diff --git a/tests/storybook-visual/agent-personas.spec.ts b/tests/storybook-visual/agent-personas.spec.ts
index fa2607e318..29a2ea0aec 100644
--- a/tests/storybook-visual/agent-personas.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/storybook-visual/agent-personas.spec.ts
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ for (const id of fullPages) {
     await expect(page.locator("main")).toBeVisible();
     await expect(page.locator("main")).not.toContainText("This page hit an error");
     await expect(page.locator('img[src*="/api/agent-avatars/"]').first()).toBeAttached();
+    if (id === "company-dashboard") await expect(page.getByText("Live now", { exact: true })).toBeVisible();
     await imagesLoaded(page);
     await expect(page.locator("canvas")).toHaveCount(0);
     await expect(page).toHaveScreenshot(`full-page-${id}.png`, { animations: "disabled", maxDiffPixels: 0 });
diff --git a/ui/storybook/stories/agent-persona-pages.stories.tsx b/ui/storybook/stories/agent-persona-pages.stories.tsx
index abb94068e7..ee36bb6242 100644
--- a/ui/storybook/stories/agent-persona-pages.stories.tsx
+++ b/ui/storybook/stories/agent-persona-pages.stories.tsx
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ const agents = storybookAgents.map(agent => {
   const appearance = resolveAgentAppearance(agent.appearance, agent.id);
   return { ...agent, appearance, avatarUrl: agentAvatarUrl(appearance), chainOfCommand: [], access: { canAssignTasks: true, taskAssignSource: "explicit_grant", membership: null, grants: [] } };
 });
+const liveRuns = storybookLiveRuns.map(run => ({ ...run, agentAppearance: agents.find(agent => agent.id === run.agentId)?.appearance }));
 const issue = { ...storybookIssues[0], assigneeAgentId: agents[0].id, status: "in_progress" };
 
 /** Real route components and navigation; all domain data stays in Storybook. */
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ function installPageFixtures() {
     if (path === `/api/companies/${companyId}/agents`) return json(agents);
     if (path.endsWith("/dashboard")) return json(storybookDashboardSummary);
     if (path === `/api/companies/${companyId}/activity`) return json(storybookActivityEvents);
-    if (path === `/api/companies/${companyId}/live-runs`) return json(storybookLiveRuns.map(run => ({ ...run, agentAppearance: agents.find(agent => agent.id === run.agentId)?.appearance })));
+    if (path === `/api/companies/${companyId}/live-runs`) return json(liveRuns);
     const agentMatch = path.match(/^\/api\/agents\/([^/]+)(?:\/(.*))?$/);
     if (agentMatch) {
       const agent = agents.find(item => item.id === agentMatch[1] || item.urlKey === agentMatch[1]) ?? agents[0];
@@ -82,6 +83,9 @@ function PersonaPage({ path, meet = false }: { path: string; meet?: boolean }) {
     if (initialPath.current === path) return;
     initialPath.current = path;
     queryClient.setQueryData(queryKeys.agents.list(companyId), agents);
+    // Shared polling elects a leader asynchronously; seed the visible panel so
+    // its initial render is independent of that election and the avatar cache.
+    queryClient.setQueryData([...queryKeys.liveRuns(companyId), "dashboard", { minRunCount: 4, fetchLimit: undefined }], liveRuns);
     for (const agent of agents) {
       for (const ref of [agent.id, agent.urlKey]) queryClient.setQueryData([...queryKeys.agents.detail(ref!), companyId], agent);
     }