diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/context-candidates/curator-pagination.service.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/context-candidates/curator-pagination.service.ts
index 7848fab7..fbeab08c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/context-candidates/curator-pagination.service.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/context-candidates/curator-pagination.service.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ export interface CuratorPaginationInput {
   buildUserPrompt: (input: CuratorPaginationPromptInput) => string;
   buildToolSet: (passNumber: number) => KtxRuntimeToolSet;
   getReconciliationActions: () => MemoryAction[];
-  onStepFinish?: (info: { passNumber: number; stepIndex: number; stepBudget: number }) => void;
   abortSignal?: AbortSignal;
 }
 
@@ -245,10 +244,6 @@ export class CuratorPaginationService implements CuratorPaginationPort {
       jobId: params.input.jobId,
       forceRun: params.forceRun,
       abortSignal: params.input.abortSignal,
-      onStepFinish: params.input.onStepFinish
-        ? ({ stepIndex, stepBudget }) =>
-            params.input.onStepFinish?.({ passNumber: params.passNumber, stepIndex, stepBudget })
-        : undefined,
     });
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/ingest-bundle.runner.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/ingest-bundle.runner.ts
index a242d58a..6f5372d2 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/ingest-bundle.runner.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/ingest-bundle.runner.ts
@@ -939,14 +939,13 @@ export class IngestBundleRunner {
     workUnitSettings: { maxConcurrency: number; stepBudget: number; failureMode: 'abort' | 'continue' };
     transcriptDir: string;
     transcriptSummaries: Map<string, MutableToolTranscriptSummary>;
-    recordTranscriptEntry(path: string): (entry: ToolCallLogEntry) => void;
+    recordTranscriptEntry(path: string): (entry: ToolCallLogEntry) => MutableToolTranscriptSummary;
     stageIndex: StageIndex;
     includeContextEvidenceTools: boolean;
     currentTableExists(tableRef: string): Promise<boolean>;
     memoryFlow?: MemoryFlowEventSink;
     abortSignal?: AbortSignal;
     wuSkillNames: string[];
-    onStepFinish?: (info: { stepIndex: number; stepBudget: number }) => void;
   }): Promise<WorkUnitOutcome> {
     const session: CaptureSession = {
       userId: 'system',
@@ -1050,7 +1049,6 @@ export class IngestBundleRunner {
       type: 'work_unit_started',
       unitKey: input.wu.unitKey,
       skills: input.wuSkillNames,
-      stepBudget: input.workUnitSettings.stepBudget,
     });
     return executeWorkUnit(
       {
@@ -1074,8 +1072,10 @@ export class IngestBundleRunner {
             slIndex: input.slIndex,
             priorProvenance: input.priorProvenance,
           }),
-        buildToolSet: (wuInner) =>
-          wrapToolsWithLogger(
+        buildToolSet: (wuInner) => {
+          const transcriptPath = join(input.transcriptDir, `${wuInner.unitKey}.jsonl`);
+          const record = input.recordTranscriptEntry(transcriptPath);
+          return wrapToolsWithLogger(
             buildWuToolSet({
               sourceKey: input.job.sourceKey,
               stagedDir: input.stagedDir,
@@ -1084,10 +1084,23 @@ export class IngestBundleRunner {
               emitUnmappedFallbackTool: wuEmitUnmappedFallbackTool,
               toolsetTools: wuToolset.toRuntimeTools(wuToolContext),
             }),
-            join(input.transcriptDir, `${wuInner.unitKey}.jsonl`),
+            transcriptPath,
             wuInner.unitKey,
-            { onEntry: input.recordTranscriptEntry(join(input.transcriptDir, `${wuInner.unitKey}.jsonl`)) },
-          ),
+            {
+              // Drive the live HUD heartbeat from real tool calls: each invocation
+              // ticks the running per-unit count. This is an observed signal, not a
+              // re-derived turn count, so it can never overshoot a budget.
+              onEntry: (entry) => {
+                const summary = record(entry);
+                input.memoryFlow?.emit({
+                  type: 'work_unit_step',
+                  unitKey: wuInner.unitKey,
+                  toolCalls: summary.toolCallCount,
+                });
+              },
+            },
+          );
+        },
         captureSession: session,
         sessionActions,
         modelRole: 'candidateExtraction',
@@ -1096,7 +1109,6 @@ export class IngestBundleRunner {
         connectionId: input.job.connectionId,
         jobId: input.job.jobId,
         toolFailureCount: (unitKey) => input.transcriptSummaries.get(unitKey)?.fatalErrorCount ?? 0,
-        onStepFinish: input.onStepFinish,
         abortSignal: input.abortSignal,
       },
       input.wu,
@@ -1166,11 +1178,12 @@ export class IngestBundleRunner {
     const transcriptDir = this.deps.storage.resolveTranscriptDir(job.jobId);
     const recordTranscriptEntry =
       (path: string) =>
-      (entry: ToolCallLogEntry): void => {
+      (entry: ToolCallLogEntry): MutableToolTranscriptSummary => {
         const current =
           transcriptSummaries.get(entry.wuKey) ?? createMutableToolTranscriptSummary(entry.wuKey, path);
         recordToolTranscriptEntry(current, entry);
         transcriptSummaries.set(entry.wuKey, current);
+        return current;
       };
     const overrideReport = await this.loadOverrideReport(job);
 
@@ -1639,9 +1652,6 @@ export class IngestBundleRunner {
                       abortSignal: ctx?.abortSignal,
                       memoryFlow,
                       wuSkillNames,
-                      onStepFinish: ({ stepIndex, stepBudget }) => {
-                        memoryFlow?.emit({ type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey: wu.unitKey, stepIndex, stepBudget });
-                      },
                     });
                   },
                 });
@@ -2013,6 +2023,45 @@ export class IngestBundleRunner {
       let curatorWarnings: string[] = [];
       let reconcileOutcome: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof runReconciliationStage4>>;
 
