diff --git a/pkg/agent/loop.go b/pkg/agent/loop.go
index 89e92aa14..ac230aa86 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/loop.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/loop.go
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ type processOptions struct {
 	DefaultResponse         string              // Response when LLM returns empty
 	EnableSummary           bool                // Whether to trigger summarization
 	SendResponse            bool                // Whether to send response via bus
+	AllowInterimPicoPublish bool                // Whether pico tool-call interim text can be published when SendResponse is false
 	SuppressToolFeedback    bool                // Whether to suppress inline tool feedback messages
 	NoHistory               bool                // If true, don't load session history (for heartbeat)
 	SkipInitialSteeringPoll bool                // If true, skip the steering poll at loop start (used by Continue)
@@ -1398,18 +1399,19 @@ func (al *AgentLoop) processMessage(ctx context.Context, msg bus.InboundMessage)
 		})
 
 	opts := processOptions{
-		SessionKey:        sessionKey,
-		Channel:           msg.Channel,
-		ChatID:            msg.ChatID,
-		MessageID:         msg.MessageID,
-		ReplyToMessageID:  inboundMetadata(msg, metadataKeyReplyToMessage),
-		SenderID:          msg.SenderID,
-		SenderDisplayName: msg.Sender.DisplayName,
-		UserMessage:       msg.Content,
-		Media:             msg.Media,
-		DefaultResponse:   defaultResponse,
-		EnableSummary:     true,
-		SendResponse:      false,
+		SessionKey:              sessionKey,
+		Channel:                 msg.Channel,
+		ChatID:                  msg.ChatID,
+		MessageID:               msg.MessageID,
+		ReplyToMessageID:        inboundMetadata(msg, metadataKeyReplyToMessage),
+		SenderID:                msg.SenderID,
+		SenderDisplayName:       msg.Sender.DisplayName,
+		UserMessage:             msg.Content,
+		Media:                   msg.Media,
+		DefaultResponse:         defaultResponse,
+		EnableSummary:           true,
+		SendResponse:            false,
+		AllowInterimPicoPublish: true,
 	}
 
 	// context-dependent commands check their own Runtime fields and report
@@ -2253,7 +2255,7 @@ turnLoop:
 		}
 		logger.DebugCF("agent", "LLM response", llmResponseFields)
 
-		if al.bus != nil && ts.channel == "pico" && len(response.ToolCalls) > 0 {
+		if al.bus != nil && ts.channel == "pico" && len(response.ToolCalls) > 0 && ts.opts.AllowInterimPicoPublish {
 			if strings.TrimSpace(response.Content) != "" {
 				outCtx, outCancel := context.WithTimeout(turnCtx, 3*time.Second)
 				err := al.bus.PublishOutbound(outCtx, bus.OutboundMessage{
diff --git a/pkg/agent/loop_test.go b/pkg/agent/loop_test.go
index 371f91d89..a67c8d040 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/loop_test.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/loop_test.go
@@ -2844,6 +2844,55 @@ func TestRun_PicoPublishesAssistantContentDuringToolCallsWithoutFinalDuplicate(t
 	}
 }
 
+func TestRunAgentLoop_PicoSkipsInterimPublishWhenNotAllowed(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	cfg := &config.Config{
+		Agents: config.AgentsConfig{
+			Defaults: config.AgentDefaults{
+				Workspace:         tmpDir,
+				ModelName:         "test-model",
+				MaxTokens:         4096,
+				MaxToolIterations: 10,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	msgBus := bus.NewMessageBus()
+	provider := &picoInterleavedContentProvider{}
+	al := NewAgentLoop(cfg, msgBus, provider)
+
+	agent := al.GetRegistry().GetDefaultAgent()
+	if agent == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected default agent")
+	}
+	agent.Tools.Register(&toolLimitTestTool{})
+
+	response, err := al.runAgentLoop(context.Background(), agent, processOptions{
+		SessionKey:              "agent:main:pico:session-1",
+		Channel:                 "pico",
+		ChatID:                  "session-1",
+		UserMessage:             "run with tools",
+		DefaultResponse:         defaultResponse,
+		EnableSummary:           false,
+		SendResponse:            false,
+		AllowInterimPicoPublish: false,
+		SuppressToolFeedback:    true,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("runAgentLoop() error = %v", err)
+	}
+	if response != "final model text" {
+		t.Fatalf("runAgentLoop() response = %q, want %q", response, "final model text")
+	}
+
+	select {
+	case outbound := <-msgBus.OutboundChan():
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected outbound message when interim publish disabled: %+v", outbound)
+	case <-time.After(200 * time.Millisecond):
+	}
+}
+
 func TestResolveMediaRefs_ResolvesToBase64(t *testing.T) {
 	store := media.NewFileMediaStore()
 	dir := t.TempDir()