diff --git a/docs/web-ui.md b/docs/web-ui.md
index 9b32ad4..f3ee0c3 100644
--- a/docs/web-ui.md
+++ b/docs/web-ui.md
@@ -111,7 +111,11 @@ the previous process's socket release resolves itself.
    `agent-<n>` rows). Checking inputs + submitting bumps the lock
    in `/meta/` and rebuilds the selected agents in sequence; each
    outcome reaches the manager as a `rebuilt` system event.
-   `POST /meta-update`.
+   `POST /meta-update`. The lock bump + rebuild ripple runs in the
+   background; while it does, the panel shows a pulsing "⏳
+   meta-update running" banner and the update button is disabled
+   (snapshot field `meta_update_running`, live event
+   `meta_update_running`).
 5. **M1ND H4S QU3STI0NS** — pending operator-targeted `ask`
    questions, i.e. rows with `target IS NULL` (peer-to-peer
    questions live in the same table but never surface here)
diff --git a/hive-c0re/assets/app.js b/hive-c0re/assets/app.js
index 23e8fb8..f3f2e4c 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/assets/app.js
+++ b/hive-c0re/assets/app.js
@@ -454,11 +454,18 @@
   // avoids ordering races between a same-tick destroy + purge.
   let tombstonesState = [];
   let metaInputsState = [];
+  // True while a dashboard-triggered meta-update (flake lock bump +
+  // agent rebuild ripple) runs in the background. Cold-loaded from
+  // `s.meta_update_running`, then flipped live by the
+  // `meta_update_running` event. Drives the META INPUTS panel's
+  // disabled "updating…" state (issue #259).
+  let metaUpdateRunning = false;
   function syncTombstonesFromSnapshot(s) {
     tombstonesState = (s.tombstones || []).slice();
   }
   function syncMetaInputsFromSnapshot(s) {
     metaInputsState = (s.meta_inputs || []).slice();
+    metaUpdateRunning = !!s.meta_update_running;
   }
   function applyTombstonesChanged(ev) {
     tombstonesState = (ev.tombstones || []).slice();
@@ -468,6 +475,10 @@
     metaInputsState = (ev.inputs || []).slice();
     renderMetaInputsFromState();
   }
+  function applyMetaUpdateRunning(ev) {
+    metaUpdateRunning = !!ev.running;
+    renderMetaInputsFromState();
+  }
   function renderTombstonesFromState() {
     renderTombstones({ tombstones: tombstonesState });
   }
@@ -1482,6 +1493,11 @@
       root.append(el('p', { class: 'empty' }, 'meta repo not seeded yet'));
       return;
     }
+    if (metaUpdateRunning) {
+      root.append(el('p', { class: 'meta-update-running' },
+        '⏳ meta-update running — flake lock bump + affected agents rebuilding. '
+        + 'watch the agent cards for per-rebuild progress.'));
+    }
     const form = el('form', {
       method: 'POST',
       action: '/meta-update',
@@ -1528,11 +1544,13 @@
       type: 'submit',
       class: 'btn btn-meta-update',
       disabled: '',
-    }, '◆ UPD4TE & R3BU1LD');
+    }, metaUpdateRunning ? '⏳ UPD4T1NG…' : '◆ UPD4TE & R3BU1LD');
     form.append(btn);
     function refreshDisabled() {
       const any = form.querySelectorAll('input[data-meta-input]:checked').length > 0;
-      if (any) btn.removeAttribute('disabled');
+      // Stay disabled while an update is already in flight — no
+      // stacking a second run on top of the rebuild ripple.
