diff --git a/desktop/src/features/home/lib/inbox.test.mjs b/desktop/src/features/home/lib/inbox.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..783636855c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/src/features/home/lib/inbox.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import test from "node:test";
+
+import { buildInboxItems, INBOX_PREVIEW_MAX_LENGTH } from "./inbox.ts";
+
+function feedItem(overrides = {}) {
+  return {
+    id: overrides.id ?? "event-1",
+    kind: overrides.kind ?? 45003,
+    pubkey: overrides.pubkey ?? "pubkey-1",
+    content: overrides.content ?? "hello",
+    createdAt: overrides.createdAt ?? 1_700_000_000,
+    channelId: overrides.channelId ?? "channel-1",
+    channelName: overrides.channelName ?? "general",
+    channelType: overrides.channelType,
+    tags: overrides.tags ?? [],
+    category: overrides.category ?? "activity",
+  };
+}
+
+function homeFeed({
+  mentions = [],
+  needsAction = [],
+  activity = [],
+  agentActivity = [],
+} = {}) {
+  return {
+    feed: {
+      mentions,
+      needsAction,
+      activity,
+      agentActivity,
+    },
+    meta: {
+      since: 0,
+      total:
+        mentions.length +
+        needsAction.length +
+        activity.length +
+        agentActivity.length,
+      generatedAt: 1_700_000_000,
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+test("buildInboxItems caps regular and agent previews to the same length", () => {
+  const longHumanMessage = `human ${"message ".repeat(50)}`;
+  const longAgentMessage = `agent\n\n${"response ".repeat(50)}`;
+
+  const items = buildInboxItems({
+    feed: homeFeed({
+      activity: [
+        feedItem({
+          id: "human-message",
+          content: longHumanMessage,
+          createdAt: 1_700_000_000,
+          category: "activity",
+        }),
+      ],
+      agentActivity: [
+        feedItem({
+          id: "agent-message",
+          content: longAgentMessage,
+          createdAt: 1_700_000_001,
+          category: "agent_activity",
+        }),
+      ],
+    }),
+  });
+
+  const human = items.find((item) => item.id === "human-message");
+  const agent = items.find((item) => item.id === "agent-message");
+
+  assert.ok(human);
+  assert.ok(agent);
+  assert.equal(human.preview.length, INBOX_PREVIEW_MAX_LENGTH);
+  assert.equal(agent.preview.length, INBOX_PREVIEW_MAX_LENGTH);
+  assert.equal(human.preview.endsWith("..."), true);
+  assert.equal(agent.preview.endsWith("..."), true);
+  assert.equal(agent.preview.includes("\n"), false);
+});
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/home/lib/inbox.ts b/desktop/src/features/home/lib/inbox.ts
index 99d4fe31ba..ff53134c9f 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/home/lib/inbox.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/home/lib/inbox.ts
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@ const weekdayFormatter = new Intl.DateTimeFormat("en-US", {
   weekday: "long",
 });
 
+/** Shared text cap for inbox list previews, including long agent responses. */
+export const INBOX_PREVIEW_MAX_LENGTH = 160;
+
 function startOfDay(value: Date) {
   return new Date(value.getFullYear(), value.getMonth(), value.getDate());
 }
@@ -134,9 +137,13 @@ function feedHeadline(item: FeedItem) {
 }
 
 function feedPreview(item: FeedItem) {
-  const content = item.content.trim();
+  const content = item.content.trim().replace(/\s+/g, " ");
   if (content.length > 0) {
-    return content;
+    if (content.length <= INBOX_PREVIEW_MAX_LENGTH) {
+      return content;
+    }
+
+    return `${content.slice(0, INBOX_PREVIEW_MAX_LENGTH - 3).trimEnd()}...`;
   }
 
   if (item.kind === 46010) {
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/home/ui/HomeView.tsx b/desktop/src/features/home/ui/HomeView.tsx
index fd5085bb31..2a02284fb6 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/home/ui/HomeView.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/home/ui/HomeView.tsx
@@ -414,7 +414,6 @@ export function HomeView({
             onFilterChange={setFilter}
             onSelect={(itemId) => {
               handleUserSelectItem(itemId);
-              markItemRead(itemId);
             }}
             reminderPubkey={currentPubkey}
             selectedId={selectedItemId}
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/home/ui/InboxListPane.tsx b/desktop/src/features/home/ui/InboxListPane.tsx
index 670c95b465..5990fd1d2f 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/home/ui/InboxListPane.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/home/ui/InboxListPane.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { ChevronDown } from "lucide-react";
+import { ChevronDown, Mail } from "lucide-react";
 import * as React from "react";
 
