diff --git a/components/artifacts/demo-card.tsx b/components/artifacts/demo-card.tsx
index 29b9441..3ab0d03 100644
--- a/components/artifacts/demo-card.tsx
+++ b/components/artifacts/demo-card.tsx
@@ -99,10 +99,10 @@ export function DemoOutputCard({ output }: { output: unknown }) {
 			</div>
 		);
 	}
-	return <DemoFrame title={result.title} html={result.html} notes={result.notes} />;
+	return <DemoFrame title={result.title} html={result.html} />;
 }
 
-function DemoFrame({ title, html, notes }: { title: string; html: string; notes?: string }) {
+function DemoFrame({ title, html }: { title: string; html: string }) {
 	const actions = useContext(ChatActionsContext);
 	const iframeRef = useRef<HTMLIFrameElement | null>(null);
 	const [state, setState] = useState<DemoBridgeState>(INITIAL_DEMO_BRIDGE_STATE);
@@ -145,7 +145,6 @@ function DemoFrame({ title, html, notes }: { title: string; html: string; notes?
 				style={{ height: state.height ?? 360 }}
 				data-testid="demo-iframe"
 			/>
-			{notes && <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-muted-foreground">{notes}</p>}
 		</div>
 	);
 }
diff --git a/components/artifacts/steer-card.tsx b/components/artifacts/steer-card.tsx
index bd7fe4c..d1b223d 100644
--- a/components/artifacts/steer-card.tsx
+++ b/components/artifacts/steer-card.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 "use client";
 
-import type { SubagentArtifactData, TeacherUIMessage } from "@/src/core";
+import { CheckIcon } from "lucide-react";
+import type { ResearchResult, SubagentArtifactData, TeacherUIMessage } from "@/src/core";
+import { isSubagentFailure } from "@/src/core";
 import { DemoOutputCard } from "@/components/artifacts/demo-card";
 import { ResearchBriefCard } from "@/components/artifacts/job-card";
 import { VisualOutputCard } from "@/components/artifacts/visual-card";
@@ -10,10 +12,17 @@ import { VisualOutputCard } from "@/components/artifacts/visual-card";
  *
  * When a background job completes, the wake pipeline injects a STEER message
  * into the transcript: a user-role UIMessage whose data part
- * ("data-subagent-artifact") carries the result. It must NEVER render as a
- * learner bubble: the model-facing text part is protocol glue, and the
- * artifact itself renders here, by kind, reusing the same artifact cards
- * the result always used.
+ * ("data-subagent-artifact") carries the result. It renders as an artifact —
+ * NEVER a learner bubble, never wrapped in a message container:
+ *
+ *   research — a quiet "Research complete" badge. The full brief is TOO LONG
+ *     to inline and the teacher's wake turn weaves it into the lesson anyway;
+ *     it stays persisted in the transcript (the artifact part), so a
+ *     "view full research" affordance can be added later. Failures keep the
+ *     failure card (the brief explains what went wrong).
+ *   demo / visual — the artifact itself (sandboxed iframe / sanitized SVG).
+ *     The sub-agent's verification notes are model-facing glue and do NOT
+ *     render; only a failure note does.
  */
 export function SubagentSteerCard({ message }: { message: TeacherUIMessage }) {
 	const artifactPart = message.parts.find((p) => p.type === "data-subagent-artifact");
@@ -27,10 +36,27 @@ export function SubagentSteerCard({ message }: { message: TeacherUIMessage }) {
 	}
 	switch (data.kind) {
 		case "research":
-			return <ResearchBriefCard output={data.result} />;
+			return isSubagentFailure("research", data.result as ResearchResult) ? (
+				<ResearchBriefCard output={data.result} />
+			) : (
+				<ResearchCompleteBadge result={data.result as ResearchResult} />
+			);
 		case "demo":
 			return <DemoOutputCard output={data.result} />;
 		case "visual":
 			return <VisualOutputCard output={data.result} />;
 	}
 }
+
+/** Quiet one-liner, the dispatch-settled idiom: the brief lives in the record,
+ * the lesson lives in the teacher's wake turn — the badge just marks delivery. */
+function ResearchCompleteBadge({ result }: { result: ResearchResult }) {
+	return (
+		<div className="flex items-center gap-2 text-xs text-muted-foreground" data-testid="research-complete-badge">
+			<CheckIcon className="size-3.5" />
+			<span className="font-medium uppercase tracking-wide">Research</span>
+			<span>complete</span>
+			{result.sources.length > 0 && <span>· {result.sources.length} sources</span>}
+		</div>
+	);
+}
diff --git a/components/artifacts/visual-card.tsx b/components/artifacts/visual-card.tsx
index f96f9f5..ffed8d0 100644
--- a/components/artifacts/visual-card.tsx
+++ b/components/artifacts/visual-card.tsx
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@ export function VisualOutputCard({ output }: { output: unknown }) {
 				dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: sanitizeSvg(result.svg) }}
 				data-testid="visual-svg"
 			/>
-			{result.notes && <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-muted-foreground">{result.notes}</p>}
 		</div>
 	);
 }
diff --git a/components/chat.tsx b/components/chat.tsx
index 3dbdf3d..22d209d 100644
--- a/components/chat.tsx
+++ b/components/chat.tsx
@@ -287,21 +287,22 @@ export function Chat({
 								/>
 							)}
 
