diff --git a/apps/web/src/components/chat/ThreadActivityBanners.tsx b/apps/web/src/components/chat/ThreadActivityBanners.tsx
index 8bd26e21a04dc..162ea55b2b71e 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/components/chat/ThreadActivityBanners.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/components/chat/ThreadActivityBanners.tsx
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import * as DateTime from "effect/DateTime";
 import {
   CircleDashedIcon,
   CircleStopIcon,
+  EyeIcon,
   GitBranchIcon,
   MessageCircleIcon,
   ShieldQuestionIcon,
@@ -179,29 +180,45 @@ export function backgroundWorkNowItem(input: {
   const newest = rows
     .filter((row) => row.activity)
     .toSorted((left, right) => right.updatedAtMs - left.updatedAtMs)[0];
-  const isCommand = (row: (typeof rows)[number]) => row.task.kind !== "subagent";
-  const verb = presentation.waiting ? "Waiting on" : "Running";
+  const kinds = rows.map((row) => row.task.kind);
+  // Monitors describe themselves in prose; commands are code.
+  const isCode = (kind: (typeof kinds)[number]) => kind !== "subagent" && kind !== "monitor";
   const onlyThreadId = only?.childThreadId;
   const startedAtMs = only?.startedAtMs ?? null;
   return {
     id: `background-work:${input.threadId}`,
-    icon: rows.every(isCommand) ? <TerminalIcon /> : <CircleDashedIcon />,
-    title: only ? (
+    icon: kinds.every((kind) => kind === "monitor") ? (
+      <EyeIcon />
+    ) : kinds.includes("subagent") ? (
+      <CircleDashedIcon />
+    ) : (
+      <TerminalIcon />
+    ),
+    title: presentation.subject ? (
       <>
-        {verb} <span className={cn(isCommand(only) && "font-mono")}>{only.task.label}</span>
+        {presentation.subject.verb === null ? null : `${presentation.subject.verb} `}
+        <span
+          className={cn(
+            "text-foreground",
+            isCode(presentation.subject.item.kind) && "font-mono text-2xs",
+          )}
+        >
+          {presentation.subject.item.label}
+        </span>
       </>
     ) : (
       presentation.title
     ),
-    description: only ? (
-      only.activity
-    ) : newest ? (
-      `${newest.task.label}: ${newest.activity}`
-    ) : rows.every(isCommand) ? (
-      <span className="font-mono">{rows.map((row) => row.task.label).join(", ")}</span>
-    ) : (
-      rows.map((row) => row.task.label).join(", ")
-    ),
+    description: only
+      ? only.activity
+      : newest
+        ? `${newest.task.label}: ${newest.activity}`
+        : rows.map((row, index) => (
+            <Fragment key={row.task.taskId}>
+              {index > 0 ? ", " : null}
+              <span className={cn(isCode(row.task.kind) && "font-mono")}>{row.task.label}</span>
+            </Fragment>
+          )),
     actions: (
       <>
         {startedAtMs === null ? null : (
@@ -218,7 +235,11 @@ export function backgroundWorkNowItem(input: {
             Open
           </InlineButton>
         )}
-        <InlineButton disabled={input.stopDisabled} onClick={() => void input.onStop()}>
+        <InlineButton
+          tone="muted"
+          disabled={input.stopDisabled}
+          onClick={() => void input.onStop()}
+        >
           {input.stopping ? "Stopping..." : "Stop"}
         </InlineButton>
       </>
diff --git a/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadExecution.test.ts b/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadExecution.test.ts
index 3f8ef2a7f9d31..7e8825d3c033b 100644
--- a/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadExecution.test.ts
+++ b/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadExecution.test.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import {
   deriveRunlessWorkStartedAt,
   deriveThreadActivityRun,
   deriveThreadRuntime,
+  presentPendingBackgroundWork,
   presentRunStop,
   threadRuntimeHasInterruptibleRun,
 } from "./threadExecution.ts";
@@ -328,6 +329,44 @@ describe("presentRunStop", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("presentPendingBackgroundWork", () => {
