diff --git a/src/core/services.py b/src/core/services.py
index fceafdba..f255df82 100644
--- a/src/core/services.py
+++ b/src/core/services.py
@@ -342,7 +342,23 @@ async def build_container(config: Dict[str, Any]) -> ServiceContainer:
     signal_bus.register_sink(DBExecutionSink(db))
     signal_bus.register_sink(EventBusSink(event_bus))
     # ── Notification / alerting sinks ─────────────────────────────────
-    signal_bus.register_sink(InAppSink(db))
+    # Whitelist: only actionable system events reach the bell panel.
+    # Chat, memory, sandbox, tool, RAG, and audit events are excluded.
+    _NOTIF_TOPICS = {
+        "approval.requested",
+        "approval.resolved",
+        "approval.approval_requested",
+        "approval.approval_granted",
+        "approval.approval_denied",
+        "task.task_failed",
+        "task.task_timeout",
+        "agent.agent_failed",
+        "policy.policy_violation",
+        "security.auth_failure",
+        "security.permission_denied",
+        "security.sandbox_policy_violation",
+    }
+    signal_bus.register_sink(InAppSink(db, topic_filter=_NOTIF_TOPICS))
     signal_bus.register_sink(WebhookSink(db))
     signal_bus.register_sink(SlackSink(db))
     signal_bus.register_sink(WebSocketSink())