diff --git a/src/browser/App.stories.tsx b/src/browser/App.stories.tsx
index b03c5f51c..a734844ce 100644
--- a/src/browser/App.stories.tsx
+++ b/src/browser/App.stories.tsx
@@ -871,6 +871,34 @@ export const ActiveWorkspaceWithChat: Story = {
                       },
                     });
 
+                    // Assistant quick update with a single-line reasoning trace to exercise inline display
+                    callback({
+                      id: "msg-9a",
+                      role: "assistant",
+                      parts: [
+                        {
+                          type: "reasoning",
+                          text: "Cache is warm already; rerunning the full suite would be redundant.",
+                        },
+                        {
+                          type: "text",
+                          text: "Cache is warm from the last test run, so I'll shift focus to documentation next.",
+                        },
+                      ],
+                      metadata: {
+                        historySequence: 10,
+                        timestamp: STABLE_TIMESTAMP - 165000,
+                        model: "anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5",
+                        usage: {
+                          inputTokens: 1200,
+                          outputTokens: 180,
+                          totalTokens: 1380,
+                          reasoningTokens: 20,
+                        },
+                        duration: 900,
+                      },
+                    });
+
                     // Assistant message with status_set tool to show agent status
                     callback({
                       id: "msg-10",
@@ -899,7 +927,7 @@ export const ActiveWorkspaceWithChat: Story = {
                         },
                       ],
                       metadata: {
-                        historySequence: 10,
+                        historySequence: 11,
                         timestamp: STABLE_TIMESTAMP - 160000,
                         model: "anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5",
                         usage: {
@@ -922,7 +950,7 @@ export const ActiveWorkspaceWithChat: Story = {
                         },
                       ],
                       metadata: {
-                        historySequence: 11,
+                        historySequence: 12,
                         timestamp: STABLE_TIMESTAMP - 150000,
                       },
                     });
@@ -936,7 +964,7 @@ export const ActiveWorkspaceWithChat: Story = {
                       workspaceId: workspaceId,
                       messageId: "msg-12",
                       model: "anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5",
-                      historySequence: 12,
+                      historySequence: 13,
                     });
 
                     // Send reasoning delta
diff --git a/src/browser/components/Messages/MarkdownRenderer.tsx b/src/browser/components/Messages/MarkdownRenderer.tsx
index 9eef6e3ef..1eb4f7543 100644
--- a/src/browser/components/Messages/MarkdownRenderer.tsx
+++ b/src/browser/components/Messages/MarkdownRenderer.tsx
@@ -5,11 +5,16 @@ import { cn } from "@/common/lib/utils";
 interface MarkdownRendererProps {
   content: string;
   className?: string;
+  style?: React.CSSProperties;
 }
 
-export const MarkdownRenderer: React.FC<MarkdownRendererProps> = ({ content, className }) => {
+export const MarkdownRenderer: React.FC<MarkdownRendererProps> = ({
+  content,
+  className,
+  style,
+}) => {
   return (
-    <div className={cn("markdown-content", className)}>
+    <div className={cn("markdown-content", className)} style={style}>
       <MarkdownCore content={content} />
     </div>
   );
diff --git a/src/browser/components/Messages/ReasoningMessage.stories.tsx b/src/browser/components/Messages/ReasoningMessage.stories.tsx
index 19253b7fb..0c7d50c6a 100644
--- a/src/browser/components/Messages/ReasoningMessage.stories.tsx
+++ b/src/browser/components/Messages/ReasoningMessage.stories.tsx
@@ -135,3 +135,13 @@ export const EmptyContent: Story = {
     message: createReasoningMessage(""),
   },
 };
+export const ExpandablePreview: Story = {
+  args: {
+    message: createReasoningMessage(
+      "Assessing quicksort mechanics and choosing example array...\n" +
+        "Plan: explain pivot selection, partitioning, recursion, base case.\n" +
+        "Next, I'll outline best practices for implementing the partition step.",
+      { isStreaming: false }
+    ),
+  },
+};
diff --git a/src/browser/components/Messages/ReasoningMessage.tsx b/src/browser/components/Messages/ReasoningMessage.tsx
index 7c7d62497..5b96d42da 100644
--- a/src/browser/components/Messages/ReasoningMessage.tsx
+++ b/src/browser/components/Messages/ReasoningMessage.tsx
@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@ export const ReasoningMessage: React.FC<ReasoningMessageProps> = ({ message, cla
 
   const content = message.content;
   const isStreaming = message.isStreaming;
+  const trimmedContent = content?.trim() ?? "";
+  const hasContent = trimmedContent.length > 0;
+  const summaryLine = hasContent ? (trimmedContent.split(/\r?\n/)[0] ?? "") : "";
+  const hasAdditionalLines = hasContent && /[\r\n]/.test(trimmedContent);
+  // OpenAI models often emit terse, single-line traces; surface them inline instead of hiding behind the label.
+  const isSingleLineTrace = !isStreaming && hasContent && !hasAdditionalLines;
+  const isCollapsible = !isStreaming && hasContent && hasAdditionalLines;
+  const showEllipsis = isCollapsible && !isExpanded;
 
