diff --git a/media/style.css b/media/style.css
index 5102a8b..4cd191d 100644
--- a/media/style.css
+++ b/media/style.css
@@ -2709,6 +2709,27 @@ html.pi-viewport-recovering #pi-web-app {
   background: var(--pi-bg);
 }
 
+.settings-open-vscode {
+  display: block;
+  width: 100%;
+  margin-top: 10px;
+  padding: 6px 10px;
+  border: 1px solid var(--pi-line);
+  border-radius: 2px;
+  background: transparent;
+  color: var(--pi-muted);
+  font: inherit;
+  font-size: 0.85em;
+  text-align: left;
+  cursor: pointer;
+}
+
+.settings-open-vscode:hover,
+.settings-open-vscode:focus-visible {
+  border-color: var(--pi-lavender);
+  color: var(--pi-text);
+}
+
 .pi-dialog-btn,
 .pi-dialog-input,
 .pi-dialog-option {
diff --git a/src/test/vscode-settings-entry.test.ts b/src/test/vscode-settings-entry.test.ts
index ac30ea6..e29a94a 100644
--- a/src/test/vscode-settings-entry.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/vscode-settings-entry.test.ts
@@ -12,12 +12,14 @@ suite("VS Code settings entry", () => {
     assert.strictEqual(extensionSettingsQuery("  ", "  "), "@ext:auchan.pion-code");
   });
 
-  test("gear opens native settings and the panel executes the filtered command", () => {
+  test("gear opens the quick settings panel with a full VS Code settings link", () => {
     const handlers = readFileSync(
       new URL("../../src/webview/handlers/index.ts", import.meta.url),
       "utf8",
     );
     assert.match(handlers, /pi-sb-settings/);
+    assert.match(handlers, /toggleSettingsPanel\(\);/);
+    assert.match(handlers, /settings-open-vscode/);
     assert.match(handlers, /postMessage\(\{ type: "openVscodeSettings" \}\)/);
 
     const panel = readFileSync(
@@ -27,6 +29,6 @@ suite("VS Code settings entry", () => {
     assert.match(panel, /case "openVscodeSettings"/);
     assert.match(panel, /extensionSettingsQuery\(pkg\.publisher, pkg\.name\)/);
     assert.match(panel, /"workbench\.action\.openSettings"/);
-    assert.match(panel, /Open Pi on Code settings in VS Code/);
+    assert.match(panel, /Open Pi settings/);
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/webview-panel.ts b/src/webview-panel.ts
index ba96d40..4ba905f 100644
--- a/src/webview-panel.ts
+++ b/src/webview-panel.ts
@@ -1077,7 +1077,7 @@ export class PiWebviewPanel {
     <div class="pi-sb-item spacer"></div>
     <div class="pi-sb-item" id="pi-sb-capabilities" title="Manage capabilities for this session">capabilities: 0</div>
     <div class="pi-sb-item" id="pi-sb-usage" title="Click to set context budget">0%</div>
-    <div class="pi-sb-item" id="pi-sb-settings" title="Open Pi on Code settings in VS Code">⚙</div>
+    <div class="pi-sb-item" id="pi-sb-settings" title="Open Pi settings">⚙</div>
   </div>
   </div>
 
diff --git a/src/webview/handlers/index.ts b/src/webview/handlers/index.ts
index 669d665..82163f5 100644
--- a/src/webview/handlers/index.ts
+++ b/src/webview/handlers/index.ts
@@ -2213,8 +2213,9 @@ export function sendPrompt(modeOverride?: "steer" | "queue"): void {
 let sbSettings = document.getElementById("pi-sb-settings");
   if (sbSettings) {
     sbSettings.addEventListener("click", function () {
-      // Gear opens the native VS Code Settings filtered to this extension.
-      window.__vscode.postMessage({ type: "openVscodeSettings" });
+      // Gear opens the in-chat quick settings panel first; the panel links to
+      // the full native VS Code settings filtered to this extension.
+      toggleSettingsPanel();
     });
   }
 
@@ -2672,6 +2673,10 @@ export function renderSettingsPanel() {
         </div>`;
     }
 
+    // Escalation path to every Pi on Code option in the native VS Code settings.
+    result += html`
+      <button type="button" class="settings-open-vscode">Open full VS Code settings…</button>`;
+
     state.settingsOverlay.innerHTML = result;
 
     // Wire toggle clicks
@@ -2689,6 +2694,14 @@ export function renderSettingsPanel() {
         }
       });
     });
+
+    var openFull = state.settingsOverlay.querySelector(".settings-open-vscode");
+    if (openFull) {
+      openFull.addEventListener("click", function () {
+        closeAllOverlays();
+        window.__vscode.postMessage({ type: "openVscodeSettings" });
+      });
+    }
   }
 
 export function toggleSettingsPanel() {