diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs
index 5f909ad211..a488c77ff5 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ const TITLE_SPINNER_FRAMES: [&str; 10] = ["⠋", "⠙", "⠹", "⠸", "⠼", "
 /// Smooth-mode streaming drains one line per tick, so this interval controls
 /// perceived typing speed for non-backlogged output.
 const COMMIT_ANIMATION_TICK: Duration = tui::TARGET_FRAME_INTERVAL;
-const TITLE_SPINNER_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_millis(32);
+const TITLE_SPINNER_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_millis(100);
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct AppExitInfo {
@@ -730,7 +730,10 @@ fn decorate_title_context(
     }
 
     let frame = TITLE_SPINNER_FRAMES[tick as usize % TITLE_SPINNER_FRAMES.len()];
-    Some(frame.to_string())
+    match context {
+        Some(context) => Some(format!("{frame} - {context}")),
+        None => Some(frame.to_string()),
+    }
 }
 
 fn compute_title_context(
@@ -3812,12 +3815,13 @@ mod tests {
     fn decorate_title_context_adds_spinner_while_running() {
         assert_eq!(
             decorate_title_context(Some("Working".to_string()), true, 0),
-            Some("⠋".to_string())
+            Some("⠋ - Working".to_string())
         );
         assert_eq!(
             decorate_title_context(Some("Working".to_string()), true, 9),
-            Some("⠏".to_string())
+            Some("⠏ - Working".to_string())
         );
+        assert_eq!(decorate_title_context(None, true, 0), Some("⠋".to_string()));
     }
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/app_event.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/app_event.rs
index eec14dd89e..c8f91b846b 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/app_event.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/app_event.rs
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ pub(crate) enum AppEvent {
     },
 
     InsertHistoryCell(Box<dyn HistoryCell>),
-    SetTitle(String),
+    SetTitle(Option<String>),
 
     /// Apply rollback semantics to local transcript cells.
     ///
diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget.rs
index ab0daff8eb..365c4318f3 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget.rs
@@ -3943,14 +3943,11 @@ impl ChatWidget {
                     .send(AppEvent::CodexOp(Op::SetThreadName { name }));
                 self.bottom_pane.drain_pending_submission_state();
             }
-            SlashCommand::Title if !trimmed.is_empty() => {
-                let Some(name) = codex_core::util::normalize_thread_name(trimmed) else {
-                    self.add_error_message("Title cannot be empty.".to_string());
-                    return;
-                };
-                let cell = Self::title_confirmation_cell(&name);
+            SlashCommand::Title => {
+                let title = codex_core::util::normalize_thread_name(trimmed);
+                let cell = Self::title_confirmation_cell(title.as_deref());
                 self.add_boxed_history(Box::new(cell));
-                self.set_title_override(name);
+                self.set_title_override(title);
                 self.request_redraw();
             }
             SlashCommand::Plan if !trimmed.is_empty() => {
@@ -4051,18 +4048,13 @@ impl ChatWidget {
         let tx = self.app_event_tx.clone();
         let view = CustomPromptView::new(
             "Set title".to_string(),
-            "Type a title and press Enter".to_string(),
+            "Type a title and press Enter. Leave blank to clear it.".to_string(),
             None,
             Box::new(move |name: String| {
-                let Some(name) = codex_core::util::normalize_thread_name(&name) else {
-                    tx.send(AppEvent::InsertHistoryCell(Box::new(
-                        history_cell::new_error_event("Title cannot be empty.".to_string()),
-                    )));
-                    return;
-                };
-                let cell = Self::title_confirmation_cell(&name);
+                let title = codex_core::util::normalize_thread_name(&name);
+                let cell = Self::title_confirmation_cell(title.as_deref());
                 tx.send(AppEvent::InsertHistoryCell(Box::new(cell)));
-                tx.send(AppEvent::SetTitle(name));
+                tx.send(AppEvent::SetTitle(title));
             }),
         );
 