+      if (any && !metaUpdateRunning) btn.removeAttribute('disabled');
       else btn.setAttribute('disabled', '');
     }
     form.addEventListener('change', refreshDisabled);
@@ -1857,6 +1875,7 @@
         container_removed:       (ev) => { applyContainerRemoved(ev); },
         tombstones_changed:      (ev) => { applyTombstonesChanged(ev); },
         meta_inputs_changed:     (ev) => { applyMetaInputsChanged(ev); },
+        meta_update_running:     (ev) => { applyMetaUpdateRunning(ev); },
       },
       // Both history backfill and live frames flow through here, so the
       // inbox section ends up populated correctly on first paint and
diff --git a/hive-c0re/assets/dashboard.css b/hive-c0re/assets/dashboard.css
index 2cde96e..f92f547 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/assets/dashboard.css
+++ b/hive-c0re/assets/dashboard.css
@@ -446,6 +446,17 @@ code {
   opacity: 0.35;
   cursor: not-allowed;
 }
+/* In-progress banner for the META INPUTS panel: shown while a
+   dashboard-triggered meta-update runs in the background (issue #259). */
+.meta-update-running {
+  margin: 0 0 0.7em;
+  padding: 0.4em 0.7em;
+  border: 1px solid var(--purple);
+  background: rgba(203, 166, 247, 0.12);
+  color: var(--purple);
+  font-size: 0.85em;
+  animation: badge-pulse 1.6s ease-in-out infinite;
+}
 .history-note {
   margin-left: 1.8em;
   margin-top: 0.2em;
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs b/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs
index 16af4f5..d4d41ff 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs
@@ -72,6 +72,14 @@ pub struct Coordinator {
     /// snapshot.
     dashboard_events: broadcast::Sender<DashboardEvent>,
     event_seq: AtomicU64,
+    /// Count of dashboard-triggered `meta-update` runs currently in
+    /// flight. `post_meta_update` returns 200 immediately and does the
+    /// multi-minute `nix flake update` + agent-rebuild ripple in a
+    /// background task, so without this the META INPUTS panel showed no
+    /// sign anything was happening (issue #259). Held via
+    /// `MetaUpdateGuard`; a count > 0 surfaces on `/api/state` as
+    /// `meta_update_running` and via the `MetaUpdateRunning` event.
+    meta_updates_active: AtomicU64,
     /// Last container snapshot seen by `rescan_containers_and_emit`,
     /// keyed by `ContainerView.name`. The rescan diffs a fresh
     /// `container_view::build_all` against this map and emits one
@@ -109,6 +117,33 @@ impl Drop for TransientGuard {
     }
 }
 
+/// RAII guard for the `meta-update` in-progress flag, held for the
+/// duration of a `run_meta_update` background task. Created by
+/// `Coordinator::meta_update_guard`. Drop decrements the active-run
+/// count; the count crossing back to 0 emits
+/// `MetaUpdateRunning { running: false }`, so a concurrent pair of
+/// updates only flips the dashboard flag once.
+pub struct MetaUpdateGuard {
+    coord: Arc<Coordinator>,
+}
+
+impl Drop for MetaUpdateGuard {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        if self
+            .coord
+            .meta_updates_active
+            .fetch_sub(1, Ordering::SeqCst)
+            == 1
+        {
+            self.coord
+                .emit_dashboard_event(DashboardEvent::MetaUpdateRunning {
+                    seq: self.coord.next_seq(),
+                    running: false,
+                });
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
 pub enum TransientKind {
     /// `lifecycle::spawn` is running (nixos-container create + update + start).
@@ -165,6 +200,7 @@ impl Coordinator {
             transient: Mutex::new(HashMap::new()),
             dashboard_events,
             event_seq: AtomicU64::new(0),
+            meta_updates_active: AtomicU64::new(0),
             last_containers: tokio::sync::Mutex::new(HashMap::new()),
             shutdown_tx,
         })
@@ -218,6 +254,31 @@ impl Coordinator {
         let _ = self.dashboard_events.send(event);
     }
 
+    /// Mark a `meta-update` as in flight and return an RAII guard that
+    /// clears it on drop (including drop-via-panic). The first
+    /// concurrent run emits `MetaUpdateRunning { running: true }`; the
+    /// last one to finish emits `running: false`. The dashboard's META
+    /// INPUTS panel reads the flag to show a disabled "updating…"
+    /// state while the lock bump + rebuild ripple runs (issue #259).
