diff --git a/packages/app/src/panels/agent-panel.tsx b/packages/app/src/panels/agent-panel.tsx
index 1eaaacccc..4b0844855 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/panels/agent-panel.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/panels/agent-panel.tsx
@@ -908,7 +908,7 @@ function ChatAgentContent({
       }
       return;
     }
-    if (!isConnected || !hasSession) {
+    if (!isPaneFocused || !isConnected || !hasSession) {
       return;
     }
     if (
@@ -969,6 +969,7 @@ function ChatAgentContent({
     ensureAgentIsInitialized,
     hasSession,
     isConnected,
+    isPaneFocused,
     missingAgentState.kind,
     serverId,
   ]);
diff --git a/packages/app/src/utils/agent-directory-reconciliation.test.ts b/packages/app/src/utils/agent-directory-reconciliation.test.ts
index ca9e9ba03..cb52bf69d 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/utils/agent-directory-reconciliation.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/utils/agent-directory-reconciliation.test.ts
@@ -183,4 +183,32 @@ describe("agent directory reconciliation", () => {
       usage: { inputTokens: 20, outputTokens: 8 },
     });
   });
+
+  it("preserves usage when a stale buffered upsert omits it", () => {
+    const result = reconcileAgentDirectory({
+      previous: new Map(),
+      snapshot: [
+        {
+          ...entry("agent", "idle"),
+          agent: {
+            ...snapshot("agent", "idle"),
+            updatedAt: "2026-07-12T12:00:00.000Z",
+            lastUsage: { inputTokens: 10, outputTokens: 5 },
+          },
+        },
+      ],
+      deltas: [
+        {
+          kind: "upsert",
+          agent: {
+            ...snapshot("agent", "running"),
+            updatedAt: "2026-07-12T11:00:00.000Z",
+          },
+          project: entry("agent", "idle").project,
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    expect(result.entries[0]?.agent.lastUsage).toEqual({ inputTokens: 10, outputTokens: 5 });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/app/src/utils/agent-directory-update-policy.ts b/packages/app/src/utils/agent-directory-update-policy.ts
index a802ae3b9..4d14f101b 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/utils/agent-directory-update-policy.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/utils/agent-directory-update-policy.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ export function acceptAgentDirectoryUpdate<T extends AgentUpdateValue>(
   incoming: T,
 ): T {
   if (!current || timestamp(incoming.updatedAt) >= timestamp(current.updatedAt)) return incoming;
+  if (incoming.lastUsage === undefined) return current;
   if (equal(incoming.lastUsage, current.lastUsage)) return current;
   return { ...current, lastUsage: incoming.lastUsage };
 }