diff --git a/packages/app/e2e/browser/chat-outline.spec.ts b/packages/app/e2e/browser/chat-outline.spec.ts
index 71ffbdbaf..758d2b7b8 100644
--- a/packages/app/e2e/browser/chat-outline.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/app/e2e/browser/chat-outline.spec.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,10 @@ import {
   type LongTimelineAgent,
 } from "../support/helpers/timeline-pagination";
 
-const WIDE_VIEWPORT = { width: 1280, height: 900 };
+// Wide enough that the timeline panel clears the rail's MIN_PANEL_WIDTH with room
+// to spare. At 1280 the panel measures 960, which sits too close to the threshold
+// for chrome-width changes elsewhere to stay out of these tests.
+const WIDE_VIEWPORT = { width: 1440, height: 900 };
 const LOADED_TURNS = 16;
 
 test.describe("desktop chat outline", () => {
diff --git a/packages/app/e2e/browser/composer-control-density.spec.ts b/packages/app/e2e/browser/composer-control-density.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..95eb658cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/app/e2e/browser/composer-control-density.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+import { test, expect } from "../support/fixtures";
+import { openWorkspaceWithAgents } from "../support/helpers/archive-tab";
+import {
+  expectNoCollapsedComposerToolbarFrame,
+  recordComposerToolbarFrames,
+} from "../support/helpers/composer-control-density";
+import { clickNewChat, gotoWorkspace } from "../support/helpers/launcher";
+import { seedWorkspace, type SeededWorkspace } from "../support/helpers/seed-client";
+
+const SETTLE_MS = 1_000;
+
+async function seedSettledMockAgent(workspace: SeededWorkspace, title: string) {
+  const agent = await workspace.client.createAgent({
+    provider: "mock",
+    model: "ten-second-stream",
+    modeId: "load-test",
+    cwd: workspace.repoPath,
+    workspaceId: workspace.workspaceId,
+    title,
+  });
+  await workspace.client.waitForAgentUpsert(
+    agent.id,
+    (snapshot) => snapshot.status === "idle",
+    30_000,
+  );
+  return { id: agent.id, title, cwd: workspace.repoPath, workspaceId: workspace.workspaceId };
+}
+
+function visibleAgentTab(page: import("@playwright/test").Page, agentId: string) {
+  return page.getByTestId(`workspace-tab-agent_${agentId}`).filter({ visible: true }).first();
+}
+
+test.describe("Composer control density across tab switches", () => {
+  test.describe.configure({ timeout: 180_000 });
+
+  test("switching between agent tabs never paints a collapsed composer toolbar", async ({
+    page,
+  }) => {
+    const workspace = await seedWorkspace({ repoPrefix: "composer-density-agents-" });
+    try {
+      const first = await seedSettledMockAgent(workspace, "First chat");
+      const second = await seedSettledMockAgent(workspace, "Second chat");
+      await openWorkspaceWithAgents(page, [first, second]);
+
+      await recordComposerToolbarFrames(page);
+      await visibleAgentTab(page, first.id).click();
+      await page.waitForTimeout(SETTLE_MS);
+      await visibleAgentTab(page, second.id).click();
+      await page.waitForTimeout(SETTLE_MS);
+
+      await expectNoCollapsedComposerToolbarFrame(page);
+    } finally {
+      await workspace.cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("switching between draft tabs never paints a collapsed composer toolbar", async ({
+    page,
+  }) => {
+    const workspace = await seedWorkspace({ repoPrefix: "composer-density-drafts-" });
+    try {
+      await page.addInitScript(() => {
+        localStorage.setItem(
+          "@paseo:create-agent-preferences",
+          JSON.stringify({
+            provider: "mock",
+            providerPreferences: { mock: { mode: "load-test" } },
+          }),
+        );
+      });
+      await gotoWorkspace(page, workspace.workspaceId);
+      await clickNewChat(page);
+
+      const draftTabs = page
+        .locator('[data-testid^="workspace-tab-draft"]')
+        .filter({ visible: true });
+      await expect(draftTabs).toHaveCount(2, { timeout: 30_000 });
+      await expect(
+        page.locator('[data-testid="mode-control"]').filter({ visible: true }).first(),
+      ).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
+
+      await recordComposerToolbarFrames(page);
+      await draftTabs.nth(0).click();
+      await page.waitForTimeout(SETTLE_MS);
+      await draftTabs.nth(1).click();
+      await page.waitForTimeout(SETTLE_MS);
+
+      await expectNoCollapsedComposerToolbarFrame(page);
+    } finally {
+      await workspace.cleanup();
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/app/e2e/support/helpers/composer-control-density.ts b/packages/app/e2e/support/helpers/composer-control-density.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ff5e53b25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/app/e2e/support/helpers/composer-control-density.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import { expect, type Page } from "@playwright/test";
+
+/**
+ * The composer toolbar collapses its controls by measured width. A collapsed
+ * frame is observable from the DOM: the mode trigger drops its label and
+ * shrinks to the icon-only box, so a visible trigger with no text is a
+ * collapsed paint.
+ */
+interface ToolbarFrame {
+  atMs: number;
+  labels: string[];
+}
+
+declare global {
+  interface Window {
+    __composerToolbarFrames?: ToolbarFrame[];
+    __composerToolbarStop?: () => void;
+  }
+}
+
+/** Records every painted frame's visible mode-trigger labels until stopped. */
+export async function recordComposerToolbarFrames(page: Page): Promise<void> {
+  await page.evaluate(() => {
+    const frames: ToolbarFrame[] = [];
+    window.__composerToolbarFrames = frames;
+    const start = performance.now();
+    let running = true;
+    const tick = () => {
+      if (!running) return;
+      const labels = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('[data-testid="mode-control"]'))
+        .filter((node) => node.getClientRects().length > 0)
+        .map((node) => (node.textContent ?? "").trim());
+      frames.push({ atMs: Math.round(performance.now() - start), labels });
+      requestAnimationFrame(tick);
+    };
+    requestAnimationFrame(tick);
+    window.__composerToolbarStop = () => {
+      running = false;
+    };
+  });
+}
+
+async function readComposerToolbarFrames(page: Page): Promise<ToolbarFrame[]> {
+  return page.evaluate(() => {
+    window.__composerToolbarStop?.();
+    return window.__composerToolbarFrames ?? [];
+  });
+}
+
+export async function expectNoCollapsedComposerToolbarFrame(page: Page): Promise<void> {
+  const frames = await readComposerToolbarFrames(page);
+  expect(frames.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  const collapsed = frames.filter((frame) => frame.labels.some((label) => label === ""));
+  expect(collapsed, `collapsed toolbar frames: ${JSON.stringify(collapsed)}`).toEqual([]);
+}
diff --git a/packages/app/src/agent-stream/chat-outline/rail.web.tsx b/packages/app/src/agent-stream/chat-outline/rail.web.tsx
index 99c7298bc..e72d2be0f 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/agent-stream/chat-outline/rail.web.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/agent-stream/chat-outline/rail.web.tsx
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import type { ChatOutlineRailProps } from "./rail";
 // magnifying a slot must not move the box the pointer is resting on. See docs/hover.md.
 const RAIL_WIDTH = 36;
 const SLOT_HEIGHT = 8;
-const MIN_PANEL_WIDTH = 818;
+const MIN_PANEL_WIDTH = 918;
 const RESTING_PILL_HEIGHT = 2;
 const MAGNIFIED_PILL_HEIGHT = 4;
 const RESTING_PILL_WIDTH = 10;
diff --git a/packages/app/src/composer/agent-controls/index.tsx b/packages/app/src/composer/agent-controls/index.tsx
index 3b2a3e07b..642f08046 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/composer/agent-controls/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/composer/agent-controls/index.tsx
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ import {
   resolveAgentModelSelection,
 } from "@/composer/agent-controls/utils";
 import { useIsCompactFormFactor } from "@/constants/layout";
+import { readMeasuredWidth } from "@/hooks/use-container-width";
 import { useToast } from "@/contexts/toast-context";
 import { toErrorMessage } from "@/utils/error-messages";
 import { showProviderNoticeToast } from "@/utils/provider-notice-toast";
@@ -520,7 +521,8 @@ function ControlledAgentControls({
 