+      // Reconcile shares the work-unit liveness model: the HUD heartbeat is driven
+      // by real tool calls (a monotonic, observed count), not a re-derived turn
+      // counter. The soft cap only paces the phase progress bar; it is never shown
+      // to the user, so it cannot read as a misleading "X/Y" fraction.
+      const reconcileTranscriptPath = join(transcriptDir, 'reconcile.jsonl');
+      const reconcileProgressSoftCap = 40;
+      const buildReconcileToolSetWithHeartbeat = (): KtxRuntimeToolSet => {
+        const record = recordTranscriptEntry(reconcileTranscriptPath);
+        return wrapToolsWithLogger(
+          buildReconcileToolSet({
+            loadSkillTool: rcLoadSkill,
+            stageListTool: rcStageListTool,
+            stageDiffTool: rcStageDiffTool,
+            evictionListTool: rcEvictionListTool,
+            emitConflictResolutionTool: rcEmitConflictResolutionTool,
+            emitEvictionDecisionTool: rcEmitEvictionDecisionTool,
+            emitArtifactResolutionTool: rcEmitArtifactResolutionTool,
+            emitUnmappedFallbackTool: rcEmitUnmappedFallbackTool,
+            readRawSpanTool: rcRawSpanTool,
+            toolsetTools: rcToolset.toRuntimeTools(rcToolContext),
+          }),
+          reconcileTranscriptPath,
+          'reconcile',
+          {
+            onEntry: (entry) => {
+              const summary = record(entry);
+              if (!stage4) {
+                return;
+              }
+              const label = `Reconciling results · ${summary.toolCallCount} action${
+                summary.toolCallCount === 1 ? '' : 's'
+              }`;
+              emitStageProgress('reconciliation', 85, label, { transient: true });
+              void stage4.updateProgress(Math.min(0.95, summary.toolCallCount / reconcileProgressSoftCap), label);
+            },
+          },
+        );
+      };
+
       const reconcileStartedAt = Date.now();
       const reconcileMode = contextReport && this.deps.curatorPagination ? 'curator' : 'single';
       if (contextReport && this.deps.curatorPagination) {
@@ -2035,39 +2084,8 @@ export class IngestBundleRunner {
             }),
           buildUserPrompt: ({ summary, items, runState }) =>
             buildReconcileUserPrompt(stageIndex, eviction, { summary, items }, reconcileNotes, runState),
-          buildToolSet: (_passNumber) =>
-            wrapToolsWithLogger(
-              buildReconcileToolSet({
-                loadSkillTool: rcLoadSkill,
-                stageListTool: rcStageListTool,
-                stageDiffTool: rcStageDiffTool,
-                evictionListTool: rcEvictionListTool,
-                emitConflictResolutionTool: rcEmitConflictResolutionTool,
-                emitEvictionDecisionTool: rcEmitEvictionDecisionTool,
-                emitArtifactResolutionTool: rcEmitArtifactResolutionTool,
-                emitUnmappedFallbackTool: rcEmitUnmappedFallbackTool,
-                readRawSpanTool: rcRawSpanTool,
-                toolsetTools: rcToolset.toRuntimeTools(rcToolContext),
-              }),
-              join(transcriptDir, 'reconcile.jsonl'),
-              'reconcile',
-              { onEntry: recordTranscriptEntry(join(transcriptDir, 'reconcile.jsonl')) },
-            ),
+          buildToolSet: (_passNumber) => buildReconcileToolSetWithHeartbeat(),
           getReconciliationActions: () => reconcileActions,
-          onStepFinish: stage4
-            ? ({ passNumber, stepIndex, stepBudget }) => {
-                emitStageProgress(
-                  'reconciliation',
-                  85,
-                  `Reconciling results: pass ${passNumber} step ${stepIndex}/${stepBudget}`,
-                  { transient: true },
-                );
-                void stage4.updateProgress(
-                  stepIndex / stepBudget,
-                  `Reconciling results · pass ${passNumber} step ${stepIndex}`,
-                );
-              }
-            : undefined,
           abortSignal: ctx?.abortSignal,
         });
         curatorReport = curatorOutcome.report;
@@ -2091,38 +2109,13 @@ export class IngestBundleRunner {
               canonicalPins: relevantCanonicalPins,
             }),
           buildUserPrompt: (idx, ev) => buildReconcileUserPrompt(idx, ev, undefined, reconcileNotes),
-          buildToolSet: () =>
-            wrapToolsWithLogger(
-              buildReconcileToolSet({
-                loadSkillTool: rcLoadSkill,
-                stageListTool: rcStageListTool,
-                stageDiffTool: rcStageDiffTool,
-                evictionListTool: rcEvictionListTool,
-                emitConflictResolutionTool: rcEmitConflictResolutionTool,
-                emitEvictionDecisionTool: rcEmitEvictionDecisionTool,
-                emitArtifactResolutionTool: rcEmitArtifactResolutionTool,
-                emitUnmappedFallbackTool: rcEmitUnmappedFallbackTool,
-                readRawSpanTool: rcRawSpanTool,
-                toolsetTools: rcToolset.toRuntimeTools(rcToolContext),
-              }),
-              join(transcriptDir, 'reconcile.jsonl'),
-              'reconcile',
-              { onEntry: recordTranscriptEntry(join(transcriptDir, 'reconcile.jsonl')) },
-            ),
+          buildToolSet: () => buildReconcileToolSetWithHeartbeat(),
           modelRole: 'reconcile',
           stepBudget: 60,
           sourceKey: job.sourceKey,
           jobId: job.jobId,
           force: !!overrideReport,
           abortSignal: ctx?.abortSignal,
-          onStepFinish: stage4
-            ? ({ stepIndex, stepBudget }) => {
-                emitStageProgress('reconciliation', 85, `Reconciling results: step ${stepIndex}/${stepBudget}`, {
-                  transient: true,
-                });
-                void stage4.updateProgress(stepIndex / stepBudget, `Reconciling results · step ${stepIndex}`);
-              }
-            : undefined,
         });
       }
       await runTrace.event(
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/events.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/events.ts
index 92cebe0f..27ed6ad6 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/events.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/events.ts
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ export function ingestReportToMemoryFlowReplay(
 
   const actions = allReportActions(report);
   const workUnitEvents: MemoryFlowEvent[] = report.body.workUnits.flatMap((workUnit) => [
-    { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: workUnit.unitKey, skills: [], stepBudget: 0 } satisfies MemoryFlowEvent,
+    { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: workUnit.unitKey, skills: [] } satisfies MemoryFlowEvent,
     ...workUnit.actions.map(
       (action): MemoryFlowEvent => ({
         type: 'candidate_action',
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/schema.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/schema.ts
index f448bbc8..939d5a18 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/schema.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/schema.ts
@@ -81,13 +81,11 @@ const memoryFlowEventSchema = z.discriminatedUnion('type', [
     type: z.literal('work_unit_started'),
     unitKey: z.string().min(1),
     skills: z.array(z.string().min(1)),
-    stepBudget: z.number().int().min(0),
   }),
   eventSchema({
     type: z.literal('work_unit_step'),
     unitKey: z.string().min(1),
-    stepIndex: z.number().int().min(0),
-    stepBudget: z.number().int().min(0),
+    toolCalls: z.number().int().min(0),
   }),
   eventSchema({
     type: z.literal('candidate_action'),
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/types.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/types.ts
index 72f1b6de..e620189e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/types.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/memory-flow/types.ts
@@ -71,13 +71,11 @@ type MemoryFlowEventPayload =
       type: 'work_unit_started';
       unitKey: string;
       skills: string[];
-      stepBudget: number;
     }
   | {
       type: 'work_unit_step';
       unitKey: string;
-      stepIndex: number;
-      stepBudget: number;
+      toolCalls: number;
     }
   | {
       type: 'candidate_action';
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/ports.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/ports.ts
index 7532919e..88294f59 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/ports.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/ports.ts
@@ -324,7 +324,6 @@ export interface CuratorPaginationPort {
     }) => string;
     buildToolSet: (passNumber: number) => KtxRuntimeToolSet;
     getReconciliationActions: () => MemoryAction[];
-    onStepFinish?: (info: { passNumber: number; stepIndex: number; stepBudget: number }) => void;
     abortSignal?: AbortSignal;
   }): Promise<ReconciliationOutcome & { report: CuratorPaginationReport; warnings: string[] }>;
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/stages/stage-3-work-units.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/stages/stage-3-work-units.ts
index a7387c8a..9e4bbbc6 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/stages/stage-3-work-units.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/stages/stage-3-work-units.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ export interface WorkUnitExecutionDeps {
   sourceKey: string;
   connectionId: string;
   jobId: string;
-  onStepFinish?: (info: { stepIndex: number; stepBudget: number }) => void;
   abortSignal?: AbortSignal;
   toolFailureCount?: (unitKey: string) => number;
 }
@@ -107,7 +106,6 @@ export async function executeWorkUnit(deps: WorkUnitExecutionDeps, wu: WorkUnit)
         unitKey: wu.unitKey,
         jobId: deps.jobId,
       },
-      onStepFinish: deps.onStepFinish,
       abortSignal: deps.abortSignal,
     });
   } catch (error) {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/stages/stage-4-reconciliation.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/stages/stage-4-reconciliation.ts
index c78e1b48..d87a8b80 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/stages/stage-4-reconciliation.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/ingest/stages/stage-4-reconciliation.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ export interface ReconciliationContext {
   sourceKey: string;
   jobId: string;
   force?: boolean;
-  onStepFinish?: (info: { stepIndex: number; stepBudget: number }) => void;
   abortSignal?: AbortSignal;
   forceRun?: boolean;
 }
@@ -40,7 +39,6 @@ export async function runReconciliationStage4(ctx: ReconciliationContext): Promi
     toolSet: ctx.buildToolSet(),
     stepBudget: ctx.stepBudget,
     telemetryTags: { operationName: 'ingest-bundle-reconcile', source: ctx.sourceKey, jobId: ctx.jobId },
-    onStepFinish: ctx.onStepFinish,
     abortSignal: ctx.abortSignal,
   });
   return { skipped: false, stopReason: run.stopReason, error: run.error, ...(run.metrics ? { metrics: run.metrics } : {}) };
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/llm/ai-sdk-runtime.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/llm/ai-sdk-runtime.ts
index d5a60c7b..81ada6ea 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/llm/ai-sdk-runtime.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/llm/ai-sdk-runtime.ts
@@ -322,21 +322,11 @@ export class AiSdkKtxLlmRuntime implements KtxLlmRuntimePort {
         messages: promptMessages.messages,
         tools: built.tools as ToolSet,
         ...(params.abortSignal ? { abortSignal: params.abortSignal } : {}),
-        onStepFinish: async () => {
+        // Count model round-trips locally for metrics. `stepCountIs(stepBudget)`
+        // caps the loop, so this counter never exceeds the budget.
+        onStepFinish: () => {
           stepIndex += 1;
           stepBoundariesMs.push(Date.now() - startedAt);
-          if (!params.onStepFinish) {
-            return;
-          }
-          try {
-            await params.onStepFinish({ stepIndex, stepBudget: params.stepBudget });
-          } catch (err) {
-            this.logger.warn(
-              `[agent-runner] onStepFinish callback threw; ignoring: ${
-                err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)
-              }`,
-            );
-          }
         },
       };
       const result = await this.generateTextWithRateLimitRetry(modelProviderName(model), params.abortSignal, () => generateText(request));
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/llm/claude-code-runtime.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/llm/claude-code-runtime.ts
index 26bd0529..9d0cff70 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/llm/claude-code-runtime.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/llm/claude-code-runtime.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import {
   type SDKResultMessage,
 } from '@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk';
 import { z } from 'zod';
-import { noopLogger, type KtxLogger } from '../../context/core/config.js';
 import { createAbortError, isAbortError, throwIfAborted } from '../core/abort.js';
 import { createKtxClaudeCodeEnv } from './claude-code-env.js';
 import { resolveClaudeCodeModel } from './claude-code-models.js';
@@ -53,7 +52,6 @@ export interface ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntimeDeps {
   modelSlots: { default: string } & Partial<Record<string, string>>;
   query?: QueryFn;
   env?: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
-  logger?: KtxLogger;
   rateLimitGovernor?: Pick<RateLimitGovernor, 'waitForReady' | 'report' | 'maxRetryAttempts'>;
 }
 
