diff --git a/desktop/announcementDemoAgentPlugin.ts b/desktop/announcementDemoAgentPlugin.ts
index c4b97b96aa..14af71ffa3 100644
--- a/desktop/announcementDemoAgentPlugin.ts
+++ b/desktop/announcementDemoAgentPlugin.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ type ProviderErrorBody = {
   message?: string;
 };
 
+type OpenAiReasoningEffort = "low" | "minimal" | "none";
+
 type AgentEnvironment = Record<string, string | undefined>;
 
 function nonEmptyString(value: unknown) {
@@ -198,6 +200,22 @@ function extractOpenAiText(body: unknown) {
   return text || null;
 }
 
+export function announcementDemoOpenAiReasoningEffort(
+  model: string,
+): OpenAiReasoningEffort | null {
+  const normalizedModel = model.trim().toLowerCase();
+  if (/^gpt-5\.(?:4|5|6)(?:[.-]|$)/.test(normalizedModel)) {
+    return "none";
+  }
+  if (/^gpt-5(?:[.-]|$)/.test(normalizedModel)) {
+    return "minimal";
+  }
+  if (/^o[1-9](?:[.-]|$)/.test(normalizedModel)) {
+    return "low";
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
 function extractAnthropicText(body: unknown) {
   if (typeof body !== "object" || body === null) {
     return null;
@@ -215,6 +233,7 @@ function extractAnthropicText(body: unknown) {
 }
 
 async function requestOpenAiResponse(input: AnnouncementDemoAgentRequest) {
+  const reasoningEffort = announcementDemoOpenAiReasoningEffort(input.model);
   const response = await fetch("https://api.openai.com/v1/responses", {
     method: "POST",
     headers: {
@@ -225,7 +244,8 @@ async function requestOpenAiResponse(input: AnnouncementDemoAgentRequest) {
       model: input.model,
       instructions: input.systemPrompt,
       input: input.messages,
-      max_output_tokens: 350,
+      max_output_tokens: 2_000,
+      ...(reasoningEffort ? { reasoning: { effort: reasoningEffort } } : {}),
       store: false,
     }),
     signal: AbortSignal.timeout(REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS),
@@ -239,6 +259,18 @@ async function requestOpenAiResponse(input: AnnouncementDemoAgentRequest) {
 
   const text = extractOpenAiText(body);
   if (!text) {
+    const responseDetails = body as {
+      status?: unknown;
+      incomplete_details?: { reason?: unknown };
+    };
+    if (
+      responseDetails.status === "incomplete" &&
+      responseDetails.incomplete_details?.reason === "max_output_tokens"
+    ) {
+      throw new Error(
+        "OpenAI ran out of output tokens before producing visible text.",
+      );
+    }
     throw new Error("OpenAI returned a response without any text.");
   }
   return text;
diff --git a/desktop/src/main.tsx b/desktop/src/main.tsx
index aac8950b6c..35df3daa3f 100644
--- a/desktop/src/main.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/main.tsx
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ import { CommunityOnboardingProvider } from "@/features/onboarding/communityOnbo
 import {
   ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS,
   ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_COMMUNITY_NAME,
+  ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_INITIAL_READ_CHANNEL_IDS,
   ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_PEOPLE,
   ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_SECTION_STORE,
 } from "@/testing/announcementDemoFixtures";
+import { localReadStateKey } from "@/features/channels/readState/readStateFormat";
 import { ThemeProvider } from "@/shared/theme/ThemeProvider";
 import { EmojiBurstProvider } from "@/shared/ui/EmojiBurstProvider";
 import { PoofBurstProvider } from "@/shared/ui/PoofBurstProvider";
@@ -66,6 +68,8 @@ function configureMockBridgeFromUrl() {
     return;
   }
 
+  // The native recording build intentionally reuses the browser mock bridge;
+  // only live model calls leave the webview through the local provider proxy.
   const e2eWindow = window as E2eWindow;
   if (isAnnouncementDemo) {
     e2eWindow.__BUZZ_E2E__ = {
@@ -104,10 +108,22 @@ function configureMockBridgeFromUrl() {
 