-							{messages.map((m, mi) => (
+							{messages.map((m, mi) =>
+								m.role === "user" && isSubagentSteer(m) ? (
+									// Sub-agent delivery (wake-pipeline steer): NO message bubble — the
+									// artifact card sits in the transcript column directly, full width
+									// and centered like the teacher's artifacts (contracts.ts "THE ASYNC
+									// PROTOCOL" §4).
+									<SubagentSteerCard key={m.id} message={m} />
+								) : (
 								<Message key={m.id} from={m.role} className={m.role === "assistant" ? "max-w-full" : undefined}>
 									<MessageContent className={m.role === "assistant" ? "w-full" : undefined}>
 										{m.role === "user" ? (
-											isSubagentSteer(m) ? (
-												// Sub-agent delivery (wake-pipeline steer): render the
-												// artifact, never a learner bubble (contracts.ts §4).
-												<SubagentSteerCard message={m} />
-											) : (
-												// User text renders plain: the model's LaTeX pipeline is not
-												// applied to learner-authored text ($ stays $, no surprises).
-												<div className="whitespace-pre-wrap">
-													{m.parts.filter((p) => p.type === "text").map((p) => p.text).join("\n")}
-												</div>
-											)
+											// User text renders plain: the model's LaTeX pipeline is not
+											// applied to learner-authored text ($ stays $, no surprises).
+											<div className="whitespace-pre-wrap">
+												{m.parts.filter((p) => p.type === "text").map((p) => p.text).join("\n")}
+											</div>
 										) : (
 											m.parts.map((part, pi) => {
 												const isLastPart = mi === messages.length - 1 && pi === m.parts.length - 1;
diff --git a/tests/demos.test.tsx b/tests/demos.test.tsx
index abaf1b7..fac56ef 100644
--- a/tests/demos.test.tsx
+++ b/tests/demos.test.tsx
@@ -329,24 +329,35 @@ describe("steer card rendering (the delivered artifact)", () => {
 		assert.ok(!html.includes("<iframe"), "no iframe for a failed build");
 	});
 
-	it("renders the verified svg inline (sanitized) with notes", () => {
+	it("renders the verified svg inline (sanitized); the maker's notes are glue and stay hidden", () => {
 		const svg = '<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="200" height="100"><circle cx="50" cy="50" r="20"/></svg>';
-		const steer = buildSubagentSteer({ id: "jv", kind: "visual", toolCallId: "cv" }, { svg, notes: "The unit circle." });
-		const html = renderToStaticMarkup(<SubagentSteerCard message={steer as never} />);
-		assert.match(html, /The unit circle\./);
-		assert.ok(html.includes("circle"), "svg content rendered inline");
-		assert.match(html, /Figure/);
-	});
-
-	it("renders the research brief with source links", () => {
 		const steer = buildSubagentSteer(
-			{ id: "jr", kind: "research", toolCallId: "cr" },
-			{ brief: "Plato (c. 428–348 BCE) founded the Academy.", sources: [{ title: "Britannica", url: "https://britannica.com/plato" }] },
+			{ id: "jv", kind: "visual", toolCallId: "cv" },
+			{ svg, notes: "Looking at the render, the diagram is clean and accurate." },
 		);
 		const html = renderToStaticMarkup(<SubagentSteerCard message={steer as never} />);
-		assert.match(html, /Research brief/);
-		assert.match(html, /britannica\.com\/plato/);
-		assert.match(html, /founded the Academy/);
+		assert.ok(html.includes("circle"), "svg content rendered inline");
+		assert.match(html, /Figure/);
+		assert.ok(!html.includes("Looking at the render"), "model-facing notes never render");
+	});
+
+	it("renders a quiet Research-complete badge — the full brief stays out of the transcript (but persisted)", () => {
+		const steer = buildSubagentSteer(
+			{ id: "jr", kind: "research", toolCallId: "cr" },
+			{
+				brief: "Plato (c. 428–348 BCE) founded the Academy, a very long brief that would clutter the transcript.",
+				sources: [
+					{ title: "Britannica", url: "https://britannica.com/plato" },
+					{ title: "IEP", url: "https://iep.utm.edu/plato/" },
+				],
+			},
+		);
+		const html = renderToStaticMarkup(<SubagentSteerCard message={steer as never} />);
+		assert.match(html, /Research/);
+		assert.match(html, /complete/);
+		assert.match(html, /2 sources/);
+		assert.ok(!html.includes("founded the Academy"), "the long brief never renders inline");
+		assert.ok(!html.includes("britannica"), "source links stay out too — the wake turn cites them");
 	});
 
 	it("renders the visual failure note with no svg when the build FAILED", () => {