diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/conversations/page.tsx b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/conversations/page.tsx
index 14b8bdf4d7..7c48482f4f 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/conversations/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/conversations/page.tsx
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { copyToClipboard } from "@/shared/utils/clipboard";
 import RequestLoggerDetail from "@/shared/components/RequestLoggerDetail";
 import useEmailPrivacyStore from "@/store/emailPrivacyStore";
 import { ChatBubble } from "@/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/components/chat/ChatBubble";
-import type { NormalizedBlock, NormalizedTurn } from "@/mitm/inspector/types";
+import { toTurn, type ConversationTurn } from "./toTurn";
 
 interface ConversationRow {
   id: string;
@@ -47,17 +47,6 @@ function ActiveSpinner() {
   );
 }
 
-interface ConversationTurn {
-  seq: number;
-  id: string;
-  parentId: string | null;
-  role: string;
-  textPreview: string;
-  blockKind: string;
-  toolName: string | null;
-  firstSeenAt: string;
-}
-
 interface ConversationTurnsPage {
   nodes: ConversationTurn[];
   hasMore: boolean;
@@ -123,45 +112,6 @@ function ContinuationBadge({ isGenuine }: { isGenuine: boolean }) {
   );
 }
 
-/**
- * Builds the exact NormalizedBlock (src/mitm/inspector/types.ts) the
- * request-detail panel already builds from buildRequestTurns/
- * buildResponseTurns, so a tool call/result renders through the very same
- * ChatBubble → MessageContent → ToolCallBlock/ToolResultBlock pipeline as
- * the detail view — not a parallel implementation. `textPreview` round-
- * tripped through JSON for a structured tool_use/tool_result turn; parse it
- * best-effort so the block gets a real object, not a JSON string.
- */
-function toTurn(node: ConversationTurn): NormalizedTurn {
-  const role: NormalizedTurn["role"] =
-    node.role === "system" || node.role === "user" || node.role === "assistant"
-      ? node.role
-      : "tool";
-
-  let block: NormalizedBlock;
-  if (node.blockKind === "tool_use") {
-    let input: unknown = node.textPreview;
-    try {
-      input = JSON.parse(node.textPreview);
-    } catch {
-      // Arguments weren't valid JSON — show the raw string.
-    }
-    block = { type: "tool_use", id: node.id.slice(0, 12), name: node.toolName ?? "tool", input };
-  } else if (node.blockKind === "tool_result") {
-    let content: unknown = node.textPreview;
-    try {
-      content = JSON.parse(node.textPreview);
-    } catch {
-      // Not JSON — show the raw string.
-    }
-    block = { type: "tool_result", tool_use_id: node.id.slice(0, 12), content };
-  } else {
-    block = { type: "text", text: node.textPreview || "_(empty)_" };
-  }
-
-  return { role, blocks: [block], timestamp: node.firstSeenAt };
-}
-
 /**
  * Renders a conversation's turns top to bottom, oldest first — always a
  * flat, chronological list. Every OmniRoute conversation is a single
diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/conversations/toTurn.ts b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/conversations/toTurn.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9262bc2ff8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/conversations/toTurn.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+import type { NormalizedBlock, NormalizedTurn } from "@/mitm/inspector/types";
+
+export interface ConversationTurn {
+  seq: number;
+  id: string;
+  parentId: string | null;
+  role: string;
+  textPreview: string;
+  blockKind: string;
+  toolName: string | null;
+  firstSeenAt: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Builds the exact NormalizedBlock (src/mitm/inspector/types.ts) the
+ * request-detail panel already builds from buildRequestTurns/
+ * buildResponseTurns, so a tool call/result renders through the very same
+ * ChatBubble → MessageContent → ToolCallBlock/ToolResultBlock pipeline as
+ * the detail view — not a parallel implementation. `textPreview` round-
+ * tripped through JSON for a structured tool_use/tool_result turn; parse it
+ * best-effort so the block gets a real object, not a JSON string.