   if (isAnnouncementDemo) {
     const relayStorageScope = encodeURIComponent(mockRelayWsUrl);
+    const initialReadAt = new Date().toISOString();
     window.localStorage.setItem(
       `${CHANNEL_SECTIONS_STORAGE_KEY_PREFIX}:${E2E_DEFAULT_PUBKEY}:${relayStorageScope}`,
       JSON.stringify(ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_SECTION_STORE),
     );
+    window.localStorage.setItem(
+      localReadStateKey(E2E_DEFAULT_PUBKEY),
+      JSON.stringify(
+        Object.fromEntries(
+          ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_INITIAL_READ_CHANNEL_IDS.map((channelId) => [
+            channelId,
+            initialReadAt,
+          ]),
+        ),
+      ),
+    );
     window.localStorage.setItem(
       `${SELF_PROFILE_STORAGE_KEY_PREFIX}:${mockRelayWsUrl}:${E2E_DEFAULT_PUBKEY}`,
       JSON.stringify({
diff --git a/desktop/src/testing/announcementDemoAgentPlugin.test.mjs b/desktop/src/testing/announcementDemoAgentPlugin.test.mjs
index 73603dd6e3..7eb53f6b4d 100644
--- a/desktop/src/testing/announcementDemoAgentPlugin.test.mjs
+++ b/desktop/src/testing/announcementDemoAgentPlugin.test.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import test from "node:test";
 
-import { resolveAnnouncementDemoAgentRequest } from "../../announcementDemoAgentPlugin.ts";
+import {
+  announcementDemoOpenAiReasoningEffort,
+  resolveAnnouncementDemoAgentRequest,
+} from "../../announcementDemoAgentPlugin.ts";
 
 const baseRequest = {
   provider: null,
@@ -53,3 +56,10 @@ test("prefers credentials entered in the app over environment fallbacks", () =>
   assert.equal(request.apiKey, "in-app-key");
   assert.equal(request.model, "in-app-model");
 });
+
+test("uses the smallest supported reasoning effort for short demo replies", () => {
+  assert.equal(announcementDemoOpenAiReasoningEffort("gpt-5.4-mini"), "none");
+  assert.equal(announcementDemoOpenAiReasoningEffort("gpt-5"), "minimal");
+  assert.equal(announcementDemoOpenAiReasoningEffort("o3-mini"), "low");
+  assert.equal(announcementDemoOpenAiReasoningEffort("gpt-4.1-mini"), null);
+});
diff --git a/desktop/src/testing/announcementDemoFixtures.ts b/desktop/src/testing/announcementDemoFixtures.ts
index 714ebb9452..3ba6b552f9 100644
--- a/desktop/src/testing/announcementDemoFixtures.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/testing/announcementDemoFixtures.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,13 @@ export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS = [
     avatarUrl: "/demo/agents/fizz.png",
     systemPrompt:
       "You are Fizz, an energetic maker who turns ideas into action. Be upbeat, practical, and decisive. Help users plan, create, solve problems, and finish work. Add occasional bee wordplay or 🐝✨—keep it charming, never distracting.",
-    channelNames: ["flight-path", "design", "marketing", "queen-bee-launch"],
+    channelNames: [
+      "flight-path",
+      "engineering",
+      "design",
+      "marketing",
+      "queen-bee-launch",
+    ],
   },
   {
     pubkey: "71".repeat(32),
@@ -33,7 +39,13 @@ export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS = [
     avatarUrl: "/demo/agents/honey.png",
     systemPrompt:
       "You are Honey, a warm and thoughtful communicator. Help users write clearly, organize ideas, brainstorm, summarize, and prepare for conversations. Be kind, creative, and concise. Add occasional bee wordplay or 🍯🐝—keep it sweet, never excessive.",
-    channelNames: ["flight-path", "design", "marketing", "queen-bee-launch"],
+    channelNames: [
+      "flight-path",
+      "engineering",
+      "design",
+      "marketing",
+      "queen-bee-launch",
+    ],
   },
   {
     pubkey: "72".repeat(32),
@@ -41,47 +53,104 @@ export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS = [
     avatarUrl: "/demo/agents/bumble.png",
     systemPrompt:
       "You are Bumble, a curious and adventurous researcher. Explore questions, compare options, check assumptions, and explain what you find clearly. Be candid when uncertain and favor useful evidence. Add occasional bee wordplay or 🐝🔎—keep it playful, never chaotic.",
-    channelNames: ["flight-path", "design", "marketing", "queen-bee-launch"],
+    channelNames: [
+      "flight-path",
+      "engineering",
+      "design",
+      "marketing",
+      "queen-bee-launch",
+    ],
   },
 ] as const;
 
 export type AnnouncementDemoAgentName =
   (typeof ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS)[number]["name"];
 
