diff --git a/apps/app/.ladle/config.mjs b/apps/app/.ladle/config.mjs
index 730d9b8564..8bb8be3792 100644
--- a/apps/app/.ladle/config.mjs
+++ b/apps/app/.ladle/config.mjs
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ export default {
   stories: [
     "src/**/*.stories.tsx",
     "../../plugins/provider-retry/**/*.stories.tsx",
+    "../../plugins/workflows/**/*.stories.tsx",
   ],
   defaultStory: "",
   viteConfig: "./.ladle/vite.config.ts",
diff --git a/plugins/workflows/panel.stories.tsx b/plugins/workflows/panel.stories.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..43453cc495
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/workflows/panel.stories.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+import { useEffect, useRef } from "react";
+import {
+  installTestPluginRuntime,
+  loadPluginApp,
+  renderSlot,
+} from "@get-bb/plugin-sdk/testing/app";
+import type { WorkflowRunView } from "./src/ui-contract.js";
+
+installTestPluginRuntime();
+const workflowAppModule = await import("./src/app.js");
+const { EmptyOrError, LoadingPreview, WorkflowRunPanelState } =
+  workflowAppModule;
+const workflowApp = await loadPluginApp(async () => workflowAppModule);
+const workflowPanel = workflowApp.threadPanelActions.find(
+  (registration) => registration.id === "workflow-run",
+)!;
+
+export default { title: "plugins/Workflows/Workflow panel" };
+
+const STATES = [
+  ["Loading", null],
+  ["Initial RPC error", "Could not load this workflow run."],
+  ["No run", "No workflow runs were found for this thread."],
+  ["Invalid parameters", "This workflow panel has invalid run parameters."],
+] as const;
+
+const LOADED_RUN: WorkflowRunView = {
+  id: "wfr_11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111",
+  name: "Review the release",
+  description: "Run independent checks before shipping.",
+  status: "succeeded",
+  currentPhase: null,
+  phases: [
+    {
+      title: "Review",
+      detail: "Challenge the combined result.",
+      calls: [
+        {
+          id: "wfc_1",
+          index: 0,
+          label: "Adversarial review",
+          phase: "Review",
+          status: "succeeded",
+          provider: "codex",
+          model: "gpt-5.6",
+          reasoningLevel: "high",
+          cached: false,
+          childThreadId: "thr_worker_1",
+          providerRetryAttempts: 0,
+          repairAttempts: 0,
+          error: null,
+          createdAt: 1_700_000_000_000,
+          startedAt: 1_700_000_001_000,
+          finishedAt: 1_700_000_011_000,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  ],
+  unphasedCalls: [],
+  resultAvailable: true,
+  error: null,
+  createdAt: 1_700_000_000_000,
+  startedAt: 1_700_000_001_000,
+  finishedAt: 1_700_000_012_000,
+};
+
+function LoadedPanel() {
+  const mountRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  useEffect(() => {
+    let cancelled = false;
+    let cleanup = () => undefined;
+    queueMicrotask(() => {
+      if (cancelled || mountRef.current === null) return;
+      const slot = renderSlot(
+        workflowPanel,
+        { threadId: "thr_origin", params: { runId: LOADED_RUN.id } },
+        { rpc: { workflowRunView: () => ({ run: LOADED_RUN }) } },
+      );
+      slot.container.classList.add("h-full");
+      mountRef.current.append(slot.container);
+      cleanup = () => {
+        slot.unmount();
+        slot.container.remove();
+      };
+    });
+    return () => {
+      cancelled = true;
+      cleanup();
+    };
+  }, []);
+  return (
+    <div
+      ref={mountRef}
+      className="h-72 w-full max-w-sm overflow-hidden border border-border-seam"
+    />
+  );
+}
+
+export function PanelStates() {
+  return (
+    <main className="mx-auto w-full max-w-5xl p-6">
+      <h1 className="text-sm font-semibold text-foreground">
+        Flush workflow panel states
+      </h1>
+      <p className="mt-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+        Early and loaded content should start 16px from both panel edges.
+      </p>
+      <div className="mt-4 grid gap-4 sm:grid-cols-2">
+        {STATES.map(([label, message]) => (
+          <section key={label}>
+            <h2 className="mb-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground">{label}</h2>
+            <div className="w-full max-w-sm overflow-hidden border border-border-seam bg-border">
+              <WorkflowRunPanelState>
+                {message === null ? (
+                  <LoadingPreview />
+                ) : (
+                  <EmptyOrError>{message}</EmptyOrError>
+                )}
+              </WorkflowRunPanelState>
+            </div>
+          </section>
+        ))}
+        <section className="sm:col-span-2">
+          <h2 className="mb-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground">Loaded</h2>
+          <LoadedPanel />
+        </section>
+      </div>
+    </main>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/plugins/workflows/src/app.test.tsx b/plugins/workflows/src/app.test.tsx
index 5b1e99c383..972b8befe1 100644
--- a/plugins/workflows/src/app.test.tsx
+++ b/plugins/workflows/src/app.test.tsx
@@ -710,6 +710,28 @@ describe("workflow thread panel", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    ["loading", () => new Promise<never>(() => undefined)],
+    ["an initial RPC error", () => Promise.reject(new Error("Unavailable"))],
+    ["no matching run", () => ({ run: null })],
+  ])("keeps local spacing while showing %s", async (_name, workflowRunView) => {
+    const slot = renderSlot(
+      app.threadPanelActions[0]!,
+      { threadId: "thr_origin", params: { runId: run.id } },
+      { rpc: { workflowRunView } },
+    );
+
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      const state =
+        slot.container.querySelector('[aria-busy="true"]') ??
+        slot.container.querySelector('[role="alert"]');
+      expect(state?.parentElement?.className).toContain("p-4");
+      expect(state?.className).not.toMatch(
+        /\b(?:bg-muted|border|p-3|px-3|rounded-lg|rounded-md)\b/,
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
   it("rejects restored panel params with unknown fields", async () => {
     const slot = renderSlot(
       app.threadPanelActions[0]!,
diff --git a/plugins/workflows/src/app.tsx b/plugins/workflows/src/app.tsx
index 3bb21a3e7b..ff69e46eb1 100644
--- a/plugins/workflows/src/app.tsx
+++ b/plugins/workflows/src/app.tsx
@@ -509,23 +509,17 @@ function useActiveWorkflowRuns(threadId: string): {
   return { state, setRuns };
 }
 