@@ -85,22 +83,6 @@ function isResult(message: SDKMessage): message is SDKResultMessage {
   return message.type === 'result';
 }
 
-// Skip emissions the SDK does not count toward `num_turns`: `pause_turn` continuations and
-// errored partials (e.g. `max_output_tokens`) it retries internally. Without this, the
-// runtime's step counter outruns `maxTurns` and the HUD renders e.g. `step 69/40`.
-function countsAsAssistantTurn(message: SDKMessage): boolean {
-  if (message.type !== 'assistant' || message.parent_tool_use_id !== null) {
-    return false;
-  }
-  if (message.error !== undefined) {
-    return false;
-  }
-  if (message.message.stop_reason === 'pause_turn') {
-    return false;
-  }
-  return true;
-}
-
 function resultError(result: SDKResultMessage): Error | undefined {
   if (result.subtype === 'success') {
     return undefined;
@@ -296,7 +278,6 @@ async function collectResult(params: {
   options: Options;
   allowedToolIds: Set<string>;
   expectedMcpServerNames: Set<string>;
-  onAssistantTurn?: () => Promise<void>;
   rateLimitGovernor?: Pick<RateLimitGovernor, 'waitForReady' | 'report' | 'maxRetryAttempts'>;
   abortSignal?: AbortSignal;
 }): Promise<ClaudeQueryOutcome> {
@@ -321,9 +302,6 @@ async function collectResult(params: {
         params.rateLimitGovernor?.report(rateLimitSignal);
       }
       assertInitIsolation(message, params.allowedToolIds, params.expectedMcpServerNames);
-      if (countsAsAssistantTurn(message)) {
-        await params.onAssistantTurn?.();
-      }
       if (isResult(message)) {
         result = message;
       }
@@ -358,11 +336,9 @@ async function collectResultWithRateLimitRetry(params: Parameters<typeof collect
 
 export class ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime implements KtxLlmRuntimePort {
   private readonly runQuery: QueryFn;
-  private readonly logger: KtxLogger;
 
   constructor(private readonly deps: ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntimeDeps) {
     this.runQuery = deps.query ?? defaultQuery;
-    this.logger = deps.logger ?? noopLogger;
   }
 
   async generateText(input: KtxGenerateTextInput): Promise<string> {
@@ -434,9 +410,7 @@ export class ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime implements KtxLlmRuntimePort {
   }
 
   async runAgentLoop(params: RunLoopParams): Promise<RunLoopResult> {
-    let stepIndex = 0;
     const startedAt = Date.now();
-    const stepBoundariesMs: number[] = [];
     try {
       const options = baseOptions({
         projectDir: this.deps.projectDir,
@@ -453,22 +427,6 @@ export class ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime implements KtxLlmRuntimePort {
         expectedMcpServerNames: expectedMcpServerNames(params.toolSet),
         rateLimitGovernor: this.deps.rateLimitGovernor,
         abortSignal: params.abortSignal,
-        onAssistantTurn: async () => {
-          stepIndex += 1;
-          stepBoundariesMs.push(Date.now() - startedAt);
-          if (!params.onStepFinish) {
-            return;
-          }
-          try {
-            await params.onStepFinish({ stepIndex, stepBudget: params.stepBudget });
-          } catch (error) {
-            this.logger.warn(
-              `[claude-code-runner] onStepFinish callback threw; ignoring: ${
-                error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
-              }`,
-            );
-          }
-        },
       });
       const stopReason = mapClaudeCodeStopReason(result);
       const error = resultError(result);
@@ -477,8 +435,12 @@ export class ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime implements KtxLlmRuntimePort {
         ...(stopReason === 'error' && error ? { error } : {}),
         metrics: {
           totalMs: Date.now() - startedAt,
-          stepCount: stepIndex,
-          stepBoundariesMs,
+          // Authoritative turn count from the SDK result. The runtime no longer
+          // re-derives a per-turn counter: it could not match the SDK's `num_turns`
+          // and overshot `maxTurns` (the source of the misleading `step 70/40`).
+          // Per-step boundaries require that counter and are not consumed anywhere.
+          stepCount: result.num_turns,
+          stepBoundariesMs: [],
           usage: claudeTokenUsage(result),
         },
       };
@@ -490,7 +452,7 @@ export class ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime implements KtxLlmRuntimePort {
       return {
         stopReason: 'error',
         error: err,
-        metrics: { totalMs: Date.now() - startedAt, stepCount: stepIndex, stepBoundariesMs, usage: {} },
+        metrics: { totalMs: Date.now() - startedAt, stepCount: 0, stepBoundariesMs: [], usage: {} },
       };
     }
   }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/llm/codex-runtime.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/llm/codex-runtime.ts
index 2958b3f8..ce6f609c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/llm/codex-runtime.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/llm/codex-runtime.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { z } from 'zod';
-import { noopLogger, type KtxLogger } from '../core/config.js';
 import { isAbortError, linkAbortSignal } from '../core/abort.js';
 import { isCompletedAgentStep, summarizeCodexExecEvents, type CodexExecEventSummary } from './codex-exec-events.js';
 import {
@@ -25,7 +24,6 @@ export interface CodexKtxLlmRuntimeDeps {
   modelSlots: { default: string } & Partial<Record<string, string>>;
   runner?: CodexSdkRunner;
   startMcpServer?: (input: { projectDir: string; toolSet: KtxRuntimeToolSet }) => Promise<CodexRuntimeMcpServerHandle>;
-  logger?: KtxLogger;
   rateLimitGovernor?: Pick<RateLimitGovernor, 'waitForReady' | 'report' | 'maxRetryAttempts'>;
 }
 
@@ -40,7 +38,6 @@ function promptWithSystem(system: string | undefined, prompt: string): string {
 interface CollectCodexEventsOptions {
   stepBudget?: number;
   abortController?: AbortController;
-  onStep?: (stepIndex: number) => void | Promise<void>;
 }
 
 interface CollectCodexEventsResult {
@@ -58,8 +55,8 @@ function isTurnCompleted(event: unknown): boolean {
 }
 