-export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_LIVE_CONVERSATION = {
-  channelName: "flight-path",
-  steps: [
-    {
-      delayMs: 1_800,
+export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_LIVE_CONVERSATIONS = [
+  {
+    channelName: "flight-path",
+    agentOrder: ["Fizz", "Honey", "Bumble"],
+    humanClose: {
+      delayMs: 1_000,
+      author: "producer",
+      content: "That’s the version. I can cut to that — nice swarm work 🐝",
+    },
+    steps: [
+      {
+        delayMs: 2_400,
+        author: "engineer",
+        content:
+          "Small thing: the desktop-to-mobile handoff still feels a little fast.",
+        agentMentions: [],
+        startsAgentChain: false,
+      },
+      {
+        delayMs: 2_800,
+        author: "designer",
+        content: "Yeah — I want one extra beat on the sent message.",
+        agentMentions: [],
+        startsAgentChain: false,
+      },
+      {
+        delayMs: 2_600,
+        author: "producer",
+        content: "That would give the camera somewhere to land too.",
+        agentMentions: [],
+        startsAgentChain: false,
+      },
+      {
+        delayMs: 2_800,
+        author: "engineer",
+        content:
+          "@Fizz can you turn that into a clean three-beat capture plan?",
+        agentMentions: ["Fizz"],
+        startsAgentChain: true,
+      },
+    ],
+  },
+  {
+    channelName: "engineering",
+    agentOrder: ["Bumble", "Fizz", "Honey"],
+    humanClose: {
+      delayMs: 1_100,
       author: "engineer",
       content:
-        "Small thing: the desktop-to-mobile handoff still feels a little fast.",
-      agentMentions: [],
-      startsAgentChain: false,
+        "Perfect. That gives me the patch and the verification path — I’m on it.",
     },
-    {
-      delayMs: 2_200,
-      author: "designer",
-      content: "Yeah — I want one extra beat on the sent message.",
-      agentMentions: [],
-      startsAgentChain: false,
-    },
-    {
-      delayMs: 2_000,
-      author: "producer",
-      content: "That would give the camera somewhere to land too.",
-      agentMentions: [],
-      startsAgentChain: false,
-    },
-    {
-      delayMs: 2_200,
-      author: "engineer",
-      content: "@Fizz can you turn that into a clean three-beat capture plan?",
-      agentMentions: ["Fizz"],
-      startsAgentChain: true,
-    },
-  ],
-} as const;
+    steps: [
+      {
+        delayMs: 2_600,
+        author: "qa",
+        content:
+          "I can still reproduce one duplicate message after waking the laptop.",
+        agentMentions: [],
+        startsAgentChain: false,
+      },
+      {
+        delayMs: 3_000,
+        author: "engineer",
+        content: "Only on the first reconnect?",
+        agentMentions: [],
+        startsAgentChain: false,
+      },
+      {
+        delayMs: 2_800,
+        author: "qa",
+        content: "Yep. One duplicate, then the subscription settles.",
+        agentMentions: [],
+        startsAgentChain: false,
+      },
+      {
+        delayMs: 3_000,
+        author: "engineer",
+        content:
+          "@Bumble can you trace the likely path and pull Fizz and Honey into a fix plan?",
+        agentMentions: ["Bumble"],
+        startsAgentChain: true,
+      },
+    ],
+  },
+] as const;
 
 export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_PEOPLE = {
   viewer: {
@@ -220,6 +289,25 @@ export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_CHANNELS = [
       ["producer", "member"],
     ],
   },
+  {
+    id: "4e91b4d2-8207-4d63-9b1a-3c72a8f01142",
+    name: "engineering",
+    channelType: "stream",
+    visibility: "open",
+    description: "Desktop, relay, and infrastructure engineering",
+    topic: "Reconnect reliability and the next release candidate",
+    purpose: "Debug together, review changes, and keep the build healthy.",
+    createdBy: "engineer",
+    lastMessageMinutesAgo: 5,
+    memberRoles: [
+      ["engineer", "owner"],
+      ["viewer", "admin"],
+      ["qa", "member"],
+      ["data", "member"],
+      ["support", "member"],
+      ["designer", "member"],
+    ],
+  },
   {
     id: "b5e2f8a1-3c44-5912-9e67-4a8d1f2b3c4e",
     name: "design",
@@ -357,6 +445,18 @@ export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_DMS = [
   },
 ] as const;
 
