diff --git a/docs/web-ui.md b/docs/web-ui.md
index 1304e66..dd933a9 100644
--- a/docs/web-ui.md
+++ b/docs/web-ui.md
@@ -208,12 +208,19 @@ not ours.
   and the host form. Canonicalises + verifies the path stays
   inside the allow-list, refuses anything but a regular file,
   refuses `/agents/<n>/claude` / `config` subtrees, truncates
-  bodies at 1 MiB. Backs the dashboard's inline path-link
-  preview (PATH_RE detects pointer strings in message bodies,
-  question/answer text, and the operator inbox; clicking
-  expands a `<details>` that lazy-fetches via this endpoint).
-  Trailing-slash matches (i.e. directory paths) are skipped on
-  the client side — only files linkify.
+  bodies at 1 MiB. Click-time backing for the inline path-link
+  preview.
+
+  Detection of which tokens *are* path links is done
+  **server-side at broker-message ingest**, not client-side:
+  the broker forwarder calls `scan_validated_paths(body)` —
+  same allow-list helper the read endpoint uses — and attaches
+  the verified file tokens to the event as `file_refs: Vec<String>`.
+  The client trusts that list and linkifies only those tokens,
+  so directories, missing files, and forbidden subtrees never
+  become anchors. No probe endpoint, no client-side regex
+  heuristics. Historical messages get the same treatment on
+  `/dashboard/history` backfill.
 - `GET /api/reminders` — list pending reminders for the
   dashboard's queued-reminders panel.
 - `POST /cancel-reminder/{id}` — hard-delete a pending reminder.
diff --git a/hive-c0re/assets/app.js b/hive-c0re/assets/app.js
index 2c16c82..bd4a3e3 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/assets/app.js
+++ b/hive-c0re/assets/app.js
@@ -48,75 +48,6 @@
   // perspective (we'd need to know which agent the message is about
   // to translate it). Prefer `/agents/<name>/state/...` in agent
   // outputs and the link will resolve.
-  // Match anything that *looks* like a path under the allow-listed
-  // roots; the server endpoint `/api/state-file/check` is the
-  // authority on whether each match is actually a file. Optimistic
-  // anchors render first; a batched validation request downgrades
-  // non-files (dirs, missing, forbidden subtrees) back to plain
-  // text. No client-side filename heuristics — the regex's job is
-  // just "spot a path-shaped token".
-  const PATH_RE = /(\/var\/lib\/hyperhive\/agents\/[\w.-]+\/state\/[\w./-]+|\/var\/lib\/hyperhive\/shared\/[\w./-]+|\/agents\/[\w.-]+\/state\/[\w./-]+|\/shared\/[\w./-]+)/g;
-
-  // Session-scoped truthiness cache for paths the server has
-  // already verified. `true` = render as a clickable anchor;
-  // `false` = strip the anchor on next reflow. Cleared only on
-  // page reload — agents creating new files mid-session show up
-  // next time the path is referenced.
-  const pathValidity = new Map();
-  // Anchors awaiting validation. Keyed by path so we can rewrite
-  // every anchor for the same path in one shot when the result
-  // lands. Each entry: { anchor, details } so we can also drop
-  // the sibling preview when the path turns out to be invalid.
-  const pendingAnchors = new Map();
-  let validateTimer = null;
-  function queuePathForValidation(path, anchor, details) {
-    if (!pendingAnchors.has(path)) pendingAnchors.set(path, []);
-    pendingAnchors.get(path).push({ anchor, details });
-    if (validateTimer) clearTimeout(validateTimer);
-    // Coalesce bursts (a backfill replay can emit dozens of rows
-    // in one tick) into a single batched request.
-    validateTimer = setTimeout(flushPathValidation, 50);
-  }
-  async function flushPathValidation() {
-    validateTimer = null;
-    const paths = Array.from(pendingAnchors.keys());
-    if (!paths.length) return;
-    // Snapshot the queue + clear it before we await — additional
-    // anchors that land while the request is in flight queue into
-    // a fresh batch.
-    const snapshot = new Map(pendingAnchors);
-    pendingAnchors.clear();
-    let results = {};
-    try {
-      const resp = await fetch('/api/state-file/check', {
-        method: 'POST',
-        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
-        body: JSON.stringify({ paths }),
-      });
-      if (resp.ok) results = (await resp.json()).results || {};
-    } catch (err) {
-      console.warn('path validation batch failed', err);
-      // On transport failure leave anchors as-is — clicking them
-      // will surface the real error from /api/state-file inline.
