diff --git a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.test.ts b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.test.ts
index 7652b56369266b155bd276bbb1d5af072e4a70ef..4bf007065a739b6b076b62278fba6e135c3576b9 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.test.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.test.ts
@@ -2806,6 +2806,75 @@ describe("ClaudeAdapterV2 background wake turns", () => {
       ),
   );
 
+  it.effect.each([
+    { model: "claude-opus-5-5", expected: "assistant_message" },
+    { model: "claude-fable-5-1", expected: "assistant_message" },
+    { model: "claude-opus-5", expected: "reasoning" },
+    { model: "claude-sonnet-4-6", expected: "reasoning" },
+  ] as const)(
+    "shows $model thinking right before a tool call as $expected",
+    ({ model, expected }) =>
+      Effect.gen(function* () {
+        const harness = yield* makeWakeHarness;
+        yield* harness.runtime.startTurn(
+          makeClaudeTestTurnInput({
+            threadId: harness.threadId,
+            providerThread: harness.providerThread,
+            now: yield* DateTime.now,
+            attemptId: RunAttemptId.make("thinking-before-tool-attempt"),
+            text: "Check the memory file",
+            attachments: [],
+          }),
+        );
+        const snapshot = (uuid: string, content: ReadonlyArray<unknown>) =>
+          claudeSdkFrame({
+            type: "assistant",
+            uuid,
+            session_id: WAKE_NATIVE_SESSION,
+            parent_tool_use_id: null,
+            message: { id: "reply-message", model, content },
+          });
+        const frames = [
+          snapshot("reasoning-snapshot", [
+            { type: "thinking", thinking: "Planning the check", signature: "sig" },
+          ]),
+          snapshot("reply-snapshot", [
+            {
+              type: "thinking",
+              thinking: "Found it: the memory file is the cause.",
+              signature: "sig",
+            },
+          ]),
+          snapshot("tool-snapshot", [
+            { type: "tool_use", id: "tool-1", name: "Bash", input: { command: "ls" } },
+          ]),
+          makeResultFrame({ uuid: "thinking-before-tool-result", result: "" }),
+        ];
+        for (const frame of frames) yield* Queue.offer(harness.sdkMessages, frame);
+        yield* Queue.take(harness.terminalReceipts);
+        const latest = new Map(
+          harness.events.flatMap((event) =>
+            event.type === "turn_item.updated" &&
+            (event.turnItem.type === "reasoning" || event.turnItem.type === "assistant_message")
+              ? [[event.turnItem.id, event.turnItem] as const]
+              : [],
+          ),
+        );
+        assert.deepEqual(
+          [...latest.values()].map((item) => [item.type, item.text]),
+          [
+            ["reasoning", "Planning the check"],
+            [expected, "Found it: the memory file is the cause."],
+          ],
+        );
+      }).pipe(
+        Effect.scoped,
+        Effect.provide(
+          Layer.mergeAll(IdAllocator.layer, McpProviderSessions.layer, NodeServices.layer),
+        ),
+      ),
+  );
+
   it.effect.each(["cancelled", "denied", "permission_denied", undefined])(
     "preserves native tool non-execution metadata %s without inferring a denial from text",
     (kind) =>
diff --git a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.ts b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.ts
index 80eb474365345b461d5d9d98e555e59abc881961..7199f73040ef9fe8a5a2bd02efb963355ed4011d 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.ts
@@ -1165,6 +1165,15 @@ function textFromClaudeContent(content: SDKAssistantMessage["message"]["content"
   return content.flatMap((part) => (part.type === "text" ? [part.text] : [])).join("");
 }
 
+// Claude 5.1 and later return the text written ahead of a tool call as a
+// thinking block, at most one per call, instead of a text block.
+function claudeWritesUpdatesAsThinking(model: string): boolean {
+  const match = /claude-[a-z]+-(\d+)(?:-(\d{1,2}))?(?!\d)/u.exec(model);
+  if (match === null) return false;
+  const major = Number(match[1]);
+  return major > 5 || (major === 5 && Number(match[2] ?? 0) >= 1);
+}
+
 // In SDK mode Claude reports `/goal` only through the transcript (its
 // `active_goal` event is remote-only): synthetic command output names the
 // goal, and each unmet evaluator check returns as Stop hook feedback.
@@ -2906,6 +2915,12 @@ interface ActiveClaudeTurnContext {
     readonly nextBlockIndex: Map<string, number>;
     readonly snapshotBlockIndex: Map<string, number>;
     readonly snapshots: Set<string>;
+    // The latest snapshot block, when it was non-empty thinking.
+    lastThinking: {
+      readonly messageId: string;
+      readonly itemId: string;
+      readonly text: string;
+    } | null;
     readonly blocks: Map<
       string,
       { readonly startedAt: DateTime.Utc; readonly ordinal: number; text: string }
@@ -6752,7 +6767,23 @@ export const makeClaudeAdapterV2 = Effect.fn("makeClaudeAdapterV2")(function* (
             // The SDK emits one assistant snapshot per completed content block.
             // Count thinking blocks separately so snapshots share the streamed ID.
             for (const block of message.message.content) {
-              if (block.type !== "thinking") continue;
+              if (block.type !== "thinking") {
+                const update = context.reasoning.lastThinking;
+                context.reasoning.lastThinking = null;
+                if (
+                  block.type === "tool_use" &&
+                  update?.messageId === message.message.id &&
+                  claudeWritesUpdatesAsThinking(message.message.model)
+                ) {
+                  // Same item ID, so the update replaces the Thought in place.
+                  yield* emitAssistantTextArtifacts({
+                    context,
+                    nativeItemId: update.itemId,
+                    text: update.text,
+                  });
+                }
+                continue;
+              }
               const index = context.reasoning.snapshotBlockIndex.get(message.message.id) ?? 0;
               context.reasoning.snapshotBlockIndex.set(message.message.id, index + 1);
               const itemId = `${message.message.id}:thinking:${index}`;
@@ -6764,6 +6795,9 @@ export const makeClaudeAdapterV2 = Effect.fn("makeClaudeAdapterV2")(function* (
                 ...(finalText ? { finalText } : {}),
                 emitEmpty: false,
               });
+              context.reasoning.lastThinking = finalText
+                ? { messageId: message.message.id, itemId, text: finalText }
+                : null;
             }
           }
 
@@ -8441,6 +8475,7 @@ export const makeClaudeAdapterV2 = Effect.fn("makeClaudeAdapterV2")(function* (
                 streamBlocks: new Map(),
                 nextBlockIndex: new Map(),
                 snapshotBlockIndex: new Map(),
+                lastThinking: null,
                 snapshots: new Set(),
                 blocks: new Map(),
               },