diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9fc5e0beef87f27828f6661f92913a996c9ac2a0..701ad4089f55fdb0b000940f882b50036edd2fc6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ packages/*/dist
 .env
 .env.local
 build/
+.logs/
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/providerManager.ts b/apps/desktop/src/providerManager.ts
index 2a9f37bcb2013647a86bd0b20d554037bb8f854b..0700daa65888fb6b31e58d35180bf5fd52412f2a 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/providerManager.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/providerManager.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import { EventEmitter } from "node:events";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
 
 import {
   type ProviderEvent,
@@ -21,10 +23,22 @@ export interface ProviderManagerEvents {
 
 export class ProviderManager extends EventEmitter<ProviderManagerEvents> {
   private readonly codex = new CodexAppServerManager();
+  private readonly logStream: fs.WriteStream;
 
   constructor() {
     super();
-    this.codex.on("event", (event) => this.emit("event", event));
+
+    const logsDir = path.resolve(process.cwd(), ".logs");
+    fs.mkdirSync(logsDir, { recursive: true });
+    this.logStream = fs.createWriteStream(
+      path.join(logsDir, "events.txt"),
+      { flags: "a" },
+    );
+
+    this.codex.on("event", (event) => {
+      this.logStream.write(`${JSON.stringify(event)}\n`);
+      this.emit("event", event);
+    });
   }
 
   async startSession(raw: ProviderSessionStartInput): Promise<ProviderSession> {
diff --git a/apps/renderer/src/components/ChatView.tsx b/apps/renderer/src/components/ChatView.tsx
index 38c2bc784783c99d35ac7c9de299d5a8b7f65698..444cf8c881a3a513b4e600741c606794025249d1 100644
--- a/apps/renderer/src/components/ChatView.tsx
+++ b/apps/renderer/src/components/ChatView.tsx
@@ -36,10 +36,10 @@ function statusLabel(phase: string): string {
 }
 
 function workToneClass(tone: "thinking" | "tool" | "info" | "error"): string {
-  if (tone === "thinking") return "text-sky-100";
-  if (tone === "tool") return "text-emerald-100";
-  if (tone === "error") return "text-rose-100";
-  return "text-[#d8d8d8]";
+  if (tone === "error") return "text-rose-300/50";
+  if (tone === "tool") return "text-[#8a8a8a]";
+  if (tone === "thinking") return "text-[#707070]";
+  return "text-[#606060]";
 }
 
