diff --git a/src/client.zig b/src/client.zig
index e69f440..36787dc 100644
--- a/src/client.zig
+++ b/src/client.zig
@@ -83,9 +83,12 @@ pub fn attach(alloc: std.mem.Allocator, socket_path: []const u8) !Outcome {
 
     // Handshake with our current size.
     const ws = ptypkg.getSize(tty) catch ptypkg.makeWinsize(24, 80);
-    try protocol.writeMsg(sock, .attach, &(protocol.SizePayload{
+    try protocol.writeMsg(sock, .attach, &(protocol.AttachPayload{
         .rows = ws.row,
         .cols = ws.col,
+        // A plain attach is raw passthrough; replaying scrollback here
+        // would dump the buffer onto the user's real terminal.
+        .ui = false,
     }).encode());
 
     var decoder: protocol.Decoder = .init(alloc);
diff --git a/src/daemon.zig b/src/daemon.zig
index 61a5760..82a7cb0 100644
--- a/src/daemon.zig
+++ b/src/daemon.zig
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ const Conn = struct {
     fd: posix.fd_t,
     decoder: protocol.Decoder,
     attached: bool = false,
+    /// A ui view (vs a plain attach): gets its scrollback history
+    /// replayed on attach so a wheel-up can page it.
+    ui: bool = false,
     closed: bool = false,
 
     fn send(self: *Conn, msg_type: protocol.MsgType, payload: []const u8) void {
@@ -244,7 +247,7 @@ pub const Daemon = struct {
     fn handleMsg(self: *Daemon, conn: *Conn, msg: protocol.Msg) !void {
         switch (msg.type) {
             .attach => {
-                const size = try protocol.SizePayload.decode(msg.payload);
+                const a = try protocol.AttachPayload.decode(msg.payload);
                 // Steal from any previously attached client.
                 for (self.conns.items) |other| {
                     if (other != conn and other.attached) {
@@ -253,9 +256,15 @@ pub const Daemon = struct {
                     }
                 }
                 conn.attached = true;
+                conn.ui = a.ui;
                 self.key_parser = .{};
-                self.resizeWindow(size.rows, size.cols);
+                self.resizeWindow(a.rows, a.cols);
                 self.updatePassthrough();
+                // A ui view starts with an empty terminal; seed its
+                // scrollback with the window's history (sized to the
+                // client) before the repaint puts the live screen at
+                // the bottom. Best effort: failure just means no history.
+                if (conn.ui) self.historyTo(conn) catch {};
                 try self.repaintTo(conn);
             },
 
@@ -599,6 +608,23 @@ pub const Daemon = struct {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Send the window's scrollback history to a ui view as a stream of
+    /// `output` frames, to be fed before the repaint. The replay can be
+    /// larger than one frame, so it is split across messages; the client
+    /// feeds them in order into its terminal, so an escape sequence split
+    /// across the boundary still parses.
+    fn historyTo(self: *Daemon, conn: *Conn) !void {
+        const win = self.liveWindow() orelse return;
+        const bytes = (try win.historyReplay(self.alloc)) orelse return;
+        defer self.alloc.free(bytes);
+        var i: usize = 0;
+        while (i < bytes.len) {
+            const end = @min(i + protocol.max_payload, bytes.len);
+            conn.send(.output, bytes[i..end]);
+            i = end;
+        }
+    }
+
     fn repaintTo(self: *Daemon, conn: *Conn) !void {
         const win = self.liveWindow() orelse return;
         const bytes = try win.repaint(self.alloc);
diff --git a/src/protocol.zig b/src/protocol.zig
index acf6280..0d1a39e 100644
--- a/src/protocol.zig
+++ b/src/protocol.zig
@@ -63,6 +63,33 @@ pub const SizePayload = struct {
     }
 };
 
