diff --git a/.ai/contexts/session-state.md b/.ai/contexts/session-state.md
index 0b2628ae..521b7eef 100644
--- a/.ai/contexts/session-state.md
+++ b/.ai/contexts/session-state.md
@@ -734,6 +734,20 @@ liveness/attach state. The only thing this row's absent transcript changes is
 in the renderer: `sidebar.js` does not render the `.session-jsonl-btn` for a
 `placeholder` row, since there is nothing to view.
 
+## Surfacing status on the session object (`.session-meta` layout, issue #286)
+
+`buildSessionItem`'s `.session-meta` row used to append `statusEl` only when
+`session.status` was truthy, and the row was laid out with
+`justify-content: space-between` — with two children (time, short id) that
+pins the short id to the far right, with three (status appended) it lands in
+the middle, so the short id visibly jumped depending on whether that session
+happened to have a live process. `statusEl` is now always created (empty
+`textContent` when there is no status), keeping the DOM order
+(`session-time`, `session-short-id`, `session-status`) and child count
+constant; the CSS dropped `space-between` for a plain `gap`, with
+`margin-left: auto` on `.session-status` alone so it — not the short id —
+is the element whose position depends on how much room is left.
+
 ## Known limits
 
 - **The remote-stop pid-reuse guard is weak.** `remote-stop.js`'s
diff --git a/public/sidebar.js b/public/sidebar.js
index cb025de6..4c43d34f 100644
--- a/public/sidebar.js
+++ b/public/sidebar.js
@@ -1414,7 +1414,15 @@ function buildSessionItem(session) {
   shortIdEl.className = 'session-short-id';
   shortIdEl.title = session.sessionId;
   shortIdEl.textContent = session.sessionId.split('-')[0];
-  metaEl.append(timeEl, shortIdEl);
+
+  // see .ai/contexts/session-state.md ("Surfacing status on the session object")
+  const statusEl = document.createElement('span');
+  statusEl.className = 'session-status';
+  if (session.status) {
+    const age = formatStatusAge(session.statusUpdatedAt);
+    statusEl.textContent = session.status + (age ? ' · ' + age : '');
+  }
+  metaEl.append(timeEl, shortIdEl, statusEl);
 
   if (session.remoteAlias) {
     const badge = document.createElement('span');
@@ -1426,15 +1434,6 @@ function buildSessionItem(session) {
     summaryEl.prepend(badge);
   }
 
-  // see .ai/contexts/cli-session-state.md ("Surfacing status on the session object")
-  if (session.status) {
-    const age = formatStatusAge(session.statusUpdatedAt);
-    const statusEl = document.createElement('span');
-    statusEl.className = 'session-status';
-    statusEl.textContent = session.status + (age ? ' · ' + age : '');
-    metaEl.appendChild(statusEl);
-  }
-
   if (session.type === 'terminal') {
     const badge = document.createElement('span');
     badge.className = 'terminal-badge';
diff --git a/public/style.css b/public/style.css
index 71334b16..c45b4fe2 100644
--- a/public/style.css
+++ b/public/style.css
@@ -1106,14 +1106,17 @@ body { display: flex; flex-direction: column; }
   margin-top: 3px;
 }
 
-/* Sidebar session items: time on the left, short session id on the right */
+/* Sidebar session items: time, short id, then status pinned right — see .ai/contexts/session-state.md */
 .session-item .session-meta {
   display: flex;
   align-items: baseline;
-  justify-content: space-between;
   gap: 8px;
 }
 
+.session-item .session-meta .session-status {
+  margin-left: auto;
+}
+
 .session-short-id {
   font-family: 'SF Mono', 'Fira Code', Menlo, monospace;
   color: #5a5a72;
diff --git a/test/dom-sidebar-local-status.test.js b/test/dom-sidebar-local-status.test.js
index 198a1c6f..83c96b20 100644
--- a/test/dom-sidebar-local-status.test.js
+++ b/test/dom-sidebar-local-status.test.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ test('a local session with a status renders the state+age line', () => {
   } finally { ctx.destroy(); }
 });
 
