diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 743c14bea3..4a99e28438 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ state/               volatile runtime signals; gitignored
   <id>.grok-turnend-token   firstmate-owned grok hook registry token for the task; removed by teardown
   <id>.kimi-turnend-token   firstmate-owned Kimi hook registry token for the task; removed by teardown
   <id>.parlay-listen-pid    background `parlay listen` pid from a best-effort Parlay chat-panel enrollment at spawn (bin/fm-spawn.sh header); killed and removed by teardown
-  <id>.meta          written by fm-spawn: window=, endpoint_task_id=, worktree=, project=, harness=, model=, effort=, kind=, mode=, yolo=, tasktmp=; kind=secondmate also records home= and projects=; a non-default runtime backend records further backend-specific fields (docs/configuration.md "Runtime backend"; bin/fm-backend.sh, section 8); fm-pr-check, including through fm-pr-merge, records one canonical pr= and the forge's pr_head= when available (GitHub pull requests and GitLab merge requests; docs/gitlab-merge-watch.md); fm-x-link appends x_request=, x_request_ts=, x_followups=, and optional x_platform=/x_reply_max_chars= for an X-mode-originated task (section 14)
+  <id>.meta          written by fm-spawn: window=, endpoint_task_id=, worktree=, project=, harness=, model=, effort=, kind=, mode=, yolo=, tasktmp=; kind=secondmate also records home= and projects=; a non-default runtime backend records further backend-specific fields (docs/configuration.md "Runtime backend"; bin/fm-backend.sh, section 8); optional label= is recorded only when --label was passed at spawn; fm-pr-check, including through fm-pr-merge, records one canonical pr= and the forge's pr_head= when available (GitHub pull requests and GitLab merge requests; docs/gitlab-merge-watch.md); fm-x-link appends x_request=, x_request_ts=, x_followups=, and optional x_platform=/x_reply_max_chars= for an X-mode-originated task (section 14)
   <id>.herdr-presentation  quarantinable attempt and restart-binding journal for Herdr's optional visual projection; never task or endpoint authority; see docs/herdr-backend.md "Optional presentation spaces"
   <id>.check.sh      authenticated slow poll; the watcher dispatches validated PR data and the byte-identified X shim through trusted repository scripts, runs registered custom checks from hash-validated private snapshots, and rejects every other state check without execution
   <id>.check-trust   private content binding created by fm-check-register.sh for an intentional custom check
diff --git a/bin/fm-spawn.sh b/bin/fm-spawn.sh
index 597893bfc0..c21c33fdcd 100755
--- a/bin/fm-spawn.sh
+++ b/bin/fm-spawn.sh
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # Spawn a direct report: a crewmate in a treehouse or Orca worktree, or a
 # secondmate in its isolated firstmate home.
-# Usage: fm-spawn.sh <task-id> <project-dir> [--harness <name>|harness|launch-command] [--model <name>] [--effort <level>] [--backend <name>] [--scout]
-#        fm-spawn.sh <task-id> [<firstmate-home>] [--harness <name>|harness|launch-command] [--model <name>] [--effort <level>] [--backend <name>] --secondmate
+# Usage: fm-spawn.sh <task-id> <project-dir> [--harness <name>|harness|launch-command] [--model <name>] [--effort <level>] [--backend <name>] [--label <string>] [--scout]
+#        fm-spawn.sh <task-id> [<firstmate-home>] [--harness <name>|harness|launch-command] [--model <name>] [--effort <level>] [--backend <name>] [--label <string>] --secondmate
 #   --harness <name> is the explicit per-spawn harness/profile adapter. The old
 #   positional harness arg still works for back-compat.
 #   --model <name> and --effort <low|medium|high|xhigh|max> are concrete profile
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@
 #   A backend spawn refusal (missing dependency, version gate, unauthenticated
 #   socket, or unsupported secondmate mode) is terminal for that selected backend;
 #   callers must surface it instead of silently retrying another backend.
+#   --label <string> overrides the default tab/window label for the spawned task.
+#   Without --label, the window is named by the task ID in the form fm-<task-id>.
+#   With --label, the window is named fm-<label> instead. Task meta conditionally
+#   records label= only when --label was passed at spawn; an absent label= means
+#   the default task-ID-derived label was used.
 #   A herdr crewmate or scout is placed in the exact workspace of the firstmate
 #   or secondmate process launching it, resolved from that process's own herdr
 #   pane rather than from a workspace label (herdr enforces no label uniqueness,
@@ -97,7 +102,7 @@
 # Batch dispatch: pass one or more `id=repo` pairs instead of a single <id> <project>, e.g.
 #     fm-spawn.sh fix-a-k3=projects/foo add-b-q7=projects/bar [--scout]
 #   Each pair re-execs this script in single-task mode, so the single path stays the only
-#   source of truth; shared --scout/--harness/--model/--effort/--backend applies to every pair.
