diff --git a/fleet/harmony-fleet-operator/src/frontend/views/devices.rs b/fleet/harmony-fleet-operator/src/frontend/views/devices.rs
index 2bffe050..779e915a 100644
--- a/fleet/harmony-fleet-operator/src/frontend/views/devices.rs
+++ b/fleet/harmony-fleet-operator/src/frontend/views/devices.rs
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ fn overview_tab(device: &DeviceDetail, deployment_version: Option<&str>) -> Mark
                     div class="flex items-center px-4 py-3 border-b" style="border-color:var(--border)" {
                         span class="section-title" { "Recent logs" }
                     }
-                    (log_viewer(&device.id, None, "260px", "overview-logs"))
+                    (log_viewer(&device.id, None, "260px", "overview-logs", false))
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -286,12 +286,17 @@ fn overview_tab(device: &DeviceDetail, deployment_version: Option<&str>) -> Mark
 }
 
 fn logs_tab(device: &DeviceDetail, deployments: &[String]) -> Markup {
-    // Default to the first matched deployment; the selector (only shown
-    // when the device runs more than one) swaps the log body to another.
-    let selected = deployments.first().map(String::as_str);
+    // With more than one deployment the selector drives the poll URL via
+    // hx-include; with one (or none) the deployment is baked into the URL.
+    let multi = deployments.len() > 1;
+    let selected = if multi {
+        None
+    } else {
+        deployments.first().map(String::as_str)
+    };
     html! {
         div class="card overflow-hidden mt-4" {
-            @if deployments.len() > 1 {
+            @if multi {
                 div class="flex items-center gap-2 px-4 py-2.5 border-b" style="border-color:var(--border)" {
                     span class="text-[11px] text-slate-500" { "Deployment" }
                     // htmx sends this select's value as `?deployment=` and
@@ -309,7 +314,7 @@ fn logs_tab(device: &DeviceDetail, deployments: &[String]) -> Markup {
                     }
                 }
             }
-            (log_viewer(&device.id, selected, "520px", "logtab-logs"))
+            (log_viewer(&device.id, selected, "520px", "logtab-logs", multi))
         }
     }
 }
@@ -317,14 +322,33 @@ fn logs_tab(device: &DeviceDetail, deployments: &[String]) -> Markup {
 /// Shared one-shot log viewer: a scrollable body that fetches the
 /// `podman logs` tail on load, plus a bottom bar (integrated into the
 /// same container) with the source label and an explicit Refresh that
-/// re-fetches into the body. The frontend drives updates — re-fetch on
-/// demand rather than a long-lived stream. Used in the overview card,
-/// logs tab, and pop-out modal; `body_id` keeps the targets distinct.
-fn log_viewer(device_id: &str, deployment: Option<&str>, height: &str, body_id: &str) -> Markup {
-    let tail_url = match deployment {
-        Some(dep) => format!("/devices/{device_id}/logs/tail?deployment={dep}"),
-        None => format!("/devices/{device_id}/logs/tail"),
+/// re-fetches into the body. Used in the overview card, logs tab, and pop-out
+/// modal; `body_id` keeps the targets distinct.
+///
+/// The body **re-fetches every 2 s** (HTMX `every 2s`), so the panel behaves
+/// like a live tail without a long-lived stream — the pragmatic stand-in until
+/// we want a real TTY/streaming channel (v0.4 #13). Refresh forces an immediate
+/// re-fetch.
+///
+/// When `selector_driven` is set (the logs tab's multi-deployment case), the
+/// poll URL carries no baked deployment — instead it `hx-include`s the
+/// `deployment` `<select>` in the same card, so changing the selection is
+/// picked up by the next poll (and immediately by the select's own handler)
+/// without re-rendering the viewer or polling a stale URL.
+fn log_viewer(
+    device_id: &str,
+    deployment: Option<&str>,
+    height: &str,
+    body_id: &str,
+    selector_driven: bool,
+) -> Markup {
+    let base_url = format!("/devices/{device_id}/logs/tail");
+    let tail_url = match (selector_driven, deployment) {
+        (true, _) => base_url.clone(),
+        (false, Some(dep)) => format!("{base_url}?deployment={dep}"),
+        (false, None) => base_url.clone(),
     };
+    let include = selector_driven.then_some("[name='deployment']");
     html! {
         div class="flex flex-col min-h-0" style={"height:" (height)} {
             div
@@ -332,17 +356,22 @@ fn log_viewer(device_id: &str, deployment: Option<&str>, height: &str, body_id:
                 class="logfeed flex-1 font-mono text-[11.5px] leading-6 px-4 py-2 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap"
                 style="background:#050608"
                 hx-get=(tail_url)
-                hx-trigger="load"
+                hx-trigger="load, every 2s"
+                hx-include=[include]
                 hx-target="this"
-                hx-swap="innerHTML" {
+                hx-swap="innerHTML"
+                // Skip a tick if the previous fetch is still in flight (slow or
+                // offline device), so polls can't pile up.
+                hx-sync="this:drop" {
                 div class="px-0 py-px italic text-slate-700" { "\u{2014} loading logs \u{2014}" }
             }
             div class="flex items-center justify-between px-3 py-1.5 border-t text-[10px] font-mono text-slate-600"
                 style="border-color:var(--border); background:#0a0c10" {
-                span { "podman logs \u{b7} last 200 lines" }
+                span { "podman logs \u{b7} live, every 2s \u{b7} last 200 lines" }
                 button
                     class="flex items-center gap-1 text-slate-400 hover:text-slate-100"
                     hx-get=(tail_url)
+                    hx-include=[include]
                     hx-target={"#" (body_id)}
                     hx-swap="innerHTML" {
                     (PreEscaped(ICON_REFRESH)) "Refresh"
@@ -460,7 +489,7 @@ pub fn logs_modal(device_id: &str, deployment: Option<&str>) -> Markup {
                 }
             }
 