 /**
- * Drains the Codex stream once, emitting a step as each agent action completes
- * so callers see live progress and the step budget is enforced mid-run. Every
+ * Drains the Codex stream once, counting each completed agent action so the
+ * step budget is enforced mid-run. Every
  * completed agent-action item counts (see {@link isCompletedAgentStep}), so
  * built-in `command_execution` steps decrement the budget the same as
  * `mcp_tool_call`s. A turn that produced no actions still counts as one step,
@@ -93,7 +90,6 @@ async function collectEvents(
       }
 
       completedSteps += 1;
-      await options.onStep?.(completedSteps);
       if (isActionStep && options.stepBudget !== undefined && completedSteps >= options.stepBudget) {
         budgetExceeded = true;
         options.abortController?.abort();
@@ -170,11 +166,9 @@ function isCodexRateLimitError(error: Error | undefined): boolean {
 
 export class CodexKtxLlmRuntime implements KtxLlmRuntimePort {
   private readonly runner: CodexSdkRunner;
-  private readonly logger: KtxLogger;
 
   constructor(private readonly deps: CodexKtxLlmRuntimeDeps) {
     this.runner = deps.runner ?? new CodexSdkCliRunner();
-    this.logger = deps.logger ?? noopLogger;
   }
 
   private async runWithRateLimitRetry<T>(
@@ -328,15 +322,6 @@ export class CodexKtxLlmRuntime implements KtxLlmRuntimePort {
             }
           : {}),
       });
-      const onStep = async (stepIndex: number): Promise<void> => {
-        try {
-          await params.onStepFinish?.({ stepIndex, stepBudget: params.stepBudget });
-        } catch (error) {
-          this.logger.warn(
-            `[codex-runner] onStepFinish callback threw; ignoring: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`,
-          );
-        }
-      };
       const result = await this.runWithRateLimitRetry(
         params.abortSignal,
         async () => {
@@ -352,7 +337,7 @@ export class CodexKtxLlmRuntime implements KtxLlmRuntimePort {
                 env: config.env,
                 signal: abortController.signal,
               }),
-              { stepBudget: params.stepBudget, abortController, onStep },
+              { stepBudget: params.stepBudget, abortController },
             );
             const summary = summarizeCodexExecEvents(collected.events, { startedAt });
             return { collected, summary };
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/context/llm/runtime-port.ts b/packages/cli/src/context/llm/runtime-port.ts
index 9fec6208..c55e3c7a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/context/llm/runtime-port.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/context/llm/runtime-port.ts
@@ -17,12 +17,6 @@ export type KtxRuntimeToolSet = Record<string, KtxRuntimeToolDescriptor>;
 
 export type RunLoopStopReason = 'budget' | 'natural' | 'error';
 
-/** @internal */
-export interface RunLoopStepInfo {
-  stepIndex: number;
-  stepBudget: number;
-}
-
 export interface LlmTokenUsage {
   inputTokens?: number;
   outputTokens?: number;
@@ -48,7 +42,6 @@ export interface RunLoopParams {
   toolSet: KtxRuntimeToolSet;
   stepBudget: number;
   telemetryTags: Record<string, string>;
-  onStepFinish?: (info: RunLoopStepInfo) => void | Promise<void>;
   abortSignal?: AbortSignal;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/demo-metrics.ts b/packages/cli/src/demo-metrics.ts
index d6f9c207..70b0328c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/demo-metrics.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/demo-metrics.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ interface DemoMetricsTuning {
 interface DemoMetricsSnapshot {
   elapsedMs: number;
   etaMs: number | null;
-  agentSteps: number;
-  agentStepBudget: number;
   toolCalls: number;
   workUnitsStarted: number;
   workUnitsFinished: number;
@@ -37,18 +35,6 @@ function eventsOf<T extends MemoryFlowEvent['type']>(
   return events.filter((event): event is Extract<MemoryFlowEvent, { type: T }> => event.type === type);
 }
 
-function maxAgentStep(events: MemoryFlowEvent[]): { step: number; budget: number } {
-  const steps = eventsOf(events, 'work_unit_step');
-  const started = eventsOf(events, 'work_unit_started');
-  const stepIndex = steps.reduce((max, event) => Math.max(max, event.stepIndex), 0);
-  const stepBudget = Math.max(
-    0,
-    ...steps.map((event) => event.stepBudget),
-    ...started.map((event) => event.stepBudget),
-  );
-  return { step: stepIndex, budget: stepBudget };
-}
-
 function totalToolCalls(input: MemoryFlowReplayInput): number {
   return input.details.transcripts.reduce((total, transcript) => total + transcript.toolCallCount, 0);
 }
@@ -96,11 +82,10 @@ export function buildDemoMetrics(
   const nowMs = (options.now ?? Date.now)();
   const elapsedMs = elapsedMsFromEvents(input.events, nowMs);
 
-  const { step, budget } = maxAgentStep(input.events);
   const toolCalls = totalToolCalls(input);
   const progress = workUnitProgress(input);
   const finishedCount = eventsOf(input.events, 'work_unit_finished').length;
-  const stepDriver = Math.max(step, toolCalls, finishedCount * 4);
+  const stepDriver = Math.max(toolCalls, finishedCount * 4);
 
   const inputTokens = stepDriver * inputTokensPerStep;
   const outputTokens = stepDriver * outputTokensPerStep;
@@ -113,8 +98,6 @@ export function buildDemoMetrics(
   return {
     elapsedMs,
     etaMs: estimateEtaMs(elapsedMs, progress.finished, progress.total, input.status),
-    agentSteps: step,
-    agentStepBudget: budget,
     toolCalls,
     workUnitsStarted: progress.started,
     workUnitsFinished: progress.finished,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ingest.ts b/packages/cli/src/ingest.ts
index 319c3d1b..233b1b6e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ingest.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ingest.ts
@@ -398,9 +398,8 @@ function plainIngestEventProgress(
       const total = plannedWorkUnitCountThrough(snapshot, eventIndex);
       const completed = completedWorkUnitCountThrough(snapshot, eventIndex);
       const active = activeWorkUnitCountThrough(snapshot, eventIndex);
-      const stepFraction = event.stepBudget > 0 ? Math.min(1, event.stepIndex / event.stepBudget) : 0;
-      const percent = total > 0 ? 55 + Math.ceil(((completed + stepFraction) / total) * 25) : 55;
-      const latest = `${event.unitKey} step ${event.stepIndex}/${event.stepBudget}`;
+      const percent = total > 0 ? 55 + Math.ceil((completed / total) * 25) : 55;
+      const latest = `${event.unitKey} · ${pluralize(event.toolCalls, 'action')}`;
       return {
         percent,
         message: `Processing tasks: ${completed}/${total} complete, ${active} active; latest ${latest}`,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/memory-flow-hud.tsx b/packages/cli/src/memory-flow-hud.tsx
index 8b044122..5a09bf08 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/memory-flow-hud.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/memory-flow-hud.tsx
@@ -139,31 +139,21 @@ function sourceDescription(input: MemoryFlowReplayInput): SourceInfo {
   return { type: info.type, name: conn, sourceCount: count, itemNounPlural: info.plural, readingVerb: info.verb, ingestDescription: info.description };
 }
 
-function activeWorkUnits(
-  input: MemoryFlowReplayInput,
-): Array<{ unitKey: string; stepIndex: number; stepBudget: number }> {
+function activeWorkUnits(input: MemoryFlowReplayInput): string[] {
   const finishedKeys = new Set<string>();
-  const unitMap = new Map<string, { stepIndex: number; stepBudget: number }>();
-
   for (const e of input.events) {
-    if (e.type === 'work_unit_started') {
-      unitMap.set(e.unitKey, { stepIndex: 0, stepBudget: e.stepBudget });
-    }
-    if (e.type === 'work_unit_step') {
-      const existing = unitMap.get(e.unitKey);
-      if (existing) {
-        existing.stepIndex = e.stepIndex;
-        existing.stepBudget = e.stepBudget;
-      }
-    }
     if (e.type === 'work_unit_finished') finishedKeys.add(e.unitKey);
   }
 