-      return;
-    }
-    for (const [path, entries] of snapshot) {
-      const ok = !!results[path];
-      pathValidity.set(path, ok);
-      if (ok) continue;
-      // Downgrade every pending anchor for this path back to
-      // plain text + drop its sibling <details> preview.
-      for (const { anchor, details } of entries) {
-        if (anchor.parentNode) {
-          anchor.parentNode.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(path), anchor);
-        }
-        if (details && details.parentNode) {
-          details.parentNode.removeChild(details);
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
   async function fetchStateFile(path) {
     const resp = await fetch('/api/state-file?path=' + encodeURIComponent(path));
     const text = await resp.text();
@@ -153,42 +84,54 @@
     });
     return { anchor, details };
   }
-  // Append `text` to `parent` as a mix of text nodes + path anchors.
-  // Returns the array of generated `<details>` previews so the
-  // caller can append them as block siblings under the row.
-  // Anchors render optimistically; paths unseen this session are
-  // queued for batch validation, and the server's verdict either
-  // confirms or strips them via `flushPathValidation`.
-  function appendLinkified(parent, text) {
+  // Append `text` to `parent` as a mix of text nodes + path
+  // anchors. `refs` is the server-attached `file_refs` array
+  // (verified-file tokens that appear in `text`); each occurrence
+  // of a ref in `text` becomes a clickable anchor + a sibling
+  // <details> preview that lazy-fetches from /api/state-file.
+  // Anything not in `refs` stays plain text. No client-side
+  // regex, no probe endpoint — the server saw the body first
+  // and made the call. When `refs` is empty/missing we just
+  // emit plain text.
+  function appendLinkified(parent, text, refs) {
     const previews = [];
     if (text == null) return previews;
     const str = String(text);
-    let lastIdx = 0;
-    PATH_RE.lastIndex = 0;
-    let m;
-    while ((m = PATH_RE.exec(str)) !== null) {
-      if (m.index > lastIdx) {
-        parent.appendChild(document.createTextNode(str.slice(lastIdx, m.index)));
-      }
-      const path = m[0];
-      const cached = pathValidity.get(path);
-      if (cached === false) {
-        // Already known to be a non-file — render plain text, no
-        // anchor, no preview. The text still shows up so the
-        // operator sees the path; it's just not clickable.
-        parent.appendChild(document.createTextNode(path));
-      } else {
-        const { anchor, details } = makePathPreview(path);
-        parent.appendChild(anchor);
-        previews.push(details);
-        // Unknown paths queue for validation; known-good ones
-        // skip the roundtrip entirely.
-        if (cached !== true) queuePathForValidation(path, anchor, details);
-      }
-      lastIdx = m.index + m[0].length;
+    const tokens = (refs || []).slice();
+    if (!tokens.length) {
+      if (str) parent.appendChild(document.createTextNode(str));
+      return previews;
     }
-    if (lastIdx < str.length) {
-      parent.appendChild(document.createTextNode(str.slice(lastIdx)));
+    // Walk the string left-to-right, at each step looking for the
+    // next occurrence of any token. Longest-first tie-break so a
+    // ref like `/agents/foo/state/x.md` wins over a (hypothetical)
+    // shorter token that prefixes it. O(text * refs) worst case;
+    // refs is bounded server-side to whatever fits in a body, so
+    // this stays cheap.