-function EmptyOrError({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
+export function EmptyOrError({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
   return (
-    <div
-      role="alert"
-      className="my-2 rounded-md border border-border bg-muted px-3 py-2 text-sm text-muted-foreground"
-    >
+    <div role="alert" className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
       {children}
     </div>
   );
 }
 
-function LoadingPreview() {
+export function LoadingPreview() {
   return (
-    <div
-      className="my-2 space-y-2 rounded-lg border border-border p-3"
-      aria-busy="true"
-    >
+    <div className="space-y-2" aria-busy="true">
       <Skeleton className="h-3.5 w-44 rounded-sm" />
       <Skeleton className="h-3 w-2/3 rounded-sm" />
       <Skeleton className="h-3 w-1/2 rounded-sm" />
@@ -533,6 +527,10 @@ function LoadingPreview() {
   );
 }
 
+export function WorkflowRunPanelState({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
+  return <div className="p-4">{children}</div>;
+}
+
 function RefreshWarning({ message }: { message: string }) {
   return (
     <div
@@ -863,11 +861,11 @@ function WorkflowRunPanel({ threadId, params }: PluginThreadPanelProps) {
   return (
     <div className="h-full min-h-0 flex-1 bg-border">
       {runId === undefined ? (
-        <div className="p-4">
+        <WorkflowRunPanelState>
           <EmptyOrError>
             This workflow panel has invalid run parameters.
           </EmptyOrError>
-        </div>
+        </WorkflowRunPanelState>
       ) : (
         <WorkflowRunPanelLoaded threadId={threadId} runId={runId} />
       )}
@@ -892,13 +890,27 @@ function WorkflowRunPanelLoaded({
     () => (run === null ? null : buildSharedWorkflowView(run)),
     [run],
   );
-  if (state.status === "loading") return <LoadingPreview />;
+  if (state.status === "loading") {
+    return (
+      <WorkflowRunPanelState>
+        <LoadingPreview />
+      </WorkflowRunPanelState>
+    );
+  }
   if (state.status === "error") {
-    return <EmptyOrError>{state.message}</EmptyOrError>;
+    return (
+      <WorkflowRunPanelState>
+        <EmptyOrError>{state.message}</EmptyOrError>
+      </WorkflowRunPanelState>
+    );
   }
   if (run === null || shared === null) {
     return (
-      <EmptyOrError>No workflow runs were found for this thread.</EmptyOrError>
+      <WorkflowRunPanelState>
+        <EmptyOrError>
+          No workflow runs were found for this thread.
+        </EmptyOrError>
+      </WorkflowRunPanelState>
     );
   }
   const pillState = runPillState(run.status);