diff --git a/app/androidApp/src/main/kotlin/com/example/aiapp/SessionScreen.kt b/app/androidApp/src/main/kotlin/com/example/aiapp/SessionScreen.kt
index 80fdfd1..4fdef21 100644
--- a/app/androidApp/src/main/kotlin/com/example/aiapp/SessionScreen.kt
+++ b/app/androidApp/src/main/kotlin/com/example/aiapp/SessionScreen.kt
@@ -323,6 +323,11 @@ fun SessionScreen(
     // reads as a rename that did not take.
     var title by remember(summary.id) { mutableStateOf(summary.title) }
     var model by remember { mutableStateOf(summary.model) }
+    // The thinking level, held here for the same reason [title] is: the settings dialog can change
+    // it, and the row this screen was opened from is a snapshot taken before that. Read straight
+    // from the summary, a level set here was drawn as the old one again the next time the dialog
+    // was opened, and only came back right after a return to the list refetched the row.
+    var effort by remember(summary.id) { mutableStateOf(summary.effort) }
     var permissionMode by remember { mutableStateOf(summary.permissionMode ?: "auto") }
     // The models this provider actually offers, asked of the server rather than listed here: a
     // hardcoded list is a claim about a machine.
@@ -2064,8 +2069,9 @@ fun SessionScreen(
             settings = settings,
             sessionId = summary.id,
             title = title,
-            effort = summary.effort.takeIf { summary.takesEffort },
+            effort = effort.takeIf { summary.takesEffort },
             takesEffort = summary.takesEffort,
+            onEffortChanged = { effort = it },
             cachedBytes = cachedBytes,
             // The purge finishes before the epoch moves, because the relaunched opening effect
             // reads the same directory and would otherwise draw what is about to be deleted. The
diff --git a/app/androidApp/src/main/kotlin/com/example/aiapp/SessionSettingsDialog.kt b/app/androidApp/src/main/kotlin/com/example/aiapp/SessionSettingsDialog.kt
index 0a68e41..ab50ca6 100644
--- a/app/androidApp/src/main/kotlin/com/example/aiapp/SessionSettingsDialog.kt
+++ b/app/androidApp/src/main/kotlin/com/example/aiapp/SessionSettingsDialog.kt
@@ -61,13 +61,17 @@ fun SessionSettingsDialog(
     title: String,
     onRenamed: (String) -> Unit,
     /**
-     * How hard the model thinks, as the session reports it, or null for the CLI's own default.
+     * How hard the model thinks, or null for the CLI's own default.
      *
-     * Taken from the row this dialog was opened over rather than fetched, because unlike the
-     * notification switch there is nothing else that changes it: the level is this app's to set and
-     * the server does not resolve it into something else.
+     * Owned by the screen behind this rather than held here, like [title]: this dialog is what
+     * changes it, and a level kept only for as long as the dialog is open is the old one again the
+     * next time it is opened.
+     *
+     * Not fetched, because unlike the notification switch there is nothing else that changes it:
+     * the level is this app's to set and the server does not resolve it into something else.
      */
     effort: String?,
+    onEffortChanged: (String?) -> Unit,
     /** Whether a level does anything here; the row is left out entirely where it does not. */
     takesEffort: Boolean,
     /**
@@ -85,7 +89,6 @@ fun SessionSettingsDialog(
 ) {
     val scope = rememberCoroutineScope()
     var name by remember(sessionId) { mutableStateOf(title) }
-    var level by remember(sessionId) { mutableStateOf(effort) }
     var effortError by remember { mutableStateOf<String?>(null) }
     var saving by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }
     var error by remember { mutableStateOf<String?>(null) }
@@ -165,14 +168,14 @@ fun SessionSettingsDialog(
      * control that stays where it was put after a refusal is stating something untrue.
      */
     fun setEffort(chosen: String?) {
-        val was = level
-        level = chosen
+        val was = effort
+        onEffortChanged(chosen)
         effortError = null
         scope.launch {
             try {
                 withContext(Dispatchers.IO) { setSessionEffort(settings, sessionId, chosen) }
             } catch (e: ApiException) {
-                level = was
+                onEffortChanged(was)
                 effortError = e.message
             }
         }
@@ -421,7 +424,7 @@ fun SessionSettingsDialog(
                     ) {
                         Text("Thinking", modifier = Modifier.weight(1f))
                         PickerButton(
-                            current = level ?: DEFAULT_EFFORT,
+                            current = effort ?: DEFAULT_EFFORT,
                             // The level the CLI picks for itself is in the list as well as in the
                             // button, so leaving a level is not a one-way trip -- the same
                             // correction the model picker carries.