+ *
+ * Kept out of page.tsx (a "use client" component that pulls in ChatBubble/
+ * MarkdownMessage's dependency tree) so this pure ConversationTurn ->
+ * NormalizedTurn mapping stays unit-testable on its own.
+ */
+export function toTurn(node: ConversationTurn): NormalizedTurn {
+  const role: NormalizedTurn["role"] =
+    node.role === "system" || node.role === "user" || node.role === "assistant"
+      ? node.role
+      : "tool";
+
+  let block: NormalizedBlock;
+  if (node.blockKind === "tool_use") {
+    let input: unknown = node.textPreview;
+    try {
+      input = JSON.parse(node.textPreview);
+    } catch {
+      // Arguments weren't valid JSON — show the raw string.
+    }
+    block = { type: "tool_use", id: node.id.slice(0, 12), name: node.toolName ?? "tool", input };
+  } else if (node.blockKind === "tool_result") {
+    let content: unknown = node.textPreview;
+    try {
+      content = JSON.parse(node.textPreview);
+    } catch {
+      // Not JSON — show the raw string.
+    }
+    block = { type: "tool_result", tool_use_id: node.id.slice(0, 12), content };
+  } else if (!node.textPreview) {
+    // The tree API records a node's identity (role/blockKind) the moment
+    // the turn is recorded, independent of when its display content
+    // resolves from the owning call-log artifact -- a request still in
+    // flight has a real node (any role: user, assistant, or tool) with
+    // nothing to show yet, and /api/conversations/[id]/tree's own
+    // blockKind ?? "text" fallback can't tell that apart from a
+    // permanently-purged artifact. Live traffic shows this lag hits every
+    // role, not just tool nodes (a user/assistant turn's own textPreview
+    // resolves through the same lazy pipeline) -- so any empty text node
+    // gets the same treatment. In practice this is near-always transient:
+    // the same poll that already refreshes this page (ConversationLogView's
+    // activeCallLogId-driven effect) picks up the real content within a
+    // tick or two once the artifact lands. Show that instead of a bare
+    // "(empty)" that reads as broken rather than in progress.
+    block = { type: "pending" };
+  } else {
+    block = { type: "text", text: node.textPreview || "_(empty)_" };
+  }
+
+  return { role, blocks: [block], timestamp: node.firstSeenAt };
+}
diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/components/chat/MessageContent.tsx b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/components/chat/MessageContent.tsx
index ee76d97da1..bd8bd51d41 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/components/chat/MessageContent.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/tools/traffic-inspector/components/chat/MessageContent.tsx
@@ -25,6 +25,17 @@ export function MessageContent({ blocks }: MessageContentProps) {
         if (block.type === "tool_result") {
           return <ToolResultBlock key={i} toolUseId={block.tool_use_id} content={block.content} />;
         }
+        if (block.type === "pending") {
+          return (
+            <div
+              key={i}
+              className="flex items-center gap-2 text-xs text-text-muted italic px-1 py-0.5"
+            >
+              <span className="inline-block h-3 w-3 rounded-full border-2 border-current border-t-transparent animate-spin shrink-0" />
+              loading...
+            </div>
+          );
+        }
         return null;
       })}
     </div>
diff --git a/src/mitm/inspector/types.ts b/src/mitm/inspector/types.ts
index c74c694f82..8fdab4dc3f 100644
--- a/src/mitm/inspector/types.ts
+++ b/src/mitm/inspector/types.ts
@@ -67,7 +67,14 @@ export const InterceptedRequestSchema = z.object({
 export type NormalizedBlock =
   | { type: "text"; text: string }
   | { type: "tool_use"; id: string; name: string; input: unknown }
-  | { type: "tool_result"; tool_use_id: string; content: unknown };
+  | { type: "tool_result"; tool_use_id: string; content: unknown }
+  // A tool identity node whose display content hasn't resolved from its
+  // call-log artifact yet (see resolveTurnDisplayContent /
+  // /api/conversations/[id]/tree's own doc comment) -- distinct from a real
+  // empty text reply. Only ever produced by /dashboard/conversations while
+  // the owning request is still in flight; every other NormalizedBlock
+  // producer (buildRequestTurns/buildResponseTurns) never emits this.
