diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx
index 3c4d1d3e98..da4ff828cb 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx
@@ -13,10 +13,13 @@ import { LayoutTreeRoot } from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer'
 import type { DoubleTapContext } from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/drag-session'
 import {
   $layoutTree,
+  bindPaneVisibility,
+  bindToolPaneCollapse,
   bindTreeSideVisibility,
   declareDefaultTree,
   dismissTreePane,
   dockPaneBeside,
+  isPaneVisible,
   markCollapsePane,
   mirrorLayoutTree,
   paneRootSide,
@@ -26,8 +29,7 @@ import {
   removeTreePane,
   resetLayoutTree,
   revealTreePane,
-  setPaneCollapsed,
-  setTreePaneHidden,
+  togglePaneVisible,
   watchContributedPanes
 } from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/store'
 import { SidebarProvider } from '@/components/ui/sidebar'
@@ -54,7 +56,7 @@ import {
   SIDEBAR_MAX_WIDTH
 } from '@/store/layout'
 import { $previewOpenRequest, $previewTabs, closeRightRail } from '@/store/preview'
-import { $reviewOpen, closeReview, REVIEW_PANE_ID } from '@/store/review'
+import { $reviewOpen, closeReview, openReview, REVIEW_PANE_ID } from '@/store/review'
 import { $currentCwd, $selectedStoredSessionId, $sessions, $yoloActive, sessionMatchesStoredId } from '@/store/session'
 import { watchSessionPins } from '@/store/session-pin-sync'
 import { $statusbarVisible } from '@/store/statusbar-prefs'
@@ -175,7 +177,11 @@ registry.registerMany([
     // staying collapsed behind the ⌃` toggle. height sizes the fixed track (a
     // single-pane zone declaring a height is a fixed track — the preset weight
     // is moot): a short deck, not a third of the window.
-    data: { placement: 'bottom', height: '20vh', minHeight: '7.5rem', maxHeight: '80vh', revealOnPreset: true },
+    //
+    // NO minHeight: a tool panel drags all the way down to its collapsed
+    // header (the sash floors it at COLLAPSED_ZONE_PX and folds the zone to
+    // its rail there). A real floor left a sliver of unusable terminal.
+    data: { placement: 'bottom', height: '20vh', maxHeight: '80vh', revealOnPreset: true },
     render: () => <WiredPane part="terminal" />
   },
   {
@@ -455,49 +461,13 @@ registerLayoutResetHandler(stackSessionTilesIntoMain)
 // toggle mirrors the root row.
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-function bindPaneVisibility(
-  paneId: string,
-  $open: { get(): boolean; listen(fn: (open: boolean) => void): void },
-  close?: () => void,
-  open?: () => void
-) {
-  setTreePaneHidden(paneId, !$open.get())
-  $open.listen(isOpen => setTreePaneHidden(paneId, !isOpen))
+// HIDE-STYLE PANES (files, review, preview): the binding lives in the tree
+// store — bindPaneVisibility — alongside bindToolPaneCollapse, so both are
+// testable against the real function instead of a copy.
 
-  // The tab menu's Close routes through the owning store (never dismissal),
-  // so the pane's toggle buttons stay truthful.
-  if (close) {
-    registerPaneCloser(paneId, close)
-  }
-
-  // The opener is the mirror: preset application (revealOnPreset) shows the
-  // pane through the same store, so the toggle stays truthful.
-  if (open) {
-    registerPaneOpener(paneId, open)
-  }
-}
-
-// TOOL PANELS (terminal, logs): like bindPaneVisibility but the toggle COLLAPSES
-// the zone to a persistent rail (tab stays) instead of hiding it — the
-// IntelliJ/VS-Code tool-window model. Restore routes back through `open` (rail
-// click / chevron) so ⌃`/the button stay truthful; Close removes the tab.
-//
-// OPEN goes through revealTreePane, not setPaneCollapsed: Close DISMISSES the
-// pane, and setPaneCollapsed can't act on a pane that has left the tree — the
-// toggle would flip its store with nothing coming back. revealTreePane
-// un-dismisses and re-adopts.
-function bindPaneCollapse(
-  paneId: string,
-  $open: { get(): boolean; listen(fn: (open: boolean) => void): void },
-  close: () => void,
-  open: () => void
-) {
-  markCollapsePane(paneId)
-  setPaneCollapsed(paneId, !$open.get())
-  $open.listen(isOpen => (isOpen ? revealTreePane(paneId) : setPaneCollapsed(paneId, true)))
-  registerPaneCloser(paneId, close)
-  registerPaneOpener(paneId, open)
-}
+// TOOL PANELS (terminal, logs): the binding lives in the tree store —
+// bindToolPaneCollapse — so the boot rule it encodes is testable against the
+// real function instead of a copy. See its docblock for the semantics.
 
