?: (selection: ComposerSelection | undefined) => void
+		/** Whether an IME composition is in progress: replacing the field then would lose it. */
+		onCompositionChange?: (composing: boolean) => void
+	} = $props()
+
+	function trackSelection(e: Event & { currentTarget: HTMLTextAreaElement }) {
+		onSelectionChange?.({
+			start: e.currentTarget.selectionStart,
+			end: e.currentTarget.selectionEnd
+		})
+	}
+</script>
+
+<div class="relative mt-1">
+	<div class={composerBoxClass(disabled)}>
+		<div class="relative w-full">
+			<!-- Text metrics match ContextTextarea's `.textarea-input`, so the swap moves nothing. -->
+			<textarea
+				{@attach (node) => {
+					if (autofocus) node.focus()
+				}}
+				bind:value
+				use:autosize={{ maxHeight: '40vh' }}
+				rows={1}
+				{placeholder}
+				{disabled}
+				class={twMerge(
+					'w-full resize-none overflow-clip whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-xs leading-[1.72] min-h-[1.9rem]',
+					COMPOSER_FIELD_RESET,
+					CHAT_INPUT_PADDING
+				)}
+				onfocus={trackSelection}
+				oninput={trackSelection}
+				onselect={trackSelection}
+				onkeyup={trackSelection}
+				onpointerup={trackSelection}
+				onblur={(e) => {
+					// Unmounting the focused field blurs it, while still connected; that is the hand-off,
+					// not the user leaving. The field is detached by the time a microtask runs. A window
+					// blur leaves the field the active element, so it is not the user leaving either.
+					const field = e.currentTarget
+					queueMicrotask(() => {
+						if (field.isConnected && document.activeElement !== field) {
+							onSelectionChange?.(undefined)
+						}
+					})
+				}}
+				oncompositionstart={() => onCompositionChange?.(true)}
+				oncompositionend={() => onCompositionChange?.(false)}
+				onkeydown={(e) => {
+					// Enter sends in the real composer; here it must not add a newline to the draft.
+					if (e.key === 'Enter' && !e.shiftKey && !e.isComposing) e.preventDefault()
+				}}
+			></textarea>
+			<div class="absolute bottom-1 right-1">
+				<Button
+					variant="subtle"
+					unifiedSize="md"
+					iconOnly
+					title="Send"
+					startIcon={{ icon: ArrowUp }}
+					disabled
+				/>
+			</div>
+		</div>
+	</div>
+</div>
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/ContextTextarea.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/ContextTextarea.svelte
index dd3a011da2..c80e9113df 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/ContextTextarea.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/ContextTextarea.svelte
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <script lang="ts">
-	import { composerBoxClass, COMPOSER_FIELD_RESET } from './composerBox'
+	import { composerBoxClass, COMPOSER_FIELD_RESET, type ComposerSelection } from './composerBox'
 	import autosize from '$lib/autosize'
 	import { tick, type Snippet } from 'svelte'
 	import type { ContextElement } from './context'
@@ -761,8 +761,11 @@
 		prevMentionedTitles = cur
 	})
 
-	export function focus() {
+	export function focus(selection?: ComposerSelection) {
 		textarea?.focus()
+		if (selection) {
+			textarea?.setSelectionRange(selection.start, selection.end)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Wipe after dispatching a send: pre-zero `prevMentionedTitles` so the effect
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/JobsSegment.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/JobsSegment.svelte
index 31fce8fd6e..c56a3f1b05 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/JobsSegment.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/JobsSegment.svelte
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 	import SessionStatusPopover from '$lib/components/sessions/SessionStatusPopover.svelte'
 	import { zIndexes } from '$lib/zIndexes'
 	import JobStatusIcon from '$lib/components/runs/JobStatusIcon.svelte'
-	import FlowStatusWaitingForEvents from '$lib/components/FlowStatusWaitingForEvents.svelte'
 	import { ChevronUp, Hourglass, ThumbsUp, TimerOff } from 'lucide-svelte'
 	import { slide } from 'svelte/transition'
 	import { JobService, type Job } from '$lib/gen'
@@ -244,6 +243,11 @@
 	let approvalOpen = $state(false)
 	let approvalLabel = $state('')
 	let approvalJob = $state<Job | undefined>(undefined)
+	// Loaded with the job, not with this segment: the approval form reaches the code editor, and
+	// the sessions page renders this segment on load.
