diff --git a/lib/bds/desktop/shell_commands.ex b/lib/bds/desktop/shell_commands.ex
index 8528dd2..87146df 100644
--- a/lib/bds/desktop/shell_commands.ex
+++ b/lib/bds/desktop/shell_commands.ex
@@ -249,6 +249,13 @@ defmodule BDS.Desktop.ShellCommands do
       nil -> {:error, %{message: "No active project selected"}}
       project -> {:ok, project}
     end
+  rescue
+    error in [Exqlite.Error] ->
+      if String.contains?(Exception.message(error), "no such table: projects") do
+        {:error, %{message: "Project database is not initialized"}}
+      else
+        reraise error, __STACKTRACE__
+      end
   end
 
   defp preview_url(server) do
diff --git a/priv/ui/app.css b/priv/ui/app.css
index 910c842..7851c69 100644
--- a/priv/ui/app.css
+++ b/priv/ui/app.css
@@ -537,8 +537,33 @@ button {
 
 .tab-close {
   margin-left: auto;
-  font-size: 11px;
+  width: 18px;
+  height: 18px;
+  display: inline-flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  justify-content: center;
+  font-size: 15px;
+  line-height: 1;
   color: var(--vscode-descriptionForeground);
+  border-radius: 4px;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  flex-shrink: 0;
+}
+
+.tab-close:hover {
+  background-color: var(--vscode-toolbar-hoverBackground);
+  color: var(--vscode-tab-activeForeground);
+}
+
+.output-item-details {
+  margin: 4px 0 0;
+  padding: 8px;
+  border-radius: 4px;
+  background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.03);
+  color: inherit;
+  font: 11px/1.4 ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, monospace;
+  white-space: pre-wrap;
+  user-select: text;
 }
 
 .editor-shell {
@@ -936,16 +961,31 @@ button {
   gap: 8px;
 }
 
+.panel-tabs {
+  display: flex;
+  gap: 2px;
+}
+
 .panel-tab {
-  padding: 8px 10px;
-  border-radius: 999px;
   background: transparent;
-  color: var(--muted);
+  border: none;
+  padding: 6px 12px;
+  font-size: 12px;
+  color: var(--vscode-tab-inactiveForeground);
+  cursor: pointer;
+  border-bottom: 2px solid transparent;
+  border-radius: 0;
+}
+
+.panel-tab:hover {
+  color: var(--vscode-tab-activeForeground);
+  background: transparent;
 }
 
 .panel-tab.active {
-  background: var(--accent-soft);
-  color: var(--ink);
+  color: var(--vscode-tab-activeForeground);
+  border-bottom-color: var(--vscode-focusBorder);
+  background: transparent;
 }
 
 .assistant-content {
@@ -956,29 +996,42 @@ button {
 }
 
 .status-bar {
-  height: 34px;
+  height: 22px;
   display: flex;
   align-items: center;
   justify-content: space-between;
-  gap: 12px;
-  padding: 0 12px;
-  background: var(--status);
-  border-top: 1px solid var(--line);
+  background-color: var(--vscode-statusBar-background);
+  color: var(--vscode-statusBar-foreground);
+  font-size: 12px;
+  padding: 0 8px;
+  user-select: none;
+  flex-wrap: nowrap;
+  gap: 0;
+  border-top: none;
 }
 
 .status-bar-left,
 .status-bar-right {
   display: flex;
-  gap: 8px;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 4px;
+  flex-shrink: 0;
   min-width: 0;
 }
 
 .status-bar-item {
-  max-width: 180px;
-  padding: 4px 8px;
-  border-radius: 999px;
-  background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.06);
-  font-size: 11px;
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 6px;
+  padding: 0 8px;
+  height: 100%;
+  max-width: none;
+  overflow: hidden;
+  white-space: nowrap;
+  text-overflow: ellipsis;
+  border-radius: 0;
+  background: transparent;
+  font-size: 12px;
 }
 
