diff --git a/src/client/components/MessageBubble.tsx b/src/client/components/MessageBubble.tsx
index 942c91b..d52c302 100644
--- a/src/client/components/MessageBubble.tsx
+++ b/src/client/components/MessageBubble.tsx
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export function MessageBubble({
   // Collapsible state for thinking blocks and tool calls/results
   const isCollapsible = message.category === "thinking" || message.category === "tool_call" || message.category === "tool_result";
   const [collapsed, setCollapsed] = useState(isCollapsible);
-  const [linkCopied, setLinkCopied] = useState(false);
+  const [contentCopied, setContentCopied] = useState(false);
 
   const renderedHtml = useMemo(() => {
     // Skip expensive rendering when content is collapsed and not visible
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export function MessageBubble({
 
     if (msg.category === "tool_call") {
       const inputHtml = msg.toolInput
-        ? `<pre class="hljs mt-2"><code>${escapeHtml(msg.toolInput)}</code></pre>`
+        ? `<pre class="hljs mt-2"><code>${escapeHtml(tryPrettyJson(msg.toolInput))}</code></pre>`
         : "";
       const html = `<div class="font-medium ${colors.text}">${escapeHtml(msg.toolName || "Unknown Tool")}</div>${inputHtml}`;
       return searchQuery ? highlightSearchText(html, searchQuery) : html;
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ export function MessageBubble({
     // Structured data categories: render as preformatted text, not markdown.
     // Avoids expensive marked.parse() on large JSON/log blobs.
     if (msg.category === "hook_progress" || msg.category === "file_snapshot") {
-      const html = `<pre class="hljs"><code>${escapeHtml(msg.content)}</code></pre>`;
+      const html = `<pre class="hljs"><code>${escapeHtml(tryPrettyJson(msg.content))}</code></pre>`;
       return searchQuery ? highlightSearchText(html, searchQuery) : html;
     }
 
@@ -157,14 +157,14 @@ export function MessageBubble({
                 ? `${message.toolName || "Tool Call"}\n${message.toolInput || ""}`
                 : message.content;
               navigator.clipboard.writeText(text).then(() => {
-                setLinkCopied(true);
-                setTimeout(() => setLinkCopied(false), 1500);
+                setContentCopied(true);
+                setTimeout(() => setContentCopied(false), 1500);
               }).catch(() => {});
             }}
             className="flex items-center justify-center w-7 h-7 rounded-md text-foreground-muted hover:text-foreground hover:bg-surface-overlay/60 transition-colors"
             title="Copy message content"
           >
-            {linkCopied ? (
+            {contentCopied ? (
               <svg className="w-4 h-4 text-green-400" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24" stroke="currentColor" strokeWidth={2}>
                 <path strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round" d="M4.5 12.75l6 6 9-13.5" />
               </svg>
@@ -260,3 +260,14 @@ function formatTimestamp(ts: string): string {
     second: "2-digit",
   });
 }
+
+/** If the string is valid JSON, return it pretty-printed; otherwise return as-is. */
+function tryPrettyJson(text: string): string {
+  const trimmed = text.trimStart();
+  if (trimmed[0] !== "{" && trimmed[0] !== "[") return text;
+  try {
+    return JSON.stringify(JSON.parse(text), null, 2);
+  } catch {
+    return text;
+  }
+}