levelcodeai · ndemianc · Aug 15, 2026 · Aug 15, 2026
diff --git a/docs/CHAT-TYPOGRAPHY.md b/docs/CHAT-TYPOGRAPHY.md
@@ -163,6 +163,39 @@ the contribution schema only drive the settings *editor*; a hand-edited `setting
 transcript — a panel with nothing left on screen to open settings with, whose only exit is finding the
 JSON file again. `webviewCss.test.js` pins the clamp to the schema so the two cannot drift.
 
+### D8 — Your turn sits right. The assistant's stays left.
+
+Added after T4 shipped, from the reference: in the Claude Code console your messages are right-aligned
+bubbles and the replies are left-aligned prose.
+
+This is the half T4 was missing, and it closes a risk T4 opened rather than merely adding polish. T4
+removed the labels and left the **bubble** carrying the speaker distinction alone — but the bubble is
+`--field-bg` on a `--border` outline, which is near-invisible in some themes. On a low-contrast theme a
+transcript could read as one undifferentiated voice, which is precisely the failure D6 was trying to
+avoid. **Side is unmissable in every theme, at every contrast, and costs no chrome at all.**
+
+Three things this decides, each with a way to get it wrong:
+
+- **`align-items`, not `text-align`.** The *bubble* is what moves; the prose inside it stays
+  left-aligned. `text-align: right` looks identical on a one-line message and is unreadable on a
+  three-line one. The suite fails on it.
+- **The bubble hugs its content** (`width: fit-content`), so "Yes" is a 47px bubble and a pasted stack
+  trace is a wide one. The shape of a turn now carries information the label used to spell out.
+- **Capped at 85%, not 100%.** At 100% a long question fills the measure, reads as a full-width block
+  again, and the side cue disappears exactly when the transcript is densest.
+
+Measured in headless Chrome at a 680px column, against `develop`:
+
+| | before | after |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| short bubble ("Yes") | 680px | **46.9px**, flush right |
+| long user turn | 680px | **578px** — exactly the 85% cap, flush right |
+| assistant | 680px, left | 680px, left (unchanged) |
+| `text-align` inside the bubble | `start` | `start` |
+
+Tint stays as the secondary cue rather than being removed: side alone would fail on any surface that
+reflows the log to a single column.
+
 ---
 
 ## 3. Slices
@@ -185,7 +218,13 @@ selection, and every non-prose control still matches workbench chrome.
 accessibility tree, and a turn start buys back part of the height it was occupying. **Exit:** the
 transcript reads as prose with the bubble as the only visual speaker cue, a continuation is still
 visibly tighter than a new turn, and `.msg.cont` still emits no label — verified by computed styles
-against `develop`, not by eye.
+against `develop`, not by eye. *(T6 then made side the primary cue, so "the bubble alone" describes
+T4 as it shipped, not the current state.)*
+
+**T6 — side** *(S)*. D8. **Shipped.** Your turn moves right and hugs its content; the assistant stays
+left and full-measure. **Exit:** a short turn renders as a short right-flush bubble, a long one caps
+below the column, the assistant is untouched, and the prose inside the bubble is still left-aligned —
+all four measured, not eyeballed.
 
 **T5 — the escape hatch** *(S)*. D7. **Folded into T2 and shipped with it.** Sequencing it last was a
 mistake: T2 is the one slice that changes what every existing user sees, and shipping a divisive
@@ -195,6 +234,11 @@ property reaches the webview from settings, the second is a line — so splittin
 Sequencing: T1 first and alone — it may turn out to be most of the perceived fix, and shipping it
 by itself is the cheapest way to find out before spending effort on T2–T4.
 
+That held up: T1–T2, T4 and T6 have shipped in that order, each visible on its own. **T3 is the only
+slice of this plan still outstanding.** D8/T6 was not in the original decomposition — it came from
+looking at the reference again after T4, which is the argument for shipping slices small enough to
+look at.
+
 ---
 