 // SIDES have one source of truth: the TREE. The legacy $panesFlipped flag is
 // DERIVED from where the sessions zone actually sits (TitlebarControls maps
@@ -550,26 +520,39 @@ const $hasWorkspace = computed($currentCwd, cwd => Boolean(cwd.trim()))
 // The tree pane's own presence tracks ⌘J directly, not just the column's
 // collapse — otherwise revealing a preview (which opens that shared column)
 // would drag the tree along with it. See revealPreview.
+//
+// Both get a CLOSER and an OPENER. The closer keeps ⌘J/⌘G truthful when the
+// pane is closed from the tab menu; the opener is its mirror, so bringing the
+// pane back through the tree (the toggle's reveal path, the rail, a preset)
+// writes the store too. Without the opener the boolean went stale the moment
+// anything but the toggle showed the pane — the divergence this whole change
+// is about.
 bindPaneVisibility(
   'files',
-  computed([$hasWorkspace, $fileBrowserOpen], (workspace, open) => workspace && open)
+  computed([$hasWorkspace, $fileBrowserOpen], (workspace, open) => workspace && open),
+  () => setFileBrowserOpen(false),
+  () => setFileBrowserOpen(true)
 )
 // ⌘G — the review sidebar appears/disappears (and comes to the front).
 bindPaneVisibility(
   'review',
   computed([$reviewOpen, $hasWorkspace], (open, workspace) => open && workspace),
-  closeReview
+  closeReview,
+  openReview
 )
 // ⌃` / statusbar toggle — the terminal COLLAPSES to a rail (tab stays), not
 // hides; PTYs stay alive while collapsed (see PersistentTerminal).
-bindPaneCollapse(
+bindToolPaneCollapse(
   'terminal',
   $terminalTakeover,
   () => setTerminalTakeover(false),
   () => setTerminalTakeover(true)
 )
-// ⌘K door onto the same store the keybind and statusbar pill flip — was a
+// ⌘K door onto the same pane the keybind and statusbar pill flip — was a
 // one-way "open" row under Go to, so it never showed on/off and couldn't hide.
+// Reads the TREE like every other pane toggle: `$terminalTakeover` stays true
+// behind a stacked sibling tab or a minimized zone, which would light the row
+// "on" for a terminal that isn't on screen.
 registry.register(
   paletteToggle({
     id: 'view.showTerminal',
@@ -577,8 +560,8 @@ registry.register(
     action: 'view.showTerminal',
     icon: Terminal,
     keywords: ['terminal', 'shell', 'console', 'pty'],
-    get: () => $terminalTakeover.get(),
-    set: setTerminalTakeover
+    get: () => isPaneVisible('terminal'),
+    set: () => togglePaneVisible('terminal')
   })
 )
 
@@ -606,13 +589,14 @@ const syncLogsPane = (open: boolean) => {
       id: 'logs',
       area: 'panes',
       title: 'logs',
-      // Same tool-panel sizing rule as the terminal above. dock: its OWN zone
-      // beside the terminal — never a tab in the terminal's strip.
+      // Same tool-panel sizing rule as the terminal above — no minHeight, so
+      // the sash floors it at COLLAPSED_ZONE_PX and folds the zone to its rail
+      // rather than leaving a sliver. dock: its OWN zone beside the terminal —
+      // never a tab in the terminal's strip.
       data: {
         placement: 'bottom',
         dock: { pane: 'terminal', pos: 'right' },
         height: '20vh',
-        minHeight: '7.5rem',
         maxHeight: '80vh'
       },
       render: () => idle(<LogsPane />)
@@ -650,8 +634,13 @@ registry.register(
     label: 'Toggle logs',
     icon: FileText,
     keywords: ['logs', 'agent log', 'tail', 'debug'],
-    get: () => $logsOpen.get(),
-    set: enabled => $logsOpen.set(enabled)
+    // On-screen, not the store's boolean. Summon-only keeps the two in step
+    // while logs sits in its own zone, but the user can still drag it into the
+    // terminal's strip or minimize its zone — and then `$logsOpen` reads true
+    // with nothing visible, so the row would show "on" and its press would
+    // spend itself re-asserting a value it already held.
+    get: () => isPaneVisible('logs'),
+    set: () => togglePaneVisible('logs')
   })
 )
 
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/hooks/use-keybinds.ts b/apps/desktop/src/app/hooks/use-keybinds.ts
index dcd97cf29c..32d9caaba2 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/hooks/use-keybinds.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/hooks/use-keybinds.ts
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@ import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react'
 import { useNavigate } from 'react-router'
 
 import { closeActiveTab } from '@/app/chat/close-tab'
-import { $terminalTakeover, setTerminalTakeover } from '@/app/right-sidebar/store'
+import { setTerminalTakeover } from '@/app/right-sidebar/store'
 import { closeActiveTerminal, createTerminal, cycleTerminal } from '@/app/right-sidebar/terminal/terminals'
-import { activateTreeTabSlot, cycleTreeTabInFocusedZone, layoutHasRootSide } from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/store'
+import {
+  activateTreeTabSlot,
+  cycleTreeTabInFocusedZone,
+  isPaneVisible,
+  layoutHasRootSide,
+  togglePaneVisible
+} from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/store'
 import { onReleaseTypingFocus } from '@/components/ui/keyboard-first'
 import { findBarClaimsCombo } from '@/lib/find-in-page'
 import { contributedKeybindHandler, PROFILE_SLOT_COUNT, SESSION_SLOT_COUNT } from '@/lib/keybinds/actions'
@@ -184,22 +190,23 @@ export function useKeybinds(deps: KeybindRuntimeDeps): void {
     // terminal-on-bottom) would leave it a dead key, so it falls back to the
     // terminal there. The single "secondary panel" toggle.
     'view.toggleRightSidebar': () =>
-      layoutHasRootSide('right') ? toggleFileBrowserOpen() : setTerminalTakeover(!$terminalTakeover.get()),
+      layoutHasRootSide('right') ? toggleFileBrowserOpen() : togglePaneVisible('terminal'),
     'view.toggleReview': toggleReview,
     'view.toggleStatusbar': toggleStatusbarVisible,
     'view.showFiles': showFiles,
-    'view.showTerminal': () => setTerminalTakeover(!$terminalTakeover.get()),
+    'view.showTerminal': () => togglePaneVisible('terminal'),
     // Create first so the pane's open-effect ensure sees a non-empty set and
     // doesn't also spawn one — net effect is exactly one fresh terminal.
     'view.newTerminal': () => {
       createTerminal()
       setTerminalTakeover(true)
     },
-    // Switch / close only act while the pane is open (no focus-scoping here, so
-    // this stands in for "terminal is showing").
-    'view.nextTerminal': () => $terminalTakeover.get() && cycleTerminal(1),
-    'view.prevTerminal': () => $terminalTakeover.get() && cycleTerminal(-1),
-    'view.closeTerminal': () => $terminalTakeover.get() && closeActiveTerminal(),
+    // Switch / close only act while the terminal is actually ON SCREEN — ask
+    // the tree, not the toggle store (which stays true behind a stacked
+    // sibling tab or a minimized zone).
+    'view.nextTerminal': () => isPaneVisible('terminal') && cycleTerminal(1),
+    'view.prevTerminal': () => isPaneVisible('terminal') && cycleTerminal(-1),
+    'view.closeTerminal': () => isPaneVisible('terminal') && closeActiveTerminal(),
     'view.flipPanes': togglePanesFlipped,
     // ⌘W: close the focused tab (terminal / preview target / zone tree tab).
     // On the main tab with session tabs stacked, it shifts the next one in —
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/hooks/use-statusbar-items.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/hooks/use-statusbar-items.tsx
index 0aa3c69fe3..adedab3fa5 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/hooks/use-statusbar-items.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/hooks/use-statusbar-items.tsx
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@ import { useStore } from '@nanostores/react'
 import { useCallback, useMemo } from 'react'
 
