diff --git a/components/chat.tsx b/components/chat.tsx
index a9cea1a..ef34e48 100644
--- a/components/chat.tsx
+++ b/components/chat.tsx
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import { Composer } from "@/components/composer";
 import { useEnterSubmits } from "@/components/enter-submits";
 import { dockStateKey } from "@/components/dock-state-key";
 import { QueuedSteersBody, type QueuedSteerLine } from "@/components/queued-steers";
-import { DictationBar, joinDictation, useDictation } from "@/components/dictation";
+import { DictationBar, finishDictation, joinDictation, useDictation } from "@/components/dictation";
 import { JobsContext } from "@/components/jobs-context";
 import { StatsBar } from "@/components/stats-bar";
 import { useServerEvent, useServerResync } from "@/components/server-events";
@@ -2027,6 +2027,39 @@ function DockOverlay({
 		setExpanded(true);
 		void suppressFoldDuringReveal();
 	};
+	const expandAndRevealRef = useRef(expandAndReveal);
+	expandAndRevealRef.current = expandAndReveal;
+	// ENTER OPENS THE WAITING CHECK (owner, keyboard round 2026-10-06):
+	// while a question waits with the dock CLOSED — behind its reveal
+	// invitation or collapsed by scroll — Enter is never dead. Any live
+	// dictation FINISHES FIRST (the flush lands in the reading-thinking
+	// field, its live claim — the nothing-gets-lost law), then the check
+	// opens. A typing surface or a focused button owns its own Enter (the
+	// reading-thinking field opens from INSIDE when the check is closed;
+	// a focused button activates natively) — this listener claims only
+	// the dead case: plain focus with Enter doing nothing.
+	useEffect(() => {
+		if (!pending || expanded) return;
+		const onKeyDown = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
+			if (e.key !== "Enter" || e.altKey) return;
+			if (e.shiftKey && !e.metaKey && !e.ctrlKey) return;
+			const t = e.target as HTMLElement | null;
+			if (
+				t &&
+				((t.tagName === "INPUT" && (t as HTMLInputElement).type !== "range") ||
+				t.tagName === "TEXTAREA" ||
+				t.isContentEditable ||
+				t.closest("button"))
+			)
+				return;
+			e.preventDefault();
+			void finishDictation().then(() => {
+				expandAndRevealRef.current();
+			});
+		};
+		document.addEventListener("keydown", onKeyDown);
+		return () => document.removeEventListener("keydown", onKeyDown);
+	}, [pending, expanded]);
 
 	useEffect(() => {
 		const el = scrollRef.current;
@@ -2149,6 +2182,15 @@ function DockOverlay({
 							value={readingThinking}
 							onChange={onReadingThinking}
 							onEscape={dictationCancel}
+							onOpen={
+								!expanded
+									? () => {
+											void finishDictation().then(() => {
+												expandAndRevealRef.current();
+											});
+										}
+									: undefined
+							}
 							claim={revealPending}
 						/>
 					)}
diff --git a/components/question-dock.tsx b/components/question-dock.tsx
index 40cca4b..24b4e74 100644
--- a/components/question-dock.tsx
+++ b/components/question-dock.tsx
@@ -667,6 +667,17 @@ function QuestionDockForm({
 											e.currentTarget.blur();
 											setKbdIdx(optionCount);
 										}
+											// Enter submits directly (owner, keyboard round 2026-10-06):
+											// the custom answer is a single-line input — no newline
+											// to protect, and typing has already selected the row, so
+											// the payload is ready. Every Enter (shift or not — nothing
+											// else could ever happen in a one-line field) rides the
+											// same submit seam as the button, dictation finish-first
+											// included.
+											if (e.key === "Enter") {
+												e.preventDefault();
+												submit();
+											}
 									}}
 									placeholder="Type your own answer…"
 									className="lh-input w-full min-w-0 flex-1 bg-transparent outline-none placeholder:text-muted-foreground"
diff --git a/components/reading-thinking.tsx b/components/reading-thinking.tsx
index 061be15..0691c3e 100644
--- a/components/reading-thinking.tsx
+++ b/components/reading-thinking.tsx
@@ -22,12 +22,18 @@ export function ReadingThinkingField({
 	value,
 	onChange,
 	onEscape,
+	onOpen,
 	claim,
 }: {
 	value: string;
 	onChange: (v: string) => void;
 	/** Esc in the field stops dictation (threaded from the page's hook). */
 	onEscape?: () => void;
+	/** The check waits CLOSED — Enter opens it (owner, keyboard round
+	 *  2026-10-06). The caller finishes any live dictation FIRST (the
+	 *  flush lands here — the field is the live claim), then reveals.
+	 *  Absent = the check is open: Enter keeps the dumping convention. */
+	onOpen?: () => void;
 	/** Primary dictation claim — true while the check is behind its reveal. */
 	claim: boolean;
 }) {
@@ -60,6 +66,17 @@ export function ReadingThinkingField({
 						onEscape?.();
 						return;
 					}
+					// ENTER OPENS THE WAITING CHECK (owner, keyboard round
+					// 2026-10-06): while the check sits closed, plain Enter
+					// (and the universal ⌘/Ctrl+Enter) opens it — the dictation
+					// flush lands HERE first via the caller's finishDictation,
+					// so spoken thoughts ride along. Shift+Enter stays a newline.
+					if (e.key === "Enter" && onOpen !== undefined && (!e.shiftKey || e.metaKey || e.ctrlKey)) {
+						e.preventDefault();
+						e.stopPropagation();
+						onOpen();
+						return;
+					}
 					// The dock's dumping convention: plain Enter is a newline.
 					// No submit button here — the check's own submit is this
 					// field's carrier — so ⌘↵ just blurs.