diff --git a/frontend/src/components/nodes/RenderingNode.tsx b/frontend/src/components/nodes/RenderingNode.tsx
index 2d04466..bf5d65a 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/nodes/RenderingNode.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/nodes/RenderingNode.tsx
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ function RenderingNodeComponent({ id, data, width, height, selected }: Props) {
     const runIdRef = useRef(0)
     const loadingStartedAtRef = useRef<number | null>(null)
     const minLoadingTimeoutRef = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null>(null)
-    const isInitialRunRef = useRef(true)
     const { nodes, edges, setNodes, setEdges, sourceIds, updateData } = useAbstractNode<RenderingNodeData>(id, data ?? {})
     const viewportWidth = data?.viewportWidth ?? DEFAULT_VIEWPORT_WIDTH
     const viewportHeight = data?.viewportHeight ?? DEFAULT_VIEWPORT_HEIGHT
@@ -198,8 +197,7 @@ function RenderingNodeComponent({ id, data, width, height, selected }: Props) {
                 message: isAgentSource ? 'Run the Agent node to generate output.' : 'No content on connected configuration node',
             })
             setLoading(false)
-            if (!isInitialRunRef.current) endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
-            isInitialRunRef.current = false
+            endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
             return
         }
         if (incomingIds.length === 0) {
@@ -207,8 +205,7 @@ function RenderingNodeComponent({ id, data, width, height, selected }: Props) {
             setResolvedContent(null)
             setError(null)
             setLoading(false)
-            if (!isInitialRunRef.current) endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
-            isInitialRunRef.current = false
+            endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
             return
         }
 
@@ -219,7 +216,7 @@ function RenderingNodeComponent({ id, data, width, height, selected }: Props) {
         const run = async () => {
             loadingStartedAtRef.current = Date.now()
             setLoading(true)
-            if (!isInitialRunRef.current) startConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
+            startConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
             setError(null)
             try {
                 if (srcNode?.type === 'agent') {
@@ -231,8 +228,7 @@ function RenderingNodeComponent({ id, data, width, height, selected }: Props) {
                     setRenderedContent(html)
                     setError(null)
                     setLoading(false)
-                    if (!isInitialRunRef.current) endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
-                    isInitialRunRef.current = false
+                    endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
                     return
                 }
                 const configIdsUsed = new Set<string>()
@@ -507,8 +503,7 @@ function RenderingNodeComponent({ id, data, width, height, selected }: Props) {
                         setResolvedContent(null)
                         setError({ kind: 'render', message: `Nunjucks: ${nunjucksErr.message}` })
                         setLoading(false)
-                        if (!isInitialRunRef.current) endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
-                        isInitialRunRef.current = false
+                        endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
                         return
                     }
 
@@ -538,14 +533,12 @@ function RenderingNodeComponent({ id, data, width, height, selected }: Props) {
                                     minLoadingTimeoutRef.current = null
                                     if (!cancelled && thisRunId === runIdRef.current) {
                                         setLoading(false)
-                                        if (!isInitialRunRef.current) endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
-                                        isInitialRunRef.current = false
+                                        endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
                                     }
                                 }, remaining)
                             } else {
                                 setLoading(false)
-                                if (!isInitialRunRef.current) endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
-                                isInitialRunRef.current = false
+                                endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
                             }
                         }
                     }
@@ -555,8 +548,7 @@ function RenderingNodeComponent({ id, data, width, height, selected }: Props) {
                     setRenderedContent(null)
                     setError({ kind: 'render', message: err?.message ?? 'Render error' })
                     setLoading(false)
-                    if (!isInitialRunRef.current) endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
-                    isInitialRunRef.current = false
+                    endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -569,8 +561,7 @@ function RenderingNodeComponent({ id, data, width, height, selected }: Props) {
                 clearTimeout(minLoadingTimeoutRef.current)
                 minLoadingTimeoutRef.current = null
             }
-            if (!isInitialRunRef.current) endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
-            isInitialRunRef.current = false
+            endConnectionPathUpdate?.(id)
         }
         // Only re-run when inputs that affect the resolved output change (signatures + source). Debounced to avoid excessive re-renders while typing. retryCount triggers re-run on Retry.
     }, [id, sourceContent, configTypeId, configSignature, edgesSignature, variablesSignature, functionsSignature, dataSignature, viewportWidth, viewportHeight, retryCount, isAgentSource])