diff --git a/webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/App.tsx b/webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/App.tsx
index 1ec38ba70d5e..dcfaaf46892a 100644
--- a/webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/App.tsx
+++ b/webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/App.tsx
@@ -2276,6 +2276,12 @@ function DefaultComposerChips({
   return (
     <ComposerPickers
       snapshot={startsChat ? newTabChipSnapshot(snapshot, picker.catalog) : snapshot}
+      // A New Tab pick is held once acpmux's actions are connected and the chat has a harness to
+      // start (start() sends chat.new first); before that a pick would reach nothing.
+      holdsModePick={
+        snapshot.switching !== undefined ||
+        (startsChat && !!snapshot.summary?.harness && window.cmuxAcpmuxActions?.["chat.new"] !== undefined)
+      }
       permissionAccess={permissionAccess}
       onModel={(modelId) => {
         start();
diff --git a/webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/ComposerPickers.tsx b/webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/ComposerPickers.tsx
index 89883ffe06a9..0ffb689289fa 100644
--- a/webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/ComposerPickers.tsx
+++ b/webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/ComposerPickers.tsx
@@ -142,6 +142,9 @@ type Props = {
   catalogRefresh?: CatalogRefreshState;
   /** Joined host catalog supplied by the app root; direct tests keep using the daemon catalog. */
   pickerCatalog?: PickerCatalog;
+  /** A mode pick before the chat has a session is held (a New Tab's start, a harness switch
+   * running): only then is a pending chat's start mode a live menu, else an inert chip. */
+  holdsModePick?: boolean;
 };
 
 export type ComposerPermissionGrant = {
@@ -178,6 +181,7 @@ export function ComposerPickers({
   showPlan = true,
   catalogRefresh,
   pickerCatalog,
+  holdsModePick = false,
 }: Props) {
   const t = useT();
   // Context usage rides on the model chip's tooltip, unless the person hid it (composerSettings.ts);
@@ -546,6 +550,23 @@ export function ComposerPickers({
           ?.name ??
         startMode.modeId)
       : undefined;
+  // Until the chat reports its modes, the start mode acpmux answered is a live menu (not an inert
+  // chip) where a pick is held (`holdsModePick`): the harness's last mode catalog for the rows,
+  // checked at the start mode, never at the mode its last chat showed, and named as acpmux named
+  // it. A start in Plan keeps the inert chip: Plan is never an access row.
+  const pendingAccessModes: Choice[] = (() => {
+    if (!holdsModePick || !startMode || startMode.borrowed || isPlan(startMode.modeId)) return [];
+    const known = (harnessProfiles.get(chipHarness)?.modes?.availableModes ?? [])
+      .filter((choice) => !isPlan(choice.id))
+      .map((choice) => ({
+        id: choice.id,
+        name: (choice.id === startMode.modeId ? startMode.name : undefined) || choice.name || choice.id,
+        description: choice.description,
+      }));
+    if (known.some((choice) => choice.id === startMode.modeId)) return known;
+    const description = unrestricted(startMode.modeId) ? t(PICKER_LABELS.fullAccessWarning) : undefined;
+    return [{ id: startMode.modeId, name: startModeName ?? startMode.modeId, description }, ...known];
+  })();
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!awaiting && chipHarness && summary?.sessionId && effortShown)
       rememberLastChips(chipHarness, { effort: effortShown });
@@ -667,15 +688,15 @@ export function ComposerPickers({
       ) : (
         !reported && pendingEffort && <PendingChip kind="effort" label={pendingEffort} />
       )}
-      {modes.length === 0 && !hasGrants && startMode && startModeName && (
+      {modes.length === 0 && !hasGrants && startMode && startModeName && pendingAccessModes.length === 0 && (
         <PendingChip kind="mode" label={startModeName} modeId={startMode.borrowed ? undefined : startMode.modeId} />
       )}
       {/* Granted folder trust and chat allowance stay revocable when the harness offers no modes. */}
-      {(modes.length > 0 || hasGrants) && (
+      {(modes.length > 0 || hasGrants || pendingAccessModes.length > 0) && (
         <AccessMenu
           label={t(PICKER_LABELS.mode)}
-          modes={modes}
-          current={mode?.id}
+          modes={modes.length > 0 ? modes : pendingAccessModes}
+          current={mode?.id ?? (pendingAccessModes.length > 0 ? startMode?.modeId : undefined)}
           sessionId={summary?.sessionId}
           warning={t(PICKER_LABELS.fullAccessWarning)}
           permissionAccess={permissionAccess}
diff --git a/webviews/test/access-chip-pending-warning.test.tsx b/webviews/test/access-chip-pending-warning.test.tsx
index 5cbf36c0969d..0d397a76c4f3 100644
--- a/webviews/test/access-chip-pending-warning.test.tsx
+++ b/webviews/test/access-chip-pending-warning.test.tsx
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ function reported(sessionId: string, currentModeId: string): Summary {
 }
 
 /// Renders the composer's chips for `summary` (undefined: a new chat whose session has not reported).
-async function render(summary: Summary, cwd?: string) {
+async function render(summary: Summary, cwd?: string, holdsModePick = true) {
   const { createRoot } = await import("react-dom/client");
   const { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } = await import("@tanstack/react-query");
   const { ComposerPickers } = await import("../src/agent-session/acpmux/ComposerPickers");
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ async function render(summary: Summary, cwd?: string) {
         onEffort={() => undefined}
         onHarness={() => undefined}
         showPlan={false}
+        holdsModePick={holdsModePick}
       />
     );
   }
@@ -190,11 +191,11 @@ async function kept(answer: Answer) {
   rememberStartMode("claude", undefined, answer);
 }
 
