diff --git a/LANGUAGE.md b/LANGUAGE.md
index a9421b1b..bf409864 100644
--- a/LANGUAGE.md
+++ b/LANGUAGE.md
@@ -371,8 +371,10 @@ program Pack {
   dispatching needs no state parameter.
 - **When the queue is drained:** at the end of every phase of the frame loop (so what the `Input`
   phase dispatches is reduced before `Update`); after every phase of the ludic.base system runner
-  (`core_tick_all`); and wherever the program calls `drain_actions()` (an `entry` program, a test,
-  a loop of its own). Draining runs the actions in the order they were dispatched, and each action's
+  (`core_tick_all`); when ludic.ui has run a frame's presses (`ui_show`, `ui_press`), so a button's
+  action is reduced before the host presents the frame, not a frame later; and wherever the program
+  calls `drain_actions()` (an `entry` program, a test, a loop of its own - and a host that runs UI
+  presses some other way calls it before it presents). Draining runs the actions in the order they were dispatched, and each action's
   reducers in the order of their states' names - never the order of imports - so the same actions
   make the same changes on every machine and in a replay.
 - **An action a reducer dispatches** is queued behind the rest and reduced in the same drain, never
diff --git a/changes/ui-press-drain.md b/changes/ui-press-drain.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bf682862
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/ui-press-drain.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+bump: patch
+type: fix
+**An action a UI button dispatches is reduced before the frame is presented.** ludic.ui runs a frame's
+presses after drawing it, and an action they dispatched waited for the end of the phase - after the
+host had presented - so what the button changed showed a frame late. `ui_show` and `ui_press` now
+drain the queue once the presses have run. A host that runs presses some other way calls
+`drain_actions()` before it presents.
diff --git a/examples/actions/ui_press.ludic b/examples/actions/ui_press.ludic
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3c37e5e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/actions/ui_press.ludic
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# ui_press.ludic - 0.R4: an action a UI control dispatches is reduced before the UI hands control
+# back, so the code after it - and the frame the host presents - already sees the change
+import "ludic.ui"
+program UiPress {
+  numbers float
+  state Score { points: int = 0 }
+  action Scored { n: int = 1 }
+  reducer Score on Scored(s: mut Score, a: Scored) { s.points += a.n }
+  import "ui_press_parts/Adder.ludic"
+  function frame(ui_st: mut UiState) -> UiNode {
+    let root: UiNode = ui_nodes(ui_st, "Adder", null)
+    ui_place(ui_st, root, 0.0, 0.0, 300.0, 200.0)
+    return root
+  }
+  entry (ui_st: mut UiState, score: Score) {
+    let root = frame(ui_st)
+    ui_press(ui_st, root.children[0].children[0])
+    let after_one = score.points
+    ui_press(ui_st, root.children[0].children[0])
+    print(`{after_one} {score.points}`)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/examples/actions/ui_press_parts/Adder.ludic b/examples/actions/ui_press_parts/Adder.ludic
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d3a5c8f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/actions/ui_press_parts/Adder.ludic
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Adder.ludic - a button that says what happened and changes nothing itself
+component Adder {
+  on add(n: int) { dispatch Scored { n: n } }
+}
diff --git a/examples/actions/ui_press_parts/Adder.xml b/examples/actions/ui_press_parts/Adder.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2b736719
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/actions/ui_press_parts/Adder.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<div>
+  <button on-click="add(5)">+5</button>
+</div>
diff --git a/packages/ludic.ui/frame.ludic b/packages/ludic.ui/frame.ludic
index 8e9c6ecd..c9745e05 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.ui/frame.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.ui/frame.ludic
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # frame.ludic - a screen shown: built from the view's model, laid out, drawn, and its presses
-# run once the frame is drawn, so nothing the view does can change a frame half way through it
+# run once the frame is drawn, so nothing the view does can change a frame half way through it;
+# the actions they dispatch are reduced before ui_show returns, so the frame presented next is built
+# from what they changed
 
 export function ui_show(ui_st: mut UiState, screen: string, view: UiView, x: float, y: float, w: float, h: float) -> void {
   in_read(ui_st)
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@ export function ui_show(ui_st: mut UiState, screen: string, view: UiView, x: flo
   dv_after(ui_st, screen, root)
   lc_run(ui_st, screen)
   nt_fired_run(ui_st)
+  drain_actions()                                # 0.R4: what the presses dispatched is reduced before the host presents
 }
 # the screen's nodes for this frame, not yet laid out - for a test, or a host that places them
 export function ui_nodes(ui_st: mut UiState, screen: string, view: UiView) -> UiNode {
@@ -78,6 +81,7 @@ export function ui_place(ui_st: mut UiState, root: UiNode, x: float, y: float, w
 # a press, as if the pointer had made it
 export function ui_press(ui_st: mut UiState, n: UiNode) -> void {
   if n.act != null and n.enabled { act_run(ui_st, n.act, n.env) }
+  drain_actions()
 }
 # any event, as if the element had fired it - for a test
 export function ui_event(ui_st: mut UiState, n: UiNode, name: string, value: Val) -> void { nt_run(ui_st, n, name, value) }
diff --git a/tools/ludic-cli/test.ludic b/tools/ludic-cli/test.ludic
index 301633f5..57f15a19 100644
--- a/tools/ludic-cli/test.ludic
+++ b/tools/ludic-cli/test.ludic
@@ -1012,6 +1012,7 @@ function cmd_dev_test() -> int {
   reject_case("rejected/layer_reach", "hud uses items.item_count", "a layered module is still held to its uses outside the layer")
   reject_case("rejected/layer_cycle", "go round in a circle: items -> layer app -> items", "a cycle through a layer and out of it is refused")
   feat_case("actions/pack", "", "0 1 9 13 picked 7 picked 9 too heavy", "pack.ludic (0.R: actions, reducers - one per state, in the order of the states' names - dispatch, drain_actions, an action a reducer dispatches goes behind)")
+  controller_case("actions/ui_press", "", "5 10", "ui_press.ludic (0.R4: an action a UI press dispatches is reduced before ludic.ui hands control back)")
   feat_case("actions/modules", "", "2", "modules.ludic (0.R: an action in one module, its reducer in another)")
   actions_deps_case()
   deps_reach_case()