diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/features/data-recipes/learning-recipes/text-to-sql.json b/studio/frontend/src/features/data-recipes/learning-recipes/text-to-sql.json
index d0776d3ead..d2d9abbd41 100644
--- a/studio/frontend/src/features/data-recipes/learning-recipes/text-to-sql.json
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/features/data-recipes/learning-recipes/text-to-sql.json
@@ -147,8 +147,8 @@
       },
       {
         "id": "note_2",
-        "x": 1672,
-        "y": 1577,
+        "x": 1675.8410596026492,
+        "y": 1644.2185430463576,
         "width": 400,
         "node_type": "markdown_note",
         "name": "note_2",
@@ -158,8 +158,8 @@
       },
       {
         "id": "note_3",
-        "x": 2126,
-        "y": 1485,
+        "x": 2198.980132450331,
+        "y": 1723.1456953642385,
         "width": 400,
         "node_type": "markdown_note",
         "name": "note_3",
@@ -180,13 +180,13 @@
       },
       {
         "id": "vllm",
-        "x": 1880,
+        "x": 1939.5364238410598,
         "y": 781.25,
         "width": 400
       },
       {
         "id": "sql-pro",
-        "x": 1880,
+        "x": 1939.5364238410593,
         "y": 975.25,
         "width": 400
       },
@@ -216,20 +216,20 @@
       },
       {
         "id": "sql_prompt",
-        "x": 1666.887417218543,
-        "y": 1378.9437086092717,
+        "x": 1672.6490066225165,
+        "y": 1457.6854304635763,
         "width": 400
       },
       {
         "id": "sql",
-        "x": 2120,
-        "y": 1236.25,
+        "x": 2194.9006622516554,
+        "y": 1457.110927152318,
         "width": 400
       },
       {
         "id": "sql-validator",
-        "x": 2600,
-        "y": 1304.75,
+        "x": 2682.5827814569534,
+        "y": 1491.0413907284767,
         "width": 400
       }
     ],
diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/features/recipe-studio/utils/graph/derive-display-graph.ts b/studio/frontend/src/features/recipe-studio/utils/graph/derive-display-graph.ts
index 79ff76c772..45fbea828e 100644
--- a/studio/frontend/src/features/recipe-studio/utils/graph/derive-display-graph.ts
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/features/recipe-studio/utils/graph/derive-display-graph.ts
@@ -46,8 +46,14 @@ function normalizeEdge(
   configs: Record<string, NodeConfig>,
   layoutDirection: LayoutDirection,
   activeEdgeIds: Set<string>,
+  runningNodeId: string | null,
+  doneNodeIds: Set<string>,
 ): Edge {
-  const isActiveEdge = activeEdgeIds.has(edge.id);
+  const isActiveByRuntimeTarget =
+    Boolean(runningNodeId) &&
+    edge.target === runningNodeId &&
+    !isAuxEdge(edge);
+  const isActiveEdge = activeEdgeIds.has(edge.id) || isActiveByRuntimeTarget;
   const isAux = isAuxEdge(edge);
   if (isAux) {
     return {
@@ -58,13 +64,28 @@ function normalizeEdge(
     };
   }
 
-  const source = configs[edge.source];
-  const target = configs[edge.target];
+  const isActiveReversedRuntimeEdge =
+    Boolean(runningNodeId) &&
+    isActiveEdge &&
+    edge.source === runningNodeId &&
+    doneNodeIds.has(edge.target);
+  const displayEdge = isActiveReversedRuntimeEdge
+    ? {
+        ...edge,
+        source: edge.target,
+        target: edge.source,
+        sourceHandle: getDefaultDataSourceHandle(layoutDirection),
+        targetHandle: getDefaultDataTargetHandle(layoutDirection),
+      }
+    : edge;
+
+  const source = configs[displayEdge.source];
+  const target = configs[displayEdge.target];
   const semantic =
-    edge.type === "semantic" ||
+    displayEdge.type === "semantic" ||
     (Boolean(source && target) && isSemanticRelation(source, target));
-  const sourceHandleNormalized = normalizeRecipeHandleId(edge.sourceHandle);
-  const targetHandleNormalized = normalizeRecipeHandleId(edge.targetHandle);
+  const sourceHandleNormalized = normalizeRecipeHandleId(displayEdge.sourceHandle);
+  const targetHandleNormalized = normalizeRecipeHandleId(displayEdge.targetHandle);
   const semanticSourceDefault =
     source?.kind === "llm"
       ? getDefaultDataSourceHandle(layoutDirection)
@@ -104,11 +125,11 @@ function normalizeEdge(
   }
 
