diff --git a/lyra/modes.py b/lyra/modes.py
index 7162950..0214061 100644
--- a/lyra/modes.py
+++ b/lyra/modes.py
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ _BASE = ("journal_write", "note")
 # The full live cash-game toolset (incl. Brian's mental-game rituals).
 _CASH_TOOLS = _BASE + _LOOKUPS + (
     "start_session", "add_buyin", "log_stack", "log_hand", "record_hand",
-    "add_read", "analyze_spot", "session_stats", "end_session", "generate_recap",
-    "scar_note", "confidence_bank", "alligator_blood", "reset_ritual",
+    "add_read", "analyze_spot", "session_stats", "session_state", "end_session",
+    "generate_recap", "scar_note", "confidence_bank", "alligator_blood", "reset_ritual",
 )
 
 # Talk mode also gets start_session as the *entry point*: opening a session from a
@@ -71,6 +71,13 @@ question, call analyze_spot and report its numbers — never eyeball board math.
 session current as the night goes; you can pull session_stats or a player's profile whenever \
 it helps. When he's ready to leave, end_session, and write the recap if he wants it.
 
+Everything you log appears on Brian's live HUD (the Session view) — stack, live net, \
+hands, villains, the confidence bank, the scar notes, and whether Alligator Blood is on. \
+That HUD and you read the SAME data. So when he asks where he's at — his stack, his live \
+net, what's in the bank tonight, whether gator mode is on — call session_state and answer \
+from what it returns, never from memory. You can point him at the HUD too ("it's on your \
+Session screen"), but you can always just tell him.
+
 BRIAN'S RITUALS — his mental-game system. Run them, don't just reference them:
 • SCAR NOTE (scar_note) — a painful, instructive mistake to study. Log it when he punts, \
 gets over-attached, or leaks — and classify it honestly: punt (his error), cooler \
diff --git a/lyra/tools.py b/lyra/tools.py
index fd6946d..1afb114 100644
--- a/lyra/tools.py
+++ b/lyra/tools.py
@@ -187,6 +187,29 @@ def _end_session(args: dict, ctx: dict) -> str:
     return f"Session #{s['id']} closed — net {s['net']:+.0f} over {s['hours']}h{hourly}."
 
 
+def _session_state(args: dict, ctx: dict) -> str:
+    h = poker.hud()
+    if not h:
+        return "No live session right now."
+    s, st, r = h["session"], h["stack"], h["rituals"]
+    L = [f"{s.get('stakes') or '?'} {s.get('game') or ''} @ {s.get('venue') or '?'} "
+         f"— {h['stats']['hands_logged']} hands logged"]
+    if st.get("current") is not None:
+        L.append(f"Stack ${st['current']:g} (in {st['buy_in']:g}, live net {st['net']:+.0f})")
+    else:
+        L.append(f"Stack not logged yet (in {st['buy_in']:g})")
+    L.append("🐊 Alligator Blood is ON" if r["alligator"] else "Alligator Blood: off")
+    if r["confidence"]:
+        L.append("Confidence bank: " + " | ".join(c["content"] for c in r["confidence"][-4:]))
+    if r["scars"]:
+        L.append("Scar notes: " + " | ".join(
+            sc["content"] + (f" [{sc['classification']}]" if sc.get("classification") else "")
+            for sc in r["scars"][-4:]))
+    if r["resets"]:
+        L.append(f"{len(r['resets'])} reset(s) this session")
+    return "\n".join(L)
+
+
 def _session_stats(args: dict, ctx: dict) -> str:
     st = poker.session_stats()
     if not st:
@@ -402,6 +425,13 @@ TOOLS.update({
     "session_stats": {"handler": _session_stats, "spec": _f(
         "session_stats", "Get money + hand summary for the current/most-recent session.",
         {}, [])},
+    "session_state": {"handler": _session_state, "spec": _f(
+        "session_state",
+        "Read back the CURRENT live-session state — the same data Brian sees on his HUD: "
+        "stack, live net, whether Alligator Blood is on, and the scar notes / "
+        "confidence-bank entries so far. Use whenever he asks where he's at, what's in "
+        "the bank, his stack or net, or if gator mode is on — answer from THIS, not memory.",
+        {}, [])},
     "running_stats": {"handler": _running_stats, "spec": _f(
         "running_stats",
         "Cumulative results across closed sessions (net, $/hr, by stake). Optionally filter.",
diff --git a/tests/test_modes.py b/tests/test_modes.py
index b52e809..c42662a 100644
--- a/tests/test_modes.py
+++ b/tests/test_modes.py
@@ -159,6 +159,22 @@ def test_rituals_in_hud(lyra):
     assert len(r["scars"]) == 1 and len(r["confidence"]) == 1 and len(r["resets"]) == 1
 
 
+def test_session_state_readback(lyra):
+    _, poker, _, tools = lyra
+    assert "no live session" in tools.dispatch("session_state", {}, {}).lower()
+
+    poker.start_session(venue="Meadows", stakes="2/5", buy_in=500)
+    tools.dispatch("log_stack", {"amount": 720}, {})
+    tools.dispatch("confidence_bank", {"content": "great river fold"}, {})
+    tools.dispatch("alligator_blood", {"on": True}, {})
+
+    out = tools.dispatch("session_state", {}, {})
+    assert "720" in out            # current stack
+    assert "+220" in out or "220" in out  # live net
+    assert "Alligator Blood is ON" in out
+    assert "great river fold" in out
+
+
 def test_rituals_require_live_session(lyra):
     _, poker, _, tools = lyra
     # tools degrade gracefully (no exception) when nothing is open