diff --git a/src/components/ChatPanel.vue b/src/components/ChatPanel.vue
index 193c636..5ca174b 100644
--- a/src/components/ChatPanel.vue
+++ b/src/components/ChatPanel.vue
@@ -26,8 +26,11 @@
         class="chat-input"
         placeholder="Ask Robin something..."
         @keydown.enter="send"
+        :disabled="thinking"
       />
-      <button class="send-btn" @click="send">→</button>
+      <button class="send-btn" @click="send" :disabled="thinking">
+        {{ thinking ? '…' : '→' }}
+      </button>
     </footer>
   </div>
 </template>
@@ -42,13 +45,12 @@ interface RobinEvent { pattern_id: string; title: string; body: string; severity
 
 const messages = ref<Message[]>([])
 const input = ref('')
+const thinking = ref(false)
 const messagesEl = ref<HTMLElement | null>(null)
 let unlisten: UnlistenFn | null = null
+let activeCleanup: (() => void) | null = null
 
 onMounted(async () => {
-  // Signal backend: stop queuing events into PENDING while panel is open.
-  // Must happen before drain so new events that arrive during mount are not
-  // double-delivered on the next open cycle.
   try { await invoke('panel_opened') } catch {}
 
   try {
@@ -60,7 +62,6 @@ onMounted(async () => {
     console.warn('Robin: failed to drain pending events:', err)
   }
 
-  // Always set up the live listener, even if drain failed
   unlisten = await listen<RobinEvent>('robin:event', ({ payload }) => {
     pushRobinEvent(payload)
   })
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ onMounted(async () => {
 onUnmounted(() => {
   unlisten?.()
   invoke('panel_closed').catch(() => {})
+  activeCleanup?.()
 })
 
 function pushRobinEvent(e: RobinEvent) {
@@ -80,13 +82,55 @@ function pushRobinEvent(e: RobinEvent) {
 
 async function send() {
   const text = input.value.trim()
-  if (!text) return
+  if (!text || thinking.value) return
   input.value = ''
+  thinking.value = true
+
   messages.value.push({ role: 'user', content: text })
-  // M4: invoke('chat', { message: text }) and stream response
-  messages.value.push({ role: 'robin', content: '(LLM chat not yet connected — M4)' })
+  messages.value.push({ role: 'robin', content: '' })
+  const robinIdx = messages.value.length - 1
+
   await nextTick()
   messagesEl.value?.scrollTo({ top: messagesEl.value.scrollHeight, behavior: 'smooth' })
+
+  let unlistenToken: UnlistenFn | null = null
+  let unlistenDone: UnlistenFn | null = null
+  let unlistenError: UnlistenFn | null = null
+
+  function cleanup() {
+    unlistenToken?.()
+    unlistenDone?.()
+    unlistenError?.()
+    thinking.value = false
+    activeCleanup = null
+  }
+  activeCleanup = cleanup
+
+  unlistenToken = await listen<string>('robin:chat-token', ({ payload }) => {
+    messages.value[robinIdx].content += payload
+    nextTick(() => {
+      messagesEl.value?.scrollTo({ top: messagesEl.value.scrollHeight, behavior: 'smooth' })
+    })
+  })
+
+  unlistenDone = await listen('robin:chat-done', () => cleanup())
+
+  unlistenError = await listen<string>('robin:chat-error', ({ payload }) => {
+    if (!messages.value[robinIdx].content) {
+      messages.value[robinIdx].content =
+        `Robin couldn't reach Ollama. Make sure it's running at the configured URL. (${payload})`
+    }
+    cleanup()
+  })
+
+  try {
+    await invoke('chat', { message: text })
+  } catch (err) {
+    if (!messages.value[robinIdx].content) {
+      messages.value[robinIdx].content = `Something went wrong starting the chat. (${err})`
+    }
+    cleanup()
+  }
 }
 </script>
 
@@ -154,4 +198,6 @@ async function send() {
   cursor: pointer;
 }
 .send-btn:hover { opacity: 0.85; }
+.send-btn:disabled { opacity: 0.5; cursor: not-allowed; }
+.chat-input:disabled { opacity: 0.6; cursor: not-allowed; }
 </style>