diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/TrafficInspectorPageClient.tsx b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/TrafficInspectorPageClient.tsx
index 9e7bd8aa25..a1537f236d 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/TrafficInspectorPageClient.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/TrafficInspectorPageClient.tsx
@@ -19,8 +19,16 @@ export function TrafficInspectorPageClient() {
   const [containerHeight, setContainerHeight] = useState(600);
   const listContainerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
   const [selectedRequest, setSelectedRequest] = useState<InterceptedRequest | null>(null);
-  const { filters, setProfile, setHost, setAgent, setStatus, setSessionId, setSameContext } =
-    useTrafficFilters();
+  const {
+    filters,
+    setProfile,
+    setHost,
+    setAgent,
+    setStatus,
+    setSessionId,
+    setSameContext,
+    toggleLive,
+  } = useTrafficFilters();
   const [{ listWidth, collapsed }, { startDrag, toggleCollapse }] = useResizablePanels();
   const [streamState, streamActions] = useTrafficStream(filters);
   const recorder = useSessionRecorder();
@@ -108,6 +116,8 @@ export function TrafficInspectorPageClient() {
           onHostChange={setHost}
           onAgentChange={setAgent}
           onStatusChange={setStatus}
+          liveOnly={filters.liveOnly ?? false}
+          onToggleLive={toggleLive}
           paused={streamState.paused}
           onPause={streamActions.pause}
           onResume={streamActions.resume}
diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/components/TopBarControls.tsx b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/components/TopBarControls.tsx
index 03ff373ee4..50ac648e58 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/components/TopBarControls.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/components/TopBarControls.tsx
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ interface TopBarControlsProps {
   onHostChange: (h: string | undefined) => void;
   onAgentChange: (a: AgentId | undefined) => void;
   onStatusChange: (s: ListFilters["status"]) => void;
+  liveOnly: boolean;
+  onToggleLive: () => void;
   paused: boolean;
   onPause: () => void;
   onResume: () => void;
@@ -46,6 +48,8 @@ export function TopBarControls({
   onHostChange,
   onAgentChange,
   onStatusChange,
+  liveOnly,
+  onToggleLive,
   paused,
   onPause,
   onResume,
@@ -125,6 +129,25 @@ export function TopBarControls({
         <option value="error">error</option>
       </select>
 
+      {/* Live (in-flight) toggle — Gap 5 */}
+      <button
+        type="button"
+        onClick={onToggleLive}
+        aria-pressed={liveOnly}
+        title={t("liveOnly")}
+        className={cn(
+          "inline-flex items-center gap-1 rounded border px-2 py-1 text-xs focus-ring",
+          liveOnly
+            ? "border-green-500/50 bg-green-500/15 text-green-500"
+            : "border-border text-text-muted hover:text-text-main"
+        )}
+      >
+        <span className="material-symbols-outlined text-[14px]" aria-hidden="true">
+          sensors
+        </span>
+        {t("liveOnly")}
+      </button>
+
       {/* Action buttons */}
       <button
         type="button"
diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/hooks/useTrafficFilters.ts b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/hooks/useTrafficFilters.ts
index 19b33e8b8c..b73040796d 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/hooks/useTrafficFilters.ts
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/hooks/useTrafficFilters.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import type { ListFilters } from "@/mitm/inspector/types";
 
 export interface FiltersState extends ListFilters {
   sameContextKey?: string;
+  /** Show only in-flight (open) requests — Gap 5 "Live" filter. */
+  liveOnly?: boolean;
 }
 
 export function useTrafficFilters() {
@@ -38,6 +40,10 @@ export function useTrafficFilters() {
     setFilters((prev) => ({ ...prev, sameContextKey: contextKey }));
   }, []);
 