@@ -7345,10 +7337,16 @@ impl ChatWidget {
         PlainHistoryCell::new(vec![line.into()])
     }
 
-    fn title_confirmation_cell(name: &str) -> PlainHistoryCell {
-        PlainHistoryCell::new(vec![
-            vec!["• ".into(), "Title set to ".into(), name.to_string().cyan()].into(),
-        ])
+    fn title_confirmation_cell(title: Option<&str>) -> PlainHistoryCell {
+        let line = match title {
+            Some(title) => vec![
+                "• ".into(),
+                "Title set to ".into(),
+                title.to_string().cyan(),
+            ],
+            None => vec!["• ".into(), "Title cleared".into()],
+        };
+        PlainHistoryCell::new(vec![line.into()])
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn add_mcp_output(&mut self) {
@@ -8033,8 +8031,8 @@ impl ChatWidget {
         self.title_override.clone()
     }
 
-    pub(crate) fn set_title_override(&mut self, title: String) {
-        self.title_override = Some(title);
+    pub(crate) fn set_title_override(&mut self, title: Option<String>) {
+        self.title_override = title;
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn is_task_running(&self) -> bool {
diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests.rs
index 8869077992..1f83e0c065 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests.rs
@@ -1772,6 +1772,24 @@ async fn title_command_sets_manual_title_without_renaming_thread() {
     }
 }
 
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn empty_title_command_clears_manual_title() {
+    let (mut chat, _rx, mut op_rx) = make_chatwidget_manual(None).await;
+    chat.set_title_override(Some("manual title".to_string()));
+
+    chat.dispatch_command_with_args(SlashCommand::Title, String::new(), Vec::new());
+
+    assert_eq!(chat.title_override(), None);
+    assert_eq!(chat.thread_name(), None);
+
+    while let Ok(op) = op_rx.try_recv() {
+        assert!(
+            !matches!(op, Op::SetThreadName { .. }),
+            "unexpected rename op: {op:?}"
+        );
+    }
+}
+
 // ChatWidget may emit other `Op`s (e.g. history/logging updates) on the same channel; this helper
 // filters until we see a submission op.
 fn next_submit_op(op_rx: &mut tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedReceiver<Op>) -> Op {
diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/tui.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/tui.rs
index 190c967a96..ba752be7c1 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/tui.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/tui.rs
@@ -61,6 +61,13 @@ pub(crate) const TARGET_FRAME_INTERVAL: Duration = frame_rate_limiter::MIN_FRAME
 pub type Terminal = CustomTerminal<CrosstermBackend<Stdout>>;
 const DEFAULT_TERMINAL_TITLE: &str = "Codex";
 
+fn has_spinner_prefix(context: &str) -> bool {
+    matches!(
+        context.chars().next(),
+        Some('⠋' | '⠙' | '⠹' | '⠸' | '⠼' | '⠴' | '⠦' | '⠧' | '⠇' | '⠏')
+    )
+}
+
 fn format_terminal_title(context: Option<&str>) -> String {
     let context = context
         .map(|text| {
@@ -73,6 +80,7 @@ fn format_terminal_title(context: Option<&str>) -> String {
         .filter(|text| !text.is_empty());
 
     match context {
+        Some(context) if has_spinner_prefix(&context) => format!("{DEFAULT_TERMINAL_TITLE} {context}"),
         Some(context) => format!("{DEFAULT_TERMINAL_TITLE} - {context}"),
         None => DEFAULT_TERMINAL_TITLE.to_string(),
     }
@@ -608,6 +616,15 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn terminal_title_places_spinner_after_codex() {
+        assert_eq!(format_terminal_title(Some("⠋")), "Codex ⠋");
+        assert_eq!(
+            format_terminal_title(Some("⠋ - fix title syncing")),
+            "Codex ⠋ - fix title syncing"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn terminal_title_strips_control_characters() {
         assert_eq!(