diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/directive-text.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/directive-text.tsx
index c9a45f2d3f76..317489a96f82 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/directive-text.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/directive-text.tsx
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ export const SessionRefLink: FC<{
 
   return (
     <a
-      className="font-semibold text-foreground underline underline-offset-4 decoration-current/20 wrap-anywhere"
+      className="link-chip font-semibold wrap-anywhere"
       href="#"
       onClick={event => {
         event.preventDefault()
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/markdown-text.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/markdown-text.tsx
index 7684a4c4240c..f641890ffd40 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/markdown-text.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/markdown-text.tsx
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ function OpenMediaButton({ kind, path }: { kind: 'audio' | 'video'; path: string
   return (
     <span className="block">
       <button
-        className="mt-2 bg-transparent text-xs font-medium text-muted-foreground underline underline-offset-4 decoration-current/20 hover:text-foreground"
+        className="mt-2 link-chip bg-transparent text-xs font-medium text-muted-foreground hover:text-foreground"
         onClick={open}
         type="button"
       >
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ function MediaAttachment({ path }: { path: string }) {
   return (
     <span className="wrap-anywhere">
       <a
-        className="font-semibold text-foreground underline underline-offset-4 decoration-current/20 wrap-anywhere"
+        className="link-chip font-semibold wrap-anywhere"
         href="#"
         onClick={event => {
           event.preventDefault()
@@ -246,10 +246,7 @@ function MarkdownLink({ children, className, href, ...props }: ComponentProps<'a
   if (!target || !/^https?:\/\//i.test(target)) {
     return (
       <a
-        className={cn(
-          'font-semibold text-foreground underline underline-offset-4 decoration-current/20 wrap-anywhere',
-          className
-        )}
+        className={cn('link-chip font-semibold wrap-anywhere', className)}
         href={href}
         rel="noopener noreferrer"
         target="_blank"
@@ -324,7 +321,7 @@ function MarkdownImage({ className, src, alt, ...props }: ComponentProps<'img'>)
       <span className="my-2 block text-sm text-muted-foreground">
         Couldn&apos;t load {name}.{' '}
         <button
-          className="bg-transparent font-medium text-foreground underline underline-offset-4 decoration-current/20 hover:text-foreground"
+          className="link-chip bg-transparent font-medium text-foreground hover:text-foreground"
           onClick={open}
           type="button"
         >
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/chat/compact-markdown.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/chat/compact-markdown.tsx
index ed3389464a49..eedd6ad18ef7 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/chat/compact-markdown.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/chat/compact-markdown.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import type { ComponentProps, ElementType, FC } from 'react'
 import { memo } from 'react'
 import { Streamdown } from 'streamdown'
 
-import { ExternalLink, ExternalLinkIcon } from '@/lib/external-link'
+import { ExternalLink } from '@/lib/external-link'
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils'
 
 // Compact markdown renderer for tool detail bodies. Same Streamdown pipeline
@@ -42,20 +42,15 @@ function tagged<T extends keyof typeof TAG_CLASSES>(Tag: T) {
 function MarkdownAnchor({ children, className, href, ...rest }: ComponentProps<'a'>) {
   if (!href || !/^https?:\/\//i.test(href)) {
     return (
-      <a
-        className={cn('font-medium underline underline-offset-4 decoration-current/20', className)}
-        href={href}
-        {...rest}
-      >
+      <a className={cn('link-chip font-medium', className)} href={href} {...rest}>
         {children}
       </a>
     )
   }
 
   return (
-    <ExternalLink className={cn('decoration-current/20', className)} href={href} showExternalIcon={false}>
+    <ExternalLink className={className} href={href}>
       {children}
-      <ExternalLinkIcon />
     </ExternalLink>
   )
 }
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/chat/generated-image-result.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/components/chat/generated-image-result.tsx
index 66d3d38072d5..32cb453c69c6 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/chat/generated-image-result.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/chat/generated-image-result.tsx
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ export const GeneratedImage: FC<{ aspectRatio?: string; result?: unknown }> = ({
   if (failed && image) {
     return (
       <a
-        className="mt-2 inline-block font-semibold text-foreground underline underline-offset-4 decoration-current/20 wrap-anywhere"
+        className="mt-2 link-chip inline-block font-semibold wrap-anywhere"
         href="#"
         onClick={event => {
           event.preventDefault()
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/external-link.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/lib/external-link.tsx
index e9770d58f57b..17f82c6a2cb9 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/external-link.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/external-link.tsx
@@ -215,14 +215,14 @@ export function ExternalLink({
   className,
   href,
   onClick,
-  showExternalIcon = true,
+  showExternalIcon = false,
   ...rest
 }: ExternalLinkProps) {
   const target = normalizeExternalUrl(href)
 
   return (
     <a
-      className={cn('font-semibold text-foreground underline underline-offset-4 decoration-current/20', className)}
+      className={cn('link-chip font-semibold', className)}
       href={target}
       onClick={event => {
         event.stopPropagation()
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/styles.css b/apps/desktop/src/styles.css
index 919b5ff76ef4..395477bc53f9 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/styles.css
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/styles.css
@@ -514,6 +514,32 @@
   background: repeating-conic-gradient(currentColor 0% 25%, transparent 0% 50%) 0 0 / 0.125rem 0.125rem;
 }
 
+/* Inline content links: a small tinted chip instead of an underline. Tint is
+   currentColor-relative (the old `decoration-current/20` idiom), so text and
+   fill share a hue on every theme from one `color` declaration. */
+.link-chip {
+  --link-chip-tint: 8%;
+
+  /* `ch`/`em` so the chip tracks the text at any size. Block padding is
+     asymmetric because an inline box's content area is ascent+descent — equal
+     padding paints the glyphs high. Keep it small: `padding-block` doesn't grow
+     the line box, so an over-padded chip creeps into the line above. */
+  padding: 0.05ch 0.5ch 0.2ch;
+  border-radius: 0.25rem;
+  color: var(--dt-primary);
+  background: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor var(--link-chip-tint), transparent);
+  /* Explicit: the base layer underlines every `a` (see the :where(a, …) reset). */
+  text-decoration: none;
+  /* A wrapped link gets a chip per line fragment, not one ragged box. */
+  -webkit-box-decoration-break: clone;
+  box-decoration-break: clone;
+  transition: background-color 0.12s ease;
+}
+
+.link-chip:hover {
+  --link-chip-tint: 15%;
+}
+
 /* Hover-reveal suppression — the shared, declarative escape hatch.
    A collapsed pane slides in when the pointer dwells on its thin edge trigger.
    Controls that sit over that edge gutter would drag the panel in by accident.