diff --git a/.jules/bolt.md b/.jules/bolt.md
index 3520a4c..9228b15 100644
--- a/.jules/bolt.md
+++ b/.jules/bolt.md
@@ -57,3 +57,7 @@
 ## 2024-05-09 - Avoid O(N) array allocation in loops
 **Learning:** Using `[...updated].reverse().findIndex(...)` in frequent event callbacks (like stream_text in React) forces O(N) memory allocation and O(N) forward searching each tick, causing major garbage collection pauses. `findLastIndex` is not supported on ES2022 output targets.
 **Action:** Replace functional backwards searches that depend on clones with traditional reverse `for` loops to find items instantly in O(1) time without allocations.
+
+## 2026-05-19 - Top-Level Interval Anti-Pattern (SpinnerVerb)
+**Learning:** Storing a slow interval state like `spinnerVerb` (every 2.4s) at the top-level `App` component still forces a full application tree O(N) cascade re-render every tick. Even if it is not as fast as a 250ms timer, it causes noticeable micro-stuttering during UI interactions and when large lists are rendered because it triggers diffs across the entire application including Heavy `ChatPanel` and `TabbedRightPanel`.
+**Action:** Always extract even slow interval-driven decorative states into isolated leaf components (like `SpinnerVerbDisplay`) wrapped in `React.memo()`. Removing the prop-drilling entirely isolates the re-renders specifically to the UI span rendering the changing string.
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/renderer/App.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/renderer/App.tsx
index 8cb23cf..56c0a3e 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/renderer/App.tsx
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/renderer/App.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useState, useCallback, useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
+import { useState, useCallback, useEffect } from 'react';
 import { PanelLeft, PanelRight, Settings, Command } from 'lucide-react';
 import type { HostedAgentEvent, ModeState } from '../preload/index';
 import ChatPanel from './components/ChatPanel';
@@ -27,13 +27,6 @@ function uid(): string {
   return Date.now().toString(36) + Math.random().toString(36).slice(2);
 }
 
-const SPINNER_VERBS = [
-  'Thinking', 'Analyzing', 'Processing', 'Writing code', 'Reading files',
-  'Running commands', 'Searching', 'Debugging', 'Building', 'Testing',
-  'Reviewing', 'Planning', 'Implementing', 'Refactoring', 'Optimizing',
-  'Generating', 'Compiling', 'Deploying', 'Cooking', 'Locked in',
-];
-
 export default function App() {
   const [messages, setMessages] = useState<ChatMessage[]>([]);
   const [modeState, setModeState] = useState<ModeState>({
@@ -52,12 +45,10 @@ export default function App() {
   const [needsSetup, setNeedsSetup] = useState(false);
   const [showSetup, setShowSetup] = useState(false);
   const [commandPaletteOpen, setCommandPaletteOpen] = useState(false);
-  const [spinnerVerb, setSpinnerVerb] = useState('');
   const [leftPanelOpen, setLeftPanelOpen] = useState(true);
   const [rightPanelOpen, setRightPanelOpen] = useState(false);
   const [costMode, setCostMode] = useState('normal');
   const [activeSessionId, setActiveSessionId] = useState<string | undefined>();
-  const spinnerIndexRef = useRef(0);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     (async () => {
@@ -83,17 +74,6 @@ export default function App() {
     })();
   }, []);
 
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (!isRunning) return;
-    spinnerIndexRef.current = Math.floor(Math.random() * SPINNER_VERBS.length);
-    setSpinnerVerb(SPINNER_VERBS[spinnerIndexRef.current]);
-    const id = setInterval(() => {
-      spinnerIndexRef.current = (spinnerIndexRef.current + 1) % SPINNER_VERBS.length;
-      setSpinnerVerb(SPINNER_VERBS[spinnerIndexRef.current]);
-    }, 2400);
-    return () => clearInterval(id);
-  }, [isRunning]);
-
   const handleAgentEvents = useCallback((batch: HostedAgentEvent[]) => {
     setMessages((prev) => {
       const updated = [...prev];
@@ -419,7 +399,6 @@ export default function App() {
             onSendMessage={handleSendMessage}
             onCommand={handleCommand}
             isRunning={isRunning}
-            spinnerVerb={spinnerVerb}
             activeModel={activeModel}
             activeProvider={activeProvider}
             wireFormat={wireFormat}
@@ -451,7 +430,6 @@ export default function App() {
         mode={modeState.current}
         workingDir={workingDir}
         isRunning={isRunning}
-        spinnerVerb={spinnerVerb}
         activeModel={activeModel}
         activeProvider={activeProvider}
         wireFormat={wireFormat}
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/ChatPanel.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/ChatPanel.tsx
index a4181c6..cc5c0f8 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/ChatPanel.tsx
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/ChatPanel.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import MessageBubble from './MessageBubble';
 import ToolCallCard from './ToolCallCard';
 import { cn } from '../lib/utils';
 import { useRunElapsed } from '../hooks/useRunElapsed';
+import SpinnerVerbDisplay from './SpinnerVerbDisplay';
 
