diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.test.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.test.tsx
index 594b56eeb5..eb7a77848a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.test.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@
 
 import { renderWithProviders as render } from '../../../test-utils/render.js';
 import { waitFor } from '../../../test-utils/async.js';
-import { VirtualizedList, type VirtualizedListRef } from './VirtualizedList.js';
+import {
+  SCROLL_TO_ITEM_END,
+  VirtualizedList,
+  type VirtualizedListRef,
+} from './VirtualizedList.js';
 import { Text, Box } from 'ink';
 import {
   createRef,
@@ -417,6 +421,118 @@ describe('<VirtualizedList />', () => {
     unmount();
   });
 
+  it('culls the backbuffer by measured row height instead of item count', async () => {
+    const longData = Array.from({ length: 100 }, (_, i) => `Item ${i}`);
+    const renderedIndices = new Set<number>();
+    const ref = createRef<VirtualizedListRef<string>>();
+    const { unmount, waitUntilReady } = await render(
+      <Box height={10} width={100}>
+        <VirtualizedList
+          ref={ref}
+          data={longData}
+          renderItem={({ item, index }) => {
+            renderedIndices.add(index);
+            return (
+              <Box height={2}>
+                <Text>{item}</Text>
+              </Box>
+            );
+          }}
+          keyExtractor={(item) => item}
+          estimatedItemHeight={() => 2}
+          initialScrollIndex={99}
+          overflowToBackbuffer={true}
+          maxScrollbackLength={10}
+        />
+      </Box>,
+    );
+
+    await waitUntilReady();
+
+    const state = ref.current?.getScrollState();
+    expect(state?.scrollHeight).toBe(20);
+    expect(state?.innerHeight).toBe(10);
+    expect(renderedIndices.has(90)).toBe(true);
+    expect(renderedIndices.has(85)).toBe(false);
+
+    unmount();
+  });
+
+  it('keeps keyboard scrolling in logical history coordinates after culling', async () => {
+    const longData = Array.from({ length: 100 }, (_, i) => `Item ${i}`);
+    const ref = createRef<VirtualizedListRef<string>>();
+    const { lastFrame, unmount, waitUntilReady } = await render(
+      <Box height={10} width={100}>
+        <VirtualizedList
+          ref={ref}
+          data={longData}
+          renderItem={({ item }) => (
+            <Box height={1}>
+              <Text>{item}</Text>
+            </Box>
+          )}
+          keyExtractor={(item) => item}
+          estimatedItemHeight={() => 1}
+          initialScrollIndex={99}
+          overflowToBackbuffer={true}
+          maxScrollbackLength={10}
+        />
+      </Box>,
+    );
+
+    await waitUntilReady();
+
+    expect(ref.current?.getScrollState().scrollTop).toBe(10);
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      ref.current?.scrollBy(-1);
+    });
+    await waitUntilReady();
+
+    const state = ref.current?.getScrollState();
+    expect(state?.scrollTop).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(lastFrame()).not.toContain('Item 79');
+    expect(lastFrame()).not.toContain('Item 80');
+
+    unmount();
+  });
+
+  it('measures mounted zero-height items instead of keeping their estimate', async () => {
+    const ref = createRef<VirtualizedListRef<string>>();
+    const data = ['Item 0', 'Item 1', 'pending'];
+    const { unmount, waitUntilReady } = await render(
+      <Box height={50} width={100}>
+        <VirtualizedList
+          ref={ref}
+          data={data}
+          renderItem={({ item }) =>
+            item === 'pending' ? (
+              <Box height={0} />
+            ) : (
+              <Box height={1}>
+                <Text>{item}</Text>
+              </Box>
+            )
+          }
+          keyExtractor={(item) => item}
+          estimatedItemHeight={() => 10}
+          initialScrollIndex={2}
+          initialScrollOffsetInIndex={SCROLL_TO_ITEM_END}
+        />
+      </Box>,
+    );
+
+    await waitUntilReady();
+
+    expect(ref.current?.getScrollState()).toEqual({
+      scrollTop: 0,
+      scrollHeight: 2,
+      innerHeight: 50,
+    });
+
+    unmount();
+  });
+
   it('does not forget item heights when items are prepended', async () => {
     const ref = createRef<VirtualizedListRef<string>>();
     const data = ['Item 1', 'Item 2'];
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.tsx
index 1611a970b0..0d9e2ecdce 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/VirtualizedList.tsx
@@ -120,6 +120,25 @@ function findLastIndex<T>(
   return -1;
 }
 
