diff --git a/frontend/packages/agent/src/components/MetaNav.tsx b/frontend/packages/agent/src/components/MetaNav.tsx
index 985055e1..78d7dad6 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/agent/src/components/MetaNav.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/agent/src/components/MetaNav.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 // <MetaNav> — the header's meta-nav trigger: a single fixed-size Badge
-// ("🔗") in the pills cluster that opens a popover listing
+// (`@hive/shared/icons.js`'s `LinkIcon` — an emoji glyph here can't
+// match a neighbouring icon's size/weight on any platform, see that
+// file's comment; mara: "agent page link icons is different from
+// swarm ui" was this trigger still on the old `🔗` emoji after
+// swarm-ui's own link trigger had already moved to the SVG) in the
+// pills cluster that opens a popover listing
 // stats/screen/forge/config + any `hyperhive.dashboardLinks` extras,
 // sourced from the backend's `agent_links()` (the single source of
 // truth — same list also feeds the dashboard card's icon strip) — plus
@@ -25,6 +30,7 @@
 // `LoginFlow`'s `.login-card` already made for the same reason.
 import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'preact/hooks';
 import { Badge } from '@hive/shared/badge.js';
+import { LinkIcon } from '@hive/shared/icons.js';
 import type { AgentLink } from '../types.js';
 import './MetaNav.css';
 
@@ -67,7 +73,7 @@ export function MetaNav({ links, forgePublicUrl, dashboardBase }: MetaNavProps)
 
   return (
     <div class="meta-nav-anchor" ref={rootRef}>
-      <Badge value="🔗" title="agent links" onClick={() => setOpen((o) => !o)} expanded={open} />
+      <Badge value={<LinkIcon />} title="agent links" onClick={() => setOpen((o) => !o)} expanded={open} />
       {open ? (
         <div class="meta-nav-popover" role="menu" aria-label="agent links">
           <a
diff --git a/frontend/packages/shared/package.json b/frontend/packages/shared/package.json
index f238cf01..69b3859d 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/shared/package.json
+++ b/frontend/packages/shared/package.json
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
     "./badge.css": "./src/badge/Badge.css",
     "./dropdown.js": "./src/dropdown/Dropdown.tsx",
     "./dropdown.css": "./src/dropdown/Dropdown.css",
+    "./icons.js": "./src/icons.tsx",
     "./settings-storage.js": "./src/settings/settings-storage.ts",
     "./theme-apply.js": "./src/settings/theme-apply.ts",
     "./motion-apply.js": "./src/settings/motion-apply.ts",
diff --git a/frontend/packages/shared/src/icons.tsx b/frontend/packages/shared/src/icons.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6a72fabd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/shared/src/icons.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+// Small inline-SVG icons shared across pages — deliberately NOT emoji
+// glyphs for a trigger button's own icon. mara, live, on swarm-ui's
+// original links/settings buttons: "links and settings icon styles
+// different / all different sizes" — an emoji glyph renders via the
+// OS/browser's colour-emoji font at that font's own fixed metrics,
+// ignoring `font-size`/`color`, so it can never match a neighbouring
+// icon in size or weight on any platform (and some codepoints, like the
+// gear `⚙`, aren't even reliably covered by every font — showing as a
+// missing-glyph box or an oddly-weighted fallback depending on what's
+// installed). Same `stroke`/`viewBox`/size shape for every icon here so
+// they read as one rendering path wherever they're mounted — Feather/
+// lucide-style line icons, `currentColor` stroke so they pick up
+// whatever text colour the surrounding `Badge`/button already has.
+//
+// Originated in swarm-ui's `shell/SettingsMenu.tsx` (gear) and
+// `shell/LinksMenu.tsx` (link chain) as separate inline copies; moved
+// here once the agent page's `MetaNav`/`SettingsMenu` needed the exact
+// same icons too (mara: the settings trigger went back to a text glyph
+// when `SettingsMenu` was extracted into `@hive/shared`, undoing this
+// fix — restoring the SVG here, in the shared component this time,
+// fixes it for both pages at once instead of just one).
+export function GearIcon() {
+  return (
+    <svg
+      width="1.3em"
+      height="1.3em"
+      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
+      fill="none"
+      stroke="currentColor"
+      stroke-width="2"
+      stroke-linecap="round"
+      stroke-linejoin="round"
+      aria-hidden="true"
+    >
+      <circle cx="12" cy="12" r="3" />
+      <path d="M19.4 15a1.65 1.65 0 0 0 .33 1.82l.06.06a2 2 0 1 1-2.83 2.83l-.06-.06a1.65 1.65 0 0 0-1.82-.33 1.65 1.65 0 0 0-1 1.51V21a2 2 0 0 1-4 0v-.09A1.65 1.65 0 0 0 9 19.4a1.65 1.65 0 0 0-1.82.33l-.06.06a2 2 0 1 1-2.83-2.83l.06-.06a1.65 1.65 0 0 0 .33-1.82 1.65 1.65 0 0 0-1.51-1H3a2 2 0 0 1 0-4h.09A1.65 1.65 0 0 0 4.6 9a1.65 1.65 0 0 0-.33-1.82l-.06-.06a2 2 0 1 1 2.83-2.83l.06.06a1.65 1.65 0 0 0 1.82.33H9a1.65 1.65 0 0 0 1-1.51V3a2 2 0 0 1 4 0v.09a1.65 1.65 0 0 0 1 1.51 1.65 1.65 0 0 0 1.82-.33l.06-.06a2 2 0 1 1 2.83 2.83l-.06.06a1.65 1.65 0 0 0-.33 1.82V9a1.65 1.65 0 0 0 1.51 1H21a2 2 0 0 1 0 4h-.09a1.65 1.65 0 0 0-1.51 1z" />
+    </svg>
+  );
+}
+
+export function LinkIcon() {
+  return (
+    <svg
+      width="1.3em"
+      height="1.3em"
+      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
+      fill="none"
+      stroke="currentColor"
+      stroke-width="2"
+      stroke-linecap="round"
+      stroke-linejoin="round"
+      aria-hidden="true"
+    >
+      <path d="M10 13a5 5 0 0 0 7.54.54l3-3a5 5 0 0 0-7.07-7.07l-1.72 1.71" />
+      <path d="M14 11a5 5 0 0 0-7.54-.54l-3 3a5 5 0 0 0 7.07 7.07l1.71-1.71" />
+    </svg>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/shared/src/settings/SettingsMenu.tsx b/frontend/packages/shared/src/settings/SettingsMenu.tsx
index c32b3caf..11e51e90 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/shared/src/settings/SettingsMenu.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/shared/src/settings/SettingsMenu.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,14 @@
 // visual language for that package either), motion included
 // unconditionally rather than agent-only.
 //
+// That first merge swapped the trigger's icon from swarm-ui's original
+// inline SVG gear to a plain `⚙` text glyph (matching `MetaNav`'s own
+// `value="🔗"` emoji at the time) — mara caught it: "settings icon
+// looks weird since component extract". `../icons.js`'s `GearIcon` is
+// swarm-ui's original SVG, restored here so both pages get the crisp
+// version now instead of just one — see that file's comment for why a
+// text/emoji glyph is the wrong tool for a trigger's own icon.
+//
 // Storage keys are the caller's responsibility (`themeKey`/`motionKey`
 // props), not derived here — a page mounts `useApplyThemeOverride`/
 // `useApplyMotionOverride` (`./theme-apply.js`/`./motion-apply.js`)
@@ -22,6 +30,7 @@
 // page-specific naming decision.
 import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'preact/hooks';
 import { Badge } from '../badge/Badge.js';
+import { GearIcon } from '../icons.js';
 import { useThemeOverride, type ThemeOverride } from './theme-apply.js';
 import { useMotionOverride, type MotionOverride } from './motion-apply.js';
 import './SettingsMenu.css';
@@ -59,7 +68,7 @@ export function SettingsMenu({ themeKey, motionKey }: SettingsMenuProps) {
 