 @media (max-width: 1100px) {
diff --git a/priv/ui/app.js b/priv/ui/app.js
index 66fd788..d3ea3bd 100644
--- a/priv/ui/app.js
+++ b/priv/ui/app.js
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ function renderTitlebar() {
           <span class="window-titlebar-panel-pane"></span>
         </span>
       `)}
-      ${renderTitlebarAction("toggle-assistant", "toggle-assistant", "Toggle assistant", `
+      ${renderTitlebarAction("toggle-assistant-sidebar", "toggle-assistant", "Toggle assistant", `
         <span class="window-titlebar-assistant-icon ${state.session.assistant_sidebar_visible ? "is-active" : "is-inactive"}">
           <span class="window-titlebar-assistant-pane"></span>
         </span>
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ function renderTab(tab) {
     <button class="tab ${active ? "active" : ""} ${tab.is_transient ? "transient" : ""}" data-tab-type="${tab.type}" data-tab-id="${tab.id}" type="button">
       <span class="tab-icon">${tabIcon(tab.type)}</span>
       <span class="tab-title">${escapeHtml(meta.title)}</span>
-      <span class="tab-close" aria-hidden="true">${tab.is_transient ? "Preview" : "Pinned"}</span>
+      <span class="tab-close" data-close-tab="${tab.type}:${tab.id}" role="button" aria-label="Close ${escapeHtmlAttribute(meta.title)}" title="Close tab">×</span>
     </button>
   `;
 }
@@ -419,11 +419,13 @@ function applyVisibility() {
 }
 
 function bindEvents() {
-  root.querySelectorAll("[data-command]").forEach((button) => {
+  root.querySelectorAll("button[data-command]").forEach((button) => {
     button.onclick = () => {
       const command = button.dataset.command;
       if (command === "open-tasks-panel") {
         openTasksPanel();
+        render();
+        return;
       }
       if (command === "toggle-offline-mode") {
         executeShellCommand("toggle_offline_mode");
@@ -471,6 +473,15 @@ function bindEvents() {
     };
   });
 
+  root.querySelectorAll("[data-close-tab]").forEach((button) => {
+    button.onclick = (event) => {
+      event.stopPropagation();
+      const [type, id] = button.dataset.closeTab.split(":");
+      closeSpecificTab(type, id);
+      render();
+    };
+  });
+
   root.querySelectorAll("[data-panel-tab]").forEach((button) => {
     button.onclick = () => {
       state.session.panel.active_tab = button.dataset.panelTab;
@@ -790,6 +801,30 @@ function closeActiveTab() {
   }
 }
 
+function closeSpecificTab(type, id) {
+  const index = state.session.tabs.findIndex((tab) => tab.type === type && tab.id === id);
+
+  if (index < 0) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const wasActive = state.session.active_tab?.type === type && state.session.active_tab?.id === id;
+  state.session.tabs.splice(index, 1);
+  delete state.tabMeta[`${type}:${id}`];
+
+  if (!state.session.tabs.length) {
+    state.session.active_tab = null;
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (!wasActive) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const next = state.session.tabs[Math.min(index, state.session.tabs.length - 1)];
+  state.session.active_tab = { type: next.type, id: next.id };
+}
+
 function openTab(type, id, title, transient, meta = {}) {
   const existingIndex = state.session.tabs.findIndex((tab) => tab.type === type && tab.id === id);
 
@@ -1187,7 +1222,7 @@ function renderLanguageOptions() {
   return state.supportedUiLanguages
     .map((language) => {
       const selected = language.code === state.uiLanguage ? " selected" : "";
-      return `<option value="${escapeHtmlAttribute(language.code)}"${selected}>${escapeHtml(language.code.toUpperCase())}</option>`;
+      return `<option value="${escapeHtmlAttribute(language.code)}"${selected}>${escapeHtml(language.flag || language.code.toUpperCase())}</option>`;
     })
     .join("");
 }
diff --git a/scripts/desktop_automation_runner.mjs b/scripts/desktop_automation_runner.mjs
index 731b945..c82e67a 100644
--- a/scripts/desktop_automation_runner.mjs
+++ b/scripts/desktop_automation_runner.mjs
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ for await (const line of rl) {
           window_title: text("[data-testid='window-title']"),
           active_view: document.querySelector("[data-testid='activity-button'][data-active='true']")?.dataset.view ?? null,
           sidebar_visible: !hasClass("[data-testid='sidebar-shell']", "is-hidden"),
+          assistant_visible: !hasClass("[data-testid='assistant-shell']", "is-hidden"),
+          panel_visible: !hasClass(".panel-shell", "is-hidden"),
           editor_title: text("[data-testid='editor-title']"),
           activity_labels: texts("[data-testid='activity-button']", (node) => node.getAttribute("aria-label")),
           sidebar_sections: texts("[data-testid='sidebar-section-title']", (node) => node.textContent.trim()),
diff --git a/test/bds/desktop/automation_test.exs b/test/bds/desktop/automation_test.exs
index 7caa2c6..8383bef 100644
--- a/test/bds/desktop/automation_test.exs
+++ b/test/bds/desktop/automation_test.exs
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ defmodule BDS.Desktop.AutomationTest do
     assert snapshot.window_title == "Blogging Desktop Server"
     assert snapshot.active_view == "posts"
     assert snapshot.sidebar_visible == true
+    assert snapshot.assistant_visible == false
+    assert snapshot.panel_visible == false
     assert snapshot.editor_title == "Dashboard"
     assert snapshot.activity_labels == [
              "Posts",
@@ -43,6 +45,12 @@ defmodule BDS.Desktop.AutomationTest do
     snapshot = Automation.snapshot(session)
     assert snapshot.sidebar_visible == false
 
