diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/hooks/__tests__/useArtifactAutoOpen.test.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/hooks/__tests__/useArtifactAutoOpen.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bccbaa0dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/hooks/__tests__/useArtifactAutoOpen.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { shouldAutoOpen } from "../useArtifactAutoOpen";
+
+describe("shouldAutoOpen", () => {
+  it.each([
+    ["open-on-mount", true, true],
+    ["open-on-mount", false, true],
+    ["auto-open", true, true],
+    ["auto-open", false, false],
+    ["overview", true, false],
+    ["overview", false, false],
+  ] as const)("mode %s, streaming %s → %s", (mode, isStreaming, expected) => {
+    expect(shouldAutoOpen(mode, isStreaming)).toBe(expected);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/hooks/useArtifactAutoOpen.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/hooks/useArtifactAutoOpen.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..298ae07ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/hooks/useArtifactAutoOpen.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import { useEffect } from "react";
+import { useArtifactViewMode, type ArtifactViewMode } from "../store/ArtifactViewModeContext";
+import { useDetailedViewStore } from "../store/DetailedViewContext";
+
+export function shouldAutoOpen(mode: ArtifactViewMode, isStreaming: boolean): boolean {
+  return mode === "open-on-mount" || (mode === "auto-open" && isStreaming);
+}
+
+export interface UseArtifactAutoOpenOptions {
+  viewId: string;
+  latchKey: string;
+  isStreaming: boolean;
+  enabled?: boolean;
+}
+
+export function useArtifactAutoOpen({
+  viewId,
+  latchKey,
+  isStreaming,
+  enabled = true,
+}: UseArtifactAutoOpenOptions): void {
+  const viewMode = useArtifactViewMode();
+  const store = useDetailedViewStore();
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!enabled || !shouldAutoOpen(viewMode, isStreaming)) return;
+    const dv = store.getState();
+    if (!dv._markAutoOpened(latchKey)) return;
+    const active = dv.activeDetailedViewId;
+    if (active !== null && active !== viewId) return;
+    dv.setActiveDetailedView(viewId);
+  }, [viewMode, enabled, isStreaming, latchKey, viewId, store]);
+}
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/index.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/index.ts
index 6bd05b30a..f5aee7b62 100644
--- a/packages/react-headless/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/index.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export {
 } from "./store/ArtifactRenderersContext";
 export { defineArtifactRenderer } from "./store/artifactRendererTypes";
 export { useArtifactStorage } from "./store/ArtifactStorageContext";
+export type { ArtifactViewMode } from "./store/ArtifactViewModeContext";
 export { ChatProvider } from "./store/ChatProvider";
 export { DetailedViewContext, useDetailedViewStore } from "./store/DetailedViewContext";
 export { ThreadContextContext, useThreadContextStore } from "./store/ThreadContextContext";
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/store/ArtifactViewModeContext.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/store/ArtifactViewModeContext.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..84c1bf178
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/store/ArtifactViewModeContext.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import { createContext, useContext } from "react";
+
+export type ArtifactViewMode = "auto-open" | "open-on-mount" | "overview";
+
+export const DEFAULT_ARTIFACT_VIEW_MODE: ArtifactViewMode = "overview";
+
+export const ArtifactViewModeContext = createContext<ArtifactViewMode>(DEFAULT_ARTIFACT_VIEW_MODE);
+
+export function useArtifactViewMode(): ArtifactViewMode {
+  return useContext(ArtifactViewModeContext);
+}
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/store/ChatProvider.tsx b/packages/react-headless/src/store/ChatProvider.tsx
index 76f708a26..96ce76197 100644
--- a/packages/react-headless/src/store/ChatProvider.tsx
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/store/ChatProvider.tsx
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 import { useEffect, useRef, useState, type FC } from "react";
 import { createDefaultInMemoryStorage } from "../adapters/_defaultStorage";
+import { useArtifactAutoOpenWatcher } from "./artifactAutoOpenWatcher";
 import { ArtifactCategoriesContext } from "./ArtifactCategoriesContext";
 import {
   ArtifactRenderersContext,
   buildArtifactRendererRegistry,
 } from "./ArtifactRenderersContext";
 import { ArtifactStorageContext } from "./ArtifactStorageContext";
+import { ArtifactViewModeContext, DEFAULT_ARTIFACT_VIEW_MODE } from "./ArtifactViewModeContext";
 import { ChatContext } from "./ChatContext";
 import { createChatStore } from "./createChatStore";
