diff --git a/clients/terminal/tui/settings.py b/clients/terminal/tui/settings.py
index 0b566c8..b48910d 100644
--- a/clients/terminal/tui/settings.py
+++ b/clients/terminal/tui/settings.py
@@ -19,10 +19,13 @@
     scroll_speed: int = 1
     diff_style: str = "unified"
     # Maximum number of chat items rendered into the conversation panel. Older
-    # items stay in the in-memory model (non-destructive) but are not laid out,
-    # so per-token refresh cost is bounded regardless of history length. The
-    # render cache makes even the visible window cheap to rebuild.
-    max_visible_items: int = 200
+    # items stay in the in-memory model (non-destructive, cap = this * 3) but
+    # are not laid out, so per-token refresh cost is bounded regardless of
+    # history length. Kept modest (60) because the cold cost is dominated by
+    # the one-shot mount of the whole visible window at load/switch time —
+    # smaller window = faster resume of a long session. The render cache makes
+    # the visible window cheap to rebuild once mounted.
+    max_visible_items: int = 60
     keybinds: dict[str, str] = field(default_factory=dict)
 
     def to_dict(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
diff --git a/tests/clients/test_tui_settings.py b/tests/clients/test_tui_settings.py
index 0f32ccb..3ec96e0 100644
--- a/tests/clients/test_tui_settings.py
+++ b/tests/clients/test_tui_settings.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
     assert s.mouse is True
     assert s.scroll_speed == 1
     assert s.diff_style == "unified"
-    assert s.max_visible_items == 200
+    assert s.max_visible_items == 60
     assert s.keybinds == {}
 
 
@@ -127,11 +127,11 @@
     data = {"max_visible_items": 5}
     (tmp_state_dir / "tui.json").write_text(json.dumps(data), encoding="utf-8")
     loaded = TuiSettings().load()
-    assert loaded.max_visible_items == 200
+    assert loaded.max_visible_items == 60
 
 
 def test_settings_rejects_bad_max_visible_items(tmp_state_dir: Path) -> None:
     data = {"max_visible_items": "all"}
     (tmp_state_dir / "tui.json").write_text(json.dumps(data), encoding="utf-8")
     loaded = TuiSettings().load()
-    assert loaded.max_visible_items == 200
+    assert loaded.max_visible_items == 60