-  const result: Array<{ unitKey: string; stepIndex: number; stepBudget: number }> = [];
-  for (const [unitKey, data] of unitMap) {
-    if (!finishedKeys.has(unitKey)) result.push({ unitKey, ...data });
+  const active: string[] = [];
+  const seen = new Set<string>();
+  for (const e of input.events) {
+    if (e.type === 'work_unit_started' && !finishedKeys.has(e.unitKey) && !seen.has(e.unitKey)) {
+      seen.add(e.unitKey);
+      active.push(e.unitKey);
+    }
   }
-  return result;
+  return active;
 }
 
 function queuedWorkUnits(input: MemoryFlowReplayInput): string[] {
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/ingest-bundle.runner.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/ingest-bundle.runner.test.ts
index b491acf2..68814792 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/ingest-bundle.runner.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/ingest-bundle.runner.test.ts
@@ -904,7 +904,11 @@ describe('IngestBundleRunner — Stages 1 → 7', () => {
     });
     deps.agentRunner.runLoop.mockImplementation(async (params: any) => {
       if (params.telemetryTags.operationName === 'ingest-bundle-wu') {
-        await params.onStepFinish?.({ stepIndex: 1, stepBudget: params.stepBudget });
+        // A real tool call drives the live work_unit_step heartbeat.
+        await params.toolSet.record_verification_ledger.execute(
+          { summary: 'Captured order context.', verifiedIdentifiers: [], unverifiedIdentifiers: [] },
+          { toolCallId: 'ledger-1', messages: [] },
+        );
         currentToolSession.actions.push({
           target: 'wiki',
           type: 'created',
@@ -948,9 +952,8 @@ describe('IngestBundleRunner — Stages 1 → 7', () => {
           type: 'work_unit_started',
           unitKey: 'u1',
           skills: ['ingest_triage', 'sl_capture', 'wiki_capture'],
-          stepBudget: 40,
         }),
-        expect.objectContaining({ type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey: 'u1', stepIndex: 1, stepBudget: 40 }),
+        expect.objectContaining({ type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey: 'u1', toolCalls: 1 }),
         expect.objectContaining({
           type: 'candidate_action',
           unitKey: 'u1',
@@ -2226,22 +2229,7 @@ describe('IngestBundleRunner — Stages 1 → 7', () => {
 
   it('emits a monotonically non-decreasing progress sequence reaching 1.0, covering all 7 stages', async () => {
     const deps = makeDeps();
-    // Simulate an agent that calls onStepFinish a few times so stage 3 and 4 emit per-step progress.
-    deps.agentRunner.runLoop.mockImplementation(async (params: any) => {
-      if (params.onStepFinish) {
-        for (let i = 1; i <= 3; i++) {
-          await params.onStepFinish({ stepIndex: i, stepBudget: params.stepBudget });
-        }
-      }
-      return { stopReason: 'natural' };
-    });
-    // Trigger Stage 4 reconciliation by having at least one action.
-    deps.agentRunner.runLoop.mockImplementation(async (params: any) => {
-      if (params.onStepFinish) {
-        await params.onStepFinish({ stepIndex: 1, stepBudget: params.stepBudget });
-      }
-      return { stopReason: 'natural' };
-    });
+    deps.agentRunner.runLoop.mockImplementation(async () => ({ stopReason: 'natural' }));
 
     const runner = buildRunner(deps);
     (runner as any).stageRawFilesStage1 = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/acceptance-fixtures.ts b/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/acceptance-fixtures.ts
index 1d57aaa8..a3decab3 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/acceptance-fixtures.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/acceptance-fixtures.ts
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ function baseScenario(overrides: Partial<MemoryFlowReplayInput> = {}): MemoryFlo
       { type: 'raw_snapshot_written', syncId: 'sync-success', rawFileCount: 4 },
       { type: 'diff_computed', added: 2, modified: 1, deleted: 0, unchanged: 1 },
       { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 2, workUnitCount: 2, evictionCount: 0 },
-      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
       { type: 'candidate_action', unitKey: 'orders', target: 'wiki', action: 'created', key: 'wiki/global/orders.md' },
       { type: 'candidate_action', unitKey: 'orders', target: 'sl', action: 'updated', key: 'warehouse.orders' },
       { type: 'work_unit_finished', unitKey: 'orders', status: 'success' },
-      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'revenue', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'revenue', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
       { type: 'candidate_action', unitKey: 'revenue', target: 'wiki', action: 'updated', key: 'wiki/global/revenue.md' },
       { type: 'work_unit_finished', unitKey: 'revenue', status: 'success' },
       { type: 'reconciliation_finished', conflictCount: 0, fallbackCount: 0 },
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ export function validationRevertScenario(): MemoryFlowReplayInput {
       { type: 'raw_snapshot_written', syncId: 'sync-validation', rawFileCount: 1 },
       { type: 'diff_computed', added: 1, modified: 0, deleted: 0, unchanged: 0 },
       { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 1, workUnitCount: 1, evictionCount: 0 },
-      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
       { type: 'candidate_action', unitKey: 'orders', target: 'sl', action: 'updated', key: 'warehouse.orders' },
       {
         type: 'work_unit_finished',
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/schema.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/schema.test.ts
index ee8f3bb9..a0ae40a8 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/schema.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/schema.test.ts
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ function snapshot(overrides: Partial<MemoryFlowReplayInput> = {}): MemoryFlowRep
       { type: 'diff_computed', added: 1, modified: 1, deleted: 0, unchanged: 0 },
       { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 1, workUnitCount: 1, evictionCount: 0 },
       { type: 'stage_progress', stage: 'integration', percent: 80, message: 'Integrating 1/1 patches: orders' },
-      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
-      { type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey: 'orders', stepIndex: 1, stepBudget: 40 },
+      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
+      { type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey: 'orders', toolCalls: 1 },
       { type: 'candidate_action', unitKey: 'orders', target: 'wiki', action: 'created', key: 'wiki/orders.md' },
       { type: 'work_unit_finished', unitKey: 'orders', status: 'success' },
       { type: 'reconciliation_finished', conflictCount: 0, fallbackCount: 0 },
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/view-model.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/view-model.test.ts
index 6bd64943..5d3c7778 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/view-model.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/context/ingest/memory-flow/view-model.test.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ function replayInput(): MemoryFlowReplayInput {
       { type: 'raw_snapshot_written', syncId: 'sync-1', rawFileCount: 2 },
       { type: 'diff_computed', added: 1, modified: 1, deleted: 0, unchanged: 3 },
       { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 2, workUnitCount: 2, evictionCount: 0 },
-      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
       { type: 'candidate_action', unitKey: 'orders', target: 'wiki', action: 'created', key: 'wiki/orders.md' },
       { type: 'candidate_action', unitKey: 'orders', target: 'sl', action: 'updated', key: 'warehouse.orders' },
       { type: 'work_unit_finished', unitKey: 'orders', status: 'success' },
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ describe('buildMemoryFlowViewModel', () => {
         { type: 'source_acquired', adapter: 'looker', trigger: 'demo_seeded', fileCount: 7 },
         { type: 'source_acquired', adapter: 'notion', trigger: 'demo_seeded', fileCount: 8 },
         { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 1, workUnitCount: 1, evictionCount: 0 },
-        { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'revenue-and-contracts', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+        { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'revenue-and-contracts', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
         {
           type: 'candidate_action',
           unitKey: 'revenue-and-contracts',
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ describe('buildMemoryFlowViewModel', () => {
           { type: 'raw_snapshot_written', syncId: 'sync-errors', rawFileCount: 2 },
           { type: 'diff_computed', added: 2, modified: 0, deleted: 0, unchanged: 0 },
           { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 1, workUnitCount: 1, evictionCount: 0 },
-          { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+          { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
           { type: 'candidate_action', unitKey: 'orders', target: 'sl', action: 'updated', key: 'warehouse.orders' },
           {
             type: 'work_unit_finished',
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ describe('buildMemoryFlowViewModel', () => {
         events: [
           { type: 'source_acquired', adapter: 'metricflow', trigger: 'manual_resync', fileCount: 1 },
           { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 1, workUnitCount: 1, evictionCount: 0 },
-          { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'docs', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+          { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'docs', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
           { type: 'work_unit_finished', unitKey: 'docs', status: 'failed', reason: 'agent step budget exhausted' },
         ],
         plannedWorkUnits: [{ unitKey: 'docs', rawFiles: ['docs.md'], peerFileCount: 0, dependencyCount: 0 }],
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/context/llm/ai-sdk-runtime.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/context/llm/ai-sdk-runtime.test.ts
index bab7d1d7..6c0bbe1d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/context/llm/ai-sdk-runtime.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/context/llm/ai-sdk-runtime.test.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ vi.mock('ai', () => ({
 
 import { generateText } from 'ai';
 import { AiSdkKtxLlmRuntime } from '../../../src/context/llm/ai-sdk-runtime.js';
-import type { RunLoopStepInfo } from '../../../src/context/llm/runtime-port.js';
 
 describe('AiSdkKtxLlmRuntime.runAgentLoop', () => {
   let runtime: AiSdkKtxLlmRuntime;
@@ -367,40 +366,14 @@ describe('AiSdkKtxLlmRuntime.runAgentLoop', () => {
     expect(result.metrics?.usage).toEqual({});
   });
 
