diff --git a/docs/plans/state.json b/docs/plans/state.json
index 8f68fca..c0ff662 100644
--- a/docs/plans/state.json
+++ b/docs/plans/state.json
@@ -5658,6 +5658,17 @@
         "docs/plans/state.json"
       ],
       "test_status": "pnpm typecheck passing"
+    },
+    "dashboard-assistant-health-persistence-indicator": {
+      "status": "completed",
+      "date": "2026-02-19",
+      "updated": "2026-02-19",
+      "summary": "Added a persistent Assistant Health save-state indicator that survives rerenders and explicitly reports whether updates were saved runtime-only or persisted to config file, with timestamped status messages.",
+      "files_modified": [
+        "src/gateway/ui/pages/dashboard.js",
+        "docs/plans/state.json"
+      ],
+      "test_status": "pnpm typecheck passing"
     }
   },
   "overall_progress": {
diff --git a/src/gateway/ui/pages/dashboard.js b/src/gateway/ui/pages/dashboard.js
index bde4007..905510d 100644
--- a/src/gateway/ui/pages/dashboard.js
+++ b/src/gateway/ui/pages/dashboard.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ let _slowTimer = null;
 let _dashboardClient = null;
 let _lastPlaybookRollbackPatches = null;
 let _lastBriefingTestAt = null;
+let _assistantSaveState = null;
 
 function formatUptime(seconds) {
   const d = Math.floor(seconds / 86400);
@@ -122,6 +123,36 @@ function buildRollbackPatchesFromSnapshot(snapshot) {
   };
 }
 
+function setAssistantSaveState(message, tone = 'neutral') {
+  _assistantSaveState = {
+    message,
+    tone,
+    at: Date.now(),
+  };
+}
+
+function renderAssistantSaveState() {
+  if (!_assistantSaveState) {
+    return '<div id="ops-assistant-status" class="text-sm text-zinc-500 mt-4">No recent save action.</div>';
+  }
+
+  const toneClass = _assistantSaveState.tone === 'success'
+    ? 'text-green-500'
+    : _assistantSaveState.tone === 'warning'
+      ? 'text-amber-500'
+      : _assistantSaveState.tone === 'error'
+        ? 'text-red-500'
+        : 'text-zinc-500';
+
+  const at = new Date(_assistantSaveState.at).toLocaleTimeString(undefined, {
+    hour: 'numeric',
+    minute: '2-digit',
+    second: '2-digit',
+  });
+
+  return `<div id="ops-assistant-status" class="text-sm ${toneClass} mt-4">${escapeHtml(_assistantSaveState.message)} <span class="text-zinc-500">(at ${escapeHtml(at)})</span></div>`;
+}
+
 // ── Initial full render ─────────────────────────────────────────
 
 function renderSkeleton(el) {
@@ -492,43 +523,49 @@ function updateContextHealth(contextData) {
 
 async function applyAssistantPatch(patches, statusEl) {
   if (!_dashboardClient) {
-    console.warn('[Flynn] applyAssistantPatch: no client');
+    setAssistantSaveState('Save skipped: dashboard client unavailable.', 'error');
     return;
   }
-  console.log('[Flynn] applyAssistantPatch:', JSON.stringify(patches));
   if (statusEl) {
     statusEl.textContent = 'Saving...';
     statusEl.className = 'text-sm text-zinc-500';
   }
   try {
     const result = await _dashboardClient.call('config.patch', { patches });
-    console.log('[Flynn] config.patch result:', JSON.stringify(result));
     const rejected = result?.rejected ?? [];
     const persistError = result?.persistError;
     const applied = result?.applied ?? [];
     const persisted = result?.persisted === true;
 
+    let message = '';
+    let tone = 'neutral';
     if (statusEl) {
       if (persistError) {
-        statusEl.textContent = `Save failed: ${persistError}`;
-        statusEl.className = 'text-sm text-red-500';
+        message = `Save failed: ${persistError}`;
+        tone = 'error';
       } else if (rejected.length > 0) {
-        statusEl.textContent = `Rejected: ${rejected.join(', ')}`;
-        statusEl.className = 'text-sm text-red-500';
+        message = `Rejected: ${rejected.join(', ')}`;
+        tone = 'error';
       } else if (!persisted) {
-        statusEl.textContent = `Runtime saved (${applied.length} updated)`;
-        statusEl.className = 'text-sm text-amber-500';
+        message = `Runtime-only save (${applied.length} updated, file persistence unavailable)`;
+        tone = 'warning';
       } else {
-        statusEl.textContent = `Saved & persisted (${applied.length} updated)`;
-        statusEl.className = 'text-sm text-green-500';
+        message = `Saved to runtime + config file (${applied.length} updated)`;
+        tone = 'success';
       }
+      setAssistantSaveState(message, tone);
+      statusEl.textContent = message;
+      statusEl.className = `text-sm ${tone === 'success' ? 'text-green-500' : tone === 'warning' ? 'text-amber-500' : tone === 'error' ? 'text-red-500' : 'text-zinc-500'}`;
     }
+    return { persisted, applied, rejected, persistError };
   } catch (error) {
-    console.error('[Flynn] config.patch error:', error);
+    const msg = `Save error: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`;
+    setAssistantSaveState(msg, 'error');
     if (statusEl) {
-      statusEl.textContent = `Save error: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`;
+      statusEl.textContent = msg;
       statusEl.className = 'text-sm text-red-500';
     }
+    return { persisted: false, applied: [], rejected: [], persistError: msg };
   }
 }
 
@@ -700,7 +737,7 @@ function updateAssistantHealth(configData) {
       <div class="max-h-44 overflow-y-auto bg-zinc-950 border border-zinc-800 rounded-md p-3"><code class="text-sm text-zinc-400 font-mono whitespace-pre-wrap">${escapeHtml(briefingPrompt || 'No daily briefing prompt configured.')}</code></div>
       ${briefingReady ? '' : '<div class="text-sm text-zinc-500 mt-2">Enable daily briefing and set output channel/peer to test-send.</div>'}
     </div>
-    <div id="ops-assistant-status" class="text-sm text-zinc-500 mt-4"></div>
+    ${renderAssistantSaveState()}
   `;
 
   const statusEl = el.querySelector('#ops-assistant-status');
@@ -765,15 +802,7 @@ function updateAssistantHealth(configData) {
         updateSessionAnalytics(refreshed.sessionAnalytics);
         updateContextHealth(refreshed.contextUsage);
         // Capture status message before re-render destroys the DOM element
-        const savedText = statusEl?.textContent ?? '';
-        const savedClass = statusEl?.className ?? '';
         updateAssistantHealth(refreshed.config);
-        // Restore status message in the new DOM
-        const newStatusEl = document.getElementById('ops-assistant-status');
-        if (newStatusEl && savedText) {
-          newStatusEl.textContent = savedText;
-          newStatusEl.className = savedClass;
-        }
       }
     });
   });
@@ -963,5 +992,6 @@ export const DashboardPage = {
     _dashboardClient = null;
     _lastPlaybookRollbackPatches = null;
     _lastBriefingTestAt = null;
+    _assistantSaveState = null;
   },
 };