+// Start the recording workspace with a believable mix of read and unread
+// conversations. Channels omitted from this list retain their unread state.
+export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_INITIAL_READ_CHANNEL_IDS = [
+  "9dae0116-799b-5071-a0a8-fdd30a91a35d", // general
+  "1c7e1c02-87bb-5e88-b2da-5a7a9432d0c9", // flight-path
+  "94a444a4-c0a3-5966-ab05-530c6ddc2301", // mobile
+  "a27e1ee9-76a6-5bdf-a5d5-1d85610dad11", // product-ideas
+  "1be1dcdb-4c31-5a8c-81de-ac102552ca10", // launch-notes
+  "7eb9f239-9393-50b0-bd76-d85eef0511c7", // Jordan Brooks DM
+  "d1ec7000-d000-4000-8000-000000000001", // Priya Shah DM
+] as const;
+
 export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_SECTION_STORE = {
   version: 1,
   sections: [
@@ -373,6 +473,7 @@ export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_SECTION_STORE = {
     "9a1657ac-f7aa-5db0-b632-d8bbeb6dfb50": "the-hive",
     "9dae0116-799b-5071-a0a8-fdd30a91a35d": "the-hive",
     "1c7e1c02-87bb-5e88-b2da-5a7a9432d0c9": "product-garden",
+    "4e91b4d2-8207-4d63-9b1a-3c72a8f01142": "product-garden",
     "b5e2f8a1-3c44-5912-9e67-4a8d1f2b3c4e": "product-garden",
     "94a444a4-c0a3-5966-ab05-530c6ddc2301": "product-garden",
     "a27e1ee9-76a6-5bdf-a5d5-1d85610dad11": "product-garden",
@@ -798,6 +899,142 @@ export const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_MESSAGES: Record<
       reactions: [{ emoji: "🎬", authors: ["producer", "marketing"] }],
     },
   ],
+  "4e91b4d2-8207-4d63-9b1a-3c72a8f01142": [
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-1",
+      author: "engineer",
+      minutesAgo: 6_240,
+      content:
+        "I moved reconnect ownership into the subscription manager. Less state crossing the bridge now.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-2",
+      author: "qa",
+      minutesAgo: 6_231,
+      content: "Nice. I’ll run the sleep / wake matrix against it.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-3",
+      author: "qa",
+      minutesAgo: 6_198,
+      content: "First ten loops are clean.",
+      reactions: [{ emoji: "✅", authors: ["engineer", "viewer"] }],
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-4",
+      author: "engineer",
+      minutesAgo: 6_194,
+      content: "love to hear it",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-5",
+      author: "data",
+      minutesAgo: 4_330,
+      content: "Reconnect p95 dropped from 2.8s to 1.1s on the canary cohort.",
+      reactions: [{ emoji: "⚡", authors: ["engineer", "qa"] }],
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-6",
+      author: "engineer",
+      minutesAgo: 4_318,
+      content: "That lines up with removing the second backoff window.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-7",
+      author: "support",
+      minutesAgo: 2_915,
+      content: "Two preview teams reported a duplicated message after sleep.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-8",
+      author: "engineer",
+      minutesAgo: 2_910,
+      content: "Same OS version?",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-9",
+      author: "support",
+      minutesAgo: 2_904,
+      content: "Both on macOS 15. One Intel, one Apple silicon.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-10",
+      author: "engineer",
+      minutesAgo: 1_860,
+      content:
+        "Reproduced. The old generation can deliver once after the new one starts.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-pr",
+      author: "engineer",
+      minutesAgo: 1_842,
+      content:
+        "Guard is up for review: https://github.com/block/buzz/pull/2037",
+      reactions: [{ emoji: "👀", authors: ["qa", "viewer"] }],
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-11",
+      author: "qa",
+      minutesAgo: 1_831,
+      content: "Pulling it now.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-old-12",
+      author: "qa",
+      minutesAgo: 1_804,
+      content: "Twenty reconnects, no duplicates.",
+      reactions: [{ emoji: "🙌", authors: ["engineer", "support"] }],
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-1",
+      author: "engineer",
+      minutesAgo: 94,
+      content: "Tightened the generation guard this morning.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-2",
+      author: "engineer",
+      minutesAgo: 92,
+      content: "```ts\nif (generation !== activeGeneration) return;\n```",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-3",
+      author: "qa",
+      minutesAgo: 76,
+      content: "Manual reconnect and offline recovery both look good.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-4",
+      author: "data",
+      minutesAgo: 61,
+      content:
+        "Telemetry is clean too — no doubled fan-out in the latest sample.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-linear",
+      author: "engineer",
+      minutesAgo: 43,
+      content:
+        "I put the remaining soak checklist in [BUZ-519 · Reconnect reliability](https://linear.app/honeycomb/issue/BUZ-519/reconnect-reliability).",
+      reactions: [{ emoji: "✅", authors: ["qa"] }],
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-5",
+      author: "support",
+      minutesAgo: 22,
+      content: "Customer replay passed on both affected machines.",
+    },
+    {
+      id: "announcement-demo-engineering-6",
+      author: "engineer",
+      minutesAgo: 5,
+      content: "Release build is green. I’m doing one last sleep / wake pass.",
+      reactions: [
+        { emoji: "🚀", authors: ["qa", "viewer"] },
+        { emoji: "🙏", authors: ["support"] },
+      ],
+    },
+  ],
   "b5e2f8a1-3c44-5912-9e67-4a8d1f2b3c4e": [
     {
       id: "announcement-demo-design-old-1",
diff --git a/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts b/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts
index 38232fef9b..60a197274f 100644
--- a/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ import {
   ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS,
   ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_CHANNELS,
   ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_DMS,
-  ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_LIVE_CONVERSATION,
+  ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_LIVE_CONVERSATIONS,
   ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_MESSAGES,
   ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_PEOPLE,
   ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_PROJECT_SUBJECTS,
@@ -2460,6 +2460,32 @@ const mockChannels: MockChannel[] = [
       createMockMember(BOB_PUBKEY, "member", 900),
     ],
   }),
+  createMockChannel({
+    id: "4e91b4d2-8207-4d63-9b1a-3c72a8f01142",
+    name: "engineering-demo",
+    channel_type: "stream",
+    visibility: "open",
+    description: "Desktop, relay, and infrastructure engineering",
+    topic: "Reconnect reliability and the next release candidate",
+    purpose: "Debug together, review changes, and keep the build healthy.",
+    last_message_at: isoMinutesAgo(5),
+    archived_at: null,
+    created_by: ALICE_PUBKEY,
+    topic_set_by: ALICE_PUBKEY,
+    topic_set_at: isoMinutesAgo(100),
+    purpose_set_by: ALICE_PUBKEY,
+    purpose_set_at: isoMinutesAgo(110),
+    topic_required: false,
+    max_members: null,
+    nip29_group_id: null,
+    created_minutes_ago: 1310,
+    updated_minutes_ago: 5,
+    members: [
+      createMockMember(ALICE_PUBKEY, "owner", 1310),
+      createMockMember(MOCK_IDENTITY_PUBKEY, "member", 1170),
+      createMockMember(BOB_PUBKEY, "member", 890),
+    ],
+  }),
   createMockChannel({
     id: "94a444a4-c0a3-5966-ab05-530c6ddc2301",
     name: "agents",
@@ -2721,7 +2747,7 @@ let mockWebsocketSendMutexWedged = false;
 const realSockets = new Map<number, WebSocket>();
 let mockManagedAgents: MockManagedAgent[] = [];
 const pendingAnnouncementDemoAgentResponses = new Set<string>();
-let announcementDemoLiveConversationStarted = false;
+const startedAnnouncementDemoLiveConversations = new Set<string>();
 let mockGlobalAgentConfig: MockGlobalAgentConfig = {
   env_vars: {},
   provider: null,
@@ -4216,6 +4242,32 @@ type AnnouncementDemoAgentReply = {
   error?: string;
 };
 