+	let FlowStatusWaitingForEvents = $state.raw<
+		typeof import('$lib/components/FlowStatusWaitingForEvents.svelte').default | undefined
+	>(undefined)
 
 	async function openApproval(job: ChatJob) {
 		approvalLabel = job.label
@@ -252,12 +256,16 @@
 		try {
 			// The stored snapshot is trimmed; the approval form needs the full job
 			// (flow_status + raw_flow), so fetch it fresh.
-			const full = await JobService.getJob({
-				workspace: job.workspace,
-				id: job.jobId,
-				noLogs: true,
-				noCode: true
-			})
+			const [full, form] = await Promise.all([
+				JobService.getJob({
+					workspace: job.workspace,
+					id: job.jobId,
+					noLogs: true,
+					noCode: true
+				}),
+				import('$lib/components/FlowStatusWaitingForEvents.svelte')
+			])
+			FlowStatusWaitingForEvents = form.default
 			if (deriveChatJobStatus(full) === 'suspended') {
 				approvalJob = full
 			} else {
@@ -383,7 +391,7 @@
 			bind:open={approvalOpen}
 			minZIndex={zIndexes.monacoEditorSuggestions + 1}
 		>
-			{#if approvalJob}
+			{#if approvalJob && FlowStatusWaitingForEvents}
 				<FlowStatusWaitingForEvents
 					job={approvalJob}
 					workspaceId={approvalJob.workspace_id}
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/composerBox.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/composerBox.ts
index f85783d988..1ab656cab1 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/composerBox.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/composerBox.ts
@@ -25,3 +25,47 @@ export function composerBoxClass(disabled: boolean = false): string {
 /** Applied to the field inside the box; without it the field draws a second border. */
 export const COMPOSER_FIELD_RESET =
 	'!border-transparent !bg-transparent !shadow-none focus:!border-transparent focus:!ring-0 disabled:cursor-not-allowed disabled:placeholder:text-disabled'
+
+/** A caret or selected range in the composer's text. */
+export type ComposerSelection = { start: number; end: number }
+
+const GLOBAL_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS = [
+	'Write a hello-world flow',
+	'Create a script that lists files in an S3 bucket',
+	'Build a CRUD app for a customer table',
+	'Schedule a daily cleanup of old runs',
+	'Wrap an existing script into a flow with retries',
+	'Add an HTTP trigger to an existing script',
+	'Generate a report from a SQL query and email it',
+	'Create a Postgres resource and a script that queries it',
+	'Refactor a script to add error handling',
+	'List my workspace flows and scripts'
+]
+// An operator authors nothing, so nothing above is theirs to ask for; one with the
+// workspace's builder right can compose flows out of deployed scripts as well.
+const OPERATOR_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS = [
+	'List my workspace flows and scripts',
+	'Show the runs that failed today and why',
+	'Find the script that sends a report and run it',
+	'Rerun the last failed run of a flow'
+]
+const BUILDER_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS = [
+	...OPERATOR_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS,
+	'Compose a flow that chains two deployed scripts'
+]
+
+/**
+ * The global-mode composer's placeholder: one suggestion the user may ask for. `pick` is a
+ * number in [0, 1) the caller draws once, so the text does not shuffle while it is read.
+ */
+export function globalComposerSuggestion(
+	pick: number,
+	canOpenEditor: (kind: string) => boolean
+): string {
+	const pool = canOpenEditor('script')
+		? GLOBAL_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS
+		: canOpenEditor('flow')
+			? BUILDER_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS
+			: OPERATOR_PLACEHOLDER_SUGGESTIONS
+	return pool[Math.floor(pick * pool.length)]
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/SessionWrapper.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/SessionWrapper.svelte
index 05a0cdda41..0ca50d189e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/SessionWrapper.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/SessionWrapper.svelte
@@ -1,7 +1,23 @@
+<script module lang="ts">
+	import { preloadComponent } from '$lib/utils/preloadComponent.svelte'
+
+	// AIChat's code is most of this page's: loaded beside it rather than as part of it, so the
+	// page and its ComposerPlaceholder show without waiting on it.
