diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/ConnectionsExplainer.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/ConnectionsExplainer.tsx
index ace826319..e614e0001 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/ConnectionsExplainer.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/ConnectionsExplainer.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Component, Show, createSignal } from 'solid-js';
+import { Component, For, Show, createSignal } from 'solid-js';
 import { Cloud, Cpu, X } from 'lucide-solid';
 
 const DISMISS_KEY = 'pulse.infrastructure.explainer.dismissed.v1';
@@ -21,6 +21,19 @@ const persistDismissed = () => {
   }
 };
 
+const AGENT_CAPABILITIES = [
+  'Hardware telemetry',
+  'Assistant commands',
+  'Patrol remediation',
+];
+
+const AGENT_FACTS = [
+  'Single Go binary',
+  '~13 MB download',
+  'No runtime dependencies',
+  'Open source',
+];
+
 export const ConnectionsExplainer: Component = () => {
   const [dismissed, setDismissed] = createSignal(readDismissed());
 
@@ -33,61 +46,104 @@ export const ConnectionsExplainer: Component = () => {
     <Show when={!dismissed()}>
       <section
         aria-label="How to connect infrastructure"
-        class="relative rounded-md border border-border bg-surface-alt px-4 py-4"
+        class="relative overflow-hidden rounded-lg border border-border bg-surface"
       >
-      <button
-        type="button"
-        onClick={handleDismiss}
-        aria-label="Dismiss"
-        class="absolute right-2 top-2 inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-md p-1 text-muted transition-colors hover:bg-surface-hover hover:text-base-content"
-      >
-        <X class="h-4 w-4" aria-hidden="true" />
-      </button>
+        <button
+          type="button"
+          onClick={handleDismiss}
+          aria-label="Dismiss"
+          class="absolute right-2 top-2 z-10 inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-md p-1 text-muted transition-colors hover:bg-surface-hover hover:text-base-content"
+        >
+          <X class="h-4 w-4" aria-hidden="true" />
+        </button>
 
-      <div class="mb-3 pr-8">
-        <h3 class="text-sm font-semibold text-base-content">
-          Two ways to connect infrastructure
-        </h3>
-        <p class="text-xs text-muted">
-          Pick whichever fits the target. You can mix both on the same host.
-        </p>
-      </div>
+        <div class="border-b border-border px-5 py-3">
+          <h3 class="text-sm font-semibold text-base-content">
+            Two ways to connect infrastructure
+          </h3>
+          <p class="mt-0.5 text-xs text-muted">
+            Pick whichever fits the target. You can mix both on the same host.
+          </p>
+        </div>
 
-      <div class="grid grid-cols-1 gap-4 md:grid-cols-2">
-        <div class="flex gap-3">
-          <div
-            aria-hidden="true"
-            class="mt-0.5 flex h-8 w-8 flex-none items-center justify-center rounded-md border border-border bg-surface text-muted"
-          >
-            <Cloud class="h-4 w-4" />
-          </div>
-          <div class="min-w-0 space-y-1">
-            <div class="text-sm font-medium text-base-content">Platform API</div>
-            <p class="text-xs text-muted">
+        <div class="grid grid-cols-1 divide-border md:grid-cols-2 md:divide-x">
+          <div class="p-5">
+            <div class="flex items-start gap-3">
+              <div
+                aria-hidden="true"
+                class="flex h-9 w-9 flex-none items-center justify-center rounded-lg border border-border bg-surface-alt text-base-content"
+              >
+                <Cloud class="h-4 w-4" />
+              </div>
+              <div class="min-w-0">
+                <div class="text-sm font-semibold text-base-content">Platform API</div>
+                <div class="text-xs text-muted">Polled from the platform</div>
+              </div>
+            </div>
+            <p class="mt-3 text-xs leading-relaxed text-muted">
               Pulse polls the platform's own API (Proxmox VE / PBS / PMG, VMware,
               TrueNAS). Fastest to set up; coverage matches what the platform exposes.
             </p>
           </div>
-        </div>
 
