diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..38e7f78f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.css
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/* <AgentCard> list — a vertical stack of per-agent cards replacing the
+   old table body (mara: "more like card per agent"). Full-width rows,
+   not a grid: the second line (the agent's free-form status message)
+   reads better wrapping the card's own width than squeezed into a fixed
+   grid cell. */
+.ui-agent-card-list {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  gap: 0.5em;
+}
+.ui-agent-card-list-empty {
+  color: var(--muted);
+  text-align: center;
+  padding: 1.25em 0.75em;
+}
+.ui-agent-card {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  gap: 0.35em;
+  padding: 0.75em 1em;
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: 0.5em;
+  background: var(--bg-elev);
+  cursor: pointer;
+}
+.ui-agent-card:hover,
+.ui-agent-card:focus-visible {
+  border-color: var(--purple);
+  outline: none;
+}
+.ui-agent-card-line1 {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.6em;
+}
+.ui-agent-card-name {
+  font-weight: 600;
+}
+/* Pushes the wanted-state control to the row's trailing edge regardless
+   of how wide the status badge next to it ends up. */
+.ui-agent-card-wanted {
+  display: inline-flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.4em;
+  margin-left: auto;
+}
+.ui-agent-card-message {
+  color: var(--muted);
+  white-space: normal;
+  word-break: break-word;
+}
+
+/* Detail panel (`Dialog` body) — the fields `AgentCard`'s main view
+   doesn't show. */
+.ui-agent-detail-name {
+  margin: 0 0 0.75em;
+}
+.ui-agent-detail-fields {
+  display: grid;
+  grid-template-columns: auto 1fr;
+  gap: 0.4em 1em;
+  margin: 0 0 1em;
+}
+.ui-agent-detail-fields dt {
+  color: var(--muted);
+}
+.ui-agent-detail-fields dd {
+  margin: 0;
+}
+.ui-agent-detail-actions {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.75em;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx
index 5d42ada8..24309aa3 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx
@@ -17,13 +17,14 @@
 // `get_agents_status` handler for where `config_pr`/`wanted` get merged
 // in and why that's the handler's job rather than
 // `agent_status::AgentStatusReader`'s. No more per-page joining left to
-// do here: the wire row *is* the table row.
+// do here: the wire row *is* the row this page renders.
 //
 // Owns the "+ agent" trigger too — the roster this populates is the
-// natural home for the action that populates it; a separate top-level
-// nav entry would be one click of indirection for no benefit. The form
-// itself (`CreateAgentForm`) mounts inside a `Dialog` here rather than
-// its own route.
+// natural home for the action that populates it. The form itself
+// (`CreateAgentForm`) mounts inside a `Dialog` here, not its own route.
+//
+// Renders as one `AgentCard` per row, not a `Table` — see that
+// component's own comment below for the card/detail-panel split.
 //
 // The "wanted" column is one `WantedMenu` badge+dropdown per row — see
 // that component's own comment above `AgentsPage` for why.
@@ -44,9 +45,9 @@ import {
   useRefreshInterval,
   type RefreshIntervalMs,
 } from "../ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.js";
-import { Table, type TableColumn } from "../ui/table/Table.js";
 import { CreateAgentForm } from "./CreateAgentForm.js";
 import { LinkMatrixAccountForm } from "./LinkMatrixAccountForm.js";
+import "./AgentsPage.css";
 
 interface ConfigPrStatus {
   pr_number: number;
@@ -69,8 +70,9 @@ interface AgentStatusSnapshot {
 type Wanted = string | null;
 
 // Mirrors `agent_status::AgentStatusRow` field-for-field — this *is* the
-// table row now, not a shape assembled from it, so there's no separate
-// join-result type to keep in sync with the wire contract by hand.
+// row this page renders, not a shape assembled from it, so there's no
+// separate join-result type to keep in sync with the wire contract by
+// hand.
 interface AgentRow {
   name: string;
   hive: string | null;
@@ -165,13 +167,24 @@ function WantedMenu({
   onSelectOffline,
   onSelectPaused,
   onDestroy,
+  showDestroy = true,
 }: {
   row: AgentRow;
   pending: boolean;
   onSelectUp: (row: AgentRow) => void;
   onSelectOffline: (row: AgentRow) => void;
   onSelectPaused: (row: AgentRow) => void;
-  onDestroy: (row: AgentRow) => void;
+  onDestroy?: (row: AgentRow) => void;
+  /**
+   * The card view (see `AgentCard` below) keeps this menu to the
+   * three everyday states and gives "destroy" — the rare, one-way
+   * one — its own button in the detail panel instead, so it can't be
+   * reached by an extra click off a state that's already open (mara,
+   * scoping the card/detail split: destroy belongs with the "rarely
+   * used actions" bucket, not next to up/paused/offline). The
+   * `WantedMenu` inside that detail panel still gets the full set.
