animation

frontend/src/app/dashboard/page.tsx

@@ -1413,6 +1413,7 @@ export default function DashboardPage() {
                 secondary={`${formatCount(agents.length)} total`}
                 icon={<Bot className="h-4 w-4" />}
                 tone="accent"
+                isLoading={!metrics && metricsQuery.isLoading}
               />
               <DashboardMetricCard
                 title="Tasks In Progress"
@@ -1420,6 +1421,7 @@ export default function DashboardPage() {
                 secondary={`${formatCount(tasksTotal)} total`}
                 icon={<LayoutGrid className="h-4 w-4" />}
                 tone="success"
+                isLoading={!metrics && metricsQuery.isLoading}
               />
               <DashboardMetricCard
                 title="Error Rate"
@@ -1427,6 +1429,7 @@ export default function DashboardPage() {
                 secondary={`${formatCount(Number(latestThroughputPoint?.value ?? 0))} completed (latest)`}
                 icon={<Activity className="h-4 w-4" />}
                 tone="warning"
+                isLoading={!metrics && metricsQuery.isLoading}
               />
               <DashboardMetricCard
                 title="Completion Speed"
@@ -1435,6 +1438,7 @@ export default function DashboardPage() {
                 infoText={`Based on ${DASHBOARD_RANGE_LABEL}`}
                 icon={<Timer className="h-4 w-4" />}
                 tone="success"
+                isLoading={!metrics && metricsQuery.isLoading}
               />
             </div>
 
@@ -1491,12 +1495,14 @@ export default function DashboardPage() {
                 title="Workload"
                 rows={workloadRows}
                 tone="accent"
+                isLoading={!metrics && metricsQuery.isLoading}
               />
               <DashboardInfoBlock
                 title="Throughput"
                 infoText={`All throughput values are calculated for ${DASHBOARD_RANGE_LABEL}`}
                 rows={throughputRows}
                 tone="success"
+                isLoading={!metrics && metricsQuery.isLoading}
               />
               <DashboardInfoBlock
                 title="Gateway Health"
@@ -1509,6 +1515,7 @@ export default function DashboardPage() {
                       ? "danger"
                       : "warning"
                 }
+                isLoading={!metrics && metricsQuery.isLoading}
               />
             </div>
 
@@ -1552,6 +1559,7 @@ export default function DashboardPage() {
               <RecentActivitySection
                 events={recentLogs}
                 feedHref={activityFeedHref}
+                isLoading={activityQuery.isLoading}
                 onRowClick={handleLogRowClick}
                 onRowKeyDown={handleLogRowKeyDown}
                 buildHref={buildActivityEventHref}