   return {
-    ...edge,
+    ...displayEdge,
     type: semantic ? "semantic" : "canvas",
     data: semantic
-      ? { ...(edge.data ?? {}), active: isActiveEdge }
-      : { ...(edge.data ?? {}), path: "smoothstep", active: isActiveEdge },
+      ? { ...(displayEdge.data ?? {}), active: isActiveEdge }
+      : { ...(displayEdge.data ?? {}), path: "smoothstep", active: isActiveEdge },
     sourceHandle,
     targetHandle,
     animated: isActiveEdge,
@@ -585,7 +606,14 @@ export function deriveDisplayGraph({
   return {
     nodes: [...displayNodes, ...auxNodes],
     edges: [...edges, ...auxEdges].map((edge) =>
-      normalizeEdge(edge, configs, layoutDirection, activeEdgeIds),
+      normalizeEdge(
+        edge,
+        configs,
+        layoutDirection,
+        activeEdgeIds,
+        runningNodeId,
+        doneNodeIds,
+      ),
     ),
   };
 }
diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/features/recipe-studio/utils/graph/runtime-visual-state.ts b/studio/frontend/src/features/recipe-studio/utils/graph/runtime-visual-state.ts
index e0c2045ee0..d36014d4c9 100644
--- a/studio/frontend/src/features/recipe-studio/utils/graph/runtime-visual-state.ts
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/features/recipe-studio/utils/graph/runtime-visual-state.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import type {
   RecipeExecutionStatus,
 } from "../../execution-types";
 import type { NodeConfig } from "../../types";
+import { extractRefs } from "../refs";
 
 const ACTIVE_STATUSES: ReadonlySet<RecipeExecutionStatus> = new Set([
   "pending",
@@ -35,6 +36,47 @@ function isAuxEdge(edge: Edge): boolean {
   return edge.source.startsWith("aux-") || edge.target.startsWith("aux-");
 }
 
+function collectTemplateRefs(config: NodeConfig | null): Set<string> {
+  if (!config) {
+    return new Set();
+  }
+  const refs = new Set<string>();
+  if (config.kind === "llm") {
+    for (const ref of extractRefs(config.prompt ?? "")) {
+      refs.add(ref.trim());
+    }
+    for (const ref of extractRefs(config.system_prompt ?? "")) {
+      refs.add(ref.trim());
+    }
+    if (typeof config.output_format === "string") {
+      for (const ref of extractRefs(config.output_format)) {
+        refs.add(ref.trim());
+      }
+    }
+    return refs;
+  }
+  if (config.kind === "expression") {
+    for (const ref of extractRefs(config.expr ?? "")) {
+      refs.add(ref.trim());
+    }
+  }
+  return refs;
+}
+
+function isReversedRuntimeReferenceEdge(input: {
+  edge: Edge;
+  runningNodeId: string;
+  runningTemplateRefs: Set<string>;
+  configs: Record<string, NodeConfig>;
+}): boolean {
+  const { edge, runningNodeId, runningTemplateRefs, configs } = input;
+  if (edge.source !== runningNodeId) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  const targetName = configs[edge.target]?.name?.trim() ?? "";
+  return Boolean(targetName && runningTemplateRefs.has(targetName));
+}
+
 function hasLiveExecutionSignal(execution: RecipeExecutionRecord): boolean {
   if (execution.lastEventId !== null) {
     return true;
@@ -121,6 +163,14 @@ export function deriveGraphRuntimeVisualState(input: {
 
   const activeEdgeIds = new Set<string>();
   if (runningNodeId) {
+    const runningConfig = configs[runningNodeId] ?? null;
+    const runningTemplateRefs = collectTemplateRefs(runningConfig);
+    for (const ref of runningTemplateRefs) {
+      const refNodeId = nameToNodeId.get(ref);
+      if (refNodeId && refNodeId !== runningNodeId) {
+        doneNodeIds.add(refNodeId);
+      }
+    }
     for (const upstreamNodeId of collectUpstreamDoneNodeIds({
       rootNodeId: runningNodeId,
       edges,
@@ -129,13 +179,23 @@ export function deriveGraphRuntimeVisualState(input: {
       doneNodeIds.add(upstreamNodeId);
     }
     for (const edge of edges) {
-      if (edge.target !== runningNodeId) {
-        continue;
-      }
       if (isAuxEdge(edge)) {
         continue;
       }
-      activeEdgeIds.add(edge.id);
+      if (edge.target === runningNodeId) {
+        activeEdgeIds.add(edge.id);
+        continue;
+      }
+      if (
+        isReversedRuntimeReferenceEdge({
+          edge,
+          runningNodeId,
+          runningTemplateRefs,
+          configs,
+        })
+      ) {
+        activeEdgeIds.add(edge.id);
+      }
     }
   }