diff --git a/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/common.js b/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/common.js
index fb423e42..ba351a83 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/common.js
+++ b/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/common.js
@@ -46,6 +46,67 @@ export const form = (action, btnClass, btnLabel, confirmMsg, extra = {}, opts =
   return f;
 };
 
+// Page-level submit interceptor for `data-async` forms — the pattern every
+// dashboard action button uses (meta-update, spawn, cancel, purge, …).
+// Without this a `data-async` form POSTs natively and the browser navigates
+// to the bare `ok` response page. Each page that renders such forms must
+// call this once at boot (dashboard via ./tabs.js, /core.html via ./core.js).
+// `onSuccess` runs after a successful submit unless the form opts out with
+// `data-no-refresh` (forms whose mutation arrives faster via an SSE event).
+export function bindAsyncForms(onSuccess) {
+  document.addEventListener('submit', async (e) => {
+    const f = e.target;
+    if (!(f instanceof HTMLFormElement) || !f.hasAttribute('data-async')) return;
+    e.preventDefault();
+    if (f.dataset.confirm && !confirm(f.dataset.confirm)) return;
+    if (f.dataset.prompt) {
+      const ans = prompt(f.dataset.prompt, '');
+      if (ans === null) return; // operator hit Cancel
+      // Drop into a hidden input named after `data-prompt-field` (or
+      // 'note' by default) so the value rides along on the POST.
+      const field = f.dataset.promptField || 'note';
+      let input = f.querySelector(`input[name="${field}"]`);
+      if (!input) {
+        input = document.createElement('input');
+        input.type = 'hidden';
+        input.name = field;
+        f.append(input);
+      }
+      input.value = ans;
+    }
+    const btn = f.querySelector('button[type="submit"], button:not([type]), .btn-inline');
+    const original = btn ? btn.innerHTML : '';
+    if (btn) { btn.disabled = true; btn.innerHTML = '<span class="spinner">◐</span>'; }
+    try {
+      const resp = await fetch(f.action, {
+        method: f.method || 'POST',
+        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded' },
+        body: new URLSearchParams(new FormData(f)),
+        redirect: 'manual',
+      });
+      const ok = resp.ok || resp.type === 'opaqueredirect'
+        || (resp.status >= 200 && resp.status < 400);
+      if (!ok) {
+        const text = await resp.text().catch(() => '');
+        alert('action failed: ' + resp.status + (text ? '\n\n' + text : ''));
+        if (btn) { btn.disabled = false; btn.innerHTML = original; }
+        return;
+      }
+      // Re-enable the button — the refresh rebuilds most lists but skips
+      // forms that didn't change, so without this the spinner sticks.
+      if (btn) { btn.disabled = false; btn.innerHTML = original; }
+      // Clear text inputs whose value was just submitted.
+      f.querySelectorAll('input[type="text"], input:not([type]), textarea').forEach((i) => { i.value = ''; });
+      if (!f.hasAttribute('data-no-refresh') && typeof onSuccess === 'function') {
+        onSuccess();
+      }
+    } catch (err) {
+      alert('action failed: ' + err);
+      if (btn) { btn.disabled = false; btn.innerHTML = original; }
+    }
+  });
+}
+
 // `truncate`, `fmtAgo`, `fmtElapsed`, `fmtDuration` + the `paintAtomic`
 // render helper live in the dashboard-internal `./util.js`, not here —
 // their phrasing ("X running", "X ago") is dashboard-specific, so they
diff --git a/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/core.js b/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/core.js
index 32050261..b1e98ecf 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/core.js
+++ b/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/core.js
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // dashboard SYST3M tab); the dashboard keeps its own copies for now —
 // de-duplication + removing the SYST3M tab is a deliberate follow-up.
 
-import { $, el, form, openStream, initServerWarnings } from './common.js';
+import { $, el, form, openStream, initServerWarnings, bindAsyncForms } from './common.js';
 import { fmtAgo, fmtElapsed, truncate } from './util.js';
 import { createTabStrip } from '@hive/shared/tabs.js';
 
@@ -503,9 +503,28 @@ const SSE_HANDLERS = {
 };
 
 // ─── boot ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Re-fetch /api/state, re-sync the derived state, re-render. Used for the
+// cold load and as the post-submit refresh for `data-async` forms whose
+// mutation doesn't arrive via an SSE event (e.g. the meta-update / spawn /
+// purge actions that opt out of `data-no-refresh`).
+async function refreshState() {
+  try {
+    const resp = await fetch('/api/state');
+    if (resp.ok) syncFromSnapshot(await resp.json());
+  } catch {
+    // best-effort: the page keeps its last-rendered state
+  }
+  renderAll();
+}
+
 async function init() {
   initServerWarnings();
 