 import type { CommandCenterSection } from '@/app/command-center'
-import { $terminalTakeover, setTerminalTakeover } from '@/app/right-sidebar/store'
 import { useApprovalModeStatusbarItem } from '@/app/shell/approval-mode-menu'
 import { ContextUsagePanel } from '@/app/shell/context-usage-panel'
 import { GatewayMenuPanel } from '@/app/shell/gateway-menu-panel'
+import { $paneVisible, togglePaneVisible } from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/store'
 import { Codicon } from '@/components/ui/codicon'
 import { GlyphSpinner } from '@/components/ui/glyph-spinner'
 import { useI18n } from '@/i18n'
@@ -92,7 +92,10 @@ export function useStatusbarItems({
   const fileMenu = t.fileMenu
   const primaryActiveSessionId = useStore($activeSessionId)
   const activeGatewayProfile = useStore($activeGatewayProfile)
-  const terminalTakeover = useStore($terminalTakeover)
+  // What the button paints and flips is whether the terminal is ON SCREEN —
+  // the takeover store alone stays true behind a stacked sibling tab or a
+  // minimized zone, which lit the button for a pane the user couldn't see.
+  const terminalShowing = useStore($paneVisible('terminal'))
   const primaryBusy = useStore($busy)
   const currentCwd = useStore($currentCwd)
   // Derive the workspace's project name from the already-cached project tree
@@ -506,12 +509,12 @@ export function useStatusbarItems({
       },
       {
         actionId: 'view.showTerminal',
-        className: `w-7 justify-center px-0${terminalTakeover ? ' bg-accent/55 text-foreground' : ''}`,
+        className: `w-7 justify-center px-0${terminalShowing ? ' bg-accent/55 text-foreground' : ''}`,
         hidden: !chatOpen,
         icon: <Terminal className="size-3.5" />,
         id: 'terminal',
-        onSelect: () => setTerminalTakeover(!$terminalTakeover.get()),
-        title: terminalTakeover ? copy.hideTerminal : copy.showTerminal,
+        onSelect: () => togglePaneVisible('terminal'),
+        title: terminalShowing ? copy.hideTerminal : copy.showTerminal,
         toggleLabel: copy.toggleTerminal,
         variant: 'action'
       },
@@ -533,7 +536,7 @@ export function useStatusbarItems({
       requestGateway,
       sessionStartedAt,
       gatewayState,
-      terminalTakeover,
+      terminalShowing,
       turnStartedAt
     ]
   )
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/model.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/model.ts
index 0834360b0a..7f61143bab 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/model.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/model.ts
@@ -134,17 +134,18 @@ export function normalize(node: LayoutNode): LayoutNode | null {
     }
 
     const active = node.panes.includes(node.active) ? node.active : node.panes[0]
-    // A zone down to one pane clears a redundant HIDDEN override (the lone-pane
-    // default is already headerless) but KEEPS an explicit SHOWN override —
-    // once a zone has ever had a tab bar, closing back to one tab leaves it
-    // shown (sticky bar; the off switch is "Hide tab bar"). `false` survives.
-    const headerHidden = node.panes.length <= 1 && node.headerHidden !== false ? undefined : node.headerHidden
 
-    if (active === node.active && headerHidden === node.headerHidden) {
+    // NOTE: `headerHidden` is deliberately untouched here. A zone down to one
+    // pane is headerless by default anyway, so a stored `true` is visually
+    // redundant *while it's alone* — but normalize used to DROP it, which threw
+    // away the user's standing choice: the bar came back the moment a pane
+    // rejoined (close a stacked tool panel, toggle it back on). `false` is
+    // sticky for the mirror reason — once a zone has had a tab bar, it keeps it.
+    if (active === node.active) {
       return node
     }
 
-    return { ...node, active, headerHidden }
+    return { ...node, active }
   }
 
