diff --git a/webui/src/web-components/sketch-timeline.ts b/webui/src/web-components/sketch-timeline.ts
index b0e6d4c..9eca07a 100644
--- a/webui/src/web-components/sketch-timeline.ts
+++ b/webui/src/web-components/sketch-timeline.ts
@@ -801,7 +801,8 @@
 
   render() {
     // Check if messages array is empty and render welcome box if it is
-    if (this.messages.length === 0) {
+    // Skip welcome box in newsessions (compactPadding) context
+    if (this.messages.length === 0 && !this.compactPadding) {
       const compactClass = this.compactPadding ? "compact-padding" : "";
       return html`
         <div class="relative h-full">