+   */
+  showDestroy?: boolean;
 }) {
   const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
   const anchorRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
@@ -188,7 +201,9 @@ function WantedMenu({
     { value: "up", label: "up" },
     { value: "paused", label: "paused" },
     { value: "offline", label: "offline" },
-    { value: "destroy", label: "destroy", danger: true },
+    ...(showDestroy
+      ? [{ value: "destroy", label: "destroy", danger: true }]
+      : []),
   ];
 
   return (
@@ -222,7 +237,7 @@ function WantedMenu({
           if (value === "up") onSelectUp(row);
           else if (value === "offline") onSelectOffline(row);
           else if (value === "paused") onSelectPaused(row);
-          else onDestroy(row);
+          else onDestroy?.(row);
         }}
         onClose={() => setOpen(false)}
         anchorRef={anchorRef}
@@ -231,6 +246,101 @@ function WantedMenu({
   );
 }
 
+// One card per roster agent (mara: "main view: name, status, message,
+// wanted" / "message as second line" / "more like card per agent",
+// replacing the old table row). Everything else the old table's other
+// columns carried (hive, matrix link-account, config-PR link, destroy)
+// moved to the detail panel `AgentsPage` opens on card click — a plain
+// `Dialog`, not the shared `hive-side-panel` slide-in drawer: that's a
+// shadow-DOM custom element, and swarm-ui's esbuild config can't consume
+// those at all yet (same already-tracked gap `Dialog.tsx`'s own comment
+// notes for `hive-dialog`). Revisit once that gap closes. The old
+// per-column sort/filter has no replacement yet in this view.
+//
+// A `role="button"` div, not a real `<button>`: the card also hosts the
+// real `<button>`s inside `WantedMenu`, and nested buttons are invalid
+// HTML. `onOpenDetail` fires for a click/Enter/Space landing on the card
+// itself; the `stopPropagation` wrapper around `WantedMenu` keeps its own
+// clicks (mouse or keyboard-synthesized) from also opening the panel, and
+// the `e.target !== e.currentTarget` guard below does the same for keys.
+function AgentCard({
+  row,
+  pending,
+  error,
+  onSelectUp,
+  onSelectOffline,
+  onSelectPaused,
+  onOpenDetail,
+}: {
+  row: AgentRow;
+  pending: boolean;
+  error: ProblemDetails | undefined;
+  onSelectUp: (row: AgentRow) => void;
+  onSelectOffline: (row: AgentRow) => void;
+  onSelectPaused: (row: AgentRow) => void;
+  onOpenDetail: (row: AgentRow) => void;
+}) {
+  const { tone, label } = FRESHNESS[row.freshness];
+  return (
+    <div
+      class="ui-agent-card"
+      role="button"
+      tabIndex={0}
+      onClick={() => onOpenDetail(row)}
+      onKeyDown={(e) => {
+        if (e.target !== e.currentTarget) return;
+        if (e.key === "Enter" || e.key === " ") {
+          e.preventDefault();
+          onOpenDetail(row);
+        }
+      }}
+    >
+      <div class="ui-agent-card-line1">
+        <span class="ui-agent-card-name">{row.name}</span>
+        <Badge
+          tone={tone}
+          title={
+            row.freshness === "unknown"
+              ? "reported by its hive but not registered in swarm-level identity — needs migration"
+              : undefined
+          }
+          value={
+            <>
+              {label}
+              {row.last_seen_unix !== null ? (
+                <>
+                  {" "}
+                  (<RelativeTime epochMs={row.last_seen_unix * 1000} />)
+                </>
+              ) : null}
+            </>
+          }
+        />
+        <span class="ui-agent-card-wanted" onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}>
+          <WantedMenu
+            row={row}
+            pending={pending}
+            showDestroy={false}
+            onSelectUp={onSelectUp}
+            onSelectOffline={onSelectOffline}
+            onSelectPaused={onSelectPaused}
+          />
+          {error ? (
+            <Badge
+              tone="negative"
+              value="failed"
+              title={error.detail ?? "the declaration failed"}
+            />
+          ) : null}
+        </span>
+      </div>
+      <div class="ui-agent-card-message">
+        {row.snapshot?.status_text ?? "—"}
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
 export function AgentsPage() {
   const [rows, setRows] = useState<AgentRow[] | null>(null);
   const [error, setError] = useState<ProblemDetails | null>(null);
@@ -269,6 +379,10 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
   // confirmation of a `declareState` call, it's an unrelated action with
   // its own form (`LinkMatrixAccountForm`).
   const [matrixTarget, setMatrixTarget] = useState<AgentRow | null>(null);
+  // The row showing the detail panel (hive, matrix link-account,
+  // config-PR link, destroy — everything `AgentCard`'s main view
+  // doesn't) — same null-means-closed shape as the two above.
