diff --git a/hive-ag3nt/src/web_ui.rs b/hive-ag3nt/src/web_ui.rs
index bca27a4..549e831 100644
--- a/hive-ag3nt/src/web_ui.rs
+++ b/hive-ag3nt/src/web_ui.rs
@@ -90,15 +90,17 @@ const LIVE_PANEL: &str = r#"
 <script>
 (function() {
   const log = document.getElementById('live');
-  function appendRow(text, cls) {
+  let placeholder = log.firstChild;
+  function setPlaceholder(text, cls) {
     log.innerHTML = '';
-    const row = document.createElement('span');
-    if (cls) row.className = cls;
-    row.textContent = text + '\n';
-    log.appendChild(row);
+    const span = document.createElement('span');
+    span.className = cls || 'meta';
+    span.textContent = text;
+    log.appendChild(span);
+    placeholder = span;
   }
   function appendLine(text, cls) {
-    if (log.firstChild && log.firstChild.className === 'meta') log.innerHTML = '';
+    if (placeholder) { log.innerHTML = ''; placeholder = null; }
     const row = document.createElement('span');
     if (cls) row.className = cls;
     row.textContent = text + '\n';
@@ -144,6 +146,7 @@ const LIVE_PANEL: &str = r#"
     return '';
   }
   const es = new EventSource('/events/stream');
+  es.onopen = function() { setPlaceholder('(connected — waiting for events)'); };
   es.onmessage = function(e) {
     try {
       const ev = JSON.parse(e.data);
@@ -152,7 +155,13 @@ const LIVE_PANEL: &str = r#"
       appendLine('[parse err] ' + e.data, 'meta');
     }
   };
-  es.onerror = function() { appendLine('[disconnected — retrying]', 'meta'); };
+  es.onerror = function() {
+    if (es.readyState === EventSource.CONNECTING) {
+      setPlaceholder('(reconnecting…)');
+    } else {
+      appendLine('[disconnected]', 'meta');
+    }
+  };
 })();
 </script>
 "#;
@@ -194,7 +203,13 @@ fn render_login_in_progress(session: &Arc<LoginSession>) -> String {
 async fn events_stream(
     State(state): State<AppState>,
 ) -> Sse<impl Stream<Item = Result<Event, Infallible>>> {
+    tracing::info!("sse: client subscribed");
     let rx = state.bus.subscribe();
+    // Drop a "hello" note into the bus so every new subscriber sees at
+    // least one event immediately and can clear the connecting placeholder.
+    state
+        .bus
+        .emit(crate::events::LiveEvent::Note("live stream attached".into()));
     let stream = BroadcastStream::new(rx).filter_map(|res| {
         let ev = res.ok()?;
         let json = serde_json::to_string(&ev).ok()?;