+  const toggleLive = useCallback(() => {
+    setFilters((prev) => ({ ...prev, liveOnly: !prev.liveOnly }));
+  }, []);
+
   const reset = useCallback(() => {
     setFilters({ profile: "llm" });
   }, []);
@@ -51,6 +57,7 @@ export function useTrafficFilters() {
     setSource,
     setSessionId,
     setSameContext,
+    toggleLive,
     reset,
   };
 }
diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/hooks/useTrafficStream.ts b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/hooks/useTrafficStream.ts
index 09112748e6..0226667a7c 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/hooks/useTrafficStream.ts
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/hooks/useTrafficStream.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import type { InterceptedRequest, ListFilters, WsEvent } from "@/mitm/inspector/types";
+import { matchesTrafficFilter } from "@/lib/inspector/matchesTrafficFilter";
 import type { FiltersState } from "./useTrafficFilters";
 
 const WS_PATH = "/api/tools/traffic-inspector/ws";
@@ -47,24 +48,7 @@ export function useTrafficStream(
   });
 
   const applyFilter = useCallback((req: InterceptedRequest): boolean => {
-    const f = filtersRef.current as FiltersState;
-    if (f.profile === "llm" && req.detectedKind !== "llm") return false;
-    if (f.profile === "custom" && req.source !== "custom-host") return false;
-    if (f.host && !req.host.includes(f.host)) return false;
-    if (f.agent && req.agent !== f.agent) return false;
-    if (f.source && req.source !== f.source) return false;
-    if (f.sessionId && req.sessionId !== f.sessionId) return false;
-    if (f.sameContextKey && req.contextKey !== f.sameContextKey) return false;
-    if (f.status) {
-      const s = req.status;
-      if (typeof s === "number") {
-        const cat = `${Math.floor(s / 100)}xx`;
-        if (cat !== f.status) return false;
-      } else if (f.status === "error" && s !== "error") {
-        return false;
-      }
-    }
-    return true;
+    return matchesTrafficFilter(req, filtersRef.current as FiltersState);
   }, []);
 
