diff --git a/pkg/tui/tui.go b/pkg/tui/tui.go
index 59736fe..de27cbe 100644
--- a/pkg/tui/tui.go
+++ b/pkg/tui/tui.go
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ var (
 	assistantStyle = lipgloss.NewStyle().Faint(true).Bold(true).Foreground(lipgloss.Color("12"))
 	messageStyle   = lipgloss.NewStyle().PaddingLeft(1)
 	headerStyle    = lipgloss.NewStyle().
-			PaddingLeft(1).
 			Background(lipgloss.Color("0"))
 	contentStyle = lipgloss.NewStyle().
 			Padding(1)
@@ -186,6 +185,12 @@ func (m model) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 }
 
 func (m model) View() string {
+	if m.content.Width == 0 {
+		// this is the case upon initial startup, but it's also a safe bet that
+		// we can just skip rendering if the terminal is really 0 width...
+		// without this, the below view functions may do weird things
+		return ""
+	}
 	return lipgloss.JoinVertical(
 		lipgloss.Left,
 		m.headerView(),
@@ -197,6 +202,8 @@ func (m model) View() string {
 
 func (m *model) headerView() string {
 	titleStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().
+		PaddingLeft(1).
+		PaddingRight(1).
 		Bold(true)
 	var title string
 	if m.conversation != nil && m.conversation.Title != "" {
@@ -218,19 +225,33 @@ func (m *model) inputView() string {
 }
 
 func (m *model) footerView() string {
-	left := m.status
-	right := fmt.Sprintf("Model: %s", *m.ctx.Config.Defaults.Model)
+	segmentStyle := lipgloss.NewStyle().PaddingLeft(1).PaddingRight(1)
+	segmentSeparator := "|"
 
-	totalWidth := lipgloss.Width(left + right)
-	var padding string
-	if m.content.Width-totalWidth > 0 {
-		padding = strings.Repeat(" ", m.content.Width-totalWidth)
-	} else {
-		padding = ""
+	leftSegments := []string{
+		segmentStyle.Render(m.status),
+	}
+	rightSegments := []string{
+		segmentStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("Model: %s", *m.ctx.Config.Defaults.Model)),
 	}
 
-	footer := lipgloss.JoinHorizontal(lipgloss.Center, left, padding, right)
-	return footerStyle.Width(m.content.Width).Render(footer)
+	left := strings.Join(leftSegments, segmentSeparator)
+	right := strings.Join(rightSegments, segmentSeparator)
+
+	totalWidth := lipgloss.Width(left + right)
+	remaining := m.content.Width - totalWidth
+
+	var padding string
+	if remaining > 0 {
+		padding = strings.Repeat(" ", remaining)
+	}
+
+	footer := left + padding + right
+	if remaining < 0 {
+		ellipses := "... "
+		footer = footer[:m.content.Width-len(ellipses)] + ellipses
+	}
+	return footerStyle.Render(footer)
 }
 
 func initialModel(ctx *lmcli.Context, convShortname string) model {