diff --git a/src/tui/components/chat-log.test.ts b/src/tui/components/chat-log.test.ts
index 700a2abb9d2..7c976e9be3d 100644
--- a/src/tui/components/chat-log.test.ts
+++ b/src/tui/components/chat-log.test.ts
@@ -73,4 +73,25 @@ describe("ChatLog", () => {
     expect(rendered).not.toContain("BTW: what is 17 * 19?");
     expect(chatLog.hasVisibleBtw()).toBe(false);
   });
+
+  it("supports paging back through transcript history", () => {
+    const chatLog = new ChatLog(80);
+    for (let i = 1; i <= 12; i++) {
+      chatLog.addSystem(`system-${i}`);
+    }
+    chatLog.setViewportHeight(6);
+
+    let rendered = chatLog.render(120).join("\n");
+    expect(rendered).toContain("system-12");
+    expect(rendered).not.toContain("system-7");
+
+    chatLog.scrollPageUp();
+    rendered = chatLog.render(120).join("\n");
+    expect(rendered).toContain("system-7");
+    expect(rendered).not.toContain("system-12");
+
+    chatLog.scrollToLatest();
+    rendered = chatLog.render(120).join("\n");
+    expect(rendered).toContain("system-12");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/tui/components/chat-log.ts b/src/tui/components/chat-log.ts
index c46e6065b9b..1f6d8832109 100644
--- a/src/tui/components/chat-log.ts
+++ b/src/tui/components/chat-log.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import { UserMessageComponent } from "./user-message.js";
 
 export class ChatLog extends Container {
   private readonly maxComponents: number;
+  private viewportHeight: number | null = null;
+  private scrollOffset = 0;
   private toolById = new Map<string, ToolExecutionComponent>();
   private streamingRuns = new Map<string, AssistantMessageComponent>();
   private btwMessage: BtwInlineMessage | null = null;
@@ -46,8 +48,53 @@ export class ChatLog extends Container {
   }
 
   private append(component: Component) {
+    const wasAtLatest = this.scrollOffset === 0;
     this.addChild(component);
     this.pruneOverflow();
+    if (wasAtLatest) {
+      this.scrollToLatest();
+    }
+  }
+
+  setViewportHeight(height: number | null) {
+    if (height === null || Number.isNaN(height)) {
+      this.viewportHeight = null;
+      this.clampScrollOffset();
+      return;
+    }
+    this.viewportHeight = Math.max(1, Math.floor(height));
+    this.clampScrollOffset();
+  }
+
+  scrollPageUp() {
+    const page = this.viewportHeight ?? 10;
+    this.scrollOffset += page;
+    this.clampScrollOffset();
+  }
+
+  scrollPageDown() {
+    const page = this.viewportHeight ?? 10;
+    this.scrollOffset -= page;
+    this.clampScrollOffset();
+  }
+
+  scrollToLatest() {
+    this.scrollOffset = 0;
+  }
+
+  private getRenderedLineCount(width: number) {
+    return super.render(width).length;
+  }
+
+  private getMaxScrollOffset(width: number) {
+    if (!this.viewportHeight) {
+      return 0;
+    }
+    return Math.max(0, this.getRenderedLineCount(width) - this.viewportHeight);
+  }
+
+  private clampScrollOffset(width = 120) {
+    this.scrollOffset = Math.max(0, Math.min(this.scrollOffset, this.getMaxScrollOffset(width)));
   }
 
   clearAll() {
@@ -186,4 +233,17 @@ export class ChatLog extends Container {
       tool.setExpanded(expanded);
     }
   }
+
+  override render(width: number) {
+    const lines = super.render(width);
+    if (!this.viewportHeight || lines.length <= this.viewportHeight) {
+      this.scrollOffset = 0;
+      return lines;
+    }
+
+    this.clampScrollOffset(width);
+    const start = Math.max(0, lines.length - this.viewportHeight - this.scrollOffset);
+    const end = start + this.viewportHeight;
+    return lines.slice(start, end);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/tui/components/custom-editor.ts b/src/tui/components/custom-editor.ts
index 4dc42391f2e..c204788c613 100644
--- a/src/tui/components/custom-editor.ts
+++ b/src/tui/components/custom-editor.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ export class CustomEditor extends Editor {
   onCtrlT?: () => void;
   onShiftTab?: () => void;
   onAltEnter?: () => void;
+  onPageUp?: () => void;
+  onPageDown?: () => void;
 
   handleInput(data: string): void {
     if (matchesKey(data, Key.alt("enter")) && this.onAltEnter) {
@@ -37,6 +39,14 @@ export class CustomEditor extends Editor {
       this.onCtrlT();
       return;
     }
+    if (matchesKey(data, Key.pageUp) && this.onPageUp) {
+      this.onPageUp();
+      return;
+    }
+    if (matchesKey(data, Key.pageDown) && this.onPageDown) {
+      this.onPageDown();
+      return;
+    }
     if (matchesKey(data, Key.shift("tab")) && this.onShiftTab) {
       this.onShiftTab();
       return;
diff --git a/src/tui/tui.ts b/src/tui/tui.ts
index b9c67e76a29..acb359b4186 100644
--- a/src/tui/tui.ts
+++ b/src/tui/tui.ts
@@ -542,12 +542,20 @@ export async function runTui(opts: TuiOptions) {
   const footer = new Text("", 1, 0);
   const chatLog = new ChatLog();
   const editor = new CustomEditor(tui, editorTheme);
-  const root = new Container();
-  root.addChild(header);
-  root.addChild(chatLog);
-  root.addChild(statusContainer);
-  root.addChild(footer);
-  root.addChild(editor);
+  const root = new (class extends Container {
+    override render(width: number) {
+      const headerLines = header.render(width);
+      const statusLines = statusContainer.render(width);
+      const footerLines = footer.render(width);
+      const editorLines = editor.render(width);
+      const reserved =
+        headerLines.length + statusLines.length + footerLines.length + editorLines.length;
+      const available = Math.max(1, tui.terminal.rows - reserved);
+      chatLog.setViewportHeight(available);
+      const chatLines = chatLog.render(width);
+      return [...headerLines, ...chatLines, ...statusLines, ...footerLines, ...editorLines];
+    }
+  })();
 
   const updateAutocompleteProvider = () => {
     editor.setAutocompleteProvider(
@@ -564,6 +572,14 @@ export async function runTui(opts: TuiOptions) {
 
   tui.addChild(root);
   tui.setFocus(editor);
+  editor.onPageUp = () => {
+    chatLog.scrollPageUp();
+    tui.requestRender();
+  };
+  editor.onPageDown = () => {
+    chatLog.scrollPageDown();
+    tui.requestRender();
+  };
 
   const formatSessionKey = (key: string) => {
     if (key === "global" || key === "unknown") {