-        <div class="flex gap-3">
-          <div
-            aria-hidden="true"
-            class="mt-0.5 flex h-8 w-8 flex-none items-center justify-center rounded-md border border-border bg-surface text-muted"
-          >
-            <Cpu class="h-4 w-4" />
-          </div>
-          <div class="min-w-0 space-y-1">
-            <div class="text-sm font-medium text-base-content">Pulse Unified Agent</div>
-            <p class="text-xs text-muted">
+          <div class="relative bg-blue-50/40 p-5 dark:bg-blue-950/20">
+            <div
+              aria-hidden="true"
+              class="absolute inset-y-0 left-0 w-0.5 bg-blue-500 md:hidden"
+            />
+            <div class="flex items-start gap-3">
+              <div
+                aria-hidden="true"
+                class="flex h-9 w-9 flex-none items-center justify-center rounded-lg border border-blue-200 bg-blue-100 text-blue-700 dark:border-blue-900 dark:bg-blue-900/40 dark:text-blue-300"
+              >
+                <Cpu class="h-4 w-4" />
+              </div>
+              <div class="min-w-0">
+                <div class="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-2">
+                  <span class="text-sm font-semibold text-base-content">
+                    Pulse Unified Agent
+                  </span>
+                  <span class="inline-flex items-center rounded-full border border-blue-200 bg-blue-100 px-2 py-0.5 text-[10px] font-medium uppercase tracking-wide text-blue-700 dark:border-blue-900 dark:bg-blue-900/40 dark:text-blue-300">
+                    Recommended
+                  </span>
+                </div>
+                <div class="text-xs text-muted">Runs on the host</div>
+              </div>
+            </div>
+
+            <p class="mt-3 text-xs leading-relaxed text-muted">
               Installs on the host itself. Use when there's no API (bare-metal Linux,
               Unraid), when you want data the API can't surface (CPU/disk temps, SMART,
               power, Ceph/RAID), or to let Assistant and Patrol run commands and fixes
               on the host.
             </p>
+
+            <div class="mt-3 flex flex-wrap gap-1.5">
+              <For each={AGENT_CAPABILITIES}>
+                {(label) => (
+                  <span class="inline-flex items-center rounded-full border border-border bg-surface px-2 py-0.5 text-[11px] font-medium text-base-content">
+                    {label}
+                  </span>
+                )}
+              </For>
+            </div>
+
+            <ul class="mt-3 flex flex-wrap gap-x-3 gap-y-1 text-[11px] text-muted">
+              <For each={AGENT_FACTS}>
+                {(fact, index) => (
+                  <li class="flex items-center gap-1.5">
+                    <Show when={index() > 0}>
+                      <span aria-hidden="true" class="text-border">
+                        ·
+                      </span>
+                    </Show>
+                    {fact}
+                  </li>
+                )}
+              </For>
+            </ul>
           </div>
         </div>
-      </div>
       </section>
     </Show>
   );
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/__tests__/ConnectionsExplainer.test.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/__tests__/ConnectionsExplainer.test.tsx
index 5ec4af30c..027bd63c5 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/__tests__/ConnectionsExplainer.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/__tests__/ConnectionsExplainer.test.tsx
@@ -21,6 +21,17 @@ describe('ConnectionsExplainer', () => {
     expect(screen.getByText('Pulse Unified Agent')).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
+  it('surfaces concrete agent capabilities and trust facts users care about', () => {
+    render(() => <ConnectionsExplainer />);
+
+    for (const capability of ['Hardware telemetry', 'Assistant commands', 'Patrol remediation']) {
+      expect(screen.getByText(capability)).toBeInTheDocument();
+    }
+    for (const fact of ['Single Go binary', '~13 MB download', 'No runtime dependencies', 'Open source']) {
+      expect(screen.getByText(fact)).toBeInTheDocument();
+    }
+  });
+
   it('hides itself and persists dismissal to localStorage when closed', () => {
     const { container } = render(() => <ConnectionsExplainer />);