diff --git a/server/src/__tests__/agent-live-run-routes.test.ts b/server/src/__tests__/agent-live-run-routes.test.ts
index 2ac8658d..0f02c2ff 100644
--- a/server/src/__tests__/agent-live-run-routes.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/__tests__/agent-live-run-routes.test.ts
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ describe("agent live run routes", () => {
     expect(mockHeartbeatService.buildRunOutputSilence).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(50);
   });
 
-  it("treats explicit zero live run limits as the capped default", async () => {
+  it("treats explicit zero or invalid live run limit as the capped default", async () => {
     const rows = Array.from({ length: 75 }, (_, index) => ({
       id: `run-${index}`,
       companyId: "company-1",
@@ -381,4 +381,143 @@ describe("agent live run routes", () => {
     expect(limit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(50);
     expect(res.body).toHaveLength(50);
   });
+
+  it("does not pad with recent runs when no minCount is requested", async () => {
+    const liveRows = Array.from({ length: 8 }, (_, index) => ({
+      id: `run-live-${index}`,
+      companyId: "company-1",
+      status: "running",
+      invocationSource: "on_demand",
+      triggerDetail: "manual",
+      startedAt: new Date("2026-04-10T09:30:00.000Z"),
+      finishedAt: null,
+      createdAt: new Date(`2026-04-10T09:${String(index % 60).padStart(2, "0")}:00.000Z`),
+      agentId: "agent-1",
+      agentName: "Builder",
+      adapterType: "codex_local",
+      logBytes: 0,
+      livenessState: "healthy",
+      livenessReason: null,
+      continuationAttempt: 0,
+      lastUsefulActionAt: null,
+      nextAction: null,
+      lastOutputAt: null,
+      lastOutputSeq: null,
+      lastOutputStream: null,
+      lastOutputBytes: 0,
+      processStartedAt: null,
+      issueId: "issue-1",
+    }));
+
+    const selectCalls: Array<ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>> = [];
+    const db = {
+      select: vi.fn().mockImplementation(() => {
+        const limitFn = vi.fn(async (value: number) => liveRows.slice(0, value));
+        const orderedQuery = {
+          limit: limitFn,
+          then: (resolve: (value: typeof liveRows) => unknown) =>
+            Promise.resolve(liveRows).then(resolve),
+        };
+        const query = {
+          from: vi.fn().mockReturnThis(),
+          innerJoin: vi.fn().mockReturnThis(),
+          where: vi.fn().mockReturnThis(),
+          orderBy: vi.fn().mockReturnValue(orderedQuery),
+        };
+        selectCalls.push(limitFn);
+        return query;
+      }),
+    };
+
+    const res = await requestApp(
+      await createApp(db),
+      (baseUrl) => request(baseUrl).get("/api/companies/company-1/live-runs"),
+    );
+
+    expect(res.status, JSON.stringify(res.body)).toBe(200);
+    expect(res.body).toHaveLength(8);
+    expect(db.select).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it("pads with recent runs when minCount is explicitly requested", async () => {
+    const liveRows = Array.from({ length: 2 }, (_, index) => ({
+      id: `run-live-${index}`,
+      companyId: "company-1",
+      status: "running",
+      invocationSource: "on_demand",
+      triggerDetail: "manual",
+      startedAt: new Date("2026-04-10T09:30:00.000Z"),
+      finishedAt: null,
+      createdAt: new Date(`2026-04-10T09:${String(index % 60).padStart(2, "0")}:00.000Z`),
+      agentId: "agent-1",
+      agentName: "Builder",
+      adapterType: "codex_local",
+      logBytes: 0,
+      livenessState: "healthy",
+      livenessReason: null,
+      continuationAttempt: 0,
+      lastUsefulActionAt: null,
+      nextAction: null,
+      lastOutputAt: null,
+      lastOutputSeq: null,
+      lastOutputStream: null,
+      lastOutputBytes: 0,
+      processStartedAt: null,
+      issueId: "issue-1",
+    }));
+    const recentRows = Array.from({ length: 4 }, (_, index) => ({
+      id: `run-recent-${index}`,
+      companyId: "company-1",
+      status: "succeeded",
+      invocationSource: "on_demand",
+      triggerDetail: "manual",
+      startedAt: new Date("2026-04-09T09:30:00.000Z"),
+      finishedAt: new Date("2026-04-09T09:35:00.000Z"),
+      createdAt: new Date(`2026-04-09T09:${String(index % 60).padStart(2, "0")}:00.000Z`),
+      agentId: "agent-1",
+      agentName: "Builder",
+      adapterType: "codex_local",
+      logBytes: 0,
+      livenessState: "healthy",
+      livenessReason: null,
+      continuationAttempt: 0,
+      lastUsefulActionAt: null,
+      nextAction: null,
+      lastOutputAt: null,
+      lastOutputSeq: null,
+      lastOutputStream: null,
+      lastOutputBytes: 0,
+      processStartedAt: null,
+      issueId: "issue-1",
+    }));
+
+    let selectCallCount = 0;
+    const db = {
+      select: vi.fn().mockImplementation(() => {
+        selectCallCount += 1;
+        const rows = selectCallCount === 1 ? liveRows : recentRows;
+        const limitFn = vi.fn(async (value: number) => rows.slice(0, value));
+        const orderedQuery = {
+          limit: limitFn,
+          then: (resolve: (value: typeof rows) => unknown) =>
+            Promise.resolve(rows).then(resolve),
+        };
+        return {
+          from: vi.fn().mockReturnThis(),
+          innerJoin: vi.fn().mockReturnThis(),
+          where: vi.fn().mockReturnThis(),
+          orderBy: vi.fn().mockReturnValue(orderedQuery),
+        };
+      }),
+    };
+
+    const res = await requestApp(
+      await createApp(db),
+      (baseUrl) => request(baseUrl).get("/api/companies/company-1/live-runs?minCount=4"),
+    );
+
+    expect(res.status, JSON.stringify(res.body)).toBe(200);
+    expect(res.body).toHaveLength(4);
+    expect(db.select).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/server/src/routes/agents.ts b/server/src/routes/agents.ts
index 6b663a85..1f1ee3e8 100644
--- a/server/src/routes/agents.ts
+++ b/server/src/routes/agents.ts
@@ -2844,7 +2844,12 @@ export function agentRoutes(
     const companyId = req.params.companyId as string;
     assertCompanyAccess(req, companyId);
 
-    const minCount = readLiveRunsQueryInt(req.query.minCount, 50, 50);
+    // `minCount` is a padding floor for callers that want a minimum number of
+    // recent runs to render (e.g. dashboard cards). It must default to 0 so
+    // callers asking for "live runs" get only actually-live runs — otherwise
+    // every caller with no minCount param gets up to 50 historical runs
+    // padded in and renders bogus "live" counts.
+    const minCount = readLiveRunsQueryInt(req.query.minCount, 50, 0);
     const limit = readLiveRunsQueryInt(req.query.limit, 50, 50);
 
     const columns = {