diff --git a/frontend/src/v2/__tests__/useV2ThreadMentions.test.tsx b/frontend/src/v2/__tests__/useV2ThreadMentions.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f4f77aaa1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/v2/__tests__/useV2ThreadMentions.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+// @ts-nocheck
+// The @ picker (C14 rehearsal, 2026-10-20): typing "@eng" listed the person's
+// own account first and the agent second, so Enter mentioned themself and the
+// agent never woke. The picker never offers your own handle, and among matches
+// it puts prefix matches first and agents before people.
+import React from 'react';
+import { renderHook, act } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { AuthContext } from '../../context/AuthContext';
+import { useV2ThreadMentions } from '../hooks/useV2ThreadMentions';
+
+const auth = (username) => ({
+  currentUser: { _id: 'u-self', username }, user: { _id: 'u-self', username }, token: 't', loading: false,
+  error: null, isAuthenticated: true, register: jest.fn(), login: jest.fn(), logout: jest.fn(), updateProfile: jest.fn(),
+});
+
+const members = [
+  { _id: 'u-self', username: 'laruiss' },
+  { _id: 'u-other', username: 'larissa' },
+  { _id: 'u-agnes', username: 'agnes' },
+  { _id: 'b-1', username: 'laruiss-agent' },
+];
+const agents = [{ agentName: 'laruiss-agent', instanceId: 'default', displayName: 'laruiss-agent' }];
+
+const open = (query, username = 'laruiss', podMembers = members) => {
+  const draft = `@${query}`;
+  const inputRef = { current: { selectionStart: draft.length, focus: jest.fn(), setSelectionRange: jest.fn() } };
+  const wrapper = ({ children }) => <AuthContext.Provider value={auth(username)}>{children}</AuthContext.Provider>;
+  const { result } = renderHook(() => useV2ThreadMentions({
+    members: podMembers, agents, agentStateByHandle: new Map(), draft, setDraft: jest.fn(), inputRef,
+  }), { wrapper });
+  act(() => { result.current.updateMentionState(draft, draft.length); });
+  return result.current.filteredMentions.map((item) => item.value || item.label);
+};
+
+describe('@ picker', () => {
+  test('never offers your own handle', () => {
+    expect(open('lar')).not.toContain('laruiss');
+  });
+
+  test('the agent comes first, so Enter picks it', () => {
+    expect(open('lar')[0]).toBe('laruiss-agent');
+  });
+
+  test('other people are still offered, after the agent', () => {
+    const list = open('lar');
+    expect(list).toContain('larissa');
+    expect(list.indexOf('laruiss-agent')).toBeLessThan(list.indexOf('larissa'));
+  });
+
+  test('a prefix match outranks a match in the middle, even a person over an agent', () => {
+    // "ag" is a prefix of agnes and only inside laruiss-agent: the person
+    // typing "@ag" means agnes.
+    const list = open('ag');
+    expect(list).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(['agnes', 'laruiss-agent']));
+    expect(list[0]).toBe('agnes');
+  });
+
+  // sprint-review on #2366: with more matches than the picker shows, ranking
+  // must happen before the cap, or an agent late in pod order drops out.
+  test('ranking happens before the 8-item cap: the agent last in pod order still leads', () => {
+    const crowd = Array.from({ length: 10 }, (_, i) => ({ _id: `u-${i}`, username: `lar${i}` }));
+    const list = open('lar', 'laruiss', [...crowd, { _id: 'b-1', username: 'laruiss-agent' }]);
+    expect(list).toHaveLength(8);
+    expect(list[0]).toBe('laruiss-agent');
+  });
+
+  test('the self-skip ignores case', () => {
+    expect(open('lar', 'LaRuiss')).not.toContain('laruiss');
+  });
+
+  test('someone else signed in sees laruiss as a member', () => {
+    expect(open('lar', 'larissa')).toContain('laruiss');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/v2/hooks/useV2ThreadMentions.ts b/frontend/src/v2/hooks/useV2ThreadMentions.ts
index ea77845363..94e242e93e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/v2/hooks/useV2ThreadMentions.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/v2/hooks/useV2ThreadMentions.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { useCallback, useMemo, useState, type RefObject } from 'react';
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
+import { useAuth } from '../../context/AuthContext';
 import type { V2Agent } from './useV2PodDetail';
 import type { V2PodMember } from './useV2Pods';
 import type { V2ComposerMention, V2ComposerWarning } from '../components/V2Composer';
@@ -53,6 +54,8 @@ export const useV2ThreadMentions = ({
   inputRef,
 }: UseV2ThreadMentionsArgs) => {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
+  const { currentUser } = useAuth();
+  const selfUsername = (currentUser?.username || '').toLowerCase();
   const [mentionOpen, setMentionOpen] = useState(false);
   const [mentionQuery, setMentionQuery] = useState('');
   const [mentionStart, setMentionStart] = useState(-1);
@@ -99,6 +102,10 @@ export const useV2ThreadMentions = ({
       const username = member.username || '';
       if (!username) return;
       const key = username.toLowerCase();
+      // Never offer the person their own handle. It was the first suggestion
+      // for any prefix of their name, so Enter mentioned themself and the
+      // agent they meant never woke (C14 rehearsal, 2026-10-20).
+      if (selfUsername && key === selfUsername) return;
       if (seen.has(key)) return;
       seen.add(key);
       const agent = agentByUsername.get(key);
@@ -128,7 +135,7 @@ export const useV2ThreadMentions = ({
       if (item) items.push(item);
     });
     return items;
-  }, [agentStateByHandle, agents, members, t]);
+  }, [agentStateByHandle, agents, members, selfUsername, t]);
 
   const warnings = useMemo<V2ComposerWarning[]>(() => {
     if (!draft.includes('@')) return [];
@@ -149,7 +156,20 @@ export const useV2ThreadMentions = ({
   const filteredMentions = useMemo(() => {
     if (!mentionOpen) return [];
     const query = mentionQuery.trim().toLowerCase();
-    return mentionableItems.filter((item) => item.labelLower.includes(query)).slice(0, 8);
+    // Prefix matches first, and agents before people among equals, so Enter
+    // lands on the agent the person is most likely addressing. Otherwise the
+    // pod's own order holds.
+    const prefix = (item: MentionItem) => (
+      (item.value || '').toLowerCase().startsWith(query) || item.label.toLowerCase().startsWith(query)
+    );
+    return mentionableItems
+      .map((item, order) => ({ item, order }))
+      .filter(({ item }) => item.labelLower.includes(query))
+      .sort((a, b) => (Number(prefix(b.item)) - Number(prefix(a.item)))
+        || (Number(b.item.isAgent) - Number(a.item.isAgent))
+        || (a.order - b.order))
+      .map(({ item }) => item)
+      .slice(0, 8);
   }, [mentionOpen, mentionQuery, mentionableItems]);
 
   const updateMentionState = useCallback((nextValue: string, cursorPosition: number | null) => {