diff --git a/CURRENT.md b/CURRENT.md
index 1e8c463..d8c79a5 100644
--- a/CURRENT.md
+++ b/CURRENT.md
@@ -40,6 +40,13 @@ mobile draft at 390px.
   - [x] C11 preview caching: Discord-hosted image/GIF previews (WebP 320px, hash-addressed, 5 MiB
     cap, one attempt) run after every walk in both modes. Live run `...-20260916090722`:
     `previewed: 2`; thumbs served over `/api/media/<scrape>/<item>/thumb` (200).
+  - [x] C78 Chat starts on the newest message. `renderMessages` pins the scroll when the channel
+    changes or the user is already at the bottom, re-pins on the next frame and after 120/400 ms,
+    and re-pins on late image loads while pinned. `overflow-anchor: none` on `.vk-message-scroll`
+    stops Chrome's anchoring from dragging the view off the bottom. A user who scrolled up stays
+    put across re-renders, the mobile chat tab re-pins when it becomes visible, and opening a guild
+    channel or DM lands on the newest message. Verified in a browser across all six cases; the UI
+    smoke test passes. A future jump-to-message link must set `state.messagesPinned = false`.
   - [x] C77 Split user audio investigation. [docs/voice-audio-split.md](docs/voice-audio-split.md)
     records that the daemon sees only the mixed client output (`VeskslopCapture.monitor` → VAD →
     STT) and that per-user tracks exist only in the renderer as WebRTC `MediaStreamTrack`s. The
diff --git a/poc/public/app.js b/poc/public/app.js
index 96b4e1b..c7259b0 100644
--- a/poc/public/app.js
+++ b/poc/public/app.js
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ const state = {
     consoleOpen: false,
     consoleTab: "events",
     mobileTab: localStorage.getItem("veskslop-mobile-tab") ?? "chat",
+    renderedChannelId: null,
+    messagesPinned: true,
     voiceReloadAt: 0
 };
 
@@ -1099,12 +1101,42 @@ function renderCenterHeader() {
     $("#channel-context").textContent = context;
 }
 
+/* Message scroll: a channel opens on the newest message. The view stays pinned
+   while the user is at the bottom, and never gets dragged by content that loads
+   late above the viewport. */
+function messagesNearBottom(slack = 80) {
+    const scroll = $("#message-scroll");
+    if (!scroll || !scroll.scrollHeight) return true;
+    return scroll.scrollHeight - scroll.scrollTop - scroll.clientHeight <= slack;
+}
+
+function pinMessagesToBottom() {
+    const scroll = $("#message-scroll");
+    if (!scroll) return;
+
+    const apply = () => {
+        scroll.scrollTop = scroll.scrollHeight;
+    };
+
+    apply();
+    requestAnimationFrame(apply);
+    // Avatars, attachments, and embeds can change the height after the first paint.
+    setTimeout(apply, 120);
+    setTimeout(apply, 400);
+}
+
 function renderMessages() {
     const root = $("#message-list");
+    const channelChanged = state.renderedChannelId !== state.channelId;
+    const pinned = channelChanged || messagesNearBottom();
+
+    state.renderedChannelId = state.channelId;
+    state.messagesPinned = pinned;
     root.replaceChildren();
 
     if (!state.channelId) {
         root.append(el("div", { class: "vk-empty", text: "Pick a channel on the left." }));
+        pinMessagesToBottom();
         return;
     }
 
@@ -1115,6 +1147,7 @@ function renderMessages() {
                 text: "No cached messages. The client only holds channels it has loaded."
             })
         );
+        pinMessagesToBottom();
         return;
     }
 
@@ -1176,8 +1209,7 @@ function renderMessages() {
         root.append(el("div", { class: "vk-message" }, avatar(message.author ?? author, { agent: isAgent, size: "lg" }), body));
     }
 
-    const scroll = $("#message-scroll");
-    scroll.scrollTop = scroll.scrollHeight;
+    if (pinned) pinMessagesToBottom();
 }
 
 function ttsToggleButton() {
@@ -1529,6 +1561,11 @@ function setMobileTab(tab) {
 
     for (const button of $$(".vk-tab")) button.classList.toggle("active", button.dataset.mobileTab === tab);
     if (isMobileLayout()) $(".vk-app").dataset.mobileTab = tab;
+
+    // The chat panel was hidden during the last render: put the view back on the
+    // newest message.
+    if (tab === "chat" && state.messagesPinned) pinMessagesToBottom();
+
     renderRightVoice();
     updateMobileBadge();
 }
@@ -2871,6 +2908,21 @@ function init() {
         }
     });
     $("#channel-refresh").addEventListener("click", () => void loadMessages({ refresh: true }));
+    $("#message-scroll").addEventListener(
+        "scroll",
+        () => {
+            state.messagesPinned = messagesNearBottom();
+        },
+        { passive: true }
+    );
+    // Re-pin while the user is at the bottom and late images grow the list.
+    $("#message-list").addEventListener(
+        "load",
+        () => {
+            if (state.messagesPinned) pinMessagesToBottom();
+        },
+        true
+    );
 
     $("#guilds-show-all").addEventListener("click", () => {
         state.visibleGuilds = null;
diff --git a/poc/public/style.css b/poc/public/style.css
index cdbbd5a..afbcf10 100644
--- a/poc/public/style.css
+++ b/poc/public/style.css
@@ -797,6 +797,9 @@ button {
     min-height: 0;
     overflow-y: auto;
     padding: 16px 18px 10px;
+    /* Late-loading attachments above the viewport must not anchor the scroll
+       away from the newest message. */
+    overflow-anchor: none;
 }
 
 .vk-message-list {