diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 15895d3..f0e42fe 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -23,6 +23,47 @@ skip versions are the composition of each intervening adjacent
 release's steps in order — no A-to-B path is pre-computed beyond
 that.
 
+## 0.31.1 — 2026-05-29
+
+**Patch — admin Users tab + header UX polish. Visual only: CSS plus
+markup/structure in `Admin.jsx` (no API, schema, config, overlay, or
+secret change). A plain frontend rebuild applies it.**
+
+Two latent CSS defects fixed:
+
+- **`.invite-badge` had no rule.** The "(pending invite)" marker on
+  admin-created-but-unclaimed user rows rendered as bare parenthetical
+  text. It's now a quiet amber pill, consistent with the other status
+  badges.
+- **`.btn-link-quiet` never reset native button chrome.** Used as a
+  bare link-style `<button>` (admin Revoke / Grant / Remove, the modal
+  close ×, and link-buttons in Login / BetaPending), it kept the
+  browser's default grey button box. The reset that the `.otc-login`
+  scope already carried is folded into the base rule, so every
+  `btn-link-quiet` is now a true quiet link.
+
+Users-tab cleanups, all token-based:
+
+- Table column headers no longer wrap (`WRITE-MUTED` was breaking onto
+  two lines); timestamps render as an intentional date-over-time stack
+  instead of a ragged mid-value wrap; the duplicated email in a row's
+  subline (the handle already *is* the email when there's no Gitea
+  login) is de-duplicated; the "Create user + invite" action moves
+  flush-right beside the title; inline DB-column references in the
+  intro copy read as quiet chips.
+
+Header:
+
+- **Inbox (§15.2) trigger restyled for the dark header.** It carried a
+  light-surface treatment — a `gray-200` border and a `gray-50` hover —
+  that rendered as a pale box in the nav and went white-background /
+  white-icon (invisible) on hover. It now speaks the nav-link
+  vocabulary (`.header-about` et al.): borderless, `gray-300` icon
+  brightening to white on a faint translucent hover, unread badge
+  unchanged.
+
+Upgrade steps: none. **SHOULD** deploy as a normal code deploy.
+
 ## 0.31.0 — 2026-05-29
 
 **Minor — meta-only repository topology (SPEC §1, ROADMAP #36). RFCs no
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 26bea73..f176c94 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.31.0
+0.31.1
diff --git a/frontend/package.json b/frontend/package.json
index a71e77b..773293b 100644
--- a/frontend/package.json
+++ b/frontend/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "rfc-app-frontend",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "0.31.0",
+  "version": "0.31.1",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "vite",
diff --git a/frontend/src/App.css b/frontend/src/App.css
index db6f42e..5fa2050 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.css
+++ b/frontend/src/App.css
@@ -542,7 +542,10 @@
   font-size: var(--text-md); font-weight: 600; text-decoration: none;
 }
 .beta-pending-actions .btn-primary:hover { background: var(--c-gray-700); }
-.btn-link-quiet { color: var(--c-gray-500); text-decoration: none; font-size: var(--text-base); }
+.btn-link-quiet {
+  background: none; border: none; padding: 0; cursor: pointer;
+  color: var(--c-gray-500); text-decoration: none; font-size: var(--text-base);
+}
 .btn-link-quiet:hover { color: var(--c-ink); text-decoration: underline; }
 
 /* v0.8.0 — thin "your beta access is in review" banner. Shown on every
@@ -1607,12 +1610,18 @@
 