 ## 4. Risks, honestly

diff --git a/extensions/levelcode-ai/media/chat.html b/extensions/levelcode-ai/media/chat.html
@@ -215,6 +215,24 @@
   .msg .body > div > :last-child, .msg .body > p:last-child, .msg .body > ul:last-child, .msg .body > ol:last-child { margin-bottom: 0; }
   .msg.user .body { background: var(--field-bg); border: 1px solid var(--border); border-radius: 10px; padding: 9px 11px; }
   .msg.assistant .body { padding: 1px 2px; }
+  /* T6 (docs/CHAT-TYPOGRAPHY.md D8) — your turn sits RIGHT, the assistant's stays LEFT.
+     This is what T4 was missing. T4 dropped the labels and left the bubble carrying the speaker
+     distinction alone — but the bubble is `--field-bg`, which is near-invisible in some themes, so on
+     a low-contrast theme the transcript could read as one undifferentiated voice. Side is unmissable
+     in every theme, at every contrast, and costs no chrome at all.
+
+     The bubble HUGS its content rather than filling the column, so "Yes" is a short bubble and a
+     pasted stack trace is a wide one — the shape of a turn now carries information the label used to
+     spell out. Capped at 85%: at 100% a long question fills the column, reads as a full-width block
+     again, and the side cue disappears exactly when the transcript is densest.
+
+     `align-items`, NOT `text-align`: the bubble is the thing being placed, so the prose inside it
+     stays left-aligned — right-aligned body text is unreadable past one line. `.ckwrap` rides along
+     to the right edge, which is correct: the checkpoint control belongs to the turn it restores.
+     `width: fit-content` is what `align-items: flex-end` already implies; it is stated so that
+     changing the alignment later cannot silently stretch the bubble back to full width. */
+  .msg.user { display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: flex-end; }
+  .msg.user .body { width: fit-content; max-width: 85%; }
   .err { color: var(--vscode-errorForeground); }
   /* free-tier cap reached → a compelling upgrade CTA instead of raw 402 error text */
   .upgradecard { border: 1px solid color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 45%, var(--border)); border-radius: 12px; margin: 8px 2px; padding: 13px 15px 14px; background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 9%, var(--field-bg)); }

diff --git a/extensions/levelcode-ai/test/webviewCss.test.js b/extensions/levelcode-ai/test/webviewCss.test.js
@@ -437,6 +437,48 @@ test('TRANSCRIPT: dropping the label does not collapse the gap between speakers'
 		'the bubble needs its border: --field-bg alone is near-invisible in some themes');
 });
 
+test('TRANSCRIPT: your turn sits right, the assistant stays left', () => {
+	// docs/CHAT-TYPOGRAPHY.md D8/T6. T4 removed the labels and left the bubble carrying the speaker
+	// distinction alone — but the bubble is `--field-bg`, near-invisible in some themes, so on a
+	// low-contrast theme the transcript could read as one undifferentiated voice. Side is unmissable in
+	// every theme, at every contrast, and costs no chrome.
+	assert.match(css, /\.msg\.user \{[^}]*display:\s*flex/, 'the user turn is no longer a flex container');
+	assert.match(css, /\.msg\.user \{[^}]*flex-direction:\s*column/,
+		'a row direction would put the checkpoint control beside the bubble instead of under it');
+	assert.match(css, /\.msg\.user \{[^}]*align-items:\s*flex-end/, 'the user turn is no longer pushed right');
+
+	// THE TRAP. `text-align: right` looks like the same change on a one-line message and is completely
+	// different on a three-line one: it right-aligns the PROSE, which is unreadable past one line.
+	// The bubble is the thing being placed; the words inside it stay left.
+	const userRules = [...css.matchAll(/\.msg\.user[^{}\n]*\{([^}]*)\}/g)].map((m) => m[1]).join(' ');
+	assert.ok(!/text-align\s*:\s*right/.test(userRules),
+		'right-align the BUBBLE (align-items), never the text — multi-line prose becomes unreadable');
+
+	// The asymmetry IS the cue. Give the assistant the same treatment and both sides move together,
+	// which restores exactly the undifferentiated column T4 was at risk of.
+	assert.ok(!/\.msg\.assistant[^{}\n]*\{[^}]*align-items:\s*flex-end/.test(css),
+		'the assistant must stay left — if both sides sit right there is no side cue at all');
+});
+
+test('TRANSCRIPT: the user bubble hugs its content, and is capped short of the column', () => {
+	const rule = /\.msg\.user \.body \{([^}]*width:\s*fit-content[^}]*)\}/.exec(css);
+	assert.ok(rule, 'the user bubble no longer hugs its content — "Yes" would be a full-width block');
+
+	// Capped BELOW the column: at 100% a long question fills the measure, reads as a full-width block
+	// again, and the side cue disappears exactly when the transcript is densest.
+	const cap = /max-width:\s*(\d+)%/.exec(rule[1]);
+	assert.ok(cap, 'the bubble needs a percentage cap, or a long turn spans the whole column');
+	const pct = Number(cap[1]);
+	assert.ok(pct >= 70 && pct <= 90,
+		'the cap is ' + pct + '%; below ~70% a normal question wraps far too early, above ~90% the '
+		+ 'asymmetry stops being visible');
+
+	// Measured in headless Chrome at a 680px column: "Yes" renders 46.9px wide and the long turn
+	// lands on 578px, exactly the cap. Both flush to the column's right edge; the assistant stays 680.
+	assert.match(css, /\.msg\.user \.body \{[^}]*background:\s*var\(--field-bg\)/,
+		'tint is the secondary cue and still earns its place — side alone would drop on a wrapped log');
+});
+
 test('TRANSCRIPT: the heading scale has steps you can actually see', () => {
 	// The old 1.3/1.18/1.07 put 0.11em between h2 and h3 — 1.4px at 13px, i.e. three levels of
 	// hierarchy that were indistinguishable without selecting the text.