diff --git a/desktop/src/components/chat/AssistantMessage.tsx b/desktop/src/components/chat/AssistantMessage.tsx
index 36359f4f..62a8a622 100644
--- a/desktop/src/components/chat/AssistantMessage.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/components/chat/AssistantMessage.tsx
@@ -20,27 +20,17 @@ export function AssistantMessage({ content, isStreaming }: Props) {
   }
 
   return (
-    <div className="group mb-5 flex gap-3">
-      {/* Avatar */}
-      <div className="flex-shrink-0 w-7 h-7 rounded-full bg-[var(--color-brand)] flex items-center justify-center mt-0.5">
-        <svg width="14" height="14" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
-          <path d="M12 2L2 7l10 5 10-5-10-5z" fill="white" opacity="0.9"/>
-          <path d="M2 17l10 5 10-5" stroke="white" strokeWidth="2" strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round" opacity="0.7"/>
-          <path d="M2 12l10 5 10-5" stroke="white" strokeWidth="2" strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round" opacity="0.85"/>
-        </svg>
-      </div>
-      {/* Content */}
-      <div className="min-w-0 flex-1 text-sm text-[var(--color-text-primary)]">
-        {!isStreaming && content.trim() && (
-          <div className="mb-2 flex justify-end">
-            <button
-              onClick={handleCopy}
-              className="rounded-lg border border-[var(--color-border)] px-2.5 py-1 text-[11px] text-[var(--color-text-tertiary)] opacity-0 transition-opacity hover:text-[var(--color-text-primary)] group-hover:opacity-100"
-            >
-              {copied ? 'Copied' : 'Copy'}
-            </button>
-          </div>
-        )}
+    <div className="group relative mb-3 ml-10">
+      {/* Copy button — absolute positioned, no reserved space */}
+      {!isStreaming && content.trim() && (
+        <button
+          onClick={handleCopy}
+          className="absolute -right-1 -top-1 rounded-md border border-[var(--color-border)]/60 bg-[var(--color-surface)] px-2 py-0.5 text-[10px] text-[var(--color-text-tertiary)] opacity-0 shadow-sm transition-opacity hover:text-[var(--color-text-primary)] group-hover:opacity-100"
+        >
+          {copied ? 'Copied' : 'Copy'}
+        </button>
+      )}
+      <div className="text-sm text-[var(--color-text-primary)]">
         <MarkdownRenderer content={content} />
         {isStreaming && (
           <span className="inline-block w-0.5 h-4 bg-[var(--color-brand)] animate-shimmer ml-0.5 align-text-bottom" />
diff --git a/desktop/src/components/chat/StreamingIndicator.tsx b/desktop/src/components/chat/StreamingIndicator.tsx
index c1826d1f..5a8a2f05 100644
--- a/desktop/src/components/chat/StreamingIndicator.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/components/chat/StreamingIndicator.tsx
@@ -1,26 +1,18 @@
 import { useChatStore } from '../../stores/chatStore'
 
 export function StreamingIndicator() {
-  const { chatState, elapsedSeconds, tokenUsage } = useChatStore()
+  const { chatState } = useChatStore()
 
   const verb = chatState === 'thinking'
     ? 'Thinking'
     : chatState === 'tool_executing'
-      ? 'Executing'
-      : 'Crafting'
+      ? 'Running'
+      : 'Working'
 
   return (
-    <div className="mb-4 ml-10 flex w-fit items-center gap-2 rounded-full border border-[var(--color-border)]/60 bg-[var(--color-surface-container-low)] px-3 py-1.5">
-      <span className="text-[var(--color-brand)] animate-shimmer text-sm">✦</span>
-      <span className="text-sm font-medium text-[var(--color-brand)]">{verb}...</span>
-      <span className="text-xs text-[var(--color-text-tertiary)]">
-        {elapsedSeconds}s
-      </span>
-      {tokenUsage.output_tokens > 0 && (
-        <span className="text-xs text-[var(--color-text-tertiary)]">
-          · ↓ {tokenUsage.output_tokens} tokens
-        </span>
-      )}
+    <div className="mb-2 ml-10 flex w-fit items-center gap-2 rounded-full border border-[var(--color-border)]/40 bg-[var(--color-surface-container-low)] px-3 py-1">
+      <span className="text-[var(--color-brand)] animate-shimmer text-xs">✦</span>
+      <span className="text-xs font-medium text-[var(--color-text-secondary)]">{verb}...</span>
     </div>
   )
 }
diff --git a/desktop/src/components/chat/ThinkingBlock.tsx b/desktop/src/components/chat/ThinkingBlock.tsx
index 191cc82e..94481f02 100644
--- a/desktop/src/components/chat/ThinkingBlock.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/components/chat/ThinkingBlock.tsx
@@ -2,58 +2,53 @@ import { useState, useEffect, useRef } from 'react'
 