-test('a local session with no status renders no status line', () => {
+test('a local session with no status renders an empty status slot (issue #286: slot stays in the DOM to keep layout stable)', () => {
   const ctx = setupSidebarDom();
   try {
     const session = {
@@ -51,7 +51,9 @@ test('a local session with no status renders no status line', () => {
 
     const item = ctx.sidebar.buildSessionItem(session);
 
-    assert.equal(item.querySelector('.session-status'), null, 'no status field must mean no status line');
+    const statusEl = item.querySelector('.session-status');
+    assert.ok(statusEl, 'no status field must still render the status slot, empty');
+    assert.equal(statusEl.textContent, '', 'no status field must mean no status text');
   } finally { ctx.destroy(); }
 });
 
@@ -87,6 +89,30 @@ test('a remote session still renders both its remote badge and the status line',
   } finally { ctx.destroy(); }
 });
 
+test('.session-meta renders the same three children in the same order whether session.status is set or not (issue #286)', () => {
+  const ctx = setupSidebarDom();
+  try {
+    const base = {
+      summary: 'local session',
+      modified: '2026-09-09T11:59:00.000Z',
+      starred: false,
+      archived: 0,
+      messageCount: 1,
+    };
+
+    const withStatus = ctx.sidebar.buildSessionItem({ ...base, sessionId: 'meta-order-with-status', status: 'idle', statusUpdatedAt: Date.now() });
+    const withoutStatus = ctx.sidebar.buildSessionItem({ ...base, sessionId: 'meta-order-without-status' });
+
+    for (const item of [withStatus, withoutStatus]) {
+      const meta = item.querySelector('.session-meta');
+      assert.ok(meta, '.session-meta must exist');
+      const classes = Array.from(meta.children).map((el) => el.className);
+      assert.deepEqual(classes, ['session-time', 'session-short-id', 'session-status'],
+        '.session-meta must always render the same three children in the same order');
+    }
+  } finally { ctx.destroy(); }
+});
+
 test('renderProjects wires a real project fixture with a mix of local and remote sessions correctly', () => {
   const ctx = setupSidebarDom();
   try {
diff --git a/test/session-meta-layout-css.test.js b/test/session-meta-layout-css.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ecefed09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/session-meta-layout-css.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+// Issue #286 — `.session-meta`'s short session id used to shift between the
+// far right (two children: time, short id) and the middle (three children:
+// status also appended) depending on whether the row currently had a live
+// process. See .ai/contexts/session-state.md ("Surfacing status on the
+// session object (`.session-meta` layout, issue #286)").
+//
+// Same source-grep shape as test/session-icon-slot-css-boundary.test.js — no
+// real CSS parser, just brace/comment stripping good enough to isolate
+// selector text.
+
+const test = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+const fs = require('node:fs');
+const path = require('node:path');
+
+const CSS = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '..', 'public', 'style.css'), 'utf8');
+const CSS_NO_COMMENTS = CSS.replace(/\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\//g, '');
+
+function ruleFor(selectorPattern) {
+  const ruleBlocks = CSS_NO_COMMENTS.match(/[^{}]+\{[^{}]*\}/g) || [];
+  return ruleBlocks.find((block) => {
+    const lines = block.split('{')[0].split('\n');
+    const selector = lines[lines.length - 1].trim();
+    return selectorPattern.test(selector);
+  });
+}
+
+test('style.css: .session-item .session-meta no longer uses justify-content: space-between', () => {
+  const rule = ruleFor(/^\.session-item \.session-meta$/);
+  assert.ok(rule, 'expected a .session-item .session-meta rule to exist');
+  assert.doesNotMatch(rule, /justify-content:\s*space-between/,
+    'space-between makes a middle child\'s position depend on how many siblings it has — see issue #286');
+});
+
+test('style.css: .session-status is pinned to the right independently of the other .session-meta children', () => {
+  const rule = ruleFor(/\.session-meta \.session-status$/);
+  assert.ok(rule, 'expected a rule targeting .session-item .session-meta .session-status');
+  assert.match(rule, /margin-left:\s*auto/,
+    'the status slot, not the short id, should be the element whose position absorbs leftover space');
+});