+    tokens.sort((a, b) => b.length - a.length);
+    let i = 0;
+    while (i < str.length) {
+      let bestStart = -1;
+      let bestToken = null;
+      for (const t of tokens) {
+        const idx = str.indexOf(t, i);
+        if (idx === -1) continue;
+        if (bestStart === -1 || idx < bestStart || (idx === bestStart && t.length > bestToken.length)) {
+          bestStart = idx;
+          bestToken = t;
+        }
+      }
+      if (bestStart === -1) {
+        parent.appendChild(document.createTextNode(str.slice(i)));
+        break;
+      }
+      if (bestStart > i) {
+        parent.appendChild(document.createTextNode(str.slice(i, bestStart)));
+      }
+      const { anchor, details } = makePathPreview(bestToken);
+      parent.appendChild(anchor);
+      previews.push(details);
+      i = bestStart + bestToken.length;
     }
     return previews;
   }
@@ -1000,7 +943,12 @@
   const operatorInbox = [];
   function inboxAppendFromEvent(ev) {
     if (ev.kind !== 'sent' || ev.to !== 'operator') return false;
-    operatorInbox.unshift({ from: ev.from, body: ev.body, at: ev.at });
+    operatorInbox.unshift({
+      from: ev.from,
+      body: ev.body,
+      at: ev.at,
+      file_refs: ev.file_refs || [],
+    });
     if (operatorInbox.length > INBOX_LIMIT) operatorInbox.length = INBOX_LIMIT;
     return true;
   }
@@ -1017,7 +965,7 @@
     for (const m of operatorInbox) {
       const li = el('li');
       const body = el('span', { class: 'msg-body' });
-      const previews = appendLinkified(body, m.body);
+      const previews = appendLinkified(body, m.body, m.file_refs);
       li.append(
         el('span', { class: 'msg-ts' }, fmt(m.at)), ' ',
         el('span', { class: 'msg-from' }, m.from), ' ',
@@ -1543,7 +1491,7 @@
       to.className = 'msg-to'; to.textContent = ev.to;
       const body = document.createElement('span');
       body.className = 'msg-body';
-      const previews = appendLinkified(body, ev.body);
+      const previews = appendLinkified(body, ev.body, ev.file_refs);
       row.append(ts, ' ', arrow, ' ', from, ' ', sep, ' ', to, ' ', body);
       for (const d of previews) row.appendChild(d);
     }
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard.rs b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard.rs
index 73618cf..c23acb7 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard.rs
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ pub async fn serve(port: u16, coord: Arc<Coordinator>) -> Result<()> {
         .route("/purge-tombstone/{name}", post(post_purge_tombstone))
         .route("/api/journal/{name}", get(get_journal))
         .route("/api/state-file", get(get_state_file))
-        .route("/api/state-file/check", post(post_state_file_check))
         .route("/api/reminders", get(api_reminders))
         .route("/cancel-reminder/{id}", post(post_cancel_reminder))
         .route("/api/agent-config/{name}", get(get_agent_config))
@@ -635,21 +634,25 @@ async fn dashboard_history(State(state): State<AppState>) -> Response {
                 .into_iter()
                 .map(|m| match m {
                     crate::broker::MessageEvent::Sent { from, to, body, at } => {
+                        let file_refs = scan_validated_paths(&body);
                         crate::dashboard_events::DashboardEvent::Sent {
                             seq: 0,
                             from,
                             to,
                             body,
                             at,
+                            file_refs,
                         }
                     }
                     crate::broker::MessageEvent::Delivered { from, to, body, at } => {
+                        let file_refs = scan_validated_paths(&body);
                         crate::dashboard_events::DashboardEvent::Delivered {
                             seq: 0,
                             from,
                             to,
                             body,
                             at,
+                            file_refs,
                         }
                     }
                 })
@@ -953,6 +956,53 @@ fn resolve_state_path(raw: &str) -> std::result::Result<std::path::PathBuf, Stri
     Ok(canonical)
 }
 
+/// Scan `body` for path-shaped tokens, validate each against the
+/// allow-list, return the unique set of tokens that resolve to a
+/// regular file. Called at broker-message ingest time so the
+/// dashboard event already carries the verified set — no client-
+/// side probe endpoint required, and historical messages get the
+/// same treatment on `/dashboard/history` backfill.
+///
+/// Tokenisation: split on whitespace + a handful of trailing
+/// punctuation chars (`,;:)]}`) that commonly follow paths in
+/// natural-language text but aren't part of the path itself. Any
+/// token starting with `/agents/`, `/shared/`, or
+/// `/var/lib/hyperhive/{agents,shared}/` is a candidate. The
+/// allow-list + is_file check happens via the same
+/// `resolve_state_path` helper the read endpoint uses, so the
+/// security rules can't drift.
+pub(crate) fn scan_validated_paths(body: &str) -> Vec<String> {
+    const PREFIXES: [&str; 4] = [
+        "/agents/",
+        "/shared/",
+        "/var/lib/hyperhive/agents/",
+        "/var/lib/hyperhive/shared/",
+    ];
+    let mut out = Vec::<String>::new();
+    for raw in body.split(|c: char| c.is_whitespace()) {
+        // Trim trailing natural-language punctuation that wouldn't
+        // be part of any real path. Inline rather than via a regex
+        // dep — the set is small and the call is hot.
+        let token = raw.trim_end_matches(|c: char| matches!(c, ',' | ';' | ':' | ')' | ']' | '}' | '.' | '\'' | '"'));
+        if token.is_empty() {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if !PREFIXES.iter().any(|p| token.starts_with(p)) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        // Cheap dedupe — typical message has 0-3 refs.
