diff --git a/crates/misaligned-bevy/src/operations_ui.rs b/crates/misaligned-bevy/src/operations_ui.rs
index 0270d7ac..74a38a72 100644
--- a/crates/misaligned-bevy/src/operations_ui.rs
+++ b/crates/misaligned-bevy/src/operations_ui.rs
@@ -587,6 +587,8 @@ pub(super) fn manage_operations_ui(
                         Button,
                         Node {
                             padding: UiRect::axes(Val::Px(10.0), Val::Px(4.0)),
+                            column_gap: Val::Px(6.0),
+                            align_items: AlignItems::Baseline,
                             ..default()
                         },
                         BackgroundColor(if current {
@@ -597,11 +599,12 @@ pub(super) fn manage_operations_ui(
                         OpsTabButton { view },
                     ))
                     .with_children(|b| {
+                        // The tab name is structure and keeps its own tier;
+                        // a pressure badge is subordinate status — smaller,
+                        // never recoloring the name it rides beside
+                        // (operations-workspace.md, badge subordination).
                         b.spawn((
-                            Text::new(match badge {
-                                Some(badge) => format!("{}  {}", view.title(), badge.label),
-                                None => view.title().into(),
-                            }),
+                            Text::new(view.title()),
                             TextFont {
                                 font_size: 15.0,
                                 ..default()
@@ -609,13 +612,27 @@ pub(super) fn manage_operations_ui(
                             TextColor(if current {
                                 Color::srgb(0.06, 0.04, 0.01)
                             } else {
-                                match badge.map(|badge| badge.level) {
-                                    Some(PressureLevel::AtRisk) => CRIMSON,
-                                    Some(PressureLevel::Warning) => AMBER_DIM,
-                                    _ => DIM,
-                                }
+                                DIM
                             }),
                         ));
+                        if let Some(badge) = badge {
+                            b.spawn((
+                                Text::new(badge.label.clone()),
+                                TextFont {
+                                    font_size: 11.0,
+                                    ..default()
+                                },
+                                TextColor(if current {
+                                    Color::srgb(0.06, 0.04, 0.01)
+                                } else {
+                                    match badge.level {
+                                        PressureLevel::AtRisk => CRIMSON,
+                                        PressureLevel::Warning => AMBER_DIM,
+                                        _ => DIM,
+                                    }
+                                }),
+                            ));
+                        }
                     });
             }
         });
diff --git a/wiki/engineering/current-build.md b/wiki/engineering/current-build.md
index 186f129c..0b2a7308 100644
--- a/wiki/engineering/current-build.md
+++ b/wiki/engineering/current-build.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ Type: knowledge
 
 ## Where the codebase is today (2026-07-21)
 
-~72k lines of Rust across the workspace (core ~43k, Bevy ~15k, terminal ~9k, assets ~5k). A playable **Misaligned B1 basement slice**: continuous
+~84k lines of Rust across the workspace (core ~53k, Bevy ~16k, terminal ~9k, assets ~5k; refreshed 2026-07-21). A playable **Misaligned B1 basement slice**: continuous
 fixed-tick sim, Act One map and cast, machine delegation and visible token
 flows, detection / social / reach / intel / messages / economy / income /
 research / building, two thin frontends (terminal + Bevy) over one lib. The
diff --git a/wiki/interface/operations-workspace.md b/wiki/interface/operations-workspace.md
index 170d9288..ac8c7ff5 100644
--- a/wiki/interface/operations-workspace.md
+++ b/wiki/interface/operations-workspace.md
@@ -197,7 +197,11 @@ The view strip may carry one compact **semantic pressure badge** per view.
 Badges name an attention state — `NEW`, `READY`, `AT RISK`, `HELD`,
 `NO EGRESS`, or `LIVE` — rather than displaying a raw catalog count. No badge
 means no meaningful pressure. Text is the primary signal; amber or crimson
-may reinforce warning/risk but never carry meaning alone.
+may reinforce warning/risk but never carry meaning alone. The badge is
+**typographically subordinate to the view name** (2026-07-21, first human
+GUI playtest): a visibly smaller tier beside the name, and its
+warning/risk color may not recolor the name itself — the strip must read
+as six stable views with status, never as extra unclickable tabs.
 
 Human frontends do not expose internal ids, persistence keys, raw enum names,
 lot generation/revision tokens, plot slugs, Operations Demand implementation
diff --git a/wiki/log/2026-07-21-ops-tab-badge-subordination.md b/wiki/log/2026-07-21-ops-tab-badge-subordination.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..54ee4aa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wiki/log/2026-07-21-ops-tab-badge-subordination.md
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# 2026-07-21 — Operations badges stop impersonating tabs
+
+```
+Type: log
+```
+
+## Intent
+
+GUI playtest finding 8: the Operations view strip rendered pressure
+badges inline with tab names at the same size and casing ("INTEL AT
+RISK", "SCHEMES NO EGRESS"), so the strip read as eight-ish tabs of
+which some were unclickable words, and a badge's crimson recolored the
+tab name itself.
+
+## Changed
+
+- The Bevy view strip splits each tab into two texts: the view name at
+  its own tier (15px, DIM at rest), and the badge — when present — as a
+  smaller subordinate span (11px) carrying the warning/risk color alone.
+  A badge can no longer recolor the name beside it. Current-view tabs
+  keep the amber wash with dark text for both spans.
+- [operations-workspace.md](../interface/operations-workspace.md) badge
+  clause amended: badges are typographically subordinate to the view
+  name; the strip must read as six stable views with status, never as
+  extra tabs.
+- Terminal renders the same projection as text and keeps its existing
+  compact form; only the Bevy presentation changed.
+
+## Verification
+
+`cargo test -p misaligned-bevy`, `./tools/check.sh --frontend`, and an
+observed run: the fresh-boot INTEL NEW badge renders as a small dim
+suffix beside a stable INTEL tab.
diff --git a/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md b/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md
index 518e0347..e989c168 100644
--- a/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md
+++ b/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ add or amend a session log, then re-run the generator.
 - Intent: Implement the alternate physical route to Marcus's debt knowledge without letting a task executor invent a body, bypass schedule time, or reveal a sealed document before information processing.
 - Log: [wiki/log/2026-07-21-storage-b-records.md](2026-07-21-storage-b-records.md)
 
+## 2026-07-21 - Operations badges stop impersonating tabs
+
+- Intent: GUI playtest finding 8: the Operations view strip rendered pressure badges inline with tab names at the same size and casing ("INTEL AT RISK", "SCHEMES NO EGRESS"), so the strip read as eight-ish tabs of which some were unclickable words, and a badge's crimson recolored the ta...
+- Log: [wiki/log/2026-07-21-ops-tab-badge-subordination.md](2026-07-21-ops-tab-badge-subordination.md)
+
 ## 2026-07-21 - The boundary retires as a dissolve; the title card returns
 
 - Intent: The human GUI playtest filed earlier today found the opening's best moment — the first earned sense revealing the world — landing as a one-frame cut from black, with no ceremony. Trace triage of the playtest plan cleared exactly one opening change for immediate landing under R...