+    assert :ok = Automation.click(session, "[data-testid='toggle-assistant']")
+
+    snapshot = Automation.snapshot(session)
+    assert snapshot.assistant_visible == true
+    assert snapshot.panel_visible == false
+
     screenshot_path = Path.join(screenshot_dir, "main-window.png")
     assert Automation.capture_screenshot(session, screenshot_path) == screenshot_path
     assert File.exists?(screenshot_path)
diff --git a/test/bds/desktop/shell_commands_test.exs b/test/bds/desktop/shell_commands_test.exs
index ce2bb67..a04ad9e 100644
--- a/test/bds/desktop/shell_commands_test.exs
+++ b/test/bds/desktop/shell_commands_test.exs
@@ -73,6 +73,13 @@ defmodule BDS.Desktop.ShellCommandsTest do
     assert wait_for_task(result.task_id, &(&1.status in [:completed, :failed])).status == :completed
   end
 
+  test "missing project schema returns a command error instead of raising" do
+    BDS.Repo.query!("DROP TABLE projects", [])
+
+    assert {:error, %{message: message}} = ShellCommands.execute("open_in_browser")
+    assert message =~ "Project database is not initialized"
+  end
+
   defp wait_for_task(task_id, matcher, timeout \\ 2_000)
 
   defp wait_for_task(task_id, _matcher, timeout) when timeout <= 0 do
diff --git a/test/bds/ui/shell_test.exs b/test/bds/ui/shell_test.exs
index d802752..ce5b7aa 100644
--- a/test/bds/ui/shell_test.exs
+++ b/test/bds/ui/shell_test.exs
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ defmodule BDS.UI.ShellTest do
     assert js =~ "window-titlebar-sidebar-icon"
     assert js =~ "window-titlebar-panel-icon"
     assert js =~ "window-titlebar-assistant-icon"
+    assert js =~ "toggle-assistant-sidebar"
     assert js =~ "activity-bar-top"
     assert js =~ "activity-bar-bottom"
   end
@@ -148,6 +149,7 @@ defmodule BDS.UI.ShellTest do
     assert css =~ "gap: 4px"
     assert css =~ "padding: 0 8px"
     assert css =~ "height: 100%"
+    refute css =~ "background: var(--status)"
     assert css =~ ".status-bar-language-select"
     assert css =~ ".status-bar-item.language-badge"
     assert css =~ ".status-bar-item.offline-badge"
@@ -166,6 +168,9 @@ defmodule BDS.UI.ShellTest do
     assert js =~ "executeBackendShellCommand"
     assert js =~ "applyShellCommandResult"
     assert js =~ "openTasksPanel"
+    assert js =~ "command === \"open-tasks-panel\")"
+    assert js =~ "openTasksPanel();"
+    assert js =~ "return;"
     assert js =~ "No background tasks running"
     assert js =~ "task-list"
     assert js =~ "output-list"
@@ -189,5 +194,8 @@ defmodule BDS.UI.ShellTest do
     assert js =~ "case \"metadata_diff\""
     assert js =~ "case \"regenerate_calendar\""
     assert js =~ "case \"fill_missing_translations\""
+    assert js =~ "root.querySelectorAll(\"button[data-command]\")"
+    assert js =~ "[data-close-tab]"
+    assert js =~ "language.flag"
   end
 end