diff --git a/HellionChat/Ui/Components/Sidebar.cs b/HellionChat/Ui/Components/Sidebar.cs
index 64bc5cc..4adad40 100644
--- a/HellionChat/Ui/Components/Sidebar.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/Ui/Components/Sidebar.cs
@@ -317,6 +317,13 @@ internal sealed class Sidebar
                 ),
                 AccentAbgr = _palette.Abgr(Token.AccentPrimary, colors),
                 BorderAbgr = ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(_palette.Abgr(Token.Border, colors), opacity),
+            },
+            new RowStyle
+            {
+                // Across the gap between the sidebar group and the message
+                // area, so the selected tab touches the conversation it
+                // selects instead of ending at the seam.
+                ActiveBridgeWidth = ImGui.GetStyle().ItemSpacing.X,
             }
         );
 
diff --git a/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/Widgets/Row.cs b/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/Widgets/Row.cs
index f80cd93..c2dba86 100644
--- a/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/Widgets/Row.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/Widgets/Row.cs
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ internal readonly record struct RowStyle
 
     public float AccentBarWidth { get; init; } = 2f;
     public bool DrawSeparator { get; init; } = true;
+
+    // Extends the active fill past the right edge by this many pixels, so the
+    // selected tab reads as attached to the content it selects -- the classic
+    // tab metaphor -- instead of ending at a hard seam. Zero for rows that do
+    // not sit next to the thing they select.
+    public float ActiveBridgeWidth { get; init; } = 0f;
 }
 
 internal static class Row
@@ -51,13 +57,19 @@ internal static class Row
         // default is 0.85 -- an opaque fill per row would make the sidebar a
         // solid block inside a translucent window.
         if (state.IsActive)
-            dl.AddRectFilled(origin, max, state.SurfaceActiveAbgr);
+        {
+            var fillMax = max;
+            if (style.ActiveBridgeWidth > 0f)
+                fillMax.X += style.ActiveBridgeWidth;
+            dl.AddRectFilled(origin, fillMax, state.SurfaceActiveAbgr);
+        }
 
         if (state.HoverAmount > 0f)
             dl.AddRectFilled(
                 origin,
                 max,
-                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(state.SurfaceHoverAbgr, state.HoverAmount)
+                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(state.SurfaceHoverAbgr, state.HoverAmount),
+                3f * Metrics.Scale
             );
 
         if (state.IsActive && style.AccentBarWidth > 0f)
@@ -72,12 +84,17 @@ internal static class Row
             // path, so an unscaled 1px offset with a scaled stroke puts half the
             // line below max.Y -- and rows stack flush, so that half lands in the
             // first pixel row of the next one.
+            // A full-width line under every row reads as a ladder of hard
+            // cuts -- the tester's words were that the list felt too hard.
+            // The rule now starts past the icon column and fades to nothing
+            // before the right edge, the same shape the section headers use.
             var thickness = Metrics.Scale;
             var y = max.Y - thickness * 0.5f;
-            dl.AddLine(
-                new Vector2(origin.X, y),
-                new Vector2(max.X, y),
-                state.BorderAbgr,
+            var inset = 10f * Metrics.Scale;
+            dl.DrawFadeRule(
+                new Vector2(origin.X + inset, y),
+                size.X - inset,
+                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(state.BorderAbgr, 0.55f),
                 thickness
             );
         }
diff --git a/HellionChat/Ui/Windows/MainWindow.cs b/HellionChat/Ui/Windows/MainWindow.cs
index b496c3e..bd07ea3 100644
--- a/HellionChat/Ui/Windows/MainWindow.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/Ui/Windows/MainWindow.cs
@@ -367,6 +367,25 @@ internal sealed class MainWindow : Window, IFocusableChatWindow
             _sidebar.Draw(bodyWidth, tabs, ref _activeTab);
         }
 
+        // The gap between the tab list and the conversation used to be a bare
+        // strip of window background with a hard edge on both sides -- tester
+        // feedback called the transition too hard. A faint surface wash that
+        // fades toward the messages turns the cut into a seam. The active row
+        // bridges across it (RowStyle.ActiveBridgeWidth), so the selected tab
+        // stays attached to its content on top of the wash.
+        {
+            var seamMin = new Vector2(ImGui.GetItemRectMax().X, ImGui.GetItemRectMin().Y);
+            var seamMax = new Vector2(
+                seamMin.X + ImGui.GetStyle().ItemSpacing.X,
+                ImGui.GetItemRectMax().Y
+            );
+            var wash = ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(
+                ColourUtil.RgbaToAbgr(Plugin.Instance.ThemeRegistry.Active.Colors.Surface),
+                0.35f
+            );
+            ImGui.GetWindowDrawList().AddRectFilledMultiColor(seamMin, seamMax, wash, 0u, 0u, wash);
+        }
+
         ImGui.SameLine();
 
         using (ImRaii.Group())