diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx
index 6da04c0a..14010a1a 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx
@@ -25,15 +25,13 @@
 // itself (`CreateAgentForm`) mounts inside a `Dialog` here rather than
 // its own route.
 //
-// The "wanted" column is the start/stop control (`toggleWanted`) plus a
-// separate destroy control (`destroyAgent`) — both confirm via the
-// shared `ui/confirm-dialog`.
+// The "wanted" column is the start/stop control — see its own `render`
+// and `toggleWanted` below for how.
 import { useState } from "preact/hooks";
 import { ApiErrorPanel } from "@hive/shared/api-error-panel.js";
 import { readApiError, type ProblemDetails } from "@hive/shared/api-error.js";
 import { Badge, type BadgeTone } from "@hive/shared/badge.js";
 import { Button } from "../ui/button/Button.js";
-import { ConfirmDialog } from "../ui/confirm-dialog/ConfirmDialog.js";
 import { Dialog } from "../ui/dialog/Dialog.js";
 import { Panel } from "../ui/panel/Panel.js";
 import { RelativeTime } from "../ui/relative-time/RelativeTime.js";
@@ -58,9 +56,8 @@ interface AgentStatusSnapshot {
   running: boolean;
 }
 
-// `"up"` / `"offline"` / `"destroyed"`, wire-spelled by
-// `swarm_queue_client::wanted::AgentState::as_str` — kept as a bare
-// `string | null` rather than a union, same reason
+// `"up"` / `"offline"`, wire-spelled by `swarm_queue_client::wanted::AgentState::as_str`
+// — kept as a bare `string | null` rather than a union, same reason
 // `config_pr`'s shape isn't re-derived here: this page renders whatever
 // the wire sends, it doesn't validate the enum client-side.
 type Wanted = string | null;
@@ -117,15 +114,6 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
   const [actionErrors, setActionErrors] = useState<
     ReadonlyMap<string, ProblemDetails>
   >(new Map());
-  // The row pending destroy confirmation, `null` when the dialog is
-  // closed — not a boolean, so the dialog can name the agent without a
-  // second piece of state to keep in sync with it. `stopTarget` mirrors
-  // it for the "declare offline" direction of the same toggle — two
-  // separate pieces of state (not one "pending confirm" union) since
-  // both `ConfirmDialog`s can't be open at once anyway and keeping them
-  // apart means each one's JSX below reads standalone.
-  const [destroyTarget, setDestroyTarget] = useState<AgentRow | null>(null);
-  const [stopTarget, setStopTarget] = useState<AgentRow | null>(null);
 
   async function refresh() {
     const res = await fetch("/api/agents/status");
@@ -144,13 +132,30 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
     refresh().catch((e: unknown) => setError({ detail: String(e) }));
   });
 
-  // Shared by `confirmStop` and `destroyAgent` — both are "PUT a new
-  // `wanted` declaration, track per-agent pending/error state, patch the
-  // response back into `rows`" with nothing else distinguishing them.
-  // Which `ConfirmDialog` fires it and the target state stay in each
-  // caller, since those are the parts that actually differ.
-  async function declareState(row: AgentRow, target: string) {
+  // Declares the opposite of `row`'s current state. A row with no
+  // declaration yet (`wanted === null`) has nothing to flip, so the
+  // target is read off the agent's own last-reported `running` instead
+  // — the button's first click always means "make the declaration match
+  // reality, then flip it", which is the only reading that makes sense
+  // without a declaration to toggle.
+  async function toggleWanted(row: AgentRow) {
     if (!row.hive) return;
+    const impliedCurrent =
+      row.wanted ?? (row.snapshot?.running ? "up" : "offline");
+    const target = impliedCurrent === "up" ? "offline" : "up";
+    if (
+      target === "offline" &&
+      // Native confirm, not a `Dialog` — no confirm-dialog component
+      // exists in swarm-ui yet, and stop is the one disruptive direction
+      // here (start isn't gated). A swarm-level agent destroy, unlike
+      // this reversible declare, is the irreversible case that will
+      // justify a real one.