   const children: LayoutNode[] = []
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/pane-toggle-visibility.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/pane-toggle-visibility.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1f57ed0158
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/pane-toggle-visibility.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+import { atom } from 'nanostores'
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+import { registry } from '@/contrib/registry'
+
+import { group, split } from './model'
+import {
+  $dismissedPanes,
+  $hiddenTreePanes,
+  $layoutTree,
+  bindPaneVisibility,
+  isPaneVisible,
+  setTreeGroupMinimized,
+  togglePaneVisible
+} from './store'
+
+// The bug class, across EVERY pane kind — not just the terminal she reported.
+//
+// A toggle that flips its own boolean diverges from the tree the moment
+// anything else moves the pane: stacked behind a sibling tab, folded into a
+// minimized zone, closed with ⌘W. The store then says "open" while nothing is
+// on screen, the press re-asserts a value it already held, and the key reads
+// as dead. Same shape for the COLLAPSE-style tool panels (terminal, logs) and
+// the HIDE-style panes (files, review) — proven here with one table.
+
+const disposers: (() => void)[] = []
+
+/** Bind through the REAL production function, with the closer/opener pair the
+ *  controller gives it. */
+function bindVisibility(paneId: string, $open: ReturnType<typeof atom<boolean>>) {
+  bindPaneVisibility(
+    paneId,
+    $open,
+    () => $open.set(false),
+    () => $open.set(true)
+  )
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  window.localStorage.clear()
+  $dismissedPanes.set(new Set())
+  $hiddenTreePanes.set(new Set())
+
+  for (const [id, data] of [
+    ['workspace', { placement: 'main', uncloseable: true }],
+    ['files', { placement: 'right' }],
+    ['review', { placement: 'right' }]
+  ] as const) {
+    disposers.push(registry.register({ area: 'panes', data, id, render: () => null, title: id }))
+  }
+})
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  disposers.splice(0).forEach(dispose => dispose())
+})
+
+describe('a hide-style pane stacked behind a sibling tab', () => {
+  it('comes forward on the first press instead of swallowing it', () => {
+    $layoutTree.set(
+      split('row', [
+        group(['workspace'], { active: 'workspace', id: 'g-main' }),
+        group(['files', 'review'], { active: 'files', id: 'g-right' })
+      ])
+    )
+
+    const $review = atom(true)
+    bindVisibility('review', $review)
+
+    // The column is open but showing FILES, so the diff is not on screen —
+    // and $reviewOpen is true, which is what made ⌘G a no-op.
+    expect(isPaneVisible('review')).toBe(false)
+
+    togglePaneVisible('review')
+
+    expect(isPaneVisible('review')).toBe(true)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('a hide-style pane inside a minimized zone', () => {
+  it('un-minimizes on the first press', () => {
+    $layoutTree.set(
+      split('row', [
+        group(['workspace'], { active: 'workspace', id: 'g-main' }),
+        group(['files'], { active: 'files', id: 'g-files' })
+      ])
+    )
+
+    const $files = atom(true)
+    bindVisibility('files', $files)
+    setTreeGroupMinimized('g-files', true)
+
+    expect(isPaneVisible('files')).toBe(false)
+
+    togglePaneVisible('files')
+
+    expect(isPaneVisible('files')).toBe(true)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('the toggle round-trip', () => {
+  it('closes a visible hide-style pane through its own store', () => {
+    $layoutTree.set(
+      split('row', [
+        group(['workspace'], { active: 'workspace', id: 'g-main' }),
+        group(['files'], { active: 'files', id: 'g-files' })
+      ])
+    )
+
+    const $files = atom(true)
+    bindVisibility('files', $files)
+
+    expect(isPaneVisible('files')).toBe(true)
+
+    togglePaneVisible('files')
+
+    // Close routes through the registered closer, so the pane's own toggle
+    // store stays truthful rather than being bypassed by a tree edit.
+    expect($files.get()).toBe(false)
+    expect(isPaneVisible('files')).toBe(false)
+
+    togglePaneVisible('files')
+
+    expect($files.get()).toBe(true)
+    expect(isPaneVisible('files')).toBe(true)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/track-model.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/track-model.ts
index 7dd10012aa..67dbdac932 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/track-model.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/track-model.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,15 @@ import type { FloatingAnchor } from './floating-rect'
 
 export const MIN_PANE_PX = 80
 
+/**
+ * The floor for a TOOL PANEL zone (terminal / logs) instead of `MIN_PANE_PX`.
+ * A tool panel is meant to be draggable down to nothing — the minimized rail
+ * (its header strip, `h-7`) is the smallest meaningful form, so the sash lets
+ * it shrink to exactly that and then collapses the zone rather than jamming
+ * against an 80px floor with a sliver of unusable content still showing.
+ */
+export const COLLAPSED_ZONE_PX = 28
+
 /** Optional CSS sizing a pane contributes (`data.width` / `data.minWidth`…).
  *  Applied to the pane's GROUP along the axis of the split that contains it —
  *  the same semantics as the app's `Pane width/minWidth/maxWidth` props:
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-split.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-split.tsx
index 378341552b..07a4e18a84 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-split.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-split.tsx
@@ -22,12 +22,15 @@ import {
   $collapsedTreeSides,
   $hiddenTreePanes,
   $narrowViewport,
+  isCollapsePane,
   persistTree,
   presetSplitWeights,
+  setTreeGroupMinimized,
   setTreeSplitWeights
 } from '../store'
 
 import {
+  COLLAPSED_ZONE_PX,
   computedPx,
   cssMax,
   edgeFixedZone,
@@ -43,6 +46,18 @@ import {
 } from './track-model'
 import { TreeNode } from './tree-node'
 
+/** The single group id a subtree resolves to, or null when it holds several
+ *  zones — the sash can only collapse a boundary that IS exactly one zone. */
+function groupIdOf(node: LayoutNode): null | string {
+  if (node.type === 'group') {
+    return node.id
+  }
+
+  const ids = new Set(node.children.map(groupIdOf))
+
+  return ids.size === 1 ? [...ids][0] : null
+}
+
 /**
  * The size overrides for a fixed set of panes, referentially stable until one
  * of THEM changes. Sash drags churn `$paneStates` every frame; subscribing the
@@ -197,6 +212,11 @@ export function TreeSplit({ node, root, rootRow }: { node: SplitNode; root?: boo
         // Clamps live on the zone's split-child WRAPPER (where we render them).
         const el = zoneEl?.parentElement ?? wrapper
         const cs = window.getComputedStyle(el)
+        // A tool panel (terminal / logs) may be dragged down to its collapsed
+        // header — the generic 80px floor is not its floor. Below that the
+        // release minimizes the zone instead of leaving a useless sliver.
+        const toolZone = allPaneIds(child).length > 0 && allPaneIds(child).every(isCollapsePane)
+        const floor = toolZone ? COLLAPSED_ZONE_PX : MIN_PANE_PX
 
