diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/message-stream-v2.tsx b/packages/ui/src/components/message-stream-v2.tsx
index 33849261..73e69777 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/components/message-stream-v2.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/message-stream-v2.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { For, Index, Match, Show, Switch, createMemo, createSignal, createEffect, onCleanup } from "solid-js"
 import MessageItem from "./message-item"
+import VirtualItem from "./virtual-item"
 import type { InstanceMessageStore } from "../stores/message-v2/instance-store"
 import ToolCall from "./tool-call"
 import Kbd from "./kbd"
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ const codeNomadLogo = new URL("../images/CodeNomad-Icon.png", import.meta.url).h
 const USER_BORDER_COLOR = "var(--message-user-border)"
 const ASSISTANT_BORDER_COLOR = "var(--message-assistant-border)"
 const TOOL_BORDER_COLOR = "var(--message-tool-border)"
+const VIRTUAL_ITEM_MARGIN_PX = 800
 
 type ToolCallPart = Extract<ClientPart, { type: "tool" }>
 
@@ -295,9 +297,12 @@ export default function MessageStreamV2(props: MessageStreamV2Props) {
     sessionId: () => props.sessionId,
     scope: SCROLL_SCOPE,
   })
-
+ 
+  const [scrollElement, setScrollElement] = createSignal<HTMLDivElement | undefined>()
   const [autoScroll, setAutoScroll] = createSignal(true)
+
   const [showScrollTopButton, setShowScrollTopButton] = createSignal(false)
+
   const [showScrollBottomButton, setShowScrollBottomButton] = createSignal(false)
   let containerRef: HTMLDivElement | undefined
   let lastKnownScrollTop = 0
@@ -348,6 +353,7 @@ export default function MessageStreamV2(props: MessageStreamV2Props) {
 
   function setContainerRef(element: HTMLDivElement | null) {
     containerRef = element || undefined
+    setScrollElement(containerRef)
     lastKnownScrollTop = containerRef?.scrollTop ?? 0
     lastMeasuredScrollHeight = containerRef?.scrollHeight ?? 0
     attachScrollIntentListeners(containerRef)
@@ -644,22 +650,28 @@ export default function MessageStreamV2(props: MessageStreamV2Props) {
 