+      !window.confirm(
+        `Declare ${row.name} offline? The hive brings its container down on its next reconcile sweep.`,
+      )
+    ) {
+      return;
+    }
     setPendingAgents((prev) => new Set(prev).add(row.name));
     setActionErrors((prev) => {
       const next = new Map(prev);
@@ -201,48 +206,6 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
     }
   }
 
-  // Declares the opposite of `row`'s current state. A row with no
-  // declaration yet (`wanted === null`) has nothing to flip, so the
-  // target is read off the agent's own last-reported `running` instead
-  // — the button's first click always means "make the declaration match
-  // reality, then flip it", which is the only reading that makes sense
-  // without a declaration to toggle. The "up" direction needs no
-  // confirmation and declares straight away; "offline" opens the
-  // `stopTarget` `ConfirmDialog` instead of declaring directly — see
-  // `confirmStop`.
-  async function toggleWanted(row: AgentRow) {
-    if (!row.hive) return;
-    const impliedCurrent =
-      row.wanted ?? (row.snapshot?.running ? "up" : "offline");
-    const target = impliedCurrent === "up" ? "offline" : "up";
-    if (target === "offline") {
-      setStopTarget(row);
-      return;
-    }
-    await declareState(row, target);
-  }
-
-  // Fires from the `stopTarget` confirm `Dialog`. Used to be a native
-  // `window.confirm` (stop is reversible, a later start un-does it, so a
-  // lighter-weight prompt than destroy's felt proportionate) — mara,
-  // reviewing the destroy confirm: use the shared component everywhere
-  // we already confirm before acting, not just for destroy. Once
-  // `ConfirmDialog` existed as a one-line-per-caller component, the
-  // "native is lighter" argument no longer bought consistency anything.
-  async function confirmStop(row: AgentRow) {
-    setStopTarget(null);
-    await declareState(row, "offline");
-  }
-
-  // Fires from the `destroyTarget` confirm `Dialog`, never directly off
-  // a row click — see `destroyTarget`/the "destroy" badge in the
-  // `wanted` column. Unlike `toggleWanted`, there's no "current state"
-  // to read: destroy is a one-way declaration, not a flip.
-  async function destroyAgent(row: AgentRow) {
-    setDestroyTarget(null);
-    await declareState(row, "destroyed");
-  }
-
   const columns: TableColumn<AgentRow>[] = [
     {
       key: "name",
@@ -312,11 +275,7 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
       // badge toggles it — `Badge`'s own "chip plus, optionally, the
       // control" shape (see its header comment, which names pause/resume
       // as the exact motivating case), not a separate status chip next
-      // to a separate button. Destroy is a second, `quiet`-variant badge
-      // next to it rather than a third toggle state: folding it into the
-      // same click target would make one wrong click irreversible, and
-      // `wanted === "destroyed"` already reads fine as this badge's own
-      // display value without a dedicated affordance to view it.
+      // to a separate button.
       sortBy: (a) => a.wanted ?? "",
       filterValue: (a) => a.wanted ?? "no declaration",
       render: (a) => {
@@ -326,42 +285,19 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
         const actionLabel = impliedCurrent === "up" ? "stop" : "start";
         const tone: BadgeTone = a.wanted === "up" ? "positive" : "neutral";
         const err = actionErrors.get(a.name);
-        // Already destroyed, or nothing to destroy against — same guard
-        // shape as the wanted toggle's own `!a.hive` check.
-        const destroyable = a.hive && a.wanted !== "destroyed";
-        const destroyed = a.wanted === "destroyed";
         return (
           <>
             <Badge
               tone={tone}
               value={pending ? "…" : (a.wanted ?? "no declaration")}
-              // `destroyed` blocks the click too, not just the label —
-              // argus caught this in review: without it, a click here
-              // still computed `target = "up"` and PUT a live
-              // declaration on a destroyed row, contradicting the
-              // destroy confirm's own "not reversible from here" copy.
-              onClick={
-                a.hive && !destroyed ? () => void toggleWanted(a) : undefined
-              }
-              disabled={pending || !a.hive || destroyed}
+              onClick={a.hive ? () => void toggleWanted(a) : undefined}
+              disabled={pending || !a.hive}
               title={
-                destroyed
-                  ? `${a.name} is destroyed — redeploy via "+ agent" to bring it back`
-                  : a.hive
-                    ? `click to ${actionLabel} ${a.name}`
-                    : "no hive on record for this agent — nothing to declare against"
+                a.hive
+                  ? `click to ${actionLabel} ${a.name}`
+                  : "no hive on record for this agent — nothing to declare against"
               }
             />
-            {destroyable ? (
-              <Badge
-                variant="quiet"
-                tone="negative"
-                value="destroy"
-                onClick={() => setDestroyTarget(a)}
-                disabled={pending}
-                title={`destroy ${a.name} — tears the container down, irreversible`}
-              />
-            ) : null}
             {err ? (
               <Badge
                 tone="negative"
@@ -437,37 +373,6 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
       >
         <CreateAgentForm />
       </Dialog>
-      <ConfirmDialog
-        open={stopTarget !== null}
-        label="stop agent"
-        onCancel={() => setStopTarget(null)}
-        onConfirm={() => stopTarget && void confirmStop(stopTarget)}
-        confirmLabel="stop"
-      >
-        {stopTarget ? (
-          <p>
-            Declare <strong>{stopTarget.name}</strong> offline? The hive brings
-            its container down on its next reconcile sweep.
