diff --git a/src/auto-reply/status.test.ts b/src/auto-reply/status.test.ts
index 78d2ba29b..0f58159ff 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/status.test.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/status.test.ts
@@ -90,6 +90,28 @@ describe("buildStatusMessage", () => {
     expect(normalized).toContain("Queue: collect");
   });
 
+  it("falls back to sessionEntry levels when resolved levels are not passed", () => {
+    const text = buildStatusMessage({
+      agent: {
+        model: "anthropic/pi:opus",
+      },
+      sessionEntry: {
+        sessionId: "abc",
+        updatedAt: 0,
+        thinkingLevel: "high",
+        verboseLevel: "full",
+        reasoningLevel: "on",
+      },
+      sessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+      queue: { mode: "collect", depth: 0 },
+    });
+    const normalized = normalizeTestText(text);
+
+    expect(normalized).toContain("Think: high");
+    expect(normalized).toContain("verbose:full");
+    expect(normalized).toContain("Reasoning: on");
+  });
+
   it("notes channel model overrides in status output", () => {
     const text = buildStatusMessage({
       config: {
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/status.ts b/src/auto-reply/status.ts
index 46c67fa63..a08931b1c 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/status.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/status.ts
@@ -506,9 +506,11 @@ export function buildStatusMessage(args: StatusArgs): string {
     }
   }
 
-  const thinkLevel = args.resolvedThink ?? args.agent?.thinkingDefault ?? "off";
-  const verboseLevel = args.resolvedVerbose ?? args.agent?.verboseDefault ?? "off";
-  const reasoningLevel = args.resolvedReasoning ?? "off";
+  const thinkLevel =
+    args.resolvedThink ?? args.sessionEntry?.thinkingLevel ?? args.agent?.thinkingDefault ?? "off";
+  const verboseLevel =
+    args.resolvedVerbose ?? args.sessionEntry?.verboseLevel ?? args.agent?.verboseDefault ?? "off";
+  const reasoningLevel = args.resolvedReasoning ?? args.sessionEntry?.reasoningLevel ?? "off";
   const elevatedLevel =
     args.resolvedElevated ??
     args.sessionEntry?.elevatedLevel ??