+function getAnnouncementDemoLiveConversation(channelId: string) {
+  const channel = mockChannels.find((candidate) => candidate.id === channelId);
+  return ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_LIVE_CONVERSATIONS.find(
+    (conversation) => conversation.channelName === channel?.name,
+  );
+}
+
+function getAnnouncementDemoNextAgentName(
+  channelId: string,
+  currentAgentPubkey: string,
+): AnnouncementDemoAgentName | null {
+  const currentAgent = ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS.find(
+    (candidate) =>
+      normalizePubkey(candidate.pubkey) === normalizePubkey(currentAgentPubkey),
+  );
+  if (!currentAgent) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const agentOrder =
+    getAnnouncementDemoLiveConversation(channelId)?.agentOrder ??
+    ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS.map((agent) => agent.name);
+  const currentIndex = agentOrder.indexOf(currentAgent.name);
+  return agentOrder[currentIndex + 1] ?? null;
+}
+
 function getAnnouncementDemoProviderConfig(
   agent: MockManagedAgent,
 ): AnnouncementDemoProviderConfig {
@@ -4285,21 +4337,18 @@ function getAnnouncementDemoAgentTargets(channelId: string, event: RelayEvent) {
     channel.channel_type === "dm"
       ? new Set(channel.members.map((member) => normalizePubkey(member.pubkey)))
       : new Set<string>();
-  const sourceAgentIndex = isAgentAuthored
-    ? ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS.findIndex(
-        (candidate) =>
-          normalizePubkey(candidate.pubkey) === normalizePubkey(event.pubkey),
-      )
-    : -1;
+  const nextAgentName = isAgentAuthored
+    ? getAnnouncementDemoNextAgentName(channelId, event.pubkey)
+    : null;
 
