diff --git a/dashboard/web/src/components/hermes-ops-panel.tsx b/dashboard/web/src/components/hermes-ops-panel.tsx
index 7b3a0e2..fb38046 100644
--- a/dashboard/web/src/components/hermes-ops-panel.tsx
+++ b/dashboard/web/src/components/hermes-ops-panel.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import Link from 'next/link';
-import { AlertTriangle, CheckCircle2, Cloud, Copy, DatabaseBackup, ExternalLink, Gauge, HardDrive, RefreshCw, ShieldCheck, Timer, Wifi, Activity, CalendarClock, Link2 } from 'lucide-react';
+import { AlertTriangle, BookOpen, CheckCircle2, Cloud, Copy, DatabaseBackup, ExternalLink, Gauge, HardDrive, ListChecks, RefreshCw, ShieldCheck, Terminal, Timer, Wifi, Activity, CalendarClock, Link2 } from 'lucide-react';
 import { Badge, Button } from '@/components/ui/Primitives';
 import { SectionCard } from '@/components/hermes-shell';
 import { api, type HermesOpsInstance, type HermesOpsSnapshot } from '@/lib/api';
@@ -36,7 +36,16 @@ function StatusRow({ label, value, ok }: { label: string; value: string; ok: boo
   );
 }
 
-function InstanceCard({ instance }: { instance: HermesOpsInstance }) {
+// SSH command per instance. Tailscale's `tailscale ssh` keeps it inside the
+// private mesh — never use raw `ssh` over public IP. The user side is fixed
+// per instance: root for Vijay, uma for Bheem (matches the runuser pattern
+// in the backend).
+function sshCommandFor(instance: HermesOpsInstance, tailscaleHost: string): string {
+  const user = instance.id === 'bheem' ? 'uma' : 'root';
+  return `tailscale ssh ${user}@${tailscaleHost}`;
+}
+
+function InstanceCard({ instance, tailscaleIp }: { instance: HermesOpsInstance; tailscaleIp: string | null }) {
   const score = [
     instance.gateway.active,
     instance.gateway.enabled,
@@ -98,11 +107,112 @@ function InstanceCard({ instance }: { instance: HermesOpsInstance }) {
           <Copy className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
           Copy URL
         </Button>
+        {tailscaleIp ? (
+          <Button
+            variant="ghost"
+            size="sm"
+            onClick={() => void navigator.clipboard.writeText(sshCommandFor(instance, tailscaleIp))}
+            title={sshCommandFor(instance, tailscaleIp)}
+          >
+            <Terminal className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+            Copy SSH command
+          </Button>
+        ) : null}
+        <Button asChild variant="ghost" size="sm">
+          {/* Deep link into the Task Ledger pre-filtered to this instance.
+              `?instance=<id>` is read by HermesInstanceProvider on mount and
+              wins over the localStorage selection for this navigation. */}
+          <Link href={`/hermes/tasks?instance=${instance.id}`}>
+            <ListChecks className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+            View tasks
+          </Link>
+        </Button>
+        <Button asChild variant="ghost" size="sm">
+          <a href="https://github.com/saravanakumardb/learning_ai_devops_tools/blob/main/docs/hermes-operations.md" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">
+            <BookOpen className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+            Open runbook
+          </a>
+        </Button>
       </div>
     </article>
   );
 }
 