 const ChatPanelTimer = memo(function ChatPanelTimer({ isRunning }: { isRunning: boolean }) {
   const runElapsed = useRunElapsed(isRunning);
@@ -41,7 +42,6 @@ interface ChatPanelProps {
   onSendMessage: (content: string) => void;
   onCommand: (cmd: string, arg?: string) => void;
   isRunning: boolean;
-  spinnerVerb: string;
   activeModel: string;
   activeProvider: string;
   wireFormat: string;
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ interface ChatPanelProps {
 }
 
 export default function ChatPanel({
-  messages, onSendMessage, onCommand, isRunning, spinnerVerb,
+  messages, onSendMessage, onCommand, isRunning,
   activeModel, activeProvider, wireFormat, appVersion, needsSetup, onOpenSetup, onOpenCommandPalette,
   modeState, onModeSwitch,
 }: ChatPanelProps) {
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ export default function ChatPanel({
                     <span className="inline-block h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full bg-xibe-text-dim/60 animate-bounce" style={{ animationDelay: '150ms' }} />
                     <span className="inline-block h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full bg-xibe-text-dim/60 animate-bounce" style={{ animationDelay: '300ms' }} />
                   </div>
-                  <span className="ml-1">{spinnerVerb}</span>
+                  <SpinnerVerbDisplay isRunning={isRunning} className="ml-1" />
                   <ChatPanelTimer isRunning={isRunning} />
                 </div>
               )}
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/SpinnerVerbDisplay.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/SpinnerVerbDisplay.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a092556
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/SpinnerVerbDisplay.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+import { useState, useEffect, useRef, memo } from 'react';
+import { cn } from '../lib/utils';
+
+const SPINNER_VERBS = [
+  'Thinking', 'Analyzing', 'Processing', 'Writing code', 'Reading files',
+  'Running commands', 'Searching', 'Debugging', 'Building', 'Testing',
+  'Reviewing', 'Planning', 'Implementing', 'Refactoring', 'Optimizing',
+  'Generating', 'Compiling', 'Deploying', 'Cooking', 'Locked in',
+];
+
+interface SpinnerVerbDisplayProps {
+  isRunning: boolean;
+  className?: string;
+}
+
+const SpinnerVerbDisplay = memo(function SpinnerVerbDisplay({ isRunning, className }: SpinnerVerbDisplayProps) {
+  const [spinnerVerb, setSpinnerVerb] = useState('');
+  const spinnerIndexRef = useRef(0);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!isRunning) return;
+    spinnerIndexRef.current = Math.floor(Math.random() * SPINNER_VERBS.length);
+    setSpinnerVerb(SPINNER_VERBS[spinnerIndexRef.current]);
+    const id = setInterval(() => {
+      spinnerIndexRef.current = (spinnerIndexRef.current + 1) % SPINNER_VERBS.length;
+      setSpinnerVerb(SPINNER_VERBS[spinnerIndexRef.current]);
+    }, 2400);
+    return () => clearInterval(id);
+  }, [isRunning]);
+
+  if (!isRunning) return null;
+
+  return <span className={cn(className)}>{spinnerVerb}</span>;
+});
+
+export default SpinnerVerbDisplay;
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/StatusBar.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/StatusBar.tsx
index aab1932..e3c99b1 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/StatusBar.tsx
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/renderer/components/StatusBar.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { memo } from 'react';
 import { useRunElapsed } from '../hooks/useRunElapsed';
+import SpinnerVerbDisplay from './SpinnerVerbDisplay';
 
 const StatusBarTimer = memo(function StatusBarTimer({ isRunning }: { isRunning: boolean }) {
   const runElapsed = useRunElapsed(isRunning);
@@ -16,7 +17,6 @@ interface Props {
   mode: string;
   workingDir: string;
   isRunning: boolean;
-  spinnerVerb: string;
   activeModel: string;
   activeProvider: string;
   wireFormat: string;
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ const MODE_COLORS: Record<string, string> = {
   engineer: 'bg-green-400', data: 'bg-cyan-400', researcher: 'bg-pink-300',
 };
 
-export default function StatusBar({ mode, workingDir, isRunning, spinnerVerb, activeModel, activeProvider, wireFormat, costMode, onToggleSidebar, onTogglePreview }: Props) {
+export default function StatusBar({ mode, workingDir, isRunning, activeModel, activeProvider, wireFormat, costMode, onToggleSidebar, onTogglePreview }: Props) {
   const dot = MODE_COLORS[mode] ?? 'bg-zinc-400';
 
   return (
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ export default function StatusBar({ mode, workingDir, isRunning, spinnerVerb, ac
         {isRunning && (
           <>
             <span className="text-xibe-border">|</span>
-            <span className="text-xibe-brand-blue">{spinnerVerb}</span>
+            <SpinnerVerbDisplay isRunning={isRunning} className="text-xibe-brand-blue" />
             <StatusBarTimer isRunning={isRunning} />
           </>
         )}