diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 97e0ace09..f3d344c2c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ Format loosely follows [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/). Versions
   terminal's last line on terminals tall enough to spare it
   (`BOTTOM_MARGIN_ROWS`, collapsed below 24 rows), so the layout no longer
   feels flush against the frame edge.
+- **User-message breathing room.** Operator turns in the transcript keep a
+  blank bar row above and below the message text, so user prompts are easier
+  to spot while scrolling through assistant and tool rows (CL-5603).
 - **Drag-select auto-copy.** With mouse capture on (the default), finishing a
   drag selection in the transcript writes the selected text to the system
   clipboard on mouse-up and flashes a short status line. Alt+M still hands the
diff --git a/docs/TUI.md b/docs/TUI.md
index 39cd996bb..54d6a0989 100644
--- a/docs/TUI.md
+++ b/docs/TUI.md
@@ -53,6 +53,13 @@ heights, so they never change the resolver's row budget. Each collapses to
 zero when the terminal is too short to spare it (`TOP_PAD_MIN_TRANSCRIPT_ROWS`
 for the top pad, `BOTTOM_MARGIN_MIN_ROWS` for the bottom).
 
+Operator turns in the transcript are left-aligned bubbles with a solid bar
+down the left edge (`userBubbleLines` in `src/tui/stream.ts`). Each bubble
+keeps one empty bar row above and below its text so the operator's voice
+stays easy to find while scrolling through denser assistant and tool rows —
+the pad is part of the bubble itself, not an extra turn-boundary gap, and
+assistant/tool rows are unchanged.
+
 The prompt box's border carries the metadata that would otherwise cost a
 titlebar row: the model label sits right-aligned in the top rule; the brand
 lockup sits at the left of the bottom rule with the working directory and git
diff --git a/src/tui/stream.test.ts b/src/tui/stream.test.ts
index c1d3054cf..57acc97d9 100644
--- a/src/tui/stream.test.ts
+++ b/src/tui/stream.test.ts
@@ -24,9 +24,16 @@ const CREW: RowLayout = { width: 56, multiAgent: true }
 const lines = (row: StreamRow, layout: RowLayout = SOLO): string[] =>
   paintStreamRow(row, layout).content.split("\n")
 
+/** Body lines of a user bubble (strip the empty pad rows above and below). */
+const userBody = (row: StreamRow, layout: RowLayout = SOLO): string[] => {
+  const painted = lines(row, layout)
+  expect(painted.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(3)
+  return painted.slice(1, -1)
+}
+
 describe("stream paint", () => {
   test("one voice needs no labels: the operator is found by the bar", () => {
-    const you = lines({ role: "user", text: "hi" })[0] as string
+    const you = userBody({ role: "user", text: "hi" })[0] as string
     const agent = lines({ role: "assistant", text: "hello" })[0] as string
 
     expect(you).not.toContain("you")
@@ -62,6 +69,31 @@ describe("stream paint", () => {
     }
   })
 
+  test("the operator's bubble has a blank bar row above and below the text", () => {
+    const bar = "\u258d"
+    const painted = lines({ role: "user", text: "hi" })
+    // Shape: bare bar, body, bare bar — breathing room when scrolling (CL-5603).
+    expect(painted).toEqual([bar, `${bar} hi`, bar])
+    // Assistant and tool rows stay tight; the pad is user-only.
+    expect(lines({ role: "assistant", text: "hello" })).toEqual(["hello"])
+    expect(lines({ role: "tool", text: "ok", meta: "bash" })[0]).not.toBe(bar)
+    // A wrapped body still sits between exactly one pad row on each side.
+    const long = lines(
+      {
+        role: "user",
+        text: "please find every call site of the legacy token helper and report which still run",
+      },
+      { width: 40, multiAgent: false },
+    )
+    expect(long[0]).toBe(bar)
+    expect(long[long.length - 1]).toBe(bar)
+    expect(long.length).toBeGreaterThan(3)
+    for (const line of long.slice(1, -1)) {
+      expect(line.startsWith(`${bar} `)).toBe(true)
+      expect(line.length).toBeGreaterThan(2)
+    }
+  })
+
   test("both human voices keep the cream; nothing paints a gray", () => {
     const rows: readonly StreamRow[] = [
       { role: "user", text: "x" },
@@ -167,8 +199,8 @@ describe("stream paint", () => {
     expect(crew).not.toContain("●")
     expect(crew.startsWith("on it")).toBe(true)
     // The operator stays a left-aligned bubble either way.
-    expect(lines({ role: "user", text: "go" }, CREW)[0]).toBe(
-      lines({ role: "user", text: "go" })[0],
+    expect(lines({ role: "user", text: "go" }, CREW)).toEqual(
+      lines({ role: "user", text: "go" }),
     )
   })
 
diff --git a/src/tui/stream.ts b/src/tui/stream.ts
index 02a2866a5..106b49f34 100644
--- a/src/tui/stream.ts
+++ b/src/tui/stream.ts
@@ -315,18 +315,34 @@ function toolPrefix(row: StreamRow): string {
 /** Columns the operator's bubble may claim before it wraps. */
 const BUBBLE_MAX_SHARE = 0.75
 
+/**
+ * Empty bar rows painted above and below the operator's text so the turn
+ * reads as a block when scrolling past denser assistant/tool rows (CL-5603).
+ */
+const USER_BUBBLE_PAD = 1
+
 /**
  * The operator's turn as a block hugging the left gutter, same as an answer,
  * with the bar down its left edge. The bar (not alignment) is what makes a
  * user turn findable now that both voices share cream and the left edge; the
  * body sits two columns past it so the boundary reads even at a glance.
+ * One empty bar row above and below the text gives the bubble breathing room
+ * without changing the turn-boundary gap used by every other row.
  */
 function userBubbleLines(text: string, width: number): string[] {
   const bar = `${BUBBLE_BAR} `
   const barWidth = stringWidth(bar)
   const body = Math.max(1, Math.min(width - barWidth, Math.ceil(width * BUBBLE_MAX_SHARE)))
   const lines = text.split("\n").flatMap((line) => wrapLines(line, body))
-  return lines.map((line) => `${bar}${line}`)
+  const content = lines.map((line) => `${bar}${line}`)
+  // Bare bar (no trailing body space) so the pad reads as air, not an empty
+  // content column — same glyph column as the body lines either way.
+  const pad = BUBBLE_BAR
+  return [
+    ...Array.from({ length: USER_BUBBLE_PAD }, () => pad),
+    ...content,
+    ...Array.from({ length: USER_BUBBLE_PAD }, () => pad),
+  ]
 }
 
 /**