diff --git a/jest.config.js b/jest.config.js
index 3502aa5d7..74eda6695 100644
--- a/jest.config.js
+++ b/jest.config.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ module.exports = {
       {
         tsconfig: {
           target: "ES2020",
-          lib: ["ES2020", "DOM"],
+          lib: ["ES2020", "DOM", "ES2022.Intl"],
           esModuleInterop: true,
           allowSyntheticDefaultImports: true,
         },
diff --git a/src/components/tools/StatusSetToolCall.tsx b/src/components/tools/StatusSetToolCall.tsx
index 803362a58..fc9942d46 100644
--- a/src/components/tools/StatusSetToolCall.tsx
+++ b/src/components/tools/StatusSetToolCall.tsx
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export const StatusSetToolCall: React.FC<StatusSetToolCallProps> = ({
           <Tooltip>status_set</Tooltip>
         </TooltipWrapper>
         <span className="text-muted-foreground italic">{args.message}</span>
-        {errorMessage && <span className="text-error-foreground text-sm">({errorMessage})</span>}
+        {errorMessage && <span className="text-error-foreground">({errorMessage})</span>}
         <StatusIndicator status={status}>{statusDisplay}</StatusIndicator>
       </ToolHeader>
     </ToolContainer>
diff --git a/src/services/tools/status_set.test.ts b/src/services/tools/status_set.test.ts
index 5625c7b13..36e6d7daf 100644
--- a/src/services/tools/status_set.test.ts
+++ b/src/services/tools/status_set.test.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,35 @@ describe("status_set tool validation", () => {
       }
     });
 
+    it("should accept emojis with variation selectors", async () => {
+      const tool = createStatusSetTool(mockConfig);
+
+      // Emojis with variation selectors (U+FE0F)
+      const emojis = ["✏️", "✅", "➡️", "☀️"];
+      for (const emoji of emojis) {
+        const result = (await tool.execute!({ emoji, message: "Test" }, mockToolCallOptions)) as {
+          success: boolean;
+          emoji: string;
+          message: string;
+        };
+        expect(result).toEqual({ success: true, emoji, message: "Test" });
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("should accept emojis with skin tone modifiers", async () => {
+      const tool = createStatusSetTool(mockConfig);
+
+      const emojis = ["👋🏻", "👋🏽", "👋🏿"];
+      for (const emoji of emojis) {
+        const result = (await tool.execute!({ emoji, message: "Test" }, mockToolCallOptions)) as {
+          success: boolean;
+          emoji: string;
+          message: string;
+        };
+        expect(result).toEqual({ success: true, emoji, message: "Test" });
+      }
+    });
+
     it("should reject multiple emojis", async () => {
       const tool = createStatusSetTool(mockConfig);
 
diff --git a/src/services/tools/status_set.ts b/src/services/tools/status_set.ts
index ee73d90d9..14a499402 100644
--- a/src/services/tools/status_set.ts
+++ b/src/services/tools/status_set.ts
@@ -18,23 +18,35 @@ export type StatusSetToolResult =
 
 /**
  * Validates that a string is a single emoji character
- * Uses Unicode property escapes to match emoji characters
+ * Uses Intl.Segmenter to count grapheme clusters (handles variation selectors, skin tones, etc.)
  */
 function isValidEmoji(str: string): boolean {
-  // Check if string contains exactly one character (handles multi-byte emojis)
-  const chars = [...str];
-  if (chars.length !== 1) {
+  if (!str) return false;
+
+  // Use Intl.Segmenter to count grapheme clusters (what users perceive as single characters)
+  // This properly handles emojis with variation selectors (like ✏️), skin tones, flags, etc.
+  const segmenter = new Intl.Segmenter("en", { granularity: "grapheme" });
+  const segments = [...segmenter.segment(str)];
+
+  // Must be exactly one grapheme cluster
+  if (segments.length !== 1) {
     return false;
   }
 
   // Check if it's an emoji using Unicode properties
-  const emojiRegex = /^[\p{Emoji_Presentation}\p{Extended_Pictographic}]$/u;
-  return emojiRegex.test(str);
+  const emojiRegex = /^[\p{Emoji_Presentation}\p{Extended_Pictographic}]/u;
+  return emojiRegex.test(segments[0].segment);
 }
 
 /**
  * Status set tool factory for AI assistant
  * Creates a tool that allows the AI to set status indicator showing current activity
+ *
+ * The status is displayed IMMEDIATELY when this tool is called, even before other
+ * tool calls complete. This prevents agents from prematurely declaring success
+ * (e.g., "PR checks passed") when operations are still pending. Agents should only
+ * set success status after confirming the outcome of long-running operations.
+ *
  * @param config Required configuration (not used for this tool, but required by interface)
  */
 export const createStatusSetTool: ToolFactory = () => {
diff --git a/src/utils/tools/toolDefinitions.ts b/src/utils/tools/toolDefinitions.ts
index 24304c2fa..58fb11f81 100644
--- a/src/utils/tools/toolDefinitions.ts
+++ b/src/utils/tools/toolDefinitions.ts
@@ -185,13 +185,10 @@ export const TOOL_DEFINITIONS = {
     description:
       "Set a status indicator to show what the agent is currently doing. " +
       "The emoji appears left of the streaming indicator, and the message shows on hover. " +
+      "The status is set IMMEDIATELY when this tool is called, even before other tool calls complete. " +
       "IMPORTANT: Always set a status at the start of each response and update it as your work progresses. " +
-      "Set a final status before finishing your response that reflects the outcome: " +
-      "'✅ PR checks pass and ready to merge' (success), " +
-      "'❌ CreateWorkspace Tests failed' (failure), " +
-      "'⚠️ Encountered serious issue with design' (warning/blocker). " +
-      "The status is cleared at the start of each new response, so you must set it again. " +
-      "Use this to communicate ongoing activities (e.g., '🔍 Analyzing code', '📝 Writing tests', '🔧 Refactoring logic').",
+      "The status is cleared when a new user message comes in, so you must set it again for each response. " +
+      "Use this to communicate ongoing activities and set a final status before completing that reflects the outcome.",
     schema: z
       .object({
         emoji: z.string().describe("A single emoji character representing the current activity"),
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index b887b01f6..33d44c08e 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "compilerOptions": {
     "target": "ES2020",
-    "lib": ["ES2023", "DOM"],
+    "lib": ["ES2023", "DOM", "ES2022.Intl"],
     "module": "ESNext",
     "moduleResolution": "node",
     "jsx": "react-jsx",