-  it('invokes caller onStepFinish with incrementing stepIndex and total budget', async () => {
-    const calls: RunLoopStepInfo[] = [];
+  it('counts model round-trips into metrics.stepCount', async () => {
     (generateText as any).mockImplementation(async (opts: any) => {
       for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
-        await opts.onStepFinish({});
+        opts.onStepFinish({});
       }
       return { text: 'ok', toolCalls: [], steps: [] };
     });
 
-    await runtime.runAgentLoop({
-      modelRole: 'candidateExtraction',
-      systemPrompt: '',
-      userPrompt: '',
-      toolSet: {},
-      stepBudget: 10,
-      telemetryTags: {},
-      onStepFinish: (info) => {
-        calls.push(info);
-      },
-    });
-
-    expect(calls).toEqual([
-      { stepIndex: 1, stepBudget: 10 },
-      { stepIndex: 2, stepBudget: 10 },
-      { stepIndex: 3, stepBudget: 10 },
-    ]);
-  });
-
-  it('swallows errors thrown from caller onStepFinish without aborting the loop', async () => {
-    (generateText as any).mockImplementation(async (opts: any) => {
-      await opts.onStepFinish({});
-      return { text: 'ok', toolCalls: [], steps: [] };
-    });
-
     const result = await runtime.runAgentLoop({
       modelRole: 'candidateExtraction',
       systemPrompt: '',
@@ -408,12 +381,10 @@ describe('AiSdkKtxLlmRuntime.runAgentLoop', () => {
       toolSet: {},
       stepBudget: 10,
       telemetryTags: {},
-      onStepFinish: () => {
-        throw new Error('boom');
-      },
     });
 
-    expect(result.stopReason).toBe('natural');
+    expect(result.metrics?.stepCount).toBe(3);
+    expect(result.metrics?.stepBoundariesMs).toHaveLength(3);
   });
 
   it('forwards telemetryTags.source through experimental_telemetry metadata', async () => {
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/context/llm/claude-code-runtime.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/context/llm/claude-code-runtime.test.ts
index ba83cde6..182fdbc5 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/context/llm/claude-code-runtime.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/context/llm/claude-code-runtime.test.ts
@@ -382,7 +382,6 @@ describe('ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
       query,
       env: {},
     });
-    const onStepFinish = vi.fn();
 
     await runtime.runAgentLoop({
       modelRole: 'default',
@@ -398,7 +397,6 @@ describe('ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
       },
       stepBudget: 1,
       telemetryTags: { operationName: 'test' },
-      onStepFinish,
     });
 
     const options = query.mock.calls[0][0].options;
@@ -416,7 +414,6 @@ describe('ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
       behavior: 'deny',
       toolUseID: '2',
     });
-    expect(onStepFinish).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ stepIndex: 1, stepBudget: 1 });
   });
 
   it('treats host-discovered commands skills and agents as non-fatal init metadata for text and auth probe', async () => {
@@ -664,108 +661,6 @@ describe('ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it('counts only assistant turns the SDK counts toward num_turns', async () => {
-    const assistantMessage = (
-      overrides: Partial<Extract<SDKMessage, { type: 'assistant' }>> & { uuid: string },
-    ): SDKMessage =>
-      ({
-        type: 'assistant',
-        message: { role: 'assistant', content: [], stop_reason: 'end_turn' },
-        parent_tool_use_id: null,
-        session_id: 'session-id',
-        ...overrides,
-      }) as unknown as SDKMessage;
-
-    const query = vi.fn((_input: any) =>
-      stream([
-        initMessage(),
-        assistantMessage({
-          uuid: '00000000-0000-4000-8000-0000000000a1',
-          error: 'max_output_tokens',
-        }),
-        assistantMessage({
-          uuid: '00000000-0000-4000-8000-0000000000a2',
-          message: { role: 'assistant', content: [], stop_reason: 'pause_turn' } as never,
-        }),
-        assistantMessage({ uuid: '00000000-0000-4000-8000-0000000000a3' }),
-        {
-          type: 'assistant',
-          message: { role: 'assistant', content: [], stop_reason: 'end_turn' },
-          parent_tool_use_id: 'tool-use-1',
-          uuid: '00000000-0000-4000-8000-0000000000a4',
-          session_id: 'session-id',
-        } as unknown as SDKMessage,
-        resultMessage({ subtype: 'success', terminal_reason: 'completed' }),
-      ]),
-    );
-    const runtime = new ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime({
-      projectDir: '/tmp/project',
-      modelSlots: { default: 'sonnet' },
-      query,
-      env: {},
-    });
-    const onStepFinish = vi.fn();
-
-    await expect(
-      runtime.runAgentLoop({
-        modelRole: 'default',
-        systemPrompt: 'system',
-        userPrompt: 'user',
-        toolSet: {},
-        stepBudget: 40,
-        telemetryTags: { operationName: 'test' },
-        onStepFinish,
-      }),
-    ).resolves.toMatchObject({ stopReason: 'natural' });
-
-    expect(onStepFinish).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-    expect(onStepFinish).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ stepIndex: 1, stepBudget: 40 });
-  });
-
-  it('logs and ignores onStepFinish callback errors', async () => {
-    const query = vi.fn((_input: any) =>
-      stream([
-        initMessage(),
-        {
-          type: 'assistant',
-          message: { role: 'assistant', content: [] },
-          parent_tool_use_id: null,
-          uuid: '00000000-0000-4000-8000-000000000005',
-          session_id: 'session-id',
-        } as unknown as SDKMessage,
-        resultMessage({ subtype: 'success', terminal_reason: 'completed' }),
-      ]),
-    );
-    const logger = {
-      debug: vi.fn(),
-      log: vi.fn(),
-      warn: vi.fn(),
-      error: vi.fn(),
-    };
-    const runtime = new ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime({
-      projectDir: '/tmp/project',
-      modelSlots: { default: 'sonnet' },
-      query,
-      env: {},
-      logger,
-    });
-
-    await expect(
-      runtime.runAgentLoop({
-        modelRole: 'default',
-        systemPrompt: 'system',
-        userPrompt: 'user',
-        toolSet: {},
-        stepBudget: 1,
-        telemetryTags: { operationName: 'test' },
-        onStepFinish: async () => {
-          throw new Error('callback exploded');
-        },
-      }),
-    ).resolves.toMatchObject({ stopReason: 'natural' });
-    expect(logger.warn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining('callback exploded'));
-  });
-
   it('maps max-turn terminal reasons to budget', () => {
     expect(mapClaudeCodeStopReason(resultMessage({ subtype: 'error_max_turns' }))).toBe('budget');
     expect(mapClaudeCodeStopReason(resultMessage({ terminal_reason: 'max_turns' }))).toBe('budget');
@@ -774,20 +669,14 @@ describe('ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
     expect(mapClaudeCodeStopReason(resultMessage({ subtype: 'error_during_execution' }))).toBe('error');
   });
 
-  it('returns loop metrics including step count and mapped token usage', async () => {
+  it('reports stepCount from the SDK result num_turns and mapped token usage', async () => {
     const query = vi.fn((_input: any) =>
       stream([
         initMessage(),
-        {
-          type: 'assistant',
-          message: { role: 'assistant', content: [] },
-          parent_tool_use_id: null,
-          uuid: '00000000-0000-4000-8000-000000000006',
-          session_id: 'session-id',
-        } as unknown as SDKMessage,
         resultMessage({
           subtype: 'success',
           terminal_reason: 'completed',
+          num_turns: 3,
           usage: { input_tokens: 50, output_tokens: 10 } as never,
         }),
       ]),
@@ -808,8 +697,9 @@ describe('ClaudeCodeKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
       telemetryTags: { operationName: 'test' },
     });
 