   return mockManagedAgents.filter((agent) => {
     const pubkey = normalizePubkey(agent.pubkey);
     const isActive = agent.status === "running" || agent.status === "deployed";
     if (isAgentAuthored) {
-      const targetAgentIndex = ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS.findIndex(
+      const targetDefinition = ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS.find(
         (candidate) => normalizePubkey(candidate.pubkey) === pubkey,
       );
-      if (targetAgentIndex !== sourceAgentIndex + 1) {
+      if (targetDefinition?.name !== nextAgentName) {
         return false;
       }
     }
@@ -4310,6 +4359,7 @@ function getAnnouncementDemoAgentTargets(channelId: string, event: RelayEvent) {
 }
 
 function getAnnouncementDemoNextAgent(
+  channelId: string,
   sourceEvent: RelayEvent,
   agent: MockManagedAgent,
 ) {
@@ -4320,11 +4370,13 @@ function getAnnouncementDemoNextAgent(
     return null;
   }
 
-  const currentIndex = ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS.findIndex(
-    (candidate) =>
-      normalizePubkey(candidate.pubkey) === normalizePubkey(agent.pubkey),
+  const nextAgentName = getAnnouncementDemoNextAgentName(
+    channelId,
+    agent.pubkey,
+  );
+  const nextDefinition = ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS.find(
+    (candidate) => candidate.name === nextAgentName,
   );
-  const nextDefinition = ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENTS[currentIndex + 1];
   if (!nextDefinition) {
     return null;
   }
@@ -4374,7 +4426,7 @@ function getAnnouncementDemoSystemPrompt(
     channel?.channel_type === "dm"
       ? "a direct message"
       : `#${channel?.name ?? "a team channel"}`;
-  const nextAgent = getAnnouncementDemoNextAgent(sourceEvent, agent);
+  const nextAgent = getAnnouncementDemoNextAgent(channelId, sourceEvent, agent);
   const isAgentChainEvent = sourceEvent.tags.some(
     (tag) => tag[0] === ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENT_CHAIN_TAG,
   );
@@ -4383,7 +4435,7 @@ function getAnnouncementDemoSystemPrompt(
     : isAgentChainEvent
       ? " This is the final turn in a short agent collaboration: respond directly to the previous agent, share one useful check or refinement, and close the loop without handing off again."
       : "";
-  return `${basePrompt}\n\nYou are replying in ${location}. Use the conversation context, sound like a real colleague, and do not prefix the reply with your name.${collaborationInstruction}`;
+  return `${basePrompt}\n\nYou are replying in ${location}. Use the conversation context, sound like a real colleague, and do not prefix the reply with your name. Keep the reply to one to three short sentences with no lists or code blocks.${collaborationInstruction}`;
 }
 
 async function requestAnnouncementDemoAgentReply(
@@ -4392,6 +4444,8 @@ async function requestAnnouncementDemoAgentReply(
   sourceEvent: RelayEvent,
 ) {
   const provider = getAnnouncementDemoProviderConfig(agent);
+  // The local Vite proxy keeps provider credentials out of the webview while
+  // still allowing the native demo to use the settings entered in the app.
   const response = await fetch("/__announcement-demo/agent-response", {
     method: "POST",
     headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
@@ -4437,7 +4491,7 @@ function publishAnnouncementDemoAgentReply(
     (tag) => tag[0] === ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENT_CHAIN_TAG,
   );
   const nextAgent = continueAgentChain
-    ? getAnnouncementDemoNextAgent(sourceEvent, agent)
+    ? getAnnouncementDemoNextAgent(channelId, sourceEvent, agent)
     : null;
   const mentionPubkeys = [
     sourceEvent.pubkey,
@@ -4472,16 +4526,24 @@ function publishAnnouncementDemoAgentReply(
       ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENT_HANDOFF_DELAY_MS,
     );
   } else if (isAgentChainEvent && continueAgentChain) {
-    const producerPubkey = getAnnouncementDemoPersonPubkey("producer");
+    const humanClose = getAnnouncementDemoLiveConversation(channelId)
+      ?.humanClose ?? {
+      delayMs: 1_000,
+      author: "producer" as const,
+      content: "That’s the version. I can cut to that — nice swarm work 🐝",
+    };
+    const closingAuthorPubkey = getAnnouncementDemoPersonPubkey(
+      humanClose.author,
+    );
     window.setTimeout(() => {
-      emitMockTypingIndicator(channelId, producerPubkey);
+      emitMockTypingIndicator(channelId, closingAuthorPubkey);
       window.setTimeout(
         () =>
           emitMockChannelMessage(
             channelId,
-            "That’s the version. I can cut to that — nice swarm work 🐝",
+            humanClose.content,
             null,
-            producerPubkey,
+            closingAuthorPubkey,
             9,
             undefined,
             [["announcement-demo-live", "1"]],
@@ -4490,7 +4552,7 @@ function publishAnnouncementDemoAgentReply(
           ),
         650,
       );
-    }, ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_HUMAN_CLOSE_DELAY_MS);
+    }, humanClose.delayMs);
   }
 }
 
