diff --git a/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/components/ai-chat.module.css b/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/components/ai-chat.module.css
index 71cc0e9d..cd788cdd 100644
--- a/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/components/ai-chat.module.css
+++ b/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/components/ai-chat.module.css
@@ -161,7 +161,11 @@
     margin-top: 4px;
     font-size: var(--mantine-font-size-xs);
     color: light-dark(var(--mantine-color-gray-7), var(--mantine-color-dark-1));
-    white-space: pre-wrap;
+    /* NOTE: `white-space: pre-wrap` is intentionally NOT set here. On the
+       rendered markdown <div> it would turn the newlines between block tags
+       (</li>\n<li>, </p>\n<ol>) into visible blank lines/indents on top of the
+       margins. The plain-text fallback <Text> that needs pre-wrap sets it
+       inline itself (see reasoning-block.tsx). */
 }
 
 .reasoningText p {
diff --git a/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/components/reasoning-block.tsx b/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/components/reasoning-block.tsx
index 43e88a69..de35229a 100644
--- a/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/components/reasoning-block.tsx
+++ b/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/components/reasoning-block.tsx
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { Box, Collapse, Group, Text, UnstyledButton } from "@mantine/core";
 import { IconChevronDown } from "@tabler/icons-react";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { estimateTokens } from "@/features/ai-chat/utils/count-stream-tokens.ts";
+import { collapseBlankLines } from "@/features/ai-chat/utils/collapse-blank-lines.ts";
 import { renderChatMarkdown } from "@/features/ai-chat/utils/markdown.ts";
 import classes from "@/features/ai-chat/components/ai-chat.module.css";
 
@@ -33,7 +34,12 @@ export default function ReasoningBlock({ text, tokens }: ReasoningBlockProps) {
   // Authoritative count wins; otherwise estimate live from the streamed text.
   const count = tokens && tokens > 0 ? tokens : estimateTokens(text);
   const trimmed = text.trim();
-  const html = trimmed ? renderChatMarkdown(trimmed, {}) : "";
+  // Collapse the blank-line gaps the model emits between every list item /
+  // paragraph so the reasoning renders compactly (tight lists, joined
+  // paragraphs) — see collapseBlankLines. ONLY here, not in the normal answer.
+  const html = trimmed
+    ? renderChatMarkdown(collapseBlankLines(trimmed), {})
+    : "";
 
