switchroom 0.19.25 → 0.19.26

package/telegram-plugin/tests/worker-feed-coalesce.test.ts

@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@ import {
   type WorkerActivityView,
 } from '../worker-activity-feed.js'
 import { renderCombinedWorkerFeed, combinedHistoryDepth } from '../tool-activity-summary.js'
-import { STATUS_CARD_CHAR_BUDGET, WORKER_STEP_INDENT } from '../status-no-truncate.js'
+import {
+  STATUS_CARD_CHAR_BUDGET,
+  WORKER_STEP_INDENT,
+  SUBORDINATE_HEADER_PREFIX,
+  SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT,
+} from '../status-no-truncate.js'
 import { COLLAPSE_SAFE_SEPARATOR } from '../card-format.js'
 import { richMessage } from '../rich-send.js'
 import { parseRichEntities, validateRichMarkdown } from './rich-markdown-oracle.js'
@@ -661,7 +666,7 @@ describe('renderCombinedWorkerFeed (pure)', () => {
 
   it('renders one row-block per worker with a running count header', () => {
     const body = renderCombinedWorkerFeed([row(1, 'alpha step'), row(2, 'beta step')], { maxRows: 8 })!
-    expect(body).toContain('Workers')
+    expect(body).toContain('WORKERS')
     expect(body).toContain('2 running')
     expect(body).toContain('task number 1')
     expect(body).toContain('task number 2')
@@ -756,7 +761,7 @@ describe('renderCombinedWorkerFeed (pure)', () => {
       .map((l) => l.trim())
       .filter((l) => l.length > 0)
     const headerAndHistory = bodyLines.filter(
-      (l) => !l.startsWith('🛠') && !l.includes('more working'),
+      (l) => !l.includes('**WORKERS**') && !l.includes('more working'),
     )
     expect(headerAndHistory.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(24)
   })
@@ -775,7 +780,7 @@ describe('renderCombinedWorkerFeed (pure)', () => {
       .map((l) => l.trim())
       .filter((l) => l.length > 0)
     const headerAndHistory = bodyLines.filter(
-      (l) => !l.startsWith('🛠') && !l.includes('more working'),
+      (l) => !l.includes('**WORKERS**') && !l.includes('more working'),
     )
     expect(headerAndHistory.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(24)
     expect(body).toContain('+2 more working')
@@ -1287,15 +1292,22 @@ describe('combined worker card — steps indent under their worker (U+2800)', ()
     // Load-bearing: the exact indent bytes. `WORKER_STEP_INDENT` is U+2800 ×3;
     // a plain-ASCII `'   '` indent fails this assertion, so does the U+00A0 run
     // #3662 shipped, and so does flat output with no prefix at all.
+    // Since #3820 the whole card is nested one level under the 🤖 agent card,
+    // so a step sits at SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT + WORKER_STEP_INDENT while its
+    // worker header sits at SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT alone — the RELATIVE
+    // one-level nesting this test guards is unchanged, just shifted right.
     for (const l of stepLines) {
-      expect(l.startsWith(WORKER_STEP_INDENT)).toBe(true)
+      expect(l.startsWith(SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT + WORKER_STEP_INDENT)).toBe(true)
       expect(l.startsWith(BLANK)).toBe(true)
       expect(l.startsWith(' ')).toBe(false)
       expect(l.startsWith(NBSP)).toBe(false)
     }
-    // Workers stay at the left margin so the nesting reads as nesting.
-    for (const l of headerLines) expect(l.startsWith(BLANK)).toBe(false)
-    expect(lines[0].startsWith('🛠')).toBe(true)
+    // Workers stay one level ABOVE their steps so the nesting reads as nesting.
+    for (const l of headerLines) {
+      expect(l.startsWith(SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT)).toBe(true)
+      expect(l.startsWith(SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT + WORKER_STEP_INDENT)).toBe(false)
+    }
+    expect(lines[0].startsWith(`${SUBORDINATE_HEADER_PREFIX}🛠`)).toBe(true)
   })
 
