diff --git a/src/cli/App.tsx b/src/cli/App.tsx
index 9d40d36..59f7f02 100644
--- a/src/cli/App.tsx
+++ b/src/cli/App.tsx
@@ -771,6 +771,7 @@ export default function App({
   messageHistory = [],
   resumedExistingConversation = false,
   tokenStreaming = false,
+  showCompactions = false,
   agentProvenance = null,
   releaseNotes = null,
 }: {
@@ -789,6 +790,7 @@ export default function App({
   messageHistory?: Message[];
   resumedExistingConversation?: boolean; // True if we explicitly resumed via --resume
   tokenStreaming?: boolean;
+  showCompactions?: boolean;
   agentProvenance?: AgentProvenance | null;
   releaseNotes?: string | null; // Markdown release notes to display above header
 }) {
@@ -1266,6 +1268,10 @@ export default function App({
   const [tokenStreamingEnabled, setTokenStreamingEnabled] =
     useState(tokenStreaming);
 
+  // Show compaction messages preference (can be toggled at runtime)
+  const [showCompactionsEnabled, _setShowCompactionsEnabled] =
+    useState(showCompactions);
+
   // Live, approximate token counter (resets each turn)
   const [tokenCount, setTokenCount] = useState(0);
 
@@ -9879,12 +9885,20 @@ Plan file path: ${planFilePath}`;
       }
       // Events (like compaction) show while running
       if (ln.kind === "event") {
+        if (!showCompactionsEnabled && ln.eventType === "compaction")
+          return false;
         return ln.phase === "running";
       }
       if (!tokenStreamingEnabled && ln.phase === "streaming") return false;
       return ln.phase === "streaming";
     });
-  }, [lines, tokenStreamingEnabled, staticItems.length, deferredCommitAt]);
+  }, [
+    lines,
+    tokenStreamingEnabled,
+    showCompactionsEnabled,
+    staticItems.length,
+    deferredCommitAt,
+  ]);
 
   // Subscribe to subagent state for reactive overflow detection
   const { agents: subagents } = useSyncExternalStore(
@@ -10093,7 +10107,10 @@ Plan file path: ${planFilePath}`;
               ) : item.kind === "status" ? (
                 <StatusMessage line={item} />
               ) : item.kind === "event" ? (
-                <EventMessage line={item} />
+                !showCompactionsEnabled &&
+                item.eventType === "compaction" ? null : (
+                  <EventMessage line={item} />
+                )
               ) : item.kind === "separator" ? (
                 <Box marginTop={1}>
                   <Text dimColor>{"─".repeat(columns)}</Text>
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 1ab58b0..5d6f7ad 100755
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -1996,6 +1996,7 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
         messageHistory: resumeData?.messageHistory ?? EMPTY_MESSAGE_ARRAY,
         resumedExistingConversation,
         tokenStreaming: settings.tokenStreaming,
+        showCompactions: settings.showCompactions,
         agentProvenance,
         releaseNotes,
       });
@@ -2012,6 +2013,7 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
       messageHistory: resumeData?.messageHistory ?? EMPTY_MESSAGE_ARRAY,
       resumedExistingConversation,
       tokenStreaming: settings.tokenStreaming,
+      showCompactions: settings.showCompactions,
       agentProvenance,
       releaseNotes,
     });
diff --git a/src/settings-manager.ts b/src/settings-manager.ts
index fcf69a8..7cee4bb 100644
--- a/src/settings-manager.ts
+++ b/src/settings-manager.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ export interface Settings {
   lastAgent: string | null; // DEPRECATED: kept for migration to lastSession
   lastSession?: SessionRef; // DEPRECATED: kept for backwards compat, use sessionsByServer
   tokenStreaming: boolean;
+  showCompactions?: boolean;
   enableSleeptime: boolean;
   sessionContextEnabled: boolean; // Send device/agent context on first message of each session
   memoryReminderInterval: number | null; // null = disabled, number = prompt memory check every N turns
@@ -91,6 +92,7 @@ export interface LocalProjectSettings {
 const DEFAULT_SETTINGS: Settings = {
   lastAgent: null,
   tokenStreaming: false,
+  showCompactions: false,
   enableSleeptime: false,
   sessionContextEnabled: true,
   memoryReminderInterval: 5, // number = prompt memory check every N turns