diff --git a/packages/cli/src/config/settingsSchema.ts b/packages/cli/src/config/settingsSchema.ts
index 7672b9e1c4..097caeeb18 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/config/settingsSchema.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/config/settingsSchema.ts
@@ -374,6 +374,16 @@ const SETTINGS_SCHEMA = {
         description: 'Hide the window title bar',
         showInDialog: true,
       },
+      showInlineThinking: {
+        type: 'boolean',
+        label: 'Show Inline Thinking',
+        category: 'UI',
+        requiresRestart: false,
+        default: false,
+        description:
+          'Show model thinking summaries inline in the conversation.',
+        showInDialog: true,
+      },
       showStatusInTitle: {
         type: 'boolean',
         label: 'Show Status in Title',
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.test.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.test.tsx
index 8488a78dfb..a22fcd20a6 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.test.tsx
@@ -207,6 +207,34 @@ describe('<HistoryItemDisplay />', () => {
     );
   });
 
+  describe('thinking items', () => {
+    it('renders thinking item when enabled', () => {
+      const item: HistoryItem = {
+        ...baseItem,
+        type: 'thinking',
+        thoughts: [{ subject: 'Thinking', description: 'test' }],
+      };
+      const { lastFrame } = renderWithProviders(
+        <HistoryItemDisplay {...baseItem} item={item} inlineEnabled={true} />,
+      );
+
+      expect(lastFrame()).toContain('Thinking');
+    });
+
+    it('does not render thinking item when disabled', () => {
+      const item: HistoryItem = {
+        ...baseItem,
+        type: 'thinking',
+        thoughts: [{ subject: 'Thinking', description: 'test' }],
+      };
+      const { lastFrame } = renderWithProviders(
+        <HistoryItemDisplay {...baseItem} item={item} inlineEnabled={false} />,
+      );
+
+      expect(lastFrame()).toBe('');
+    });
+  });
+
   describe.each([true, false])(
     'gemini items (alternateBuffer=%s)',
     (useAlternateBuffer) => {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.tsx
index 5a7f769402..3f28b83535 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.tsx
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import { McpStatus } from './views/McpStatus.js';
 import { ChatList } from './views/ChatList.js';
 import { HooksList } from './views/HooksList.js';
 import { ModelMessage } from './messages/ModelMessage.js';
+import { ThinkingMessage } from './messages/ThinkingMessage.js';
 
 interface HistoryItemDisplayProps {
   item: HistoryItem;
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ interface HistoryItemDisplayProps {
   activeShellPtyId?: number | null;
   embeddedShellFocused?: boolean;
   availableTerminalHeightGemini?: number;
+  inlineEnabled?: boolean;
 }
 
 export const HistoryItemDisplay: React.FC<HistoryItemDisplayProps> = ({
@@ -56,12 +58,19 @@ export const HistoryItemDisplay: React.FC<HistoryItemDisplayProps> = ({
   activeShellPtyId,
   embeddedShellFocused,
   availableTerminalHeightGemini,
+  inlineEnabled,
 }) => {
   const itemForDisplay = useMemo(() => escapeAnsiCtrlCodes(item), [item]);
 
   return (
     <Box flexDirection="column" key={itemForDisplay.id} width={terminalWidth}>
       {/* Render standard message types */}
+      {itemForDisplay.type === 'thinking' && inlineEnabled && (
+        <ThinkingMessage
+          thoughts={itemForDisplay.thoughts}
+          terminalWidth={terminalWidth}
+        />
+      )}
       {itemForDisplay.type === 'user' && (
         <UserMessage text={itemForDisplay.text} width={terminalWidth} />
       )}
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/MainContent.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/MainContent.tsx
index a60f782d8f..11c97e53a8 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/MainContent.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/MainContent.tsx
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { ShowMoreLines } from './ShowMoreLines.js';
 import { OverflowProvider } from '../contexts/OverflowContext.js';
 import { useUIState } from '../contexts/UIStateContext.js';
 import { useAppContext } from '../contexts/AppContext.js';
+import { useSettings } from '../contexts/SettingsContext.js';
 import { AppHeader } from './AppHeader.js';
 import { useAlternateBuffer } from '../hooks/useAlternateBuffer.js';
 import { SCROLL_TO_ITEM_END } from './shared/VirtualizedList.js';
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ const MemoizedAppHeader = memo(AppHeader);
 export const MainContent = () => {
   const { version } = useAppContext();
   const uiState = useUIState();
+  const settings = useSettings();
   const isAlternateBuffer = useAlternateBuffer();
 