   it('golden body — each worker header is immediately followed by ITS indented steps', () => {
@@ -1305,7 +1317,8 @@ describe('combined worker card — steps indent under their worker (U+2800)', ()
     // would still pass every one of them. This pins the full line ORDER, which
     // is the actual thing the fix is for: a step must sit under its own worker.
     const body = renderCombinedWorkerFeed(rowsFor(3), { maxRows: 8 })!
-    const I = WORKER_STEP_INDENT
+    const I = SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT + WORKER_STEP_INDENT
+    const N = SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT
     // `S` is the pinned-bar collapse separator (#3666): every line that is
     // followed by a hard break carries one trailing U+00A0 so the pinned-message
     // bar (which drops the newline and substitutes nothing) does not mash the
@@ -1314,14 +1327,14 @@ describe('combined worker card — steps indent under their worker (U+2800)', ()
     // `WORKER_STEP_INDENT`, which is what this golden is really pinning.
     const S = COLLAPSE_SAFE_SEPARATOR
     expect(linesOf(body)).toEqual([
-      `🛠 **Workers** · _3 running · oldest 3m00s · 9 tools_${S}`,
-      `**1. worker task 1** _· 1m00s · 3 tools_${S}`,
+      `${SUBORDINATE_HEADER_PREFIX}🛠 **WORKERS** · _3 running · oldest 3m00s · 9 tools_${S}`,
+      `${N}**1. worker task 1** _· 1m00s · 3 tools_${S}`,
       `${I}~~_✓ w1 step a_~~${S}`,
       `${I}**→ w1 step b**${S}`,
-      `**2. worker task 2** _· 2m00s · 3 tools_${S}`,
+      `${N}**2. worker task 2** _· 2m00s · 3 tools_${S}`,
       `${I}~~_✓ w2 step a_~~${S}`,
       `${I}**→ w2 step b**${S}`,
-      `**3. worker task 3** _· 3m00s · 3 tools_${S}`,
+      `${N}**3. worker task 3** _· 3m00s · 3 tools_${S}`,
       `${I}~~_✓ w3 step a_~~${S}`,
       `${I}**→ w3 step b**`, // last line: nothing follows it to collide with
     ])
@@ -1442,7 +1455,7 @@ describe('combined worker card — steps indent under their worker (U+2800)', ()
     expect(ents.every((e) => !e.text.includes(NBSP))).toBe(true)
   })
 
-  it('the SINGLE-worker 🛠 card is untouched (no indent on its step lines)', () => {
+  it('the SINGLE-worker 🛠 card nests ONE level (card-level only, no per-worker indent)', () => {
     const single = renderWorkerActivity({
       workerId: 'w1',
       description: 'lone worker',
@@ -1454,16 +1467,19 @@ describe('combined worker card — steps indent under their worker (U+2800)', ()
     })
     expect(single).toContain('~~_✓ step a_~~')
     expect(single).toContain('**→ step b**')
-    // No LEADING indent: the single-worker card has nothing to nest under, so
-    // its step lines must sit flush at the left margin. Asserted per line on the
+    // The lone-worker card has no worker HEADER to nest steps under, so it must
+    // never carry the per-worker indent — but since #3820 the whole card nests
+    // ONE level under the 🤖 agent card, so its body lines sit at exactly
+    // SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT and never at two levels. Asserted per line on the
     // leading edge rather than as "no U+00A0 anywhere in the card", because
     // #3666 puts one TRAILING U+00A0 on every hard-broken line of every pinned
-    // card (this one included) as the collapse separator. A regression that
-    // leaked WORKER_STEP_INDENT onto these lines still fails here.
-    for (const l of single.split('\n')) {
-      expect(l.startsWith(BLANK)).toBe(false)
+    // card (this one included) as the collapse separator.
+    const ls = single.split('\n')
+    expect(ls[0].startsWith(SUBORDINATE_HEADER_PREFIX)).toBe(true)
+    for (const l of ls.slice(1)) {
+      expect(l.startsWith(SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT)).toBe(true)
+      expect(l.startsWith(SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT + WORKER_STEP_INDENT)).toBe(false)
       expect(l.startsWith(NBSP)).toBe(false)
-      expect(l.startsWith(WORKER_STEP_INDENT)).toBe(false)
     }
   })
 })

