diff --git a/server/src/agents/pool/mod.rs b/server/src/agents/pool/mod.rs
index f31d35e9..f7adcbf6 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/pool/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/pool/mod.rs
@@ -280,6 +280,74 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Story 736 — Criterion 3 end-to-end: fire N status events at an idle
+    /// agent session; verify the agent is not invoked; then drain and format the
+    /// buffer to simulate what `start_agent` does on the next user message;
+    /// assert all N events appear in the `<recent-events>` block and the buffer
+    /// is empty afterwards.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn drain_and_format_prepends_all_buffered_events_and_empties_buffer() {
+        use crate::service::status::buffer::BufferedItem;
+        use crate::service::status::buffer::format_buffered_items;
+
+        let pool = AgentPool::new_test(3207);
+        // Idle agent with a live buffer — simulates a previous session that is
+        // now completed but has been accumulating pipeline events.
+        pool.inject_test_agent_with_live_buffer("story-736", "coder", AgentStatus::Completed);
+
+        // Fire N status events at the pool's broadcaster while the agent is idle.
+        // The agent must NOT be invoked — events only accumulate in the buffer.
+        let bc = pool.status_broadcaster();
+        let n = 4_usize;
+        for i in 0..n {
+            bc.publish(StatusEvent::MergeFailure {
+                story_id: format!("other-{i}"),
+                story_name: None,
+                reason: format!("reason-{i}"),
+            });
+        }
+        // Yield so the background receive tasks can process all events.
+        sleep(Duration::from_millis(30)).await;
+
+        // Drain the buffer — this is what start_agent does before spawning the
+        // next agent turn (story 736, criterion 1).
+        let items = pool
+            .drain_agent_status_buffer("story-736", "coder")
+            .expect("agent must have a buffer");
+        assert_eq!(items.len(), n, "all {n} events must be buffered");
+        assert!(
+            items.iter().all(|i| matches!(i, BufferedItem::Event(_))),
+            "all items must be events (no truncation)"
+        );
+
+        // Format into a <recent-events> block (criterion 1).
+        let block = format_buffered_items(&items).expect("non-empty slice must yield a block");
+        assert!(
+            block.starts_with("<recent-events>\n"),
+            "block must open with <recent-events>: {block}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            block.ends_with("\n</recent-events>"),
+            "block must close with </recent-events>: {block}"
+        );
+        for i in 0..n {
+            assert!(
+                block.contains(&format!("reason-{i}")),
+                "block must include content from event {i}: {block}"
+            );
+        }
+
+        // After drain the buffer must be empty (criterion 2).
+        let after = pool
+            .drain_agent_status_buffer("story-736", "coder")
+            .expect("agent must still have a buffer");
+        assert!(
+            after.is_empty(),
+            "buffer must be empty after drain (got {} items)",
+            after.len()
+        );
+    }
+
     /// Criterion 2: on session restart a fresh buffer is created, clearing any
     /// events accumulated in the previous session.
     ///
diff --git a/server/src/agents/pool/start/mod.rs b/server/src/agents/pool/start/mod.rs
index 314f59cf..ee53abc2 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/pool/start/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/pool/start/mod.rs
@@ -100,6 +100,11 @@ impl AgentPool {
         // (bug 118).
         let resolved_name: String;
         let key: String;
+        // Buffered status events accumulated while the agent was idle. Drained
+        // inside the lock (before the new entry replaces the old one) and
+        // formatted as a `<recent-events>` block for prepending to the first
+        // agent turn (story 736).
+        let prior_events: Option<String>;
         {
             let mut agents = self.agents.lock().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
 
@@ -249,6 +254,17 @@ impl AgentPool {
                      story '{story_id}' will be picked up when the agent becomes available"
                 ));
             }
+            // Drain accumulated status events from the previous session before
+            // replacing the entry with the new one.  The drained items are
+            // formatted and prepended to the first agent turn (story 736).
+            prior_events = {
+                let items = agents
+                    .get(&key)
+                    .and_then(|a| a.status_buffer.as_ref().map(|b| b.drain()))
+                    .unwrap_or_default();
+                crate::service::status::buffer::format_buffered_items(&items)
+            };
+
             agents.insert(
                 key.clone(),
                 StoryAgent {
@@ -336,6 +352,7 @@ impl AgentPool {
             self.watcher_tx.clone(),
             Arc::clone(&self.merge_jobs),
             inactivity_timeout_secs,
+            prior_events,
         ));
 
