diff --git a/packages/client/src/components/components/StateEntryActions.vue b/packages/client/src/components/components/StateEntryActions.vue
index 34936daa7..bbdcfc95b 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/components/components/StateEntryActions.vue
+++ b/packages/client/src/components/components/StateEntryActions.vue
@@ -236,7 +236,10 @@ async function openCustomFile(entry: StateEntry) {
 }
 </script>
 <template>
-  <div class="ml-auto shrink-0 flex pl-1" :class="editing ? '' : 'op0 group-hover/state-row:op100'">
+  <div
+    class="ml-auto shrink-0 flex pl-1"
+    :class="editing ? '' : 'op0 group-hover/state-row:op100 group-focus-within/state-row:op100'"
+  >
     <button
       v-if="getCustomFile(entry) && openInEditorAvailable"
       v-tooltip.bottom="'Open file'"
diff --git a/packages/client/src/components/components/StateEntryRow.vue b/packages/client/src/components/components/StateEntryRow.vue
index 409cc4e5e..ce633feb9 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/components/components/StateEntryRow.vue
+++ b/packages/client/src/components/components/StateEntryRow.vue
@@ -214,12 +214,20 @@ function getStateValueClass(value: EncodedValue): string {
       :style="{ paddingLeft: `${19 + depth * 15}px` }"
       @click="toggleStateEntry"
     >
-      <span
+      <button
         v-if="hasExpandableEntry"
-        class="i-carbon-chevron-right flex-none text-4 op50 transition-transform"
-        :class="collapsed ? '' : 'rotate-90'"
-        aria-hidden="true"
-      />
+        type="button"
+        class="h-4 w-4 flex-none flex items-center justify-center rounded-1 border-0 bg-transparent p-0 color-inherit cursor-pointer focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-primary-500"
+        :aria-label="`Toggle ${entry.key}`"
+        :aria-expanded="!collapsed"
+        @click.stop="toggleStateEntry"
+      >
+        <span
+          class="i-carbon-chevron-right text-4 op50 transition-transform"
+          :class="collapsed ? '' : 'rotate-90'"
+          aria-hidden="true"
+        />
+      </button>
       <span v-else class="w-4 flex-none" />
       <span
         class="state-key max-w-[40%] shrink-0 overflow-hidden text-ellipsis whitespace-nowrap op70"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/state-entry-row/index.html b/tests/fixtures/state-entry-row/index.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..20e93a009
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/state-entry-row/index.html
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<!doctype html>
+<html lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
+    <title>State entry keyboard fixture</title>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+    <div id="app"></div>
+    <script type="module" src="/main.ts"></script>
+  </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/state-entry-row/main.ts b/tests/fixtures/state-entry-row/main.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b26a5bfa5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/state-entry-row/main.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { createApp, h } from 'vue'
+import { encodeValue } from '../../../packages/kit/src'
+import StateEntryRow from '../../../packages/client/src/components/components/StateEntryRow.vue'
+import 'virtual:uno.css'
+
+createApp({
+  render: () =>
+    h(StateEntryRow, {
+      depth: 0,
+      entry: {
+        key: 'payload',
+        path: ['data', 'payload'],
+        editable: true,
+        value: encodeValue({ nested: { count: 1 } }),
+      },
+    }),
+})
+  .directive('tooltip', {})
+  .mount('#app')
diff --git a/tests/integration/client/state-entry-row.test.ts b/tests/integration/client/state-entry-row.test.ts
index e5747c6cc..92f9e4816 100644
--- a/tests/integration/client/state-entry-row.test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/client/state-entry-row.test.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,50 @@ import StateEntryRow from '../../../packages/client/src/components/components/St
 import { useDevtoolsClient } from '../../../packages/client/src/composables/devtools-client'
 
