diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/de.json b/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/de.json
index e1edeb01..a3b1760c 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/de.json
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/de.json
@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@
     "detach": "Abdocken",
     "redock": "Andocken",
     "windowTitle": "Mission Control",
+    "newSession": "Neue Sitzung",
     "clearFinished": "Erledigte entfernen",
     "empty": "Keine laufenden Aufgaben",
     "settings": "Einstellungen",
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/en.json b/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/en.json
index 4be89921..6220203c 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/en.json
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/en.json
@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@
     "detach": "Detach",
     "redock": "Re-dock",
     "windowTitle": "Mission Control",
+    "newSession": "New session",
     "clearFinished": "Clear finished",
     "empty": "No running tasks",
     "settings": "Settings",
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/MissionControl/ConPtyPaneViewModel.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/MissionControl/ConPtyPaneViewModel.cs
index ec6a9cca..3ae6ebef 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/MissionControl/ConPtyPaneViewModel.cs
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/MissionControl/ConPtyPaneViewModel.cs
@@ -7,14 +7,15 @@ using ClaudeDo.Ui.Services;
 namespace ClaudeDo.Ui.ViewModels.MissionControl;
 
 /// <summary>
-/// Command Center pane hosting an embedded ConPTY terminal for one task's interactive Claude
-/// session (task-based only — no ad-hoc/free sessions yet). Distinct from the streamed-log
+/// Command Center pane hosting an embedded ConPTY terminal for either one task's interactive
+/// Claude session, or an ad-hoc/free session in a user-chosen directory (no task, <see cref="TaskId"/>
+/// is null — ad-hoc panes are never deduped, unlike task-based ones). Distinct from the streamed-log
 /// <see cref="ClaudeDo.Ui.ViewModels.Islands.TaskMonitorViewModel"/> pane; the two coexist until
 /// the streaming interactive stack is removed.
 /// </summary>
 public sealed partial class ConPtyPaneViewModel : ViewModelBase, IMissionControlPane, IDisposable
 {
-    public string TaskId { get; }
+    public string? TaskId { get; }
 
     [ObservableProperty] private string _displayTitle;
 
@@ -26,7 +27,9 @@ public sealed partial class ConPtyPaneViewModel : ViewModelBase, IMissionControl
     /// <summary>Set by the host (Mission Control) to remove this pane from its collection.</summary>
     public Action<ConPtyPaneViewModel>? CloseRequested { get; set; }
 
-    public ConPtyPaneViewModel(string taskId, string displayTitle, TerminalLaunchDescriptor descriptor)
+    /// <summary>Task-based pane — dedup'd by <see cref="TaskId"/>. Pass null for an ad-hoc pane
+    /// (no task, never deduped); prefer <see cref="CreateAdHoc"/> at ad-hoc call sites.</summary>
+    public ConPtyPaneViewModel(string? taskId, string displayTitle, TerminalLaunchDescriptor descriptor)
     {
         TaskId = taskId;
         _displayTitle = displayTitle;
@@ -34,6 +37,10 @@ public sealed partial class ConPtyPaneViewModel : ViewModelBase, IMissionControl
         Terminal.Start(descriptor);
     }
 
+    /// <summary>Ad-hoc pane — no task, no dedup.</summary>
+    public static ConPtyPaneViewModel CreateAdHoc(string displayTitle, TerminalLaunchDescriptor descriptor)
+        => new(null, displayTitle, descriptor);
+
     private void OnTerminalPropertyChanged(object? sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
     {
         if (e.PropertyName == nameof(InteractiveTerminalViewModel.StartError) && Terminal.StartError is { Length: > 0 } error)
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/MissionControlViewModel.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/MissionControlViewModel.cs
index dd2e2e16..3e16f985 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/MissionControlViewModel.cs
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/MissionControlViewModel.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
 using System.Collections.Specialized;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using CommunityToolkit.Mvvm.ComponentModel;
 using CommunityToolkit.Mvvm.Input;
@@ -265,6 +266,30 @@ public sealed partial class MissionControlViewModel : ViewModelBase, IDisposable
         }
     }
 
+    // Ad-hoc (task-less) ConPTY session in a user-chosen directory. Never deduped — every call
+    // opens a fresh pane, unlike the task-based OpenConPtySessionAsync above.
+    public async System.Threading.Tasks.Task OpenAdHocConPtySessionAsync(string directory)
+    {
+        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(directory)) return;
+
+        var title = Path.GetFileName(directory.TrimEnd('\\', '/'));
+        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(title)) title = directory;
+
+        try
+        {
+            var spec = await _worker.GetAdHocLaunchSpecAsync(directory);
+            var descriptor = new TerminalLaunchDescriptor(spec.Cwd, spec.Exe, spec.Args, spec.Env);
+            var pane = ConPtyPaneViewModel.CreateAdHoc(title, descriptor);
+            pane.ErrorReported += OnConPtyPaneError;
+            pane.CloseRequested += CloseConPtySession;
+            ConPtySessions.Add(pane);
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            ErrorReported?.Invoke(Loc.T("missionControl.conptyLaunchFailed", ex.Message));
+        }
+    }
+
     private void OnConPtyPaneError(string message) => ErrorReported?.Invoke(message);
 