+    pub fn meta_update_guard(self: &Arc<Self>) -> MetaUpdateGuard {
+        if self.meta_updates_active.fetch_add(1, Ordering::SeqCst) == 0 {
+            self.emit_dashboard_event(DashboardEvent::MetaUpdateRunning {
+                seq: self.next_seq(),
+                running: true,
+            });
+        }
+        MetaUpdateGuard {
+            coord: Arc::clone(self),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// True while at least one dashboard-triggered `meta-update` is
+    /// running. Surfaced on `/api/state` as `meta_update_running` so a
+    /// client that cold-loads mid-update sees the in-progress state.
+    pub fn meta_update_in_progress(&self) -> bool {
+        self.meta_updates_active.load(Ordering::SeqCst) > 0
+    }
+
     /// Emit `ApprovalAdded` immediately after the row is inserted in
     /// sqlite. Caller passes the diff text it already computed (or
     /// `None` for spawn approvals which carry no diff).
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard.rs b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard.rs
index b0384eb..9d31dfa 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard.rs
@@ -206,6 +206,12 @@ struct StateSnapshot {
     /// Inputs in `meta/flake.lock` the operator can selectively
     /// `nix flake update`. Hyperhive first, then `agent-<n>` rows.
     meta_inputs: Vec<MetaInputView>,
+    /// True while a dashboard-triggered `meta-update` (flake lock bump +
+    /// agent rebuild ripple) is running in the background. Lets a
+    /// client that cold-loads mid-update render the META INPUTS panel's
+    /// disabled "updating…" state; live transitions arrive via the
+    /// `MetaUpdateRunning` event (issue #259).
+    meta_update_running: bool,
     /// Whether the hive-forge container is up. When true the dashboard
     /// links each container's config + each approval's commit into the
     /// forge's `agent-configs` repos.
@@ -395,6 +401,7 @@ async fn api_state(headers: HeaderMap, State(state): State<AppState>) -> axum::J
         approvals,
         approval_history,
         meta_inputs: read_meta_inputs(),
+        meta_update_running: state.coord.meta_update_in_progress(),
         questions,
         question_history,
         tombstones,
@@ -1495,6 +1502,10 @@ async fn post_meta_update(
 /// operator and manager get the same feedback they'd see from an
 /// auto-update / manual dashboard rebuild.
 async fn run_meta_update(coord: &Arc<crate::coordinator::Coordinator>, inputs: &[String]) {
+    // Held for the whole run (incl. the early `return` on lock failure):
+    // emits `MetaUpdateRunning { running: true }` now and `false` on
+    // drop so the META INPUTS panel shows progress (issue #259).
+    let _progress = coord.meta_update_guard();
     tracing::info!(?inputs, "meta-update: starting");
     if let Err(e) = crate::meta::lock_update(inputs).await {
         tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "meta-update: lock_update failed");
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs
index 32bae04..f82814d 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs
@@ -194,4 +194,14 @@ pub enum DashboardEvent {
         seq: u64,
         inputs: Vec<MetaInputView>,
     },
+    /// A dashboard-triggered `meta-update` started (`running: true`) or
+    /// finished (`running: false`). `post_meta_update` returns 200
+    /// immediately and runs the `nix flake update` + agent-rebuild
+    /// ripple in a background task — this event lets the META INPUTS
+    /// panel show a disabled "updating…" state for that whole window
+    /// instead of looking idle (issue #259). Emitted by
+    /// `Coordinator::meta_update_guard` / `MetaUpdateGuard::drop` only
+    /// when the active-run count crosses 0, so concurrent updates flip
+    /// the flag exactly once.
+    MetaUpdateRunning { seq: u64, running: bool },
 }