+// Severity-tagged warnings (Phase 6 polish). The backend sends warnings as
+// plain strings today (not a contract change worth making just for this UI
+// affordance); we infer severity from leading tokens. Falls back to 'warn'
+// when no token is recognised — most ops messages are warnings.
+type Severity = 'info' | 'warn' | 'critical';
+const SEVERITY_ORDER: Severity[] = ['critical', 'warn', 'info'];
+
+function classifyWarning(message: string): Severity {
+  const upper = message.toUpperCase();
+  if (upper.startsWith('CRITICAL') || upper.startsWith('ERROR') || upper.startsWith('FATAL')) return 'critical';
+  if (upper.startsWith('INFO') || upper.startsWith('OK')) return 'info';
+  return 'warn';
+}
+
+function severityVariant(s: Severity): 'error' | 'warning' | 'info' {
+  if (s === 'critical') return 'error';
+  if (s === 'warn') return 'warning';
+  return 'info';
+}
+
+function RecentAlerts({ alerts }: { alerts: string[] }) {
+  const [filter, setFilter] = useState<Severity | 'all'>('all');
+  const tagged = useMemo(
+    () => alerts.map((message, idx) => ({ id: `${idx}-${message}`, message, severity: classifyWarning(message) })),
+    [alerts],
+  );
+  const counts = useMemo(() => {
+    const acc: Record<Severity, number> = { info: 0, warn: 0, critical: 0 };
+    for (const a of tagged) acc[a.severity]++;
+    return acc;
+  }, [tagged]);
+  const visible = filter === 'all' ? tagged : tagged.filter((a) => a.severity === filter);
+
+  return (
+    <div className="rounded-2xl border border-[var(--bl-border)] bg-[var(--bl-surface-muted)] p-4">
+      <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center justify-between gap-2">
+        <div className="flex items-center gap-2 text-sm font-medium text-[var(--bl-text-primary)]">
+          <AlertTriangle className="h-4 w-4 text-[var(--bl-warning)]" />
+          Recent sanitized alerts
+        </div>
+        <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-1" role="radiogroup" aria-label="Severity filter">
+          {(['all', ...SEVERITY_ORDER] as const).map((opt) => {
+            const active = filter === opt;
+            const label = opt === 'all'
+              ? `All (${tagged.length})`
+              : `${opt} (${counts[opt]})`;
+            return (
+              <button
+                key={opt}
+                type="button"
+                role="radio"
+                aria-checked={active}
+                onClick={() => setFilter(opt)}
+                className={`rounded-full border px-2 py-0.5 text-xs ${active ? 'border-[var(--bl-accent)] bg-[var(--bl-accent)] text-[var(--bl-text-on-accent,white)]' : 'border-[var(--bl-border)] bg-[var(--bl-surface-card)] text-[var(--bl-text-secondary)] hover:border-[var(--bl-accent)]'}`}
+              >
+                {label}
+              </button>
+            );
+          })}
+        </div>
+      </div>
+      <div className="mt-3 space-y-2">
+        {visible.length ? visible.map((a) => (
+          <div key={a.id} className="flex items-start gap-2 rounded-xl bg-[var(--bl-surface-card)] px-3 py-2 text-sm text-[var(--bl-text-secondary)]">
+            <Badge variant={severityVariant(a.severity)}>{a.severity}</Badge>
+            <span className="min-w-0 break-words">{a.message}</span>
+          </div>
+        )) : (
+          <div className="rounded-xl bg-[var(--bl-surface-card)] px-3 py-2 text-sm text-[var(--bl-text-secondary)]">No alerts at this severity.</div>
+        )}
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
 export function HermesOpsPanel() {
   const [snapshot, setSnapshot] = useState<HermesOpsSnapshot | null>(null);
   const [previousSnapshot, setPreviousSnapshot] = useState<HermesOpsSnapshot | null>(null);
@@ -345,19 +455,7 @@ export function HermesOpsPanel() {
           )}
 
           <div className="grid gap-4 xl:grid-cols-[1fr_1fr]">
-            <div className="rounded-2xl border border-[var(--bl-border)] bg-[var(--bl-surface-muted)] p-4">
-              <div className="flex items-center gap-2 text-sm font-medium text-[var(--bl-text-primary)]">
-                <AlertTriangle className="h-4 w-4 text-[var(--bl-warning)]" />
-                Recent sanitized alerts
-              </div>
-              <div className="mt-3 space-y-2">
-                {snapshot.recentAlerts.length ? snapshot.recentAlerts.map((warning) => (
-                  <div key={warning} className="rounded-xl bg-[var(--bl-surface-card)] px-3 py-2 text-sm text-[var(--bl-text-secondary)]">{warning}</div>
-                )) : (
-                  <div className="rounded-xl bg-[var(--bl-surface-card)] px-3 py-2 text-sm text-[var(--bl-text-secondary)]">No recent alerts.</div>
-                )}
-              </div>
-            </div>
+            <RecentAlerts alerts={snapshot.recentAlerts} />
 
             <div className="rounded-2xl border border-[var(--bl-border)] bg-[var(--bl-surface-muted)] p-4">
               <div className="flex items-center gap-2 text-sm font-medium text-[var(--bl-text-primary)]">
@@ -383,7 +481,7 @@ export function HermesOpsPanel() {
 
           <div className="grid gap-4 xl:grid-cols-2">
             {snapshot.instances.map((instance) => (
-              <InstanceCard key={instance.id} instance={instance} />
+              <InstanceCard key={instance.id} instance={instance} tailscaleIp={snapshot.tailscaleIp} />
             ))}
           </div>
 
diff --git a/dashboard/web/src/lib/hermes-instance-context.tsx b/dashboard/web/src/lib/hermes-instance-context.tsx
index abfde18..d340c8b 100644
--- a/dashboard/web/src/lib/hermes-instance-context.tsx
+++ b/dashboard/web/src/lib/hermes-instance-context.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 'use client';
 
 import { createContext, useCallback, useContext, useEffect, useMemo, useState, type ReactNode } from 'react';
+import { useSearchParams } from 'next/navigation';
 import type { HermesInstanceFilter } from './hermes';
 
 // Persisted across navigation so the switcher choice sticks. Bumping the key
@@ -36,9 +37,28 @@ export function HermesInstanceProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
   // agree (avoids hydration mismatch). After mount we read the persisted value.
   const [selectedInstance, setSelectedInstanceState] = useState<HermesInstanceFilter>(DEFAULT_FILTER);
 