-async function fresh(cwd?: string) {
+async function fresh(cwd?: string, holdsModePick = true) {
   act(() => root?.unmount());
   root = undefined;
   host.replaceChildren();
-  await render(undefined, cwd);
+  await render(undefined, cwd, holdsModePick);
 }
 
 test("a new chat acpmux starts in full access draws its warning chip on the first frame", async () => {
@@ -205,7 +206,11 @@ test("a new chat acpmux starts in full access draws its warning chip on the firs
 
   // A new chat, before acpmux answers again: its kept answer, warning included.
   await fresh();
-  expect(host.querySelector(".acpmux-chip-pending.acpmux-mode")).not.toBeNull();
+  // The remembered mode is a live access menu while the new session is pending, so the person
+  // can change it before the harness answers. It is no longer an inert pending chip.
+  const pendingAccess = host.querySelector<HTMLButtonElement>(".acpmux-access-trigger");
+  expect(pendingAccess).not.toBeNull();
+  expect(pendingAccess?.disabled).toBe(false);
   expect(access()).toEqual({ label: "Bypass permissions", warning: true });
   await answer();
   expect(access()).toEqual({ label: "Bypass permissions", warning: true });
@@ -286,3 +291,39 @@ test("a harness switch never draws another folder's start mode as the chat's cur
   rememberStartMode("claude", "/unanswered", { modeId: "bypassPermissions", name: "Bypass permissions" });
   expect(applySwitch(raw, view, [], profiles).summary?.modes?.currentModeId).toBe("bypassPermissions");
 });
+
+test("a pending chat whose pane cannot hold a mode pick keeps the inert chip", async () => {
+  // No New Tab start and no harness switch running: a pick would reach no session, so the chip
+  // names the start mode without offering a menu.
+  await kept({ modeId: "bypassPermissions", name: "Bypass permissions" });
+  const answer = await acpmux({ modeId: "bypassPermissions", name: "Bypass permissions" });
+  await fresh(undefined, false);
+  await answer();
+  expect(host.querySelector(".acpmux-chip-pending.acpmux-mode")).not.toBeNull();
+  expect(host.querySelector("button.acpmux-access-trigger")).toBeNull();
+  expect(access()).toEqual({ label: "Bypass permissions", warning: true });
+});
+
+test("a pending chat that starts in Plan keeps the inert chip: Plan is never an access row", async () => {
+  await kept({ modeId: "plan", name: "Plan" });
+  const answer = await acpmux({ modeId: "plan", name: "Plan" });
+  await fresh();
+  await answer();
+  expect(host.querySelector(".acpmux-chip-pending.acpmux-mode")).not.toBeNull();
+});
+
+// Last: it fills the shared profile store (`harnessProfiles` keeps no reset), which every
+// test above relies on being empty.
+test("a pending chat's access menu names acpmux's start mode, never the mode this harness's last chat showed", async () => {
+  const { harnessProfiles } = await import("../src/agent-session/acpmux/harnessProfiles");
+  type Snapshot = import("../src/agent-session/acpmux/model").AcpmuxSnapshot;
+  // The last Claude chat sat in "Ask before edits"; new chats start in full access.
+  harnessProfiles.observe(reported("earlier", "default") as Snapshot["summary"]);
+  await kept({ modeId: "bypassPermissions", name: "Bypass permissions" });
+  const answer = await acpmux({ modeId: "bypassPermissions", name: "Bypass permissions" });
+  await fresh();
+  expect(access()).toEqual({ label: "Bypass permissions", warning: true });
+  expect(host.querySelector<HTMLButtonElement>(".acpmux-access-trigger")?.disabled).toBe(false);
+  await answer();
+  expect(access()).toEqual({ label: "Bypass permissions", warning: true });
+});
diff --git a/webviews/test/agent-pane-start-mode-chip.test.ts b/webviews/test/agent-pane-start-mode-chip.test.ts
index d2fc2cac12fc..5ccb7872a683 100644
--- a/webviews/test/agent-pane-start-mode-chip.test.ts
+++ b/webviews/test/agent-pane-start-mode-chip.test.ts
@@ -276,6 +276,18 @@ await requireBrowserLane("agent-pane-start-mode-chip.test.ts", async () => {
     });
     await other.getByText("Docs updated.").waitFor({ state: "detached" });
     expect(await settledChip(other)).toBe("Full access");
+    // A sessionless pending chat still exposes the harness-specific full-access mode as a real
+    // menu, rather than a disabled placeholder. The same path works for Claude and Codex mode ids.
+    const pendingAccess = other.locator(".acpmux-access-trigger");
+    expect(await pendingAccess.isEnabled()).toBe(true);
+    await pendingAccess.click();
+    await other.locator(".acpmux-access-menu .acpmux-access-item", { hasText: "Full access" }).waitFor();
+    expect(
+      await other
+        .locator(".acpmux-access-menu .acpmux-access-item", { hasText: "Full access" })
+        .getAttribute("aria-checked"),
+    ).toBe("true");
+    await other.keyboard.press("Escape");
     // Then the person picks Normal in another pane: the pending chat names Normal before any send.
     const picked = await context.newPage();
     await picked.goto(url(PICKED));