diff --git a/docs/components/agent-detection.md b/docs/components/agent-detection.md
index 7de89063..0206f08d 100644
--- a/docs/components/agent-detection.md
+++ b/docs/components/agent-detection.md
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ To avoid flicker, detection **stabilizes**: it tolerates several consecutive
 misses before declaring an agent gone, and a working agent gets a short (~3s)
 hold so brief pauses between thinking and output don't drop it out of
 "working" (a genuine finish therefore reports up to ~3s late; "blocked"
-bypasses the hold and surfaces immediately).
+bypasses the hold and surfaces immediately). Viewer overlays (Claude's
+transcript / history-search views) cover the live status area, so frames
+showing their chrome keep the last trusted state instead of forcing idle.
 
 ## The state machine
 
diff --git a/supacode/Domain/AgentDetection/PaneAgentState.swift b/supacode/Domain/AgentDetection/PaneAgentState.swift
index d13b9b48..e336f0c1 100644
--- a/supacode/Domain/AgentDetection/PaneAgentState.swift
+++ b/supacode/Domain/AgentDetection/PaneAgentState.swift
@@ -92,12 +92,20 @@ func stabilizeAgentState(
     return .working
   case .blocked:
     return .blocked
+  case .unknown:
+    // A viewer overlay (transcript, history search) is covering the live
+    // status area, so this frame carries no signal: keep the last trusted
+    // state, and keep the working hold alive while the screen stays covered.
+    if previous == .working {
+      lastWorkingAt = now
+    }
+    return previous
   case .idle where previous == .working:
     guard let lastWorkingAt else {
       return .idle
     }
     return now.timeIntervalSince(lastWorkingAt) < workingStateHold ? .working : .idle
-  case .idle, .unknown:
+  case .idle:
     return raw
   }
 }
diff --git a/supacode/Infrastructure/AgentDetection/ScreenHeuristics.swift b/supacode/Infrastructure/AgentDetection/ScreenHeuristics.swift
index 44b4b6ad..86feb619 100644
--- a/supacode/Infrastructure/AgentDetection/ScreenHeuristics.swift
+++ b/supacode/Infrastructure/AgentDetection/ScreenHeuristics.swift
@@ -56,10 +56,8 @@ nonisolated private func detectPi(_ content: String) -> AgentRawState {
 }
 
 nonisolated private func detectClaude(_ content: String) -> AgentRawState {
-  let lower = content.lowercased()
-
-  if content.contains("⌕ Search…") || lower.contains("ctrl+r to toggle") {
-    return .idle
+  if hasClaudeViewerChrome(content) {
+    return .unknown
   }
   let currentInteraction = claudeCurrentInteractionRegion(content)
   if hasClaudeBlockedPrompt(content: currentInteraction, lower: currentInteraction.lowercased()) {
@@ -235,6 +233,22 @@ nonisolated private func detectAmp(_ content: String) -> AgentRawState {
   return .idle
 }
 
+// Transcript (ctrl+r/ctrl+o) and history-search views cover the live status
+// area, so a frame showing their chrome carries no task-state signal — the
+// caller maps `.unknown` to "keep the previous state". The hint strings are
+// only trusted on the bottom chrome lines: matching them anywhere on screen
+// misreads conversation text that merely quotes them (e.g. a discussion
+// about these very heuristics).
+nonisolated private func hasClaudeViewerChrome(_ content: String) -> Bool {
+  let bottomLines = content.split(separator: "\n", omittingEmptySubsequences: false)
+    .map { $0.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces) }
+    .filter { !$0.isEmpty }
+    .suffix(3)
+  return bottomLines.contains { line in
+    line.contains("⌕ Search…") || line.lowercased().contains("ctrl+r to toggle")
+  }
+}
+
 nonisolated private func contentAbovePromptBox(_ content: String) -> String {
   let lines = content.split(separator: "\n", omittingEmptySubsequences: false).map(String.init)
   guard let promptIndex = lines.lastIndex(where: { $0.contains("❯") }) else {
diff --git a/supacodeTests/PaneAgentStateTests.swift b/supacodeTests/PaneAgentStateTests.swift
index d7f0c16b..62987f51 100644
--- a/supacodeTests/PaneAgentStateTests.swift
+++ b/supacodeTests/PaneAgentStateTests.swift
@@ -73,6 +73,50 @@ struct PaneAgentStateTests {
     #expect(blocked == .blocked)
   }
 