package/telegram-plugin/tests/worker-visibility-prose-silent-harness.test.ts

@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ describe('prose-silent background worker — end-to-end visibility harness (PR 2
     expect(h.bot.sent).toHaveLength(1)
     expect(h.feed.messageIdOf(h.agentId)).not.toBeNull()
     expect(h.bot.sent[0].chatId).toBe('chat-42')
-    expect(h.bot.sent[0].text).toContain('🛠 **Worker**')
+    expect(h.bot.sent[0].text).toContain('└─ 🛠 **WORKER**')
 
     // (b) KEEPS UPDATING: later heartbeats edit the message with a climbing
     // `· Ns` suffix so the still-alive worker visibly advances.

package/telegram-plugin/tier-downgrade.ts

@@ -33,9 +33,10 @@
  *
  * Effort is NATIVE. A live `/effort` override records in gateway memory only
  * (no carrier), so the self-restart sheds it and the downgraded default boots at
- * the configured `thinking_effort` (the fleet `low` pin, #1978 /
+ * the configured `thinking_effort` (#1978 /
  * src/config/thinking-effort-risk.ts). This module writes NO effort carrier —
- * that is the whole point: the downgraded opus must resolve LOW.
+ * that is the whole point: the downgraded opus must resolve to the configured
+ * default, whatever that is.
  *
  * Loop guard — the natural on-default guard is the real bound. After the
  * downgrade boot the session runs the configured default (the override is gone

package/telegram-plugin/tool-activity-summary.ts

@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@ import {
   STATUS_LINE_MAX,
   NESTED_PREFIX,
   WORKER_STEP_INDENT,
+  SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT,
+  nestSubordinateCardLines,
 } from './status-no-truncate.js'
 import { escapeMarkdown, stripMarkdown, truncate, stackCardLines } from './card-format.js'
 import { isTelegramSurfaceTool } from './tool-names.js'
@@ -372,6 +374,18 @@ export interface StatusCardOpts {
    * full recent trail — see WORKER_HISTORY_MAX.
    */
   historyWindow?: number
+  /**
+   * Render this card as structurally SUBORDINATE to the 🤖 agent card (#3820):
+   * line 1 is prefixed with `└─ ` and every later line with
+   * `SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT`, so the whole block sits one level in from the
+   * agent card's left margin.
+   *
+   * This is what makes "my agent" vs "a background worker" answerable from the
+   * card's SHAPE without reading its label — the two cards were otherwise
+   * byte-for-byte the same layout, differing only by an emoji + one word.
+   * Worker surfaces pass `true`; the agent card never does.
+   */
+  subordinate?: boolean
 }
 