 import { createDetailedViewStore } from "./createDetailedViewStore";
@@ -22,6 +24,7 @@ export const ChatProvider: FC<ChatProviderProps> = ({
   llm,
   artifactRenderers,
   artifactCategories,
+  artifactViewMode,
 }) => {
   const [resolvedStorage] = useState(() => storage ?? createDefaultInMemoryStorage());
   const [chatStore] = useState(() => createChatStore({ storage: resolvedStorage, llm }));
@@ -64,6 +67,13 @@ export const ChatProvider: FC<ChatProviderProps> = ({
     return unsubscribe;
   }, [chatStore, detailedViewStore, threadContextStore]);
 
+  useArtifactAutoOpenWatcher(
+    artifactViewMode ?? DEFAULT_ARTIFACT_VIEW_MODE,
+    chatStore,
+    threadContextStore,
+    detailedViewStore,
+  );
+
   return (
     <ChatContext.Provider value={chatStore}>
       <DetailedViewContext.Provider value={detailedViewStore}>
@@ -71,7 +81,11 @@ export const ChatProvider: FC<ChatProviderProps> = ({
           <ArtifactRenderersContext.Provider value={artifactRendererRegistry}>
             <ArtifactStorageContext.Provider value={resolvedStorage.artifact ?? null}>
               <ArtifactCategoriesContext.Provider value={artifactCategories ?? EMPTY_CATEGORIES}>
-                {children}
+                <ArtifactViewModeContext.Provider
+                  value={artifactViewMode ?? DEFAULT_ARTIFACT_VIEW_MODE}
+                >
+                  {children}
+                </ArtifactViewModeContext.Provider>
               </ArtifactCategoriesContext.Provider>
             </ArtifactStorageContext.Provider>
           </ArtifactRenderersContext.Provider>
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/store/__tests__/artifactAutoOpenWatcher.test.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/store/__tests__/artifactAutoOpenWatcher.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d3dc022d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/store/__tests__/artifactAutoOpenWatcher.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { evaluateRegisteredArtifacts } from "../artifactAutoOpenWatcher";
+import { createDetailedViewStore } from "../createDetailedViewStore";
+import type { ArtifactEntry } from "../threadContextTypes";
+
+const entry = (id: string, version = 1): ArtifactEntry => ({
+  id,
+  version,
+  heading: `${id} v${version}`,
+  type: "test_artifact",
+});
+
+const registry = (...entries: ArtifactEntry[]): Record<string, ArtifactEntry[]> => {
+  const out: Record<string, ArtifactEntry[]> = {};
+  for (const e of entries) (out[e.id] ??= []).push(e);
+  return out;
+};
+
+describe("evaluateRegisteredArtifacts", () => {
+  it("auto-open: a newly registered artifact opens while the thread runs", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("auto-open", registry(entry("art")), true, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBe("art:1");
+    expect(store.getState()._autoOpenedArtifactKeys.has("art")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("presents once: a user close sticks across re-registrations", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+    const arts = registry(entry("art"));
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("auto-open", arts, true, store);
+    store.getState().setActiveDetailedView(null);
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("auto-open", arts, true, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("edits never re-open: a new version shares the claimed id", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("auto-open", registry(entry("art", 1)), true, store);
+    store.getState().setActiveDetailedView(null);
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts(
+      "auto-open",
+      registry(entry("art", 1), entry("art", 2)),
+      true,
+      store,
+    );
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("opens the latest registered version of an id", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts(
+      "open-on-mount",
+      registry(entry("art", 1), entry("art", 3)),
+      false,
+      store,
+    );
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBe("art:3");
+  });
+
+  it("auto-open: historical registrations (thread not running) never open — and stay claimed", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+    const arts = registry(entry("old"));
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("auto-open", arts, false, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBeNull();
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("auto-open", arts, true, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("open-on-mount: opens on thread load with nothing running", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("open-on-mount", registry(entry("art")), false, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBe("art:1");
+  });
+
+  it("first wins: an open panel is never stolen by another artifact", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("auto-open", registry(entry("a1"), entry("a2")), true, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBe("a1:1");
