diff --git a/.agents/skills/create-issue-interaction-ui/SKILL.md b/.agents/skills/create-issue-interaction-ui/SKILL.md
index 59e22795ba..9cebfacc95 100644
--- a/.agents/skills/create-issue-interaction-ui/SKILL.md
+++ b/.agents/skills/create-issue-interaction-ui/SKILL.md
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ description: >
 
 # Create a new issue-thread interaction UI (Developer/maintainer skill)
 
+Developer/maintainer skill. Do NOT install this on production Paperclip agents.
+
 This skill walks a Paperclip contributor through introducing a new issue-thread
 interaction kind from shared contract to issue-detail wiring, helpers, and
 docs. It is intentionally a developer/maintainer skill: the audience is a
diff --git a/ui/src/components/MarkdownListStyles.test.ts b/ui/src/components/MarkdownListStyles.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5087569b6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/src/components/MarkdownListStyles.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+const stylesheet = readFileSync(fileURLToPath(new URL("../index.css", import.meta.url)), "utf8");
+
+function cssBlock(selector: string): string {
+  const start = stylesheet.indexOf(`${selector} {`);
+  expect(start, `Missing CSS selector: ${selector}`).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+
+  const bodyStart = stylesheet.indexOf("{", start);
+  const bodyEnd = stylesheet.indexOf("\n}", bodyStart);
+  expect(bodyStart, `Missing CSS block start: ${selector}`).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+  expect(bodyEnd, `Missing CSS block end: ${selector}`).toBeGreaterThan(bodyStart);
+
+  return stylesheet.slice(bodyStart + 1, bodyEnd);
+}
+
+function remPaddingLeft(selector: string): number {
+  const padding = cssBlock(selector).match(/padding-left:\s*([0-9.]+)rem/);
+
+  expect(padding?.[1], `Expected ${selector} to use rem padding`).toBeDefined();
+  return Number(padding?.[1]);
+}
+
+describe("rendered markdown list styles", () => {
+  it("keeps unordered-list gutters compact while giving ordered markers enough room", () => {
+    expect(remPaddingLeft(".paperclip-markdown :where(ul, ol)")).toBeLessThan(2.5);
+    expect(remPaddingLeft(".paperclip-markdown ol")).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2.5);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/ui/src/index.css b/ui/src/index.css
index 43430a2fda..ce4c18ba7a 100644
--- a/ui/src/index.css
+++ b/ui/src/index.css
@@ -1128,7 +1128,7 @@ a.paperclip-mention-chip[data-mention-kind="agent"]::before {
 }
 
 .paperclip-markdown :where(ul, ol) {
-  padding-left: 1.15rem;
+  padding-left: 1.5rem;
 }
 
 .paperclip-markdown ul {
@@ -1136,7 +1136,10 @@ a.paperclip-mention-chip[data-mention-kind="agent"]::before {
 }
 
 .paperclip-markdown ol {
+  /* Enough inline start room to hold outside markers without clipped digits
+     when markdown lists sit flush against an overflow-constrained container. */
   list-style-type: decimal;
+  padding-left: 2.5rem;
 }
 
 .paperclip-markdown li {