 /**
@@ -381,7 +395,8 @@ export interface StatusCardOpts {
  * Pipeline: header → escape+clip every raw step/child → rolling-window each
  * group with `+N earlier…` → wrap (parent done-styled when children present;
  * newest-in-progress `→` bold else `✓` italic; NESTED_PREFIX for children) →
- * optional `✓ N steps` footer → optional result block → fitCardToBudget.
+ * optional `✓ N steps` footer → optional result block → subordinate nesting
+ * (#3820, when `opts.subordinate`) → fitCardToBudget.
  */
 export function renderStatusCard(opts: StatusCardOpts): string | null {
   const { header, final = false, liveSuffix = '', stepCount, result } = opts
@@ -453,7 +468,9 @@ export function renderStatusCard(opts: StatusCardOpts): string | null {
   // collapseSafe (#3666): the agent status card and the single-worker card are
   // both PINNED, and Telegram's pinned bar shows them collapsed to one line
   // with the newlines dropped — the separator keeps that preview legible.
-  const joined = stackCardLines(out, { collapseSafe: true })
+  const joined = stackCardLines(opts.subordinate === true ? nestSubordinateCardLines(out) : out, {
+    collapseSafe: true,
+  })
   if (joined.length <= STATUS_CARD_CHAR_BUDGET) return joined
   return fitCardToBudget(opts, headerLines)
 }
@@ -475,6 +492,15 @@ function fitCardToBudget(opts: StatusCardOpts, headerLines: string[]): string {
   const rawSteps = opts.steps.filter((s) => s != null)
   const rawChildren = (opts.childSteps ?? []).map((s) => s.trim()).filter((s) => s.length > 0)
   const hasChildren = rawChildren.length > 0
+  const subordinate = opts.subordinate === true
+  // Subordinate nesting (#3820) costs a fixed prefix on EVERY line — the header
+  // prefix and the body indent are the same length by invariant (see
+  // SUBORDINATE_HEADER_PREFIX), so it is one flat per-line charge rather than a
+  // line-1 special case. Charged into the arithmetic below so the extreme
+  // single-oversized-bullet branch still lands under the wire cap.
+  const nestCost = subordinate ? SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT.length : 0
+  const stack = (lines: string[]): string =>
+    stackCardLines(subordinate ? nestSubordinateCardLines(lines) : lines, { collapseSafe: true })
 
   // Fixed footer/result lines (always kept).
   const footerLines: string[] = []
@@ -483,7 +509,9 @@ function fitCardToBudget(opts: StatusCardOpts, headerLines: string[]): string {
     footerLines.push(WORKER_RESULT_RULE)
     footerLines.push(`${result.emoji} _${escapeMarkdown(truncate(result.text, WORKER_RESULT_MAX))}_`)
   }
-  const fixedCost = [...headerLines, ...footerLines].join('\n').length
+  const fixedCost =
+    [...headerLines, ...footerLines].join('\n').length +
+    (headerLines.length + footerLines.length) * nestCost
 
   // The active "body" group whose oldest bullets we drop: children when
   // present (parent collapses to a single "+N" marker), else parent steps.
@@ -507,7 +535,7 @@ function fitCardToBudget(opts: StatusCardOpts, headerLines: string[]): string {
     shown.forEach((esc, i) => lines.push(buildBullet(esc, i === lastIdx)))
     lines.push(...footerLines)
     // collapseSafe: same pinned surface as renderStatusCard (#3666).
-    const candidate = stackCardLines(lines, { collapseSafe: true })
+    const candidate = stack(lines)
     if (candidate.length <= STATUS_CARD_CHAR_BUDGET) return candidate
   }
 
@@ -515,11 +543,12 @@ function fitCardToBudget(opts: StatusCardOpts, headerLines: string[]): string {
   // newest text, then escape, then wrap — re-checking post-escape because
   // escaping can expand the string (& → &amp;).
   const rawNewest = body.length > 0 ? stripMarkdown(body[body.length - 1]).replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim() : ''
-  const wrapperOverhead = final
-    ? (prefix + '_✓ _').length
-    : (prefix + '**→ **').length + liveSuffix.length
+  const wrapperOverhead =
+    (final ? (prefix + '_✓ _').length : (prefix + '**→ **').length + liveSuffix.length) + nestCost
   const headerFooterCost =
-    fixedCost + (fixedCost > 0 ? 1 : 0) + (parentMarker != null ? parentMarker.length + 1 : 0)
+    fixedCost +
+    (fixedCost > 0 ? 1 : 0) +
+    (parentMarker != null ? parentMarker.length + nestCost + 1 : 0)
   const budget = STATUS_CARD_CHAR_BUDGET - headerFooterCost - wrapperOverhead
   let raw = rawNewest.slice(0, Math.max(0, budget))
   let newest = escapeMarkdown(raw)
@@ -533,7 +562,7 @@ function fitCardToBudget(opts: StatusCardOpts, headerLines: string[]): string {
   if (parentMarker != null) lines.push(parentMarker)
   lines.push(newestLine)
   lines.push(...footerLines)
-  return stackCardLines(lines, { collapseSafe: true })
+  return stack(lines)
 }
 