+  @Test func unknownObservationKeepsPreviousStateAndRefreshesHold() {
+    let now = Date(timeIntervalSince1970: 100)
+    var lastWorking: Date? = now
+    let later = now.addingTimeInterval(10)
+
+    let held = stabilizeAgentState(
+      agent: .claude,
+      previous: .working,
+      raw: .unknown,
+      now: later,
+      lastWorkingAt: &lastWorking
+    )
+
+    #expect(held == .working)
+    #expect(lastWorking == later)
+
+    var noHistory: Date?
+    let idle = stabilizeAgentState(
+      agent: .claude,
+      previous: .idle,
+      raw: .unknown,
+      now: later,
+      lastWorkingAt: &noHistory
+    )
+
+    #expect(idle == .idle)
+    #expect(noHistory == nil)
+  }
+
+  @Test func unknownObservationWithoutHistoryStaysUnknown() {
+    let now = Date(timeIntervalSince1970: 100)
+    var lastWorking: Date?
+
+    let unknown = stabilizeAgentState(
+      agent: .claude,
+      previous: .unknown,
+      raw: .unknown,
+      now: now,
+      lastWorkingAt: &lastWorking
+    )
+
+    #expect(unknown == .unknown)
+  }
+
   @Test func presenceRequiresSixMissesBeforeRelease() {
     var presence = AgentDetectionPresence(currentAgent: .codex)
 
diff --git a/supacodeTests/ScreenHeuristicsTests.swift b/supacodeTests/ScreenHeuristicsTests.swift
index caaf3f50..56c9c2a7 100644
--- a/supacodeTests/ScreenHeuristicsTests.swift
+++ b/supacodeTests/ScreenHeuristicsTests.swift
@@ -177,6 +177,49 @@ struct ScreenHeuristicsTests {
     )
   }
 
+  @Test func claudeViewerChromeAtBottomCarriesNoSignal() {
+    #expect(
+      DetectedAgent.claude.detectState(
+        in: """
+          ✻ Tempering… (12s · esc to interrupt)
+          older transcript content
+          ctrl+r to toggle
+          """
+      ) == .unknown
+    )
+    #expect(
+      DetectedAgent.claude.detectState(
+        in: """
+          Task complete.
+          ⌕ Search…
+          ↑↓ to navigate
+          """
+      ) == .unknown
+    )
+  }
+
+  @Test func claudeQuotedViewerHintMidConversationDoesNotForceIdle() {
+    // Regression: a chat message quoting "ctrl+r to toggle" used to force
+    // idle while the spinner below showed Claude still working.
+    #expect(
+      DetectedAgent.claude.detectState(
+        in: """
+          ⏺ 收尾完成,现状如下:
+
+          ❯ 3. 修一个我们现存的 bug:detectClaude 里 ctrl+r to toggle → 强制 idle,意味着
+            Claude working 时按 ctrl+o/ctrl+r 看 transcript 会闪成 Done。
+
+            这个仔细看看，你觉得有必要的话，可以修一下
+
+          ✻ Twisting… (34s · ↓ 1.8k tokens · thinking more with xhigh effort)
+          ─────────
+          ❯
+          ─────────
+          """
+      ) == .working
+    )
+  }
+
   @Test func codexDetection() {
     #expect(DetectedAgent.codex.detectState(in: "press enter to confirm or esc to cancel") == .blocked)
     #expect(DetectedAgent.codex.detectState(in: "• Working (12s)\nesc to interrupt") == .working)