diff --git a/desktop/package.json b/desktop/package.json
index e810d2bc28..3e9e176d88 100644
--- a/desktop/package.json
+++ b/desktop/package.json
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
     "test:e2e": "pnpm build:e2e && playwright test",
     "test:e2e:smoke": "pnpm build:e2e && playwright test --project=smoke",
     "test:e2e:integration": "pnpm build:e2e && playwright test --project=integration",
+    "test:e2e:bestie": "VITE_BUZZ_BESTIE=1 pnpm build:e2e && playwright test --config=playwright.bestie.config.ts",
     "test:e2e:release-smoke": "pnpm build:e2e && playwright test --config=playwright.release-smoke.config.ts",
     "test:e2e:report": "playwright show-report",
     "tauri:build": "tauri build"
diff --git a/desktop/playwright.bestie.config.ts b/desktop/playwright.bestie.config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e543e3e1cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/playwright.bestie.config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import { defineConfig, devices } from "@playwright/test";
+
+const webPort = process.env.BUZZ_BESTIE_E2E_WEB_PORT ?? "4174";
+const webUrl = `http://127.0.0.1:${webPort}`;
+
+export default defineConfig({
+  testDir: "./tests/e2e",
+  testMatch: "**/bestie-sidebar.spec.ts",
+  timeout: 30_000,
+  retries: process.env.CI ? 2 : 0,
+  workers: 1,
+  reporter: [["list"]],
+  use: {
+    ...devices["Desktop Chrome"],
+    baseURL: webUrl,
+    screenshot: "only-on-failure",
+    trace: "on-first-retry",
+  },
+  webServer: {
+    command: `python3 -m http.server ${webPort} -d dist`,
+    cwd: ".",
+    reuseExistingServer: false,
+    url: webUrl,
+  },
+});
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/AppSidebar.tsx b/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/AppSidebar.tsx
index 50c9a80f6b..19f4aa59dc 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/AppSidebar.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/AppSidebar.tsx
@@ -552,7 +552,9 @@ export function AppSidebar({
               data-testid="sidebar-scroll-content"
             >
               <AppSidebarPrimaryMenu
+                bestieRelayUrl={activeCommunity?.relayUrl}
                 homeBadgeCount={homeBadgeCount}
+                onOpenDm={onOpenDm}
                 onSelectAgents={onSelectAgents}
                 onSelectHome={onSelectHome}
                 onSelectProjects={onSelectProjects}
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/AppSidebarPinnedHeader.tsx b/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/AppSidebarPinnedHeader.tsx
index a9bf7058eb..7763226253 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/AppSidebarPinnedHeader.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/AppSidebarPinnedHeader.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import { Activity, Bot, Folders, Inbox, Zap } from "lucide-react";
+import * as React from "react";
 
+import { useManagedAgentsQuery } from "@/features/agents/hooks";
+import { pickBestieAgent } from "@/features/agents/lib/bestie";
+import { ProfileAvatar } from "@/features/profile/ui/ProfileAvatar";
 import { TopbarSearch } from "@/features/search/ui/TopbarSearch";
 import { SidebarProjectsSection } from "@/features/sidebar/ui/SidebarProjectsSection";
 import { FeatureGate } from "@/shared/features";
@@ -39,7 +43,9 @@ type AppSidebarPinnedHeaderProps = {
 };
 
 type AppSidebarPrimaryMenuProps = {
+  bestieRelayUrl?: string | null;
   homeBadgeCount: number;
+  onOpenDm: (input: { pubkeys: string[] }) => Promise<void>;
   onSelectAgents: () => void;
   onSelectHome: () => void;
   onSelectProjects: () => void;
@@ -89,7 +95,9 @@ export function AppSidebarPinnedHeader({
 }
 