-    expect(result.metrics?.stepCount).toBe(1);
-    expect(result.metrics?.stepBoundariesMs).toHaveLength(1);
+    // Authoritative SDK count, not a re-derived per-message tally.
+    expect(result.metrics?.stepCount).toBe(3);
+    expect(result.metrics?.stepBoundariesMs).toEqual([]);
     expect(result.metrics?.usage).toEqual({ inputTokens: 50, outputTokens: 10, totalTokens: 60 });
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/context/llm/codex-runtime.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/context/llm/codex-runtime.test.ts
index 4c3fcdfd..591011df 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/context/llm/codex-runtime.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/context/llm/codex-runtime.test.ts
@@ -294,7 +294,6 @@ describe('CodexKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
       runner: fakeRunner,
       startMcpServer,
     });
-    const onStepFinish = vi.fn();
 
     const result = await runtime.runAgentLoop({
       modelRole: 'default',
@@ -302,7 +301,6 @@ describe('CodexKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
       userPrompt: 'user',
       stepBudget: 5,
       telemetryTags: {},
-      onStepFinish,
       toolSet: {
         aliased_wiki_tool: {
           name: 'wiki_search',
@@ -315,7 +313,6 @@ describe('CodexKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
 
     expect(result.stopReason).toBe('natural');
     expect(result.metrics).toMatchObject({ stepCount: 1, usage: { inputTokens: 1, outputTokens: 1, totalTokens: 2 } });
-    expect(onStepFinish).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ stepIndex: 1, stepBudget: 5 });
     expect(startMcpServer).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ projectDir: '/tmp/project', toolSet: expect.any(Object) });
     expect(fakeRunner.runStreamed).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
@@ -399,7 +396,6 @@ describe('CodexKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
       modelSlots: { default: 'codex' },
       runner: fakeRunner,
     });
-    const onStepFinish = vi.fn();
 
     const result = await runtime.runAgentLoop({
       modelRole: 'default',
@@ -407,7 +403,6 @@ describe('CodexKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
       userPrompt: 'user',
       stepBudget: 1,
       telemetryTags: {},
-      onStepFinish,
       toolSet: {
         first: {
           name: 'first',
@@ -421,8 +416,6 @@ describe('CodexKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
     expect(result.stopReason).toBe('budget');
     expect(result.error).toBeUndefined();
     expect(result.metrics).toMatchObject({ stepCount: 1 });
-    expect(onStepFinish).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-    expect(onStepFinish).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ stepIndex: 1, stepBudget: 1 });
     expect(fakeRunner.observedSignal()?.aborted).toBe(true);
   });
 
@@ -448,7 +441,6 @@ describe('CodexKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
       modelSlots: { default: 'codex' },
       runner: fakeRunner,
     });
-    const onStepFinish = vi.fn();
 
     const result = await runtime.runAgentLoop({
       modelRole: 'default',
@@ -456,53 +448,15 @@ describe('CodexKtxLlmRuntime', () => {
       userPrompt: 'user',
       stepBudget: 2,
       telemetryTags: {},
-      onStepFinish,
       toolSet: {},
     });
 
     expect(result.stopReason).toBe('budget');
     expect(result.error).toBeUndefined();
     expect(result.metrics).toMatchObject({ stepCount: 2 });
-    expect(onStepFinish).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
-    expect(onStepFinish).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({ stepIndex: 2, stepBudget: 2 });
     expect(fakeRunner.observedSignal()?.aborted).toBe(true);
   });
 
-  it('fires onStepFinish live as each step completes, before the stream drains', async () => {
-    const order: string[] = [];
-    async function* liveEvents() {
-      yield { type: 'turn.started' };
-      yield { type: 'item.completed', item: { type: 'mcp_tool_call', server: 'ktx', tool: 'a', status: 'completed' } };
-      order.push('yielded-after-step-1');
-      yield { type: 'item.completed', item: { type: 'mcp_tool_call', server: 'ktx', tool: 'b', status: 'completed' } };
-      order.push('yielded-after-step-2');
-      yield { type: 'item.completed', item: { type: 'agent_message', text: 'done' } };
-      yield { type: 'turn.completed', usage: { input_tokens: 1, output_tokens: 1 } };
-    }
-    const fakeRunner = { runStreamed: vi.fn(async () => liveEvents()) };
-    const runtime = new CodexKtxLlmRuntime({
-      projectDir: '/tmp/project',
-      modelSlots: { default: 'codex' },
-      runner: fakeRunner,
-    });
-
-    const result = await runtime.runAgentLoop({
-      modelRole: 'default',
-      systemPrompt: 'system',
-      userPrompt: 'user',
-      stepBudget: 10,
-      telemetryTags: {},
-      onStepFinish: ({ stepIndex }) => {
-        order.push(`step-${stepIndex}`);
-      },
-      toolSet: {},
-    });
-
-    expect(result.stopReason).toBe('natural');
-    expect(result.metrics).toMatchObject({ stepCount: 2 });
-    expect(order).toEqual(['step-1', 'yielded-after-step-1', 'step-2', 'yielded-after-step-2']);
-  });
-
   it('surfaces the real Codex error event even when the SDK stream throws afterward', async () => {
     // The SDK yields the error/turn.failed events on stdout, then throws on the
     // non-zero exit. The masked exit message must not hide the real API error.
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/demo-metrics.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/demo-metrics.test.ts
index fcfe90c8..92857f07 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/demo-metrics.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/demo-metrics.test.ts
@@ -27,13 +27,13 @@ function snapshot(events: MemoryFlowEvent[], overrides: Partial<MemoryFlowReplay
 }
 
 describe('buildDemoMetrics', () => {
-  it('estimates elapsed, agent steps, tool calls, and cost from event stream', () => {
+  it('estimates elapsed, tool calls, and cost from event stream', () => {
     const start = Date.UTC(2026, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0);
     const input = snapshot(
       [
         { type: 'source_acquired', adapter: 'live-database', trigger: 'demo_full', fileCount: 5, emittedAt: new Date(start).toISOString() },
-        { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: [], stepBudget: 40, emittedAt: new Date(start + 1000).toISOString() },
-        { type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey: 'orders', stepIndex: 6, stepBudget: 40, emittedAt: new Date(start + 6000).toISOString() },
+        { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: [], emittedAt: new Date(start + 1000).toISOString() },
+        { type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey: 'orders', toolCalls: 6, emittedAt: new Date(start + 6000).toISOString() },
       ],
       {
         plannedWorkUnits: [
@@ -51,8 +51,6 @@ describe('buildDemoMetrics', () => {
     const metrics = buildDemoMetrics(input, { now: () => start + 10_000 });
 