         // Store the task handle while the agent is still Pending.
diff --git a/server/src/agents/pool/start/spawn.rs b/server/src/agents/pool/start/spawn.rs
index 8eefeec5..ae998db6 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/pool/start/spawn.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/pool/start/spawn.rs
@@ -48,6 +48,11 @@ pub(super) async fn run_agent_spawn(
     watcher_tx: broadcast::Sender<WatcherEvent>,
     merge_jobs: Arc<Mutex<HashMap<String, MergeJob>>>,
     inactivity_timeout_secs: u64,
+    // Formatted `<recent-events>` block drained from the previous session's
+    // buffer. Prepended to the first agent turn so the agent sees what
+    // happened while it was idle (story 736).  `None` when there were no
+    // buffered events.
+    buffered_events_block: Option<String>,
 ) {
     // Re-bind to the legacy `_clone` / `_owned` names so the body below remains
     // a verbatim copy of the original closure (story 157).
@@ -169,6 +174,13 @@ pub(super) async fn run_agent_spawn(
         }
     };
 
+    // Prepend buffered pipeline events from the previous idle period so the
+    // agent sees what happened while it was not running (story 736).
+    let effective_prompt = match buffered_events_block {
+        Some(block) if !block.is_empty() => format!("{block}\n\n{effective_prompt}"),
+        _ => effective_prompt,
+    };
+
     // Step 3: transition to Running now that the worktree is ready.
     {
         if let Ok(mut agents) = agents_ref.lock()
diff --git a/server/src/service/status/buffer.rs b/server/src/service/status/buffer.rs
index 971d271a..b1de6829 100644
--- a/server/src/service/status/buffer.rs
+++ b/server/src/service/status/buffer.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 //! [`StatusEventBuffer`] — bounded, per-instance accumulator over a
 //! [`StatusBroadcaster`].
-// Infrastructure module: public items are not yet wired to production call
-// sites but are exercised by the unit tests below.
 #![allow(dead_code)]
 //!
 //! A `StatusEventBuffer` subscribes to a [`StatusBroadcaster`] on construction
@@ -162,6 +160,40 @@ impl Drop for StatusEventBuffer {
     }
 }
 
+// ── Formatting ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+/// Format a [`BufferedItem`] slice into a `<recent-events>…</recent-events>` block
+/// ready to prepend to an agent message.
+///
+/// Each [`BufferedItem::Event`] is rendered with
+/// [`format_status_event`](crate::service::status::format::format_status_event).
+/// A [`BufferedItem::Truncated`] entry produces a note about how many older
+/// events were omitted.
+///
+/// Returns `None` when `items` is empty so callers can skip the prepend
+/// entirely.
+pub fn format_buffered_items(items: &[BufferedItem]) -> Option<String> {
+    if items.is_empty() {
+        return None;
+    }
+    use crate::service::status::format::format_status_event;
+    let mut lines = Vec::with_capacity(items.len());
+    for item in items {
+        match item {
+            BufferedItem::Truncated(n) => {
+                lines.push(format!("[{n} older event(s) were omitted due to overflow]"));
+            }
+            BufferedItem::Event(event) => {
+                lines.push(format_status_event(event));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    Some(format!(
+        "<recent-events>\n{}\n</recent-events>",
+        lines.join("\n")
+    ))
+}
+
 // ── Tests ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 #[cfg(test)]
@@ -353,4 +385,55 @@ mod tests {
             "clear should discard events and truncation marker"
         );
     }
+
+    // ── format_buffered_items ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+    #[test]
+    fn format_empty_slice_returns_none() {
+        assert!(format_buffered_items(&[]).is_none());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn format_events_produces_recent_events_block() {
+        let items = vec![
+            BufferedItem::Event(StatusEvent::MergeFailure {
+                story_id: "42_story_foo".to_string(),
+                story_name: Some("Foo".to_string()),
+                reason: "conflict".to_string(),
+            }),
+            BufferedItem::Event(StatusEvent::StoryBlocked {
+                story_id: "7_story_bar".to_string(),
+                story_name: None,
+                reason: "retry limit".to_string(),
+            }),
+        ];
+        let block = format_buffered_items(&items).expect("non-empty slice must produce a block");
+        assert!(
+            block.starts_with("<recent-events>\n"),
+            "must open with <recent-events>: {block}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            block.ends_with("\n</recent-events>"),
+            "must close with </recent-events>: {block}"
+        );
+        assert!(block.contains("conflict"), "must include event content");
+        assert!(block.contains("retry limit"), "must include event content");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn format_truncation_marker_is_included() {
+        let items = vec![
+            BufferedItem::Truncated(3),
+            BufferedItem::Event(StatusEvent::MergeFailure {
+                story_id: "1_story_x".to_string(),
+                story_name: None,
+                reason: "test".to_string(),
+            }),
+        ];
+        let block = format_buffered_items(&items).unwrap();
+        assert!(
+            block.contains("3 older event(s) were omitted"),
+            "truncation note must appear in block: {block}"
+        );
+    }
 }