   // Auto-collapse when streaming ends
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -25,9 +33,11 @@ export const ReasoningMessage: React.FC<ReasoningMessageProps> = ({ message, cla
   }, [isStreaming]);
 
   const toggleExpanded = () => {
-    if (!isStreaming) {
-      setIsExpanded(!isExpanded);
+    if (!isCollapsible) {
+      return;
     }
+
+    setIsExpanded(!isExpanded);
   };
 
   // Render appropriate content based on state
@@ -55,24 +65,44 @@ export const ReasoningMessage: React.FC<ReasoningMessageProps> = ({ message, cla
     >
       <div
         className={cn(
-          "flex cursor-pointer items-center justify-between gap-2 select-none",
-          isExpanded && "mb-1.5"
+          "flex items-center justify-between gap-2 select-none",
+          isCollapsible && "cursor-pointer",
+          isExpanded && !isSingleLineTrace && "mb-1.5"
         )}
-        onClick={toggleExpanded}
+        onClick={isCollapsible ? toggleExpanded : undefined}
       >
-        <div className="text-thinking-mode flex items-center gap-1 text-xs opacity-80">
+        <div
+          className={cn(
+            "flex flex-1 items-center gap-1 min-w-0 text-xs opacity-80",
+            "text-thinking-mode"
+          )}
+        >
           <span className="text-xs">
             <Lightbulb className={cn("size-3.5", isStreaming && "animate-pulse")} />
           </span>
-          <span>
+          <div className="flex min-w-0 items-center gap-1 truncate">
             {isStreaming ? (
               <Shimmer colorClass="var(--color-thinking-mode)">Thinking...</Shimmer>
+            ) : hasContent ? (
+              <MarkdownRenderer
+                content={summaryLine}
+                className="truncate [&_*]:inline [&_*]:align-baseline [&_*]:whitespace-nowrap"
+                style={{ fontSize: 12, lineHeight: "18px" }}
+              />
             ) : (
-              "Thought..."
+              "Thought"
             )}
-          </span>
+            {showEllipsis && (
+              <span
+                className="text-[11px] tracking-widest text-[color:var(--color-text)] opacity-70"
+                data-testid="reasoning-ellipsis"
+              >
+                ...
+              </span>
+            )}
+          </div>
         </div>
-        {!isStreaming && (
+        {isCollapsible && (
           <span
             className={cn(
               "text-thinking-mode opacity-60 transition-transform duration-200 ease-in-out text-xs",
@@ -84,7 +114,7 @@ export const ReasoningMessage: React.FC<ReasoningMessageProps> = ({ message, cla
         )}
       </div>
 
-      {isExpanded && (
+      {isExpanded && !isSingleLineTrace && (
         <div className="font-primary text-sm leading-6 italic opacity-85 [&_p]:mt-0 [&_p]:mb-1 [&_p:last-child]:mb-0">
           {renderContent()}
         </div>
diff --git a/src/node/services/mock/scenarios/toolFlows.ts b/src/node/services/mock/scenarios/toolFlows.ts
index 905605395..6b96e2c57 100644
--- a/src/node/services/mock/scenarios/toolFlows.ts
+++ b/src/node/services/mock/scenarios/toolFlows.ts
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ const reasoningQuicksortTurn: ScenarioTurn = {
       {
         kind: "reasoning-delta",
         delay: STREAM_BASE_DELAY,
-        text: "Assessing quicksort mechanics and choosing example array...",
+        text: "Assessing quicksort mechanics and choosing example array...\n",
       },
       {
         kind: "reasoning-delta",
diff --git a/tests/e2e/scenarios/toolFlows.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/scenarios/toolFlows.spec.ts
index 42ae704f3..5e1ed07bc 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/scenarios/toolFlows.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/scenarios/toolFlows.spec.ts
@@ -141,11 +141,18 @@ test.describe("tool and reasoning flows", () => {
     }
 
     const transcript = page.getByRole("log", { name: "Conversation transcript" });
-    const thinkingHeader = transcript.getByText("Thought...");
-    await expect(thinkingHeader).toBeVisible();
-    await thinkingHeader.click();
+    const reasoningPreview = transcript
+      .getByText("Assessing quicksort mechanics and choosing example array...")
+      .first();
+    await expect(reasoningPreview).toBeVisible();
+
+    const ellipsisIndicator = transcript.getByTestId("reasoning-ellipsis").first();
+    await expect(ellipsisIndicator).toBeVisible();
+
+    await reasoningPreview.click();
+
     await expect(
-      transcript.getByText("Assessing quicksort mechanics and choosing example array...")
+      transcript.getByText("Plan: explain pivot selection, partitioning, recursion, base case.")
     ).toBeVisible();
     await ui.chat.expectTranscriptContains("Quicksort works by picking a pivot");
   });