diff --git a/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts b/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts
index d5311a5..6585edf 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts
@@ -147,6 +147,17 @@ async function createWindow(): Promise<BrowserWindow> {
   attachWindowState(win, WINDOW_STATE_FILE);
 
   if (!app.isPackaged) {
+    // Auto-open DevTools in dev — the menu bar is stripped (Discord-style)
+    // so F12 / Ctrl+Shift+I have no chord; opening detached gives a
+    // separate inspector window for easy debugging.
+    win.webContents.openDevTools({ mode: 'detach' });
+    // Forward renderer console messages to the main-process stdout so
+    // errors during local dev are visible in the terminal too (helps when
+    // the inspector isn't focused).
+    win.webContents.on('console-message', (_event, level, message, line, sourceId) => {
+      const tag = level === 3 ? 'error' : level === 2 ? 'warn' : level === 1 ? 'log' : 'info';
+      console.log('[renderer ' + tag + ']', message, '(' + sourceId + ':' + line + ')');
+    });
     await win.loadURL(DEV_URL);
   } else {
     await win.loadFile(resolveRendererIndex());
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/pages/ConversationPage.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/pages/ConversationPage.tsx
index 2026ccb..63b11b7 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/pages/ConversationPage.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/pages/ConversationPage.tsx
@@ -434,6 +434,22 @@ export function ConversationPage() {
     return out;
   }, [messages, pending, displayCount]);
 
+  // Snapshot of the saved position for this conversation, captured once on
+  // mount. Used to derive the `initialTopMostItemIndex` we hand to the
+  // Virtuoso instance below — Virtuoso applies that index synchronously
+  // before its first paint, so re-entering a chat shows the saved row in
+  // one frame rather than a "starts at top, jumps" flicker.
+  //
+  // Declared HERE (above `initialTopMostIndex`) rather than further down
+  // because the useMemo that consumes it would otherwise hit a TDZ on
+  // first render — `const` refs aren't hoisted.
+  const savedPositionRef = useRef<{ topmostIndex: number; stickToBottom: boolean } | null>(
+    null,
+  );
+  if (savedPositionRef.current === null && id) {
+    savedPositionRef.current = scrollPositions.get(id) ?? null;
+  }
+
   // Initial scroll position for the freshly-mounted Virtuoso instance.
   // Default = bottom (newest message). If we have a saved position from a
   // previous visit to this chat AND the user wasn't sticking to the
@@ -648,17 +664,8 @@ export function ConversationPage() {
   // The old useLayoutEffect that wrote `scrollTop = scrollHeight` is no
   // longer needed: Virtuoso owns scroll positioning now.
 
-  // Snapshot of the saved position for this conversation, captured once on
-  // mount. Used to derive the `initialTopMostItemIndex` we hand to the
-  // Virtuoso instance below — Virtuoso applies that index synchronously
-  // before its first paint, so re-entering a chat shows the saved row in
-  // one frame rather than a "starts at top, jumps" flicker.
-  const savedPositionRef = useRef<{ topmostIndex: number; stickToBottom: boolean } | null>(
-    null,
-  );
-  if (savedPositionRef.current === null && id) {
-    savedPositionRef.current = scrollPositions.get(id) ?? null;
-  }
+  // (savedPositionRef declared earlier — see TDZ note above the
+  // initialTopMostIndex useMemo.)
 
   // Track whether the user is currently scrolled to the bottom. Virtuoso
   // calls this whenever the bottom-state changes; we feed it into