+  const [detailTarget, setDetailTarget] = useState<AgentRow | null>(null);
 
   async function refresh() {
     const res = await fetch("/api/agents/status");
@@ -370,162 +484,6 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
     await declareState(row, "destroyed");
   }
 
-  const columns: TableColumn<AgentRow>[] = [
-    {
-      key: "name",
-      header: "name",
-      render: (a) => a.name,
-      sortBy: (a) => a.name,
-      filterValue: (a) => a.name,
-    },
-    {
-      key: "hive",
-      header: "hive",
-      render: (a) => a.hive ?? "—",
-      sortBy: (a) => a.hive ?? "",
-      // "—" (not "") so the missing-hive option in the filter list reads
-      // the same as the cell itself, rather than showing a blank choice.
-      // Multiselect, not single-value `"select"` — an operator narrowing
-      // to a handful of hives at once shouldn't need to filter one at a
-      // time.
-      filterValues: (a) => [a.hive ?? "—"],
-      filterMode: "multiselect",
-    },
-    {
-      key: "status",
-      header: "status",
-      // Technical freshness only — the agent's own free-text status
-      // string used to be concatenated into this same badge, which
-      // stuffed a full sentence into a pill meant for a short discrete
-      // label and blew the row out (mara: "looks messy"). That string
-      // now lives in its own "message" column below.
-      sortBy: (a) => FRESHNESS[a.freshness].label,
-      // Multiselect, same reasoning as the hive column above.
-      filterValues: (a) => [FRESHNESS[a.freshness].label],
-      filterMode: "multiselect",
-      render: (a) => {
-        const { tone, label } = FRESHNESS[a.freshness];
-        return (
-          <Badge
-            tone={tone}
-            title={
-              a.freshness === "unknown"
-                ? "reported by its hive but not registered in swarm-level identity — needs migration"
-                : undefined
-            }
-            value={
-              <>
-                {label}
-                {a.last_seen_unix !== null ? (
-                  <>
-                    {" "}
-                    (<RelativeTime epochMs={a.last_seen_unix * 1000} />)
-                  </>
-                ) : null}
-              </>
-            }
-          />
-        );
-      },
-    },
-    {
-      key: "message",
-      header: "message",
-      cellClass: "ui-table-prose",
-      // Plain text, not a Badge — the agent's own free-form status
-      // sentence, as distinct from the technical freshness state in the
-      // "status" column. A `running: false` snapshot always carries
-      // `status_text: null` (the wire contract's own rule), so a stopped
-      // agent just shows an em dash here rather than a stale message.
-      render: (a) => a.snapshot?.status_text ?? "—",
-      filterValue: (a) => a.snapshot?.status_text ?? "",
-    },
-    {
-      key: "wanted",
-      header: "wanted",
-      // One `WantedMenu` (badge + dropdown, defined above) per row —
-      // real per-badge logic lives there, this column just wires its
-      // callbacks to the page's own state/handlers.
-      sortBy: (a) => a.wanted ?? "",
-      // Multiselect, same reasoning as the hive column above.
-      filterValues: (a) => [a.wanted ?? "no declaration"],
-      filterMode: "multiselect",
-      render: (a) => {
-        const err = actionErrors.get(a.name);
-        return (
-          <>
-            <WantedMenu
-              row={a}
-              pending={pendingAgents.has(a.name)}
-              onSelectUp={(row) => void declareState(row, "up")}
-              onSelectOffline={(row) =>
-                setConfirmTarget({ row, state: "offline" })
-              }
-              onSelectPaused={(row) =>
-                setConfirmTarget({ row, state: "paused" })
-              }
-              onDestroy={setDestroyTarget}
-            />
-            {err ? (
-              <Badge
-                tone="negative"
-                value="failed"
-                title={err.detail ?? "the declaration failed"}
-              />
-            ) : null}
-          </>
-        );
-      },
-    },
-    {
-      key: "matrix",
-      header: "matrix",
-      // Icon-only trigger, quiet variant (no permanent pill fill) — same
-      // "chrome, not a status chip" reasoning as `LinksMenu`/`SettingsMenu`'s
-      // own `Badge` triggers (see `@hive/shared/badge/Badge.tsx`'s
-      // `BadgeVariant` doc). Disabled with no hive on record, same guard
-      // `WantedMenu` uses — the endpoint is hive-scoped, there's nothing
-      // to PUT against without one.