+  // `data-async` form submit interceptor — without this the meta-update /
+  // cancel / respawn / purge buttons POST natively and the browser navigates
+  // to the bare `ok` response page.
+  bindAsyncForms(() => refreshState());
+
   // Hash-routed sub-tab strip; default Rebuild Queue. Container-load
   // polling runs only while the LOAD sub-tab is open (cpu is a short
   // two-sample read each refresh on the server).
@@ -517,15 +536,7 @@ async function init() {
     },
   });
 
-  try {
-    const resp = await fetch('/api/state');
-    if (resp.ok) {
-      syncFromSnapshot(await resp.json());
-    }
-  } catch {
-    // best-effort: the page still renders its empty states
-  }
-  renderAll();
+  await refreshState();
 
   const es = openStream('/dashboard/stream');
   if (es) {
diff --git a/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/tabs.js b/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/tabs.js
index 2a7ef3b8..cf00e721 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/tabs.js
+++ b/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/tabs.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import {
   fmtAgeSecs,
   Panel, NOTIF,
   makePathLink, appendText, appendLinkified,
-  openStream, renderServerWarnings,
+  openStream, renderServerWarnings, bindAsyncForms,
 } from './common.js';
 import { createTabStrip } from '@hive/shared/tabs.js';
 import { containersState, syncContainersFromSnapshot } from './state.js';
@@ -90,64 +90,10 @@ window.marked = marked;
   }
 
   // ─── async forms ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-  document.addEventListener('submit', async (e) => {
-    const f = e.target;
-    if (!(f instanceof HTMLFormElement) || !f.hasAttribute('data-async')) return;
-    e.preventDefault();
-    if (f.dataset.confirm && !confirm(f.dataset.confirm)) return;
-    if (f.dataset.prompt) {
-      const ans = prompt(f.dataset.prompt, '');
-      if (ans === null) return;  // operator hit Cancel
-      // Drop into a hidden input named after `data-prompt-field` (or
-      // 'note' by default) so the value rides along on the POST.
-      const field = f.dataset.promptField || 'note';
-      let input = f.querySelector(`input[name="${field}"]`);
-      if (!input) {
-        input = document.createElement('input');
-        input.type = 'hidden';
-        input.name = field;
-        f.append(input);
-      }
-      input.value = ans;
-    }
-    const btn = f.querySelector('button[type="submit"], button:not([type]), .btn-inline');
-    const original = btn ? btn.innerHTML : '';
-    if (btn) { btn.disabled = true; btn.innerHTML = '<span class="spinner">◐</span>'; }
-    try {
-      const resp = await fetch(f.action, {
-        method: f.method || 'POST',
-        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded' },
-        body: new URLSearchParams(new FormData(f)),
-        redirect: 'manual',
-      });
-      const ok = resp.ok || resp.type === 'opaqueredirect'
-        || (resp.status >= 200 && resp.status < 400);
-      if (!ok) {
-        const text = await resp.text().catch(() => '');
-        alert('action failed: ' + resp.status + (text ? '\n\n' + text : ''));
-        if (btn) { btn.disabled = false; btn.innerHTML = original; }
-        return;
-      }
-      // Re-enable the button — refreshState() rebuilds most lists but
-      // skips forms that didn't change (e.g. the spawn form), so without
-      // this the spinner sticks and the button can't be clicked again.
-      if (btn) { btn.disabled = false; btn.innerHTML = original; }
-      // Clear text inputs whose value was just submitted.
-      f.querySelectorAll('input[type="text"], input:not([type]), textarea').forEach((i) => { i.value = ''; });
-      // Forms whose endpoint already emits a DashboardEvent that
-      // updates the derived store can opt out of the post-submit
-      // /api/state refetch (the event delivers the new row faster
-      // than the snapshot poll anyway). Container-lifecycle forms
-      // still rely on the refresh since `ContainerView` isn't yet
-      // event-derivable.
-      if (!f.hasAttribute('data-no-refresh')) {
-        refreshState();
-      }
-    } catch (err) {
-      alert('action failed: ' + err);
-      if (btn) { btn.disabled = false; btn.innerHTML = original; }
-    }
-  });
+  // Shared `data-async` submit interceptor (now in common.js so /core.html's
+  // bundle gets it too). On success it re-runs refreshState unless the form
+  // opts out via `data-no-refresh` (its mutation arrives via an SSE event).
+  bindAsyncForms(() => refreshState());
 
   // The live agent roster (`containersState`) + its snapshot-sync now
   // live in `./state.js` — it's the one piece of cross-domain state, read