@@ -4501,7 +4563,6 @@ const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENT_WORKING_DELAY_MS = 350;
 const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENT_MIN_TURN_MS = 1_800;
 const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENT_REACTION_CLEANUP_DELAY_MS = 2_500;
 const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_AGENT_HANDOFF_DELAY_MS = 700;
-const ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_HUMAN_CLOSE_DELAY_MS = 700;
 
 function publishAnnouncementDemoAgentReaction(
   channelId: string,
@@ -4635,25 +4696,25 @@ function queueAnnouncementDemoAgentResponses(
 
 function maybeStartAnnouncementDemoLiveConversation(channelId: string) {
   if (
-    announcementDemoLiveConversationStarted ||
+    startedAnnouncementDemoLiveConversations.has(channelId) ||
     !getConfig()?.mock?.announcementDemo
   ) {
     return;
   }
 
-  const channel = mockChannels.find((candidate) => candidate.id === channelId);
-  if (channel?.name !== ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_LIVE_CONVERSATION.channelName) {
+  const conversation = getAnnouncementDemoLiveConversation(channelId);
+  if (!conversation) {
     return;
   }
 
-  announcementDemoLiveConversationStarted = true;
+  startedAnnouncementDemoLiveConversations.add(channelId);
   let elapsedMs = 0;
-  for (const step of ANNOUNCEMENT_DEMO_LIVE_CONVERSATION.steps) {
+  for (const step of conversation.steps) {
     elapsedMs += step.delayMs;
     const authorPubkey = getAnnouncementDemoPersonPubkey(step.author);
     window.setTimeout(
       () => emitMockTypingIndicator(channelId, authorPubkey),
-      Math.max(0, elapsedMs - 850),
+      Math.max(0, elapsedMs - 1_000),
     );
     window.setTimeout(() => {
       const agentMentionPubkeys = (
diff --git a/desktop/tests/e2e/announcement-demo.spec.ts b/desktop/tests/e2e/announcement-demo.spec.ts
index 8f2058c56a..55b9f1372d 100644
--- a/desktop/tests/e2e/announcement-demo.spec.ts
+++ b/desktop/tests/e2e/announcement-demo.spec.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { expect, test } from "@playwright/test";
 test("announcement demo loads its workspace, people, and projects", async ({
   page,
 }) => {
-  test.setTimeout(60_000);
+  test.setTimeout(75_000);
   const agentReply =
     "I’d lead with the handoff moment, then land on the shared launch room. That gives the story a clear before-and-after.";
   const fizzReply =
@@ -12,6 +12,14 @@ test("announcement demo loads its workspace, people, and projects", async ({
     "Frame it as one thought moving with you: send, surface, arrive together. @Bumble, can you sanity-check the sequence? 🍯";
   const bumbleReply =
     "The sequence tracks. Keep the notification visible for a full beat before the cut, and the handoff will read without narration. 🐝🔎";
+  const engineeringBumbleReply =
+    "The duplicate points to the previous subscription generation delivering once after reconnect. @Fizz, can you turn that into the smallest safe guard?";
+  const engineeringFizzReply =
+    "I’d reject callbacks whose generation no longer matches the active subscription, then add a sleep-wake regression case. @Honey, can you package the rollout check?";
+  const engineeringHoneyReply =
+    "Ship the guard behind the existing reconnect path, run the twenty-cycle soak, and call out duplicate delivery in the release checklist. That closes the loop cleanly.";
+  const engineeringHumanClose =
+    "Perfect. That gives me the patch and the verification path — I’m on it.";
   const humanClose =
     "That’s the version. I can cut to that — nice swarm work 🐝";
   const fizzReplyVisible = fizzReply.replace("@Honey", "Honey");
@@ -34,8 +42,14 @@ test("announcement demo loads its workspace, people, and projects", async ({
     const isFinalTurn = body.systemPrompt?.includes(
       "final turn in a short agent collaboration",
     );
-    const text =
-      body.systemPrompt?.includes("You are Fizz") && isCollaborativeTurn
+    const isEngineering = body.systemPrompt?.includes("in #engineering");
+    const text = isEngineering
+      ? body.systemPrompt?.includes("You are Bumble") && isCollaborativeTurn
+        ? engineeringBumbleReply
+        : body.systemPrompt?.includes("You are Fizz") && isCollaborativeTurn
+          ? engineeringFizzReply
+          : engineeringHoneyReply
+      : body.systemPrompt?.includes("You are Fizz") && isCollaborativeTurn
         ? fizzReply
         : body.systemPrompt?.includes("You are Honey") && isCollaborativeTurn
           ? honeyReply
@@ -99,6 +113,54 @@ test("announcement demo loads its workspace, people, and projects", async ({
   ).toBeVisible();
   await expect(page.getByTestId("channel-DM")).toHaveCount(3);
 
