diff --git a/ui/src/components/agent-configuration-shell.test.ts b/ui/src/components/agent-configuration-shell.test.ts
index 5abd7232382..ed7c7950885 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/agent-configuration-shell.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/components/agent-configuration-shell.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
+import { createElement } from "react";
+import { renderToStaticMarkup } from "react-dom/server";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import type { Agent } from "@paperclipai/shared";
 import { getAgentConfigDirtyDetails } from "./AgentConfigForm";
 import {
+  AgentConfigurationRail,
+  EffectiveConfigurationStrip,
+  buildEffectiveConfigurationChips,
   filterAgentConfigurationSections,
   resolveEffectiveConfiguration,
 } from "./agent-configuration-shell";
@@ -43,4 +48,50 @@ describe("agent configuration shell", () => {
       sections: ["environment", "runtime", "danger", "schedule"],
     });
   });
+
+  it("builds the effective chips in spec order without a separate Variables chip", () => {
+    const agent = {
+      adapterType: "codex_local",
+      adapterConfig: { model: "gpt-5.6-terra" },
+      runtimeConfig: { heartbeat: { enabled: false } },
+      permissions: { trustPreset: "standard" },
+      defaultEnvironmentId: null,
+    } as unknown as Agent;
+
+    expect(buildEffectiveConfigurationChips(resolveEffectiveConfiguration(agent, 2)).map((chip) => chip.label)).toEqual([
+      "Adapter",
+      "Model",
+      "Cost saver",
+      "Environment",
+      "Cadence",
+      "Trust",
+      "API keys",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("explains the rail status glyphs", () => {
+    const markup = renderToStaticMarkup(createElement(AgentConfigurationRail, {
+      query: "",
+      onQueryChange: () => undefined,
+      visibleSections: filterAgentConfigurationSections(""),
+      dirtySections: new Set(["runtime"]),
+    }));
+
+    expect(markup).toContain(">●</span> = unsaved change in section");
+    expect(markup).toContain(">⚡</span> = changes apply immediately");
+  });
+
+  it("keeps inherited chip metadata compact and the strip reachable", () => {
+    const markup = renderToStaticMarkup(createElement(EffectiveConfigurationStrip, {
+      chips: [
+        { label: "Adapter", value: "Codex", section: "runtime" },
+        { label: "Model", value: "Adapter default", section: "runtime", inherited: true },
+      ],
+    }));
+
+    expect(markup).toContain("overflow-x-auto");
+    expect(markup).toContain('tabindex="0"');
+    expect(markup).toContain('title="Model is inherited"');
+    expect(markup).toContain('class="sr-only">inherited</span>');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/ui/src/components/agent-configuration-shell.tsx b/ui/src/components/agent-configuration-shell.tsx
index f0e9824faa8..da58b23b6aa 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/agent-configuration-shell.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/agent-configuration-shell.tsx
@@ -69,6 +69,25 @@ export function resolveEffectiveConfiguration(agent: Agent, apiKeyCount = 0) {
   };
 }
 
+export type EffectiveConfigurationChip = {
+  label: string;
+  value: string;
+  section: AgentConfigurationSectionId;
+  inherited?: boolean;
+};
+
+export function buildEffectiveConfigurationChips(effectiveConfig: ReturnType<typeof resolveEffectiveConfiguration>): EffectiveConfigurationChip[] {
+  return [
+    { label: "Adapter", value: effectiveConfig.adapter, section: "runtime" },
+    { label: "Model", value: effectiveConfig.model, section: "runtime", inherited: effectiveConfig.modelInherited },
+    { label: "Cost saver", value: effectiveConfig.cheapModel, section: "runtime", inherited: effectiveConfig.cheapInherited },
+    { label: "Environment", value: effectiveConfig.environment, section: "environment", inherited: effectiveConfig.environmentInherited },
+    { label: "Cadence", value: effectiveConfig.cadence, section: "schedule" },
+    { label: "Trust", value: effectiveConfig.trust, section: "access" },
+    { label: "API keys", value: String(effectiveConfig.apiKeyCount), section: "keys" },
+  ];
+}
+
 export function AgentConfigurationRail({
   query,
   onQueryChange,
@@ -120,20 +139,29 @@ export function AgentConfigurationRail({
             </a>
           ))}
         </nav>
+        <div className="mt-4 space-y-1 border-t border-border pt-3 text-xs text-muted-foreground" aria-label="Configuration section legend">
+          <p><span className="text-primary" aria-hidden="true">●</span> = unsaved change in section</p>
+          <p><span aria-hidden="true">⚡</span> = changes apply immediately</p>
+        </div>
       </aside>
     </>
   );
 }
 
-export function EffectiveConfigurationStrip({ chips }: { chips: Array<{ label: string; value: string; section: AgentConfigurationSectionId; inherited?: boolean }> }) {
+export function EffectiveConfigurationStrip({ chips }: { chips: EffectiveConfigurationChip[] }) {
   return (
-    <div className="flex gap-2 overflow-x-auto border-b border-border pb-3" aria-label="Effective configuration">
+    <div className="flex max-w-full gap-2 overflow-x-auto border-b border-border pb-3 focus-visible:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-ring" aria-label="Effective configuration" tabIndex={0}>
       {chips.map((chip) => (
-        <a key={chip.label} href={`#config-${chip.section}`} className="shrink-0">
+        <a
+          key={chip.label}
+          href={`#config-${chip.section}`}
+          className="shrink-0"
+          title={chip.inherited ? `${chip.label} is inherited` : undefined}
+        >
           <Badge variant="outline" className={cn("gap-1.5 py-1", chip.inherited && "text-muted-foreground")}>
             <span>{chip.label}</span>
             <span className="font-mono">{chip.value}</span>
-            {chip.inherited ? <span>inherited</span> : null}
+            {chip.inherited ? <span className="sr-only">inherited</span> : null}
           </Badge>
         </a>
       ))}
diff --git a/ui/src/pages/AgentDetail.tsx b/ui/src/pages/AgentDetail.tsx
index 42a44e51002..861dc690901 100644
--- a/ui/src/pages/AgentDetail.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/pages/AgentDetail.tsx
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import {
   AgentConfigurationRail,
   ConfigurationSection,
   EffectiveConfigurationStrip,
+  buildEffectiveConfigurationChips,
   filterAgentConfigurationSections,
   resolveEffectiveConfiguration,
   type AgentConfigurationSectionId,
@@ -1778,16 +1779,7 @@ function AgentConfigurePage({
     },
   });
 
-  const effectiveChips: Array<{ label: string; value: string; section: AgentConfigurationSectionId; inherited?: boolean }> = [
-    { label: "Adapter", value: effectiveConfig.adapter, section: "runtime" },
-    { label: "Model", value: effectiveConfig.model, section: "runtime", inherited: effectiveConfig.modelInherited },
-    { label: "Cost saver", value: effectiveConfig.cheapModel, section: "runtime", inherited: effectiveConfig.cheapInherited },
-    { label: "Environment", value: effectiveConfig.environment, section: "environment", inherited: effectiveConfig.environmentInherited },
-    { label: "Variables", value: String(effectiveConfig.environmentVariableCount), section: "environment" },
-    { label: "Heartbeat", value: effectiveConfig.cadence, section: "schedule" },
-    { label: "Trust", value: effectiveConfig.trust, section: "access" },
-    { label: "API keys", value: String(effectiveConfig.apiKeyCount), section: "keys" },
-  ];
+  const effectiveChips = buildEffectiveConfigurationChips(effectiveConfig);
 
   return (
     <div className="space-y-5">