 import {
@@ -88,22 +88,32 @@ export function InboxListPane({
         </div>
 
         <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
-          <div className="flex items-start gap-2">
+          <div className="flex items-baseline gap-2">
             <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
-              <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
-                <p className="truncate text-sm font-semibold text-foreground">
-                  {item.senderLabel}
+              <div className="min-w-0">
+                <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+                  <p className="truncate text-sm font-semibold text-foreground">
+                    {item.senderLabel}
+                  </p>
+                  {item.isActionRequired ? (
+                    <span className="inline-flex shrink-0 items-center text-2xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-[0.14em] text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-300">
+                      Needs action
+                    </span>
+                  ) : null}
+                </div>
+                <p
+                  className={cn(
+                    "mt-0.5 truncate text-2xs text-muted-foreground",
+                    isDone ? "font-normal" : "font-semibold",
+                  )}
+                >
+                  {typeLabel}
                 </p>
-                {item.isActionRequired ? (
-                  <span className="inline-flex shrink-0 items-center text-2xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-[0.14em] text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-300">
-                    Needs action
-                  </span>
-                ) : null}
               </div>
             </div>
             <span
               className={cn(
-                "shrink-0 text-xs text-muted-foreground",
+                "shrink-0 text-xs leading-5 text-muted-foreground",
                 isDone ? "font-normal" : "font-semibold",
               )}
             >
@@ -126,17 +136,6 @@ export function InboxListPane({
               mentionNames={item.mentionNames}
             />
           </div>
-
-          <div className="mt-1 flex flex-wrap items-center gap-2 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
-            <span
-              className={cn(
-                "text-2xs text-muted-foreground",
-                isDone ? "font-normal" : "font-semibold",
-              )}
-            >
-              {typeLabel}
-            </span>
-          </div>
         </div>
       </button>
     );
@@ -153,7 +152,11 @@ export function InboxListPane({
         <div className="px-5 py-1">
           {/* Cap to the list-column width so the right-aligned dropdown stays
               put when the pane goes full-width in reminders mode. */}
-          <div className="flex min-w-0 max-w-[var(--home-inbox-list-width)] items-center justify-end gap-3">
+          <div className="flex min-w-0 max-w-[var(--home-inbox-list-width)] items-center justify-between gap-3">
+            <h1 className="flex min-w-0 items-center gap-1.5 text-sm font-semibold leading-5 tracking-tight text-foreground">
+              <Mail className="h-4 w-4 shrink-0 text-muted-foreground" />
+              <span className="truncate">Inbox</span>
+            </h1>
             <DropdownMenu>
               <DropdownMenuTrigger asChild>
                 <Button
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/home/useHomeInboxReadState.ts b/desktop/src/features/home/useHomeInboxReadState.ts
index 75134abed5..275b698e20 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/home/useHomeInboxReadState.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/home/useHomeInboxReadState.ts
@@ -45,15 +45,39 @@ export function useHomeInboxReadState({
   markDoneLocal,
   undoDoneLocal,
 }: UseHomeInboxReadStateOptions) {
+  const [forcedUnreadItemIds, setForcedUnreadItemIds] = React.useState<
+    ReadonlySet<string>
+  >(() => new Set());
   const itemById = React.useMemo(
     () => new Map(items.map((item) => [item.id, item])),
     [items],
   );
 
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    setForcedUnreadItemIds((current) => {
+      if (current.size === 0) {
+        return current;
+      }
+
+      const next = new Set<string>();
+      for (const item of items) {
+        if (current.has(item.id)) {
+          next.add(item.id);
+        }
+      }
+
+      return next.size === current.size ? current : next;
+    });
+  }, [items]);
+
   // biome-ignore lint/correctness/useExhaustiveDependencies: readStateVersion invalidates getChannelReadAt
   const effectiveDoneSet = React.useMemo<ReadonlySet<string>>(() => {
     const result = new Set<string>();
     for (const item of items) {
+      if (forcedUnreadItemIds.has(item.id)) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
       const channelId = item.item.channelId;
       if (channelId) {
         const readAt = getChannelReadAt(channelId);
@@ -67,10 +91,26 @@ export function useHomeInboxReadState({
       }
     }
     return result;
-  }, [getChannelReadAt, items, localDoneSet, readStateVersion]);
+  }, [
+    forcedUnreadItemIds,
+    getChannelReadAt,
+    items,
+    localDoneSet,
+    readStateVersion,
+  ]);
 
   const markItemRead = React.useCallback(
     (itemId: string) => {
+      setForcedUnreadItemIds((current) => {
+        if (!current.has(itemId)) {
+          return current;
+        }
+
+        const next = new Set(current);
+        next.delete(itemId);
+        return next;
+      });
+
       const item = itemById.get(itemId);
       const channelId = item?.item.channelId ?? null;
       if (item && channelId) {
@@ -87,6 +127,14 @@ export function useHomeInboxReadState({
 
   const markItemUnread = React.useCallback(
     (itemId: string) => {
+      setForcedUnreadItemIds((current) => {
+        if (current.has(itemId)) {
+          return current;
+        }
+
+        return new Set(current).add(itemId);
+      });
+
       const item = itemById.get(itemId);
       const channelId = item?.item.channelId ?? null;
       if (item && channelId) {