 /* ---- §15 / Slice 6: inbox, badge, toasts ---- */
 
+/* Lives on the dark header — so it speaks the nav-link vocabulary
+   (.header-about et al.): borderless, gray-300 icon brightening to white
+   on a faint translucent-white hover. The old light-gray border + gray-50
+   hover were styled for a light surface and rendered as a pale box that
+   went white-on-white (invisible icon) on hover. */
 .inbox-trigger {
-  position: relative; background: transparent; border: 1px solid var(--c-gray-200);
-  border-radius: var(--radius-md); padding: 4px 10px; cursor: pointer; font-size: var(--text-lg);
-  margin-right: 12px;
+  position: relative; display: inline-flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;
+  background: transparent; border: none;
+  color: var(--c-gray-300); cursor: pointer;
+  padding: 5px 8px; border-radius: var(--radius-sm);
 }
-.inbox-trigger:hover { background: var(--c-gray-50); }
+.inbox-trigger:hover { color: var(--c-white); background: rgba(255,255,255,0.08); }
 .inbox-trigger .badge {
   position: absolute; top: -6px; right: -6px;
   background: #dc2626; color: white; font-size: var(--text-2xs);
@@ -1856,7 +1865,7 @@
 }
 .settings-table th, .admin-table th {
   text-align: left; padding: 6px 8px;
-  font-size: var(--text-xs); text-transform: uppercase;
+  font-size: var(--text-xs); text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;
   color: var(--c-gray-500); letter-spacing: 0.05em; font-weight: 600;
   border-bottom: 1px solid var(--c-gray-200);
 }
@@ -1937,7 +1946,21 @@
 .admin-tab-header h2 {
   margin: 0 0 4px; font-size: var(--text-xl); font-weight: 700;
 }
-.admin-tab-header p { margin: 0 0 24px; font-size: var(--text-base); }
+.admin-tab-header p { margin: 0 0 24px; font-size: var(--text-base); max-width: 70ch; line-height: var(--leading-normal); }
+/* Title row: heading on the left, primary action flush right. */
+.admin-tab-heading {
+  display: flex; align-items: flex-start; justify-content: space-between;
+  gap: var(--space-7); margin-bottom: var(--space-2);
+}
+.admin-tab-heading h2 { margin: 0; }
+.admin-tab-actions { flex-shrink: 0; }
+/* Inline DB-column references in admin copy read as quiet chips, not raw
+   monospace runs jammed against the sans body. */
+.admin-tab-header code {
+  font-family: var(--font-mono); font-size: var(--text-sm);
+  background: var(--c-gray-100); color: var(--c-gray-700);
+  padding: 1px 5px; border-radius: var(--radius-sm);
+}
 .admin-section-h {
   font-size: var(--text-base); text-transform: uppercase;
   letter-spacing: 0.05em; color: var(--c-gray-500);
@@ -1977,8 +2000,23 @@
 .allowlist-add .btn-primary:hover:not(:disabled) { background: var(--c-gray-700); }
 .allowlist-add .btn-primary:disabled { opacity: 0.5; cursor: not-allowed; }
 