   useEffect(() => {
diff --git a/src/i18n/messages/en.json b/src/i18n/messages/en.json
index 02415d4c52..5e2888dfc0 100644
--- a/src/i18n/messages/en.json
+++ b/src/i18n/messages/en.json
@@ -8578,6 +8578,7 @@
     "httpProxyTitle": "HTTP Proxy Snippet — port {port}",
     "notRecording": "Not recording",
     "anyStatus": "Any status",
+    "liveOnly": "Live",
     "viewingRecordedSession": "Viewing recorded session",
     "backToLive": "Back to live",
     "untitledSession": "Untitled session",
diff --git a/src/lib/inspector/matchesTrafficFilter.ts b/src/lib/inspector/matchesTrafficFilter.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b25951f179
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/inspector/matchesTrafficFilter.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/**
+ * Pure request-list filter for the Traffic Inspector.
+ *
+ * Extracted from the inline `applyFilter` closure inside the useTrafficStream
+ * hook so the filtering rules are unit-testable. Behaviour is identical to the
+ * previous inline logic, plus the new `liveOnly` toggle (Gap 5) that keeps only
+ * in-flight requests — letting the user watch open connections in real time.
+ */
+import type { InterceptedRequest, ListFilters } from "@/mitm/inspector/types";
+
+export type TrafficFilters = ListFilters & {
+  /** Client-only: restrict the list to the same system-prompt context. */
+  sameContextKey?: string;
+  /** Client-only: show only in-flight (open) requests (Gap 5). */
+  liveOnly?: boolean;
+};
+
+export function matchesTrafficFilter(req: InterceptedRequest, f: TrafficFilters): boolean {
+  if (f.profile === "llm" && req.detectedKind !== "llm") return false;
+  if (f.profile === "custom" && req.source !== "custom-host") return false;
+  if (f.host && !req.host.includes(f.host)) return false;
+  if (f.agent && req.agent !== f.agent) return false;
+  if (f.source && req.source !== f.source) return false;
+  if (f.sessionId && req.sessionId !== f.sessionId) return false;
+  if (f.sameContextKey && req.contextKey !== f.sameContextKey) return false;
+  if (f.liveOnly && req.status !== "in-flight") return false;
+  if (f.status) {
+    const s = req.status;
+    if (typeof s === "number") {
+      const cat = `${Math.floor(s / 100)}xx`;
+      if (cat !== f.status) return false;
+    } else if (f.status === "error" && s !== "error") {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+  return true;
+}
diff --git a/tests/unit/traffic-filter-live.test.ts b/tests/unit/traffic-filter-live.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5cfd9c26b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/traffic-filter-live.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+/**
+ * Gap 5 — "Live" (in-flight) filter for the Traffic Inspector.
+ *
+ * The request-list filter logic used to live inline inside the useTrafficStream
+ * hook (untested). It is extracted here into a pure `matchesTrafficFilter` so the
+ * new `liveOnly` toggle — and, for the first time, the pre-existing profile/host/
+ * agent/status rules — are unit-tested. These tests pin BOTH the new behavior and
+ * parity with the old inline logic.
+ */
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import type { InterceptedRequest } from "../../src/mitm/inspector/types.ts";
+
+const { matchesTrafficFilter } = await import("../../src/lib/inspector/matchesTrafficFilter.ts");
+
+function mkReq(partial: Partial<InterceptedRequest>): InterceptedRequest {
+  return {
+    id: "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
+    source: "agent-bridge",
+    timestamp: "2026-06-17T00:00:00.000Z",
+    method: "POST",
+    host: "api.openai.com",
+    path: "/v1/chat/completions",
+    requestHeaders: {},
+    requestBody: null,
+    requestSize: 0,
+    responseHeaders: {},
+    responseBody: null,
+    responseSize: 0,
+    status: 200,
+    detectedKind: "llm",
+    ...partial,
+  };
+}
+
+test("liveOnly keeps in-flight requests and drops finished ones", () => {
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: "in-flight" }), { liveOnly: true }), true);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: 200 }), { liveOnly: true }), false);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: "error" }), { liveOnly: true }), false);
+});
+
+test("liveOnly off (or unset) does not filter by in-flight", () => {
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: 200 }), {}), true);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: 200 }), { liveOnly: false }), true);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: "in-flight" }), {}), true);
+});
+
+test("liveOnly composes with other filters (host must still match)", () => {
+  const req = mkReq({ status: "in-flight", host: "api.anthropic.com" });
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(req, { liveOnly: true, host: "openai" }), false);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(req, { liveOnly: true, host: "anthropic" }), true);
+});
+
+// ── Parity with the previous inline applyFilter logic ────────────────────────
+
+test("profile=llm drops non-llm requests", () => {
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ detectedKind: "app" }), { profile: "llm" }), false);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ detectedKind: "llm" }), { profile: "llm" }), true);
+});
+
+test("profile=custom keeps only custom-host source", () => {
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ source: "agent-bridge" }), { profile: "custom" }), false);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ source: "custom-host" }), { profile: "custom" }), true);
+});
+
+test("host filter is a substring match", () => {
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ host: "api.openai.com" }), { host: "openai" }), true);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ host: "api.openai.com" }), { host: "google" }), false);
+});
+
+test("agent, source, sessionId and sameContextKey filters", () => {
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ agent: "claude-code" }), { agent: "codex" }), false);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ source: "http-proxy" }), { source: "system-proxy" }), false);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ sessionId: "a" }), { sessionId: "b" }), false);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ contextKey: "abc" }), { sameContextKey: "xyz" }), false);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ contextKey: "abc" }), { sameContextKey: "abc" }), true);
+});
+
+test("status category filter (2xx/4xx/5xx/error)", () => {
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: 200 }), { status: "2xx" }), true);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: 404 }), { status: "2xx" }), false);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: 503 }), { status: "5xx" }), true);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: "error" }), { status: "error" }), true);
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({ status: 200 }), { status: "error" }), false);
+});
+
+test("an empty filter set matches everything", () => {
+  assert.equal(matchesTrafficFilter(mkReq({}), {}), true);
+});