diff --git a/tailscalectl/TailscaleWidget.qml b/tailscalectl/TailscaleWidget.qml
index 1a25c30..9c54120 100644
--- a/tailscalectl/TailscaleWidget.qml
+++ b/tailscalectl/TailscaleWidget.qml
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ PluginComponent {
     property var peers: []
     property string _copyText: ""
     property int _copyIndex: 0
-    property bool _pendingToggle: false  // transient one-shot for post-action verification (to be removed in first-principles refactor)
 
     layerNamespacePlugin: "tailscalectl"
     popoutWidth: 360
@@ -34,11 +33,11 @@ PluginComponent {
 
         onExited: (code, status) => {
             if (code !== 0) {
-                var action = root.isConnected ? "disconnect" : "connect"
-                var detail = toggleProcess.stderr.text.trim()
-                ToastService.showError("tailscalectl", TailscaleLib.formatError(action, detail))
+                var action = root.isConnected ? "disconnect" : "connect";
+                var detail = toggleProcess.stderr.text.trim();
+                ToastService.showError("tailscalectl", TailscaleLib.formatError(action, detail));
             }
-            statusCheck.running = true
+            root.refreshStatus();
         }
     }
 
@@ -66,10 +65,10 @@ PluginComponent {
 
         onExited: (code, status) => {
             if (code !== 0) {
-                var detail = exitNodeProcess.stderr.text.trim()
-                ToastService.showError("tailscalectl", TailscaleLib.formatError("set", detail))
+                var detail = exitNodeProcess.stderr.text.trim();
+                ToastService.showError("tailscalectl", TailscaleLib.formatError("set", detail));
             }
-            statusCheck.running = true
+            root.refreshStatus();
         }
     }
 
@@ -95,19 +94,22 @@ PluginComponent {
                 ToastService.showError("tailscalectl", TailscaleLib.formatError("status"))
             }
 
-            // Post-action verification: if a toggle was requested, use the fresh state we just received.
-            if (root._pendingToggle) {
-                root._pendingToggle = false
-                toggleProcess.command = TailscaleLib.buildToggleCommand(root.isConnected)
-                toggleProcess.running = true
+            const cmd = TailscaleLib.commandForPendingAction(statusCheck._pendingAction, root.isConnected);
+            if (cmd) {
+                toggleProcess.command = cmd;
+                toggleProcess.running = true;
             }
+            statusCheck._pendingAction = null;
         }
     }
 
     function toggleTailscale() {
-        // Post-action verification: force a fresh status check, then act on the real ground truth.
-        root._pendingToggle = true
-        statusCheck.running = true
+        statusCheck._pendingAction = "toggle";
+        statusCheck.running = true;
+    }
+
+    function refreshStatus() {
+        statusCheck.running = true;
     }
 
     function setExitNode(hostname) {
diff --git a/tailscalectl/lib.js b/tailscalectl/lib.js
index 2879eac..c4493bc 100644
--- a/tailscalectl/lib.js
+++ b/tailscalectl/lib.js
@@ -125,7 +125,17 @@ function formatError(action, detail) {
     return base;
 }
 
-// CommonJS export for Node.js tests (ignored by QML)
-if (typeof module !== "undefined" && module.exports) {
-    module.exports = { parsePeers, makeExitNodeCommand, findActiveExitNode, errorMessage, formatError, getStatusCommand, isValidExitNodeHostname, getClipboardCommands, buildToggleCommand, parseStatusResult, getStrings, shouldShowClearExitNode, isActiveExitNode }
+const PendingAction = Object.freeze({
+    TOGGLE: "toggle"
+});
+
+function commandForPendingAction(pending, freshIsConnected) {
+    if (pending === PendingAction.TOGGLE) {
+        return buildToggleCommand(freshIsConnected);
+    }
+    return null;
+}
+
+if (typeof module !== "undefined" && module.exports) {
+    module.exports = { parsePeers, makeExitNodeCommand, findActiveExitNode, errorMessage, formatError, getStatusCommand, isValidExitNodeHostname, getClipboardCommands, buildToggleCommand, parseStatusResult, getStrings, shouldShowClearExitNode, isActiveExitNode, PendingAction, commandForPendingAction };
 }
diff --git a/test/lib.test.js b/test/lib.test.js
index c5ab20b..0f6dce6 100644
--- a/test/lib.test.js
+++ b/test/lib.test.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { test } from "node:test"
 import assert from "node:assert"
 import lib from "../tailscalectl/lib.js"
-const { parsePeers, makeExitNodeCommand, findActiveExitNode, errorMessage, formatError, getStatusCommand, isValidExitNodeHostname, getClipboardCommands, buildToggleCommand, parseStatusResult, getStrings, shouldShowClearExitNode, isActiveExitNode } = lib
+const { parsePeers, makeExitNodeCommand, findActiveExitNode, errorMessage, formatError, getStatusCommand, isValidExitNodeHostname, getClipboardCommands, buildToggleCommand, parseStatusResult, getStrings, shouldShowClearExitNode, isActiveExitNode, PendingAction, commandForPendingAction } = lib
 
 /*
  * Unit tests for the pure functions exported from lib.js.
@@ -151,7 +151,17 @@ test("buildToggleCommand treats null and undefined as disconnected", () => {
     assert.deepStrictEqual(buildToggleCommand(undefined), ["tailscale", "up"])
 })
 
-// --- parseStatusResult ---
+test("commandForPendingAction returns toggle command when pending is TOGGLE and passes through buildToggleCommand logic", () => {
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(commandForPendingAction(PendingAction.TOGGLE, true), ["tailscale", "down"]);
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(commandForPendingAction(PendingAction.TOGGLE, false), ["tailscale", "up"]);
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(commandForPendingAction(PendingAction.TOGGLE, null), ["tailscale", "up"]);
+});
+
+test("commandForPendingAction returns null for no pending action or unknown pending value", () => {
+    assert.strictEqual(commandForPendingAction(null, true), null);
+    assert.strictEqual(commandForPendingAction(undefined, false), null);
+    assert.strictEqual(commandForPendingAction("something-else", true), null);
+});
 
 test("parseStatusResult produces correct state from valid JSON", () => {
     const json = JSON.stringify({