diff --git a/desktop/frontend/src/components/StreamingIndicator.tsx b/desktop/frontend/src/components/StreamingIndicator.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..73e3390b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/frontend/src/components/StreamingIndicator.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import { Loader2, AlertCircle, RotateCcw } from "lucide-react";
+
+// StreamingIndicator is the small "thinking / stalled / error" affordance
+// shown beneath an in-flight assistant bubble. It's a state machine driven
+// by the streaming prop on the message plus a wall-clock timer that
+// escalates to "stalled" when no new chunk has arrived in 6 seconds.
+//
+//   preparing   — turn started, no text yet (a model warm-up pause)
+//   streaming   — text deltas arrived within the stall window
+//   stalled     — no deltas for >6s while still streaming (model is
+//                 thinking, network is slow, or the request dropped)
+//   error       — turn ended with `e.err` (Message already renders the
+//                 error notice, this is just a small retry hint)
+//
+// The indicator is purely visual — it doesn't talk to the controller. The
+// parent (Message) re-renders on every controller dispatch, so the timer
+// is reset implicitly when item.text grows. We track the last text length
+// we saw and the timestamp; a re-render with a longer text resets both.
+//
+// The Retry button is rendered in the `error` state only and is a no-op
+// stub — wiring the actual retry requires a controller-level re-submit
+// of the previous turn, which is a separate concern. The button is
+// there to signal the affordance; the controller integration is a
+// follow-up that adds a ResumeFrom(offset) binding.
+export type StreamingPhase = "preparing" | "streaming" | "stalled" | "error";
+
+export function StreamingIndicator({
+  text,
+  streaming,
+  errored,
+  onRetry,
+}: {
+  text: string;
+  streaming: boolean;
+  errored: boolean;
+  onRetry?: () => void;
+}) {
+  // lastLen / lastTick are the "I saw progress recently" markers. A render
+  // where the text grew (lastLen < text.length) updates lastTick to now.
+  // The stalled check is "now - lastTick > STALL_MS".
+  const [lastLen, setLastLen] = useState(text.length);
+  const [lastTick, setLastTick] = useState(() => Date.now());
+  const [, force] = useState(0); // re-render trigger for the stall timer
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (text.length > lastLen) {
+      setLastLen(text.length);
+      setLastTick(Date.now());
+    }
+  }, [text.length, lastLen]);
+
+  // Heartbeat re-render: once per second while we're streaming, the
+  // indicator re-evaluates stalled vs streaming. We don't use setInterval
+  // (it drifts and survives unmount); a 1Hz setTimeout chain self-cancels
+  // on unmount and on the streaming prop flipping false.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!streaming) return;
+    const id = setTimeout(() => force((n) => n + 1), 1000);
+    return () => clearTimeout(id);
+  }, [streaming, lastTick, lastLen, text.length]);
+
+  if (errored) {
+    return (
+      <div className="streaming-indicator streaming-indicator--error" role="status">
+        <AlertCircle size={11} />
+        <span>Turn ended with an error</span>
+        {onRetry && (
+          <button type="button" className="streaming-indicator__retry" onClick={onRetry}>
+            <RotateCcw size={11} />
+            <span>Retry</span>
+          </button>
+        )}
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
+  if (!streaming) return null;
+
+  const sinceTick = Date.now() - lastTick;
+  const phase: StreamingPhase = text.length === 0 ? "preparing" : sinceTick > 6000 ? "stalled" : "streaming";
+  return (
+    <div className={`streaming-indicator streaming-indicator--${phase}`} role="status" aria-live="polite">
+      <Loader2 size={11} className="streaming-indicator__spin" />
+      <span>
+        {phase === "preparing"
+          ? "Preparing…"
+          : phase === "stalled"
+            ? "Still working… (no new tokens in a moment)"
+            : "Streaming…"}
+      </span>
+    </div>
+  );
+}