diff --git a/src/pages/AdminPage.jsx b/src/pages/AdminPage.jsx
index c3e5c1a..babe249 100644
--- a/src/pages/AdminPage.jsx
+++ b/src/pages/AdminPage.jsx
@@ -61,6 +61,12 @@ export function AdminPage() {
   // sent something while you were looking at a different screen. A failed poll
   // is swallowed: a transient network blip must not replace the panel with an
   // error, and the next tick retries.
+  //
+  // Expect a steady zero on a deployment running UPLOAD_AUTORUN=true: uploads
+  // go straight into the pipeline and never wait for review, so there is
+  // nothing to be notified about. The badge renders only above zero, so that
+  // reads as "nothing to do" rather than as a broken counter, and the poll
+  // stays because the setting can be turned off without a redeploy.
   useEffect(() => {
     let alive = true;
     const check = async () => {
diff --git a/src/pages/OrchestrationPanel.jsx b/src/pages/OrchestrationPanel.jsx
index 9417600..5c04ea1 100644
--- a/src/pages/OrchestrationPanel.jsx
+++ b/src/pages/OrchestrationPanel.jsx
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ function fmtSecs(from, to) {
 
 export function OrchestrationPanel() {
   const [inbox, setInbox] = useState(null);
+  const [recent, setRecent] = useState([]);
   const [selected, setSelected] = useState(() => new Set());
   const [batch, setBatch] = useState(null);
   const [busy, setBusy] = useState('');
@@ -104,9 +105,34 @@ export function OrchestrationPanel() {
     }
   };
 
+  // Runs that started without anyone here pressing anything.
+  //
+  // UPLOAD_AUTORUN sends a colleague's upload straight into the pipeline, so
+  // the inbox it used to wait in is empty and the run has an id this screen was
+  // never told. Without this list an auto-started batch is invisible: its
+  // eleven stages are recorded and served, and nothing renders them. Slim
+  // responses, so twenty of these do not carry twenty product manifests.
+  const loadRecent = async () => {
+    try {
+      const { batches } = await api.listCatalogBatches(20);
+      setRecent(batches || []);
+    } catch {
+      /* the inbox call surfaces auth/network trouble; one banner is enough */
+    }
+  };
+
+  const watch = (run) => {
+    setBatch(run);
+    batchIdRef.current = TERMINAL.has(run.status) ? null : run.batch_id;
+  };
+
   useEffect(() => {
     loadInbox();
-    const timer = setInterval(loadInbox, INBOX_POLL_MS);
+    loadRecent();
+    const timer = setInterval(() => {
+      loadInbox();
+      loadRecent();
+    }, INBOX_POLL_MS);
     return () => clearInterval(timer);
     // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
   }, []);
@@ -210,10 +236,12 @@ export function OrchestrationPanel() {
               <Workflow className="h-5 w-5 text-amber-500" /> Dagster Orchestration
             </h2>
             <p className="text-xs text-slate-500 leading-relaxed max-w-3xl">
-              Spreadsheets sent in by a colleague through the upload API. Tick the files you
-              want and press <strong>Start selected</strong> to send them through the 11-stage
-              pipeline as one batch, run by Dagster instead of this server&apos;s own worker.
-              Every stage each file passes through is recorded below and kept after the run
+              Spreadsheets sent in by a colleague through the upload API. Those uploads now
+              start on their own &mdash; pick one under <strong>Recent runs</strong> to follow
+              its stages. Anything still waiting for a decision appears below, where you can
+              tick files and press <strong>Start selected</strong> to send them through the
+              11-stage pipeline as one batch, run by Dagster instead of this server&apos;s own
+              worker. Every stage each file passes through is recorded and kept after the run
               finishes.
             </p>
           </div>
@@ -286,13 +314,71 @@ export function OrchestrationPanel() {
         )}
       </div>
 
+      {/* ---- runs that started without anyone pressing anything -------- */}
+      {recent.length > 0 && (
+        <div className="rounded-2xl border border-ink-900/10 bg-paper-50 p-5 shadow-xs">
+          <h3 className="font-display text-sm font-bold text-ink-950 mb-1">Recent runs</h3>
+          <p className="text-[11px] text-slate-500 mb-3">
+            Uploads start on arrival, so this is where a colleague&apos;s files show up.
+            Pick one to see its eleven stages.
+          </p>
+          <ul className="space-y-1.5">
+            {recent.map((run) => {
+              const Icon = FILE_ICON[run.status] || Clock;
+              const live = !TERMINAL.has(run.status);
+              return (
+                <li key={run.batch_id}>
+                  <button
+                    type="button"
+                    onClick={() => watch(run)}
+                    className={`w-full flex items-center gap-3 px-3 py-2 rounded-lg border text-left transition cursor-pointer hover:border-amber-500/40 ${
+                      batch?.batch_id === run.batch_id
+                        ? 'border-amber-500/40 bg-amber-500/5'
+                        : 'border-ink-900/10 bg-white'
+                    }`}
+                  >
+                    <Icon
+                      className={`h-4 w-4 shrink-0 ${live ? 'text-amber-600' : 'text-slate-400'} ${
+                        run.status === 'running' ? 'animate-spin' : ''
+                      }`}
+                    />
+                    <span className="font-mono text-[11px] text-slate-500 shrink-0">
+                      {run.batch_id.slice(0, 8)}
+                    </span>
+                    <span className="text-xs text-ink-950 truncate flex-1">
+                      {run.files_total} file(s)
+                      {run.submitted_by ? ` from ${run.submitted_by}` : ''}
+                    </span>
+                    <span
+                      className={`shrink-0 px-2 py-0.5 rounded-md border text-[10px] font-bold ${
+                        FILE_TONE[run.status] || FILE_TONE.queued
+                      }`}
+                    >
+                      {run.status}
+                    </span>
+                    <span className="shrink-0 text-[10px] text-slate-400 font-mono w-16 text-right">
+                      {ago(run.created_at)}
+                    </span>
+                  </button>
+                </li>
+              );
+            })}
+          </ul>
+        </div>
+      )}
+
       {/* ---- the drops waiting to be started --------------------------- */}
       {inbox && submissions.length === 0 && !batch && (
         <div className="rounded-2xl border border-ink-900/10 bg-paper-50 p-10 text-center">
           <Workflow className="h-8 w-8 text-slate-300 mx-auto mb-3" />
           <p className="text-xs text-slate-500">
-            Nothing waiting. Files sent to <code className="font-mono">/api/uploads/catalog</code>{' '}
-            appear here to be orchestrated.
+            Nothing waiting for review &mdash; files sent to{' '}
+            <code className="font-mono">/api/uploads/catalog</code> start on their own and
+            appear under Recent runs.
+          </p>
+          <p className="text-[11px] text-slate-400 mt-2">
+            Set <code className="font-mono">UPLOAD_AUTORUN=false</code> to hold them here for
+            a decision instead.
           </p>
         </div>
       )}