 export default function ChatView() {
@@ -341,53 +341,6 @@ export default function ChatView() {
           </div>
         ) : (
           <div className="mx-auto max-w-3xl space-y-4">
-            {isWorking && (
-              <div className="rounded-2xl border border-sky-400/20 bg-sky-500/[0.06] px-3 py-2.5">
-                <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-2">
-                  <div className="inline-flex items-center gap-2 text-xs text-sky-100">
-                    <span className="relative inline-flex h-2.5 w-2.5">
-                      <span className="absolute inline-flex h-full w-full animate-ping rounded-full bg-sky-300/70" />
-                      <span className="relative inline-flex h-2.5 w-2.5 rounded-full bg-sky-200" />
-                    </span>
-                    <span>Model is working</span>
-                  </div>
-                  <span className="text-[10px] text-sky-100/70">
-                    {recentWorkLogEntries.length} event
-                    {recentWorkLogEntries.length === 1 ? "" : "s"}
-                  </span>
-                </div>
-                {recentWorkLogEntries.length === 0 ? (
-                  <p className="pt-2 text-[11px] text-sky-100/70">
-                    Waiting for tool/preamble updates...
-                  </p>
-                ) : (
-                  <div className="mt-2 max-h-48 space-y-1.5 overflow-y-auto pr-1">
-                    {recentWorkLogEntries.map((entry) => (
-                      <div
-                        key={entry.id}
-                        className="rounded-lg border border-white/[0.08] bg-black/20 px-2 py-1.5"
-                      >
-                        <div className="flex items-start justify-between gap-2">
-                          <p
-                            className={`text-[11px] ${workToneClass(entry.tone)}`}
-                          >
-                            {entry.label}
-                          </p>
-                          <span className="shrink-0 text-[10px] text-[#a0a0a0]/60">
-                            {formatTimestamp(entry.createdAt)}
-                          </span>
-                        </div>
-                        {entry.detail && (
-                          <p className="pt-0.5 font-mono text-[11px] text-[#d0d0d0]/75">
-                            {entry.detail}
-                          </p>
-                        )}
-                      </div>
-                    ))}
-                  </div>
-                )}
-              </div>
-            )}
             {activeThread.messages.map((msg) => (
               <div key={msg.id}>
                 {msg.role === "user" ? (
@@ -433,6 +386,35 @@ export default function ChatView() {
                 )}
               </div>
             ))}
+            {/* Inline activity feed */}
+            {isWorking && (
+              <div className="border-l-2 border-white/[0.05] pl-4 py-1">
+                {recentWorkLogEntries.map((entry) => (
+                  <p
+                    key={entry.id}
+                    className={`py-[2px] text-[12px] leading-relaxed ${workToneClass(entry.tone)}`}
+                  >
+                    {entry.detail ? (
+                      <>
+                        {entry.label}
+                        <span className="ml-1.5 font-mono text-[11px] opacity-60">
+                          {entry.detail}
+                        </span>
+                      </>
+                    ) : (
+                      entry.label
+                    )}
+                  </p>
+                ))}
+                <div className="flex items-center pt-1">
+                  <span className="inline-flex items-center gap-[3px]">
+                    <span className="h-1 w-1 rounded-full bg-white/20 animate-pulse" />
+                    <span className="h-1 w-1 rounded-full bg-white/20 animate-pulse [animation-delay:200ms]" />
+                    <span className="h-1 w-1 rounded-full bg-white/20 animate-pulse [animation-delay:400ms]" />
+                  </span>
+                </div>
+              </div>
+            )}
             <div ref={messagesEndRef} />
           </div>
         )}
diff --git a/bun.lock b/bun.lock
index 046e58cfcd5a9766804632d38defa3c672c273c3..c07bf700d845e7604ccdd254a1ec000722fd4cbb 100644
--- a/bun.lock
+++ b/bun.lock
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
         "@types/react": "^19.0.0",
         "@types/react-dom": "^19.0.0",
         "@vitejs/plugin-react": "^4.3.4",
+        "babel-plugin-react-compiler": "^19.0.0-beta-e552027-20250112",
         "tailwindcss": "^4.0.0",
         "typescript": "^5.7.3",
         "vite": "^6.0.5",
@@ -368,6 +369,8 @@
 
     "axios": ["axios@1.13.4", "", { "dependencies": { "follow-redirects": "^1.15.6", "form-data": "^4.0.4", "proxy-from-env": "^1.1.0" } }, "sha512-1wVkUaAO6WyaYtCkcYCOx12ZgpGf9Zif+qXa4n+oYzK558YryKqiL6UWwd5DqiH3VRW0GYhTZQ/vlgJrCoNQlg=="],
 
+    "babel-plugin-react-compiler": ["babel-plugin-react-compiler@19.0.0-beta-ebf51a3-20250411", "", { "dependencies": { "@babel/types": "^7.26.0" } }, "sha512-q84bNR9JG1crykAlJUt5Ud0/5BUyMFuQww/mrwIQDFBaxsikqBDj3f/FNDsVd2iR26A1HvXKWPEIfgJDv8/V2g=="],
+
     "balanced-match": ["balanced-match@1.0.2", "", {}, "sha512-3oSeUO0TMV67hN1AmbXsK4yaqU7tjiHlbxRDZOpH0KW9+CeX4bRAaX0Anxt0tx2MrpRpWwQaPwIlISEJhYU5Pw=="],
 
     "base64-js": ["base64-js@1.5.1", "", {}, "sha512-AKpaYlHn8t4SVbOHCy+b5+KKgvR4vrsD8vbvrbiQJps7fKDTkjkDry6ji0rUJjC0kzbNePLwzxq8iypo41qeWA=="],