+/// attach payload: rows, cols (u16 LE each) plus a flag byte. The flag's
+/// low bit marks a ui client (`boo ui`), which wants its scrollback
+/// history replayed on attach; a plain `boo attach` leaves it zero. A
+/// bare 4-byte size payload is also accepted and decodes as non-ui.
+pub const AttachPayload = struct {
+    rows: u16,
+    cols: u16,
+    ui: bool = false,
+
+    pub fn encode(self: AttachPayload) [5]u8 {
+        var buf: [5]u8 = undefined;
+        std.mem.writeInt(u16, buf[0..2], self.rows, .little);
+        std.mem.writeInt(u16, buf[2..4], self.cols, .little);
+        buf[4] = @intFromBool(self.ui);
+        return buf;
+    }
+
+    pub fn decode(payload: []const u8) error{InvalidPayload}!AttachPayload {
+        if (payload.len != 4 and payload.len != 5) return error.InvalidPayload;
+        return .{
+            .rows = std.mem.readInt(u16, payload[0..2], .little),
+            .cols = std.mem.readInt(u16, payload[2..4], .little),
+            .ui = payload.len == 5 and payload[4] != 0,
+        };
+    }
+};
+
 /// Write a full frame to a fd. Handles short writes.
 pub fn writeMsg(fd: std.posix.fd_t, msg_type: MsgType, payload: []const u8) !void {
     std.debug.assert(payload.len <= max_payload);
@@ -153,6 +180,20 @@ test "size payload roundtrip" {
     try std.testing.expectError(error.InvalidPayload, SizePayload.decode("abc"));
 }
 
+test "attach payload roundtrip carries the ui flag" {
+    const ui_client: AttachPayload = .{ .rows = 24, .cols = 80, .ui = true };
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(ui_client, try AttachPayload.decode(&ui_client.encode()));
+    const plain: AttachPayload = .{ .rows = 5, .cols = 10, .ui = false };
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(plain, try AttachPayload.decode(&plain.encode()));
+    // A bare 4-byte size payload decodes as a non-ui attach.
+    const sized = (SizePayload{ .rows = 7, .cols = 9 }).encode();
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(
+        AttachPayload{ .rows = 7, .cols = 9, .ui = false },
+        try AttachPayload.decode(&sized),
+    );
+    try std.testing.expectError(error.InvalidPayload, AttachPayload.decode("ab"));
+}
+
 test "argv roundtrip" {
     const alloc = std.testing.allocator;
     const argv = [_][]const u8{ "stuff", "hello world\n" };
diff --git a/src/ui.zig b/src/ui.zig
index dc4ca0b..a4ca05c 100644
--- a/src/ui.zig
+++ b/src/ui.zig
@@ -681,9 +681,12 @@ pub const View = struct {
         self.stream = .initAlloc(alloc, handler);
         errdefer self.stream.deinit();
 
-        try protocol.writeMsg(sock, .attach, &(protocol.SizePayload{
+        try protocol.writeMsg(sock, .attach, &(protocol.AttachPayload{
             .rows = @max(rows, 1),
             .cols = @max(cols, 1),
+            // A ui view renders from terminal state, so it can take a
+            // scrollback-history replay and page it on a wheel-up.
+            .ui = true,
         }).encode());
 
         return self;
diff --git a/src/window.zig b/src/window.zig
index 59ed0e4..e5496c5 100644
--- a/src/window.zig
+++ b/src/window.zig
@@ -280,6 +280,46 @@ pub const Window = struct {
         return alloc.dupe(u8, out.writer.buffered());
     }
 
+    /// VT bytes that reproduce this window's scrollback HISTORY (the rows
+    /// above the visible screen) as a styled, scrolling stream. A fresh
+    /// ui-view terminal that feeds historyReplay() and then repaint() ends
+    /// up holding the same scrollback, so a wheel-up pages real history
+    /// instead of an empty buffer. Returns null when there is no history.
+    ///
+    /// Only ui views request this. A plain `boo attach` is raw passthrough
+    /// to the user's real terminal, where replaying history would dump the
+    /// whole buffer onto their screen.
+    pub fn historyReplay(self: *Window, alloc: std.mem.Allocator) !?[]u8 {
+        const pages = &self.term.screens.active.pages;
+        const br = pages.getBottomRight(.history) orelse return null; // no history
+        const tl = pages.getTopLeft(.history);
+        const sel = vt.Selection.init(tl, br, false);
+
+        var out: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(alloc);
+        defer out.deinit();
+
+        // Content only (per-cell SGR is part of content emission); no
+        // cursor, modes, or other terminal state — the repaint that
+        // follows re-establishes all of that.
+        var formatter: vt.formatter.TerminalFormatter = .init(&self.term, .{ .emit = .vt });
+        formatter.content = .{ .selection = sel };
+        formatter.extra = .none;
+        try out.writer.print("{f}", .{formatter});
+
+        // The history selection reproduces as a stream that fills the
+        // canvas's visible screen with its last rows; the repaint that
+        // follows opens with ED (erase display), which would drop those
+        // still-visible rows. Reset SGR, then scroll a full screen so
+        // every history row lands in scrollback before the erase. The
+        // blank rows this leaves are in the visible area, so ED discards
+        // them rather than committing them to scrollback.
+        try out.writer.writeAll("\x1b[0m");
+        for (0..self.term.rows) |_| try out.writer.writeAll("\r\n");
+
+        const bytes = try alloc.dupe(u8, out.writer.buffered());
+        return bytes;
+    }
+
     /// Selection spanning the visible screen of the active terminal
     /// screen, so a repaint excludes scrollback history. Null (the
     /// formatter's dump-everything default) only if the pins cannot
@@ -434,6 +474,85 @@ test "repaint reproduces the screen once output has scrolled" {
     try std.testing.expectEqual(want_cursor.x, got_cursor.x);
 }
 