     expect(metrics.elapsedMs).toBe(10_000);
-    expect(metrics.agentSteps).toBe(6);
-    expect(metrics.agentStepBudget).toBe(40);
     expect(metrics.toolCalls).toBe(3);
     expect(metrics.workUnitsTotal).toBe(2);
     expect(metrics.estimatedTokens).toBeGreaterThan(0);
@@ -71,7 +69,7 @@ describe('buildDemoMetrics', () => {
     const input = snapshot(
       [
         { type: 'source_acquired', adapter: 'a', trigger: 't', fileCount: 1, emittedAt: new Date(start).toISOString() },
-        { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'a', skills: [], stepBudget: 10, emittedAt: new Date(start + 1000).toISOString() },
+        { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'a', skills: [], emittedAt: new Date(start + 1000).toISOString() },
         { type: 'work_unit_finished', unitKey: 'a', status: 'success', emittedAt: new Date(start + 5000).toISOString() },
       ],
       {
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/ingest.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/ingest.test.ts
index 4fc47d0c..21037e91 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/ingest.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/ingest.test.ts
@@ -176,8 +176,8 @@ describe('runKtxIngest', () => {
     const runLocal = vi.fn(async (input: RunLocalIngestOptions): Promise<LocalIngestResult> => {
       input.memoryFlow?.emit({ type: 'source_acquired', adapter: 'fake', trigger: 'manual_resync', fileCount: 2 });
       input.memoryFlow?.emit({ type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 2, workUnitCount: 2, evictionCount: 0 });
-      input.memoryFlow?.emit({ type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: [], stepBudget: 4 });
-      input.memoryFlow?.emit({ type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey: 'orders', stepIndex: 2, stepBudget: 4 });
+      input.memoryFlow?.emit({ type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: [] });
+      input.memoryFlow?.emit({ type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey: 'orders', toolCalls: 2 });
       return completedLocalBundleRun(input, 'cli-local-progress-1');
     });
     const io = makeIo();
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ describe('runKtxIngest', () => {
         { percent: 15, message: 'Fetched 2 source files from fake' },
         { percent: 45, message: 'Planned 2 tasks' },
         expect.objectContaining({
-          message: 'Processing tasks: 0/2 complete, 1 active; latest orders step 2/4',
+          message: 'Processing tasks: 0/2 complete, 1 active; latest orders · 2 actions',
           transient: true,
         }),
       ]),
@@ -776,13 +776,11 @@ describe('runKtxIngest', () => {
               type: 'work_unit_started',
               unitKey: 'metabase-col-6',
               skills: ['sl_capture'],
-              stepBudget: 40,
             });
             input.memoryFlow?.emit({
               type: 'work_unit_step',
               unitKey: 'metabase-col-6',
-              stepIndex: 7,
-              stepBudget: 40,
+              toolCalls: 7,
             });
             input.memoryFlow?.emit({
               type: 'stage_progress',
@@ -806,7 +804,6 @@ describe('runKtxIngest', () => {
               type: 'work_unit_started',
               unitKey: 'metabase-col-7',
               skills: ['sl_capture'],
-              stepBudget: 40,
             });
             input.progress?.onMetabaseChildCompleted?.({
               metabaseConnectionId: 'prod-metabase',
@@ -831,8 +828,8 @@ describe('runKtxIngest', () => {
         { percent: 45, message: 'Planned 1 task' },
         { percent: 55, message: 'Processing 1/1 tasks: metabase-col-6' },
         {
-          percent: 60,
-          message: 'Processing tasks: 0/1 complete, 1 active; latest metabase-col-6 step 7/40',
+          percent: 55,
+          message: 'Processing tasks: 0/1 complete, 1 active; latest metabase-col-6 · 7 actions',
           transient: true,
         },
         { percent: 81, message: 'Resolving text conflict for metabase-col-6' },
@@ -1733,7 +1730,6 @@ describe('runKtxIngest', () => {
         type: 'work_unit_started',
         unitKey: 'historic-sql-table-public-orders',
         skills: ['historic_sql_table_digest'],
-        stepBudget: 40,
       });
       input.memoryFlow?.emit({
         type: 'work_unit_finished',
@@ -1856,13 +1852,11 @@ describe('runKtxIngest', () => {
         type: 'work_unit_started',
         unitKey: 'historic-sql-table-public-orders',
         skills: ['historic_sql_table_digest'],
-        stepBudget: 40,
       });
       input.memoryFlow?.emit({
         type: 'work_unit_step',
         unitKey: 'historic-sql-table-public-orders',
-        stepIndex: 7,
-        stepBudget: 40,
+        toolCalls: 7,
       });
       input.memoryFlow?.emit({
         type: 'work_unit_finished',
@@ -1897,7 +1891,7 @@ describe('runKtxIngest', () => {
     expect(stderr).toContain('[45%] Planned 2 tasks');
     expect(stderr).toContain('[55%] Processing 1/2 tasks: historic-sql-table-public-orders');
     expect(stderr).toContain(
-      '\r[58%] Processing tasks: 0/2 complete, 1 active; latest historic-sql-table-public-orders step 7/40\u001b[K',
+      '\r[55%] Processing tasks: 0/2 complete, 1 active; latest historic-sql-table-public-orders · 7 actions\u001b[K',
     );
     expect(stderr).toContain('[68%] Processed 1/2 tasks');
   });
@@ -1954,11 +1948,10 @@ describe('runKtxIngest', () => {
           type: 'work_unit_started',
           unitKey,
           skills: ['historic_sql_table_digest'],
-          stepBudget: 40,
         });
       }
       for (const unitKey of workUnitKeys) {
-        input.memoryFlow?.emit({ type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey, stepIndex: 1, stepBudget: 40 });
+        input.memoryFlow?.emit({ type: 'work_unit_step', unitKey, toolCalls: 1 });
       }
       input.memoryFlow?.finish('done');
       return completedLocalBundleRun(input, input.jobId ?? 'historic-concurrent-progress-job');
@@ -1986,10 +1979,10 @@ describe('runKtxIngest', () => {
 
     const stderr = io.stderr();
     expect(stderr).toContain(
-      '\r[56%] Processing tasks: 0/6 complete, 6 active; latest historic-sql-table-public-suppliers step 1/40\u001b[K',
+      '\r[55%] Processing tasks: 0/6 complete, 6 active; latest historic-sql-table-public-suppliers · 1 action\u001b[K',
     );
     expect(stderr).not.toContain(
-      '\n[56%] Processing 6/6 tasks: historic-sql-table-public-suppliers step 1/40\n',
+      '\n[55%] Processing 6/6 tasks: historic-sql-table-public-suppliers · 1 action\n',
     );
     expect(stderr).toContain('\n[100%] Ingest completed\n');
   });
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/memory-flow-interactive.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/memory-flow-interactive.test.ts
index befc7f01..998027d6 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/memory-flow-interactive.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/memory-flow-interactive.test.ts
@@ -46,9 +46,9 @@ function replay(): MemoryFlowReplayInput {
       { type: 'raw_snapshot_written', syncId: 'sync-1', rawFileCount: 2 },
       { type: 'diff_computed', added: 1, modified: 1, deleted: 0, unchanged: 0 },
       { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 2, workUnitCount: 2, evictionCount: 0 },
-      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 4 },
+      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
       { type: 'work_unit_finished', unitKey: 'orders', status: 'success' },
-      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'customers', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 4 },
+      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'customers', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
       { type: 'work_unit_finished', unitKey: 'customers', status: 'failed', reason: 'validation reset' },
       { type: 'reconciliation_finished', conflictCount: 0, fallbackCount: 1 },
       { type: 'saved', commitSha: 'abc12345', wikiCount: 1, slCount: 1 },
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/memory-flow-tui.test.tsx b/packages/cli/test/memory-flow-tui.test.tsx
index 1bb38b72..87a5a96f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/memory-flow-tui.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/test/memory-flow-tui.test.tsx
@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ function replayInput(): MemoryFlowReplayInput {
       { type: 'raw_snapshot_written', syncId: 'sync-1', rawFileCount: 2 },
       { type: 'diff_computed', added: 1, modified: 1, deleted: 0, unchanged: 0 },
       { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 2, workUnitCount: 2, evictionCount: 0 },
-      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
       { type: 'candidate_action', unitKey: 'orders', target: 'wiki', action: 'created', key: 'wiki/orders.md' },
       { type: 'work_unit_finished', unitKey: 'orders', status: 'success' },
-      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'customers', skills: ['sl_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+      { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'customers', skills: ['sl_capture'] },
       { type: 'candidate_action', unitKey: 'customers', target: 'sl', action: 'updated', key: 'orbit_demo.customers' },
       { type: 'work_unit_finished', unitKey: 'customers', status: 'success' },
       { type: 'reconciliation_finished', conflictCount: 0, fallbackCount: 0 },
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ describe('MemoryFlowTuiApp', () => {
         { type: 'source_acquired', adapter: 'live-database', trigger: 'manual_resync', fileCount: 1 },
         { type: 'diff_computed', added: 1, modified: 0, deleted: 0, unchanged: 0 },
         { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 1, workUnitCount: 1, evictionCount: 0 },
-        { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+        { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
       ],
       plannedWorkUnits: [{ unitKey: 'orders', rawFiles: ['orders'], peerFileCount: 0, dependencyCount: 1 }],
     };
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ describe('MemoryFlowTuiApp', () => {
         { type: 'source_acquired', adapter: 'dbt-descriptions', trigger: 'manual_resync', fileCount: 3 },
         { type: 'diff_computed', added: 11, modified: 0, deleted: 0, unchanged: 0 },
         { type: 'chunks_planned', chunkCount: 1, workUnitCount: 1, evictionCount: 0 },
-        { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'], stepBudget: 40 },
+        { type: 'work_unit_started', unitKey: 'orders', skills: ['wiki_capture'] },
       ],
       plannedWorkUnits: [{ unitKey: 'orders', rawFiles: ['orders'], peerFileCount: 0, dependencyCount: 1 }],
     };