diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/agent/state/StateBadges.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/agent/state/StateBadges.tsx
index 365a3f348..1560b1858 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/agent/state/StateBadges.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/agent/state/StateBadges.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { Badge, type BadgeTone } from "@hive/shared/badge.js";
 import { BadgePopover } from "../../ui/badge-popover/BadgePopover.js";
 import { AgentInference } from "../detail/AgentInference.js";
+import { effortTitle, modelTitle } from "./badge-titles.js";
 import { RelativeTime } from "../../ui/relative-time/RelativeTime.js";
 import {
   useSwarmAgentStateStream,
@@ -59,9 +60,6 @@ export function StateBadges({
   // when clicked. Omitted: the badges only display.
   agent?: string;
 }) {
-  const modelTitle = header.resolved_model
-    ? `resolved to ${header.resolved_model}`
-    : undefined;
   return (
     <>
       <Badge
@@ -86,12 +84,16 @@ export function StateBadges({
       )}
       {withModel &&
         (agent === undefined ? (
-          <Badge label="model" value={header.model} title={modelTitle} />
+          <Badge
+            label="model"
+            value={header.model}
+            title={modelTitle(header.resolved_model, false)}
+          />
         ) : (
           <BadgePopover
             label="model"
             value={header.model}
-            title={`${modelTitle ? modelTitle + ". " : ""}Click for the inference settings`}
+            title={modelTitle(header.resolved_model, true)}
             popoverLabel={`${agent} inference settings`}
           >
             <AgentInference agent={agent} />
@@ -102,13 +104,13 @@ export function StateBadges({
           <Badge
             label="effort"
             value={header.effort}
-            title={`set by: ${header.effort_source}`}
+            title={effortTitle(header.effort_source, false)}
           />
         ) : (
           <BadgePopover
             label="effort"
             value={header.effort}
-            title={`set by: ${header.effort_source}. Click for the inference settings`}
+            title={effortTitle(header.effort_source, true)}
             popoverLabel={`${agent} inference settings`}
           >
             <AgentInference agent={agent} />
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/agent/state/badge-titles.ts b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/agent/state/badge-titles.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0652a13f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/agent/state/badge-titles.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+// The tooltips of the model and effort badges in an agent's terminal header.
+// Clickable ones, which open the agent's inference settings, say so; the plain
+// ones, on a subagent's terminal and in the details table, only say where the
+// value comes from.
+
+const OPENS = "Click for the inference settings";
+
+/** The model badge's tooltip: what the alias resolved to, when known. */
+export function modelTitle(
+  resolvedModel: string | null | undefined,
+  clickable: boolean,
+): string | undefined {
+  const resolved = resolvedModel ? `resolved to ${resolvedModel}` : undefined;
+  if (!clickable) return resolved;
+  return resolved ? `${resolved}. ${OPENS}` : OPENS;
+}
+
+/** The effort badge's tooltip: where the effort comes from. */
+export function effortTitle(source: string, clickable: boolean): string {
+  const from = `set by: ${source}`;
+  return clickable ? `${from}. ${OPENS}` : from;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/test/badge-titles.test.mjs b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/test/badge-titles.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6a5323470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/test/badge-titles.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+// The model and effort badge tooltips. Run by `npm test`, which Node runs with
+// its built-in test runner and type stripping.
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import { effortTitle, modelTitle } from "../src/agent/state/badge-titles.ts";
+
+test("a plain model badge says what the alias resolved to, or nothing", () => {
+  assert.equal(modelTitle("claude-x-1", false), "resolved to claude-x-1");
+  assert.equal(modelTitle(undefined, false), undefined);
+  assert.equal(modelTitle("", false), undefined);
+});
+
+test("a clickable model badge says it opens the settings", () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    modelTitle("claude-x-1", true),
+    "resolved to claude-x-1. Click for the inference settings",
+  );
+  assert.equal(modelTitle(undefined, true), "Click for the inference settings");
+});
+
+test("the effort badge names its source and, when clickable, the click", () => {
+  assert.equal(effortTitle("swarm", false), "set by: swarm");
+  assert.equal(
+    effortTitle("swarm", true),
+    "set by: swarm. Click for the inference settings",
+  );
+});