         return {
           // EVERY shown pane of the zone: the zone's track is the max() of its
@@ -206,8 +226,10 @@ export function TreeSplit({ node, root, rootRow }: { node: SplitNode; root?: boo
           paneIds: zone ? shownPaneIds(zone, trackCtx) : [],
           fixed: Boolean(zone),
           size: sizeOf(zoneEl ?? wrapper),
-          min: Math.max(MIN_PANE_PX, computedPx(horizontal ? cs.minWidth : cs.minHeight, 0)),
-          max: computedPx(horizontal ? cs.maxWidth : cs.maxHeight, Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY)
+          min: toolZone ? floor : Math.max(floor, computedPx(horizontal ? cs.minWidth : cs.minHeight, 0)),
+          max: computedPx(horizontal ? cs.maxWidth : cs.maxHeight, Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY),
+          collapseId: toolZone ? (zone?.id ?? groupIdOf(child)) : null,
+          floor
         }
       }
 
@@ -310,9 +332,21 @@ export function TreeSplit({ node, root, rootRow }: { node: SplitNode; root?: boo
         resize.finish()
 
         if (lastShift !== null) {
-          // One store commit; the re-render rewrites `flex` and clears the
-          // preview overrides.
-          applyShift(lastShift)
+          // Dragged a tool panel down to its collapsed header? Fold the zone
+          // to its rail instead of persisting a sliver — and DON'T write the
+          // sliver size, so restoring brings back the size it had before.
+          const collapsedSide =
+            (a.collapseId && a0px + lastShift <= a.floor && a.collapseId) ||
+            (b.collapseId && b0px - lastShift <= b.floor && b.collapseId) ||
+            null
+
+          if (collapsedSide) {
+            setTreeGroupMinimized(collapsedSide, true)
+          } else {
+            // One store commit; the re-render rewrites `flex` and clears the
+            // preview overrides.
+            applyShift(lastShift)
+          }
         } else {
           // Click without movement: nothing will re-render, so put the
           // wrappers' inline styles back exactly as React last wrote them.
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/store.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/store.ts
index a1abe54478..42267459b9 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/store.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/store.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * the persisted tree is the user's customization; reset returns to default.
  */
 
-import { atom, computed } from 'nanostores'
+import { atom, computed, type ReadableAtom } from 'nanostores'
 
 import { SIDEBAR_COLLAPSE_MEDIA_QUERY } from '@/app/layout-constants'
 import { setPluginEnabled } from '@/contrib/plugins-store'
@@ -1050,16 +1050,27 @@ function adoptContributedPanes(): void {
     const target = findGroupOfPane(next, anchor ?? '')?.id
 
     if (target) {
+      // Whether the DESTINATION zone's header was explicitly hidden, read
+      // BEFORE the insert — `insertAtGroup` pins `headerHidden: false` on a
+      // center drop (a stack you can't see is a trap), which is right for a
+      // drag but wrong for adoption into a zone whose bar the user hid.
+      const hostHeaderHidden = findGroup(next, target)?.headerHidden === true
+
       // Silent adoption: don't front over the zone's active tab — a reveal does.
       next = insertAtGroup(next, target, pane.id, dock?.pos ?? 'center', dock?.before, false) ?? next
 
       // An adopted pane ARRIVES with its chip showing — a surprise zone with
       // zero chrome has no obvious handle to drag or close. (Explicit reveal;
       // the next structural op returns lone panes to the auto-hide default.)
+      //
+      // EXCEPT into a zone whose header the user explicitly hid: that's a
+      // standing preference about the zone, not a stale default. Without this
+      // the bar came back every time a tool panel was closed and toggled on
+      // again — Close dismisses the pane, the toggle re-adopts it through here.
       const landed = findGroupOfPane(next, pane.id)
 
       if (landed) {
-        next = setGroupHeaderHiddenOp(next, landed.id, false)
+        next = setGroupHeaderHiddenOp(next, landed.id, hostHeaderHidden)
       }
     }
   }
@@ -1314,34 +1325,146 @@ export function setPaneCollapsed(paneId: string, collapsed: boolean) {
 }
 
 /** Restore a minimized tool pane the truthful way — through its store opener
- *  when bound (keeps ⌃`/titlebar toggles in sync), else just un-minimize +
- *  front. Used by the rail (tab / whole-rail click) and the header chevron. */
+ *  when bound (keeps ⌃`/titlebar toggles in sync), then reveal regardless.
+ *  Used by the rail (tab / whole-rail click), the header chevron, and ⌃`.
+ *
+ *  The opener is fire-and-forget because it may be a NO-OP: the store can
+ *  already be `true` while the pane is off screen (the zone was minimized from
+ *  the zone menu, the tab was closed with ⌘W, or a stacked sibling holds the
+ *  active slot). nanostores don't fire listeners on a same-value `.set()`, so
+ *  the bindPaneCollapse listener never runs. `revealTreePane` is idempotent and
+ *  does the real work — un-dismiss, un-collapse the side, un-minimize, front. */
 export function restoreTreePane(paneId: string) {
-  const open = paneOpeners[paneId]
+  paneOpeners[paneId]?.()
+  revealTreePane(paneId)
+}
 
