diff --git a/desktop/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/DesktopState.kt b/desktop/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/DesktopState.kt
index 2b146bf..ed6e0ed 100644
--- a/desktop/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/DesktopState.kt
+++ b/desktop/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/DesktopState.kt
@@ -328,7 +328,12 @@ class DesktopState(private val appDir: File = defaultAppDir()) {
                 }
                 stopEngine()
                 apiProc = spawn(backend, File(venv, "uvicorn").absolutePath,
-                    listOf("shonar.main:app", "--port", "8000"), env)
+                    listOf("shonar.main:app", "--port", "8000") +
+                        // Dev mode: engine hot-reloads on backend source edits.
+                        (if (System.getenv("SHONAR_DEV") == "1")
+                            listOf("--reload", "--reload-dir", "shonar")
+                         else emptyList()),
+                    env)
                 var up = false
                 var waited = 0.0
                 while (waited < 120.0) {
@@ -746,9 +751,23 @@ class DesktopState(private val appDir: File = defaultAppDir()) {
             // If the file is mid-pipeline (pump running, or reprocess started
             // elsewhere), show live stage/progress instead of a stale report.
             while (true) {
-                val jobs = runCatching { parseJobs(provider.fetchJobs(remoteId)) }
-                    .getOrNull().orEmpty()
+                val fetched = runCatching { parseJobs(provider.fetchJobs(remoteId)) }
+                if (fetched.isFailure && d.jobs.isEmpty()) {
+                    // Don't fail silently: a dead session used to render as
+                    // an idle screen, indistinguishable from "never started".
+                    d.error = "Couldn't read job status from the engine: " +
+                        (fetched.exceptionOrNull()?.message ?: "unknown error")
+                } else if (fetched.isSuccess) {
+                    d.error = null
+                }
+                val jobs = fetched.getOrNull().orEmpty()
                 if (_detail.value?.file != file) break
+                // Pick up report rewrites made by the pump/completion paths
+                // while this screen sits open (they write the file, not us).
+                if (d.transcript == null) {
+                    val fresh = runCatching { reportFile(file).readText() }.getOrNull()
+                    if (fresh != null && fresh != d.reportText) d.reportText = fresh
+                }
                 d.jobs = jobs
                 jobLabel(jobs)?.let { d.busy = it } ?: run { d.busy = null }
                 _detail.value = d.copy()
diff --git a/desktop/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/Main.kt b/desktop/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/Main.kt
index f0b7a52..cccc3c6 100644
--- a/desktop/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/Main.kt
+++ b/desktop/app/src/main/kotlin/com/shonar/desktop/Main.kt
@@ -37,7 +37,17 @@ fun main() = application {
     var zoom by remember { mutableStateOf(1f) }
     Window(
         onCloseRequest = ::exitApplication,
-        title = "SHONAR Desktop",
+        title = "SHONAR Desktop" + run {
+            // Build stamp so "which window is this?" is answerable at a glance.
+            val jar = java.io.File(
+                System.getProperty("java.class.path", "").split(":")
+                    .firstOrNull { it.endsWith(".jar") } ?: "")
+            if (jar.exists()) {
+                val fmt = java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("HH:mm")
+                    .withZone(java.time.ZoneId.systemDefault())
+                " · build " + fmt.format(java.time.Instant.ofEpochMilli(jar.lastModified()))
+            } else ""
+        },
         state = rememberWindowState(width = 1100.dp, height = 800.dp),
     ) {
         val baseDensity = LocalDensity.current
diff --git a/desktop/desktop-dev.sh b/desktop/desktop-dev.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..021eeb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/desktop-dev.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# SHONAR desktop dev loop: runs the app and auto-restarts it when any
+# Kotlin/Gradle source changes (inotifywait). Engine runs in dev mode
+# (SHONAR_DEV=1 -> uvicorn --reload), so backend edits apply live too.
+#
+# Stop with Ctrl-C (or pkill -f desktop-dev.sh).
+set -euo pipefail
+cd "$(dirname "$0")"
+
+export SHONAR_DEV=1
+export DISPLAY="${DISPLAY:-:0}"
+
+WATCH_DIRS=(
+  "app/src/main/kotlin"
+  "../../android/app/src/main/java/com/shonar"
+)
+FLAG="$(pwd)/.dev-restart-flag"
+
+pkill -f "com.shonar.desktop.MainKt" 2>/dev/null || true
+rm -f "$FLAG"
+sleep 1
+
+(
+  while inotifywait -qq -e close_write,move \
+      --include '\.kt$|\.kts$' "${WATCH_DIRS[@]}" 2>/dev/null; do
+    echo "[dev] source change -> restarting app…"
+    touch "$FLAG"
+    pkill -f "com.shonar.desktop.MainKt" 2>/dev/null || true
+  done
+) &
+WATCHER=$!
+trap 'kill $WATCHER 2>/dev/null || true; rm -f "$FLAG"' EXIT
+
+while true; do
+  rm -f "$FLAG"
+  ./gradlew run --offline
+  if [ -f "$FLAG" ]; then
+    continue                       # killed by a source edit: rebuild now
+  fi
+  rm -f "$FLAG"
+  # App closed cleanly or build failed — wait for the next edit.
+  # (Build failure: gradlew prints the error; the loop idles until you fix it.)
+  inotifywait -qq -e close_write,move --include '\.kt$|\.kts$' "${WATCH_DIRS[@]}"
+done