diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index a7318fd33..1721009ff 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -185,6 +185,8 @@ Key components:
 - `agent/skill_commands.py` - Scans skills and builds invocation messages (shared with gateway)
 - `load_cli_config()` - Loads config, sets environment variables for terminal
 - `build_welcome_banner()` - Displays ASCII art logo, tools, and skills summary
+- `_preload_resumed_session()` - Loads session history early (before banner) for immediate display on resume
+- `_display_resumed_history()` - Renders a compact conversation recap in a Rich Panel on session resume
 
 CLI UX notes:
 - Thinking spinner (during LLM API call) shows animated kawaii face + verb (`(⌐■_■) deliberating...`)
@@ -194,6 +196,7 @@ CLI UX notes:
 - The prompt shows `⚕ ❯` when the agent is working, `❯` when idle
 - Pasting 5+ lines auto-saves to `~/.hermes/pastes/` and collapses to a reference
 - Multi-line input via Alt+Enter or Ctrl+J
+- When resuming a session (`--continue`/`--resume`), a "Previous Conversation" panel shows previous messages before the input prompt (configurable via `display.resume_display`)
 - `/commands` - Process user commands like `/help`, `/clear`, `/personality`, etc.
 - `/skill-name` - Invoke installed skills directly (e.g., `/axolotl`, `/gif-search`)
 
diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/cli.md b/website/docs/user-guide/cli.md
index 314fc326e..aeeba5f07 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/cli.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/cli.md
@@ -65,6 +65,10 @@ hermes -w -q "Fix issue #123"     # Single query in worktree
 
 The welcome banner shows your model, terminal backend, working directory, available tools, and installed skills at a glance.
 
+### Session Resume Display
+
+When resuming a previous session (`hermes -c` or `hermes --resume <id>`), a "Previous Conversation" panel appears between the banner and the input prompt, showing a compact recap of the conversation history. See [Sessions — Conversation Recap on Resume](sessions.md#conversation-recap-on-resume) for details and configuration.
+
 ## Keybindings
 
 | Key | Action |
diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md b/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
index 07096a189..e1698f7cb 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
@@ -468,6 +468,7 @@ display:
   tool_progress: all    # off | new | all | verbose
   personality: "kawaii"  # Default personality for the CLI
   compact: false         # Compact output mode (less whitespace)
+  resume_display: full   # full (show previous messages on resume) | minimal (one-liner only)
 ```
 
 | Mode | What you see |
diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/sessions.md b/website/docs/user-guide/sessions.md
index e99a725d4..f468e632c 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/sessions.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/sessions.md
@@ -84,6 +84,35 @@ hermes chat --resume 20250305_091523_a1b2c3d4
 
 Session IDs are shown when you exit a CLI session, and can be found with `hermes sessions list`.
 
+### Conversation Recap on Resume
+
+When you resume a session, Hermes displays a compact recap of the previous conversation in a styled panel before the input prompt:
+
+```text
+╭─────────────────────────── Previous Conversation ────────────────────────────╮
+│   ● You: What is Python?                                                     │
+│   ◆ Hermes: Python is a high-level programming language.                     │
+│   ● You: How do I install it?                                                │
+│   ◆ Hermes: [3 tool calls: web_search, web_extract, terminal]                │
+│   ◆ Hermes: You can download Python from python.org...                       │
+╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
+```
+
+The recap:
+- Shows **user messages** (gold `●`) and **assistant responses** (green `◆`)
+- **Truncates** long messages (300 chars for user, 200 chars / 3 lines for assistant)
+- **Collapses tool calls** to a count with tool names (e.g., `[3 tool calls: terminal, web_search]`)
+- **Hides** system messages, tool results, and internal reasoning
+- **Caps** at the last 10 exchanges with a "... N earlier messages ..." indicator
+- Uses **dim styling** to distinguish from the active conversation
+
+To disable the recap and keep the minimal one-liner behavior, set in `~/.hermes/config.yaml`:
+
+```yaml
+display:
+  resume_display: minimal   # default: full
+```
+
 :::tip
 Session IDs follow the format `YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_<8-char-hex>`, e.g. `20250305_091523_a1b2c3d4`. You can resume by ID or by title — both work with `-c` and `-r`.
 :::