 export function ThinkingBlock({ content, isActive = false }: { content: string; isActive?: boolean }) {
   const [expanded, setExpanded] = useState(false)
-
-  // Auto-scroll to bottom of content area when expanded and content is still growing
   const contentRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)
+
   useEffect(() => {
     if (expanded && isActive && contentRef.current) {
       contentRef.current.scrollTop = contentRef.current.scrollHeight
     }
   }, [content, expanded, isActive])
 
-  const showCursor = isActive && expanded
-  const inlinePreview = content.replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim()
-  const collapsedText = inlinePreview.slice(0, 140)
-  const hasOverflow = inlinePreview.length > collapsedText.length
+  // Preview: take first meaningful line, not first 140 chars
+  const lines = content.split('\n').filter((l) => l.trim())
+  const firstLine = lines[0]?.replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim() || ''
+  const preview = firstLine.length > 80 ? firstLine.slice(0, 80) + '...' : firstLine
 
   return (
-    <div className="mb-2 ml-10">
+    <div className="mb-1 ml-10">
       <style>{thinkingStyles}</style>
       <button
-        onClick={() => setExpanded((value) => !value)}
-        className="flex w-full items-center gap-2 rounded-lg px-1 py-1 text-left text-[12px] text-[var(--color-text-tertiary)] transition-colors hover:text-[var(--color-text-secondary)]"
+        onClick={() => setExpanded((v) => !v)}
+        className="flex w-full items-center gap-1.5 rounded-md px-1 py-0.5 text-left text-[12px] text-[var(--color-text-tertiary)] transition-colors hover:text-[var(--color-text-secondary)]"
       >
-        <span className="flex h-4 w-4 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-[var(--color-surface-container-high)] text-[8px] text-[var(--color-outline)]">
+        <span className="text-[10px] text-[var(--color-outline)]">
           {expanded ? '\u25BE' : '\u25B8'}
         </span>
         <span className="shrink-0 font-medium italic">
           Thinking
           {isActive && <span className="thinking-dots" />}
         </span>
-        {!expanded && (
-          <span className="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate font-[var(--font-mono)] text-[11px] leading-[1.3] text-[var(--color-text-tertiary)]">
-            {collapsedText}
-            {hasOverflow ? '…' : ''}
-            {isActive && !expanded ? <span className="thinking-inline-cursor" /> : null}
+        {!expanded && preview && (
+          <span className="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate font-[var(--font-mono)] text-[11px] text-[var(--color-text-tertiary)]">
+            {preview}
+            {isActive && <span className="thinking-inline-cursor" />}
           </span>
         )}
       </button>
       {expanded && (
-        <div className="mt-1 rounded-2xl border border-[var(--color-border)]/50 bg-[var(--color-surface-container-lowest)] px-3 py-3">
-          <div
-            ref={contentRef}
-            className="max-h-[220px] overflow-y-auto whitespace-pre-wrap rounded-xl bg-[var(--color-surface)] font-[var(--font-mono)] text-[11px] leading-[1.45] text-[var(--color-text-secondary)]"
-          >
-            {content}
-            {showCursor && <span className="thinking-cursor" />}
-          </div>
+        <div
+          ref={contentRef}
+          className="mt-1 max-h-[300px] overflow-y-auto rounded-lg border border-[var(--color-border)]/40 bg-[var(--color-surface-container-lowest)] p-2.5 font-[var(--font-mono)] text-[11px] leading-[1.35] text-[var(--color-text-secondary)] whitespace-pre-wrap break-words"
+        >
+          {content}
+          {isActive && expanded && <span className="thinking-cursor" />}
         </div>
       )}
     </div>
   )
 }
 
-/** Shared keyframe styles injected once per ThinkingBlock mount */
 const thinkingStyles = `
 @keyframes thinking-cursor-blink {
   0%, 100% { opacity: 1; }