diff --git a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.test.ts b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.test.ts
index ec65e9a5ac5ced3219bfd20a343b987e33339c51..edaafff081e2e3f34fb1c244a7aef8bd66b57329 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.test.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.test.ts
@@ -2863,10 +2863,29 @@ describe("ClaudeAdapterV2 background wake turns", () => {
       ),
   );
 
-  // Summarized thinking can't tell a progress update from reasoning, so both stay Thoughts.
-  it.effect.each(["claude-opus-5-5", "claude-fable-5-1", "claude-opus-5", "claude-sonnet-4-6"])(
-    "keeps %s thinking right before a tool call as reasoning",
-    (model) =>
+  // Summarized display can't mark a progress update, so only the second of two
+  // thinking blocks before a tool call becomes text; a lone block is reasoning.
+  const plan = "Planning the check";
+  const update = "Found it: the memory file is the cause.";
+  it.effect.each([
+    {
+      model: "claude-opus-5-5",
+      texts: [plan, update],
+      expected: ["reasoning", "assistant_message"],
+    },
+    {
+      model: "claude-fable-5-1",
+      texts: [plan, update],
+      expected: ["reasoning", "assistant_message"],
+    },
+    { model: "claude-opus-5", texts: [plan, update], expected: ["reasoning", "reasoning"] },
+    { model: "claude-sonnet-4-6", texts: [plan, update], expected: ["reasoning", "reasoning"] },
+    { model: "claude-opus-5-5", texts: [plan], expected: ["reasoning"] },
+    { model: "claude-opus-5-5", texts: [plan, " \n "], expected: ["reasoning", "reasoning"] },
+    { model: "claude-opus-5-5", texts: [" \n ", update], expected: ["reasoning", "reasoning"] },
+  ] as const)(
+    "shows $model thinking $texts before a tool call as $expected",
+    ({ model, texts, expected }) =>
       Effect.gen(function* () {
         const harness = yield* makeWakeHarness;
         yield* harness.runtime.startTurn(
@@ -2888,16 +2907,11 @@ describe("ClaudeAdapterV2 background wake turns", () => {
             message: { id: "reply-message", model, content },
           });
         const frames = [
-          snapshot("reasoning-snapshot", [
-            { type: "thinking", thinking: "Planning the check", signature: "sig" },
-          ]),
-          snapshot("reply-snapshot", [
-            {
-              type: "thinking",
-              thinking: "Found it: the memory file is the cause.",
-              signature: "sig",
-            },
-          ]),
+          ...texts.map((thinking, index) =>
+            snapshot(`thinking-snapshot-${index}`, [
+              { type: "thinking", thinking, signature: "sig" },
+            ]),
+          ),
           snapshot("tool-snapshot", [
             { type: "tool_use", id: "tool-1", name: "Bash", input: { command: "ls" } },
           ]),
@@ -2913,12 +2927,14 @@ describe("ClaudeAdapterV2 background wake turns", () => {
               : [],
           ),
         );
+        const items = [...latest.values()];
         assert.deepEqual(
-          [...latest.values()].map((item) => [item.type, item.text]),
-          [
-            ["reasoning", "Planning the check"],
-            ["reasoning", "Found it: the memory file is the cause."],
-          ],
+          items.map((item) => item.type),
+          [...expected],
+        );
+        assert.deepEqual(
+          items.map((item) => item.text),
+          [...texts],
         );
       }).pipe(
         Effect.scoped,
diff --git a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.ts b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.ts
index 9a871c49d4006142abc4956db49004ee5ee16583..c84aff8913c8ff0679f34454ec85b8a6dfb06879 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/Adapters/ClaudeAdapterV2.ts
@@ -1275,6 +1275,17 @@ 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. Summarized
+// display makes it look like reasoning, so only the second of two thinking
+// blocks right before a tool call is treated as that text.
+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.
@@ -3016,6 +3027,13 @@ 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;
+      readonly followsThinking: boolean;
+    } | null;
     readonly blocks: Map<
       string,
       { readonly startedAt: DateTime.Utc; readonly ordinal: number; text: string }
@@ -6962,18 +6980,45 @@ 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 !== null &&
+                  update.messageId === message.message.id &&
+                  update.followsThinking &&
+                  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}`;
               yield* ensureReasoningBlock(context, itemId);
               const finalText = block.thinking || context.reasoning.blocks.get(itemId)?.text;
-              yield* reasoningDeltas.complete({
+              const completedText = yield* reasoningDeltas.complete({
                 turnId: context.nativeTurnId,
                 itemId,
                 ...(finalText ? { finalText } : {}),
                 emitEmpty: false,
               });
+              const previous = context.reasoning.lastThinking;
+              context.reasoning.lastThinking = completedText.trim()
+                ? {
+                    messageId: message.message.id,
+                    itemId,
+                    text: completedText,
+                    followsThinking: previous !== null && previous.messageId === message.message.id,
+                  }
+                : null;
             }
           }
 
@@ -8699,6 +8744,7 @@ export const makeClaudeAdapterV2 = Effect.fn("makeClaudeAdapterV2")(function* (
                 streamBlocks: new Map(),
                 nextBlockIndex: new Map(),
                 snapshotBlockIndex: new Map(),
+                lastThinking: null,
                 snapshots: new Set(),
                 blocks: new Map(),
               },