diff --git a/devlog/_plan/260904_dashboard_minimal/assets/071_startup_after.png b/devlog/_plan/260904_dashboard_minimal/assets/071_startup_after.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e041ce91f06
Binary files /dev/null and b/devlog/_plan/260904_dashboard_minimal/assets/071_startup_after.png differ
diff --git a/gui/src/pages/Startup.tsx b/gui/src/pages/Startup.tsx
index 55c35c1e659..c5c531f5bce 100644
--- a/gui/src/pages/Startup.tsx
+++ b/gui/src/pages/Startup.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { IconRefresh } from "../icons";
 import { type TFn, useI18n } from "../i18n/shared";
-import { navigateHash } from "../hash-routing";
 import { readSessionListCache, writeSessionListCache } from "../session-list-cache";
 import { Notice } from "../ui";
 import { useDataSurface } from "../data-surface";
@@ -319,14 +318,9 @@ export default function Startup({ apiBase, machineApiBase = apiBase, connected =
   return (
     <>
       <div className="page-head">
-        <div>
-          <h2>{t("startup.title")}</h2>
-          <p className="page-sub startup-page-sub">{t("startup.subtitle")}</p>
-        </div>
+        <h2>{t("startup.title")}</h2>
+        {/* The back button duplicated the sidebar; the explanatory sentence moved into the hero. */}
         <div className="startup-page-head-actions">
-          <button type="button" className="btn btn-ghost btn-sm" onClick={() => navigateHash("dashboard")}>
-            {t("startup.backToDashboard")}
-          </button>
           <button type="button" className="btn btn-ghost btn-sm" onClick={() => refresh()} disabled={loading}>
             <IconRefresh /> {t("startup.refresh")}
           </button>
diff --git a/gui/src/pages/startup-sections.tsx b/gui/src/pages/startup-sections.tsx
index db4522c82df..dc88adeb734 100644
--- a/gui/src/pages/startup-sections.tsx
+++ b/gui/src/pages/startup-sections.tsx
@@ -53,23 +53,17 @@ export function StartupHeroSection({
             : data.status === "at-risk"
               ? t(startupRiskDetailKey(data))
               : t("startup.safeDetail")}</p>
+          {/*
+            The three stat cards that used to restate this answer (routing, protection,
+            preference) are one line now; the page subtitle rides underneath as a visible
+            sentence rather than a title attribute.
+          */}
+          <p className="muted startup-state-line">
+            {t(routingKey)} · {t(PROTECTION_KEYS[data.protection])} · {t(data.autostartEnabled ? "startup.enabled" : "startup.disabled")}
+          </p>
+          <p className="muted text-label">{t("startup.subtitle")}</p>
         </div>
       </section>
-
-      <div className="startup-state-grid">
-        <section className="stat">
-          <div className="label">{t("startup.routing")}</div>
-          <div className="value">{t(routingKey)}</div>
-        </section>
-        <section className="stat">
-          <div className="label">{t("startup.restartProtection")}</div>
-          <div className="value">{t(PROTECTION_KEYS[data.protection])}</div>
-        </section>
-        <section className="stat">
-          <div className="label">{t("startup.preference")}</div>
-          <div className="value">{t(data.autostartEnabled ? "startup.enabled" : "startup.disabled")}</div>
-        </section>
-      </div>
     </>
   );
 }
@@ -259,7 +253,12 @@ export function StartupRecoverySection({
         <h3 className="panel-title">{t("startup.recovery")}</h3>
         <IconTerminal />
       </div>
-      <p className="muted">{t("startup.recoveryHint")}</p>
+      {/*
+        The one-click install/repair buttons above are the primary path; the copyable
+        commands are the fallback. Open by default only while protection is missing.