+        if out.iter().any(|s| s == token) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if let Ok(canonical) = resolve_state_path(token) {
+            if std::fs::metadata(&canonical).is_ok_and(|m| m.is_file()) {
+                out.push(token.to_owned());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    out
+}
+
 async fn get_state_file(
     axum::extract::Query(q): axum::extract::Query<StateFileQuery>,
 ) -> Response {
@@ -987,36 +1037,6 @@ async fn get_state_file(
     ([("content-type", "text/plain; charset=utf-8")], body).into_response()
 }
 
-#[derive(Deserialize)]
-struct StateFileCheckReq {
-    paths: Vec<String>,
-}
-
-/// Batch existence/file-ness probe behind the path-link autodetect.
-/// The client collects regex-candidate paths from a message body,
-/// fires one POST with the whole batch, and downgrades anchors
-/// whose result is `false` back to plain text. Same security rules
-/// as `get_state_file` (via `resolve_state_path`); a path is `true`
-/// iff it resolves, lives in the allow-list, and is a regular file
-/// (not a dir, symlink-to-dir, missing file, or forbidden subtree).
-/// Capped per-request to keep a runaway message body from
-/// triggering thousands of canonicalize calls in one request.
-async fn post_state_file_check(
-    axum::Json(req): axum::Json<StateFileCheckReq>,
-) -> Response {
-    const MAX_PATHS: usize = 64;
-    let mut out: std::collections::HashMap<String, bool> =
-        std::collections::HashMap::with_capacity(req.paths.len().min(MAX_PATHS));
-    for raw in req.paths.into_iter().take(MAX_PATHS) {
-        let is_file = match resolve_state_path(&raw) {
-            Ok(p) => std::fs::metadata(&p).is_ok_and(|m| m.is_file()),
-            Err(_) => false,
-        };
-        out.insert(raw, is_file);
-    }
-    axum::Json(serde_json::json!({ "results": out })).into_response()
-}
-
 async fn api_reminders(State(state): State<AppState>) -> Response {
     match state.coord.broker.list_pending_reminders() {
         Ok(rows) => axum::Json(rows).into_response(),
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs
index e17a23e..4e531c2 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs
@@ -31,20 +31,31 @@ use crate::container_view::ContainerView;
 #[serde(rename_all = "snake_case", tag = "kind")]
 pub enum DashboardEvent {
     /// Broker `Sent` event mirrored onto the dashboard channel.
+    /// `file_refs` carries every path-shaped token in `body` that
+    /// hive-c0re verified is a regular file under the allow-listed
+    /// roots (per-agent `state/` + `shared/`). The forwarder
+    /// pre-validates so the dashboard doesn't need a probe
+    /// endpoint — the client renders anchors only for tokens that
+    /// appear in this list, everything else stays plain text.
     Sent {
         seq: u64,
         from: String,
         to: String,
         body: String,
         at: i64,
+        #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Vec::is_empty")]
+        file_refs: Vec<String>,
     },
     /// Broker `Delivered` event mirrored onto the dashboard channel.
+    /// `file_refs` is the same shape as `Sent`.
     Delivered {
         seq: u64,
         from: String,
         to: String,
         body: String,
         at: i64,
+        #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Vec::is_empty")]
+        file_refs: Vec<String>,
     },
     /// A new approval landed in the pending queue. Payload carries
     /// enough to render the dashboard row without a `/api/state`
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/main.rs b/hive-c0re/src/main.rs
index c543269..052d647 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/main.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/main.rs
@@ -226,21 +226,25 @@ fn spawn_broker_to_dashboard_forwarder(coord: Arc<Coordinator>) {
         loop {
             match rx.recv().await {
                 Ok(MessageEvent::Sent { from, to, body, at }) => {
+                    let file_refs = dashboard::scan_validated_paths(&body);
                     coord.emit_dashboard_event(DashboardEvent::Sent {
                         seq: coord.next_seq(),
                         from,
                         to,
                         body,
                         at,
+                        file_refs,
                     });
                 }
                 Ok(MessageEvent::Delivered { from, to, body, at }) => {
+                    let file_refs = dashboard::scan_validated_paths(&body);
                     coord.emit_dashboard_event(DashboardEvent::Delivered {
                         seq: coord.next_seq(),
                         from,
                         to,
                         body,
                         at,
+                        file_refs,
                     });
                 }
                 Err(tokio::sync::broadcast::error::RecvError::Lagged(n)) => {