diff --git a/src/woodshop/gui/command_bar.py b/src/woodshop/gui/command_bar.py
index 78f99f5..19ce91d 100644
--- a/src/woodshop/gui/command_bar.py
+++ b/src/woodshop/gui/command_bar.py
@@ -88,11 +88,17 @@ class CommandBar(QWidget):
 
         def done(summary):
             self._busy(False)
-            if self.speak.isChecked() and summary:
-                run_async(self.pool, lambda: subprocess.run(
-                    ["read-aloud", "--strip-md", "true"], input=summary, text=True))
+            if summary:
+                self._log("ws", summary)
+                if self.speak.isChecked():
+                    run_async(self.pool, lambda: subprocess.run(
+                        ["read-aloud", "--strip-md", "true"], input=summary, text=True))
 
-        run_async(self.pool, work, on_done=done, on_error=lambda e: (self._busy(False), self._log("sys", e)))
+        def failed(err):
+            self._busy(False)
+            self._log("sys", err)
+
+        run_async(self.pool, work, on_done=done, on_error=failed)
 
     # ----- voice -------------------------------------------------------
     def _listen(self) -> None:
diff --git a/src/woodshop/gui/workers.py b/src/woodshop/gui/workers.py
index 048032b..6bf6e79 100644
--- a/src/woodshop/gui/workers.py
+++ b/src/woodshop/gui/workers.py
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 """Run slow work (dictate, the LLM call, read-aloud) off the Qt event loop so
-the UI never freezes."""
+the UI never freezes.
+
+Lifetime note: a QRunnable is auto-deleted by the pool the moment run() returns,
+which can destroy its signals object before Qt delivers the queued result to the
+UI thread (the "done" callback then never fires). We disable auto-delete and
+keep a strong reference until the result is delivered, then drop it.
+"""
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from PySide6.QtCore import QObject, QRunnable, QThreadPool, Signal
@@ -15,6 +21,7 @@ class _Task(QRunnable):
         super().__init__()
         self.fn = fn
         self.signals = _Signals()
+        self.setAutoDelete(False)  # we manage lifetime (see module docstring)
 
     def run(self):
         try:
@@ -23,10 +30,23 @@ class _Task(QRunnable):
             self.signals.error.emit(str(exc))
 
 
+_active: set[_Task] = set()
+
+
 def run_async(pool: QThreadPool, fn, on_done=None, on_error=None) -> None:
     task = _Task(fn)
-    if on_done:
-        task.signals.done.connect(on_done)
-    if on_error:
-        task.signals.error.connect(on_error)
+    _active.add(task)  # keep alive until a result is delivered on the UI thread
+
+    def finish_done(result):
+        _active.discard(task)
+        if on_done:
+            on_done(result)
+
+    def finish_error(message):
+        _active.discard(task)
+        if on_error:
+            on_error(message)
+
+    task.signals.done.connect(finish_done)
+    task.signals.error.connect(finish_error)
     pool.start(task)