 export function AppSidebarPrimaryMenu({
+  bestieRelayUrl,
   homeBadgeCount,
+  onOpenDm,
   onSelectAgents,
   onSelectHome,
   onSelectProjects,
@@ -167,6 +175,12 @@ export function AppSidebarPrimaryMenu({
               <SidebarMenuLabel>Agents</SidebarMenuLabel>
             </SidebarMenuButton>
           </SidebarMenuItem>
+          <FeatureGate feature="bestie">
+            <BestieSidebarMenuItem
+              onOpenDm={onOpenDm}
+              relayUrl={bestieRelayUrl}
+            />
+          </FeatureGate>
           <FeatureGate feature="workflows">
             <SidebarMenuItem>
               <SidebarMenuButton
@@ -187,3 +201,39 @@ export function AppSidebarPrimaryMenu({
     </>
   );
 }
+
+function BestieSidebarMenuItem({
+  onOpenDm,
+  relayUrl,
+}: {
+  onOpenDm: (input: { pubkeys: string[] }) => Promise<void>;
+  relayUrl?: string | null;
+}) {
+  const managedAgentsQuery = useManagedAgentsQuery();
+  const bestieAgent = React.useMemo(
+    () => pickBestieAgent(managedAgentsQuery.data ?? [], relayUrl),
+    [managedAgentsQuery.data, relayUrl],
+  );
+
+  if (!bestieAgent) return null;
+
+  return (
+    <SidebarMenuItem>
+      <SidebarMenuButton
+        data-testid="open-bestie-dm"
+        onClick={() => void onOpenDm({ pubkeys: [bestieAgent.pubkey] })}
+        tooltip={`Message ${bestieAgent.name}`}
+        type="button"
+      >
+        <ProfileAvatar
+          avatarUrl={bestieAgent.avatarUrl}
+          className="size-4 text-3xs shadow-none"
+          label={bestieAgent.name}
+          plain
+          testId="bestie-sidebar-avatar"
+        />
+        <SidebarMenuLabel>Bestie</SidebarMenuLabel>
+      </SidebarMenuButton>
+    </SidebarMenuItem>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/desktop/tests/e2e/bestie-sidebar.spec.ts b/desktop/tests/e2e/bestie-sidebar.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dc15ebb599
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/tests/e2e/bestie-sidebar.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+import { expect, test } from "@playwright/test";
+
+import { installMockBridge } from "../helpers/bridge";
+import { FEATURE_OVERRIDES_STORAGE_KEY } from "../helpers/features";
+
+const BESTIE_PUBKEY =
+  "be571e0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000";
+
+const bestie = {
+  avatarUrl: null,
+  name: "Bestie",
+  personaId: "builtin:bestie",
+  pubkey: BESTIE_PUBKEY,
+  status: "running" as const,
+};
+
+test("the enabled Bestie experiment adds a direct-message entry below Agents", async ({
+  page,
+}) => {
+  await installMockBridge(page, { managedAgents: [bestie] });
+  await page.goto("/");
+
+  const agentsEntry = page.getByTestId("open-agents-view");
+  const bestieEntry = page.getByTestId("open-bestie-dm");
+  await expect(bestieEntry).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(bestieEntry).toContainText("Bestie");
+
+  const [agentsBox, bestieBox] = await Promise.all([
+    agentsEntry.boundingBox(),
+    bestieEntry.boundingBox(),
+  ]);
+  expect(agentsBox).not.toBeNull();
+  expect(bestieBox).not.toBeNull();
+  expect(bestieBox?.y).toBeGreaterThan(agentsBox?.y ?? 0);
+
+  await bestieEntry.click();
+  await expect(page.getByTestId("chat-title")).toHaveText("Bestie");
+});
+
+test("the disabled Bestie experiment does not mount the sidebar entry", async ({
+  page,
+}) => {
+  await installMockBridge(page, { managedAgents: [bestie] });
+  await page.addInitScript((key) => {
+    const overrides = JSON.parse(
+      window.localStorage.getItem(key) ?? "{}",
+    ) as Record<string, boolean>;
+    overrides.bestie = false;
+    window.localStorage.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(overrides));
+  }, FEATURE_OVERRIDES_STORAGE_KEY);
+  await page.goto("/");
+
+  await expect(page.getByTestId("open-bestie-dm")).toHaveCount(0);
+});