     private void CloseConPtySession(ConPtyPaneViewModel pane)
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/Views/MissionControl/MissionControlView.axaml b/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/Views/MissionControl/MissionControlView.axaml
index e2862888..0292abeb 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/Views/MissionControl/MissionControlView.axaml
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/Views/MissionControl/MissionControlView.axaml
@@ -32,6 +32,12 @@
                    LetterSpacing="1.4" VerticalAlignment="Center" />
         <StackPanel Grid.Column="1" Orientation="Horizontal" Spacing="8"
                     VerticalAlignment="Center">
+          <Button Classes="icon-btn"
+                  Click="OnNewSessionClicked"
+                  ToolTip.Tip="{loc:Tr missionControl.newSession}">
+            <PathIcon Data="{StaticResource Icon.Plus}" Width="15" Height="15"
+                      Foreground="{DynamicResource TextMuteBrush}"/>
+          </Button>
           <Button Classes="icon-btn"
                   Command="{Binding ToggleLayoutCommand}"
                   ToolTip.Tip="{Binding LayoutToggleLabel}">
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/Views/MissionControl/MissionControlView.axaml.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/Views/MissionControl/MissionControlView.axaml.cs
index 7665eb73..626acfee 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/Views/MissionControl/MissionControlView.axaml.cs
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/Views/MissionControl/MissionControlView.axaml.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ using System.Linq;
 using Avalonia.Controls;
 using Avalonia.Input;
 using Avalonia.Interactivity;
+using Avalonia.Platform.Storage;
 using Avalonia.VisualTree;
 using ClaudeDo.Ui.ViewModels;
 using ClaudeDo.Ui.ViewModels.Islands;
@@ -21,6 +22,23 @@ public partial class MissionControlView : UserControl
         AddHandler(DragDrop.DropEvent, OnPaneDrop);
     }
 
+    // Ad-hoc ConPTY session: the view owns the folder picker, the VM only takes the chosen path.
+    private async void OnNewSessionClicked(object? sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
+    {
+        if (DataContext is not MissionControlViewModel vm) return;
+        var topLevel = TopLevel.GetTopLevel(this);
+        if (topLevel is null) return;
+
+        var folders = await topLevel.StorageProvider.OpenFolderPickerAsync(new FolderPickerOpenOptions
+        {
+            Title = "Choose a directory",
+            AllowMultiple = false,
+        });
+        if (folders.Count == 0) return;
+
+        await vm.OpenAdHocConPtySessionAsync(folders[0].Path.LocalPath);
+    }
+
     private void OnPaneDragOver(object? sender, DragEventArgs e)
     {
         var dt = e.DataTransfer;
diff --git a/tests/ClaudeDo.Ui.Tests/ViewModels/MissionControlViewModelTests.cs b/tests/ClaudeDo.Ui.Tests/ViewModels/MissionControlViewModelTests.cs
index bfc4f05e..4268ce92 100644
--- a/tests/ClaudeDo.Ui.Tests/ViewModels/MissionControlViewModelTests.cs
+++ b/tests/ClaudeDo.Ui.Tests/ViewModels/MissionControlViewModelTests.cs
@@ -341,6 +341,71 @@ public class MissionControlViewModelTests : IDisposable
         Assert.Empty(vm.Panes);
     }
 
+    private sealed class ThrowingAdHocLaunchSpecWorker : StubWorkerClient
+    {
+        public override Task<LaunchSpec> GetAdHocLaunchSpecAsync(string directory, CancellationToken ct = default)
+            => throw new InvalidOperationException("bad directory");
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task OpenAdHocConPtySessionAsync_AddsPane_TitleFromDirectoryLeaf()
+    {
+        var worker = new FakeWorker();
+        using var vm = BuildVm(worker);
+
+        await vm.OpenAdHocConPtySessionAsync(Path.Combine("C:", "Some", "Path", "MyProject"));
+
+        Assert.Single(vm.ConPtySessions);
+        Assert.Null(vm.ConPtySessions[0].TaskId);
+        Assert.Equal("MyProject", vm.ConPtySessions[0].DisplayTitle);
+        Assert.Single(vm.Panes);
+        Assert.Same(vm.ConPtySessions[0], vm.Panes[0]);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task OpenAdHocConPtySessionAsync_TwoOpens_NeverDeduped_YieldsTwoPanes()
+    {
+        var worker = new FakeWorker();
+        using var vm = BuildVm(worker);
+
+        var dir = Path.Combine("C:", "Some", "Path");
+        await vm.OpenAdHocConPtySessionAsync(dir);
+        await vm.OpenAdHocConPtySessionAsync(dir);
+
+        Assert.Equal(2, vm.ConPtySessions.Count);
+        Assert.Equal(2, vm.Panes.Count);
+        Assert.All(vm.ConPtySessions, s => Assert.Null(s.TaskId));
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task OpenAdHocConPtySessionAsync_WorkerThrows_RaisesErrorReported_NoPaneAdded()
+    {
+        var worker = new ThrowingAdHocLaunchSpecWorker();
+        using var vm = BuildVm(worker);
+        string? error = null;
+        vm.ErrorReported += msg => error = msg;
+
+        await vm.OpenAdHocConPtySessionAsync(Path.Combine("C:", "Some", "Path"));
+
+        Assert.Empty(vm.ConPtySessions);
+        Assert.Empty(vm.Panes);
+        Assert.NotNull(error);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task CloseConPtySession_RemovesAdHocPane_FromConPtySessionsAndPanes()
+    {
+        var worker = new FakeWorker();
+        using var vm = BuildVm(worker);
+        await vm.OpenAdHocConPtySessionAsync(Path.Combine("C:", "Some", "Path"));
+        var pane = vm.ConPtySessions[0];
+
+        pane.CloseCommand.Execute(null);
+
+        Assert.Empty(vm.ConPtySessions);
+        Assert.Empty(vm.Panes);
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void ToggleLayoutCommand_FlipsIsFocusMode()
     {