diff --git a/components/reading-thinking.tsx b/components/reading-thinking.tsx
index a2c86b5..5f9ce38 100644
--- a/components/reading-thinking.tsx
+++ b/components/reading-thinking.tsx
@@ -57,6 +57,15 @@ export function ReadingThinkingField({
 			<textarea
 				value={value}
 				onChange={(e) => onChange(e.target.value)}
+				/* py-0.5 (owner round, 2026-10-07): the scrollbar fix. Source
+				   Sans 3's font box is 22px at 16px; lh-input's 1.25 leading
+				   gives a 20px line box — the content area sticks 1px below the
+				   line, Chromium counts it in scrollHeight, and a zero-padding
+				   textarea turns that into a permanent 1px scroll (the bar shows
+				   empty and at every size below max-h). 2px of vertical padding
+				   absorbs it — the same absorption the composer and dock fields
+				   get implicitly from their py-2. Line-height stays 1.25 (the
+				   caret law, typography round 2). */
 				onKeyDown={(e) => {
 					if (e.key === "Escape") {
 						// Esc stops dictation (the strip's rule) — claimed so the
@@ -87,7 +96,7 @@ export function ReadingThinkingField({
 				}}
 				placeholder="Whatever comes to mind as you read."
 				rows={1}
-				className="field-sizing-content lh-input max-h-40 w-full resize-none bg-transparent outline-none placeholder:text-muted-foreground/70"
+				className="field-sizing-content lh-input max-h-40 w-full resize-none bg-transparent py-0.5 outline-none placeholder:text-muted-foreground/70"
 			/>
 		</div>
 	);
diff --git a/tests/reading-thinking-field.test.tsx b/tests/reading-thinking-field.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4835464
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/reading-thinking-field.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import React from "react";
+(globalThis as Record<string, unknown>).React = React;
+import { renderToStaticMarkup } from "react-dom/server";
+import { describe, it } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { ReadingThinkingField } from "../components/reading-thinking.tsx";
+
+describe("the reading-thinking field (owner round, 2026-10-07)", () => {
+	it("carries vertical padding — the 1px-scrollbar absorption", () => {
+		const html = renderToStaticMarkup(
+			<ReadingThinkingField value="" onChange={() => {}} claim={false} />,
+		);
+		// The fix (empirically diagnosed): Source Sans 3's font box (22px at
+		// 16px) exceeds lh-input's 20px line box by 1px; Chromium counts that
+		// in scrollHeight and a zero-padding field-sizing textarea becomes a
+		// permanent 1px scroll (a bar shown empty AND at every expansion below
+		// max-h). py-0.5 absorbs it — the composer/dock fields get the same
+		// absorption implicitly from py-2. Line-height stays 1.25 (caret law).
+		assert.ok(html.includes("py-0.5"), "the vertical padding is on the textarea");
+		// The cap survives: growth past max-h-40 still scrolls honestly.
+		assert.ok(html.includes("max-h-40"), "the 160px growth cap stays");
+	});
+});