+      */}
+      <details className="startup-recovery-details" open={data.status !== "protected"}>
+        <summary className="muted">{t("startup.recoveryHint")}</summary>
       <div className="startup-command-list">
         {data.serviceSupported && (
           <div className="startup-command-row">
@@ -296,6 +295,7 @@ export function StartupRecoverySection({
           <IconPower /> {t("startup.recommended", { cmd: data.recommendedCommand ?? data.commands.installService })}
         </div>
       )}
+      </details>
     </section>
   );
 }
diff --git a/gui/src/styles.css b/gui/src/styles.css
index 2ba0bc7b4c5..90141379dbe 100644
--- a/gui/src/styles.css
+++ b/gui/src/styles.css
@@ -1949,7 +1949,6 @@ dialog.modal-overlay::backdrop {
 .codex-account-priority-label { font-size: var(--text-label); color: var(--muted); font-weight: var(--weight-medium); white-space: nowrap; }
 .codex-account-priority .select-trigger { max-width: 100%; padding: 4px 9px; font-size: var(--text-label); }
 
-.startup-page-sub { margin-bottom: 0; }
 .startup-page-head-actions { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 8px; flex-shrink: 0; }
 .startup-runtime-notice-slot {
   margin-bottom: 12px;
@@ -2001,8 +2000,12 @@ dialog.modal-overlay::backdrop {
 .startup-hero-icon svg { width: 21px; height: 21px; }
 .startup-hero-copy h3 { margin: 10px 0 4px; font-size: var(--text-title); }
 .startup-hero-copy p { margin: 0; color: var(--muted); line-height: var(--leading-body); max-width: var(--prose-measure); }
-.startup-state-grid { display: grid; grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr); gap: 12px; margin-bottom: 16px; }
-.startup-state-grid .value { font-size: var(--text-subtitle); }
+.startup-state-line { margin: 8px 0 0; font-size: var(--text-control); }
+.startup-recovery-details > summary { cursor: pointer; list-style: none; display: inline-flex; align-items: center; gap: 6px; }
+.startup-recovery-details > summary::-webkit-details-marker { display: none; }
+.startup-recovery-details > summary::before { content: ""; width: 0; height: 0; border-left: 5px solid var(--muted); border-top: 4px solid transparent; border-bottom: 4px solid transparent; transition: transform var(--motion-fast); }
+.startup-recovery-details[open] > summary::before { transform: rotate(90deg); }
+.startup-recovery-details[open] > summary { margin-bottom: 8px; }
 .startup-details, .startup-actions { margin-bottom: 16px; }
 .startup-actions .panel-head > svg { width: 18px; height: 18px; flex: 0 0 auto; }
 .startup-detail-row { display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: space-between; gap: 16px; padding: 12px 0; border-top: 1px solid var(--border-soft); }
@@ -2020,7 +2023,6 @@ dialog.modal-overlay::backdrop {
 .startup-command-row code { color: var(--muted); font-size: var(--text-label); overflow-wrap: anywhere; }
 .startup-action-notice { margin: 14px 0 0; }
 @media (max-width: 700px) {
-  .startup-state-grid { grid-template-columns: 1fr; }
   .startup-command-row { align-items: flex-start; }
   .startup-detail-row { align-items: flex-start; }
   .startup-detail-row > .startup-detail-actions { flex-direction: column; align-items: flex-end; }
diff --git a/gui/tests/startup-minimal.test.tsx b/gui/tests/startup-minimal.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d96d2dd6450
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gui/tests/startup-minimal.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { Window } from "happy-dom";
+import { act } from "react";
+import { createRoot, type Root } from "react-dom/client";
+import Startup from "../src/pages/Startup";
+import { LanguageProvider } from "../src/i18n/provider";
+import { clearClientResourceStoresForTests } from "../src/client-resource";
+
+/**
+ * devlog/_plan/260904_dashboard_minimal/070_startup.md: the hero answers the page's
+ * question and carries the one-line state + the explanatory sentence (visible, not a
+ * title); the three stat cards and the back button are gone; the copyable recovery
+ * commands sit behind a details that is open only while protection is missing.
