diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/right-rail/preview.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/right-rail/preview.tsx
index 219a28aacfc..9d9a6b3950e 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/right-rail/preview.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/right-rail/preview.tsx
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {
   ContextMenuSeparator,
   ContextMenuTrigger
 } from '@/components/ui/context-menu'
-import { PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE, PaneTab, PaneTabLabel } from '@/components/ui/pane-tab'
+import { PaneTab, PaneTabLabel } from '@/components/ui/pane-tab'
 import { Tip } from '@/components/ui/tooltip'
 import { translateNow, useI18n } from '@/i18n'
 import { formatCombo } from '@/lib/keybinds/combo'
@@ -131,12 +131,7 @@ export function ChatPreviewRail({ onRestartServer, setTitlebarToolGroup }: ChatP
       // titlebar-height so it opens below the band. 0px elsewhere → unchanged.
       style={{ paddingTop: 'var(--right-rail-top-inset, 0px)' }}
     >
-      <div
-        className={cn(
-          'group/rail-tabs flex h-(--titlebar-height) shrink-0 bg-(--ui-sidebar-surface-background)',
-          PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE
-        )}
-      >
+      <div className="group/rail-tabs flex h-(--titlebar-height) shrink-0 bg-(--ui-sidebar-surface-background)">
         <div
           className="flex min-w-0 flex-1 overflow-x-auto overflow-y-hidden overscroll-x-contain [-ms-overflow-style:none] [scrollbar-width:none] [&::-webkit-scrollbar]:hidden"
           role="tablist"
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx
index c0aa5e64a2a..cd40143dcd8 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx
@@ -665,7 +665,7 @@ export function ContribController() {
                   tree-published --workspace-left/right vars (pure CSS, no rect
                   threading), clamped to clear the REAL TitlebarControls
                   clusters (fixed, z-70); center is truly window-centered. */}
-          <div className="relative flex h-[34px] shrink-0 items-center border-b border-(--ui-stroke-tertiary) bg-(--ui-sidebar-surface-background) text-xs">
+          <div className="relative flex h-[34px] shrink-0 items-center bg-(--ui-sidebar-surface-background) text-xs">
             {/* Drag strips, AppShell-style: cut to AVOID the fixed control
                 clusters instead of overlapping them — Electron's no-drag
                 carve-out of fixed/transformed elements is unreliable, so a
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/statusbar-controls.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/statusbar-controls.tsx
index 9e3950626ba..a33608b5edd 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/statusbar-controls.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/statusbar-controls.tsx
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ export function StatusbarControls({ className, leftItems = [], items = [], ...pr
       <ContextMenuTrigger asChild>
         <footer
           className={cn(
-            'flex h-5 shrink-0 items-stretch justify-between gap-2 border-t border-(--ui-stroke-tertiary) bg-(--ui-sidebar-surface-background) px-1 py-0 text-(--ui-text-tertiary) [-webkit-app-region:no-drag]',
+            'flex h-5 shrink-0 items-stretch justify-between gap-2 bg-(--ui-sidebar-surface-background) px-1 py-0 text-(--ui-text-tertiary) [-webkit-app-region:no-drag]',
             className
           )}
           data-slot="statusbar"
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-group.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-group.tsx
index 74a278ed515..92fc35b0d7b 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-group.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-group.tsx
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ import { ContextMenu, ContextMenuContent, ContextMenuItem, ContextMenuTrigger }
 import { DecodeText } from '@/components/ui/decode-text'
 import { DROP_SHEET_BLUR_CLASS, DROP_SHEET_CLASS } from '@/components/ui/drop-affordance'
 import {
-  PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE,
   PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE_LEFT,
   PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE_RIGHT,
   PaneTab,
@@ -404,13 +403,10 @@ export function TreeGroup({
         <ZoneMenu {...zoneMenu}>
           <div
             // Active = sidebar surface (merges into body). Strip =
-            // `--theme-card-seed` (VS Code `tab.inactiveBackground`). Line =
-            // PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE; active tab cuts through it.
+            // `--theme-card-seed` (VS Code `tab.inactiveBackground`). No bottom
+            // rule — the active tab's primary underline is the only seam.
             // data-zone-tabstrip: a drop over here STACKS (drag-session reads it).
-            className={cn(
-              'group/pane-header relative flex h-7 shrink-0 select-none bg-(--pane-tab-strip-bg) [-webkit-app-region:no-drag] [--pane-tab-active-bg:var(--ui-sidebar-surface-background)] [--pane-tab-strip-bg:var(--theme-card-seed)]',
-              PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE
-            )}
+            className="group/pane-header relative flex h-7 shrink-0 select-none bg-(--pane-tab-strip-bg) [-webkit-app-region:no-drag] [--pane-tab-active-bg:var(--ui-sidebar-surface-background)] [--pane-tab-strip-bg:var(--theme-card-seed)]"
             data-zone-tabstrip={node.id}
             onContextMenu={e => {
               setMenuPane(
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-split.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-split.tsx
index 63f61f4ad34..378341552b9 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-split.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/renderer/tree-split.tsx
@@ -591,10 +591,11 @@ function Sash({
     >
       {/* Persistent hairline: same token as PaneShell's divider sash
           (--ui-stroke-secondary) so every seam — vertical or horizontal —
-          reads identically. */}
+          reads identically. Sits at 0.1 so seams recede into the surface,
+          and comes up to full on hover alongside the thicker grab band. */}
       <span
         className={cn(
-          'absolute bg-(--ui-stroke-secondary)',
+          'absolute bg-(--ui-stroke-secondary) opacity-10 transition-opacity duration-100 group-hover:opacity-100',
           horizontal ? 'inset-y-0 left-1/2 w-px -translate-x-1/2' : 'inset-x-0 top-1/2 h-px -translate-y-1/2'
         )}
       />
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/ui/pane-tab.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/ui/pane-tab.tsx
index c7698bb944f..5606e9a7f28 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/ui/pane-tab.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/ui/pane-tab.tsx
@@ -2,9 +2,6 @@ import * as React from 'react'
 
