diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 319dd7400..5351d0c8b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- **Fix: `sessions --active` showed the SAME preview + topic for every co-located session.** Multiple Claude sessions in one cwd (e.g. several editor tabs, or two worktree siblings) all rendered identical activity — they looked like duplicate cards. `findClaudeSessionFile` fell back to the newest `.jsonl` in the cwd whenever a session's `<id>.jsonl` wasn't found, so every distinct session collapsed onto ONE file's preview/topic. The stale-id trigger: an editor publishes a session id into `live-terminals.json`, but Claude rotates its transcript uuid on resume/compact, so the cached id no longer matches any file. Now the terminal path resolves each tab's EXACT id from the pid registry (mirroring the headless path), and the newest-file fallback is gated to the no-id case only — a supplied-but-unresolved id yields no preview instead of a sibling's. Source: `src/lib/session/active.ts` (`pickSessionFile`, `listTerminalsActive`).
+
 - **NEW: `agents sessions focus [id]`** — one command to get back to a session, however it's reachable. It **attaches** a live session in place (tmux `switch-client`/`attach-session`, a remote tmux over `ssh -tt`, or a Ghostty tab — joining the live process without forking); where there's **no live terminal to attach**, it **opens a new tab and resumes** the session — locally, or on the remote peer over SSH (`runOnPeer`, so the peer resolves the version-pinned binary). No id opens the rich live-session picker (this-machine first). Reuses the live-session detection and the terminal launch engine (`openSurfaces`), and folds `go`'s attach paths in. Source: `src/commands/focus.ts`, `src/commands/go.ts`.
 - **`--device` is now a first-class alias of `--host`** on every host-routable command (`sessions`, `run`, …), registered centrally on `addHostOption` so a local fall-through no longer errors. Source: `src/lib/hosts/`.
 - **`agents computer` steers Electron/webview targets over CDP** instead of reporting a fake success when the native-automation path can't reach them (#716).
diff --git a/src/lib/session/active.pickfile.test.ts b/src/lib/session/active.pickfile.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6ee207843
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/session/active.pickfile.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import { describe, expect, test, beforeAll, afterAll } from 'bun:test';
+import * as fs from 'fs';
+import * as os from 'os';
+import * as path from 'path';
+import { pickSessionFile } from './active';
+
+// Regression for the "every co-located session shows the same preview" bug: when a
+// concrete session id was requested but its transcript file was absent,
+// findClaudeSessionFile fell through to the NEWEST .jsonl in the cwd, so N distinct
+// sessions collapsed onto one file's preview + topic (they looked like duplicate
+// cards). A supplied-but-missing id must resolve to undefined, never a sibling.
+
+let dir: string;
+
+beforeAll(() => {
+  dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'pickfile-'));
+  // Two real transcripts; make `b` strictly newer so it is the mtime winner.
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'a.jsonl'), '{"a":1}\n');
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'b.jsonl'), '{"b":1}\n');
+  const old = new Date(Date.now() - 60_000);
+  fs.utimesSync(path.join(dir, 'a.jsonl'), old, old);
+});
+
+afterAll(() => {
+  try { fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true }); } catch { /* best effort */ }
+});
+
+describe('pickSessionFile', () => {
+  test('a concrete id returns its own file', () => {
+    expect(pickSessionFile(dir, 'a')).toBe(path.join(dir, 'a.jsonl'));
+    expect(pickSessionFile(dir, 'b')).toBe(path.join(dir, 'b.jsonl'));
+  });
+
+  test('a supplied-but-missing id returns undefined — NOT the newest sibling', () => {
+    // This is the fix: pre-fix this returned b.jsonl (the newest), so every
+    // co-located session with an unresolved id shared b.jsonl's preview + topic.
+    expect(pickSessionFile(dir, 'does-not-exist')).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  test('two distinct missing ids do NOT collapse onto the same file', () => {
+    const one = pickSessionFile(dir, 'ghost-1');
+    const two = pickSessionFile(dir, 'ghost-2');
+    expect(one).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(two).toBeUndefined();
+    // Neither borrowed the newest file, so they can't render an identical preview.
+  });
+
+  test('no id falls back to the newest file (legitimate single-session heuristic)', () => {
+    expect(pickSessionFile(dir, undefined)).toBe(path.join(dir, 'b.jsonl'));
+  });
+
+  test('an unreadable project dir returns undefined', () => {
+    expect(pickSessionFile(path.join(dir, 'nope'), undefined)).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/session/active.ts b/src/lib/session/active.ts
index bfcf38e9d..6cc8b32e2 100644
--- a/src/lib/session/active.ts
+++ b/src/lib/session/active.ts
@@ -221,11 +221,25 @@ function claudeProjectDirName(cwd: string): string {
  * fall back to the most-recent-mtime .jsonl in the project's folder.
  */
 function findClaudeSessionFile(cwd: string, sessionId?: string): string | undefined {
-  const projectDir = path.join(HOME, '.claude', 'projects', claudeProjectDirName(cwd));
+  return pickSessionFile(path.join(HOME, '.claude', 'projects', claudeProjectDirName(cwd)), sessionId);
+}
 