+    expect(store.getState()._autoOpenedArtifactKeys.has("a2")).toBe(true);
+    store.getState().setActiveDetailedView(null);
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("auto-open", registry(entry("a1"), entry("a2")), true, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("first wins: a user-opened panel blocks auto-open the same way", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+    store.getState().setActiveDetailedView("user-panel");
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("auto-open", registry(entry("art")), true, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBe("user-panel");
+    expect(store.getState()._autoOpenedArtifactKeys.has("art")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("overview: never opens and never claims", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("overview", registry(entry("art")), true, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBeNull();
+    expect(store.getState()._autoOpenedArtifactKeys.size).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it("thread switch (reset) re-arms for the next thread", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+    const arts = registry(entry("art"));
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("open-on-mount", arts, false, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBe("art:1");
+    store.getState().reset();
+    evaluateRegisteredArtifacts("open-on-mount", arts, false, store);
+    expect(store.getState().activeDetailedViewId).toBe("art:1");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/store/__tests__/detailedViewAutoOpenLatch.test.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/store/__tests__/detailedViewAutoOpenLatch.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b0a502b1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/store/__tests__/detailedViewAutoOpenLatch.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { createDetailedViewStore } from "../createDetailedViewStore";
+
+describe("detailed-view auto-open latch", () => {
+  it("claims a key exactly once", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+
+    expect(store.getState()._markAutoOpened("a1:1")).toBe(true);
+    expect(store.getState()._markAutoOpened("a1:1")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("treats a new version (edit) as a fresh key", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+
+    expect(store.getState()._markAutoOpened("a1:1")).toBe(true);
+    expect(store.getState()._markAutoOpened("a1:2")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("clears claimed keys on reset (thread switch)", () => {
+    const store = createDetailedViewStore();
+
+    expect(store.getState()._markAutoOpened("a1:1")).toBe(true);
+    store.getState().reset();
+    expect(store.getState()._markAutoOpened("a1:1")).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/store/artifactAutoOpenWatcher.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/store/artifactAutoOpenWatcher.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..195861fb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/store/artifactAutoOpenWatcher.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { useEffect } from "react";
+import { shouldAutoOpen } from "../hooks/useArtifactAutoOpen";
+import type { ArtifactViewMode } from "./ArtifactViewModeContext";
+import type { createChatStore } from "./createChatStore";
+import type { createDetailedViewStore } from "./createDetailedViewStore";
+import type { createThreadContextStore } from "./createThreadContextStore";
+import type { ArtifactEntry } from "./threadContextTypes";
+
+export function evaluateRegisteredArtifacts(
+  viewMode: ArtifactViewMode,
+  artifacts: Record<string, ArtifactEntry[]>,
+  isThreadRunning: boolean,
+  detailedViewStore: ReturnType<typeof createDetailedViewStore>,
+): void {
+  if (viewMode === "overview") return;
+  const mayOpen = shouldAutoOpen(viewMode, isThreadRunning);
+
+  for (const versions of Object.values(artifacts)) {
+    const latest = versions[versions.length - 1];
+    if (!latest) continue;
+    const dv = detailedViewStore.getState();
+    if (!dv._markAutoOpened(latest.id)) continue;
+    if (!mayOpen) continue;
+    if (dv.activeDetailedViewId !== null) continue;
+    dv.setActiveDetailedView(`${latest.id}:${latest.version}`);
+  }
+}
+
+export function useArtifactAutoOpenWatcher(
+  viewMode: ArtifactViewMode,
+  chatStore: ReturnType<typeof createChatStore>,
+  threadContextStore: ReturnType<typeof createThreadContextStore>,
+  detailedViewStore: ReturnType<typeof createDetailedViewStore>,
+): void {
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (viewMode === "overview") return;
+    return threadContextStore.subscribe(
+      (s) => s.artifacts,
+      (artifacts) => {
+        evaluateRegisteredArtifacts(
+          viewMode,
+          artifacts,
