diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/data.bot-meta.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/data.bot-meta.test.ts
index efba5c3431..53004f7131 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/data.bot-meta.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/data.bot-meta.test.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
 
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 
-import { $botMeta, $lastRoster, botMentionTag, botMetaWriteAt, saveBotMeta } from './data'
+import { $botMeta, $lastRoster, botMentionTag, botMetaWriteAt, mergeMultiSourceRoster, saveBotMeta } from './data'
+import { editedLook } from './edit-profile-look'
 import { groupSpeakerLabel } from './group-chat'
 import { buildGroupChatTurnPrompt } from './group-round-prompt'
 import { displayName } from './labels'
@@ -441,4 +442,34 @@ describe('a bot is named by its own backend, never by another bot\'s cached reco
     $lastRoster.set([])
     expect(groupSpeakerLabel('vps::default')).not.toBe('Agent B')
   })
+
+  it('only a fresh answer from the bot\'s backend corrects its record, and a title alone never mints one', () => {
+    $botMeta.set({ 'vps::default': { color: '#00ff00', title: 'New title' } })
+    // The VPS stops answering; the pane keeps its last-painted row, which predates the rename.
+    const painted = { ...vps, title: 'Old title' } as RosterRow
+
+    const kept = mergeMultiSourceRoster(
+      { profiles: [] },
+      { agents: [], sources: [{ connectionId: 'vps', reachable: false }] },
+      'local',
+      [painted]
+    )
+
+    mergeServerMeta(kept.profiles as RosterRow[], Date.now())
+    expect($botMeta.get()['vps::default']).toEqual({ color: '#00ff00', title: 'New title' })
+
+    // No record yet (a configured alias may own this bot's look): the backend's
+    // title rides the row, and no empty record appears to shadow the alias.
+    $botMeta.set({})
+    mergeServerMeta([{ ...vps, title: 'Agent A' } as RosterRow])
+    expect($botMeta.get()).toEqual({})
+  })
+
+  it('Edit Profile sends only what the user changed since it opened', () => {
+    const opened = { color: '#ff0000', image: null, shape: 'circle' as const, title: 'Old title' }
+
+    // Renamed elsewhere meanwhile; this dialog only changes the color.
+    expect(editedLook(opened, { ...opened, color: '#0000ff' })).toEqual({ color: '#0000ff', custom: true })
+    expect(editedLook(opened, { ...opened, title: ' Old title ' })).toBeNull()
+  })
 })
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/data.ts b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/data.ts
index c9df5a4e1a..ddace56378 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/data.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/data.ts
@@ -942,7 +942,7 @@ export function cachedUnionRoster(): RosterSnapshot | null {
  *  source label so BotRow can badge them, warm the captured agent, and route
  *  every open directly through that descriptor. Pure — exercised directly by
  *  the tests. */
-function mergeMultiSourceRoster(
+export function mergeMultiSourceRoster(
   local: RosterSnapshot | null | undefined,
   union: UnionRoster | null | undefined,
   activeConnectionId?: null | string,
@@ -1120,6 +1120,7 @@ function mergeMultiSourceRoster(
         profiles.push({
           ...row,
           remoteSource: true,
+          retained: true,
           sourceScoped: true
         })
         present.add(key)
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/edit-profile-dialog.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/edit-profile-dialog.tsx
index 02315d0dce..a31fc2de34 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/edit-profile-dialog.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/edit-profile-dialog.tsx
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import { avatarColor, botAppearance, BotFace } from './avatar'
 import { AvatarPicker } from './avatar-picker'
 import { $botMeta, botSelectionKey, ROSTER_KEY, saveBotMeta } from './data'
 import { labeled } from './dialog-parts'
+import { editedLook, type EditProfileLook } from './edit-profile-look'
 import { useBots } from './i18n'
 import { displayName } from './labels'
 import { AdvancedProfileConfig, applyAdvancedConfig, emptyAdvancedState } from './profile-config'
@@ -65,7 +66,19 @@ export function EditProfileDialog({ bot, open, onClose }: EditProfileDialogProps
   const [shape, setShape] = useState(appearance.shape)
   const [color, setColor] = useState<null | string>(appearance.color)
   const [image, setImage] = useState<null | string>(appearance.image ?? null)
-  const [title, setTitle] = useState(meta?.title || '')
+  // A thin row from another connection carries its backend's title on the
+  // row itself; there may be no local record for it.
+  const openingTitle = meta?.title || bot?.title || ''
+
+  const opening: EditProfileLook = {
+    shape: appearance.shape,
+    color: appearance.color,
+    image: appearance.image ?? null,
+    title: openingTitle
+  }
+
+  const [opened, setOpened] = useState(opening)
+  const [title, setTitle] = useState(openingTitle)
   const [description, setDescription] = useState(bot?.description || '')
   const [busy, setBusy] = useState(false)
   const [advanced, setAdvanced] = useState(false)
@@ -82,7 +95,8 @@ export function EditProfileDialog({ bot, open, onClose }: EditProfileDialogProps
       setShape(appearance.shape)
       setColor(appearance.color)
       setImage(appearance.image ?? null)
-      setTitle(meta?.title || '')
+      setTitle(openingTitle)
+      setOpened(opening)
       setDescription(bot.description || '')
       setBusy(false)
       setAdvanced(false)
@@ -102,19 +116,13 @@ export function EditProfileDialog({ bot, open, onClose }: EditProfileDialogProps
     setBusy(true)
     let advancedFailed = false
 