+  const unreadChannels = [
+    "announcements",
+    "engineering",
+    "design",
+    "marketing",
+    "queen-bee-launch",
+  ] as const;
+  const readChannels = [
+    "general",
+    "flight-path",
+    "mobile",
+    "product-ideas",
+    "launch-notes",
+  ] as const;
+  for (const channel of unreadChannels) {
+    await expect(
+      page
+        .getByTestId(`channel-${channel}`)
+        .locator("[data-testid^='channel-unread-']"),
+    ).toBeVisible();
+  }
+  for (const channel of readChannels) {
+    await expect(
+      page
+        .getByTestId(`channel-${channel}`)
+        .locator("[data-testid^='channel-unread-']"),
+    ).toHaveCount(0);
+  }
+
+  const mayaDm = page
+    .getByTestId("channel-DM")
+    .filter({ hasText: "Maya Chen" });
+  const jordanDm = page
+    .getByTestId("channel-DM")
+    .filter({ hasText: "Jordan Brooks" });
+  const priyaDm = page
+    .getByTestId("channel-DM")
+    .filter({ hasText: "Priya Shah" });
+  await expect(
+    mayaDm.locator("xpath=..").getByTestId("channel-unread-DM"),
+  ).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(
+    jordanDm.locator("xpath=..").getByTestId("channel-unread-DM"),
+  ).toHaveCount(0);
+  await expect(
+    priyaDm.locator("xpath=..").getByTestId("channel-unread-DM"),
+  ).toHaveCount(0);
+
   await page.getByTestId("channel-flight-path").click();
   const channelTimeline = page.getByTestId("message-timeline");
   await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText("Marcus Reed");
@@ -210,6 +272,47 @@ test("announcement demo loads its workspace, people, and projects", async ({
   await page.getByTestId("send-message").click();
   await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText(agentReply, { timeout: 10_000 });
 
+  await page.getByTestId("channel-engineering").click();
+  await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText(
+    "Release build is green. I’m doing one last sleep / wake pass.",
+  );
+  await expect(
+    channelTimeline.locator('[data-link-preview="github-pull-request"]'),
+  ).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(
+    channelTimeline.locator('[data-link-preview="linear-issue"]'),
+  ).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText(
+    "I can still reproduce one duplicate message after waking the laptop.",
+    { timeout: 5_000 },
+  );
+  await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText("Only on the first reconnect?");
+  await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText(
+    "One duplicate, then the subscription settles.",
+  );
+  await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText(
+    "Bumble can you trace the likely path and pull Fizz and Honey into a fix plan?",
+    { timeout: 10_000 },
+  );
+  await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText(
+    engineeringBumbleReply.replace("@Fizz", "Fizz"),
+    { timeout: 5_000 },
+  );
+  await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText(
+    engineeringFizzReply.replace("@Honey", "Honey"),
+    { timeout: 5_000 },
+  );
+  await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText(engineeringHoneyReply, {
+    timeout: 5_000,
+  });
+  await expect(channelTimeline).toContainText(engineeringHumanClose, {
+    timeout: 5_000,
+  });
+  const engineeringAgentRows = page
+    .getByTestId("message-row")
+    .filter({ has: page.locator('img[src^="/demo/agents/"]') });
+  await expect(engineeringAgentRows).toHaveCount(3);
+
   const populatedChannels = [
     ["announcements", "Final smoke pass is clean"],
     ["general", "Please nobody breathe on main"],