   const handleLayout = useCallback(
     (event: LayoutChangeEvent) => {
-      const availableWidth = event.nativeEvent.layout.width;
+      const availableWidth = readMeasuredWidth(event);
+      if (availableWidth === null) return;
       availableWidthRef.current = availableWidth;
       updateDensityForWidth(availableWidth);
     },
diff --git a/packages/app/src/hooks/use-container-width.test.ts b/packages/app/src/hooks/use-container-width.test.ts
index e4df58f9d..ca1827210 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/hooks/use-container-width.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/hooks/use-container-width.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import { act, renderHook } from "@testing-library/react";
 import type { LayoutChangeEvent } from "react-native";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { useContainerWidthBelow } from "./use-container-width";
+import { readMeasuredWidth, useContainerWidthBelow } from "./use-container-width";
 
 function layoutEvent(width: number): LayoutChangeEvent {
   return {
@@ -18,6 +18,16 @@ function layoutEvent(width: number): LayoutChangeEvent {
   } as LayoutChangeEvent;
 }
 
+describe("readMeasuredWidth", () => {
+  it("returns the width of a rendered container", () => {
+    expect(readMeasuredWidth(layoutEvent(650))).toBe(650);
+  });
+
+  it("returns null for the zero width a hidden retained panel reports", () => {
+    expect(readMeasuredWidth(layoutEvent(0))).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
+
 describe("useContainerWidthBelow", () => {
   it("does not re-render for width changes that stay in the same threshold bucket", () => {
     let renderCount = 0;
diff --git a/packages/app/src/hooks/use-container-width.ts b/packages/app/src/hooks/use-container-width.ts
index a23554167..cec08ddae 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/hooks/use-container-width.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/hooks/use-container-width.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,16 @@
 import { useCallback, useState } from "react";
 import type { LayoutChangeEvent } from "react-native";
 
+/**
+ * Reads a real width out of a layout event. Retained tabs stay mounted under
+ * `display: none`, so an inactive panel emits width 0 — that is "not rendered",
+ * not "very narrow", and must never drive a width-based collapse.
+ */
+export function readMeasuredWidth(event: LayoutChangeEvent): number | null {
+  const width = event.nativeEvent.layout.width;
+  return width > 0 ? width : null;
+}
+
 /**
  * Tracks the width of a container via onLayout.
  */
@@ -31,8 +41,8 @@ export function useContainerWidthBelow(
   return {
     onLayout: useCallback(
       (e: LayoutChangeEvent) => {
-        const width = e.nativeEvent.layout.width;
-        if (width <= 0) {
+        const width = readMeasuredWidth(e);
+        if (width === null) {
           return;
         }
         const nextIsBelow = width < threshold;