-.user-cell { display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 1px; }
+.user-cell { display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 2px; }
+.user-cell-handle { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: var(--space-3); flex-wrap: wrap; }
 .user-handle { font-weight: 500; color: var(--c-gray-900); }
+/* "(pending invite)" — an unclaimed admin-created row. A quiet amber pill
+   so the admin spots it at a glance without it shouting. */
+.invite-badge {
+  font-size: var(--text-2xs); font-weight: 600;
+  text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.04em;
+  padding: 1px 6px; border-radius: var(--radius-pill);
+  background: var(--c-warning-bg); color: var(--c-warning-fg);
+  white-space: nowrap;
+}
+/* Timestamps: an intentional date-over-time stack rather than a ragged
+   mid-value wrap. nowrap keeps each line whole. */
+.user-when { white-space: nowrap; }
+.user-when-date { display: block; color: var(--c-gray-700); }
+.user-when-time { display: block; font-size: var(--text-xs); }
 .mute-toggle {
   display: inline-flex; align-items: center; gap: 6px;
   font-size: var(--text-base); cursor: pointer;
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Admin.jsx b/frontend/src/components/Admin.jsx
index 22e8e50..f47ddf7 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Admin.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Admin.jsx
@@ -181,7 +181,20 @@ function UsersTab() {
   return (
     <div className="admin-tab">
       <header className="admin-tab-header">
-        <h2>Users</h2>
+        <div className="admin-tab-heading">
+          <h2>Users</h2>
+          {/* v0.17.0 — roadmap item #16. The "Create user + invite"
+              affordance opens a modal that provisions a fresh users row
+              with the chosen role and sends an invite email with a
+              single-use claim link. */}
+          <div className="admin-tab-actions">
+            <button
+              type="button"
+              className="btn-primary"
+              onClick={() => setInviteModalOpen(true)}
+            >Create user + invite</button>
+          </div>
+        </div>
         <p className="muted">
           The pending bucket is the beta-access review queue (§6.1 /
           v0.8.0). Grant or revoke writes to <code>permission_events</code>
@@ -190,17 +203,6 @@ function UsersTab() {
           retain their v0.7.0 semantics — promote to admin to remove a
           user's ability to write without silencing them.
         </p>
-        {/* v0.17.0 — roadmap item #16. The "Create user + invite"
-            affordance opens a modal that provisions a fresh users row
-            with the chosen role and sends an invite email with a
-            single-use claim link. */}
-        <div className="admin-tab-actions">
-          <button
-            type="button"
-            className="btn-primary"
-            onClick={() => setInviteModalOpen(true)}
-          >Create user + invite</button>
-        </div>
       </header>
       {error && <p className="settings-note warning">{error}</p>}
       {inviteModalOpen && (
@@ -270,21 +272,27 @@ function UserRow({ user: u, busy, onChangeRole, onToggleMute, onFlipPermission }
   // the admin sees at a glance which rows are real users vs. unclaimed
   // invites.
   const pendingInvite = u.pending_invite
+  // When there's no gitea_login the handle already IS the email, so the
+  // subline would otherwise repeat it. Only append the email when it adds
+  // something the handle doesn't already show.
+  const showEmail = u.email && u.email !== handle
   return (
     <>
       <tr>
         <td>
           <div className="user-cell">
-            <span className="user-handle">{handle}</span>
-            {pendingInvite && (
-              <span
-                className="invite-badge"
-                title={`Admin-created invite; expires ${pendingInvite.expires_at}`}
-              >(pending invite)</span>
-            )}
+            <div className="user-cell-handle">
+              <span className="user-handle">{handle}</span>
+              {pendingInvite && (
+                <span
+                  className="invite-badge"
+                  title={`Admin-created invite; expires ${pendingInvite.expires_at}`}
+                >pending invite</span>
+              )}
+            </div>
             <span className="muted">
               {fullName || u.display_name}
-              {u.email ? ` · ${u.email}` : ''}
+              {showEmail ? ` · ${u.email}` : ''}
             </span>
           </div>
         </td>
@@ -317,8 +325,8 @@ function UserRow({ user: u, busy, onChangeRole, onToggleMute, onFlipPermission }
             <span className="muted">N/A</span>
           )}
         </td>
-        <td className="muted">{u.created_at || '—'}</td>
-        <td className="muted">{u.last_seen_at || '—'}</td>
+        <TimeCell value={u.created_at} />
+        <TimeCell value={u.last_seen_at} />
       </tr>
       {state === 'pending' && u.beta_request_reason ? (
         <tr className="user-row-reason">
@@ -334,6 +342,21 @@ function UserRow({ user: u, busy, onChangeRole, onToggleMute, onFlipPermission }
   )
 }
 
+// Render a "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" timestamp as an intentional date-over-time
+// stack (date prominent, time quiet below) rather than letting a narrow
+// column wrap the value mid-string. Falls back to an em-dash when absent.
+function TimeCell({ value }) {
+  if (!value) return <td className="muted">—</td>
+  const [date, ...rest] = String(value).split(' ')
+  const time = rest.join(' ')
+  return (
+    <td className="user-when">
+      <span className="user-when-date">{date}</span>
+      {time && <span className="user-when-time muted">{time}</span>}
+    </td>
+  )
+}
+
 function PermissionCell({ user: u, busy, onFlipPermission }) {
   const state = u.permission_state || 'granted'
   const decidedSuffix = u.permission_decided_at