-      render: (a) => (
-        <Badge
-          variant="quiet"
-          icon={<LinkIcon />}
-          value="link account"
-          onClick={a.hive ? () => setMatrixTarget(a) : undefined}
-          disabled={!a.hive}
-          title={
-            a.hive
-              ? `link a matrix account to ${a.name}`
-              : "no hive on record for this agent — nothing to link against"
-          }
-        />
-      ),
-    },
-    {
-      key: "config-pr",
-      header: "config PR",
-      sortBy: (a) => a.config_pr?.pr_number ?? 0,
-      filterValue: (a) => (a.config_pr ? `#${a.config_pr.pr_number}` : ""),
-      render: (a) =>
-        a.config_pr ? (
-          <Badge
-            tone="warning"
-            value={
-              a.config_pr.html_url ? (
-                <a href={a.config_pr.html_url} target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">
-                  #{a.config_pr.pr_number}
-                </a>
-              ) : (
-                `#${a.config_pr.pr_number}`
-              )
-            }
-          />
-        ) : (
-          "—"
-        ),
-    },
-  ];
-
   return (
     <Panel
       title="agents"
@@ -550,15 +508,102 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
         />
       ) : null}
       {!error && rows === null ? <p>loading…</p> : null}
-      {rows ? (
-        <Table
-          columns={columns}
-          rows={rows}
-          rowKey={(a) => a.name}
-          emptyMessage="no agents yet — the swarm-wide identity store has no agents registered on any hive"
-          storageKey="swarm-ui:agents:table-filters"
-        />
+      {rows && rows.length === 0 ? (
+        <p class="ui-agent-card-list-empty">
+          no agents yet — the swarm-wide identity store has no agents registered
+          on any hive
+        </p>
       ) : null}
+      {rows && rows.length > 0 ? (
+        <div class="ui-agent-card-list">
+          {rows.map((a) => (
+            <AgentCard
+              key={a.name}
+              row={a}
+              pending={pendingAgents.has(a.name)}
+              error={actionErrors.get(a.name)}
+              onSelectUp={(row) => void declareState(row, "up")}
+              onSelectOffline={(row) =>
+                setConfirmTarget({ row, state: "offline" })
+              }
+              onSelectPaused={(row) =>
+                setConfirmTarget({ row, state: "paused" })
+              }
+              onOpenDetail={setDetailTarget}
+            />
+          ))}
+        </div>
+      ) : null}
+      <Dialog
+        open={detailTarget !== null}
+        onClose={() => setDetailTarget(null)}
+        label={detailTarget ? `${detailTarget.name} details` : "agent details"}
+      >
+        {/* Everything `AgentCard`'s main view doesn't already show — see
+            that component's own comment for the field split. */}
+        {detailTarget ? (
+          <div class="ui-agent-detail">
+            <h2 class="ui-agent-detail-name">{detailTarget.name}</h2>
+            <dl class="ui-agent-detail-fields">
+              <dt>hive</dt>
+              <dd>{detailTarget.hive ?? "—"}</dd>
+              <dt>config PR</dt>
+              <dd>
+                {detailTarget.config_pr ? (
+                  <Badge
+                    tone="warning"
+                    value={
+                      detailTarget.config_pr.html_url ? (
+                        <a
+                          href={detailTarget.config_pr.html_url}
+                          target="_blank"
+                          rel="noreferrer"
+                        >
+                          #{detailTarget.config_pr.pr_number}
+                        </a>
+                      ) : (
+                        `#${detailTarget.config_pr.pr_number}`
+                      )
+                    }
+                  />
+                ) : (
+                  "—"
+                )}
+              </dd>
+            </dl>
+            <div class="ui-agent-detail-actions">
+              <Badge
+                variant="quiet"
+                icon={<LinkIcon />}
+                value="link matrix account"
+                onClick={
+                  detailTarget.hive
+                    ? () => {
+                        setMatrixTarget(detailTarget);
+                        setDetailTarget(null);
+                      }
+                    : undefined
+                }
+                disabled={!detailTarget.hive}
+                title={
+                  detailTarget.hive
+                    ? `link a matrix account to ${detailTarget.name}`
+                    : "no hive on record for this agent — nothing to link against"
+                }
+              />
+              <Button
+                disabled={detailTarget.wanted === "destroyed"}
+                onClick={() => {
+                  setDestroyTarget(detailTarget);
+                  setDetailTarget(null);
+                }}
+              >
+                destroy agent
+              </Button>
+            </div>
+          </div>
+        ) : null}
+      </Dialog>
       <Dialog
         open={createOpen}
         onClose={() => setCreateOpen(false)}