frontend/src/components/dashboard/DashboardInfoBlock.tsx

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ interface DashboardInfoBlockProps {
   badge?: { text: string; tone: BadgeTone };
   rows: InfoRow[];
   tone?: SectionToneKey;
+  isLoading?: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ export function DashboardInfoBlock({
   badge,
   rows,
   tone = "neutral",
+  isLoading = false,
 }: DashboardInfoBlockProps) {
   return (
     <DashboardSection
@@ -35,32 +37,51 @@ export function DashboardInfoBlock({
       tone={tone}
     >
       <div className="overflow-hidden rounded-lg border border-[color:var(--border)] bg-[color:var(--surface-muted)]">
-        {rows.map((row) => (
+        {isLoading
-          <div
+          ? [28, 20, 36, 24, 32].map((w, i) => (
-            key={`${row.label}-${row.value}`}
+              <div
-            className="flex items-start justify-between gap-3 border-b border-[color:var(--border)] px-3 py-2 last:border-b-0"
+                key={i}
-          >
+                className="flex items-center justify-between gap-3 border-b border-[color:var(--border)] px-3 py-2 last:border-b-0"
-            <span className="flex min-w-0 items-center gap-2 text-sm text-muted">
+              >
-              <span
+                <span className="flex items-center gap-2">
-                className={`h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full ${
+                  <span className="h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full bg-[color:var(--border-strong)] opacity-50" />
-                  row.tone === "success"
+                  <div
-                    ? "bg-[color:var(--success)]"
+                    className="h-3.5 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]"
-                    : row.tone === "warning"
+                    style={{ width: `${w * 4}px` }}
-                      ? "bg-[color:var(--warning)]"
+                  />
-                      : row.tone === "danger"
+                </span>
-                        ? "bg-[color:var(--danger)]"
+                <div
-                        : "bg-[color:var(--border-strong)]"
+                  className="h-3.5 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-70"
-                }`}
+                  style={{ width: `${(5 - i % 3) * 12}px` }}
-              />
+                />
-              {row.label}
+              </div>
-            </span>
+            ))
-            <span
+          : rows.map((row) => (
-              className={`max-w-[65%] break-words text-right text-sm font-medium leading-5 ${toneText[row.tone ?? "default"]}`}
+              <div
-            >
+                key={`${row.label}-${row.value}`}
-              {row.value}
+                className="flex items-start justify-between gap-3 border-b border-[color:var(--border)] px-3 py-2 last:border-b-0"
-            </span>
+              >
-          </div>
+                <span className="flex min-w-0 items-center gap-2 text-sm text-muted">
-        ))}
+                  <span
+                    className={`h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full ${
+                      row.tone === "success"
+                        ? "bg-[color:var(--success)]"
+                        : row.tone === "warning"
+                          ? "bg-[color:var(--warning)]"
+                          : row.tone === "danger"
+                            ? "bg-[color:var(--danger)]"
+                            : "bg-[color:var(--border-strong)]"
+                    }`}
+                  />
+                  {row.label}
+                </span>
+                <span
+                  className={`max-w-[65%] break-words text-right text-sm font-medium leading-5 ${toneText[row.tone ?? "default"]}`}
+                >
+                  {row.value}
+                </span>
+              </div>
+            ))}
       </div>
     </DashboardSection>
   );

frontend/src/components/dashboard/DashboardMetricCard.tsx

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ interface DashboardMetricCardProps {
   infoText?: string;
   icon: ReactNode;
   tone: MetricToneKey;
+  isLoading?: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ export function DashboardMetricCard({
   infoText,
   icon,
   tone,
+  isLoading = false,
 }: DashboardMetricCardProps) {
   return (
     <section
@@ -47,12 +49,18 @@ export function DashboardMetricCard({
             )}
           </div>
           <div className="mt-2 flex items-end gap-2">
-            <p className="font-heading text-4xl font-bold text-strong">
+            {isLoading ? (
-              {value}
+              <div className="h-10 w-20 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
-            </p>
+            ) : (
-            {secondary && (
+              <p className="font-heading text-4xl font-bold text-strong">
-              <p className="pb-1 text-xs text-muted">{secondary}</p>
+                {value}
+              </p>
             )}
+            {isLoading ? (
+              <div className="mb-1 h-3 w-16 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+            ) : secondary ? (
+              <p className="pb-1 text-xs text-muted">{secondary}</p>
+            ) : null}
           </div>
         </div>
         <div className={`rounded-lg p-2 ${toneIcon[tone]}`}>{icon}</div>

frontend/src/components/dashboard/GatewayCronPanel.tsx

@@ -56,7 +56,27 @@ export function GatewayCronPanel({
       action={jobs.length > 0 ? { label: `${jobs.length}`, href: "#" } : undefined}
     >
       {isLoading && !cron ? (
-        <DashboardEmptyState message="Loading cron data…" />
+        <div className="space-y-1.5">
+          {[0, 1].map((i) => (
+            <div
+              key={i}
+              className="flex min-w-0 items-start gap-2 rounded-lg border border-[color:var(--border)] bg-[color:var(--surface-muted)] px-3 py-2"
+            >
+              <div className="mt-0.5 h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0 animate-pulse rounded-full bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+              <div className="min-w-0 flex-1 space-y-1.5">
+                <div className="flex items-baseline gap-2">
+                  <div className="h-3.5 w-32 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+                  <div className="h-3 w-20 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+                </div>
+                <div className="flex gap-3">
+                  <div className="h-3 w-16 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-50" />
+                  <div className="h-3 w-16 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-50" />
+                </div>
+              </div>
+              <div className="h-3 w-8 shrink-0 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+            </div>
+          ))}
+        </div>
       ) : jobs.length === 0 ? (
         <DashboardEmptyState message="No cron jobs found on this gateway." />
       ) : (