+ */
+const globals = ["document", "window", "navigator", "localStorage", "sessionStorage", "fetch", "IS_REACT_ACT_ENVIRONMENT"] as const;
+let previousGlobals: Record<(typeof globals)[number], unknown>;
+let testWindow: Window;
+let container: HTMLElement;
+let root: Root | null = null;
+
+function health(status: "protected" | "at-risk") {
+  const safe = status === "protected";
+  return {
+    status, routingKind: "opencodex-local", routingInjected: true, localRoutingDependency: true,
+    autostartEnabled: safe, rebootSafe: safe, protection: safe ? "service" : "none",
+    serviceInstalled: safe, serviceViable: safe, serviceEnabled: safe, serviceRunning: safe,
+    serviceStale: false, serviceConflict: false, serviceSupported: true,
+    shimInstalled: safe, shimHealthy: safe, shimCoverage: safe ? "full" : "none", platform: "darwin",
+    recommendedCommand: "ocx service install", diagnosticStale: false,
+    commands: { installService: "ocx service install", repairService: "ocx service repair", installShim: "ocx shim install", restoreNative: "ocx restore" },
+  };
+}
+
+function response(body: unknown): Response {
+  return { ok: true, status: 200, text: async () => JSON.stringify(body), json: async () => body } as unknown as Response;
+}
+
+let status: "protected" | "at-risk" = "protected";
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  clearClientResourceStoresForTests();
+  previousGlobals = Object.fromEntries(globals.map(k => [k, Reflect.get(globalThis, k)])) as typeof previousGlobals;
+  testWindow = new Window({ url: "http://localhost/#startup" });
+  Object.defineProperty(testWindow.navigator, "language", { configurable: true, value: "en-US" });
+  Object.defineProperties(globalThis, {
+    document: { configurable: true, value: testWindow.document },
+    window: { configurable: true, value: testWindow },
+    navigator: { configurable: true, value: testWindow.navigator },
+    localStorage: { configurable: true, value: testWindow.localStorage },
+    sessionStorage: { configurable: true, value: testWindow.sessionStorage },
+  });
+  (globalThis as typeof globalThis & { IS_REACT_ACT_ENVIRONMENT?: boolean }).IS_REACT_ACT_ENVIRONMENT = true;
+  Object.defineProperty(globalThis, "fetch", {
+    configurable: true,
+    value: async (url: string) => {
+      const path = new URL(String(url), "http://localhost/").pathname;
+      if (path === "/api/startup-health") return response(health(status));
+      if (path === "/api/settings") return response({ codexAutoStart: true, codexRuntime: { version: "x" } });
+      return response({});
+    },
+  });
+  container = testWindow.document.createElement("div") as unknown as HTMLElement;
+  testWindow.document.body.appendChild(container as never);
+});
+
+afterEach(async () => {
+  if (root) { const current = root; await act(async () => { current.unmount(); }); root = null; }
+  testWindow.close();
+  for (const key of globals) Object.defineProperty(globalThis, key, { configurable: true, value: previousGlobals[key] });
+  clearClientResourceStoresForTests();
+});
+
+async function mount() {
+  root = createRoot(container);
+  await act(async () => { root!.render(<LanguageProvider><Startup apiBase="http://localhost" /></LanguageProvider>); });
+  await act(async () => { await new Promise<void>(r => testWindow.setTimeout(r, 30)); });
+}
+
+test("protected: hero carries the state line and the sentence; no stat grid, no back button; recovery details closed", async () => {
+  status = "protected";
+  await mount();
+  expect(container.querySelector(".startup-state-grid")).toBeNull();
+  expect([...container.querySelectorAll("button")].map(b => b.textContent?.trim())).not.toContain("Back to Dashboard");
+  const hero = container.querySelector(".startup-hero")!;
+  expect(hero.querySelector(".startup-state-line")?.textContent).toContain("·");
+  // The old subtitle is a visible sentence inside the hero, not a title attribute.
+  expect(hero.textContent).toContain("Verify that Codex can reach opencodex");
+  expect(container.querySelector('[title*="Verify that Codex"]')).toBeNull();
+  const details = container.querySelector<HTMLDetailsElement>("details.startup-recovery-details")!;
+  expect(details).not.toBeNull();
+  expect(details.open).toBe(false);
+  // Commands are still there, one click away.
+  expect(details.textContent).toContain("ocx shim install");
+});
+
+test("at-risk: recovery details open by default", async () => {
+  status = "at-risk";
+  await mount();
+  const details = container.querySelector<HTMLDetailsElement>("details.startup-recovery-details")!;
+  expect(details.open).toBe(true);
+});