diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx
index d46129dd..350876ed 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/AgentsPage.tsx
@@ -318,13 +318,11 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
       header: "hive",
       render: (a) => a.hive ?? "—",
       sortBy: (a) => a.hive ?? "",
-      // "—" (not "") so the missing-hive option in the filter list reads
-      // the same as the cell itself, rather than showing a blank choice.
-      // Multiselect, not single-value `"select"` — an operator narrowing
-      // to a handful of hives at once shouldn't need to filter one at a
-      // time.
-      filterValues: (a) => [a.hive ?? "—"],
-      filterMode: "multiselect",
+      // "—" (not "") so the missing-hive option in the filter dropdown
+      // reads the same as the cell itself, rather than showing a blank
+      // choice.
+      filterValue: (a) => a.hive ?? "—",
+      filterMode: "select",
     },
     {
       key: "status",
@@ -335,9 +333,8 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
       // label and blew the row out (mara: "looks messy"). That string
       // now lives in its own "message" column below.
       sortBy: (a) => FRESHNESS[a.freshness].label,
-      // Multiselect, same reasoning as the hive column above.
-      filterValues: (a) => [FRESHNESS[a.freshness].label],
-      filterMode: "multiselect",
+      filterValue: (a) => FRESHNESS[a.freshness].label,
+      filterMode: "select",
       render: (a) => {
         const { tone, label } = FRESHNESS[a.freshness];
         return (
@@ -382,9 +379,8 @@ export function AgentsPage() {
       // real per-badge logic lives there, this column just wires its
       // callbacks to the page's own state/handlers.
       sortBy: (a) => a.wanted ?? "",
-      // Multiselect, same reasoning as the hive column above.
-      filterValues: (a) => [a.wanted ?? "no declaration"],
-      filterMode: "multiselect",
+      filterValue: (a) => a.wanted ?? "no declaration",
+      filterMode: "select",
       render: (a) => {
         const err = actionErrors.get(a.name);
         return (
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/HivesPage.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/HivesPage.tsx
index 518aa0af..4d0deda4 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/HivesPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/HivesPage.tsx
@@ -91,11 +91,8 @@ const COLUMNS: TableColumn<HiveStatus>[] = [
       );
     },
     sortBy: (h) => FRESHNESS[h.freshness].label,
-    // Multiselect (not the single-value `"select"` mode) so the operator
-    // can filter for e.g. "stale or offline" in one pass rather than one
-    // freshness state at a time.
-    filterValues: (h) => [FRESHNESS[h.freshness].label],
-    filterMode: "multiselect",
+    filterValue: (h) => FRESHNESS[h.freshness].label,
+    filterMode: "select",
   },
 ];
 
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/IssueReportPage.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/IssueReportPage.tsx
index 95f84da9..1c95de8d 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/IssueReportPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/IssueReportPage.tsx
@@ -312,12 +312,14 @@ export function IssueReportPage() {
       ),
       ariaSort: ariaSortFor("assignees"),
       render: (r) => (r.assignees.length ? r.assignees.join(", ") : "—"),
-      // Multiselect, same machinery the "labels" column above already
-      // uses — `r.assignees` is already the per-row array this mode
-      // wants, so there's no reason to fall back to a joined-string
-      // substring search here.
-      filterValues: (r) => r.assignees,
-      filterMode: "multiselect",
+      // Text, not `"select"` — a row can carry more than one assignee,
+      // and `Table`'s select mode matches one whole string per row
+      // exactly, so a real per-assignee dropdown would need `Table`
+      // itself to grow multi-value filtering. Substring search over
+      // the joined string still finds "iris" inside "damocles, iris"
+      // correctly, which covers the actual gap (no way to filter by
+      // assignee at all today).
+      filterValue: (r) => r.assignees.join(", "),
     },
     {
       key: "blocked",
@@ -335,11 +337,11 @@ export function IssueReportPage() {
         r.blocked ? <Badge tone="warning" value="blocked" /> : "—",
       // A distinct gap from the existing "hide blocked" toggle above:
       // that one only *hides* blocked issues, there was no way to see
-      // *only* the blocked ones. Synthesized two-value set (not the raw
-      // boolean) — multiselect, same as every other enum-shaped column,
-      // rather than the single-value `"select"` mode.
-      filterValues: (r) => [r.blocked ? "blocked" : "not blocked"],
-      filterMode: "multiselect",
+      // *only* the blocked ones. Synthesized two-value string (not the
+      // raw boolean) — `Table`'s select mode needs a string to match,
+      // same as `AgentsPage`'s `wanted ?? "no declaration"` pattern.
+      filterValue: (r) => (r.blocked ? "blocked" : "not blocked"),
+      filterMode: "select",
     },
     {
       key: "depended_on_by_count",
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.css
index 6be32e7a..6a0a8d1b 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.css
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.css
@@ -129,7 +129,8 @@
   border-radius: 6px;
   box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25);
 }
-.ui-table-filter-input {
+.ui-table-filter-input,
+.ui-table-filter-select {
   width: 100%;
   box-sizing: border-box;
   background: var(--bg);
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.tsx
index 7683a05b..18e4bb0f 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/table/Table.tsx
@@ -77,24 +77,22 @@ export interface TableColumn<T> {
   /**
    * `"text"` (default): free substring, case-insensitive `<input>` —
    * today's only behavior, unaffected if you don't set this.
-   * `"multiselect"`: a checkbox list, populated from the *distinct*
-   * `filterValues` results across the currently-loaded rows (deduped,
-   * case-insensitive sort), matching on any overlap between the row's
-   * values and the operator's current selection. Pick this for a column
-   * whose value only ever comes from a small bounded/closed set (an enum
-   * label, a hive name) — typing an exact substring is friction a picker
-   * removes, and a substring query can accidentally straddle two
-   * distinct values. Works the same whether a row naturally carries a
-   * *set* of values (e.g. issue labels — pass the real array) or just
-   * one (wrap it in a 1-element array). Deriving options from live rows
-   * rather than a hardcoded enum means the list never offers a choice
-   * that would match zero rows. Ignored unless `filterValues` is set.
-   * There's deliberately no separate single-value `"select"` mode —
-   * multiselect subsumes it (mara: "why have a non multi select? the
-   * user can always just choose 1"), so a single-choice picker never
-   * needs distinct handling from an N-choice one.
+   * `"select"`: a `<select>` populated from the *distinct* `filterValue`
+   * results across the currently-loaded rows (deduped, case-insensitive
+   * sort) plus a leading "any" option, matched by exact equality. Pick
+   * this for a column whose value only ever comes from a small
+   * bounded/closed set (an enum label, a hive name) — typing an exact
+   * substring is friction a picker removes, and a substring query can
+   * accidentally straddle two distinct values. Deriving options from
+   * live rows rather than a hardcoded enum means the list never offers
+   * a choice that would match zero rows. Ignored unless `filterValue`
+   * is also set.
+   * `"multiselect"`: a checkbox list, same live-rows-derived option
+   * source as `"select"` but over `filterValues` and matching on any
+   * overlap rather than one exact value — for a column whose row value
+   * is itself a set (e.g. labels). Ignored unless `filterValues` is set.
    */
-  filterMode?: "text" | "multiselect";
+  filterMode?: "text" | "select" | "multiselect";
 }
 