 /**
@@ -769,7 +798,7 @@ function glanceLine(rows: CombinedWorkerRow[]): string {
   const tok = rows.reduce((n, r) => n + (r.totalTokens ?? 0), 0)
   const toolWord = tools === 1 ? 'tool' : 'tools'
   return (
-    `🛠 **Workers** · _${rows.length} running · oldest ${formatFeedElapsed(oldestMs)}` +
+    `🛠 **WORKERS** · _${rows.length} running · oldest ${formatFeedElapsed(oldestMs)}` +
     ` · ${tools} ${toolWord}${tokenSegment(tok)}_`
   )
 }
@@ -778,13 +807,17 @@ function glanceLine(rows: CombinedWorkerRow[]): string {
  * Render N≥1 live workers into ONE combined feed body (ready Telegram
  * markdown; callers send verbatim — do NOT re-escape). Layout:
  *
- *   🛠 **Workers** · _N running · oldest {elapsed} · {n} tools · {t} tok_
- *   **1. {desc1}** _· {elapsed} · {n} tools_
- *      ~~_✓ {earlier step}_~~
- *      **→ {newest step}**
- *   **2. {desc2}** _· {elapsed} · {n} tools_
- *      **→ {newest step}**
- *   _+M more working…_
+ *   └─ 🛠 **WORKERS** · _N running · oldest {elapsed} · {n} tools · {t} tok_
+ *      **1. {desc1}** _· {elapsed} · {n} tools_
+ *         ~~_✓ {earlier step}_~~
+ *         **→ {newest step}**
+ *      **2. {desc2}** _· {elapsed} · {n} tools_
+ *         **→ {newest step}**
+ *      _+M more working…_
+ *
+ * SUBORDINATION (#3820): line 1 carries `└─ ` and every later line carries
+ * `SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT`, so the whole card reads as a child block of the
+ * 🤖 agent card rather than a second top-level card with the same silhouette.
  *
  * INDENT: every step line carries a leading `WORKER_STEP_INDENT` (a U+2800 run
  * — neither ASCII spaces nor U+00A0; Telegram left-trims BOTH, see the
@@ -893,7 +926,17 @@ export function renderCombinedWorkerFeed(
     // renders it collapsed to one line with the newlines dropped and nothing
     // substituted. Without the separator the glance line runs straight into
     // row 1's ordinal and every step glyph mashes into the previous line.
-    return { body: stackCardLines(out, { collapseSafe: true }), bodyLines: bodyOut.length }
+    //
+    // Subordinate nesting (#3820) is applied LAST, over the finished line list:
+    // the glance line takes `└─ ` and every row header / step / spill line takes
+    // one `SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT`, so this card reads as a child block of the
+    // 🤖 agent card the same way the single-worker card does. Step lines already
+    // carry WORKER_STEP_INDENT, so they end up one level deeper than their row
+    // header — the intra-card hierarchy is preserved, just shifted right.
+    return {
+      body: stackCardLines(nestSubordinateCardLines(out), { collapseSafe: true }),
+      bodyLines: bodyOut.length,
+    }
   }
 