-  if (open) {
-    open()
-
-    // The opener may be a no-op — the store was already true (zone minimized
-    // via the zone menu, not the toggle). nanostores don't fire listeners on
-    // a same-value .set(), so the bindPaneCollapse listener never runs and
-    // the zone stays minimized. Un-minimize directly when that happens.
-    const group = paneGroup(paneId)
-
-    if (group?.minimized) {
-      setTreeGroupMinimized(group.id, false)
-    }
-
-    revealTreePane(paneId)
-
-    return
+/** Is a pane actually ON SCREEN? In the tree, not dismissed, not chrome
+ *  hidden, its zone un-minimized, and holding its stack's active slot.
+ *  True for every pane class — tool panels and hide-style panes alike. */
+export function isPaneVisible(paneId: string): boolean {
+  if ($dismissedPanes.get().has(paneId) || $hiddenTreePanes.get().has(paneId)) {
+    return false
   }
 
   const group = paneGroup(paneId)
 
-  if (group) {
-    setTreeGroupMinimized(group.id, false)
-    activateTreePane(group.id, paneId)
+  return Boolean(group && !group.minimized && group.active === paneId)
+}
+
+const paneVisibleCache = new Map<string, ReadableAtom<boolean>>()
+
+/** Reactive `isPaneVisible` for chrome that renders an on/off affordance
+ *  (the statusbar's terminal button). Memoized per pane id so `useStore`
+ *  subscriptions stay referentially stable across renders. */
+export function $paneVisible(paneId: string): ReadableAtom<boolean> {
+  let cached = paneVisibleCache.get(paneId)
+
+  if (!cached) {
+    cached = computed([$layoutTree, $dismissedPanes, $hiddenTreePanes], () => isPaneVisible(paneId))
+    paneVisibleCache.set(paneId, cached)
+  }
+
+  return cached
+}
+
+/**
+ * HIDE-STYLE PANES (files, review, preview): bind a pane's visibility STORE to
+ * the tree so its toggle HIDES the pane — its zone collapses while the content
+ * stays mounted — as opposed to the tool panels, which collapse to a rail and
+ * keep their tab.
+ *
+ * `close` and `open` are a PAIR, and passing only one is the bug this exists to
+ * prevent. The closer keeps the toggle truthful when the pane is closed from
+ * the tab menu; the opener is its mirror, so anything that shows the pane
+ * through the tree — a reveal, a preset, the toggle's own un-hide path — writes
+ * the store too. With a closer and no opener the boolean goes stale the moment
+ * something other than the toggle reveals the pane, and the next press spends
+ * itself re-asserting a value it already held.
+ */
+export function bindPaneVisibility(
+  paneId: string,
+  $open: { get(): boolean; listen(fn: (open: boolean) => void): void },
+  close?: () => void,
+  open?: () => void
+) {
+  setTreePaneHidden(paneId, !$open.get())
+  $open.listen(isOpen => setTreePaneHidden(paneId, !isOpen))
+
+  if (close) {
+    registerPaneCloser(paneId, close)
+  }
+
+  if (open) {
+    registerPaneOpener(paneId, open)
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * TOOL PANELS (terminal, logs): bind a pane's visibility STORE to the tree so
+ * its toggle COLLAPSES the zone to a persistent rail (the tab stays) instead of
+ * hiding it — the IntelliJ/VS-Code tool-window model. Restore routes back
+ * through `open` (rail click / chevron) so ⌃` and the statusbar button stay
+ * truthful; Close removes the tab.
+ *
+ * OPEN goes through `revealTreePane`, not `setPaneCollapsed`: Close DISMISSES
+ * the pane, and `setPaneCollapsed` is a no-op on a pane that has left the tree,
+ * so the toggle would flip its store with nothing coming back. `revealTreePane`
+ * un-dismisses and re-adopts.
+ *
+ * BOOT ONLY COLLAPSES — it must never reveal. `setPaneCollapsed(id, false)`
+ * fronts the pane in its stack, so binding two tool panels that are both "open"
+ * let the second one steal the active tab from the persisted tree. With
+ * terminal+logs stacked (what you get by dragging the terminal to the bottom),
+ * logs bound last and won the slot; ⌃` then asked to collapse a terminal that
+ * wasn't the active tab, the shared-zone branch declined, and the key read as
+ * dead until the stack was broken up. The persisted tree already records which
+ * tab was active — leave it alone.
+ */
+export function bindToolPaneCollapse(
+  paneId: string,
+  $open: { get(): boolean; listen(fn: (open: boolean) => void): void },
+  close: () => void,
+  open: () => void
+) {
+  markCollapsePane(paneId)
+
+  if (!$open.get()) {
+    setPaneCollapsed(paneId, true)
+  }
+
+  $open.listen(isOpen => (isOpen ? revealTreePane(paneId) : setPaneCollapsed(paneId, true)))
+  registerPaneCloser(paneId, close)
+  registerPaneOpener(paneId, open)
+}
+
+/**
+ * EVERY pane toggle: ⌃`, ⌘G, the statusbar button, the ⌘K rows. ONE resolver
+ * for "flip this pane", derived from what is on screen rather than from the
+ * toggle's own boolean.
+ *
+ * A free-floating `!$open.get()` diverges from the tree the moment anything
+ * else moves the pane — stacked behind a sibling tab, minimized from the zone
+ * menu, closed with ⌘W — and then the toggle spends its press re-asserting a
+ * value the store already held, which reads as a dead key. Asking the tree
+ * instead means the first press always does the visible thing.
+ *
+ * This is not a tool-panel quirk. The hide-style panes (files, review) had it
+ * too: `setTreePaneHidden(id, false)` deliberately does NOT front or
+ * un-minimize, because reactive unhides (a cwd arriving) must not clobber what
+ * the user is looking at. Correct for a reactive change, useless for a
+ * keypress — so user intent routes here and reactive bindings keep the quiet
+ * path.
+ *
+ * Close goes through `closeTreePane` so each pane keeps its own semantics: a
+ * tool panel collapses to its rail, files/review close through their store,
+ * anything else is dismissed.
+ */
+export function togglePaneVisible(paneId: string) {
+  if (isPaneVisible(paneId)) {
+    closeTreePane(paneId)
+  } else {
+    restoreTreePane(paneId)
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/tool-pane-toggle.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/tool-pane-toggle.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6e24300d6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/tool-pane-toggle.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+import { atom } from 'nanostores'
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+import { registry } from '@/contrib/registry'
+
+import { allPaneIds, group, split } from './model'
+import {
+  $dismissedPanes,
+  $hiddenTreePanes,
+  $layoutTree,
+  bindToolPaneCollapse,
+  closeToolPane,
+  isPaneVisible,
+  setTreeGroupHeaderHidden,
+  togglePaneVisible
+} from './store'
+
+// Ground truth for "toggle terminal broke — ⌘J/⌘B work fine, but once I move
+// the terminal around it just doesn't open/close anymore", and for "I have the
+// header hidden and it keeps coming back".
+//
+// Both symptoms need the terminal STACKED with logs, which is the layout you
