diff --git a/web/src/components/agent-chat.test.tsx b/web/src/components/agent-chat.test.tsx
index 00c0197..58db070 100644
--- a/web/src/components/agent-chat.test.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/agent-chat.test.tsx
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ describe("AgentChat — raw-terminal escape hatch", () => {
 
   it("shows the plain mirror (no buttons, menu as raw text) when raw terminal is on", () => {
     localStorage.setItem(
-      "collie:display-prefs:v3",
+      "collie:display-prefs:v4",
       JSON.stringify({ wrap: true, fontSize: 11, rawTerminal: true }),
     );
     renderChat({ text: MENU_TEXT });
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ describe("AgentChat — raw-terminal escape hatch", () => {
 
   it("raw terminal bypasses the wizard too — the dialog shows verbatim, keys-pad drivable", () => {
     localStorage.setItem(
-      "collie:display-prefs:v3",
+      "collie:display-prefs:v4",
       JSON.stringify({ wrap: true, fontSize: 11, rawTerminal: true }),
     );
     renderChat({ text: WIZARD_TEXT });
diff --git a/web/src/components/ansi-output.test.tsx b/web/src/components/ansi-output.test.tsx
index 16bd92c..f8c1b11 100644
--- a/web/src/components/ansi-output.test.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/ansi-output.test.tsx
@@ -47,6 +47,30 @@ describe("terminal mirror colour space", () => {
   });
 });
 
+// Wrap defaults ON (#53): the mirror is mostly agent prose and a phone shows far fewer columns than
+// the desktop width panes are spawned at. The no-wrap branch is still the right rendering for TUI
+// tables and box drawing, but it is now reachable ONLY through the View toggle — so it is exactly
+// the kind of code a later refactor can drop without any test noticing.
+describe("mirror line wrapping", () => {
+  function preFor(props: Partial<ComponentProps<typeof AnsiOutput>>) {
+    const { container } = render(<AnsiOutput text="a very long line" {...props} />);
+    return container.querySelector("pre")!;
+  }
+
+  it("wraps by default rather than making the block a horizontal panner", () => {
+    const cls = preFor({}).className;
+    expect(cls).toContain("whitespace-pre-wrap");
+    expect(cls).not.toContain("overflow-x-auto");
+  });
+
+  it("still pans, column-faithful, when wrap is turned off", () => {
+    const cls = preFor({ wrap: false }).className;
+    expect(cls).toContain("whitespace-pre");
+    expect(cls).toContain("overflow-x-auto");
+    expect(cls).not.toContain("whitespace-pre-wrap");
+  });
+});
+
 // URLs printed by an agent are plain characters — the mirror finds them and wraps those ranges in
 // anchors. The invariants worth guarding are the ones a refactor would silently break: the text is
 // still exactly what the terminal printed, and nothing but http(s) ever becomes an href.
diff --git a/web/src/components/ansi-output.tsx b/web/src/components/ansi-output.tsx
index f71bdc9..83dde2a 100644
--- a/web/src/components/ansi-output.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/ansi-output.tsx
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ type MultiBlock = Extract<Block, { kind: "multi-select" }>;
 export interface AnsiOutputProps {
   text: string;
   className?: string;
-  /** false = no wrap; the block scrolls horizontally, preserving column alignment. Default false — enable Wrap in View for prose. */
+  /** true = wrap; the block breaks at the viewport width instead of scrolling horizontally. Default
+   *  true — the mirror is mostly agent prose, and a phone shows far fewer columns than the desktop
+   *  width panes are spawned at, so panning was the common case. Disable Wrap in View for
+   *  column-faithful TUI tables. */
   wrap?: boolean;
   /** Monospace font size in px. Default 11. */
   fontSize?: number;
@@ -154,7 +157,7 @@ function preClass(wrap: boolean, className?: string): string {
 export const AnsiOutput = memo(function AnsiOutput({
   text,
   className,
-  wrap = false,
+  wrap = true,
   fontSize = 11,
   query = "",
   currentMatch = -1,
diff --git a/web/src/hooks/use-display-prefs.test.ts b/web/src/hooks/use-display-prefs.test.ts
index 82343f8..daee3bc 100644
--- a/web/src/hooks/use-display-prefs.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/hooks/use-display-prefs.test.ts
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@ import { renderHook, act } from "@testing-library/react";
 import { useDisplayPrefs } from "./use-display-prefs";
 
 // Minimal localStorage stub — Vitest/jsdom includes a real one but this ensures it's clean per test.
-const STORAGE_KEY = "collie:display-prefs:v3";
+const STORAGE_KEY = "collie:display-prefs:v4";
 
 describe("useDisplayPrefs", () => {
   beforeEach(() => localStorage.clear());
 
   it("returns defaults when localStorage is empty", () => {
     const { result } = renderHook(() => useDisplayPrefs());
-    expect(result.current.prefs).toEqual({ wrap: false, fontSize: 12, rawTerminal: false });
+    expect(result.current.prefs).toEqual({ wrap: true, fontSize: 12, rawTerminal: false });
   });
 
   it("persists wrap=true and reloads it on mount", () => {
@@ -75,12 +75,12 @@ describe("useDisplayPrefs", () => {
   it("falls back to defaults on malformed JSON", () => {
     localStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEY, "not-json{{{");
     const { result } = renderHook(() => useDisplayPrefs());
-    expect(result.current.prefs).toEqual({ wrap: false, fontSize: 12, rawTerminal: false });
+    expect(result.current.prefs).toEqual({ wrap: true, fontSize: 12, rawTerminal: false });
   });
 
   it("falls back to defaults when stored value is not an object", () => {
     localStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEY, JSON.stringify(42));
     const { result } = renderHook(() => useDisplayPrefs());
-    expect(result.current.prefs).toEqual({ wrap: false, fontSize: 12, rawTerminal: false });
+    expect(result.current.prefs).toEqual({ wrap: true, fontSize: 12, rawTerminal: false });
   });
 });
diff --git a/web/src/hooks/use-display-prefs.ts b/web/src/hooks/use-display-prefs.ts
index 1119070..dd3e1d4 100644
--- a/web/src/hooks/use-display-prefs.ts
+++ b/web/src/hooks/use-display-prefs.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ import { useCallback, useState } from "react";
 // Safe to call in SSR contexts (localStorage guarded throughout).
 
 export interface DisplayPrefs {
-  /** Whether the mirror wraps long lines (default: false — preserves column alignment like desktop Herdr; enable Wrap in View for prose). */
+  /** Whether the mirror wraps long lines (default: true). The mirror is mostly agent prose, and a
+   *  phone shows ~45-50 columns against panes herdr spawns at desktop width (190 in one reporter's
+   *  session), so panning was the common case, not the exception. Column-faithful no-wrap for TUI
+   *  tables stays one tap away in View. */
   wrap: boolean;
   /** Font size in px for the mirror pre (default: 12, range: 9–16). */
   fontSize: number;
@@ -17,10 +20,10 @@ export interface DisplayPrefs {
   rawTerminal: boolean;
 }
 
-const STORAGE_KEY = "collie:display-prefs:v3";
+const STORAGE_KEY = "collie:display-prefs:v4";
 const FONT_MIN = 9;
 const FONT_MAX = 16;
-const DEFAULTS: DisplayPrefs = { wrap: false, fontSize: 12, rawTerminal: false };
+const DEFAULTS: DisplayPrefs = { wrap: true, fontSize: 12, rawTerminal: false };
 
 function clampFont(n: number): number {
   return Math.max(FONT_MIN, Math.min(FONT_MAX, Math.round(n)));