   const {
@@ -36,6 +38,8 @@ export const MainContent = () => {
     availableTerminalHeight,
   } = uiState;
 
+  const inlineEnabled = settings.merged.ui?.showInlineThinking;
+
   const historyItems = uiState.history.map((h) => (
     <HistoryItemDisplay
       terminalWidth={mainAreaWidth}
@@ -45,6 +49,7 @@ export const MainContent = () => {
       item={h}
       isPending={false}
       commands={uiState.slashCommands}
+      inlineEnabled={inlineEnabled}
     />
   ));
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ThinkingMessage.test.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ThinkingMessage.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..18ad73bd07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ThinkingMessage.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright 2025 Google LLC
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { render } from 'ink-testing-library';
+import { ThinkingMessage } from './ThinkingMessage.js';
+
+describe('ThinkingMessage', () => {
+  it('renders thinking header with count', () => {
+    const { lastFrame } = render(
+      <ThinkingMessage
+        thoughts={[
+          { subject: 'Planning', description: 'test' },
+          { subject: 'Analyzing', description: 'test' },
+        ]}
+        terminalWidth={80}
+      />,
+    );
+
+    expect(lastFrame()).toContain('Thinking');
+    expect(lastFrame()).toContain('(2)');
+  });
+
+  it('renders with single thought', () => {
+    const { lastFrame } = render(
+      <ThinkingMessage
+        thoughts={[{ subject: 'Processing', description: 'test' }]}
+        terminalWidth={80}
+      />,
+    );
+
+    expect(lastFrame()).toContain('(1)');
+  });
+
+  it('renders empty state gracefully', () => {
+    const { lastFrame } = render(
+      <ThinkingMessage thoughts={[]} terminalWidth={80} />,
+    );
+
+    expect(lastFrame()).toContain('(0)');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ThinkingMessage.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ThinkingMessage.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a2eda6c375
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ThinkingMessage.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright 2025 Google LLC
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+import type React from 'react';
+import { Box, Text } from 'ink';
+import type { ThoughtSummary } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
+
+interface ThinkingMessageProps {
+  thoughts: ThoughtSummary[];
+  terminalWidth: number;
+}
+
+export const ThinkingMessage: React.FC<ThinkingMessageProps> = ({
+  thoughts,
+  terminalWidth,
+}) => (
+  <Box
+    borderStyle="round"
+    borderColor="magenta"
+    width={terminalWidth}
+    paddingX={1}
+    marginBottom={1}
+  >
+    <Text color="magenta">◆ </Text>
+    <Text bold color="magenta">
+      Thinking
+    </Text>
+    <Text dimColor> ({thoughts.length})</Text>
+  </Box>
+);
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useGeminiStream.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useGeminiStream.ts
index d36d9f57ed..7791541fea 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useGeminiStream.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useGeminiStream.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ import type {
   HistoryItem,
   HistoryItemWithoutId,
   HistoryItemToolGroup,
+  HistoryItemThinking,
   SlashCommandProcessorResult,
   HistoryItemModel,
 } from '../types.js';
@@ -118,8 +119,29 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
   const activeQueryIdRef = useRef<string | null>(null);
   const [isResponding, setIsResponding] = useState<boolean>(false);
   const [thought, setThought] = useState<ThoughtSummary | null>(null);
+  const thoughtsBufferRef = useRef<ThoughtSummary[]>([]);
   const [pendingHistoryItem, pendingHistoryItemRef, setPendingHistoryItem] =
     useStateAndRef<HistoryItemWithoutId | null>(null);
+
+  const flushThoughts = useCallback(
+    (userMessageTimestamp: number) => {
+      if (
+        thoughtsBufferRef.current.length > 0 &&
+        settings.merged.ui?.showInlineThinking
+      ) {
+        addItem(
+          {
+            type: 'thinking',
+            thoughts: [...thoughtsBufferRef.current],
+          } as HistoryItemThinking,
+          userMessageTimestamp,
+        );
+        thoughtsBufferRef.current = [];
+      }
+    },
+    [addItem, settings],
+  );
+
   const processedMemoryToolsRef = useRef<Set<string>>(new Set());
   const { startNewPrompt, getPromptCount } = useSessionStats();
   const storage = config.storage;
@@ -535,6 +557,7 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
       currentGeminiMessageBuffer: string,
       userMessageTimestamp: number,
     ): string => {
+      flushThoughts(userMessageTimestamp);
       if (turnCancelledRef.current) {
         // Prevents additional output after a user initiated cancel.
         return '';
@@ -584,7 +607,7 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
       }
       return newGeminiMessageBuffer;
     },
-    [addItem, pendingHistoryItemRef, setPendingHistoryItem],
+    [addItem, pendingHistoryItemRef, setPendingHistoryItem, flushThoughts],
   );
 
