diff --git a/src/__tests__/home-listing-section.claw591.test.tsx b/src/__tests__/home-listing-section.claw591.test.tsx
index 43b08d01..1537cdde 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/home-listing-section.claw591.test.tsx
+++ b/src/__tests__/home-listing-section.claw591.test.tsx
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ describe("HomeListingSection", () => {
     expect(screen.queryByText("skills.sh")).toBeNull();
   });
 
-  it("hides unavailable Trending and falls back to the native New feed", async () => {
+  it("hides unavailable Trending and falls back to the Featured feed", async () => {
     render(<HomeListingSection initialListing={initialTrending([], false, "unavailable")} />);
 
     expect(screen.queryByRole("tab", { name: "Trending" })).toBeNull();
@@ -126,12 +126,14 @@ describe("HomeListingSection", () => {
       "Official",
       "New",
     ]);
-    expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "New" }).getAttribute("aria-selected")).toBe("true");
+    expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Featured" }).getAttribute("aria-selected")).toBe(
+      "true",
+    );
     expect(screen.queryByText("24-hour Trending unavailable")).toBeNull();
     await waitFor(() =>
       expect(convexQueryMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
         "skills:listPublicPageV4",
-        expect.objectContaining({ sort: "newest", createdAfter: expect.any(Number) }),
+        expect.objectContaining({ highlightedOnly: true }),
       ),
     );
   });
@@ -150,12 +152,26 @@ describe("HomeListingSection", () => {
       "Official",
       "New",
     ]);
-    expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "New" }).getAttribute("aria-selected")).toBe("true");
+    expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Featured" }).getAttribute("aria-selected")).toBe(
+      "true",
+    );
     expect(screen.queryByText("24-hour Trending unavailable")).toBeNull();
     expect(fetchCanonicalTrendingPageMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(convexQueryMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       "skills:listPublicPageV4",
-      expect.objectContaining({ sort: "newest", createdAfter: expect.any(Number) }),
+      expect.objectContaining({ highlightedOnly: true }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("returns from Plugins to Featured when Trending is unavailable", async () => {
+    render(<HomeListingSection initialListing={initialTrending([], false, "unavailable")} />);
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Plugins" }));
+    expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "New" }).getAttribute("aria-selected")).toBe("true");
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Skills" }));
+    expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Featured" }).getAttribute("aria-selected")).toBe(
+      "true",
     );
   });
 
diff --git a/src/__tests__/skills-index.claw591.test.tsx b/src/__tests__/skills-index.claw591.test.tsx
index a5b3a86b..e930e6f1 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/skills-index.claw591.test.tsx
+++ b/src/__tests__/skills-index.claw591.test.tsx
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ describe("SkillsIndex", () => {
     expect(screen.queryByText(/Not scanned by ClawHub/i)).toBeNull();
   });
 
-  it("hides disabled Trending and falls back to the native New feed", async () => {
+  it("hides disabled Trending and falls back to the Featured feed", async () => {
     fetchCatalogDiscoveryCapabilitiesMock.mockResolvedValue({
       apiVersion: 0,
       canonicalTrendingEnabled: false,
@@ -144,10 +144,14 @@ describe("SkillsIndex", () => {
 
     await waitFor(() => expect(screen.queryByRole("radio", { name: "Trending" })).toBeNull());
     expect(tabLabels()).toEqual(["Featured", "Official", "New"]);
-    expect(screen.getByRole("radio", { name: "New" }).getAttribute("aria-checked")).toBe("true");
+    expect(screen.getByRole("radio", { name: "Featured" }).getAttribute("aria-checked")).toBe(
+      "true",
+    );
     expect(screen.queryByText("24-hour Trending unavailable")).toBeNull();
     expect(fetchCanonicalTrendingPageMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    expect(convexHttpMock.query).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(getLastListPageArgs()).toEqual(expect.objectContaining({ highlightedOnly: true })),
+    );
   });
 
   it("hides stale Trending and falls back without a legacy retry", async () => {
@@ -157,9 +161,13 @@ describe("SkillsIndex", () => {
 
     await waitFor(() => expect(screen.queryByRole("radio", { name: "Trending" })).toBeNull());
     expect(tabLabels()).toEqual(["Featured", "Official", "New"]);
-    expect(screen.getByRole("radio", { name: "New" }).getAttribute("aria-checked")).toBe("true");
+    expect(screen.getByRole("radio", { name: "Featured" }).getAttribute("aria-checked")).toBe(
+      "true",
+    );
     expect(screen.queryByText("24-hour Trending unavailable")).toBeNull();
-    expect(convexHttpMock.query).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(getLastListPageArgs()).toEqual(expect.objectContaining({ highlightedOnly: true })),
+    );
   });
 
   it("labels an empty canonical 24-hour window honestly", async () => {
diff --git a/src/components/HomeListingSection.tsx b/src/components/HomeListingSection.tsx
index c5f212ca..dcedf4cc 100644
--- a/src/components/HomeListingSection.tsx
+++ b/src/components/HomeListingSection.tsx
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ export function HomeListingSection({ initialListing = null }: HomeListingSection
   const [kind, setKind] = useState<ListingKind>(initialListing?.kind ?? "skills");
   const initialTab =
     initialListing?.kind === "skills" && initialListing.trendingState === "unavailable"
-      ? "new"
+      ? "featured"
       : (initialListing?.tab ?? "trending");
   const [tab, setTab] = useState<ListingTab>(initialTab);
   const [view, setView] = useState<ListingView>("list");
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ export function HomeListingSection({ initialListing = null }: HomeListingSection
         if (tab === "trending") {
           const unavailable = cached.trendingState === "unavailable";
           setCanonicalTrendingUnavailable(unavailable);
-          if (unavailable) setTab("new");
+          if (unavailable) setTab("featured");
         }
       } else {
         setPlugins(cached.items);
@@ -616,7 +616,7 @@ export function HomeListingSection({ initialListing = null }: HomeListingSection
             if (tab === "trending") {
               const unavailable = result.trendingState === "unavailable";
               setCanonicalTrendingUnavailable(unavailable);
-              if (unavailable) setTab("new");
+              if (unavailable) setTab("featured");
             }
             setListingHasMore(result.hasMore);
             setStatus("idle");
@@ -795,7 +795,9 @@ export function HomeListingSection({ initialListing = null }: HomeListingSection
     if (nextKind === kind) return;
     setKind(nextKind);
     setCategorySlugs([]);
-    setTab(nextKind === "skills" && !canonicalTrendingUnavailable ? "trending" : "new");
+    setTab(
+      nextKind === "skills" ? (canonicalTrendingUnavailable ? "featured" : "trending") : "new",
+    );
   };
 
   const removeCategory = (slug: string) => {
diff --git a/src/routes/skills/-useSkillsBrowseModel.ts b/src/routes/skills/-useSkillsBrowseModel.ts
index beb4303f..62bfce62 100644
--- a/src/routes/skills/-useSkillsBrowseModel.ts
+++ b/src/routes/skills/-useSkillsBrowseModel.ts
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ export function useSkillsBrowseModel({
   const requestedCatalogTab = normalizeSkillsCatalogTab(search.tab, search);
   const catalogTab =
     requestedCatalogTab === "trending" && canonicalTrendingUnavailable
-      ? "new"
+      ? "featured"
       : requestedCatalogTab;
   const requestedSort = hasQuery
     ? search.sort === "default"