diff --git a/packages/kilo-vscode/tests/unit/working-indicator.test.ts b/packages/kilo-vscode/tests/unit/working-indicator.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e2929144cc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kilo-vscode/tests/unit/working-indicator.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "bun:test"
+import { tracksElapsed } from "../../webview-ui/src/components/shared/working-indicator-utils"
+
+describe("tracksElapsed", () => {
+  it("tracks pending submissions before backend status arrives", () => {
+    expect(tracksElapsed("idle", true, 1)).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it("tracks active backend statuses", () => {
+    expect(tracksElapsed("busy", false, 1)).toBe(true)
+    expect(tracksElapsed("retry", false, 1)).toBe(true)
+    expect(tracksElapsed("offline", false, 1)).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it("stops for idle sessions and missing start times", () => {
+    expect(tracksElapsed("idle", false, 1)).toBe(false)
+    expect(tracksElapsed("busy", false, undefined)).toBe(false)
+    expect(tracksElapsed("idle", true, undefined)).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/kilo-vscode/webview-ui/src/components/shared/WorkingIndicator.tsx b/packages/kilo-vscode/webview-ui/src/components/shared/WorkingIndicator.tsx
index a46c9a0b1df..efddf2e2bc9 100644
--- a/packages/kilo-vscode/webview-ui/src/components/shared/WorkingIndicator.tsx
+++ b/packages/kilo-vscode/webview-ui/src/components/shared/WorkingIndicator.tsx
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { Button } from "@kilocode/kilo-ui/button"
 import { useSession } from "../../context/session"
 import { useLanguage } from "../../context/language"
 import { useVSCode } from "../../context/vscode"
+import { tracksElapsed } from "./working-indicator-utils"
 
 export const WorkingIndicator: Component = () => {
   const session = useSession()
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ export const WorkingIndicator: Component = () => {
     const since = session.busySince()
     const status = session.status()
 
-    if (status === "idle" || !since) {
+    if (!tracksElapsed(status, session.submitting(), since)) {
       setElapsed(0)
       return
     }
diff --git a/packages/kilo-vscode/webview-ui/src/components/shared/working-indicator-utils.ts b/packages/kilo-vscode/webview-ui/src/components/shared/working-indicator-utils.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7b66e886bcd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kilo-vscode/webview-ui/src/components/shared/working-indicator-utils.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import type { SessionStatus } from "../../types/messages"
+
+export function tracksElapsed(status: SessionStatus, submitting: boolean, since: number | undefined): since is number {
+  return since !== undefined && (status !== "idle" || submitting)
+}