+	const aiChatComponent = preloadComponent(
+		() => import('$lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChat.svelte')
+	)
+</script>
+
 <script lang="ts">
 	import { onDestroy, setContext, untrack } from 'svelte'
 	import { Pane, Splitpanes } from 'svelte-splitpanes'
-	import AIChat from '$lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChat.svelte'
+	import type AIChat from '$lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChat.svelte'
+	import ComposerPlaceholder from '$lib/components/copilot/chat/ComposerPlaceholder.svelte'
+	import {
+		globalComposerSuggestion,
+		type ComposerSelection
+	} from '$lib/components/copilot/chat/composerBox'
+	import { useSessionPermissions } from './sessionPermissions.svelte'
 	import EditableInput from '$lib/components/common/EditableInput.svelte'
 	import PageHeaderContent from '$lib/components/PageHeaderContent.svelte'
 	import { Button } from '$lib/components/common'
@@ -13,7 +29,7 @@
 	import { WorkspaceService } from '$lib/gen'
 	import { sendUserToast } from '$lib/toast'
 	import Toggle from '$lib/components/Toggle.svelte'
-	import { copilotInfo } from '$lib/aiStore'
+	import { copilotInfo, copilotWorkspace } from '$lib/aiStore'
 	import { loadCopilot } from '$lib/components/copilot/loadCopilot'
 	import {
 		Archive,
@@ -54,11 +70,14 @@
 
 	let {
 		sessionId,
-		headerInPage = false
+		headerInPage = false,
+		covered = false
 	}: {
 		sessionId: string
 		/** True for the session the page is showing: its header rides the page header bar. */
 		headerInPage?: boolean
+		/** True while the page holds this wrapper inert under an overlay, where nothing takes focus. */
+		covered?: boolean
 	} = $props()
 
 	// Parent keys by sessionId; this wrapper only mounts when the session exists.
@@ -85,6 +104,26 @@
 	// mount-time empty draft would otherwise erase the prompt from the record.
 	const armedAtInit = sessionState.currentSessionId === sessionId && peekSessionAutoSend(sessionId)
 
+	// The composer's text before AIChat mounts, typed into the placeholder, and then the real
+	// composer's initial draft.
+	let draftText = $state(armedAtInit ? '' : (restoredDraftPrompt ?? ''))
+	// What the first focus after the swap does: put the caret where the placeholder had it, or,
+	// when null, leave focus where the user moved it while the chat loaded. Undefined when the
+	// placeholder never had focus.
+	let handoff: ComposerSelection | null | undefined = undefined
+	// The swap waits for an IME composition to end: the new field would not carry it over.
+	let placeholderComposing = $state(false)
+	// The placeholder's text counts as unsent input, like the real composer's draft, so the page
+	// does not evict this session's chat (and the text with it) while it waits for the chat code.
+	const PLACEHOLDER_DRAFT_KEY = 'composer-placeholder'
+
+	// Drawn once, and shared by the placeholder and the real composer so the text survives the swap.
+	const suggestionPick = Math.random()
+	const permissions = useSessionPermissions(() => runtime?.manager.operatingWorkspace)
+	const composerPlaceholder = $derived(
+		globalComposerSuggestion(suggestionPick, permissions.canOpenEditor)
+	)
+
 	// A hand-off whose click already stated the intent asks for its prompt to be
 	// sent, not parked. Reactive rather than mount-time: `createSession` reuses an
 	// untouched blank session and the sessions page keys wrappers by id, so a
@@ -258,17 +297,43 @@
 	// warm-session switch via the picker, and the moment copilot finishes
 	// loading.
 	let aiChat: AIChat | undefined = $state(undefined)
+	let seenFocusNonce = untrack(() => composerFocusRequest.nonce)
 	$effect(() => {
 		// Focus the composer when this session becomes active, or on an explicit
 		// focus request — the latter covers `+` reusing the untouched draft you're
 		// already viewing, where currentSessionId doesn't change so activation alone
 		// wouldn't re-run this.
-		void composerFocusRequest.nonce
-		if (sessionState.currentSessionId !== sessionId) return
+		const focusNonce = composerFocusRequest.nonce
+		if (focusNonce !== seenFocusNonce) {
+			// An explicit request overrides the user having left the placeholder before it.
+			seenFocusNonce = focusNonce
+			handoff = undefined
+		}
+		if (sessionState.currentSessionId !== sessionId) {
+			// The user left for another session: coming back is an activation, which focuses.
+			handoff = undefined
+			return
+		}
 		if (!aiChat) return
 		if (!$copilotInfo.enabled) return
 		const chat = aiChat
-		setTimeout(() => chat.focusInput(), 0)
+		const selection = handoff
+		handoff = undefined
+		if (selection === null) return
+		setTimeout(() => chat.focusInput(selection), 0)
+	})
+
+	// The real composer is disabled until the copilot config of the workspace it acts on is in,
+	// so the active session keeps the placeholder, which takes typing, until then. Latched: a
+	// later config reload must not swap a mounted chat, and its transcript, back out.