         <Index each={messageIds()}>
           {(messageId) => (
-            <MessageBlock
-               messageId={messageId()}
-               instanceId={props.instanceId}
-               sessionId={props.sessionId}
-               store={store}
-               messageIndexMap={messageIndexMap}
-               lastAssistantIndex={lastAssistantIndex}
-               showThinking={() => preferences().showThinkingBlocks}
-               thinkingDefaultExpanded={() => (preferences().thinkingBlocksExpansion ?? "expanded") === "expanded"}
-               showUsageMetrics={showUsagePreference}
-               onRevert={props.onRevert}
-               onFork={props.onFork}
-               onContentRendered={handleContentRendered}
-             />
-
-
+            <VirtualItem
+              cacheKey={messageId()}
+              scrollContainer={scrollElement}
+              threshold={VIRTUAL_ITEM_MARGIN_PX}
+              placeholderClass="message-stream-placeholder"
+              virtualizationEnabled={() => !props.loading}
+            >
+              <MessageBlock
+                messageId={messageId()}
+                instanceId={props.instanceId}
+                sessionId={props.sessionId}
+                store={store}
+                messageIndexMap={messageIndexMap}
+                lastAssistantIndex={lastAssistantIndex}
+                showThinking={() => preferences().showThinkingBlocks}
+                thinkingDefaultExpanded={() => (preferences().thinkingBlocksExpansion ?? "expanded") === "expanded"}
+                showUsageMetrics={showUsagePreference}
+                onRevert={props.onRevert}
+                onFork={props.onFork}
+                onContentRendered={handleContentRendered}
+              />
+            </VirtualItem>
           )}
         </Index>
       </div>
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/components/virtual-item.tsx b/packages/ui/src/components/virtual-item.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b28e4f39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/ui/src/components/virtual-item.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+import { JSX, Show, Accessor, children as resolveChildren, createEffect, createMemo, createSignal, onCleanup } from "solid-js"
+
+const sizeCache = new Map<string, number>()
+const DEFAULT_MARGIN_PX = 600
+const MIN_PLACEHOLDER_HEIGHT = 32
+
+interface VirtualItemProps {
+  cacheKey: string
+  children: JSX.Element
+  scrollContainer?: Accessor<HTMLElement | undefined | null>
+  threshold?: number
+  minPlaceholderHeight?: number
+  class?: string
+  contentClass?: string
+  placeholderClass?: string
+  virtualizationEnabled?: Accessor<boolean>
+}
+
+export default function VirtualItem(props: VirtualItemProps) {
+  const resolved = resolveChildren(() => props.children)
+  const [isIntersecting, setIsIntersecting] = createSignal(true)
+  const [measuredHeight, setMeasuredHeight] = createSignal(sizeCache.get(props.cacheKey) ?? 0)
+  const [hasMeasured, setHasMeasured] = createSignal(sizeCache.has(props.cacheKey))
+  const virtualizationEnabled = () => (props.virtualizationEnabled ? props.virtualizationEnabled() : true)
+
+  let wrapperRef: HTMLDivElement | undefined
+  let contentRef: HTMLDivElement | undefined
+  let resizeObserver: ResizeObserver | undefined
+  let intersectionObserver: IntersectionObserver | undefined
+
+  function cleanupResizeObserver() {
+    if (resizeObserver) {
+      resizeObserver.disconnect()
+      resizeObserver = undefined
+    }
+  }
+
+  function cleanupIntersectionObserver() {
+    if (intersectionObserver) {
+      intersectionObserver.disconnect()
+      intersectionObserver = undefined
+    }
+  }
+
+  function persistMeasurement(nextHeight: number) {
+    if (!Number.isFinite(nextHeight) || nextHeight < 0) {
+      return
+    }
+    const normalized = nextHeight
+    if (normalized > 0) {
+      sizeCache.set(props.cacheKey, normalized)
+      setHasMeasured(true)
+    }
+    setMeasuredHeight(normalized)
+  }
+
+  function updateMeasuredHeight() {
+    if (!contentRef) return
+    const next = contentRef.offsetHeight
+    if (next === measuredHeight()) return
+    persistMeasurement(next)
+  }
+
+  function setupResizeObserver() {
+    if (!contentRef) return
+    cleanupResizeObserver()
+    if (typeof ResizeObserver === "undefined") {
+      updateMeasuredHeight()
+      return
+    }
+    resizeObserver = new ResizeObserver(() => updateMeasuredHeight())
+    resizeObserver.observe(contentRef)
+  }
+
+  function refreshIntersectionObserver(targetRoot: Element | Document | null) {
+    cleanupIntersectionObserver()
+    if (!wrapperRef || typeof IntersectionObserver === "undefined") {
+      setIsIntersecting(true)
+      return
+    }
+    const margin = props.threshold ?? DEFAULT_MARGIN_PX
+    intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver(
+      (entries) => {
+        for (const entry of entries) {
+          if (entry.target === wrapperRef) {
+            setIsIntersecting(entry.isIntersecting)
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        root: targetRoot,
+        rootMargin: `${margin}px 0px ${margin}px 0px`,
+      },
+    )
+    intersectionObserver.observe(wrapperRef)
+  }
+
+  function setWrapperRef(element: HTMLDivElement | null) {
+    wrapperRef = element ?? undefined
+    const root = props.scrollContainer ? props.scrollContainer() : null
+    refreshIntersectionObserver(root ?? null)
+  }
+
+  function setContentRef(element: HTMLDivElement | null) {
+    contentRef = element ?? undefined
+    if (contentRef) {
+      queueMicrotask(() => {
+        updateMeasuredHeight()
+        setupResizeObserver()
+      })
+    } else {
+      cleanupResizeObserver()
+    }
+  }
+
+  createEffect(() => {
+    const key = props.cacheKey
+    const cached = sizeCache.get(key)
+    if (cached !== undefined) {
+      setMeasuredHeight(cached)
+      setHasMeasured(true)
+    } else {
+      setMeasuredHeight(0)
+      setHasMeasured(false)
+    }
+  })
+
+  createEffect(() => {
+    const root = props.scrollContainer ? props.scrollContainer() : null
+    refreshIntersectionObserver(root ?? null)
+  })
+
+  const shouldHideContent = createMemo(() => {
+    if (!virtualizationEnabled()) return false
+    if (!hasMeasured()) return false
+    return !isIntersecting()
+  })
+ 
+  const placeholderHeight = createMemo(() => {
+    const seenHeight = measuredHeight()
+    if (seenHeight > 0) {
+      return seenHeight
+    }
+    return props.minPlaceholderHeight ?? MIN_PLACEHOLDER_HEIGHT
+  })
+ 
+  onCleanup(() => {
+    cleanupResizeObserver()
+    cleanupIntersectionObserver()
+  })
+ 
+  const wrapperClass = () => ["virtual-item-wrapper", props.class].filter(Boolean).join(" ")
+  const contentClass = () => {
+    const classes = ["virtual-item-content", props.contentClass]
+    if (shouldHideContent()) {
+      classes.push("virtual-item-content-hidden")
+    }
+    return classes.filter(Boolean).join(" ")
+  }
+  const placeholderClass = () => ["virtual-item-placeholder", props.placeholderClass].filter(Boolean).join(" ")
+ 
+  return (
+    <div ref={setWrapperRef} class={wrapperClass()} style={{ width: "100%" }}>
+      <div
+        class={placeholderClass()}
+        style={{
+          width: "100%",
+          height: shouldHideContent() ? `${placeholderHeight()}px` : undefined,
+          "min-height": hasMeasured() ? undefined : `${props.minPlaceholderHeight ?? MIN_PLACEHOLDER_HEIGHT}px`,
+        }}
+      >
+        <div ref={setContentRef} class={contentClass()}>
+          {resolved()}
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  )
+}
+
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/styles/messaging/message-stream.css b/packages/ui/src/styles/messaging/message-stream.css
index a8fe2e2e..51cd8790 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/styles/messaging/message-stream.css
+++ b/packages/ui/src/styles/messaging/message-stream.css
@@ -112,3 +112,27 @@
   font-size: var(--font-size-lg);
   color: var(--accent-primary);
 }
+
+.virtual-item-wrapper {
+  width: 100%;
+}
+
+.virtual-item-placeholder,
+.message-stream-placeholder {
+  display: block;
+  width: 100%;
+  position: relative;
+  background-color: transparent;
+}
+
+.virtual-item-content {
+  width: 100%;
+  position: relative;
+}
+
+.virtual-item-content-hidden {
+  position: absolute;
+  inset: 0;
+  visibility: hidden;
+  pointer-events: none;
+}