-    const persistence = await saveBotMeta(bot, {
-      shape,
-      color: color ?? undefined,
-      image,
-      imageKind: image ? 'photo' : 'shape',
-      title: title.trim(),
-      custom: true
-    })
+    const look = editedLook(opened, { shape, color, image, title })
+    const persistence = look ? await saveBotMeta(bot, look) : null
 
     // Only an explicit remote failure is an error — 'unsupported' is the
     // documented older-gateway fallback (local wins, silently), and toasting
     // it would flag every save on every legacy setup forever.
-    const lookFailed = persistence.serverOutcome === 'failed'
+    const lookFailed = persistence?.serverOutcome === 'failed'
 
     if (lookFailed) {
       host.notify({
@@ -123,7 +131,7 @@ export function EditProfileDialog({ bot, open, onClose }: EditProfileDialogProps
       })
     }
 
-    if (persistence.serverOutcome === 'persisted') {
+    if (persistence?.serverOutcome === 'persisted') {
       queryClient.invalidateQueries({
         queryKey: ROSTER_KEY
       })
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/edit-profile-look.ts b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/edit-profile-look.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e5c8d723d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/edit-profile-look.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import type { BotMeta } from './types'
+
+/** What Edit Profile shows for a bot's look, as opened and as submitted. */
+export interface EditProfileLook {
+  color: null | string
+  image: null | string
+  shape: BotMeta['shape']
+  title: string
+}
+
+/** The fields the user actually changed since the dialog opened, as a
+ *  saveBotMeta patch; null when nothing changed. Untouched fields stay out of
+ *  the patch: a form value seeded minutes ago is not an edit, and sending it
+ *  would revert whatever another Desktop or the backend wrote since (a rename
+ *  undone by a color change). */
+export function editedLook(opened: EditProfileLook, current: EditProfileLook): BotMeta | null {
+  const patch: BotMeta = {}
+
+  if (current.shape !== opened.shape) {
+    patch.shape = current.shape
+  }
+
+  if (current.color !== opened.color) {
+    patch.color = current.color ?? undefined
+  }
+
+  if (current.image !== opened.image) {
+    patch.image = current.image
+    patch.imageKind = current.image ? 'photo' : 'shape'
+  }
+
+  if (Object.keys(patch).length > 0) {
+    patch.custom = true
+  }
+
+  if (current.title.trim() !== opened.title.trim()) {
+    patch.title = current.title.trim()
+  }
+
+  return Object.keys(patch).length > 0 ? patch : null
+}
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/profile-ops.ts b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/profile-ops.ts
index 8fe8b51de3..3f48e4ae1b 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/profile-ops.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/profile-ops.ts
@@ -256,6 +256,12 @@ export function mergeServerMeta(roster: RosterRow[], fetchedAt = 0) {
   }
 
   for (const bot of roster) {
+    // A row retained from an earlier paint (its source did not answer this
+    // fetch) is as old as that paint: it cannot correct anything.
+    if (bot.retained || bot.sourceReachable === false) {
+      continue
+    }
+
     const raw = bot.ui_meta?.['hermes-bots']
     const server = raw && typeof raw === 'object' ? raw : null
     const title = serverReportedTitle(bot, server)
@@ -267,6 +273,13 @@ export function mergeServerMeta(roster: RosterRow[], fetchedAt = 0) {
         continue
       }
 
+      // A title alone only corrects an existing record. Minting one would
+      // shadow a configured alias's appearance (botRosterMeta prefers the
+      // direct key), and the row already carries its backend's title.
+      if (!server && !next[key]) {
+        continue
+      }
+
       const mine = next[key] || {}
 
       const merged = {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/types.ts b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/types.ts
index 14c9f6884b..860445748c 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/types.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/plugins/hermes-bots/types.ts
@@ -111,6 +111,9 @@ export interface RosterRow {
   installId?: string
   last_session?: SessionPreview | null
   remoteSource?: boolean
+  /** Kept from an earlier paint because its source did not answer this
+   *  fetch: shown, but never evidence of what the backend holds now. */
+  retained?: boolean
   route?: ProfileRoute
   sourceError?: null | string
   sourceMissing?: boolean