+// get by dragging the terminal to the bottom: adoption stacks logs into the
+// terminal's zone. A lone terminal never reproduced either bug, which is why
+// they read as "randomly broken".
+
+const disposers: (() => void)[] = []
+
+/** Bind through the REAL production function, with the ergonomics the
+ *  controller gives it (closer/opener writing the same store). */
+function bindPaneCollapse(paneId: string, $open: ReturnType<typeof atom<boolean>>) {
+  bindToolPaneCollapse(
+    paneId,
+    $open,
+    () => $open.set(false),
+    () => $open.set(true)
+  )
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  window.localStorage.clear()
+  $dismissedPanes.set(new Set())
+  $hiddenTreePanes.set(new Set())
+
+  for (const [id, data] of [
+    ['workspace', { placement: 'main', uncloseable: true }],
+    ['terminal', { placement: 'bottom' }],
+    ['logs', { placement: 'bottom' }]
+  ] as const) {
+    disposers.push(registry.register({ area: 'panes', data, id, render: () => null, title: id }))
+  }
+})
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  disposers.splice(0).forEach(dispose => dispose())
+})
+
+/** The bottom tool zone, as the tree currently holds it. */
+const toolZone = () => {
+  const tree = $layoutTree.get()!
+
+  const found =
+    tree.type === 'split'
+      ? tree.children.find(c => c.type === 'group' && (c.panes.includes('terminal') || c.panes.includes('logs')))
+      : null
+
+  return found as { active?: string; headerHidden?: boolean; minimized?: boolean; panes: string[] } | null
+}
+
+/** Terminal dragged to the bottom; logs adopted into the same zone.
+ *
+ *  Set via `$layoutTree.set`, NOT `declareDefaultTree` — that only adopts into
+ *  an existing tree, and `$layoutTree` is module state that survives between
+ *  tests, so the second case would silently assert against the first's shape. */
+const stackTree = (options?: { active?: string; headerHidden?: boolean }) => {
+  $layoutTree.set(
+    split('column', [
+      group(['workspace'], { active: 'workspace', id: 'grp-main' }),
+      group(['terminal', 'logs'], {
+        active: options?.active ?? 'terminal',
+        headerHidden: options?.headerHidden,
+        id: 'g-tools'
+      })
+    ])
+  )
+}
+
+describe('binding a tool panel on boot', () => {
+  it('does not front itself over the tab the persisted tree had active', () => {
+    stackTree({ active: 'terminal' })
+
+    const $terminal = atom(true)
+    const $logs = atom(true)
+    bindPaneCollapse('terminal', $terminal)
+    bindPaneCollapse('logs', $logs)
+
+    // Binding logs LAST must not steal the active slot. It used to, because
+    // boot called setPaneCollapsed(id, false), whose shared-zone branch
+    // reveals.
+    expect(toolZone()?.active).toBe('terminal')
+  })
+
+  it('leaves ⌃` able to collapse the zone straight after boot', () => {
+    stackTree({ active: 'terminal' })
+
+    const $terminal = atom(true)
+    bindPaneCollapse('terminal', $terminal)
+    bindPaneCollapse('logs', atom(true))
+
+    // THE reported symptom, driven the way the keybind drives it. When boot
+    // fronted logs, this asked setPaneCollapsed to fold a terminal that wasn't
+    // the active tab; the shared-zone branch declines that, so the first press
+    // did nothing at all and ⌃` read as a dead key.
+    $terminal.set(false)
+
+    expect(toolZone()?.minimized).toBe(true)
+    expect(isPaneVisible('terminal')).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('still collapses a tool panel whose store says it is off', () => {
+    stackTree()
+
+    bindPaneCollapse('terminal', atom(false))
+
+    expect(toolZone()?.minimized).toBe(true)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('toggling the terminal while it is stacked with logs', () => {
+  it('closes and reopens on every press', () => {
+    stackTree({ active: 'terminal' })
+    bindPaneCollapse('terminal', atom(true))
+    bindPaneCollapse('logs', atom(true))
+
+    togglePaneVisible('terminal')
+    expect(isPaneVisible('terminal')).toBe(false)
+
+    togglePaneVisible('terminal')
+    expect(isPaneVisible('terminal')).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('brings the terminal forward when logs holds the active tab', () => {
+    stackTree({ active: 'logs' })
+    bindPaneCollapse('terminal', atom(true))
+    bindPaneCollapse('logs', atom(true))
+
+    // The zone is open but showing LOGS, so the terminal is not on screen —
+    // the first press must reveal it rather than collapse the whole zone.
+    expect(isPaneVisible('terminal')).toBe(false)
+
+    togglePaneVisible('terminal')
+
+    expect(isPaneVisible('terminal')).toBe(true)
+    expect(toolZone()?.minimized).toBeFalsy()
+  })
+
+  it('reopens after the terminal tab was closed outright', () => {
+    stackTree()
+    const $terminal = atom(true)
+    bindPaneCollapse('terminal', $terminal)
+    bindPaneCollapse('logs', atom(true))
+
+    closeToolPane('terminal')
+    expect(allPaneIds($layoutTree.get()!)).not.toContain('terminal')
+
+    togglePaneVisible('terminal')
+
+    expect(allPaneIds($layoutTree.get()!)).toContain('terminal')
+    expect(isPaneVisible('terminal')).toBe(true)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('a zone whose header the user hid', () => {
+  it('keeps it hidden after a stacked sibling is closed and toggled back', () => {
+    stackTree({ headerHidden: true })
+    bindPaneCollapse('terminal', atom(true))
+    const $logs = atom(true)
+    bindPaneCollapse('logs', $logs)
+
+    setTreeGroupHeaderHidden('g-tools', true)
+
+    // Close logs: the zone drops to one pane. normalize used to DISCARD the
+    // hidden flag here ("a lone zone is headerless anyway"), so the bar
+    // reappeared the moment logs was toggled back in.
+    closeToolPane('logs')
+    expect(toolZone()?.headerHidden).toBe(true)
+
+    $logs.set(true)
+
+    expect(toolZone()?.panes).toContain('logs')
+    expect(toolZone()?.headerHidden).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('keeps it hidden when a closed pane is re-adopted into it', () => {
+    stackTree()
+    const $terminal = atom(true)
+    bindPaneCollapse('terminal', $terminal)
+    bindPaneCollapse('logs', atom(true))
+
+    setTreeGroupHeaderHidden('g-tools', true)
+
+    // Re-adoption pins headerHidden:false so a surprise pane always has a
+    // handle — correct for a new pane, wrong for a zone the user hid.
+    closeToolPane('terminal')
+    $terminal.set(true)
+
+    expect(toolZone()?.panes).toContain('terminal')
+    expect(toolZone()?.headerHidden).toBe(true)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/layout.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/layout.ts
index ba9a078920..c2debd8a72 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/layout.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/layout.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { atom, computed, type ReadableAtom, type WritableAtom } from 'nanostores
 
