diff --git a/src/apps/officer-web/styles/globals.css b/src/apps/officer-web/styles/globals.css
index 8b88f8c0..76726f71 100644
--- a/src/apps/officer-web/styles/globals.css
+++ b/src/apps/officer-web/styles/globals.css
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-@import "tailwindcss";
+@import 'tailwindcss';
 @plugin 'tailwindcss-animate';
 
 @custom-variant dark (&:is(.dark *));
@@ -123,12 +123,12 @@
 @layer base {
   :root {
     /* Duck brand hex colors */
-    --duck-yellow: #F4C430;
-    --duck-orange: #EA580C;
-    --duck-teal: #0891B2;
+    --duck-yellow: #f4c430;
+    --duck-orange: #ea580c;
+    --duck-teal: #0891b2;
     --duck-forest: #166534;
-    --duck-dark: #14532D;
-    --duck-beige: #E7D4B5;
+    --duck-dark: #14532d;
+    --duck-beige: #e7d4b5;
 
     /* Page background */
     --pixel-grid-color: rgba(20, 83, 45, 0.1);
@@ -328,14 +328,39 @@
   background: #555;
 }
 
-.file-grid:has([data-state="open"]) [data-file-item]:not([data-state="open"]) {
+/* Chat — the background-task strip. A default horizontal scrollbar is ~15px tall and is laid out INSIDE
+   the row, so it stole most of the chips' breathing room and made the tray read as squeezed. Thin, and
+   neutral enough to sit on either theme. */
+.task-strip {
+  scrollbar-width: thin;
+  scrollbar-color: rgb(128 128 128 / 0.3) transparent;
+}
+
+.task-strip::-webkit-scrollbar {
+  height: 4px;
+}
+
+.task-strip::-webkit-scrollbar-track {
+  background: transparent;
+}
+
+.task-strip::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb {
+  background: rgb(128 128 128 / 0.3);
+  border-radius: 2px;
+}
+
+.task-strip:hover::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb {
+  background: rgb(128 128 128 / 0.5);
+}
+
+.file-grid:has([data-state='open']) [data-file-item]:not([data-state='open']) {
   pointer-events: none;
 }
 
-.file-grid:has([data-state="open"]) [data-file-item]:not([data-state="open"]) .file-item-ellipsis {
+.file-grid:has([data-state='open']) [data-file-item]:not([data-state='open']) .file-item-ellipsis {
   opacity: 0 !important;
 }
 
-.file-grid [data-file-item][data-state="open"] .file-item-ellipsis {
+.file-grid [data-file-item][data-state='open'] .file-item-ellipsis {
   opacity: 1 !important;
 }
diff --git a/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/components/BackgroundTaskTray.tsx b/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/components/BackgroundTaskTray.tsx
index e74814eb..8b0ba263 100644
--- a/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/components/BackgroundTaskTray.tsx
+++ b/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/components/BackgroundTaskTray.tsx
@@ -30,11 +30,13 @@ export const BackgroundTaskTray = ({ messages }: BackgroundTaskTrayProps) => {
     <div className="mb-2 rounded-lg border border-duck-dark/10 bg-duck-dark/[0.03]">
       {open && <TaskPanel task={open} onClose={() => setOpenId(null)} />}
 
-      <div className="flex items-center gap-2 px-2 py-1.5">
+      <div className="flex items-center gap-2 px-2 py-2">
         <span className="shrink-0 text-[10px] uppercase tracking-wider text-duck-dark/40">
           {running.length > 0 ? `${running.length} running` : 'Background'}
         </span>
-        <div className="flex min-w-0 flex-1 items-center gap-1.5 overflow-x-auto">
+        {/* pb-1.5 keeps the scrollbar clear of the chips; the matching -mb-1.5 hides that pad from layout,
+            so it draws into the container's own padding and the label and X still centre on the chips. */}
+        <div className="task-strip -mb-1.5 flex min-w-0 flex-1 items-center gap-1.5 overflow-x-auto pb-1.5">
           {tasks.map((task) => (
             <TaskChip
               key={task.taskId}
@@ -82,7 +84,7 @@ const TaskChip = ({ task, active, onClick }: TaskChipProps) => {
     <button
       type="button"
       onClick={onClick}
-      className={`flex shrink-0 items-center gap-1.5 rounded-full border px-2 py-0.5 text-xs transition-colors cursor-pointer ${
+      className={`flex shrink-0 items-center gap-1.5 rounded-full border px-2.5 py-1 text-xs transition-colors cursor-pointer ${
         active
           ? 'border-duck-teal/40 bg-duck-teal/10 text-duck-dark/80'
           : 'border-duck-dark/10 bg-background/60 text-duck-dark/60 hover:border-duck-dark/20 hover:text-duck-dark/80'
diff --git a/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/useBackgroundTasks.ts b/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/useBackgroundTasks.ts
index 71c6a736..788e7e7c 100644
--- a/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/useBackgroundTasks.ts
+++ b/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/useBackgroundTasks.ts
@@ -14,18 +14,43 @@ export type BackgroundTask = Extract<ChatMessage, { role: 'task' }>;
  *
  * Finished tasks stay in the tray until dismissed rather than vanishing on completion: the notification
  * lands while you are reading something else, and a chip that removes itself the instant it succeeds is a
- * chip you never saw.
+ * chip you never saw. They do not stay forever, though — see FINISHED_KEPT.
+ *
+ * NEWEST FIRST. The tray is a horizontal strip, so the far end of it is off-screen, and the task you want
+ * is almost always the one that just started. Chronological order put it exactly where you could not see
+ * it without scrolling.
  */
+
+/**
+ * How many finished tasks the tray keeps behind the running ones.
+ *
+ * Enough that a notification you missed is still there when you look up, few enough that the strip does
+ * not become a scrolling history of the whole conversation. Running tasks are never counted or dropped:
+ * the tray's job is watching them, and a busy session could legitimately have more than this many.
+ */
+const FINISHED_KEPT = 5;
+
 export function useBackgroundTasks(messages: ChatMessage[]) {
   const [dismissed, setDismissed] = useState<string[]>([]);
 
   const tasks = useMemo(() => {
     const byId = new Map<string, BackgroundTask>();
     for (const m of messages) if (m.role === 'task') byId.set(m.taskId, m);
-    return [...byId.values()];
+    return [...byId.values()].reverse();
   }, [messages]);
 
-  const visible = tasks.filter((t) => !dismissed.includes(t.taskId));
+  const visible = useMemo(() => {
+    let finished = 0;
+    // `tasks` is already newest-first, so counting forwards drops the oldest finished chips and keeps the
+    // ones whose notifications are still recent enough to be worth reading.
+    return tasks.filter((t) => {
+      if (dismissed.includes(t.taskId)) return false;
+      if (!t.status) return true;
+      finished += 1;
+      return finished <= FINISHED_KEPT;
+    });
+  }, [tasks, dismissed]);
+
   const running = visible.filter((t) => !t.status);
 
   return {