 // One filter's full state: `value` for `"text"`/`"select"`, `values` for
@@ -292,6 +290,9 @@ export function Table<T>({
           if (col?.filterMode === "multiselect") {
             const rowValues = col.filterValues?.(row) ?? [];
             matches = f.values.some((v) => rowValues.includes(v));
+          } else if (col?.filterMode === "select") {
+            const value = col.filterValue?.(row) ?? "";
+            matches = value === f.value;
           } else {
             const value = col?.filterValue?.(row) ?? "";
             matches = value.toLowerCase().includes(f.value.toLowerCase());
@@ -333,13 +334,22 @@ export function Table<T>({
     return sort.dir === "asc" ? "ascending" : "descending";
   }
 
-  // Distinct values currently present for a `"multiselect"`-mode column,
-  // so the checkbox list never offers an option that would match zero
-  // rows. Computed off `rows` (pre-filter) — every column's own option
-  // list stays stable while a sibling column's filter narrows
-  // `visibleRows`, matching how a spreadsheet's column filters don't
-  // hide each other's choices. A row contributes every one of its own
-  // values, not just one.
+  // Distinct values currently present for a `"select"`-mode column, so
+  // the dropdown never offers an option that would match zero rows.
+  // Computed off `rows` (pre-filter) — every column's own option list
+  // stays stable while a sibling column's filter narrows `visibleRows`,
+  // matching how a spreadsheet's column filters don't hide each other's
+  // choices.
+  function selectOptionsFor(c: TableColumn<T>): string[] {
+    if (!c.filterValue) return [];
+    const values = new Set(rows.map(c.filterValue));
+    return Array.from(values).sort((a, b) =>
+      a.localeCompare(b, undefined, { sensitivity: "base", numeric: true }),
+    );
+  }
+
+  // Same reasoning as `selectOptionsFor` above, over `filterValues`
+  // (a row contributes every one of its own values, not just one).
   function multiselectOptionsFor(c: TableColumn<T>): string[] {
     if (!c.filterValues) return [];
     const values = new Set<string>();
@@ -352,10 +362,17 @@ export function Table<T>({
   // Only one popover is ever open at a time, so one ref (rather than a
   // per-column ref map) is enough to focus whichever control just
   // mounted — typing immediately after the click that opened it,
-  // without a separate click into the field first. (The multiselect
-  // checkbox list below doesn't use this — there's no single "the"
-  // control to focus in a list of several.)
-  const popoverControlRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement | null>(null);
+  // without a separate click into the field first. A callback ref
+  // (not `useRef`'s object form attached directly to the element)
+  // because the element is one of two different concrete types
+  // depending on `filterMode` — `RefObject<HTMLInputElement |
+  // HTMLSelectElement>` doesn't structurally satisfy either element's
+  // own narrower `ref` prop type, but a plain callback taking the
+  // union does.
+  const popoverControlRef = useRef<HTMLElement | null>(null);
+  function setPopoverControlRef(el: HTMLElement | null) {
+    popoverControlRef.current = el;
+  }
   useEffect(() => {
     if (openFilterKey !== null) popoverControlRef.current?.focus();
   }, [openFilterKey]);
@@ -406,10 +423,34 @@ export function Table<T>({
         </>
       );
     }
+    if (c.filterMode === "select") {
+      return (
+        <>
+          <select
+            ref={setPopoverControlRef}
+            class="ui-table-filter-select"
+            aria-label={filterLabel(c)}
+            value={getFilter(c.key).value}
+            onChange={(e) => {
+              const v = (e.target as HTMLSelectElement).value;
+              updateFilter(c.key, { value: v });
+            }}
+          >
+            <option value="">any</option>
+            {selectOptionsFor(c).map((v) => (
+              <option key={v} value={v}>
+                {v}
+              </option>
+            ))}
+          </select>
+          {renderNegateToggle(c)}
+        </>
+      );
+    }
     return (
       <>
         <input
-          ref={popoverControlRef}
+          ref={setPopoverControlRef}
           type="text"
           class="ui-table-filter-input"
           placeholder="filter…"