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils'
 
-/** Inset bottom stroke for a horizontal tab strip — titlebar color, cut by the active tab. */
-export const PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE = 'shadow-[inset_0_-1px_0_var(--ui-stroke-tertiary)]'
-
 /** Inset stroke for a vertical tab rail — content-facing edge. */
 export const PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE_LEFT = 'shadow-[inset_1px_0_0_var(--ui-stroke-tertiary)]'
 export const PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE_RIGHT = 'shadow-[inset_-1px_0_0_var(--ui-stroke-tertiary)]'
@@ -12,18 +9,20 @@ export const PANE_TAB_STRIP_LINE_RIGHT = 'shadow-[inset_-1px_0_0_var(--ui-stroke
 const TAB =
   'group/tab relative flex shrink-0 items-center border-transparent bg-(--tab-bg) text-[0.6875rem] font-medium [-webkit-app-region:no-drag]'
 
-// Stop 1px short: the strip's rule is an INSET shadow painted in the
-// container's own last pixel row, so a full-height tab covers it and reads as
-// overhanging the bar. The container owns the line; nothing redraws it.
-const TAB_HORIZONTAL =
-  'h-[calc(100%-1px)] min-w-0 max-w-48 not-first:border-l not-first:border-l-(--ui-stroke-quaternary)'
+// Full height: with the strip's rule removed there is no last-pixel row to
+// leave uncovered, so tabs fill the bar and no sliver of gutter shows through.
+const TAB_HORIZONTAL = 'h-full min-w-0 max-w-48 not-first:border-l not-first:border-l-(--ui-stroke-quaternary)'
 
 const TAB_VERTICAL =
   'w-full max-h-48 justify-center not-first:border-t not-first:border-t-(--ui-stroke-quaternary) [writing-mode:vertical-rl]'
 
-// Full height, so the active tab alone covers that row and cuts the rule.
 const TAB_ACTIVE = 'h-full text-foreground [--tab-bg:var(--pane-tab-active-bg,var(--ui-editor-surface-background))]'
 
+// Horizontal only: the active tab is the sole seam on the strip — a
+// theme-primary underline drawn as an inset shadow in its own last pixel row,
+// so it costs no layout and can't shift the tab.
+const TAB_ACTIVE_UNDERLINE = 'shadow-[inset_0_-2px_0_var(--pane-tab-active-accent,var(--theme-primary))]'
+
 // Inactive = gutter. Hover DARKENS: active is the lighter content surface, so a
 // lightening wash made the two nearly indistinguishable.
 const TAB_IDLE =
@@ -81,7 +80,9 @@ export const PaneTab = React.forwardRef<HTMLDivElement, PaneTabProps>(function P
         TAB,
         vertical ? TAB_VERTICAL : TAB_HORIZONTAL,
         edge,
-        active ? TAB_ACTIVE : cn(TAB_IDLE, edge && `${edge}-(--ui-stroke-tertiary)`),
+        active
+          ? cn(TAB_ACTIVE, !vertical && TAB_ACTIVE_UNDERLINE)
+          : cn(TAB_IDLE, edge && `${edge}-(--ui-stroke-tertiary)`),
         className
       )}
       data-active={active}