   const handleUserCancelledEvent = useCallback(
@@ -805,6 +828,7 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
         switch (event.type) {
           case ServerGeminiEventType.Thought:
             setThought(event.value);
+            thoughtsBufferRef.current.push(event.value);
             break;
           case ServerGeminiEventType.Content:
             geminiMessageBuffer = handleContentEvent(
@@ -814,12 +838,15 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
             );
             break;
           case ServerGeminiEventType.ToolCallRequest:
+            flushThoughts(userMessageTimestamp);
             toolCallRequests.push(event.value);
             break;
           case ServerGeminiEventType.UserCancelled:
+            flushThoughts(userMessageTimestamp);
             handleUserCancelledEvent(userMessageTimestamp);
             break;
           case ServerGeminiEventType.Error:
+            flushThoughts(userMessageTimestamp);
             handleErrorEvent(event.value, userMessageTimestamp);
             break;
           case ServerGeminiEventType.ChatCompressed:
@@ -839,6 +866,7 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
             );
             break;
           case ServerGeminiEventType.Finished:
+            flushThoughts(userMessageTimestamp);
             handleFinishedEvent(event, userMessageTimestamp);
             break;
           case ServerGeminiEventType.Citation:
@@ -879,6 +907,7 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
       handleContextWindowWillOverflowEvent,
       handleCitationEvent,
       handleChatModelEvent,
+      flushThoughts,
     ],
   );
   const submitQuery = useCallback(
@@ -943,6 +972,7 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
               }
               startNewPrompt();
               setThought(null); // Reset thought when starting a new prompt
+              thoughtsBufferRef.current = [];
             }
 
             setIsResponding(true);
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/types.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/types.ts
index ede5ab5b84..d3c307978c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/types.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/types.ts
@@ -189,6 +189,11 @@ export interface ChatDetail {
   mtime: string;
 }
 
+export type HistoryItemThinking = HistoryItemBase & {
+  type: 'thinking';
+  thoughts: ThoughtSummary[];
+};
+
 export type HistoryItemChatList = HistoryItemBase & {
   type: 'chat_list';
   chats: ChatDetail[];
@@ -299,6 +304,7 @@ export type HistoryItemWithoutId =
   | HistoryItemSkillsList
   | HistoryItemMcpStatus
   | HistoryItemChatList
+  | HistoryItemThinking
   | HistoryItemHooksList;
 
 export type HistoryItem = HistoryItemWithoutId & { id: number };