diff --git a/src/display/stream-updates.ts b/src/display/stream-updates.ts
index 277c4b76..8f306064 100644
--- a/src/display/stream-updates.ts
+++ b/src/display/stream-updates.ts
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export function appendAssistantDelta(items: DisplayItem[], itemId: string, turnI
             text: `${item.text}${delta}`,
             copyText: `${item.text}${delta}`,
             turnId: item.turnId ?? turnId,
-            markdown: false,
+            markdown: true,
           }
         : item,
     );
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ export function appendAssistantDelta(items: DisplayItem[], itemId: string, turnI
       copyText: delta,
       turnId,
       itemId,
-      markdown: false,
+      markdown: true,
     },
   ];
 }
diff --git a/src/panel/message-renderer.ts b/src/panel/message-renderer.ts
index 484fbc4f..433cc1d0 100644
--- a/src/panel/message-renderer.ts
+++ b/src/panel/message-renderer.ts
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ export class PanelMessageRenderer {
   private renderMarkdownMessage(parent: HTMLElement, text: string): void {
     const sourcePath = this.options.app.workspace.getActiveFile()?.path ?? "";
     void MarkdownRenderer.render(this.options.app, text, parent, sourcePath, this.options.owner).then(() => {
+      if (!parent.isConnected) return;
       this.bindRenderedWikiLinks(parent, sourcePath);
       this.bindRenderedMarkdownFileLinks(parent, sourcePath);
       notifyMessageContentRendered(parent);
diff --git a/tests/display/display-model.test.ts b/tests/display/display-model.test.ts
index 7f3a3aeb..20c82c1e 100644
--- a/tests/display/display-model.test.ts
+++ b/tests/display/display-model.test.ts
@@ -171,6 +171,14 @@ describe("thread item conversion preserves app-server semantics", () => {
     expect(normalizeProposedPlanMarkdown("<proposed_plan>\n## Summary\n- Ship it\n</proposed_plan>")).toBe("## Summary\n- Ship it");
   });
 
+  it("streams assistant deltas as markdown", () => {
+    const items = appendAssistantDelta([], "a1", "t1", "**Hello**");
+    const updated = appendAssistantDelta(items, "a1", "t1", "\n\n- world");
+    expect(updated).toMatchObject([
+      { id: "a1", kind: "message", role: "assistant", text: "**Hello**\n\n- world", copyText: "**Hello**\n\n- world", markdown: true },
+    ]);
+  });
+
   it("streams plan deltas as plain assistant text until completion", () => {
     const items = appendPlanDelta([], "p1", "t1", "<proposed_plan>\n# Plan");
     const updated = appendPlanDelta(items, "p1", "t1", "\n</proposed_plan>");
diff --git a/tests/panel/panel-controller.test.ts b/tests/panel/panel-controller.test.ts
index dd356442..837cb718 100644
--- a/tests/panel/panel-controller.test.ts
+++ b/tests/panel/panel-controller.test.ts
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ describe("PanelController", () => {
       expect(state.displayItems).toEqual([]);
     });
 
-    it("applies matching streaming deltas as lightweight assistant text", () => {
+    it("applies matching streaming deltas as assistant markdown", () => {
       const state = createPanelState();
       state.activeThreadId = "thread-active";
       state.activeTurnId = "turn-active";
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ describe("PanelController", () => {
         params: { threadId: "thread-active", turnId: "turn-active", itemId: "a1", delta: "hello" },
       } satisfies Extract<ServerNotification, { method: "item/agentMessage/delta" }>);
 
-      expect(state.displayItems).toMatchObject([{ id: "a1", text: "hello", markdown: false }]);
+      expect(state.displayItems).toMatchObject([{ id: "a1", text: "hello", markdown: true }]);
     });
 
     it("marks active reasoning completed when assistant text starts", () => {