+          chatStore.getState().isRunning,
+          detailedViewStore,
+        );
+      },
+      { fireImmediately: true },
+    );
+  }, [viewMode, chatStore, threadContextStore, detailedViewStore]);
+}
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/store/createDetailedViewStore.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/store/createDetailedViewStore.ts
index e9f71c3a6..5067fca8f 100644
--- a/packages/react-headless/src/store/createDetailedViewStore.ts
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/store/createDetailedViewStore.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,15 @@ export const createDetailedViewStore = () => {
       },
 
       reset: () => {
-        set({ activeDetailedViewId: null });
+        set({ activeDetailedViewId: null, _autoOpenedArtifactKeys: new Set() });
+      },
+
+      _autoOpenedArtifactKeys: new Set<string>(),
+      _markAutoOpened: (key) => {
+        const keys = get()._autoOpenedArtifactKeys;
+        if (keys.has(key)) return false;
+        set({ _autoOpenedArtifactKeys: new Set(keys).add(key) });
+        return true;
       },
 
       _detailedViewPanelNode: null,
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/store/detailedViewTypes.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/store/detailedViewTypes.ts
index a8b0f52f8..9345f63d4 100644
--- a/packages/react-headless/src/store/detailedViewTypes.ts
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/store/detailedViewTypes.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ export type DetailedViewInternals = {
   _detailedViewPanelNode: HTMLElement | null;
   /** @internal */
   _setDetailedViewPanelNode: (node: HTMLElement | null) => void;
+  /** @internal */
+  _autoOpenedArtifactKeys: ReadonlySet<string>;
+  /** @internal */
+  _markAutoOpened: (key: string) => boolean;
 };
 
 /** Combined detailed-view store type (state + actions + internals). */
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/store/types.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/store/types.ts
index 4ddc3c870..2b9f83086 100644
--- a/packages/react-headless/src/store/types.ts
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/store/types.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import type { ArtifactCategory, ChatLLM, ChatStorage } from "../adapters/types";
 import type { Message, UserMessage } from "../types/message";
 import type { ArtifactRendererConfig } from "./artifactRendererTypes";
+import type { ArtifactViewMode } from "./ArtifactViewModeContext";
 
 export type { Message, UserMessage } from "../types/message";
 export type CreateMessage = Omit<UserMessage, "id">;
@@ -91,5 +92,6 @@ export interface ChatProviderProps {
    * artifact browser's pre-applied filters, and workspace section grouping.
    */
   artifactCategories?: ArtifactCategory[];
+  artifactViewMode?: ArtifactViewMode;
   children: React.ReactNode;
 }
diff --git a/packages/react-ui/src/components/AgentInterface/AgentInterface.tsx b/packages/react-ui/src/components/AgentInterface/AgentInterface.tsx
index 99dab597a..a1b258139 100644
--- a/packages/react-ui/src/components/AgentInterface/AgentInterface.tsx
+++ b/packages/react-ui/src/components/AgentInterface/AgentInterface.tsx
@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ export const AgentInterface: AgentInterfaceComponent = ((props: AgentInterfacePr
     llm,
     artifactRenderers,
     artifactCategories,
+    artifactViewMode,
     componentLibrary,
     components,
     theme,
@@ -240,6 +241,7 @@ export const AgentInterface: AgentInterfaceComponent = ((props: AgentInterfacePr
         llm={llm}
         artifactRenderers={artifactRenderers}
         artifactCategories={artifactCategories}
+        artifactViewMode={artifactViewMode}
       >
         <NavProvider path={path} defaultPath={defaultPath} onNavigate={onNavigate}>
           <StartersProvider starters={starters} starterVariant={starterVariant}>
diff --git a/packages/react-ui/src/components/OpenUIChat/withChatProvider.tsx b/packages/react-ui/src/components/OpenUIChat/withChatProvider.tsx
index ab216af63..b5e4d1481 100644
--- a/packages/react-ui/src/components/OpenUIChat/withChatProvider.tsx
+++ b/packages/react-ui/src/components/OpenUIChat/withChatProvider.tsx
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ export function withChatProvider<ExtraProps = {}>(WrappedComponent: React.Compon
       llm,
       artifactRenderers,
       artifactCategories,
+      artifactViewMode,
       theme,
       disableThemeProvider,
       ...innerProps
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ export function withChatProvider<ExtraProps = {}>(WrappedComponent: React.Compon
           llm={llm}
           artifactRenderers={artifactRenderers}
           artifactCategories={artifactCategories}
+          artifactViewMode={artifactViewMode}
         >
           <WrappedComponent {...finalInnerProps} />
         </ChatProvider>