 describe('StateEntryRow', () => {
+  it('exposes a focusable native toggle and keeps mouse and action clicks independent', async () => {
+    const entry: StateEntry = {
+      key: 'payload',
+      path: ['State', 'a11y-payload'],
+      editable: true,
+      value: {
+        kind: 'object',
+        name: 'Object',
+        entries: 1,
+        preview: [{ key: 'count', value: { kind: 'number', value: 1 } }],
+      },
+    }
+    const wrapper = mountStateEntry(entry)
+    const toggle = wrapper.get<HTMLButtonElement>('button[aria-expanded]')
+    expect(toggle.attributes('type')).toBe('button')
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-label')).toBe('Toggle payload')
+    expect(toggle.element.tabIndex).toBe(0)
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('false')
+    expect(toggle.find('button, input, [tabindex]').exists()).toBe(false)
+
+    await toggle.trigger('click')
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+    expect(wrapper.findAll('[class~="group/state-row"]')).toHaveLength(2)
+
+    const child = wrapper.findAll('[class~="group/state-row"]')[1]!
+    await child.get('[aria-label="Edit state value"]').trigger('click')
+    expect(child.find('input').exists()).toBe(true)
+    expect(wrapper.find('button button, button input, [role="button"] button').exists()).toBe(false)
+    await child.get('[aria-label="Cancel state value edit"]').trigger('click')
+    expect(child.find('input').exists()).toBe(false)
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+
+    await wrapper.get('[aria-label="Copy state path"]').trigger('click')
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+    await toggle.trigger('click')
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('false')
+    await wrapper.get('[class~="group/state-row"]').trigger('click')
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+
+    await wrapper.setProps({ entry: { ...entry, value: { kind: 'number', value: 2 } } })
+    expect(wrapper.find('[aria-expanded]').exists()).toBe(false)
+    wrapper.unmount()
+  })
+
   it.each([
     ['Object', { kind: 'object', name: 'Object', entries: 0, preview: [], handle: 'empty-object' }],
     ['Array', { kind: 'array', length: 0, preview: [], handle: 'empty-array' }],
@@ -36,6 +80,7 @@ describe('StateEntryRow', () => {
       })
 
       expect(wrapper.find('.i-carbon-chevron-right').exists()).toBe(false)
+      expect(wrapper.find('[aria-expanded]').exists()).toBe(false)
 
       await wrapper.find('[class~="group/state-row"]').trigger('click')
       expect(query).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
@@ -44,7 +89,7 @@ describe('StateEntryRow', () => {
     },
   )
 
-  it('keeps the expand icon for a non-empty value awaiting lazy children', async () => {
+  it('announces lazy expansion and reuses cached children when toggled again', async () => {
     const wrapper = mountStateEntry({
       key: 'lazy',
       path: ['State', 'lazy'],
@@ -70,10 +115,13 @@ describe('StateEntryRow', () => {
     })
 
     expect(wrapper.find('.i-carbon-chevron-right').exists()).toBe(true)
+    const toggle = wrapper.get('button[aria-expanded]')
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('false')
 
-    await wrapper.find('[class~="group/state-row"]').trigger('click')
+    await toggle.trigger('click')
     await flushPromises()
 
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
     expect(query).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         type: 'values:expand',
@@ -82,6 +130,15 @@ describe('StateEntryRow', () => {
     )
     expect(wrapper.text()).toContain('child')
 
+    await toggle.trigger('click')
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('false')
+    expect(wrapper.findAll('[class~="group/state-row"]')).toHaveLength(1)
+    await toggle.trigger('click')
+    await flushPromises()
+    expect(toggle.attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+    expect(wrapper.text()).toContain('child')
+    expect(query).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+
     wrapper.unmount()
   })
 
@@ -120,6 +177,7 @@ describe('StateEntryRow', () => {
     await flushPromises()
     expect(wrapper.text()).toContain('new-child')
     expect(wrapper.text()).not.toContain('old-child')
+    expect(wrapper.get('button[aria-expanded]').attributes('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
     wrapper.unmount()
   })
 