-          </p>
-        ) : null}
-      </ConfirmDialog>
-      <ConfirmDialog
-        open={destroyTarget !== null}
-        label="destroy agent"
-        onCancel={() => setDestroyTarget(null)}
-        onConfirm={() => destroyTarget && void destroyAgent(destroyTarget)}
-        confirmLabel="destroy"
-      >
-        {destroyTarget ? (
-          <p>
-            Destroy <strong>{destroyTarget.name}</strong>? The hive tears its
-            container down on its next reconcile sweep. This is not reversible
-            from here — bringing it back means redeploying via "+ agent", which
-            reuses the agent's existing identity, config repo, and forge
-            collaborator access rather than starting over.
-          </p>
-        ) : null}
-      </ConfirmDialog>
     </Panel>
   );
 }
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/confirm-dialog/ConfirmDialog.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/confirm-dialog/ConfirmDialog.css
deleted file mode 100644
index bec51820..00000000
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/confirm-dialog/ConfirmDialog.css
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-/* <ConfirmDialog> — body + button-row layout only; `Dialog.css` owns the
-   surrounding modal chrome, `Button.css` owns the buttons themselves. */
-.confirm-dialog {
-  display: flex;
-  flex-direction: column;
-  gap: 1em;
-  max-width: 28em;
-}
-.confirm-dialog-actions {
-  display: flex;
-  justify-content: flex-end;
-  gap: 0.75em;
-}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/confirm-dialog/ConfirmDialog.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/confirm-dialog/ConfirmDialog.tsx
deleted file mode 100644
index b73badf7..00000000
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/confirm-dialog/ConfirmDialog.tsx
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-// <ConfirmDialog> — a `Dialog` pre-wired for the "message + cancel/confirm
-// button row" shape every confirm-before-acting flow needs. Extracted out
-// of AgentsPage's destroy confirmation on mara's review question ("why the
-// extra styling? shouldnt there be a component that does this already?")
-// — there wasn't one yet, so that page had grown its own
-// `.agents-destroy-confirm`/`-actions` layout CSS for what turns out to be
-// a generic shape. `Dialog` itself stays opinion-free about content (see
-// its own file-top comment); this is the one layer up that isn't, so a
-// future confirm flow gets the button row for free instead of another
-// page-scoped CSS file.
-//
-// The message itself stays caller-owned via `children` — only the dialog
-// wiring, spacing, and button row are shared.
-import type { ComponentChildren } from "preact";
-import { Button } from "../button/Button.js";
-import { Dialog } from "../dialog/Dialog.js";
-import "./ConfirmDialog.css";
-
-export function ConfirmDialog({
-  open,
-  label,
-  onCancel,
-  onConfirm,
-  confirmLabel = "confirm",
-  cancelLabel = "cancel",
-  confirmDisabled = false,
-  children,
-}: {
-  open: boolean;
-  label: string;
-  onCancel: () => void;
-  onConfirm: () => void;
-  confirmLabel?: string;
-  cancelLabel?: string;
-  confirmDisabled?: boolean;
-  children: ComponentChildren;
-}) {
-  return (
-    <Dialog open={open} onClose={onCancel} label={label}>
-      <div class="confirm-dialog">
-        <div class="confirm-dialog-body">{children}</div>
-        <div class="confirm-dialog-actions">
-          <Button onClick={onCancel}>{cancelLabel}</Button>
-          <Button
-            variant="primary"
-            onClick={onConfirm}
-            disabled={confirmDisabled}
-          >
-            {confirmLabel}
-          </Button>
-        </div>
-      </div>
-    </Dialog>
-  );
-}