   // Cap to maxRows first, then shrink the visible set while EITHER the total

package/telegram-plugin/uat/assertions.ts

@@ -72,6 +72,25 @@ const ACTIVITY_BODY_LINE_RE = /^[→✓↳]/u;
  * Elapsed is `formatFeedElapsed`: `<N>s` under a minute, else `<M>m<SS>s`.
  */
 const LIVENESS_HEADER_L1_RE = /^(?:🤖|🛠[️]?|⚙[️]?)\s+\S/u;
+
+/**
+ * Leading chrome a SUBORDINATE (worker) card carries since #3820: the `└─ `
+ * header prefix on line 1 and a `U+2800` indent run on every later line, which
+ * together make the worker card readable as a child of the 🤖 agent card.
+ *
+ * Every line-shape matcher below must normalise it away first: Telegram
+ * delivers both verbatim, and NEITHER is stripped by `String.trim()` — U+2800
+ * is category So, not whitespace (that property is exactly why it survives
+ * Telegram's own left-trim; see WORKER_STEP_INDENT). Without this, a worker
+ * card's header stops matching `LIVENESS_HEADER_L1_RE` and its body lines stop
+ * matching `ACTIVITY_BODY_LINE_RE`.
+ */
+const SUBORDINATE_CARD_PREFIX_RE = /^(?:└─\s*|\u2800+)+/u;
+
+/** A card line with its subordinate-card nesting chrome removed, trimmed. */
+export function stripCardNesting(line: string): string {
+  return line.replace(SUBORDINATE_CARD_PREFIX_RE, "").trim();
+}
 const LIVENESS_ELAPSED = String.raw`(?:\d+m)?\d+s`;
 const LIVENESS_HEADER_L2_RE = new RegExp(
   `^(?:${LIVENESS_ELAPSED}\\s*·\\s*\\d+\\s+tools?` +
@@ -94,7 +113,7 @@ const LIVENESS_HEADER_L2_RE = new RegExp(
 export function isLivenessCardMessage(m: ObservedMessage): boolean {
   const lines = m.text
     .split("\n")
-    .map((l) => l.trim())
+    .map((l) => stripCardNesting(l))
     .filter((l) => l.length > 0);
   if (lines.length < 2) return false;
   if (!LIVENESS_HEADER_L1_RE.test(lines[0])) return false;
@@ -124,7 +143,7 @@ export function isLivenessCardMessage(m: ObservedMessage): boolean {
 export function isActivityFeedMessage(m: ObservedMessage): boolean {
   const lines = m.text
     .split("\n")
-    .map((l) => l.trim())
+    .map((l) => stripCardNesting(l))
     .filter((l) => l.length > 0);
   if (lines.length === 0) return false;
   if (lines.every((l) => ACTIVITY_FEED_LINE_RE.test(l))) return true;

package/telegram-plugin/uat/feed-matcher.test.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import {
   isFrameworkFallbackText,
   isLivenessCardMessage,
   isWorkerFeedMessage,
+  stripCardNesting,
   WORKER_FEED_RE,
 } from "./assertions.js";
 
@@ -50,6 +51,34 @@ describe("isWorkerFeedMessage", () => {
   it("exposes the regex for scenarios that assert on the feed directly", () => {
     expect(WORKER_FEED_RE.test("🛠 Worker · x")).toBe(true);
   });
+
+  it("still matches the #3820 SUBORDINATE worker card as Telegram delivers it", () => {
+    // Since #3820 the worker card leads with `└─ ` and indents every later line
+    // with a U+2800 run so it reads as a child of the 🤖 agent card. Telegram
+    // strips the bold/italic entities but delivers that chrome verbatim, and
+    // `String.trim()` removes neither (U+2800 is category So, not whitespace) —
+    // so every matcher here has to survive it or recall/reply scenarios start
+    // latching onto worker cards as answers.
+    const nested = "└─ 🛠 WORKER · crawling changelog\n⠀⠀⠀55s · 9 tools · opus 5";
+    expect(isWorkerFeedMessage(feed(nested))).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("#3820 subordinate-card nesting is transparent to the matchers", () => {
+  it("classifies a nested agent-shaped card as the liveness card, not an answer", () => {
+    const nested =
+      "└─ 🛠 WORKER · crawl\n⠀⠀⠀12s · 3 tools\n⠀⠀⠀✓ Reading CLAUDE.md\n⠀⠀⠀→ Searching memory";
+    expect(isLivenessCardMessage(feed(nested))).toBe(true);
+    expect(isActivityFeedMessage(feed(nested))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("strips the header prefix and the indent, and leaves ordinary prose alone", () => {
+    expect(stripCardNesting("└─ 🛠 WORKER · crawl")).toBe("🛠 WORKER · crawl");
+    expect(stripCardNesting("⠀⠀⠀→ Searching memory")).toBe("→ Searching memory");
+    expect(stripCardNesting("on it, pulling the logs now")).toBe(
+      "on it, pulling the logs now",
+    );
+  });
 });
 