frontend/src/components/dashboard/GatewayHealthPanel.tsx

@@ -63,7 +63,23 @@ export function GatewayHealthPanel({
   return (
     <DashboardSection title="Gateway Health">
       {isLoading && !health ? (
-        <DashboardEmptyState message="Loading health data…" />
+        <div className="space-y-3">
+          {["CPU", "Memory", "Disk"].map((label) => (
+            <div key={label}>
+              <div className="mb-1.5 h-3 w-12 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+              <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+                <div className="h-1.5 flex-1 overflow-hidden rounded-full bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]">
+                  <div className="h-full w-1/3 animate-pulse rounded-full bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+                </div>
+                <div className="h-3 w-10 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          ))}
+          <div className="flex gap-4 border-t border-[color:var(--border)] pt-3">
+            <div className="h-3 w-20 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+            <div className="h-3 w-24 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+          </div>
+        </div>
       ) : !health || (!c?.cpu_pct && !c?.memory_pct && !c?.uptime_seconds) ? (
         <DashboardEmptyState message="Health data unavailable. The gateway may not expose system metrics." />
       ) : (

frontend/src/components/dashboard/PendingApprovalsSection.tsx

@@ -35,7 +35,23 @@ export function PendingApprovalsSection({
       tone={items.length > 0 ? "warning" : "success"}
     >
       {isLoading ? (
-        <DashboardEmptyState message="Loading pending approvals..." />
+        <div className="overflow-hidden rounded-lg border border-[color:rgba(251,191,36,0.24)] bg-[color:var(--surface-muted)]">
+          {[0, 1, 2].map((i) => (
+            <div
+              key={i}
+              className="flex items-center justify-between gap-3 border-b border-[color:var(--border)] px-3 py-2 last:border-b-0"
+            >
+              <span className="min-w-0 flex-1">
+                <span className="mb-1 flex items-center gap-2">
+                  <span className="h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full bg-[color:var(--warning)] opacity-40" />
+                  <span className="h-3.5 w-40 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+                </span>
+                <span className="h-3 w-28 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+              </span>
+              <span className="h-3 w-10 shrink-0 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+            </div>
+          ))}
+        </div>
       ) : hasError ? (
         <DashboardEmptyState
           tone="warning"

frontend/src/components/dashboard/RecentActivitySection.tsx

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ export type ActivityEvent = ActivityEventRead;
 interface RecentActivitySectionProps {
   events: ActivityEvent[];
   feedHref: string;
+  isLoading?: boolean;
   onRowClick: (e: MouseEvent<HTMLDivElement>, href: string) => void;
   onRowKeyDown: (e: KeyboardEvent<HTMLDivElement>, href: string) => void;
   buildHref: (event: ActivityEvent) => string;
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ const eventTone = (eventType: string) => {
 export function RecentActivitySection({
   events,
   feedHref,
+  isLoading = false,
   onRowClick,
   onRowKeyDown,
   buildHref,
@@ -64,7 +66,33 @@ export function RecentActivitySection({
       tone="accent"
     >
       <div className="max-h-[310px] space-y-2 overflow-x-hidden overflow-y-auto pr-1">
-        {events.length > 0 ? (
+        {isLoading && events.length === 0 ? (
+          <>
+            {[60, 80, 48, 72].map((titleW, i) => (
+              <div
+                key={i}
+                className="overflow-hidden rounded-lg border border-l-4 border-[color:var(--border)] border-l-[color:var(--accent)] bg-[color:var(--surface-muted)] px-3 py-2"
+              >
+                <div className="flex items-start justify-between gap-3">
+                  <div className="min-w-0 flex-1 space-y-1.5">
+                    <div
+                      className="h-3.5 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]"
+                      style={{ width: `${titleW}%` }}
+                    />
+                    <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+                      <span className="h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full bg-[color:var(--accent)] opacity-40" />
+                      <div className="h-3 w-24 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+                    </div>
+                  </div>
+                  <div className="shrink-0 space-y-1 text-right">
+                    <div className="ml-auto h-3 w-10 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+                    <div className="ml-auto h-3 w-16 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-40" />
+                  </div>
+                </div>
+              </div>
+            ))}
+          </>
+        ) : events.length > 0 ? (
           events.map((event) => {
             const href = buildHref(event);
             const tone = eventTone(event.event_type);

