diff --git a/packages/agent/src/adapters/claude/conversion/sdk-to-acp.ts b/packages/agent/src/adapters/claude/conversion/sdk-to-acp.ts
index 3d5dc0e28b..589a7793b9 100644
--- a/packages/agent/src/adapters/claude/conversion/sdk-to-acp.ts
+++ b/packages/agent/src/adapters/claude/conversion/sdk-to-acp.ts
@@ -136,6 +136,60 @@ function bashCommandFromToolUse(
   return typeof command === "string" ? command : undefined;
 }
 
+const TOOL_ARGS_PREVIEW_LIMIT = 240;
+
+const TOOL_ARGS_PREVIEW_KEYS = [
+  "file_path",
+  "notebook_path",
+  "path",
+  "code", // MCP exec / hogql / sql payloads
+  "query", // search queries
+  "pattern", // grep / glob patterns
+  "url",
+  "description",
+  "prompt", // Task / Agent sub-agent prompt
+  "name", // schema lookups
+  "title",
+];
+
+function toolArgsPreview(
+  chunk: ToolUseCache[string],
+  bashCommand: string | undefined,
+): string {
+  const input = chunk.input as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+  const tryField = (key: string): string | undefined => {
+    const v = input?.[key];
+    return typeof v === "string" && v ? v : undefined;
+  };
+
+  let raw = bashCommand;
+  if (!raw) {
+    for (const key of TOOL_ARGS_PREVIEW_KEYS) {
+      const v = tryField(key);
+      if (v) {
+        raw = v;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  // Fallback: take the first short-string arg of the input. Avoids returning
+  // the empty string when an MCP tool uses an arg name we don't enumerate
+  // above. Bound by ``TOOL_ARGS_PREVIEW_LIMIT`` after the truncation below.
+  if (!raw && input) {
+    for (const value of Object.values(input)) {
+      if (typeof value === "string" && value.trim()) {
+        raw = value;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  if (!raw) return "";
+  const oneLine = raw.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
+  return oneLine.length > TOOL_ARGS_PREVIEW_LIMIT
+    ? `${oneLine.slice(0, TOOL_ARGS_PREVIEW_LIMIT - 1)}…`
+    : oneLine;
+}
+
 function handleTextChunk(
   chunk: { text: string },
   role: Role,
@@ -249,6 +303,30 @@ function handleToolUseChunk(
     cwd: ctx.cwd,
   });
 
+  // Broadcast a live "agent is doing X" status when a tool first starts so
+  // downstream consumers (the Slack orchestrator) can render it as a status
+  // line in the thread without inferring intent from raw tool names. The
+  // `tool_name` + `tool_args_preview` fields let renderers show the bare tool
+  // name on the plan-block step and a short preview of the args (file path,
+  // command, query) on the `details` line — same shape as Slack's
+  // task_update chunk.
+  if (!alreadyCached && toolInfo.title) {
+    void ctx.client
+      .extNotification(POSTHOG_NOTIFICATIONS.STATUS, {
+        sessionId: ctx.sessionId,
+        status: "tool_use",
+        text: toolInfo.title,
+        tool_name: chunk.name,
+        tool_args_preview: toolArgsPreview(
+          chunk,
+          bashCommandFromToolUse(chunk),
+        ),
+      })
+      .catch(() => {
+        // Best-effort — a failed status broadcast must not break tool execution.
+      });
+  }
+
   const meta: Record<string, unknown> = {
     ...toolMeta(
       chunk.name,
diff --git a/packages/agent/src/posthog-api.ts b/packages/agent/src/posthog-api.ts
index fb0c161d1a..3cd3889c9d 100644
--- a/packages/agent/src/posthog-api.ts
+++ b/packages/agent/src/posthog-api.ts
@@ -209,13 +209,14 @@ export class PostHogAPIClient {
     taskId: string,
     runId: string,
     text: string,
+    kind: "reply" | "question" = "reply",
   ): Promise<void> {
     const teamId = this.getTeamId();
     await this.apiRequest<{ status: string }>(
       `/api/projects/${teamId}/tasks/${taskId}/runs/${runId}/relay_message/`,
       {
         method: "POST",
-        body: JSON.stringify({ text }),
+        body: JSON.stringify({ text, kind }),
       },
     );
   }
diff --git a/packages/agent/src/server/agent-server.ts b/packages/agent/src/server/agent-server.ts
index 0492b9fd06..17988ad6aa 100644
--- a/packages/agent/src/server/agent-server.ts
+++ b/packages/agent/src/server/agent-server.ts
@@ -2315,7 +2315,7 @@ ${signedCommitInstructions}
 
     this.questionRelayedToSlack = true;
     this.posthogAPI
-      .relayMessage(payload.task_id, payload.run_id, message)
+      .relayMessage(payload.task_id, payload.run_id, message, "question")
       .catch((err) =>
         this.logger.debug("Failed to relay question to Slack", { err }),
       );