diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/chat/lib/scroll/timelineScrollIntent.test.ts b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/lib/scroll/timelineScrollIntent.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..084bd420
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/lib/scroll/timelineScrollIntent.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+
+import { isFollowReleaseKey, isMiddleButtonPan, nestedScrollableConsumesWheelUp } from './timelineScrollIntent';
+
+const key = (
+    k: string,
+    modifiers: Partial<Pick<KeyboardEvent, 'altKey' | 'ctrlKey' | 'metaKey' | 'shiftKey'>> = {},
+) => ({ key: k, altKey: false, ctrlKey: false, metaKey: false, shiftKey: false, ...modifiers });
+
+describe('isFollowReleaseKey', () => {
+    test('upward navigation keys release follow', () => {
+        for (const k of ['ArrowUp', 'PageUp', 'Home']) expect(isFollowReleaseKey(key(k))).toBe(true);
+        expect(isFollowReleaseKey(key(' ', { shiftKey: true }))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    test('downward keys, plain space, and modified shortcuts do not', () => {
+        for (const k of ['ArrowDown', 'PageDown', 'End', ' ', 'Pause', 'Enter']) {
+            expect(isFollowReleaseKey(key(k))).toBe(false);
+        }
+        expect(isFollowReleaseKey(key('Home', { ctrlKey: true }))).toBe(false);
+        expect(isFollowReleaseKey(key('ArrowUp', { metaKey: true }))).toBe(false);
+        expect(isFollowReleaseKey(key('ArrowUp', { altKey: true }))).toBe(false);
+    });
+});
+
+// The helpers only use Element#closest, scrollTop, and identity, so a minimal
+// DOM stand-in built on EventTarget is enough — no renderer or jsdom.
+class FakeElement extends EventTarget {
+    scrollTop = 0;
+    constructor(private readonly scrollable: boolean, private readonly parent: FakeElement | null = null) {
+        super();
+    }
+    closest(selector: string): FakeElement | null {
+        if (selector !== '[data-scrollable]') throw new Error(`unexpected selector ${selector}`);
+        if (this.scrollable) return this;
+        return this.parent?.closest(selector) ?? null;
+    }
+}
+// SAFETY: the helpers narrow with `instanceof Element` / `instanceof HTMLElement`;
+// registering the fakes under those globals keeps the narrowing honest in bun.
+const installDomGlobals = () => {
+    const previous = { Element: globalThis.Element, HTMLElement: globalThis.HTMLElement };
+    Object.assign(globalThis, { Element: FakeElement, HTMLElement: FakeElement });
+    return () => Object.assign(globalThis, previous);
+};
+// With the globals above installed, FakeElement IS the HTMLElement the helpers
+// narrow to; reading it back through the global bridges the static type without
+// asserting anything the runtime does not hold.
+const asRoot = (element: FakeElement): HTMLElement => {
+    if (!(element instanceof globalThis.HTMLElement)) throw new Error('DOM globals not installed');
+    return element;
+};
+
+describe('nested scroller handling', () => {
+    test('an upward wheel over a nested scroller with room above stays there', () => {
+        const restore = installDomGlobals();
+        try {
+            const root = new FakeElement(false);
+            const box = new FakeElement(true, root);
+            const inner = new FakeElement(false, box);
+            box.scrollTop = 40;
+            expect(nestedScrollableConsumesWheelUp(asRoot(root), inner)).toBe(true);
+            box.scrollTop = 0;
+            expect(nestedScrollableConsumesWheelUp(asRoot(root), inner)).toBe(false);
+            expect(nestedScrollableConsumesWheelUp(asRoot(root), new FakeElement(false, root))).toBe(false);
+        } finally {
+            restore();
+        }
+    });
+
+    test('a middle-button press pans the timeline unless it lands in a nested scroller', () => {
+        const restore = installDomGlobals();
+        try {
+            const root = new FakeElement(false);
+            const row = new FakeElement(false, root);
+            const box = new FakeElement(true, root);
+            expect(isMiddleButtonPan(asRoot(root), { button: 1, target: row })).toBe(true);
+            expect(isMiddleButtonPan(asRoot(root), { button: 1, target: box })).toBe(false);
+            expect(isMiddleButtonPan(asRoot(root), { button: 0, target: row })).toBe(false);
+        } finally {
+            restore();
+        }
+    });
+});
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/chat/lib/scroll/timelineScrollIntent.ts b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/lib/scroll/timelineScrollIntent.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c6709f8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/chat/lib/scroll/timelineScrollIntent.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+// Gesture classification for the chat timeline's follow opt-out.