 describe("isActivityFeedMessage", () => {

package/telegram-plugin/uat/scenarios/jtbd-liveness-narration-channel.test.ts

@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@
 
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { spinUp } from "../harness.js";
-import { isActivityFeedMessage, isFrameworkFallbackText } from "../assertions.js";
+import {
+  isActivityFeedMessage,
+  isFrameworkFallbackText,
+  stripCardNesting,
+} from "../assertions.js";
 import type { ObservedMessage } from "../driver.js";
 
 const AGENT = "test-harness";
@@ -30,7 +34,10 @@ const NARRATED_WORK_PROMPT =
 function narratedBodyLines(text: string): string[] {
   return text
     .split("\n")
-    .map((l) => l.trim())
+    // strip the #3820 subordinate-card nesting (`└─ ` / U+2800 indent) first —
+    // `trim()` removes neither, and a worker card's header/body lines would
+    // otherwise read as model narration
+    .map((l) => stripCardNesting(l))
     .filter((l) => l.length > 0)
     .map((l) => l.replace(/^[→✓↳]+\s*/u, "").trim())
     .filter(

package/telegram-plugin/uat/scenarios/jtbd-liveness-narration-dm.test.ts

@@ -17,7 +17,11 @@
 
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { spinUp } from "../harness.js";
-import { isActivityFeedMessage, isFrameworkFallbackText } from "../assertions.js";
+import {
+  isActivityFeedMessage,
+  isFrameworkFallbackText,
+  stripCardNesting,
+} from "../assertions.js";
 import type { ObservedMessage } from "../driver.js";
 
 /**
@@ -30,7 +34,10 @@ import type { ObservedMessage } from "../driver.js";
 function narratedBodyLines(text: string): string[] {
   return text
     .split("\n")
-    .map((l) => l.trim())
+    // strip the #3820 subordinate-card nesting (`└─ ` / U+2800 indent) first —
+    // `trim()` removes neither, and a worker card's header/body lines would
+    // otherwise read as model narration
+    .map((l) => stripCardNesting(l))
     .filter((l) => l.length > 0)
     // strip glyphs so a `→ Working…` placeholder compares as `Working…`
     .map((l) => l.replace(/^[→✓↳]+\s*/u, "").trim())

package/telegram-plugin/worker-activity-feed.ts

@@ -55,7 +55,11 @@ import {
   truncate,
   COLLAPSE_SAFE_SEPARATOR,
 } from './card-format.js'
-import { WORKER_HISTORY_MAX } from './status-no-truncate.js'
+import {
+  WORKER_HISTORY_MAX,
+  SUBORDINATE_HEADER_PREFIX,
+  SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT,
+} from './status-no-truncate.js'
 import {
   renderStatusCard,
   formatStepSuffix,
@@ -164,22 +168,30 @@ export function repeatCountOf(line: string): number {
 
