diff --git a/components/chat.tsx b/components/chat.tsx
index 446119c..1a110e6 100644
--- a/components/chat.tsx
+++ b/components/chat.tsx
@@ -637,22 +637,44 @@ export function Chat({
 				    60px is an ALIGNMENT, not just a size: it equals the sidebar's
 				    LH wordmark band, so the header's border-b continues that
 				    band's bottom edge as one line across the app (owner, round 6). */}
-				<header className="lh-drag flex h-15 items-center gap-3 border-b border-border px-3">
+				<header
+					// While renaming the bar is NOT a drag surface: app-region:drag
+					// would eat the mousedown, so click-to-escape (below) could
+					// never fire. Rename mode is interactive mode (owner ask).
+					className={
+						renaming
+							? "flex h-15 items-center gap-3 border-b border-border px-3"
+							: "lh-drag flex h-15 items-center gap-3 border-b border-border px-3"
+					}
+					onMouseDown={(e) => {
+						// Escape hitbox: any mousedown outside the input itself blurs
+						// it, running the existing onBlur commit path. The input is
+						// shrink-to-fit (field-sizing), so the rest of the bar is
+						// this spacer + inert chips — all click-to-exit (owner ask).
+						if (renaming && e.target !== titleInputRef.current) titleInputRef.current?.blur();
+					}}
+				>
 					<SidebarToggle />
 					{renaming ? (
-						<input
-							ref={titleInputRef}
-							value={titleDraft}
-							onChange={(e) => setTitleDraft(e.target.value)}
-							onKeyDown={(e) => {
-								if (e.key === "Enter") void commitRename(titleDraft);
-								else if (e.key === "Escape") setRenaming(false);
-							}}
-							onBlur={() => void commitRename(titleDraft)}
-							spellCheck={false}
-							aria-label="Session title"
-							className="lh-no-drag min-w-0 flex-1 bg-transparent font-title text-3xl tracking-tight caret-current outline-none"
-						/>
+						<>
+							<input
+								ref={titleInputRef}
+								value={titleDraft}
+								onChange={(e) => setTitleDraft(e.target.value)}
+								onKeyDown={(e) => {
+									if (e.key === "Enter") void commitRename(titleDraft);
+									else if (e.key === "Escape") setRenaming(false);
+								}}
+								onBlur={() => void commitRename(titleDraft)}
+								spellCheck={false}
+								aria-label="Session title"
+								className="lh-no-drag min-w-[8ch] max-w-[70%] shrink-0 bg-transparent font-title text-3xl tracking-tight caret-current outline-none [field-sizing:content]"
+							/>
+							{/* flex-1 spacer during rename too, so the chips stay at
+							    the right edge; clicks here commit via the header
+							    mousedown handler. */}
+							<div className="min-w-4 flex-1" aria-hidden="true" />
+						</>
 					) : (
 					<>
 						<button
diff --git a/components/graph-view.tsx b/components/graph-view.tsx
index 3f7a56e..2111242 100644
--- a/components/graph-view.tsx
+++ b/components/graph-view.tsx
@@ -969,8 +969,12 @@ export function GraphView() {
 			    without shifting its siblings — every button is 44px tall,
 			    top alignment pins the row. Coverage renders even when the
 			    graph is EMPTY — an empty graph with unextracted sessions is
-			    exactly when it matters (extract → the graph gains nodes). */}
-			<div className="absolute right-3 top-3 z-10 flex items-start gap-2">
+			    exactly when it matters (extract → the graph gains nodes).
+			    lh-no-drag (2026-09-17): home.tsx's floating drag strip
+			    underlays this row — Electron's drag mask ignores z-index,
+			    so without an explicit carve-out the controls were
+			    unclickable in the desktop app (owner report). */}
+			<div className="lh-no-drag absolute right-3 top-3 z-10 flex items-start gap-2">
 				{!isEmpty && (
 					<>
 					{/* Search — its own container (icon + input + no-match note). */}
@@ -1055,7 +1059,10 @@ export function GraphView() {
 					// Positioned imperatively in the layout effect above; hidden
 					// until placed so the flip never flashes in the wrong spot.
 					style={{ visibility: "hidden", left: 0, top: 0 }}
-					className="absolute z-10 w-80 max-w-[calc(100%-1rem)] rounded-xl border bg-card p-4 text-left shadow-lg"
+					// lh-no-drag: the card is placed anywhere on the canvas —
+					// when it lands in the top strip it must stay interactive
+					// over home.tsx's drag surface (2026-09-17).
