diff --git a/packages/dashboard/app/components/InlineCreateCard.tsx b/packages/dashboard/app/components/InlineCreateCard.tsx
index 85f0ae4269..7299b4ffff 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/app/components/InlineCreateCard.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/app/components/InlineCreateCard.tsx
@@ -1083,6 +1083,10 @@ export function InlineCreateCard({
                 className="inline-create-optional-steps"
                 aria-label={t("inline.optionalWorkflowSteps", "Optional workflow steps")}
               >
+                {/* FNXC:TaskCreation 2026-06-21-00:00:
+                    Inline quick-add uses the shared optional-steps dropdown so it matches
+                    the modal/quick-add keyboard + a11y behavior and toggles the same
+                    enabledWorkflowSteps set submitted on create. */}
                 <WorkflowOptionalStepsDropdown
                   steps={optionalSteps}
                   enabledIds={enabledOptionalStepIds}
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/app/components/NewTaskModal.tsx b/packages/dashboard/app/components/NewTaskModal.tsx
index f22d01ef9f..5a939671da 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/app/components/NewTaskModal.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/app/components/NewTaskModal.tsx
@@ -164,6 +164,10 @@ export function NewTaskModal({ isOpen, onClose, projectId, tasks, onCreateTask,
       dependencies.length > 0 ||
       pendingImages.length > 0 ||
       selectedWorkflowId !== undefined ||
+      // Optional workflow steps the user toggled count as unsaved work. (Workflows
+      // whose steps are defaultOn:false — today's only shipped step — seed an empty
+      // set, so this stays false until the user actually opts a step in.)
+      enabledWorkflowSteps.length > 0 ||
       executorModel !== "" ||
       validatorModel !== "" ||
       planningModel !== "" ||
@@ -179,7 +183,7 @@ export function NewTaskModal({ isOpen, onClose, projectId, tasks, onCreateTask,
       githubTrackingEnabled ||
       githubRepoOverrideTrimmed !== "";
     setHasDirtyState(isDirty);
-  }, [description, dependencies, pendingImages, selectedWorkflowId, executorModel, validatorModel, planningModel, thinkingLevel, selectedAgentId, reviewLevel, autoMerge, priority, nodeId, branchMode, branch, baseBranch, githubTrackingEnabled, githubRepoOverrideTrimmed]);
+  }, [description, dependencies, pendingImages, selectedWorkflowId, enabledWorkflowSteps, executorModel, validatorModel, planningModel, thinkingLevel, selectedAgentId, reviewLevel, autoMerge, priority, nodeId, branchMode, branch, baseBranch, githubTrackingEnabled, githubRepoOverrideTrimmed]);
 
   const handleClose = useCallback(async () => {
     if (hasDirtyState) {
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/app/components/TaskForm.tsx b/packages/dashboard/app/components/TaskForm.tsx
index de69a52f60..1c73dd8ec8 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/app/components/TaskForm.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/app/components/TaskForm.tsx
@@ -306,6 +306,9 @@ export function TaskForm({
     let cancelled = false;
     setOptionalSteps([]);
     if (!effectiveOptionalWorkflowId) {
+      // Clear any in-flight loading state (a prior fetch may have been cancelled
+      // mid-flight when switching to "No workflow"), so the loading row never sticks.
+      setOptionalStepsLoading(false);
       onEnabledWorkflowStepsChange?.([]);
       return;
     }
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowNodeEditor.tsx b/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowNodeEditor.tsx
index 7e51096525..4b3e2d39cb 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowNodeEditor.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowNodeEditor.tsx
@@ -2502,6 +2502,7 @@ function InnerEditor({
                       optionalSteps={optionalSteps}
                       onChange={setOptionalSteps}
                       readOnly={isBuiltin}
+                      pluginTemplates={pluginTemplates.map((p) => p.template)}
                     />
                   )}
                 </section>
@@ -2812,6 +2813,7 @@ function InnerEditor({
                             optionalSteps={optionalSteps}
                             onChange={setOptionalSteps}
                             readOnly={isBuiltin}
+                            pluginTemplates={pluginTemplates.map((p) => p.template)}
                           />
                         </div>
                       )}
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowOptionalStepsDropdown.tsx b/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowOptionalStepsDropdown.tsx
index 362bd19a19..80fd71c0ad 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowOptionalStepsDropdown.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowOptionalStepsDropdown.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 /**
+ * FNXC:WorkflowOptionalSteps 2026-06-21-00:00:
+ * Users selecting optional workflow steps at task creation need one consistent
+ * multi-select control across every creation surface, with full keyboard + screen-
+ * reader support, so the quick-add card and the full New Task modal behave identically.
+ *
  * WorkflowOptionalStepsDropdown — a controlled multi-select for a workflow's
  * optional steps, shared by the quick-add card (U5) and the full New Task modal
  * (U4) so both creation surfaces present the same interaction.
@@ -109,10 +114,11 @@ export function WorkflowOptionalStepsDropdown({
       : t("workflowOptionalSteps.triggerCount", "Steps: {{count}} selected", { count: selectedCount });
 
   const onTriggerKeyDown = (e: React.KeyboardEvent) => {
-    if (e.key === "ArrowDown" || e.key === "Enter" || e.key === " ") {
+    // ArrowUp also opens (ARIA listbox authoring guidance), landing on the last option.
+    if (e.key === "ArrowDown" || e.key === "ArrowUp" || e.key === "Enter" || e.key === " ") {
       e.preventDefault();
       setIsOpen(true);
-      setActiveIndex(0);
+      setActiveIndex(e.key === "ArrowUp" ? steps.length - 1 : 0);
     }
   };
 
@@ -161,8 +167,8 @@ export function WorkflowOptionalStepsDropdown({
             ref={panelRef}
             className="wf-optional-steps-dropdown-panel"
             role="listbox"
+            aria-multiselectable="true"
             aria-label={t("workflowOptionalSteps.title", "Optional steps")}
-            aria-labelledby={labelId}
             data-testid="wf-optional-steps-dropdown-panel"
             style={{ top: position.top, left: position.left, minWidth: position.width }}
             onKeyDown={onPanelKeyDown}
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowOptionalStepsPanel.tsx b/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowOptionalStepsPanel.tsx
index baa6fc47fd..40bdc94a0f 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowOptionalStepsPanel.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/app/components/WorkflowOptionalStepsPanel.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 /**
+ * FNXC:WorkflowOptionalSteps 2026-06-21-00:00:
+ * Workflow authors need to declare which step templates are optional and set each
+ * one's defaultOn from the visual editor (persisted on the IR's `optionalSteps`
+ * array) so optional steps are authorable without hand-editing IR.
+ *
  * WorkflowOptionalStepsPanel — the workflow editor's optional-step authoring
  * surface. Sibling to {@link WorkflowFieldsPanel} / WorkflowSettingsPanel: lives
  * alongside the canvas in {@link WorkflowNodeEditor} and mutates the IR's
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/app/components/workflow-phase-badge.tsx b/packages/dashboard/app/components/workflow-phase-badge.tsx
index 2993d011f4..fe5a171a97 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/app/components/workflow-phase-badge.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/app/components/workflow-phase-badge.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 /**
+ * FNXC:WorkflowOptionalSteps 2026-06-21-00:00:
+ * One phase chip (pre-merge / post-merge) shared by every workflow-step surface so
+ * the badge looks identical across the results tab, authoring panel, and dropdown.
+ *
  * Shared phase chip for workflow steps (pre-merge / post-merge). Extracted from
  * WorkflowResultsTab so the node-editor optional-steps panel and the optional-step
  * dropdown render an identical badge without duplicating markup.