diff --git a/frontend/src/components/SessionActivityIndicator.jsx b/frontend/src/components/SessionActivityIndicator.jsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28b950f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/SessionActivityIndicator.jsx
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+
+/**
+ * Format a timestamp (ISO string or Date) as a human-readable relative time.
+ * Examples: "Just now", "5m ago", "2h ago", "Yesterday", "3d ago", "Jan 15"
+ */
+export function formatRelativeTime(input) {
+  if (!input) return "";
+  const date = typeof input === "string" ? new Date(input) : input;
+  const now = new Date();
+  const diffMs = now - date;
+  const diffSec = Math.floor(diffMs / 1000);
+  const diffMin = Math.floor(diffSec / 60);
+  const diffHour = Math.floor(diffMin / 60);
+  const diffDay = Math.floor(diffHour / 24);
+
+  if (diffSec < 30) return "Just now";
+  if (diffMin < 1) return `${diffSec}s ago`;
+  if (diffMin < 60) return `${diffMin}m ago`;
+  if (diffHour < 24) return `${diffHour}h ago`;
+  if (diffDay === 1) return "Yesterday";
+  if (diffDay < 7) return `${diffDay}d ago`;
+  // Older than a week: show short date
+  return date.toLocaleDateString(undefined, { month: "short", day: "numeric" });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns true if a session is considered "active" (last activity < 5 min ago).
+ */
+export function isSessionActive(input) {
+  if (!input) return false;
+  const date = typeof input === "string" ? new Date(input) : input;
+  const diffMs = new Date() - date;
+  return diffMs < 5 * 60 * 1000; // 5 minutes
+}
+
+/**
+ * SessionActivityIndicator — shows the relative last-activity time
+ * for a session, plus a pulsing dot if the session is currently active.
+ */
+export default function SessionActivityIndicator({ lastActivity, className = "" }) {
+  const [, setTick] = useState(0);
+
+  // Re-render every 30s to keep "5m ago" → "6m ago" fresh
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const id = setInterval(() => setTick((n) => n + 1), 30_000);
+    return () => clearInterval(id);
+  }, []);
+
+  if (!lastActivity) {
+    return (
+      <span className={`text-[10px] text-gray-600 ${className}`} aria-label="No activity">
+        No activity
+      </span>
+    );
+  }
+
+  const active = isSessionActive(lastActivity);
+  const label = formatRelativeTime(lastActivity);
+
+  return (
+    <span
+      className={`inline-flex items-center gap-1 text-[10px] ${
+        active ? "text-emerald-400" : "text-gray-500"
+      } ${className}`}
+      title={new Date(lastActivity).toLocaleString()}
+      aria-label={`Last activity: ${label}${active ? " (active)" : ""}`}
+    >
+      {active && (
+        <span
+          className="w-1.5 h-1.5 rounded-full bg-emerald-400 animate-pulse"
+          aria-hidden="true"
+        />
+      )}
+      {label}
+    </span>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Sidebar.jsx b/frontend/src/components/Sidebar.jsx
index 454991f..7a7a641 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Sidebar.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Sidebar.jsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { useState } from "react";
 import { AppLogoIcon, ChatIcon, LockIcon, StarIcon } from "./Icons";
+import SessionActivityIndicator from "./SessionActivityIndicator";
 
 const LANGUAGES = [
   {code:"en",label:"English"},{code:"hi",label:"हिन्दी"},{code:"ta",label:"தமிழ்"},