+	let chatShown = false
+	const showChat = $derived.by(() => {
+		chatShown ||=
+			!!aiChatComponent.current &&
+			!placeholderComposing &&
+			(sessionState.currentSessionId !== sessionId ||
+				$copilotWorkspace === (actingWorkspaceId ?? $workspaceStore))
+		return chatShown
 	})
 
 	// True when the session committed to a workspace that's no longer in
@@ -464,22 +529,58 @@
 		<Splitpanes horizontal={false} class="flex-1 min-h-0 splitter-hidden">
 			<Pane minSize={25} class="flex flex-col min-h-0 pb-2">
 				<div class="flex-1 min-h-0 w-full flex flex-col {hasFirstUserMessage ? '' : 'pt-8'}">
-					<AIChat
-						bind:this={aiChat}
-						hideHeader
-						hideModeSelector
-						wideLayout
-						initialInstructions={armedAtInit ? undefined : restoredDraftPrompt}
-						onDraftChange={(text) => setSessionDraftPrompt(sessionId, text)}
-						forceDisabled={isUnavailable || !!session.archived}
-						forceDisabledMessage={isUnavailable
-							? 'This session is linked to a workspace that no longer exists. Move it or discard it from the banner above to keep working.'
-							: session.archived
-								? 'This session is archived. Unarchive it from the banner above to keep working.'
-								: ''}
-						emptyHint={sessionEmptyHint}
-						{inputPreface}
-					/>
+					{#if showChat && aiChatComponent.current}
+						<aiChatComponent.current
+							bind:this={aiChat}
+							hideHeader
+							hideModeSelector
+							wideLayout
+							initialInstructions={draftText}
+							onDraftChange={(text) => setSessionDraftPrompt(sessionId, text)}
+							placeholder={composerPlaceholder}
+							forceDisabled={isUnavailable || !!session.archived}
+							forceDisabledMessage={isUnavailable
+								? 'This session is linked to a workspace that no longer exists. Move it or discard it from the banner above to keep working.'
+								: session.archived
+									? 'This session is archived. Unarchive it from the banner above to keep working.'
+									: ''}
+							emptyHint={sessionEmptyHint}
+							{inputPreface}
+						/>
+					{:else}
+						<!-- AIChatDisplay's layout, so the composer stays put when the chat replaces it:
+						     its transcript area, its column, and its footer row's height. -->
+						<div
+							class="flex flex-col h-full"
+							{@attach () => () =>
+								runtime.manager.setComposerHasDraft(PLACEHOLDER_DRAFT_KEY, false)}
+						>
+							{#if runtime.manager.displayMessages.length > 0}
+								<div class="flex-1 min-h-0"></div>
+							{/if}
+							<div class="w-full max-w-3xl mx-auto px-7 pb-2">
+								{@render inputPreface()}
+								<ComposerPlaceholder
+									bind:value={
+										() => draftText,
+										(text) => {
+											draftText = text
+											setSessionDraftPrompt(sessionId, text)
+											runtime.manager.setComposerHasDraft(PLACEHOLDER_DRAFT_KEY, text.trim() !== '')
+										}
+									}
+									placeholder={runtime.manager.displayMessages.length > 0
+										? 'Ask followup'
+										: composerPlaceholder}
+									disabled={isUnavailable || !!session.archived}
+									autofocus={sessionState.currentSessionId === sessionId && !covered}
+									onSelectionChange={(selection) => (handoff = selection ?? null)}
+									onCompositionChange={(composing) => (placeholderComposing = composing)}
+								/>
+								<div class="mt-1 h-5"></div>
+							</div>
+						</div>
+					{/if}
 				</div>
 			</Pane>
 		</Splitpanes>
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/utils/preloadComponent.svelte.ts b/frontend/src/lib/utils/preloadComponent.svelte.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..16ea5b5aca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/utils/preloadComponent.svelte.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+/**
+ * Starts loading a component's chunk when the calling module is evaluated and exposes it once
+ * loaded. Call it from a `<script module>` so a mount after the load renders the component in its
+ * first frame: an `{#await import()}` shows its pending branch for a tick even on a cached chunk.
+ * A failed load is left unhandled on purpose: the root layout reports chunk-load failures.
+ */
+export function preloadComponent<T>(load: () => Promise<{ default: T }>): {
+	readonly current: T | undefined
+} {
+	let current = $state.raw<T | undefined>(undefined)
+	load().then((m) => {
+		current = m.default
+	})
+	return {
+		get current() {
+			return current
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/sessions/+page.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/sessions/+page.svelte
index 19177dc463..a361f44de1 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/sessions/+page.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/sessions/+page.svelte
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+<script module lang="ts">
+	import { preloadComponent } from '$lib/utils/preloadComponent.svelte'
+
+	// The preview tabs render whole items, through most of AIChat's code (Monaco among it):
+	// loaded beside the page, not as part of it, so the page shows without waiting on them.
