diff --git a/src/renderer/components/team/activity/PendingRepliesBlock.tsx b/src/renderer/components/team/activity/PendingRepliesBlock.tsx
index 58de583a..a768869e 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/team/activity/PendingRepliesBlock.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/team/activity/PendingRepliesBlock.tsx
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import {
 } from '@renderer/utils/memberHelpers';
 import { nameColorSet } from '@renderer/utils/projectColor';
 import { formatDistanceToNowStrict } from 'date-fns';
-import { ShieldQuestion, Users } from 'lucide-react';
+import { Loader2, ShieldQuestion, Users } from 'lucide-react';
 
 import type { ResolvedTeamMember } from '@shared/types';
 
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ export const PendingRepliesBlock = ({
           );
           const advisoryLabel = getMemberRuntimeAdvisoryLabel(member.runtimeAdvisory);
           const advisoryTitle = getMemberRuntimeAdvisoryTitle(member.runtimeAdvisory);
+          const isRetrying = advisoryLabel !== null;
 
           return (
             <article
@@ -103,8 +104,12 @@ export const PendingRepliesBlock = ({
                     loading="lazy"
                   />
                   <span className="absolute -bottom-0.5 -right-0.5 flex size-2.5">
-                    <span className="absolute inline-flex size-full animate-ping rounded-full bg-emerald-400 opacity-70" />
-                    <span className="relative inline-flex size-full rounded-full bg-emerald-500" />
+                    <span
+                      className={`absolute inline-flex size-full animate-ping rounded-full opacity-70 ${isRetrying ? 'bg-amber-400' : 'bg-emerald-400'}`}
+                    />
+                    <span
+                      className={`relative inline-flex size-full rounded-full ${isRetrying ? 'bg-amber-500' : 'bg-emerald-500'}`}
+                    />
                   </span>
                 </span>
                 {onMemberClick ? (
@@ -139,12 +144,15 @@ export const PendingRepliesBlock = ({
                   </span>
                 ) : null}
                 <span
-                  className="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate text-[10px]"
-                  style={{ color: CARD_ICON_MUTED }}
+                  className={`min-w-0 flex-1 truncate text-[10px] ${isRetrying ? 'text-amber-300' : ''}`}
+                  style={isRetrying ? undefined : { color: CARD_ICON_MUTED }}
                   title={advisoryTitle ?? 'Message sent, awaiting reply'}
                 >
                   {advisoryLabel ?? 'awaiting reply'}
                 </span>
+                {isRetrying ? (
+                  <Loader2 className="size-3 shrink-0 animate-spin text-amber-400" />
+                ) : null}
                 <span className="shrink-0 text-[10px]" style={{ color: CARD_ICON_MUTED }}>
                   {since}
                 </span>
diff --git a/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberCard.tsx b/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberCard.tsx
index 2370a900..1f6a5a38 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberCard.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/team/members/MemberCard.tsx
@@ -179,11 +179,11 @@ export const MemberCard = ({
               {!activityTask && isAwaitingReply ? (
                 <>
                   <Loader2
-                    className="size-3 shrink-0 animate-spin"
-                    style={{ color: colors.border }}
+                    className={`size-3 shrink-0 animate-spin ${runtimeAdvisoryLabel ? 'text-amber-400' : ''}`}
+                    style={runtimeAdvisoryLabel ? undefined : { color: colors.border }}
                   />
                   <span
-                    className="shrink-0 text-[10px] text-[var(--color-text-muted)]"
+                    className={`shrink-0 text-[10px] ${runtimeAdvisoryLabel ? 'text-amber-300' : 'text-[var(--color-text-muted)]'}`}
                     title={runtimeAdvisoryTitle ?? 'Message sent, awaiting reply'}
                   >
                     {runtimeAdvisoryLabel ?? 'awaiting reply'}
diff --git a/src/renderer/utils/memberHelpers.ts b/src/renderer/utils/memberHelpers.ts
index ae986f61..88be4052 100644
--- a/src/renderer/utils/memberHelpers.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/utils/memberHelpers.ts
@@ -214,13 +214,13 @@ export function getMemberRuntimeAdvisoryLabel(
   }
   const retryUntilMs = Date.parse(advisory.retryUntil);
   if (!Number.isFinite(retryUntilMs)) {
-    return 'SDK retrying';
+    return 'retrying now';
   }
   const remainingMs = retryUntilMs - nowMs;
   if (remainingMs <= 0) {
-    return 'SDK retrying';
+    return 'retrying now';
   }
-  return `SDK retrying · ${formatRetryCountdown(remainingMs)}`;
+  return `retrying now · ${formatRetryCountdown(remainingMs)}`;
 }
 
 export function getMemberRuntimeAdvisoryTitle(
@@ -229,7 +229,10 @@ export function getMemberRuntimeAdvisoryTitle(
   if (!advisory || advisory.kind !== 'sdk_retrying') {
     return undefined;
   }
-  return advisory.message?.trim() || 'The SDK is retrying after a provider error.';
+  return (
+    advisory.message?.trim() ||
+    'The SDK is retrying this request after a provider or backend error.'
+  );
 }
 
 export const TASK_STATUS_STYLES: Record<TeamTaskStatus, { bg: string; text: string }> = {
diff --git a/test/renderer/utils/memberHelpers.test.ts b/test/renderer/utils/memberHelpers.test.ts
index 848e2f3c..e908f749 100644
--- a/test/renderer/utils/memberHelpers.test.ts
+++ b/test/renderer/utils/memberHelpers.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import {
   getSpawnAwareDotClass,
   getSpawnAwarePresenceLabel,
+  getMemberRuntimeAdvisoryLabel,
+  getMemberRuntimeAdvisoryTitle,
 } from '@renderer/utils/memberHelpers';
 
 import type { ResolvedTeamMember } from '@shared/types';
@@ -59,4 +61,29 @@ describe('memberHelpers spawn-aware presence', () => {
       )
     ).toBe('starting');
   });
+
+  it('renders unified retry advisory labels for provider retries', () => {
+    expect(
+      getMemberRuntimeAdvisoryLabel(
+        {
+          kind: 'sdk_retrying',
+          observedAt: '2026-04-07T09:00:00.000Z',
+          retryUntil: '2026-04-07T09:00:45.000Z',
+          retryDelayMs: 45_000,
+          message: 'Gemini cli backend error: capacity exceeded.',
+        },
+        Date.parse('2026-04-07T09:00:00.000Z')
+      )
+    ).toBe('retrying now · 45s');
+
+    expect(
+      getMemberRuntimeAdvisoryTitle({
+        kind: 'sdk_retrying',
+        observedAt: '2026-04-07T09:00:00.000Z',
+        retryUntil: '2026-04-07T09:00:45.000Z',
+        retryDelayMs: 45_000,
+        message: 'Gemini cli backend error: capacity exceeded.',
+      })
+    ).toContain('capacity exceeded');
+  });
 });