+  const watch = "Watching pull request #404";
+  it.each([
+    { kind: "monitor", awaited: true, description: watch, title: watch, verb: null },
+    { kind: "monitor", awaited: undefined, description: watch, title: watch, verb: null },
+    {
+      kind: "command",
+      awaited: true,
+      description: "pnpm test",
+      title: "Waiting on command pnpm test",
+      verb: "Waiting on",
+    },
+    {
+      kind: "command",
+      awaited: undefined,
+      description: "pnpm test",
+      title: "Running: pnpm test",
+      verb: "Running",
+    },
+  ] as const)(
+    "titles a $kind with awaited $awaited",
+    ({ kind, awaited, description, title, verb }) => {
+      const presentation = presentPendingBackgroundWork([
+        { taskId: "bg-1", description, kind, ...(awaited ? { awaited } : {}) },
+      ]);
+      expect(presentation?.title).toBe(title);
+      expect(presentation?.subject).toMatchObject({ verb, item: { kind, label: description } });
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("leaves an unnamed task without a subject", () => {
+    expect(presentPendingBackgroundWork([{ taskId: "bg-1", kind: "command" }])).toMatchObject({
+      title: "Running a command",
+      subject: null,
+    });
+  });
+});
+
 describe("deriveRunlessWorkStartedAt", () => {
   const later = DateTime.makeUnsafe("2026-07-28T10:05:00.000Z");
   const rootTurn = (
diff --git a/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadExecution.ts b/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadExecution.ts
index 52d07babfbb61..05a3451215adb 100644
--- a/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadExecution.ts
+++ b/packages/client-runtime/src/state/threadExecution.ts
@@ -352,6 +352,11 @@ export interface PendingBackgroundWorkItem {
 
 export interface PendingBackgroundWorkPresentation {
   readonly title: string;
+  /** The one named task, for a line that styles its label apart from the verb. */
+  readonly subject: {
+    readonly verb: "Waiting on" | "Running" | null;
+    readonly item: PendingBackgroundWorkItem;
+  } | null;
   readonly items: ReadonlyArray<PendingBackgroundWorkItem>;
   readonly waiting: boolean;
 }
@@ -392,14 +397,21 @@ export function presentPendingBackgroundWork(
   if (items.length === 1 && only !== undefined) {
     const noun = BACKGROUND_WORK_KINDS[only.kind].singular;
     const named = only.label !== noun;
-    const title = waiting
-      ? named
-        ? `${only.kind === "monitor" ? "" : `Waiting on ${noun} `}${only.label}`
-        : `Waiting on a ${noun}`
-      : named
-        ? `Running: ${only.label}`
-        : `Running a ${noun}`;
-    return { title, items, waiting };
+    // A named monitor describes itself in a sentence, so it gets no verb.
+    const title =
+      named && only.kind === "monitor"
+        ? only.label
+        : waiting
+          ? named
+            ? `Waiting on ${noun} ${only.label}`
+            : `Waiting on a ${noun}`
+          : named
+            ? `Running: ${only.label}`
+            : `Running a ${noun}`;
+    const subject: PendingBackgroundWorkPresentation["subject"] = named
+      ? { verb: only.kind === "monitor" ? null : waiting ? "Waiting on" : "Running", item: only }
+      : null;
+    return { title, subject, items, waiting };
   }
   const counts = new Map<BackgroundWorkKind, number>();
   for (const item of items) counts.set(item.kind, (counts.get(item.kind) ?? 0) + 1);
@@ -407,7 +419,12 @@ export function presentPendingBackgroundWork(
     const { singular, plural } = BACKGROUND_WORK_KINDS[kind];
     return `${count} ${count === 1 ? singular : plural}`;
   });
-  return { title: `${waiting ? "Waiting on" : "Running"} ${joinWithAnd(groups)}`, items, waiting };
+  return {
+    title: `${waiting ? "Waiting on" : "Running"} ${joinWithAnd(groups)}`,
+    subject: null,
+    items,
+    waiting,
+  };
 }
 
 export interface ProviderGoalPresentation {