diff --git a/hive-ag3nt/src/turn.rs b/hive-ag3nt/src/turn.rs
index a20c9a4..06c63b4 100644
--- a/hive-ag3nt/src/turn.rs
+++ b/hive-ag3nt/src/turn.rs
@@ -518,11 +518,19 @@ async fn run_claude(prompt: &str, files: &TurnFiles, bus: &Bus) -> Result<(bool,
             if line.contains(PROMPT_TOO_LONG_MARKER) {
                 flag_out.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
             }
-            if RATE_LIMIT_MARKERS.iter().any(|m| line.contains(m)) {
-                rate_out.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
-            }
             match serde_json::from_str::<serde_json::Value>(&line) {
                 Ok(v) => {
+                    // Rate-limit detection: only fire on JSON `error` events,
+                    // not on arbitrary text content. An agent discussing a past
+                    // rate limit in its response would otherwise trigger a false
+                    // positive (the full conversation flows through stdout as
+                    // stream-json, so any text the model outputs is visible here).
+                    if v.get("type").and_then(|t| t.as_str()) == Some("error") {
+                        let raw = v.to_string();
+                        if RATE_LIMIT_MARKERS.iter().any(|m| raw.contains(m)) {
+                            rate_out.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+                        }
+                    }
                     if let Some(u) = crate::events::TokenUsage::from_assistant_event(&v) {
                         last_inference = Some(u);
                     }
@@ -536,9 +544,16 @@ async fn run_claude(prompt: &str, files: &TurnFiles, bus: &Bus) -> Result<(bool,
                     bus_out.observe_stream(&v);
                     bus_out.emit(LiveEvent::Stream(v));
                 }
-                Err(_) => bus_out.emit(LiveEvent::Note {
-                    text: format!("(non-json) {line}"),
-                }),
+                Err(_) => {
+                    // Non-JSON stdout: raw text check is fine here since these
+                    // are claude CLI messages, not conversation content.
+                    if RATE_LIMIT_MARKERS.iter().any(|m| line.contains(m)) {
+                        rate_out.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+                    }
+                    bus_out.emit(LiveEvent::Note {
+                        text: format!("(non-json) {line}"),
+                    });
+                }
             }
         }
     });