+#   source of truth; shared --scout/--harness/--model/--effort/--backend/--label applies to every pair.
 #   If config/crew-dispatch.json exists, shared --harness is required for crewmate
 #   and scout batches. The loop lives here, in bash, so callers never hand-write a
 #   multi-task shell loop (the tool shell is zsh, which does not word-split unquoted
@@ -191,10 +196,12 @@ HARNESS_ARG=
 MODEL=
 EFFORT=
 BACKEND_ARG=
+LABEL_ARG=
 HARNESS_SET=0
 MODEL_SET=0
 EFFORT_SET=0
 BACKEND_SET=0
+LABEL_SET=0
 POS=()
 want_value=
 for a in "$@"; do
@@ -207,6 +214,7 @@ for a in "$@"; do
       model) MODEL=$a; MODEL_SET=1 ;;
       effort) EFFORT=$a; EFFORT_SET=1 ;;
       backend) BACKEND_ARG=$a; BACKEND_SET=1 ;;
+      label) LABEL_ARG=$a; LABEL_SET=1 ;;
       *) echo "error: internal parser state for --$want_value" >&2; exit 1 ;;
     esac
     want_value=
@@ -223,6 +231,8 @@ for a in "$@"; do
     --effort=*) EFFORT=${a#--effort=}; EFFORT_SET=1 ;;
     --backend) want_value=backend ;;
     --backend=*) BACKEND_ARG=${a#--backend=}; BACKEND_SET=1 ;;
+    --label) want_value=label ;;
+    --label=*) LABEL_ARG=${a#--label=}; LABEL_SET=1 ;;
     *) POS+=("$a") ;;
   esac
 done
@@ -231,6 +241,7 @@ done
 [ "$MODEL_SET" -eq 0 ] || [ -n "$MODEL" ] || { echo "error: --model requires a non-empty value" >&2; exit 1; }
 [ "$EFFORT_SET" -eq 0 ] || [ -n "$EFFORT" ] || { echo "error: --effort requires a non-empty value" >&2; exit 1; }
 [ "$BACKEND_SET" -eq 0 ] || [ -n "$BACKEND_ARG" ] || { echo "error: --backend requires a non-empty value" >&2; exit 1; }
+[ "$LABEL_SET" -eq 0 ] || [ -n "$LABEL_ARG" ] || { echo "error: --label requires a non-empty value" >&2; exit 1; }
 case "$EFFORT" in
   ''|low|medium|high|xhigh|max) ;;
   *) echo "error: --effort must be one of low, medium, high, xhigh, max" >&2; exit 1 ;;
@@ -978,7 +989,11 @@ herdr_projection_existing_meta_allows_flat() {  # <meta>
   esac
 }
 
-W="fm-$ID"
+if [ -n "$LABEL_ARG" ]; then
+  W="fm-$LABEL_ARG"
+else
+  W="fm-$ID"
+fi
 case "$BACKEND" in
   tmux)
     SES=$(fm_backend_tmux_container_ensure)
@@ -1623,6 +1638,7 @@ META_WINDOW=$T
   echo "model=${MODEL:-default}"
   echo "effort=${EFFORT:-default}"
   [ -z "${BUSY_GEN:-}" ] || echo "busy_gen=$BUSY_GEN"
+  [ -z "$LABEL_ARG" ] || echo "label=$LABEL_ARG"
   # backend= is written only for a non-default (non-tmux) backend, so the
   # default path's meta stays byte-identical (absent backend= means tmux;
   # data/fm-backend-design-d7's P1 compatibility contract).
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 1d98172b9d..426ada81f4 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ A zellij spawn additionally version-gates against the installed `zellij` binary'
 A cmux spawn additionally version-gates against the installed `cmux` binary's version, requires `jq`, and requires the control socket to be reachable and accessible (see [`docs/cmux-backend.md`](cmux-backend.md) "Setup" for the one-time socket-access configuration this needs; Automation mode is the recommended socket control mode, with Password mode supported via `config/cmux-socket-password`), refusing loudly and non-retryably on a `cmuxOnly`/unauthenticated socket.
 A backend spawn refusal from a missing dependency, version gate, or unauthenticated socket is terminal for that selected backend; firstmate surfaces it as a blocker instead of silently retrying another backend.
 Task meta records `backend=` only for a non-default backend; an absent `backend=` means `tmux`, preserving existing default-path meta files.
+Task meta records `label=` only when `--label` was passed at spawn; an absent `label=` means the task ID was used as the default window label (window name is fm-<id> when --label is absent, fm-<label> when --label is passed).
 Every new task records `endpoint_task_id=` as the cleanup binding between the metadata filename and its opaque runtime endpoint.
 A herdr task additionally records `herdr_session=`, `herdr_workspace_id=`, `herdr_tab_id=`, and `herdr_pane_id=`.
 A zellij task additionally records `zellij_session=`, `zellij_tab_id=`, and `zellij_pane_id=`.