diff --git a/components/composer.tsx b/components/composer.tsx
index 4e81e6b..6034d7c 100644
--- a/components/composer.tsx
+++ b/components/composer.tsx
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ export function Composer({
 	autoFocus,
 	verdict,
 	onEscape,
+	placeholder = "Ask, answer, or steer the lesson…",
 }: {
 	busy: boolean;
 	value: string;
@@ -50,6 +51,10 @@ export function Composer({
 	/** Escape while a dictation runs stops it (STT wave, 2026-09-17). No-op
 	 *  when absent — Esc otherwise means nothing in the composer. */
 	onEscape?: () => void;
+	/** The textarea's placeholder (owner refinement round, 2026-09-24):
+	 *  active sessions read "Ask, answer, or steer the lesson…"; the fresh
+	 *  new-session page asks the graph view's opening question instead. */
+	placeholder?: string;
 }) {
 	return (
 		<form
@@ -90,7 +95,7 @@ export function Composer({
 							else if (action === "send") onSend();
 						}
 				}}
-				placeholder="Ask, answer, or steer the lesson…"
+				placeholder={placeholder}
 				autoFocus={autoFocus}
 				rows={1}
 				className="field-sizing-content lh-input max-h-48 min-h-10 flex-1 resize-none bg-transparent px-2.5 py-2 outline-none placeholder:text-muted-foreground"
diff --git a/components/new-session.tsx b/components/new-session.tsx
index e05ba58..1606883 100644
--- a/components/new-session.tsx
+++ b/components/new-session.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import { Conversation, ConversationContent, ConversationEmptyState } from "@/com
 import { Composer } from "@/components/composer";
 import { DictationBar, useDictation } from "@/components/dictation";
 import { useDefaultSettings } from "@/components/default-settings";
-import { PhaseChip } from "@/components/phase-divider";
 import { SidebarToggle } from "@/components/sidebar";
 import { SetupDialog } from "@/components/setup-dialog";
 import { useSettingsDialog } from "@/components/settings/settings-dialog.tsx";
@@ -92,10 +91,9 @@ export function DraftShell({
 			<div className="flex min-w-0 flex-1 flex-col">
 				{/* h-15 (60px) matches the chat header and the sidebar's LH wordmark
 			    band (owner, round 6). */}
-			<header className="lh-drag relative flex h-15 items-center gap-3 px-3">
+			<header className="lh-drag flex h-15 items-center gap-3 border-b border-border px-3">
 					<SidebarToggle />
 					<div className="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate font-title text-3xl tracking-tight">New session</div>
-					<PhaseChip phase="probe" />
 				</header>
 
 				<div className="relative flex min-h-0 flex-1">
@@ -125,6 +123,11 @@ export function DraftShell({
 										canSend={canSend}
 										autoFocus
 										onEscape={dictation.active ? dictation.cancel : undefined}
+										// The opening question, same as the graph view's new-session
+										// input (owner refinement round, 2026-09-24) — no lesson has
+										// started yet, so the composer must not read like one is in
+										// flight.
+										placeholder="What do you want to learn?"
 									/>
 								</div>
 								<StatsBar
diff --git a/tests/render-composer.test.tsx b/tests/render-composer.test.tsx
index 0dd56d8..0c153a1 100644
--- a/tests/render-composer.test.tsx
+++ b/tests/render-composer.test.tsx
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import { describe, it } from "node:test";
 import { renderToStaticMarkup } from "react-dom/server";
 import { Composer, enterAction } from "../components/composer.tsx";
 
-function render(opts: { busy?: boolean; canSend?: boolean } = {}) {
+function render(opts: { busy?: boolean; canSend?: boolean; placeholder?: string } = {}) {
 	return renderToStaticMarkup(
 		<Composer
 			busy={opts.busy ?? false}
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ function render(opts: { busy?: boolean; canSend?: boolean } = {}) {
 			onSend={() => {}}
 			onStop={() => {}}
 			canSend={opts.canSend ?? true}
+			{...(opts.placeholder ? { placeholder: opts.placeholder } : {})}
 		/>,
 	);
 }
@@ -29,10 +30,16 @@ function render(opts: { busy?: boolean; canSend?: boolean } = {}) {
 describe("Composer", () => {
 	it("chat placeholder + send button", () => {
 		const html = render();
-		assert.match(html, /Ask, answer, or steer the lesson/);
+		assert.match(html, /Ask, answer, or steer the lesson/, "the default — active sessions");
 		assert.ok(html.includes('aria-label="Send"'), "send button present");
 	});
 
+	it("placeholder is overridable — the new-session page asks the graph view's question", () => {
+		const html = render({ placeholder: "What do you want to learn?" });
+		assert.match(html, /What do you want to learn\?/);
+		assert.ok(!html.includes("Ask, answer"), "the session placeholder must not ride along");
+	});
+
 	it("busy: send button becomes stop", () => {
 		const html = render({ busy: true });
 		assert.ok(html.includes('aria-label="Stop"'), "stop replaces send while streaming");