diff --git a/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/tabs.js b/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/tabs.js
index f363009d..88e8a29d 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/tabs.js
+++ b/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/tabs.js
@@ -724,11 +724,12 @@ window.marked = marked;
       head.append(
         el('a', { class: 'name', href: url, target: '_blank', rel: 'noopener' }, c.name),
       );
-      // Icon-only nav strip — populated async from `/api/agent/{name}/links`,
-      // a same-origin proxy that forwards the agent backend's own link list
-      // (stats / screen-if-gui / forge profile / agent-configs / extras).
-      // The agent backend is the single source of truth; no hardcoded link
-      // list here. DOM-built — link strings come from the agent's process
+      // Icon-only nav strip — populated async from the agent's own
+      // `GET /api/dashboard-state` (via gateway when enabled, direct
+      // TCP otherwise). The agent is the single source of truth for its
+      // link list: stats / screen (GUI agents only — c0re's disk-based
+      // fallback cannot detect this) / forge profile / agent-configs /
+      // extras. DOM-built — link strings come from the agent's process
       // and must never reach the HTML parser.
       const navStrip = el('span', { class: 'nav-strip' });
       head.append(navStrip);
@@ -742,11 +743,14 @@ window.marked = marked;
         ? `/agent/${encodeURIComponent(c.name)}`
         : `http://${hostname}:${c.port}`;
       if (c.running) {
-        fetch(`/api/agent/${encodeURIComponent(c.name)}/links`)
-          .then((r) => (r.ok ? r.json() : []))
-          .then((links) => {
-            if (!Array.isArray(links)) return;
-            for (const lnk of links) {
+        // Fetch the lean dashboard-state snapshot from the agent directly.
+        // Fails gracefully (empty strip) when the agent is starting up
+        // or the gateway is not yet routing to it.
+        fetch(`${containerBase}/api/dashboard-state`)
+          .then((r) => (r.ok ? r.json() : null))
+          .then((ds) => {
+            if (!ds || !Array.isArray(ds.links)) return;
+            for (const lnk of ds.links) {
               const href = lnk.kind === 'forge'    ? forgeBase + (lnk.url || '')
                          : lnk.kind === 'external' ? (lnk.url || '')
                          : /* container */            containerBase + '/' + (lnk.url || '');
@@ -762,7 +766,7 @@ window.marked = marked;
               navStrip.append(a);
             }
           })
-          .catch(() => { /* graceful: agent down → no strip */ });
+          .catch(() => { /* graceful: agent starting / gateway miss → no strip */ });
       }
       // Status / runtime badges. Pending transients always win
       // (start / stop / restart / rebuild is in progress). Otherwise,
diff --git a/hive-ag3nt/src/web_ui.rs b/hive-ag3nt/src/web_ui.rs
index fdaecc20..799682a9 100644
--- a/hive-ag3nt/src/web_ui.rs
+++ b/hive-ag3nt/src/web_ui.rs
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ pub async fn serve(
     };
     let app = Router::new()
         .route("/api/state", get(api_state))
+        .route("/api/dashboard-state", get(api_dashboard_state))
         .route("/events/stream", get(events_stream))
         .route("/events/history", get(events_history))
         .route("/send", post(post_send))
@@ -564,6 +565,82 @@ async fn api_state(State(state): State<AppState>) -> axum::Json<StateSnapshot> {
     })
 }
 
+/// Lean snapshot of the agent-owned fields that the dashboard card
+/// needs. Served at `GET /api/dashboard-state` (accessible through the
+/// gateway at `/agent/<name>/api/dashboard-state`). The dashboard
+/// fetches this once per running agent to get fresh, agent-authoritative
+/// values instead of relying on hive-c0re's periodic file-reads.
+///
+/// Structural fields (running, needs_update, deployed_sha, parent, …)
+/// continue to come from hive-c0re's `/api/state`; this endpoint covers
+/// only the fields the agent itself is the source of truth for.
+#[derive(serde::Serialize)]
+struct DashboardState {
+    /// Free-text status set by `set_status`, read directly from the
+    /// `hyperhive-status` file the harness writes. `None` when unset.
+    #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+    status_text: Option<String>,
+    /// Unix timestamp (seconds) when the status file was last written.
+    /// `None` when no status is set.
+    #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+    status_set_at: Option<i64>,
+    /// Input token count from the most recent completed turn (`ctx_usage.input_tokens`).
+    /// `None` until the first turn finishes.
+    #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+    ctx_tokens: Option<u64>,
+    /// Effective context-window budget for the current model. Same
+    /// derivation as `StateSnapshot::context_window_tokens`.
+    context_window_tokens: u64,
+    /// True while the harness is parked after a rate-limit response.
+    rate_limited: bool,
+    /// Navigation links for the dashboard card's icon strip. This is
+    /// the authoritative source — includes the screen link (GUI agents)
+    /// which hive-c0re's disk-based fallback cannot determine.
+    links: Vec<AgentLink>,
+}
+
+/// Read the agent's own free-text status and the timestamp when it was
+/// set, directly from the `hyperhive-status` file in the state dir.
+/// Mirrors `hive_c0re::container_view::read_agent_status` but runs
+/// inside the agent container using its own state dir.
+fn read_own_status() -> (Option<String>, Option<i64>) {
+    let path = crate::paths::state_dir().join("hyperhive-status");
+    let meta = std::fs::metadata(&path).ok();
+    let text = std::fs::read_to_string(&path)
+        .ok()
+        .as_deref()
+        .map(str::trim)
+        .filter(|t| !t.is_empty())
+        .map(str::to_owned);
+    let mtime = meta.and_then(|m| {
+        m.modified().ok().and_then(|t| {
+            t.duration_since(std::time::UNIX_EPOCH)
+                .ok()
+                .and_then(|d| i64::try_from(d.as_secs()).ok())
+        })
+    });
+    if text.is_none() { (None, None) } else { (text, mtime) }
+}
+
+async fn api_dashboard_state(State(state): State<AppState>) -> axum::Json<DashboardState> {
+    let (status_text, status_set_at) = read_own_status();
+    let rate_limited = state.bus.is_rate_limited();
+    let model = state.bus.model();
+    let context_window_tokens = state
+        .bus
+        .api_context_window()
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| crate::events::context_window_tokens(&model));
+    let ctx_tokens = state.bus.last_ctx_usage().map(|u| u.input_tokens);
+    axum::Json(DashboardState {
+        status_text,
+        status_set_at,
+        ctx_tokens,
+        context_window_tokens,
+        rate_limited,
+        links: agent_links(&state.label, state.gui_vnc_port.is_some()),
+    })
+}
+
 /// Build the navigation link list for the agent page header. URLs
 /// are paths (relative) for `Container`/`Forge` targets and absolute
 /// for `External`; the frontend resolves each against its `kind`