diff --git a/plugins/web-ui/src/chat.ts b/plugins/web-ui/src/chat.ts
index c8bb4b744..652ec17e2 100644
--- a/plugins/web-ui/src/chat.ts
+++ b/plugins/web-ui/src/chat.ts
@@ -881,9 +881,7 @@ export function createChatSurface(
                                 anchorSeq !== null ? { beforeSeq: anchorSeq, tailTurns: TAIL_TURNS } : undefined,
                               );
                               if (chatState.sessionId !== s.id) return;
-                              const scroller = container?.querySelector<HTMLElement>(".chat-scroll");
-                              const priorHeight = scroller?.scrollHeight ?? 0;
-                              const priorTop = scroller?.scrollTop ?? 0;
+                              const restoreAnchor = holdScrollAnchor(container);
                               const rawRemaining = page.earlierEntries ?? 0;
                               const remaining = currentEarlierCount(s, rawRemaining);
                               const split = inheritedTranscript(s, page.entries ?? []);
@@ -897,14 +895,7 @@ export function createChatSurface(
                                   ...chatState.inheritedMessages,
                                 ],
                               );
-                              requestAnimationFrame(() => {
-                                const scrollerNow = container?.querySelector<HTMLElement>(".chat-scroll");
-                                if (!scrollerNow) return;
-                                const prev = scrollerNow.style.scrollBehavior;
-                                scrollerNow.style.scrollBehavior = "auto";
-                                scrollerNow.scrollTop = priorTop + (scrollerNow.scrollHeight - priorHeight);
-                                scrollerNow.style.scrollBehavior = prev;
-                              });
+                              restoreAnchor();
                             } catch {
                               btn.disabled = false;
                               btn.textContent = "Show earlier messages";
@@ -990,23 +981,14 @@ export function createChatSurface(
           ...entriesToMessages(split.inherited, transcriptModel()),
           ...chatState.inheritedMessages,
         ];
-      const scroller = chatState.host?.querySelector<HTMLElement>(".chat-scroll");
-      const priorHeight = scroller?.scrollHeight ?? 0;
-      const priorTop = scroller?.scrollTop ?? 0;
+      const restoreAnchor = holdScrollAnchor(chatState.host);
       agent.state.messages = [...earlierMessages, ...agent.state.messages];
       const rawRemaining = page.earlierEntries ?? 0;
       chatState.transcriptAnchorSeq = rawRemaining > 0 ? (page.entries?.[0]?.seq ?? null) : null;
       chatState.earlierCount = currentEarlierCount(chatState.forkSession ?? {}, rawRemaining);
       chatState.loadingEarlier = false;
       drawActiveChat(agent);
-      requestAnimationFrame(() => {
-        const scrollerNow = chatState.host?.querySelector<HTMLElement>(".chat-scroll");
-        if (!scrollerNow) return;
-        const prev = scrollerNow.style.scrollBehavior;
-        scrollerNow.style.scrollBehavior = "auto";
-        scrollerNow.scrollTop = priorTop + (scrollerNow.scrollHeight - priorHeight);
-        scrollerNow.style.scrollBehavior = prev;
-      });
+      restoreAnchor();
     } catch {
       void 0;
     } finally {
@@ -2327,20 +2309,22 @@ export function createChatSurface(
     scrollTranscript(true);
   }
 
+  function holdScrollAnchor(root: ParentNode | null | undefined): () => void {
+    const scroller = root?.querySelector<HTMLElement>(".chat-scroll");
+    const priorHeight = scroller?.scrollHeight ?? 0;
+    const priorTop = scroller?.scrollTop ?? 0;
+    return () =>
+      requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+        const now = root?.querySelector<HTMLElement>(".chat-scroll");
+        if (now) now.scrollTop = priorTop + (now.scrollHeight - priorHeight);
+      });
+  }
+
   function scrollTranscript(force = false): void {
     const scroller = ctx.container()?.querySelector<HTMLElement>(".chat-scroll");
     if (!scroller) return;
     if (!force && !stickToBottom) return;
     requestAnimationFrame(() => {
-      if (force) {
-        const prev = scroller.style.scrollBehavior;
-        scroller.style.scrollBehavior = "auto";
-        scroller.scrollTop = scroller.scrollHeight;
-        requestAnimationFrame(() => {
-          scroller.style.scrollBehavior = prev;
-        });
-        return;
-      }
       scroller.scrollTop = scroller.scrollHeight;
     });
   }
diff --git a/plugins/web-ui/src/shell.css b/plugins/web-ui/src/shell.css
index 043d5cd23..9e3cd1d91 100644
--- a/plugins/web-ui/src/shell.css
+++ b/plugins/web-ui/src/shell.css
@@ -1260,7 +1260,6 @@ a.chat-row-open {
   overflow-y: auto;
 
   padding: 28px var(--chat-pad) 8px;
-  scroll-behavior: smooth;
 }
 
 .fork-origin-row {
diff --git a/plugins/web-ui/test/layout-thrash.test.ts b/plugins/web-ui/test/layout-thrash.test.ts
index a26fdc142..f01c97875 100644
--- a/plugins/web-ui/test/layout-thrash.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/web-ui/test/layout-thrash.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import test from "node:test";
 
 const composer = readFileSync(new URL("../src/composer.ts", import.meta.url), "utf8");
 const chat = readFileSync(new URL("../src/chat.ts", import.meta.url), "utf8");
+const css = readFileSync(new URL("../src/shell.css", import.meta.url), "utf8");
 
 test("resizeComposer skips the forced-reflow measure pass when the draft value is unchanged", () => {
   const fn = composer.match(/function resizeComposer\(\): void \{[\s\S]*?\n {2}\}/)?.[0] ?? "";
@@ -41,9 +42,13 @@ test("revealing a transcript re-arms auto-follow; read-only mounts start at the
   assert.match(chat, /const scroller = ctx\.container\(\)\?\.querySelector/);
 });
 
-test("both pagination paths adjust their anchor without smooth scrolling", () => {
-  const anchors = chat.match(
-    /const prev = scrollerNow\.style\.scrollBehavior;\s*scrollerNow\.style\.scrollBehavior = "auto";\s*scrollerNow\.scrollTop = priorTop \+ \(scrollerNow\.scrollHeight - priorHeight\);\s*scrollerNow\.style\.scrollBehavior = prev;/g,
-  );
-  assert.equal(anchors?.length, 2);
+test("programmatic transcript scrolls never animate", () => {
+  assert.doesNotMatch(css, /scroll-behavior:\s*smooth/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(chat, /scrollBehavior/);
+});
+
+test("both pagination paths keep the viewport anchored through one helper", () => {
+  assert.match(chat, /function holdScrollAnchor\(root: ParentNode \| null \| undefined\): \(\) => void/);
+  assert.equal(chat.match(/const restoreAnchor = holdScrollAnchor\(/g)?.length, 2);
+  assert.equal(chat.match(/restoreAnchor\(\);/g)?.length, 2);
 });