+//
+// The timeline releases live follow on REAL upward gestures only. Wheel and
+// touch carry their direction; this module answers the same question for the
+// inputs that do not: which keys mean "scroll up", when a middle-button press
+// starts a pan, and when an upward wheel belongs to a nested scroller (a tool
+// output box) that can still consume it. Pure functions, no DOM ownership,
+// so the rules are testable without a renderer.
+
+// A nested scroller inside the timeline marks itself with this attribute
+// (see ToolPart). Wheel-up over it scrolls the box, not the conversation, for
+// as long as the box has room above.
+const NESTED_SCROLLABLE_SELECTOR = '[data-scrollable]';
+
+export const isFollowReleaseKey = (
+    event: Pick<KeyboardEvent, 'altKey' | 'ctrlKey' | 'key' | 'metaKey' | 'shiftKey'>,
+): boolean => {
+    // Modified keys are shortcuts, not navigation.
+    if (event.altKey || event.ctrlKey || event.metaKey) return false;
+    if (event.key === ' ') return event.shiftKey;
+    return event.key === 'ArrowUp' || event.key === 'PageUp' || event.key === 'Home';
+};
+
+const nestedScrollable = (root: HTMLElement, target: EventTarget | null): HTMLElement | null => {
+    if (!(target instanceof Element)) return null;
+    const nested = target.closest(NESTED_SCROLLABLE_SELECTOR);
+    return nested instanceof HTMLElement && nested !== root ? nested : null;
+};
+
+// An upward wheel over a nested scroller that still has content above stays
+// with that scroller; the timeline must not treat it as leaving the end.
+export const nestedScrollableConsumesWheelUp = (root: HTMLElement, target: EventTarget | null): boolean => {
+    const nested = nestedScrollable(root, target);
+    return nested !== null && nested.scrollTop > 0;
+};
+
+// Middle-button press starts the platform's autoscroll pan (Windows/Linux
+// Chromium); the pan then scrolls without wheel events, so the press itself is
+// the gesture. Inside a nested scroller the pan belongs to that scroller.
+export const isMiddleButtonPan = (root: HTMLElement, event: Pick<MouseEvent, 'button' | 'target'>): boolean =>
+    event.button === 1 && nestedScrollable(root, event.target) === null;
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/hooks/useChatTimelineScroll.ts b/packages/ui/src/hooks/useChatTimelineScroll.ts
index 9255b1e2..dcccdf37 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/hooks/useChatTimelineScroll.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/hooks/useChatTimelineScroll.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@ import {
     type TimelineListMeasurementState,
     type TimelineScrollMode,
 } from '@/components/chat/lib/scroll/timelineScrollAnchoring';
+import {
+    isFollowReleaseKey,
+    isMiddleButtonPan,
+    nestedScrollableConsumesWheelUp,
+} from '@/components/chat/lib/scroll/timelineScrollIntent';
 
 // ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // Chat timeline scroll ownership.
@@ -772,8 +777,12 @@ export const useChatTimelineScroll = ({
             onManualNavigationRef.current();
         };
         const handleWheel = (event: WheelEvent) => {
-            // Scrolling toward the end is not opting out of follow.
-            if (event.deltaY < 0 && canScrollUp()) gesture();
+            // Scrolling toward the end is not opting out of follow, and an
+            // upward wheel that a nested scroller still consumes never
+            // reaches the timeline.
+            if (event.deltaY < 0 && !nestedScrollableConsumesWheelUp(scrollNode, event.target) && canScrollUp()) {
+                gesture();
+            }
         };
         // Touch mirrors wheel by finger direction, not by having already left
         // the end: while a stream keeps re-pinning the viewport, waiting for
@@ -797,14 +806,19 @@ export const useChatTimelineScroll = ({
             touchLastY = null;
         };
         const handlePointerDown = (event: PointerEvent) => {
-            // The scrollbar track is the scroll node itself; a tap on a row
-            // only breaks follow when the viewport already left the end.
+            // A middle-button pan scrolls without wheel events (and is the
+            // only scroll gesture for wheel-less mice), so the press is the
+            // opt-out. Otherwise the scrollbar track is the scroll node
+            // itself; a tap on a row only breaks follow when the viewport
+            // already left the end.
+            if (isMiddleButtonPan(scrollNode, event)) {
+                if (canScrollUp()) gesture();
+                return;
+            }
             if ((event.target === scrollNode || !isAtEndRef.current) && canScrollUp()) gesture();
         };
         const handleKeyDown = (event: KeyboardEvent) => {
-            if ((event.key === 'PageUp' || event.key === 'Home' || event.key === 'ArrowUp') && canScrollUp()) {
-                gesture();
-            }
+            if (isFollowReleaseKey(event) && canScrollUp()) gesture();
         };
         const handleScroll = () => {
             queueSave();