diff --git a/backend/src/routes/sessions.ts b/backend/src/routes/sessions.ts
index 08f5d019..10d370f2 100644
--- a/backend/src/routes/sessions.ts
+++ b/backend/src/routes/sessions.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ import type { Settings } from "../settings/settings-store.js";
 import { getUser } from "../auth/auth.js";
 import type { ReadinessManager } from "../runtime/readiness-manager.js";
 
+const BOOTSTRAP_FAILURE_MESSAGE =
+  "Session startup failed. Check configuration and connectivity, then Resume the session.";
+
 export function sessionRoutes(
   app: FastifyInstance,
   d: { mgr: PiProcessManager; tht: ThtRunner; hub: SseHub; getSettings: () => Settings; readiness: ReadinessManager },
@@ -34,11 +37,10 @@ export function sessionRoutes(
         await Promise.all([configure, retrieval]);
         info(id, "Starting model");
         start();
-      } catch (error) {
+      } catch {
         d.mgr.teardown(id);
-        const text = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
         void d.tht.failSession(id, d.getSettings().workspace).catch(() => undefined);
-        rt.bridge.emitClientEvent({ type: "info", level: "error", text: `Session bootstrap failed: ${text}` });
+        rt.bridge.emitClientEvent({ type: "info", level: "error", text: BOOTSTRAP_FAILURE_MESSAGE });
         rt.bridge.emitClientEvent({ type: "system_event", event: "session_failed" });
         rt.bridge.emitClientEvent({ type: "system_event", event: "agent_end" });
       }
diff --git a/backend/test/routes-sessions.test.ts b/backend/test/routes-sessions.test.ts
index 48cd03a9..9935ce5b 100644
--- a/backend/test/routes-sessions.test.ts
+++ b/backend/test/routes-sessions.test.ts
@@ -471,3 +471,51 @@ test("POST /sessions returns after bridge attachment but starts only after retri
   await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
   expect(started).toBe(true);
 });
+
+test("POST /sessions bootstrap failure emits only a fixed recovery message", async () => {
+  const published: Array<{ event: string; data: any }> = [];
+  let listener: ((event: any) => void) | undefined;
+  const bridge = {
+    onClientEvent: (callback: (event: any) => void) => { listener = callback; },
+    emitClientEvent: (event: any) => listener?.(event),
+  };
+  const runtime = { bridge } as any;
+  const rawFailure =
+    "connect https://secret.invalid/bootstrap?token=DO_NOT_LEAK using /srv/private/model-key";
+  const app = buildApp(loadConfig({ THT_HARNESS_DIR: "../harness" }), {
+    mgr: {
+      createFor: () => runtime,
+      configure: async () => { throw new Error(rawFailure); },
+      start: () => {},
+      teardown: () => {},
+    } as any,
+    hub: {
+      publish: (_id: string, event: string, data: any) => published.push({ event, data }),
+    } as any,
+    thtRunner: {
+      ollamaEnsure: async () => ({ ok: true }),
+      sessionNew: async () => ({ id: "s-bootstrap" }),
+      searchPack: async () => {},
+      failSession: async () => {},
+    } as any,
+    getSettings: () => ({ workspace: "psd" }) as any,
+  });
+
+  const response = await app.inject({
+    method: "POST",
+    url: "/sessions",
+    payload: { question: "q" },
+  });
+  await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
+
+  expect(response.json()).toEqual({ id: "s-bootstrap" });
+  expect(published.map(({ data }) => data)).toContainEqual({
+    type: "info",
+    level: "error",
+    text: "Session startup failed. Check configuration and connectivity, then Resume the session.",
+  });
+  const clientOutput = JSON.stringify(published);
+  expect(clientOutput).not.toContain("secret.invalid");
+  expect(clientOutput).not.toContain("DO_NOT_LEAK");
+  expect(clientOutput).not.toContain("/srv/private/model-key");
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.session-mgmt.test.tsx b/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.session-mgmt.test.tsx
index 0d3ced94..34a9d6c7 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.session-mgmt.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.session-mgmt.test.tsx
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ test("Archive accordion expands to reveal archived sessions", async () => {
 
 test("Resume from the panel activates the session and closes the panel", async () => {
   let resumed: string | null = null;
+  useSessionStore.setState({
+    activityLog: [{ kind: "status", phase: "F7", text: "Stale prior activity", level: "info" }],
+  });
   server.use(
     http.post("http://localhost:8787/sessions/:id/resume", ({ params }) => {
       resumed = params.id as string;
@@ -78,11 +81,9 @@ test("Resume from the panel activates the session and closes the panel", async (
   await userEvent.click(await screen.findByText("Attiva uno"));
   await screen.findByText("Domanda originale"); // panel open
   await userEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /resume/i }));
-  expect(useSessionStore.getState().activityLog).toContainEqual({
-    kind: "lifecycle",
-    phase: null,
-    text: "Resuming session",
-  });
+  expect(useSessionStore.getState().activityLog).toEqual([
+    { kind: "lifecycle", phase: null, text: "Resuming session" },
+  ]);
   await waitFor(() => expect(resumed).toBe("s1"));
   await waitFor(() => expect(screen.queryByText("Domanda originale")).not.toBeInTheDocument()); // panel closed
 });
@@ -230,7 +231,7 @@ test("closing and reopening Model activity preserves the complete activity log",
     });
     store.applyEvent({ type: "text_delta", text: "Cohort ready" });
   });
-  const beforeClose = useSessionStore.getState().activityLog;
+  const beforeClose = useSessionStore.getState().activityLog.map((entry) => ({ ...entry }));
 
   expect(screen.queryByRole("heading", { name: /model activity/i })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   await userEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /model activity/i }));
diff --git a/frontend/src/shell/ModelActivityPanel.test.tsx b/frontend/src/shell/ModelActivityPanel.test.tsx
index 79f16063..c50e1c08 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shell/ModelActivityPanel.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/shell/ModelActivityPanel.test.tsx
@@ -109,11 +109,12 @@ test("close calls onClose without mutating the activity log", async () => {
   ];
   useSessionStore.setState({ activityLog });
   render(<ModelActivityPanel onClose={onClose} />);
+  const expectedLog = useSessionStore.getState().activityLog.map((entry) => ({ ...entry }));
 
   await userEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /close model activity/i }));
 
   expect(onClose).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
-  expect(useSessionStore.getState().activityLog).toEqual(activityLog);
+  expect(useSessionStore.getState().activityLog).toEqual(expectedLog);
 });
 
 test("isNearBottom includes the 48px boundary", () => {