+	const previewTabHostComponent = preloadComponent(
+		() => import('$lib/components/sessions/PreviewTabHost.svelte')
+	)
+</script>
+
 <script lang="ts">
 	import { onDestroy, onMount, tick, untrack } from 'svelte'
 	import { SvelteSet } from 'svelte/reactivity'
@@ -28,7 +38,7 @@
 	import { resource } from 'runed'
 	import { WorkspaceService } from '$lib/gen'
 	import SessionWrapper from '$lib/components/sessions/SessionWrapper.svelte'
-	import PreviewTabHost from '$lib/components/sessions/PreviewTabHost.svelte'
+	import type PreviewTabHost from '$lib/components/sessions/PreviewTabHost.svelte'
 	import { useIsDarkMode } from '$lib/components/DarkModeObserver.svelte'
 	import {
 		createSession,
@@ -1119,7 +1129,11 @@
 										: 'z-0 opacity-0 pointer-events-none'}"
 									aria-hidden={s.id !== activeSession?.id}
 								>
-									<SessionWrapper sessionId={s.id} headerInPage={s.id === activeSession?.id} />
+									<SessionWrapper
+										sessionId={s.id}
+										headerInPage={s.id === activeSession?.id}
+										covered={aiHiddenVerdict !== false}
+									/>
 								</div>
 							{/each}
 						</div>
@@ -1195,32 +1209,35 @@
 								     content-gated by the shared mount MRU. Each host renders a
 								     live editor (script/flow/raw_app target) or an iframe fallback. -->
 								<div class="relative flex-1 min-h-0">
-									{#each warmSessions as s (s.id)}
-										{@const rt = getRuntime(s.id)}
-										{@const tabs = rt?.previewTabs}
-										{#each tabs?.tabs ?? [] as tab (tab.id)}
-											<!-- tabHosts is an imperative ref-bag (only tabHosts[key]?.reload() in
+									{#if previewTabHostComponent.current}
+										{@const TabHost = previewTabHostComponent.current}
+										{#each warmSessions as s (s.id)}
+											{@const rt = getRuntime(s.id)}
+											{@const tabs = rt?.previewTabs}
+											{#each tabs?.tabs ?? [] as tab (tab.id)}
+												<!-- tabHosts is an imperative ref-bag (only tabHosts[key]?.reload() in
 										     reloadTabs); it is intentionally a plain object so component
 										     instances aren't proxied. Nothing reads it reactively, so the
 										     non-reactive binding is fine. -->
-											<!-- svelte-ignore binding_property_non_reactive -->
-											<PreviewTabHost
-												bind:this={tabHosts[tabKey(s.id, tab.id)]}
-												{tab}
-												session={s}
-												runtime={rt}
-												active={s.id === activeSession?.id && tab.id === tabs?.activeId}
-												collapsed={(tabs?.collapsed ?? false) && !fullscreen}
-												mounted={mountedTabKeys.has(tabKey(s.id, tab.id))}
-												label={tabLabelFor(tab, s.workspace_id ?? '')}
-												darkMode={isDarkMode.val}
-												{fullscreen}
-												onNavigate={navigateEditorTo}
-												onSeeDetails={seeDetailsInPreview}
-												onLoad={(frame) => tabs && onTabLoad(tabs, tab, frame)}
-											/>
+												<!-- svelte-ignore binding_property_non_reactive -->
+												<TabHost
+													bind:this={tabHosts[tabKey(s.id, tab.id)]}
+													{tab}
+													session={s}
+													runtime={rt}
+													active={s.id === activeSession?.id && tab.id === tabs?.activeId}
+													collapsed={(tabs?.collapsed ?? false) && !fullscreen}
+													mounted={mountedTabKeys.has(tabKey(s.id, tab.id))}
+													label={tabLabelFor(tab, s.workspace_id ?? '')}
+													darkMode={isDarkMode.val}
+													{fullscreen}
+													onNavigate={navigateEditorTo}
+													onSeeDetails={seeDetailsInPreview}
+													onLoad={(frame) => tabs && onTabLoad(tabs, tab, frame)}
+												/>
+											{/each}
 										{/each}
-									{/each}
+									{/if}
 									{#if (owner?.tabs.length ?? 0) === 0}
 										<!-- New session with nothing to preview: an empty state with a
 										     picker to open one, instead of defaulting to the home page. -->