diff --git a/components/chat.tsx b/components/chat.tsx
index 38f36c8..5a5ea65 100644
--- a/components/chat.tsx
+++ b/components/chat.tsx
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ export function Chat({
 							Plan
 						</button>
 					)}
-					<PhaseChip phase={phases.at(-1) ?? "probe"} busy={busy} />
+					<PhaseChip phase={phases.at(-1) ?? "probe"} />
 				</header>
 
 				<div className="relative flex min-h-0 flex-1">
diff --git a/components/phase-divider.tsx b/components/phase-divider.tsx
index 56aac68..9d6f617 100644
--- a/components/phase-divider.tsx
+++ b/components/phase-divider.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import { BrailleSpinner } from "@/components/braille-spinner";
 import type { Phase3 } from "@/src/core";
 
 /**
@@ -17,6 +16,12 @@ import type { Phase3 } from "@/src/core";
  * never a banner. Probe never renders a divider: phases only advance, so
  * probe is the start of the transcript and "Planning"/"Teaching" are the two
  * visible seams.
+ *
+ * Owner, minimal-color round 2: the chip is LABEL-ONLY, deliberately — a
+ * working-state spinner was tried here and rejected: the pill's curve and
+ * the square braille cell fought for space, and the chat surface already
+ * shows in-flight work (thinking shimmer, the dock). The chip states the
+ * phase; work-state is the sidebar row's spinner.
  */
 
 /** Header-chip labels: the phases as the learner thinks of them. */
@@ -26,18 +31,16 @@ const CHIP_LABEL: Record<Phase3, string> = {
 	teach: "Teaching",
 };
 
-/** The header chip: the phase label, monochrome; while a turn is in
- *  flight the old dot slot shows the braille spinner (motion = the honest
- *  state signal — see BrailleSpinner). */
-export function PhaseChip({ phase, busy = false }: { phase: Phase3; busy?: boolean }) {
+/** The header chip: the phase label, monochrome — label-only by design
+ *  (see the component note: the pill's curve suits text, not glyphs). */
+export function PhaseChip({ phase }: { phase: Phase3 }) {
 	return (
 		<span
 			data-testid="phase-chip"
 			data-phase={phase}
 			title={`Session phase: ${CHIP_LABEL[phase]}`}
-			className="flex shrink-0 items-center gap-1.5 rounded-full border border-border/80 px-2 py-0.5 text-xs font-medium uppercase tracking-wide text-muted-foreground"
+			className="flex shrink-0 items-center rounded-full border border-border/80 px-2 py-0.5 text-xs font-medium uppercase tracking-wide text-muted-foreground"
 		>
-			{busy && <BrailleSpinner className="h-3.5" />}
 			{CHIP_LABEL[phase]}
 		</span>
 	);
diff --git a/tests/render-phase-divider.test.tsx b/tests/render-phase-divider.test.tsx
index 72f2005..71b00f3 100644
--- a/tests/render-phase-divider.test.tsx
+++ b/tests/render-phase-divider.test.tsx
@@ -30,16 +30,10 @@ describe("PhaseChip (header)", () => {
 		}
 	});
 
-	it("busy: the old dot slot becomes the braille spinner (motion = turn in flight)", () => {
-		const html = renderToStaticMarkup(<PhaseChip phase="teach" busy />);
-		assert.ok(html.includes('data-testid="braille-spinner"'), "spinner in the chip");
-		assert.ok(html.includes("Teaching"), "label stays");
-		assert.ok((html.match(/class="braille-frame"/g) ?? []).length === 10, "all ten frames");
-	});
-
-	it("idle: no spinner — the chip is the label alone", () => {
+	it("NEVER shows a working spinner — the pill's curve suits text, not glyph cells (owner, round 2)", () => {
 		const html = renderToStaticMarkup(<PhaseChip phase="teach" />);
-		assert.ok(!html.includes("braille-spinner"));
+		assert.ok(!html.includes("braille-spinner"), "the chip is label-only by design");
+		assert.ok(!html.includes("braille-frame"), "no spinner frames leak in");
 	});
 });