 /**
  * Thin adapter over the unified `renderStatusCard` primitive (emoji 🛠, label
- * 'Worker'): builds the header, passes raw narrative steps (the primitive runs
- * stripMarkdown → collapse ws → clip → escape per line), and on finish passes
- * the cleaned result paragraph as the `result` block.
+ * 'WORKER', `subordinate: true`): builds the header, passes raw narrative steps
+ * (the primitive runs stripMarkdown → collapse ws → clip → escape per line),
+ * and on finish passes the cleaned result paragraph as the `result` block.
  *
  * Layout (running):
- *   🛠 <b>Worker</b> · <i>{description}</i>
- *   <i>{elapsed} · {n} tools</i>
- *   <s><i>✓ {earlier step}</i></s>
- *   <b>→ {newest step}</b>
+ *   └─ 🛠 **WORKER** · _{description}_
+ *      _{elapsed} · {n} tools_
+ *      ~~_✓ {earlier step}_~~
+ *      **→ {newest step}**
  *
  * Layout (finished): the feed renders all-done, then a rule + cleaned result:
- *   🛠 <b>Worker</b> · <i>{description}</i>
- *   <i>done · {n} tools · {elapsed}</i>
- *   <s><i>✓ {step}</i></s>
- *   ─────
- *   ✅ <i>{cleaned result paragraph}</i>
+ *   └─ 🛠 **WORKER** · _{description}_
+ *      _done · {n} tools · {elapsed}_
+ *      ~~_✓ {step}_~~
+ *      ─────
+ *      ✅ _{cleaned result paragraph}_
+ *
+ * SUBORDINATION (#3820): the `└─ ` prefix, the whole-block indent, and the
+ * caps `WORKER` label exist so this card cannot be mistaken for the 🤖 agent
+ * card at a glance on a phone. Before #3820 the two cards differed only by
+ * their emoji and one capitalised word while sharing the identical two-line
+ * header, stat row, and step trail. Do NOT "tidy" any of the three away
+ * individually: each is a separate one-glance cue, and the pair is frequently
+ * live in the same chat at the same time with overlapping step text.
  */
 export function renderWorkerActivity(v: WorkerActivityView, liveSuffix = ''): string {
   const desc = truncate(stripMarkdown(v.description).trim() || 'background task', DESC_MAX)
@@ -201,7 +213,9 @@ export function renderWorkerActivity(v: WorkerActivityView, liveSuffix = ''): st
 
   const header: Parameters<typeof renderStatusCard>[0]['header'] = {
     emoji: '🛠',
-    label: 'Worker',
+    // Caps (#3820, issue option 4): `WORKER` against the agent card's `Agent`
+    // is a high-contrast type label, not a same-shaped word one letter apart.
+    label: 'WORKER',
     description: desc,
     elapsedMs: v.elapsedMs,
     toolCount: v.toolCount,
@@ -237,10 +251,12 @@ export function renderWorkerActivity(v: WorkerActivityView, liveSuffix = ''): st
     // Lone-worker card: window to the w=1 point of Ken's curve (6) so it shows
     // the full recent trail, not the 5-line agent-card default (#3349).
     historyWindow: workerHistoryDepth(1),
+    // Structurally subordinate to the 🤖 agent card (#3820).
+    subordinate: true,
   })
   if (card == null) {
     // Unreachable (header always present) — defensive.
-    return `🛠 **Worker** · _starting…_`
+    return `${SUBORDINATE_HEADER_PREFIX}🛠 **WORKER** · _starting…_`
   }
   if (!finished && steps.length === 0) {
     // Header-only running render → append the starting placeholder with a GFM
@@ -249,7 +265,11 @@ export function renderWorkerActivity(v: WorkerActivityView, liveSuffix = ''): st
     // The collapse separator is carried here too (#3666) — this card is pinned,
     // and a hand-rolled seam would be the one boundary that still mashed in
     // Telegram's pinned bar.
-    return `${card}${COLLAPSE_SAFE_SEPARATOR}  \n_starting…_`
+    // The placeholder is a card BODY line, so it carries the subordinate indent
+    // like every other non-header line (#3820) — otherwise the one render state
+    // a user sees first (a just-dispatched worker) would be the one that isn't
+    // visibly nested.
+    return `${card}${COLLAPSE_SAFE_SEPARATOR}  \n${SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT}_starting…_`
   }
   return card
 }
@@ -598,7 +618,8 @@ const COOLDOWN_JITTER_MS = 500
  * tick, so it adds no edit churn / pin storm. Plain voice, no em dash.
  */
 const WORKER_CARD_SUPERSEDED_BODY =
-  '🛠 **Worker** · _continued_\n\n_Live progress moved to a fresh card to stay pinned._'
+  `${SUBORDINATE_HEADER_PREFIX}🛠 **WORKER** · _continued_\n\n` +
+  `${SUBORDINATE_LINE_INDENT}_Live progress moved to a fresh card to stay pinned._`
 
 function extractRetryAfterSecs(err: unknown): number | null {
   if (err == null || typeof err !== 'object') return null