 import { SIDEBAR_COLLAPSE_MEDIA_QUERY } from '@/app/layout-constants'
 import { PANE_TOGGLE_REVEAL_EVENT } from '@/components/pane-shell'
+import { isPaneVisible, revealTreePane } from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/store'
 import { matchesQuery } from '@/hooks/use-media-query'
 import { Codecs, persistentAtom } from '@/lib/persisted'
 import { arraysEqual, insertUniqueId, readKey } from '@/lib/storage'
@@ -37,6 +38,9 @@ const RIGHT_RAIL_ACTIVE_TAB_STORAGE_KEY = 'hermes.desktop.rightRailActiveTab'
 
 export const CHAT_SIDEBAR_PANE_ID = 'chat-sidebar'
 export const FILE_BROWSER_PANE_ID = 'file-browser'
+/** The file tree's id in the LAYOUT TREE — distinct from the pane-state id
+ *  above, which keys its open/width record. Toggles need both. */
+export const FILES_PANE_ID = 'files'
 export const PREVIEW_PANE_ID = 'preview'
 
 /** Every rail tab is a preview of something, namespaced by what backs it: a
@@ -287,9 +291,23 @@ export function toggleSidebarOpen() {
 }
 
 export function toggleFileBrowserOpen() {
-  if (!revealNarrowPane(FILE_BROWSER_PANE_ID, 'toggle')) {
-    togglePane(FILE_BROWSER_PANE_ID)
+  if (revealNarrowPane(FILE_BROWSER_PANE_ID, 'toggle')) {
+    return
   }
+
+  // Ask the TREE, not the pane's boolean. `$fileBrowserOpen` stays true while
+  // the tree pane sits behind a sibling tab in the shared right column (the
+  // preview rail, the diff) or inside a minimized zone, so ⌘J spent its press
+  // re-asserting a value it already held and read as a dead key. Only fold the
+  // side when the tree is genuinely the thing on screen; otherwise bring it
+  // forward through the reveal path, which fronts and un-minimizes.
+  if (!isPaneVisible(FILES_PANE_ID) && $fileBrowserOpen.get()) {
+    revealTreePane(FILES_PANE_ID)
+
+    return
+  }
+
+  togglePane(FILE_BROWSER_PANE_ID)
 }
 
 export function setFileBrowserOpen(open: boolean) {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/review.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/review.ts
index 91474682f8..c25c044b17 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/review.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/review.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { atom, computed } from 'nanostores'
 
 import { SIDEBAR_COLLAPSE_MEDIA_QUERY } from '@/app/layout-constants'
 import { PANE_TOGGLE_REVEAL_EVENT } from '@/components/pane-shell'
-import { revealTreePane } from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/store'
+import { isPaneVisible, revealTreePane } from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/store'
 import type { HermesReviewFile, HermesReviewShipInfo } from '@/global'
 import { matchesQuery } from '@/hooks/use-media-query'
 import { desktopGit } from '@/lib/desktop-git'
@@ -285,7 +285,12 @@ export function toggleReview(scopeCwd: null | string = null): void {
     return
   }
 
-  if ($reviewOpen.get()) {
+  // Ask the TREE, not `$reviewOpen`. The store stays true while the pane sits
+  // behind a sibling tab in the right column or inside a minimized zone, so a
+  // boolean flip spent the press re-asserting a value it already held and ⌘G
+  // read as a dead key. `revealReview` fronts and un-minimizes; only close when
+  // the diff is genuinely the thing on screen.
+  if (isPaneVisible(REVIEW_PANE_ID)) {
     closeReview()
   } else {
     revealReview(scopeCwd)