+  // Deep-link hydration: `?instance=vijay` (or `bheem` / `all`) wins over
+  // localStorage on first mount so links from the ops panel can open a pane
+  // pre-filtered to the relevant instance. We don't auto-strip the param —
+  // the URL stays meaningful for back/forward and copy-paste.
+  const searchParams = useSearchParams();
+
   useEffect(() => {
+    const fromUrl = searchParams?.get('instance');
+    if (fromUrl && (VALID_FILTERS as string[]).includes(fromUrl)) {
+      const next = fromUrl as HermesInstanceFilter;
+      setSelectedInstanceState(next);
+      try {
+        if (typeof window !== 'undefined') window.localStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEY, next);
+      } catch {
+        // ignore
+      }
+      return;
+    }
     setSelectedInstanceState(readPersisted());
-  }, []);
+    // We deliberately depend on the search params object so navigations that
+    // change `?instance=` re-apply.
+  }, [searchParams]);
 
   const setSelectedInstance = useCallback((next: HermesInstanceFilter) => {
     setSelectedInstanceState(next);
diff --git a/docs/hermes_dashboard_v2_roadmap.md b/docs/hermes_dashboard_v2_roadmap.md
index 21748cb..05c71e4 100644
--- a/docs/hermes_dashboard_v2_roadmap.md
+++ b/docs/hermes_dashboard_v2_roadmap.md
@@ -132,12 +132,12 @@ This is the biggest operational asymmetry and the reason half the ops-panel warn
 
 ## Phase 6 — Mission Control UX polish (G6)
 
-- [ ] Severity-tag warnings (info/warn/critical) and add a severity filter to the ops panel.
-- [ ] Trend cards: alert volume and backup-freshness across recent refreshes (per instance).
-- [ ] Deep links from the ops panel → Task Ledger filtered to the relevant instance/most-recent work.
-- [ ] Per-instance action rows beyond copy-link/open-dashboard: open-runbook, copy SSH/tunnel command, "how to restart this gateway".
-- [ ] Optional dark/light theme toggle if the shell supports it.
-- [ ] Unified alerts feed across both instances on the overview.
+- [x] Severity-tag warnings (info/warn/critical) and add a severity filter to the ops panel. *(`RecentAlerts` component classifies each warning by leading token (CRITICAL/ERROR/FATAL → critical; INFO/OK → info; default → warn) and renders a colour-coded badge; a per-severity radiogroup filter sits in the panel header with live counts. UI-only — no backend contract change.)*
+- [ ] Trend cards: alert volume and backup-freshness across recent refreshes (per instance). *(Deferred — needs client-side history persistence across refreshes; not enough value yet to justify the localStorage state machine.)*
+- [x] Deep links from the ops panel → Task Ledger filtered to the relevant instance/most-recent work. *(Per-instance "View tasks" button on each ops-panel `InstanceCard` links to `/hermes/tasks?instance=<id>`. `HermesInstanceProvider` now hydrates from the `?instance=` URL param on mount (winning over the persisted localStorage selection) and keeps the param meaningful for back/forward + copy-paste.)*
+- [x] Per-instance action rows beyond copy-link/open-dashboard: open-runbook, copy SSH/tunnel command, "how to restart this gateway". *(InstanceCard now exposes "Copy SSH command" (Tailscale-scoped: `tailscale ssh root@<tailscale-ip>` for Vijay, `tailscale ssh uma@<tailscale-ip>` for Bheem — never raw `ssh`), "View tasks" deep link, and "Open runbook" pointing at `docs/hermes-operations.md`. "How to restart this gateway" is intentionally a runbook link rather than a button — restarting is a privileged action that should go through the runbook, not the dashboard.)*
+- [ ] Optional dark/light theme toggle if the shell supports it. *(Deferred — design system uses CSS custom properties throughout (`var(--bl-*)`) so a toggle is feasible, but the shell doesn't expose a switch primitive yet.)*
+- [ ] Unified alerts feed across both instances on the overview. *(Partially achieved by `recentAlerts` + the new severity filter on the ops panel; full per-instance roll-up of telemetry watchdog alerts is queued behind a UI consumer for the new `/api/hermes/telemetry/:instance` endpoint.)*
 
 ## Phase 7 — Security & access (G8)
 
@@ -192,8 +192,8 @@ Update only with evidence (source review, tests, build output, or browser/VM ver
 - [x] Phase 3 — Real telemetry ingestion + Products pane converted (Task Ledger / Agents / History deferred — depend on JSONL session pipeline, see Phase 3 notes)
 - [ ] Phase 4 — Bheem/Uma parity (backup, watchdog, restore drill)
 - [x] Phase 5 — App/CI hardening (P0/P1/P2 done; P2 follow-ups in DEPLOYMENT.md mitigation roadmap remain)
-- [ ] Phase 6 — UX polish
-- [ ] Phase 7 — Security & access
+- [x] Phase 6 — UX polish (severity tags + deep links + per-instance actions; trend cards + theme toggle deferred)
+- [x] Phase 7 — Security & access (auth on hermes routes + privacy stance documented; redact_secrets/redact_pii decision deferred)
 - [ ] Phase 8 — Notifications & Telegram
 
 ## Decisions (resolved 2026-05-30)