diff --git a/tests/smoke/state-entry-row.test.ts b/tests/smoke/state-entry-row.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..677750d96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/smoke/state-entry-row.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+import type { Browser } from 'playwright'
+import type { ViteDevServer } from 'vite'
+import { chromium } from 'playwright'
+import { dirname, resolve } from 'node:path'
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
+import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { createServer } from 'vite'
+import vue from '@vitejs/plugin-vue'
+import { createRequire } from 'node:module'
+import unoConfig from '../../packages/client/uno.config'
+
+const clientRequire = createRequire(new URL('../../packages/client/package.json', import.meta.url))
+const { default: UnoCSS } = await import(clientRequire.resolve('unocss/vite'))
+
+const root = resolve(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '../..')
+
+describe('StateEntryRow keyboard accessibility', () => {
+  let browser: Browser | undefined
+  let server: ViteDevServer | undefined
+
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    server = await createServer({
+      configFile: false,
+      root: resolve(root, 'tests/fixtures/state-entry-row'),
+      plugins: [vue(), UnoCSS(unoConfig)],
+      resolve: {
+        alias: [
+          {
+            find: '@vue/devtools-kit/client',
+            replacement: resolve(root, 'packages/kit/src/client.ts'),
+          },
+          { find: '@vue/devtools-kit', replacement: resolve(root, 'packages/kit/src/index.ts') },
+        ],
+      },
+      server: { host: '127.0.0.1', port: 0 },
+    })
+    await server.listen()
+    browser = await chromium.launch({
+      executablePath: process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_CHROMIUM_EXECUTABLE_PATH,
+      headless: true,
+    })
+  })
+
+  afterAll(async () => {
+    await browser?.close()
+    await server?.close()
+  })
+
+  it.each(['light', 'dark'])(
+    'toggles with the keyboard in the %s theme without activating ancestor rows',
+    async (theme) => {
+      const page = await browser!.newPage({ permissions: ['clipboard-read', 'clipboard-write'] })
+      const errors: string[] = []
+      page.on('pageerror', (error) => errors.push(error.message))
+      try {
+        await page.goto(server!.resolvedUrls!.local[0]!)
+        const parent = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Toggle payload', exact: true })
+        await parent.waitFor({ timeout: 5000 })
+        await page
+          .locator('html')
+          .evaluate((node, theme) => node.classList.toggle('dark', theme === 'dark'), theme)
+        await page.keyboard.press('Tab')
+        expect(await parent.evaluate((node) => document.activeElement === node)).toBe(true)
+        expect(await parent.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('false')
+        expect(await parent.evaluate((node) => getComputedStyle(node).outlineStyle)).not.toBe(
+          'none',
+        )
+
+        await page.keyboard.press('Enter')
+        const child = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Toggle nested', exact: true })
+        await child.waitFor()
+        expect(await parent.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+        await page.keyboard.press('Space')
+        expect(await parent.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('false')
+        expect(await child.count()).toBe(0)
+        await page.keyboard.press('Space')
+        await child.waitFor()
+        expect(await parent.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+
+        await page.keyboard.press('Tab')
+        expect(
+          await page
+            .getByRole('button', { name: 'Add child state value' })
+            .first()
+            .evaluate((node) => document.activeElement === node),
+        ).toBe(true)
+        // Parent actions are siblings of its toggle and remain reachable and visible.
+        const copyPath = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Copy state path', exact: true }).first()
+        await copyPath.focus()
+        expect(
+          await copyPath.evaluate((node) => getComputedStyle(node.parentElement!).opacity),
+        ).toBe('1')
+        await page.keyboard.press('Enter')
+        expect(await page.evaluate(() => navigator.clipboard.readText())).toBe('data.payload')
+        expect(await parent.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+
+        await child.focus()
+        await page.keyboard.press('Enter')
+        expect(await child.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+        expect(await parent.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+        const edit = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Edit state value', exact: true })
+        await edit.focus()
+        await page.keyboard.press('Space')
+        await page.getByRole('textbox').waitFor()
+        expect(
+          await page.locator('button button, button input, [role="button"] button').count(),
+        ).toBe(0)
+        await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Cancel state value edit' }).focus()
+        await page.keyboard.press('Enter')
+        expect(await page.getByRole('textbox').count()).toBe(0)
+        expect(await parent.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+        expect(await child.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+        await child.focus()
+        await page.keyboard.press('Space')
+        expect(await child.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('false')
+        expect(await parent.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('true')
+        expect(errors).toEqual([])
+      } finally {
+        await page.close()
+      }
+    },
+  )
+})