+test "historyReplay reconstructs scrollback for a ui view canvas" {
+    // A switched-to ui view starts with an empty terminal; feeding
+    // historyReplay() then repaint() must leave it holding the same
+    // scrollback the daemon window has, so a wheel-up pages real history.
+    const alloc = std.testing.allocator;
+
+    var win: Window = .{
+        .alloc = alloc,
+        .pty_fd = -1,
+        .child_pid = -1,
+        .command_title = "test",
+        .last_output_ms = 0,
+        .term = try vt.Terminal.init(alloc, .{
+            .cols = 20,
+            .rows = 5,
+            .max_scrollback = 512 * 1024,
+        }),
+        .stream = undefined,
+    };
+    defer win.term.deinit(alloc);
+    var stream = win.term.vtStream();
+    defer stream.deinit();
+
+    // Ten lines on a five-row screen: five scroll into history, five
+    // stay visible. The first row carries color, to prove styling
+    // survives the round trip.
+    stream.nextSlice("\x1b[31mL1\x1b[0m\r\nL2\r\nL3\r\nL4\r\nL5\r\nL6\r\nL7\r\nL8\r\nL9\r\nL10");
+
+    const history = (try win.historyReplay(alloc)) orelse return error.TestUnexpectedResult;
+    defer alloc.free(history);
+    // The colored history row keeps its SGR.
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, history, "\x1b[") != null);
+
+    const repaint = try win.repaint(alloc);
+    defer alloc.free(repaint);
+
+    // A fresh canvas, standing in for a ui view's terminal.
+    var canvas = try vt.Terminal.init(alloc, .{ .cols = 20, .rows = 5, .max_scrollback = 512 * 1024 });
+    defer canvas.deinit(alloc);
+    var canvas_stream = canvas.vtStream();
+    defer canvas_stream.deinit();
+    canvas_stream.nextSlice(history);
+    canvas_stream.nextSlice(repaint);
+
+    // Full dump (history + visible) matches: the canvas holds the same
+    // scrollback as the window, with no blank gap.
+    const want_full = try win.term.screens.active.dumpStringAlloc(alloc, .{ .screen = .{} });
+    defer alloc.free(want_full);
+    const got_full = try canvas.screens.active.dumpStringAlloc(alloc, .{ .screen = .{} });
+    defer alloc.free(got_full);
+    try std.testing.expectEqualStrings(want_full, got_full);
+
+    // The viewport still sits at the live bottom.
+    const want_screen = try win.term.plainString(alloc);
+    defer alloc.free(want_screen);
+    const got_screen = try canvas.plainString(alloc);
+    defer alloc.free(got_screen);
+    try std.testing.expectEqualStrings(want_screen, got_screen);
+}
+
+test "historyReplay returns null without scrollback" {
+    const alloc = std.testing.allocator;
+    var win: Window = .{
+        .alloc = alloc,
+        .pty_fd = -1,
+        .child_pid = -1,
+        .command_title = "test",
+        .last_output_ms = 0,
+        .term = try vt.Terminal.init(alloc, .{ .cols = 20, .rows = 5, .max_scrollback = 512 * 1024 }),
+        .stream = undefined,
+    };
+    defer win.term.deinit(alloc);
+    var stream = win.term.vtStream();
+    defer stream.deinit();
+    // Two lines, nothing scrolled off: no history.
+    stream.nextSlice("hello\r\nworld");
+    try std.testing.expect((try win.historyReplay(alloc)) == null);
+}
+
 test "title set via OSC is tracked and emitted sanitized" {
     const alloc = std.testing.allocator;