+					className="lh-no-drag absolute z-10 w-80 max-w-[calc(100%-1rem)] rounded-xl border bg-card p-4 text-left shadow-lg"
 				>
 					<div className="text-sm font-medium leading-snug">{selected.node.name}</div>
 					<div className="mt-1 text-xs leading-relaxed text-muted-foreground">{selected.node.statement}</div>
diff --git a/components/phase-divider.tsx b/components/phase-divider.tsx
index c9c6ff5..1d4c602 100644
--- a/components/phase-divider.tsx
+++ b/components/phase-divider.tsx
@@ -34,12 +34,15 @@ const CHIP_LABEL: Record<Phase3, string> = {
 /** The header chip: the phase label, monochrome — label-only by design
  *  (see the component note: the pill's curve suits text, not glyphs). */
 export function PhaseChip({ phase }: { phase: Phase3 }) {
+	// Pure decoration (owner ask, 2026-09-17): no tooltip, not selectable,
+	// not interactive in any way — no pointer events at all, so it is part
+	// of the drag surface instead of a carved-out target.
 	return (
 		<span
 			data-testid="phase-chip"
 			data-phase={phase}
-			title={`Session phase: ${CHIP_LABEL[phase]}`}
-			className="lh-no-drag flex shrink-0 items-center rounded-full border border-border/80 px-2 py-0.5 text-xs font-medium uppercase tracking-wide text-muted-foreground"
+			aria-hidden="true"
+			className="pointer-events-none flex shrink-0 select-none items-center rounded-full border border-border/80 px-2 py-0.5 text-xs font-medium uppercase tracking-wide text-muted-foreground"
 		>
 			{CHIP_LABEL[phase]}
 		</span>
diff --git a/components/sidebar.tsx b/components/sidebar.tsx
index 5a3927d..2691953 100644
--- a/components/sidebar.tsx
+++ b/components/sidebar.tsx
@@ -264,10 +264,12 @@ function SessionsSidebar() {
 					    home link, still vertically centered by the band's items-center.
 					    The 92px .lh-lights-gutter keeps it clear of the traffic lights
 					    with the lights' own edge-inset as the gap. */}
+					{/* Hover mirrors the ghost toggle buttons (owner ask, 2026-09-17):
+					    same size-9 chip geometry, same hover:bg-accent treatment. */}
 					<Link
 						href="/"
 						aria-label="Home"
-						className="lh-no-drag shrink-0 rounded-md transition-opacity hover:opacity-80"
+						className="lh-no-drag flex size-9 shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-md transition-colors hover:bg-accent hover:text-accent-foreground dark:hover:bg-accent/50"
 					>
 						<LhMark className="size-6" />
 					</Link>
diff --git a/electron/main.cjs b/electron/main.cjs
index ad9d962..d48177c 100644
--- a/electron/main.cjs
+++ b/electron/main.cjs
@@ -187,11 +187,14 @@ function createWindow(url) {
 		// Merged chrome (owner, 2026-09-17): the system title bar is gone;
 		// the app's own 60px header bands ARE the title bar. The traffic
 		// lights float over the sidebar's LH wordmark band, vertically
-		// centered on its 60px line (12px circles: y 24–36), with the LH
-		// wordmark starting at x≈80 (components/sidebar.tsx gutter).
+		// Aligned to the PHASE PILL's drawn box, not the band's geometric
+		// center (owner ask, 2026-09-17): macOS centers each 12px circle at
+		// y+6.75, and the pill box center measures 29.25 in the running app
+		// (band 0–59.5, pill box 19–39.5) — y 22.5 lands the circles at
+		// 29.25, exactly on the pill. Wordmark gutter: components/sidebar.tsx.
 		// Dragging comes from the renderer's .lh-drag bands (app/globals.css).
 		titleBarStyle: "hiddenInset",
-		trafficLightPosition: { x: 16, y: 24 },
+		trafficLightPosition: { x: 16, y: 22.5 },
 		webPreferences: {
 			contextIsolation: true,
 			sandbox: true,