   return (
     <div class="settings-menu-anchor" ref={rootRef}>
-      <Badge value="⚙" title="settings" onClick={() => setOpen((v) => !v)} expanded={open} />
+      <Badge value={<GearIcon />} title="settings" onClick={() => setOpen((v) => !v)} expanded={open} />
       {open ? (
         <div class="settings-menu-popover" role="menu" aria-label="settings">
           <label class="settings-menu-row">
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/shell/LinksMenu.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/shell/LinksMenu.tsx
index 10180908..f0ace22a 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/shell/LinksMenu.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/shell/LinksMenu.tsx
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 // render a dead affordance" rule the old dashboard's H0M3 tiles follow
 // for Forge/Matrix.
 import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'preact/hooks';
+import { LinkIcon } from '@hive/shared/icons.js';
 import './LinksMenu.css';
 
 interface ServiceLink {
@@ -62,30 +63,12 @@ export function LinksMenu() {
         aria-label="swarm services"
         onClick={() => setOpen((v) => !v)}
       >
-        {/* Feather/lucide "link" glyph, not the 🔗 emoji this replaced —
-            reported live by mara: "links and settings icon styles
-            different / all different sizes". An emoji glyph is rendered
-            by the
-            OS/browser's colour-emoji font at that font's own fixed
-            metrics, ignoring `font-size`/`color` — it can never match a
-            neighbouring text-style icon (SettingsMenu's `⚙`) in size or
-            weight, on any platform. Same inline-SVG shape as
-            SettingsMenu's gear now uses, so both trigger buttons finally
-            share one rendering path (stroke, viewBox, size). */}
-        <svg
-          width="1.3em"
-          height="1.3em"
-          viewBox="0 0 24 24"
-          fill="none"
-          stroke="currentColor"
-          stroke-width="2"
-          stroke-linecap="round"
-          stroke-linejoin="round"
-          aria-hidden="true"
-        >
-          <path d="M10 13a5 5 0 0 0 7.54.54l3-3a5 5 0 0 0-7.07-7.07l-1.72 1.71" />
-          <path d="M14 11a5 5 0 0 0-7.54-.54l-3 3a5 5 0 0 0 7.07 7.07l1.71-1.71" />
-        </svg>
+        {/* `@hive/shared/icons.js`'s `LinkIcon` — reported live by mara:
+            "links and settings icon styles different / all different
+            sizes". Now shared with `SettingsMenu`'s `GearIcon` and
+            agent's own `MetaNav` trigger, one rendering path instead of
+            three separate inline copies — see that file's comment. */}
+        <LinkIcon />
       </button>
       {open ? (
         <div class="links-menu-popover" role="menu">