diff --git a/src/agent/context.rs b/src/agent/context.rs
index c25cdbe..bdaa3a5 100644
--- a/src/agent/context.rs
+++ b/src/agent/context.rs
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ pub enum ConversationEntry {
     Memory { key: String, message: Message, score: Option<f64> },
     /// DMN heartbeat/autonomous prompt — evicted aggressively during compaction.
     Dmn(Message),
+    /// Model thinking/reasoning — not sent to the API, 0 tokens for budgeting.
+    Thinking(String),
     /// Debug/status log line — written to conversation log for tracing,
     /// skipped on read-back.
     Log(String),
@@ -291,8 +293,12 @@ impl Serialize for ConversationEntry {
                 }
                 map.end()
             }
+            Self::Thinking(text) => {
+                let mut map = s.serialize_map(Some(1))?;
+                map.serialize_entry("thinking", text)?;
+                map.end()
+            }
             Self::Log(text) => {
-                use serde::ser::SerializeMap;
                 let mut map = s.serialize_map(Some(1))?;
                 map.serialize_entry("log", text)?;
                 map.end()
@@ -304,7 +310,10 @@ impl Serialize for ConversationEntry {
 impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for ConversationEntry {
     fn deserialize<D: serde::Deserializer<'de>>(d: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error> {
         let mut json: serde_json::Value = serde_json::Value::deserialize(d)?;
-        // Log entries — skip on read-back
+        if json.get("thinking").is_some() {
+            let text = json["thinking"].as_str().unwrap_or("").to_string();
+            return Ok(Self::Thinking(text));
+        }
         if json.get("log").is_some() {
             let text = json["log"].as_str().unwrap_or("").to_string();
             return Ok(Self::Log(text));
@@ -330,10 +339,14 @@ impl ConversationEntry {
         match self {
             Self::System(m) | Self::Message(m) | Self::Dmn(m) => m,
             Self::Memory { message, .. } => message,
-            Self::Log(_) => panic!("Log entries have no API message"),
+            Self::Thinking(_) | Self::Log(_) => panic!("Thinking/Log entries have no API message"),
         }
     }
 
+    pub fn is_thinking(&self) -> bool {
+        matches!(self, Self::Thinking(_))
+    }
+
     pub fn is_memory(&self) -> bool {
         matches!(self, Self::Memory { .. })
     }
@@ -352,6 +365,12 @@ impl ConversationEntry {
         match self {
             Self::System(_) => "system: [system prompt]".to_string(),
             Self::Dmn(_) => "dmn: [heartbeat]".to_string(),
+            Self::Thinking(text) => {
+                let preview: String = text.chars().take(60).collect();
+                let preview = preview.replace('\n', " ");
+                if text.len() > 60 { format!("thinking: {}...", preview) }
+                else { format!("thinking: {}", preview) }
+            }
             Self::Log(text) => {
                 let preview: String = text.chars().take(60).collect();
                 format!("log: {}", preview.replace('\n', " "))
@@ -390,17 +409,17 @@ impl ConversationEntry {
         match self {
             Self::System(m) | Self::Message(m) | Self::Dmn(m) => m,
             Self::Memory { message, .. } => message,
-            Self::Log(_) => panic!("Log entries have no message"),
+            Self::Thinking(_) | Self::Log(_) => panic!("Thinking/Log entries have no message"),
         }
     }
 
     /// Get a mutable reference to the inner message.
-    /// Panics on Log entries.
+    /// Panics on Thinking/Log entries.
     pub fn message_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Message {
         match self {
             Self::System(m) | Self::Message(m) | Self::Dmn(m) => m,
             Self::Memory { message, .. } => message,
-            Self::Log(_) => panic!("Log entries have no message"),
+            Self::Thinking(_) | Self::Log(_) => panic!("Thinking/Log entries have no message"),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/agent/mod.rs b/src/agent/mod.rs
index 8abea91..4d8f41c 100644
--- a/src/agent/mod.rs
+++ b/src/agent/mod.rs
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ impl Agent {
         }
         // Conversation entries
         msgs.extend(self.context.conversation.entries().iter()
-            .filter(|e| !e.entry.is_log())
+            .filter(|e| !e.entry.is_log() && !e.entry.is_thinking())
             .map(|e| e.entry.api_message().clone()));
         msgs
     }
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ impl Agent {
                 eprintln!("warning: failed to log entry: {:#}", e);
             }
         }
-        let tokens = if entry.is_log() { 0 } else {
+        let tokens = if entry.is_log() || entry.is_thinking() { 0 } else {
             context::msg_token_count(&self.tokenizer, entry.api_message())
         };
         self.context.conversation.push(ContextEntry {
diff --git a/src/user/widgets.rs b/src/user/widgets.rs
index 0050924..3c705b9 100644
--- a/src/user/widgets.rs
+++ b/src/user/widgets.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use ratatui::{
     Frame,
     crossterm::event::KeyCode,
 };
-use crate::agent::context::ContextSection;
+use crate::agent::context::{ContextSection, ConversationEntry};
 
 /// UI-only tree node for the section tree display.
 /// Built from ContextSection data; not used for budgeting.
@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ pub struct SectionView {
 /// Each entry becomes a child with label + expandable content.
 pub fn section_to_view(section: &ContextSection) -> SectionView {
     let children: Vec<SectionView> = section.entries().iter().map(|ce| {
-        let content = if ce.entry.is_log() {
-            String::new()
-        } else {
-            ce.entry.message().content_text().to_string()
+        let content = match &ce.entry {
+            ConversationEntry::Log(_) => String::new(),
+            ConversationEntry::Thinking(text) => text.clone(),
+            _ => ce.entry.message().content_text().to_string(),
         };
         SectionView {
             name: ce.entry.label(),