diff --git a/frontend/src/App.test.tsx b/frontend/src/App.test.tsx
index 7c9b81f6..d1e90fd9 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/App.test.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { render, screen } from "@testing-library/react";
 import { App } from "./App";
 
-test("App renders the ThothII title", () => {
+test("App renders the shell with create affordance", () => {
   render(<App />);
-  expect(screen.getByText(/ThothII/i)).toBeInTheDocument();
+  expect(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /nuova/i })).toBeInTheDocument();
 });
diff --git a/frontend/src/App.tsx b/frontend/src/App.tsx
index 899da7ba..97b8d367 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/App.tsx
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+import { QueryClientProvider } from "@tanstack/react-query";
+import { queryClient } from "./app/queryClient";
+import { AppShell } from "./shell/AppShell";
+
 export function App() {
-  return <div className="p-4 text-lg font-semibold">ThothII</div>;
+  return (
+    <QueryClientProvider client={queryClient}>
+      <AppShell />
+    </QueryClientProvider>
+  );
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/queryClient.ts b/frontend/src/app/queryClient.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5365c1a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/app/queryClient.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { QueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
+
+export const queryClient = new QueryClient({
+  defaultOptions: {
+    queries: {
+      retry: 1,
+      staleTime: 30_000,
+    },
+  },
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/main.tsx b/frontend/src/main.tsx
index a93d054a..4bdfec2f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/main.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/main.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { StrictMode } from "react";
 import { createRoot } from "react-dom/client";
 import { App } from "./App";
 import "./index.css";
+import "./widgets";
 
 createRoot(document.getElementById("root")!).render(
   <StrictMode>
diff --git a/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.tsx b/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..02436de4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { useState } from "react";
+import { createSession } from "../api/sessions";
+import { useSessionStream } from "../stream/useSessionStream";
+import { WidgetHost } from "./WidgetHost";
+
+export function AppShell() {
+  const [activeSessionId, setActiveSessionId] = useState<string | null>(null);
+
+  useSessionStream(activeSessionId);
+
+  async function handleNuovaDomanda() {
+    const { id } = await createSession({ workspace: "default", question: "" });
+    setActiveSessionId(id);
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <div className="flex h-screen">
+      {/* Left nav / session list */}
+      <aside className="w-48 border-r p-2 flex flex-col gap-2">
+        <button
+          className="border rounded px-2 py-1 text-sm hover:bg-accent"
+          onClick={handleNuovaDomanda}
+        >
+          Nuova domanda
+        </button>
+      </aside>
+
+      <div className="flex flex-col flex-1">
+        {/* Top workflow bar */}
+        <header className="border-b px-4 py-2 text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+          Workflow
+        </header>
+
+        {/* Center: chat + input */}
+        <main className="flex-1 overflow-auto p-4">
+          <WidgetHost sessionId={activeSessionId} />
+        </main>
+      </div>
+
+      {/* Right artifact sidebar */}
+      <aside className="w-64 border-l p-2">
+        <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">Artefatti</p>
+      </aside>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/shell/WidgetHost.tsx b/frontend/src/shell/WidgetHost.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..068b6d96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/shell/WidgetHost.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import { useSessionStore } from "../store/sessionStore";
+import { resolve } from "../widgets";
+import { postResponse } from "../api/sessions";
+import type { UiResponse } from "../api/types";
+
+export function WidgetHost({ sessionId }: { sessionId: string | null }) {
+  const pending = useSessionStore((s) => s.pendingWidget);
+  const clearPending = useSessionStore((s) => s.clearPending);
+  if (!pending) return null;
+  const Renderer = resolve(pending.widget);
+  const onRespond = async (r: UiResponse) => {
+    if (sessionId) await postResponse(sessionId, r);
+    clearPending();
+  };
+  return <Renderer descriptor={pending} onRespond={onRespond} />;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/shell/f1-loop.test.tsx b/frontend/src/shell/f1-loop.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9309181d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/shell/f1-loop.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+// frontend/src/shell/f1-loop.test.tsx
+import { render, screen } from "@testing-library/react";
+import userEvent from "@testing-library/user-event";
+import { http, HttpResponse } from "msw";
+import { act } from "react";
+import { server } from "../test/msw";
+import { FakeEventSource } from "../test/fakeEventSource";
+import { App } from "../App";
+import { useSessionStore } from "../store/sessionStore";
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  FakeEventSource.instances = [];
+  (globalThis as any).EventSource = FakeEventSource;
+  useSessionStore.getState().resetSession();
+});
+
+test("F1: create session -> widget via SSE -> respond -> POST /response", async () => {
+  let responded: any = null;
+  server.use(
+    http.post("http://localhost:8787/sessions", () => HttpResponse.json({ id: "s1" })),
+    http.get("http://localhost:8787/sessions", () => HttpResponse.json([])),
+    http.post("http://localhost:8787/sessions/s1/response", async ({ request }) => {
+      responded = await request.json();
+      return new HttpResponse(null, { status: 204 });
+    }),
+  );
+  render(<App />);
+  await userEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /nuova/i }));         // start a session (UI affordance)
+  // simulate the backend emitting the F1 widget
+  act(() =>
+    FakeEventSource.instances[0].emit({
+      type: "ui_request",
+      ui_request: {
+        id: "u1",
+        widget: "select",
+        title: "Disambigua",
+        options: [{ id: "a", label: "interpretazione A" }],
+      },
+    })
+  );
+  await userEvent.click(await screen.findByRole("button", { name: /interpretazione A/ }));
+  expect(responded).toEqual({ ui_response: { id: "u1", kind: "select", choices: ["a"] } });
+});