diff --git a/vibn-frontend/app/api/chat/route.ts b/vibn-frontend/app/api/chat/route.ts
index ed9d082..36c031b 100644
--- a/vibn-frontend/app/api/chat/route.ts
+++ b/vibn-frontend/app/api/chat/route.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ type AgentPhase =
   | "final";
 
 const TOOL_BUDGETS: Record<TurnIntent, number> = {
-  conversational: 0,
+  conversational: 1, // Must be at least 1 so the LLM gets called for a text reply
   status_check: 2,
   diagnose: 8,
   small_fix: 18,
@@ -88,7 +88,9 @@ function classifyTurnIntent(message: string): TurnIntent {
     return "diagnose";
 
   // Status check
-  if (/(status|logs|running|active|what is|show me|check)/.test(m))
+  if (
+    /(status|logs|running|active|what is|show me|check|where|how|what)/.test(m)
+  )
     return "status_check";
 
   // Conversational fallback