   return (
     <Box className={classes.reasoningBlock} mb={6}>
diff --git a/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/utils/collapse-blank-lines.test.ts b/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/utils/collapse-blank-lines.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d61315dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/utils/collapse-blank-lines.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { collapseBlankLines } from "@/features/ai-chat/utils/collapse-blank-lines.ts";
+import { renderChatMarkdown } from "@/features/ai-chat/utils/markdown.ts";
+
+describe("collapseBlankLines", () => {
+  it("collapses a run of 2+ newlines to a single newline", () => {
+    expect(collapseBlankLines("a\n\nb")).toBe("a\nb");
+    expect(collapseBlankLines("a\n\n\n\nb")).toBe("a\nb");
+  });
+
+  it("keeps single newlines untouched", () => {
+    expect(collapseBlankLines("a\nb\nc")).toBe("a\nb\nc");
+  });
+
+  it("preserves blank lines INSIDE a fenced code block", () => {
+    const src = "a\n\n\nb\n\n```\nx\n\n\ny\n```\n\nc";
+    // Prose blanks collapse; the blank lines between the ``` fences survive.
+    expect(collapseBlankLines(src)).toBe("a\nb\n```\nx\n\n\ny\n```\nc");
+  });
+
+  it("handles a tilde fence and preserves its interior blanks", () => {
+    const src = "p\n\n~~~\ncode\n\nmore\n~~~\n\nq";
+    expect(collapseBlankLines(src)).toBe("p\n~~~\ncode\n\nmore\n~~~\nq");
+  });
+
+  it("leaves an unclosed fence's remaining lines verbatim", () => {
+    const src = "intro\n\n```\nstill\n\nopen";
+    expect(collapseBlankLines(src)).toBe("intro\n```\nstill\n\nopen");
+  });
+
+  it("is a no-op for text with no blank lines", () => {
+    expect(collapseBlankLines("just one line")).toBe("just one line");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("collapseBlankLines + renderChatMarkdown (tight reasoning rendering)", () => {
+  it("renders a blank-line-separated list as a TIGHT list (no <li><p>)", () => {
+    const loose =
+      "Intro paragraph.\n\n- item one\n\n- item two\n\n- item three";
+    const html = renderChatMarkdown(collapseBlankLines(loose), {});
+    // Tight list: each <li> holds the text directly, not wrapped in a <p>.
+    expect(html).toContain("<li>item one</li>");
+    expect(html).not.toContain("<li><p>");
+    // The list still parses as a list after the paragraph (not a paragraph+<br>).
+    expect(html).toContain("<ul>");
+    expect(html).toContain("<p>Intro paragraph.</p>");
+  });
+
+  it("renders an ordered list (1. 2.) as tight after collapsing", () => {
+    const loose = "Intro.\n\n1. first\n\n2. second";
+    const html = renderChatMarkdown(collapseBlankLines(loose), {});
+    expect(html).toContain("<ol>");
+    expect(html).toContain("<li>first</li>");
+    expect(html).not.toContain("<li><p>");
+  });
+
+  it("the loose source WOULD render <li><p> without collapsing (control)", () => {
+    const loose = "- a\n\n- b";
+    expect(renderChatMarkdown(loose, {})).toContain("<li><p>");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/utils/collapse-blank-lines.ts b/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/utils/collapse-blank-lines.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..17d49902
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/client/src/features/ai-chat/utils/collapse-blank-lines.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+// Pure helper for compact reasoning ("Thinking") rendering. Kept free of React
+// so it can be unit-tested in isolation (see collapse-blank-lines.test.ts).
+
+/**
+ * Collapse runs of 2+ newlines down to a single newline, EXCEPT inside fenced
+ * code blocks (``` ... ``` or ~~~ ... ~~~), where blank lines are significant.
+ *
+ * Why: reasoning models emit thinking with a blank line (`\n\n`) between every
+ * list item and paragraph. `marked` turns those into "loose" lists (each `<li>`
+ * wrapped in a `<p>`) and separate `<p>` paragraphs, each carrying a vertical
+ * margin — so the "Thinking" block renders with large, airy gaps. Removing the
+ * blank-line gaps yields tight lists (no `<li><p>`) and joined paragraphs. The
+ * chat markdown renderer runs with `breaks: true`, so a single `\n` still
+ * becomes a `<br>` — line breaks inside the reasoning are preserved; only the
+ * empty gaps between blocks disappear. Apply ONLY to reasoning text, never to a
+ * normal assistant answer (where paragraph spacing is intentional).
+ *
+ * Fenced code is preserved verbatim: a fence opens on a line whose first
+ * non-space characters are ``` or ~~~ and closes on the next line that starts
+ * with the same fence character. Blank lines between fences (significant for
+ * code formatting) are never collapsed.
+ */
+export function collapseBlankLines(text: string): string {
+  const lines = text.split("\n");
+  const out: string[] = [];
+  let inFence = false;
+  let fenceChar = "";
+
+  for (const line of lines) {
+    const fenceMatch = line.match(/^\s*(`{3,}|~{3,})/);
+    if (fenceMatch) {
+      const ch = fenceMatch[1][0];
+      if (!inFence) {
+        inFence = true;
+        fenceChar = ch;
+      } else if (ch === fenceChar) {
+        inFence = false;
+      }
+      out.push(line);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    // Inside a fenced block every line (including blanks) is significant.
+    if (inFence) {
+      out.push(line);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    // Outside fences: drop blank lines so a `\n\n+` gap collapses to a single
+    // `\n` between the surrounding content lines.
+    if (line.trim() === "") continue;
+    out.push(line);
+  }
+
+  return out.join("\n");
+}