+function findOffsetIndexAtOrBefore(offsets: number[], target: number): number {
+  let low = 0;
+  let high = offsets.length - 1;
+  let result = 0;
+
+  while (low <= high) {
+    const mid = Math.floor((low + high) / 2);
+    const offset = offsets[mid] ?? 0;
+    if (offset <= target) {
+      result = mid;
+      low = mid + 1;
+    } else {
+      high = mid - 1;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return Math.min(result, Math.max(0, offsets.length - 2));
+}
+
 const extractClickableAreas = (rootNode: DOMElement): ClickableArea[] => {
   const rootBox = getBoundingBox(rootNode);
   const results: ClickableArea[] = [];
@@ -394,7 +413,7 @@ function VirtualizedList<T>(
       };
       const height = Math.round(currentHack.yogaNode?.getComputedHeight() ?? 0);
       if (
-        height > 0 &&
+        height >= 0 &&
         (state.current.measuredHeights[index] !== height ||
           state.current.measuredKeys[index] !== key)
       ) {
@@ -440,9 +459,9 @@ function VirtualizedList<T>(
           const key = target._virtualKey;
           if (typeof index === 'number' && key !== undefined) {
             const height = Math.round(entry.contentRect.height);
-            // Ignore 0 height measurements which can happen when an element is unmounting
             if (
-              height > 0 &&
+              height >= 0 &&
+              state.current.itemRefs[index] === entry.target &&
               (state.current.measuredHeights[index] !== height ||
                 state.current.measuredKeys[index] !== key)
             ) {
@@ -551,13 +570,14 @@ function VirtualizedList<T>(
 
       if (isNearBottom) {
         const scrollBottom = scrollTop + scrollableContainerHeight;
-        const index = findLastIndex(
+        const rawIndex = findLastIndex(
           offsets,
           (offset) => offset <= scrollBottom,
         );
-        if (index === -1) {
+        if (rawIndex === -1) {
           return { index: 0, offset: 0, isBottom: true };
         }
+        const index = Math.min(rawIndex, Math.max(0, offsets.length - 2));
         return {
           index,
           offset: scrollBottom - offsets[index],
@@ -565,10 +585,11 @@ function VirtualizedList<T>(
         };
       }
 
-      const index = findLastIndex(offsets, (offset) => offset <= scrollTop);
-      if (index === -1) {
+      const rawIndex = findLastIndex(offsets, (offset) => offset <= scrollTop);
+      if (rawIndex === -1) {
         return { index: 0, offset: 0 };
       }
+      const index = Math.min(rawIndex, Math.max(0, offsets.length - 2));
 
       return { index, offset: scrollTop - offsets[index] };
     },
@@ -646,24 +667,28 @@ function VirtualizedList<T>(
       ? data.length - 1
       : Math.min(data.length - 1, endIndexOffset);
 
-  const culledHeight = useMemo(() => {
+  const backbufferStartIndex = useMemo(() => {
     if (
       overflowToBackbuffer &&
       typeof maxScrollbackLength === 'number' &&
       maxScrollbackLength > 0
     ) {
-      // Keep maxScrollbackLength items before the viewport to satisfy the backbuffer budget.
-      // We use items as a proxy for lines to be robust against estimation errors.
-      // We add 1 to startIndex to account for the 1-item overscan it includes.
-      const targetIndex = Math.max(0, startIndex + 1 - maxScrollbackLength);
-      return offsets[targetIndex] ?? 0;
+      // Cull at measured item boundaries. If the target line falls inside a
+      // tall item, keep that whole item so the backbuffer has no blank gap.
+      const targetOffset = Math.max(0, actualScrollTop - maxScrollbackLength);
+      return findOffsetIndexAtOrBefore(offsets, targetOffset);
     }
     return 0;
-  }, [overflowToBackbuffer, maxScrollbackLength, startIndex, offsets]);
+  }, [overflowToBackbuffer, maxScrollbackLength, actualScrollTop, offsets]);
 
-  const scrollTop = isStickingToBottom
+  const culledHeight =
+    overflowToBackbuffer && maxScrollbackLength > 0
+      ? (offsets[backbufferStartIndex] ?? 0)
+      : 0;
+
+  const logicalScrollTop = isStickingToBottom
     ? Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
-    : actualScrollTop - culledHeight;
+    : actualScrollTop;
 
   useLayoutEffect(() => {
     if (state.current.prevDataLength === -1) {
@@ -842,15 +867,17 @@ function VirtualizedList<T>(
   const renderRangeStart = useMemo(() => {
     if (overflowToBackbuffer) {
       if (typeof maxScrollbackLength === 'number' && maxScrollbackLength > 0) {
-        // We render everything from the culledHeight boundary to ensure the
-        // backbuffer is fully populated.
-        const targetIndex = Math.max(0, startIndex + 1 - maxScrollbackLength);
-        return targetIndex;
+        return backbufferStartIndex;
       }
       return 0;
     }
     return startIndex;
-  }, [overflowToBackbuffer, maxScrollbackLength, startIndex]);
+  }, [
+    overflowToBackbuffer,
+    maxScrollbackLength,
+    backbufferStartIndex,
+    startIndex,
+  ]);
 
   const topSpacerHeight = Math.max(0, offsets[renderRangeStart] - culledHeight);
 
@@ -1039,7 +1066,8 @@ function VirtualizedList<T>(
     toggledKeys,
   ]);
 
-  const { getScrollTop, setPendingScrollTop } = useBatchedScroll(scrollTop);
+  const { getScrollTop, setPendingScrollTop } =
+    useBatchedScroll(logicalScrollTop);
 
   const { broadcast } = useMouseContext();