+/**
+ * Pick a Claude transcript file within a project dir.
+ *
+ * With a CONCRETE session id: return that id's `<id>.jsonl` or undefined — NEVER a
+ * sibling's. Falling back to the newest file here is the bug that made N distinct
+ * co-located sessions (e.g. several editor tabs in one cwd, or two worktree siblings)
+ * all collapse onto ONE file and render identical preview + topic (they look like
+ * duplicate cards). The mtime fallback is only sound when NO id is known.
+ *
+ * With NO id: return the newest `.jsonl` by mtime (the legitimate single-session
+ * heuristic for a directly-launched agent with no registry entry).
+ */
+export function pickSessionFile(projectDir: string, sessionId?: string): string | undefined {
   if (sessionId) {
     const specific = path.join(projectDir, `${sessionId}.jsonl`);
-    if (fs.existsSync(specific)) return specific;
+    return fs.existsSync(specific) ? specific : undefined;
   }
 
   let files: string[];
@@ -247,7 +261,11 @@ function findClaudeSessionFile(cwd: string, sessionId?: string): string | undefi
 }
 
 function classifyActivity(sessionFile: string | undefined): 'running' | 'idle' {
-  if (!sessionFile) return 'running';
+  // No resolvable transcript is NOT evidence of activity — default to idle. (Before
+  // the no-borrow fix in findClaudeSessionFile this rarely fired because every
+  // terminal borrowed the newest file; now a session with an unresolved id lands
+  // here, and "running" would wrongly light it up.)
+  if (!sessionFile) return 'idle';
   try {
     const mtimeMs = fs.statSync(sessionFile).mtimeMs;
     return Date.now() - mtimeMs < ACTIVE_MTIME_WINDOW_MS ? 'running' : 'idle';
@@ -423,7 +441,14 @@ export async function listTerminalsActive(): Promise<ActiveSession[]> {
   const labelMap = buildClaudeLabelMap();
 
   return entries.map((t): ActiveSession => {
-    const sessionFile = findSessionFileForKind(t.kind, t.cwd ?? undefined, t.sessionId);
+    // The id cached in live-terminals.json goes stale when Claude rotates its
+    // transcript uuid on resume/compact, so it often no longer matches any
+    // <id>.jsonl. Prefer the EXACT id this pid was launched with from the pid
+    // registry (written by the shim delegate) — the same source the headless path
+    // uses — so each tab resolves to its OWN current transcript instead of every
+    // co-located tab collapsing onto the newest file. Falls back to the cached id.
+    const resolvedId = readPidSessionEntry(t.pid)?.sessionId ?? t.sessionId;
+    const sessionFile = findSessionFileForKind(t.kind, t.cwd ?? undefined, resolvedId);
     // Prefer label from live terminal, fall back to Claude's session label
     const label = t.label ?? (t.sessionId ? labelMap.get(t.sessionId) : undefined) ?? undefined;
     // Extract topic from session file (first meaningful user message)