diff --git a/tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py b/tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py
index 7bfff003670..ccab5b17ad9 100644
--- a/tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py
@@ -722,9 +722,9 @@ def test_load_enabled_toolsets_rejects_disabled_mcp_env(monkeypatch, capsys):
         config_mod, "load_config", lambda: {"platform_toolsets": {"cli": ["memory"]}}
     )
 
-    # Sorted: ["kanban", "memory", "project"]. `kanban` and `project` are
-    # auto-recovered by _get_platform_tools — both are non-configurable platform
-    # toolsets whose tools live in hermes-cli's universe (see toolsets.py).
+    # Sorted: ["kanban", "memory", "project"]. `kanban` is auto-recovered by
+    # _get_platform_tools (a non-configurable platform toolset in hermes-cli's
+    # universe); `project` is GUI-only, folded in by _load_enabled_toolsets.
     assert server._load_enabled_toolsets() == ["kanban", "memory", "project"]
     err = capsys.readouterr().err
     assert "ignoring disabled MCP servers" in err
diff --git a/tools/project_tools.py b/tools/project_tools.py
index 84d50e46f74..008e0068285 100644
--- a/tools/project_tools.py
+++ b/tools/project_tools.py
@@ -5,10 +5,11 @@ Projects (per-profile ``projects.db``) are the named workspaces the desktop
 sidebar groups sessions into. Creating / switching a project is a deliberate act
 expressed as explicit tools — never a side effect of a terminal ``cd``.
 
-Available everywhere (CLI, messaging, desktop) so projects can be triaged from
-any surface. The DB write is the durable part; when a GUI gateway has wired the
-workspace callback, a create/switch also re-anchors the live session's cwd so
-the sidebar follows the move. Elsewhere that step simply no-ops.
+Exposed only on GUI sessions: the tools live in the `project` toolset (kept off
+``_HERMES_CORE_TOOLS``) which the desktop/TUI gateway folds into its resolved
+toolsets, so no CLI/messaging/cron schema carries them. The GUI also wires
+``set_project_workspace_callback`` so a create/switch re-anchors the live
+session's cwd and the sidebar follows the move; the DB write is the durable part.
 """
 
 import json
diff --git a/toolsets.py b/toolsets.py
index cace42c495a..0c3beb364c7 100644
--- a/toolsets.py
+++ b/toolsets.py
@@ -51,9 +51,11 @@ _HERMES_CORE_TOOLS = [
     "text_to_speech",
     # Planning & memory
     "todo", "memory",
-    # Desktop Projects (gateway-gated; the agent's intentional handle on the
-    # sidebar's named workspaces)
-    "project_list", "project_create", "project_switch",
+    # NOTE: the desktop Project tools (project_list/create/switch) are
+    # deliberately NOT here. They only make sense where a GUI can follow the
+    # move, so they live in the `project` toolset and are enabled solely by the
+    # GUI gateway (tui_gateway/server.py::_load_enabled_toolsets) — keeping them
+    # off every CLI/messaging/cron schema (narrow waist).
     # Session history search
     "session_search",
     # Clarifying questions
@@ -227,7 +229,7 @@ TOOLSETS = {
     },
 
     "project": {
-        "description": "Desktop Projects — create/switch named workspaces (gateway only)",
+        "description": "Desktop Projects — create/switch named workspaces (GUI sessions only)",
         "tools": ["project_list", "project_create", "project_switch"],
         "includes": []
     },
diff --git a/tui_gateway/server.py b/tui_gateway/server.py
index 2b79d515499..190f84e8d5c 100644
--- a/tui_gateway/server.py
+++ b/tui_gateway/server.py
@@ -2297,12 +2297,18 @@ def _load_enabled_toolsets() -> list[str] | None:
         # list without baking in implicit MCP defaults. Using the wrong
         # variant at agent creation time makes MCP tools silently missing
         # from the TUI. See PR #3252 for the original design split.
-        enabled = sorted(
-            _get_platform_tools(cfg, "cli", include_default_mcp_servers=True)
-        )
+        enabled = _get_platform_tools(cfg, "cli", include_default_mcp_servers=True)
         if fallback_notice is not None:
             print(fallback_notice, file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
-        return enabled or None
+        if not enabled:
+            return None
+        # The desktop Project tools are off _HERMES_CORE_TOOLS (every other
+        # platform would carry their schema for nothing), so the platform
+        # recovery above — which keys off hermes-cli's tool universe — can't
+        # surface them. This resolver runs ONLY in the desktop/TUI gateway, so
+        # folding in the `project` toolset here is the gate that exposes them on
+        # exactly the surface that can follow a project move.
+        return sorted(enabled | {"project"})
     except Exception:
         if fallback_notice is not None:
             print(