frontend/src/components/dashboard/RuntimeUsageSection.tsx

@@ -413,7 +413,50 @@ export function RuntimeUsageSection({
   return (
     <DashboardSection title="Runtime Usage">
       {isLoading && !usage ? (
-        <DashboardEmptyState message="Loading usage data…" />
+        <div className="space-y-3">
+          {/* Provider windows skeleton */}
+          <div className="space-y-2 rounded-lg border border-[color:var(--border)] bg-[color:var(--surface-muted)] p-3">
+            <div className="h-3 w-40 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+            <div className="space-y-2">
+              {[0, 1].map((i) => (
+                <div
+                  key={i}
+                  className="rounded-md border border-[color:var(--border)] bg-[color:var(--surface)] p-2"
+                >
+                  <div className="mb-1 flex items-center justify-between gap-2">
+                    <div className="h-3.5 w-32 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+                    <div className="h-3 w-14 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+                  </div>
+                  <div className="h-2 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-full bg-[color:var(--surface-muted)]">
+                    <div
+                      className="h-full animate-pulse rounded-full bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]"
+                      style={{ width: `${45 + i * 20}%` }}
+                    />
+                  </div>
+                  <div className="mt-1 h-3 w-48 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-50" />
+                </div>
+              ))}
+            </div>
+          </div>
+          {/* Stat cards skeleton */}
+          <div className="grid grid-cols-2 gap-2 sm:grid-cols-4">
+            {[
+              { w: "w-16" },
+              { w: "w-14" },
+              { w: "w-20" },
+              { w: "w-12" },
+            ].map(({ w }, i) => (
+              <div
+                key={i}
+                className="flex flex-col gap-1 rounded-lg border border-[color:var(--border)] bg-[color:var(--surface-muted)] p-3"
+              >
+                <div className="h-3 w-20 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+                <div className={`h-6 ${w} animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]`} />
+                <div className="h-3 w-16 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-50" />
+              </div>
+            ))}
+          </div>
+        </div>
       ) : noData ? (
         <DashboardEmptyState message="No usage data yet. Usage appears after the first model call." />
       ) : hasRuntimeData || providerRows.length > 0 || perGatewayUsage.length > 0 ? (

frontend/src/components/dashboard/SessionsSection.tsx

@@ -47,7 +47,28 @@ export function SessionsSection({
         {!hasConfiguredGateways ? (
           <DashboardEmptyState message="No gateways are configured for any board yet." />
         ) : isLoading ? (
-          <DashboardEmptyState message="Loading sessions..." />
+          <div className="space-y-2">
+            {[0, 1].map((i) => (
+              <div
+                key={i}
+                className="overflow-hidden rounded-lg border border-l-4 border-[color:rgba(52,211,153,0.28)] border-l-[color:var(--success)] bg-[color:var(--surface-muted)] px-3 py-2"
+              >
+                <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-3">
+                  <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
+                    <div className="mb-1 flex items-center gap-2">
+                      <span className="h-2 w-2 rounded-full bg-[color:var(--success)] opacity-40" />
+                      <div className="h-3.5 w-36 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+                    </div>
+                    <div className="h-3 w-28 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+                  </div>
+                  <div className="min-w-0 max-w-[45%] space-y-1 text-right">
+                    <div className="ml-auto h-3.5 w-16 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)]" />
+                    <div className="ml-auto h-3 w-24 animate-pulse rounded bg-[color:var(--surface-strong)] opacity-60" />
+                  </div>
+                </div>
+              </div>
+            ))}
+          </div>
         ) : sessions.length > 0 ? (
           <>
             {gatewayUnavailableCount > 0 && (