+  | { type: "pending" };
 
 export interface NormalizedTurn {
   role: "system" | "user" | "assistant" | "tool";
diff --git a/tests/unit/conversations-pending-tool-node.test.ts b/tests/unit/conversations-pending-tool-node.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1e045fca89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/conversations-pending-tool-node.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/**
+ * Regression test for /dashboard/conversations's live-turn rendering.
+ *
+ * conversation_turn_nodes rows record identity (role/blockKind) synchronously
+ * the moment a turn is recorded; display content (textPreview) resolves
+ * lazily from the owning call-log artifact (resolveTurnDisplayContent). While
+ * that resolution is still in flight, /api/conversations/[id]/tree's own
+ * `blockKind ?? "text"` fallback makes a genuinely-in-progress node
+ * indistinguishable from a permanently-empty one at the API layer. toTurn()
+ * previously rendered an empty tool node as a distinct `pending` block but
+ * still showed a bare "_(empty)_" text bubble for user/assistant nodes with
+ * no textPreview yet -- live traffic showed the same resolution lag hits
+ * every role, not just tool, so this proves ANY role with no textPreview
+ * (in the plain-text fallback branch) now maps to `pending`, without
+ * changing tool_use/tool_result mapping.
+ */
+
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+
+const { toTurn } = await import("../../src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/conversations/toTurn.ts");
+
+function node(overrides: Partial<Parameters<typeof toTurn>[0]>) {
+  return {
+    seq: 1,
+    id: "01234567890123456789",
+    parentId: null,
+    role: "assistant",
+    textPreview: "",
+    blockKind: "text",
+    toolName: null,
+    firstSeenAt: "2026-09-04T00:00:00.000Z",
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+test("toTurn renders an unresolved tool node as pending, not a bare empty text bubble", () => {
+  const turn = toTurn(node({ role: "tool", blockKind: "text", textPreview: "" }));
+  assert.deepEqual(turn.blocks, [{ type: "pending" }]);
+});
+
+test("toTurn renders an unresolved assistant node as pending too", () => {
+  const turn = toTurn(node({ role: "assistant", blockKind: "text", textPreview: "" }));
+  assert.deepEqual(turn.blocks, [{ type: "pending" }]);
+});
+
+test("toTurn renders an unresolved user node as pending too", () => {
+  const turn = toTurn(node({ role: "user", blockKind: "text", textPreview: "" }));
+  assert.deepEqual(turn.blocks, [{ type: "pending" }]);
+});
+
+test("toTurn renders a resolved assistant reply's real content once textPreview lands, not pending", () => {
+  const turn = toTurn(
+    node({ role: "assistant", blockKind: "text", textPreview: "the real reply" })
+  );
+  assert.deepEqual(turn.blocks, [{ type: "text", text: "the real reply" }]);
+});
+
+test("toTurn renders a resolved tool node's real content once textPreview lands, not pending", () => {
+  const turn = toTurn(node({ role: "tool", blockKind: "text", textPreview: "the real result" }));
+  assert.deepEqual(turn.blocks, [{ type: "text", text: "the real result" }]);
+});
+
+test("toTurn leaves tool_use/tool_result mapping unaffected", () => {
+  const toolUse = toTurn(
+    node({ role: "tool", blockKind: "tool_use", toolName: "search", textPreview: '{"q":"x"}' })
+  );
+  assert.equal(toolUse.blocks[0]!.type, "tool_use");
+
+  const toolResult = toTurn(
+    node({ role: "tool", blockKind: "tool_result", textPreview: '{"ok":true}' })
+  );
+  assert.equal(toolResult.blocks[0]!.type, "tool_result");
+});