-            (log_viewer(device_id, deployment, "100%", "modal-logs"))
+            (log_viewer(device_id, deployment, "100%", "modal-logs", false))
         }
     }
 }
@@ -588,4 +617,36 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(two.contains(r##"hx-target="#logtab-logs""##));
         assert!(two.contains("sensor-fw"));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn log_viewer_polls_every_2s() {
+        let html = device_tabs(&sample(), None, &["edge-app".into()], "logs").into_string();
+        assert!(
+            html.contains(r#"hx-trigger="load, every 2s""#),
+            "log body should re-fetch every 2s (fake streaming)"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn single_deployment_bakes_deployment_into_poll_url() {
+        let html = device_tabs(&sample(), None, &["edge-app".into()], "logs").into_string();
+        // One deployment → no selector, deployment baked into the URL, no include.
+        assert!(html.contains("/devices/hf-edge-001/logs/tail?deployment=edge-app"));
+        assert!(!html.contains("hx-include"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn multi_deployment_drives_poll_url_from_selector() {
+        let html = device_tabs(
+            &sample(),
+            None,
+            &["edge-app".into(), "sensor-fw".into()],
+            "logs",
+        )
+        .into_string();
+        // Selector-driven: the poll includes the <select> value and bakes no
+        // deployment into the body URL (so polling never targets a stale one).
+        assert!(html.contains(r#"hx-include="[name='deployment']""#));
+        assert!(!html.contains("logs/tail?deployment="));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/fleet/harmony-fleet-operator/vendor/app.js b/fleet/harmony-fleet-operator/vendor/app.js
index 978af995..21c5fcbd 100644
--- a/fleet/harmony-fleet-operator/vendor/app.js
+++ b/fleet/harmony-fleet-operator/vendor/app.js
@@ -19,10 +19,21 @@ document.body.addEventListener('htmx:afterSwap', (event) => {
   });
 });
 
-// After a log panel loads its tail, scroll to the latest line.
-document.body.addEventListener('htmx:afterSwap', (event) => {
-  const el = event.target;
-  if (el && el.classList && el.classList.contains('logfeed')) {
-    el.scrollTop = el.scrollHeight;
-  }
+// Log panels re-fetch every 2s. Tail-follow only when the user is already at
+// the bottom, so polling doesn't yank them back down while they read history.
+// Record "was pinned" before the swap; honor it after.
+function logfeed(el) {
+  return el && el.classList && el.classList.contains('logfeed') ? el : null;
+}
+document.body.addEventListener('htmx:beforeSwap', (event) => {
+  const el = logfeed(event.target);
+  if (!el) return;
+  el.dataset.pinned =
+    el.scrollHeight - el.scrollTop - el.clientHeight < 40 ? '1' : '0';
+});
+document.body.addEventListener('htmx:afterSwap', (event) => {
+  const el = logfeed(event.target);
+  if (!el) return;
+  // Default (first load, no dataset) follows the tail.
+  if (el.dataset.pinned !== '0') el.scrollTop = el.scrollHeight;
 });