diff --git a/src/components/TaskPicker.tsx b/src/components/TaskPicker.tsx
index fdf46f6e39..f6625211d7 100644
--- a/src/components/TaskPicker.tsx
+++ b/src/components/TaskPicker.tsx
@@ -6,8 +6,23 @@
 // long job and a quick question can sit side by side under one agent.
 import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { Check, ChevronDown, Plus, Trash2 } from "lucide-react";
-import { useStore, formatTime, type Bot } from "@/state/store";
+import { useStore, formatTime, type Bot, type Task } from "@/state/store";
 import { cn } from "@/lib/cn";
+import { formatTokens } from "@/lib/format-tokens";
+
+/** Quiet per-task token tally — input+output combined, because one honest
+ * total reads faster than a split; the split lives in the hover title. */
+function TaskUsage({ usage }: { usage: Task["usage"] }) {
+  if (!usage) return null;
+  const label = formatTokens(usage.input + usage.output);
+  if (!label) return null;
+  return (
+    <span title={`${usage.input.toLocaleString()} in · ${usage.output.toLocaleString()} out`}>
+      {" · "}
+      {label}
+    </span>
+  );
+}
 
 export function TaskPicker({ bot }: { bot: Bot }) {
   const { dispatch } = useStore();
@@ -22,6 +37,7 @@ export function TaskPicker({ bot }: { bot: Bot }) {
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!open) return;
     const onDown = (e: MouseEvent) => {
+      // SAFETY: a mousedown target inside a document is always a DOM Node
       if (!ref.current?.contains(e.target as Node)) setOpen(false);
     };
     const onKey = (e: KeyboardEvent) => e.key === "Escape" && setOpen(false);
@@ -54,11 +70,20 @@ export function TaskPicker({ bot }: { bot: Bot }) {
     if (title) dispatch({ type: "renameTask", botId: bot.id, threadId, title });
   };
 
+  // the picker button stays as-is — a token count next to a truncated title
+  // and count would crowd it; the open task's tally rides the hover title
+  const u = current?.usage;
+  const currentLabel = u ? formatTokens(u.input + u.output) : null;
+  const switchTitle =
+    u && currentLabel
+      ? `Switch task · ${currentLabel} (${u.input.toLocaleString()} in · ${u.output.toLocaleString()} out)`
+      : "Switch task";
+
   return (
     <div className="relative" ref={ref}>
       <button
         onClick={() => setOpen((o) => !o)}
-        title="Switch task"
+        title={switchTitle}
         className="flex max-w-[220px] items-center gap-1.5 rounded-full border border-hairline/40 px-2.5 py-1 text-[12.5px] text-ink-secondary hover:bg-raised hover:text-ink"
       >
         <span className="truncate">{current?.title ?? "Task"}</span>
@@ -103,7 +128,10 @@ export function TaskPicker({ bot }: { bot: Bot }) {
                       title="Click to switch · double-click to rename"
                     >
                       <div className="truncate text-[13px] text-ink">{task.title}</div>
-                      <div className="text-[11px] text-ink-secondary">{formatTime(task.createdAt)}</div>
+                      <div className="text-[11px] text-ink-secondary">
+                        {formatTime(task.createdAt)}
+                        <TaskUsage usage={task.usage} />
+                      </div>
                     </button>
                   )}
                   <button
diff --git a/src/lib/format-tokens.test.ts b/src/lib/format-tokens.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dd952630c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/format-tokens.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { formatTokens } from "./format-tokens";
+
+describe("formatTokens", () => {
+  it("hides zero, negatives and non-finite values entirely", () => {
+    expect(formatTokens(0)).toBeNull();
+    expect(formatTokens(-5)).toBeNull();
+    expect(formatTokens(Number.NaN)).toBeNull();
+    expect(formatTokens(Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY)).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("spells out sub-thousand counts", () => {
+    expect(formatTokens(1)).toBe("1 token");
+    expect(formatTokens(2)).toBe("2 tokens");
+    expect(formatTokens(842)).toBe("842 tokens");
+    expect(formatTokens(999)).toBe("999 tokens");
+  });
+
+  it("switches to k exactly at 1000, without a trailing .0", () => {
+    expect(formatTokens(1000)).toBe("1k");
+    expect(formatTokens(1049)).toBe("1k");
+    expect(formatTokens(1050)).toBe("1.1k");
+    expect(formatTokens(12_300)).toBe("12.3k");
+    expect(formatTokens(12_349)).toBe("12.3k");
+    expect(formatTokens(12_350)).toBe("12.4k");
+  });
+
+  it("promotes to M exactly where k-rounding would reach 1000k", () => {
+    expect(formatTokens(999_949)).toBe("999.9k");
+    expect(formatTokens(999_950)).toBe("1M");
+    expect(formatTokens(1_000_000)).toBe("1M");
+    expect(formatTokens(1_240_000)).toBe("1.2M");
+    expect(formatTokens(1_250_000)).toBe("1.3M");
+    expect(formatTokens(123_456_789)).toBe("123.5M");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/format-tokens.ts b/src/lib/format-tokens.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5d9d8d95ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/format-tokens.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/** Token counts as quiet metadata: "842 tokens", "12.3k", "1.2M".
+ *
+ * Null (not "0") for zero so callers can drop the chip entirely — a task
+ * that never ran shouldn't advertise a tally. Rounding runs on integer
+ * tenths (n/100, n/100_000) rather than floats: 999_950/1000*10 lands on
+ * 9999.499… in binary and would round DOWN to "999.9k" instead of
+ * promoting to "1M". */
+export function formatTokens(total: number): string | null {
+  if (!Number.isFinite(total) || total < 1) return null;
+  const n = Math.trunc(total);
+  if (n < 1000) return n === 1 ? "1 token" : `${n} tokens`;
+  // tenths-of-a-thousand; >= 10000 tenths means the rounded value hit 1000k
+  const kTenths = Math.round(n / 100);
+  if (kTenths < 10_000) return `${tenths(kTenths)}k`;
+  return `${tenths(Math.round(n / 100_000))}M`;
+}
+
+/** 123 tenths → "12.3"; whole values drop the ".0" ("1k", not "1.0k"). */
+function tenths(t: number): string {
+  const frac = t % 10;
+  return frac === 0 ? `${t / 10}` : `${(t - frac) / 10}.${frac}`;
+}
diff --git a/src/state/store.tsx b/src/state/store.tsx
index de10904343..5794c4109d 100644
--- a/src/state/store.tsx
+++ b/src/state/store.tsx
@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@ export interface Task {
   /** folder this task's turns run in, pinned on its first turn; null =
    * legacy home-folder session; absent = not pinned yet */
   cwd?: string | null;
+  /** cumulative token spend across this task's settled turns, as the
+   * server tallies it; absent until the first turn completes */
+  usage?: { input: number; output: number; turns: number };
 }
 
 export interface Bot {