diff --git a/src/frontend/web/von_interface/static/styles.css b/src/frontend/web/von_interface/static/styles.css
index 099173d0..295c7375 100644
--- a/src/frontend/web/von_interface/static/styles.css
+++ b/src/frontend/web/von_interface/static/styles.css
@@ -3536,6 +3536,7 @@ button.unified-search-conversation-main {
     min-height: 40px;
     padding: 6px 12px;
     background: #fff;
+    color: #0f172a;
     border: 1px solid #cbd5e1;
     border-radius: 10px;
     cursor: pointer;
@@ -3606,6 +3607,9 @@ button.unified-search-conversation-main {
 
 .global-task-main {
     min-width: 0;
+    align-self: stretch;
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
 }
 
 .task-board-scroll-hint {
@@ -3625,7 +3629,10 @@ button.unified-search-conversation-main {
 
 .task-list[data-view-mode="board"] {
     max-width: 100%;
-    max-height: clamp(420px, 68dvh, 760px);
+    /* Fill the space beside the inspector without sizing to every loaded card. */
+    flex: 1 1 0;
+    min-height: max(420px, 68dvh);
+    height: 0;
     overflow: auto;
     overscroll-behavior: contain;
     scrollbar-gutter: stable;
@@ -3647,6 +3654,8 @@ button.unified-search-conversation-main {
 
 .task-pagination-control {
     display: flex;
+    flex-wrap: wrap;
+    flex-shrink: 0;
     align-items: center;
     justify-content: center;
     gap: 12px;
diff --git a/tests/browser/taskBoardPagination.cjs b/tests/browser/taskBoardPagination.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1a72dce9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/browser/taskBoardPagination.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+/** Tier 1 rendering fixture: real task panel/CSS, synthetic read-only API pages. */
+const { chromium, expect } = require('@playwright/test');
+const http = require('node:http');
+const fs = require('node:fs');
+const path = require('node:path');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+const root = path.resolve('src/frontend/web/von_interface/static');
+const output = path.resolve(process.argv[2] || '.run/task-board-pagination');
+const baseline = process.argv.find(arg => arg.startsWith('--baseline='))?.slice('--baseline='.length);
+const task = i => ({ task_concept_id: `#V#fixture_task_${i}`, title: `Research task ${i}`, description: 'Review the research evidence and record the outcome.', status: 'pending', priority: 'medium' });
+const requests = [];
+const stubs = {
+    '/js/apiService.js': `export const WINDOW_SESSION_HEADER='X-Von-Window-Session'; export const ensureUniqueWindowSessionId=async()=> 'fixture'; export const getUserContext=()=>({user_id:'#V#fixture',org_id:'#V#fixture_org'}); export const getJson=async url=>(await fetch(url)).json(); export const postJson=()=>{throw Error('Unexpected write')}; export const patchJson=postJson; export const deleteJson=postJson;`,
+    '/js/tabNavigation.js': 'export const activateTab=()=>{};',
+    '/js/utils/toast.js': 'export const showToast=()=>{};',
+    '/js/markdownUtils.js': 'export const renderMarkdownViaServer=async()=>"";',
+};
+const server = http.createServer((req,res) => {
+    const url = new URL(req.url,'http://localhost');
+    if(url.pathname === '/') {
+        res.setHeader('Content-Type','text/html');
+        res.end('<!doctype html><html><head><link rel="stylesheet" href="/styles.css"></head><body><main id="globalTasksTab" class="tab-content active"><div id="globalTasksContainer" class="global-tasks-content"></div></main><script type="module">import {showGlobalTasks} from "/js/components/taskPanel.js"; await showGlobalTasks();</script></body></html>');
+    } else if (stubs[url.pathname]) {
+        res.setHeader('Content-Type','text/javascript');res.end(stubs[url.pathname]);
+    } else if(url.pathname === '/api/tasks/') {
+        const offset = Number(url.searchParams.get('offset')); requests.push(Object.fromEntries(url.searchParams));
+        const data = {tasks: Array.from({length:50},(_,i)=>task(offset+i)),count:50,offset,has_more:offset===0};
+        res.setHeader('Content-Type','application/json');
+        setTimeout(()=>res.end(JSON.stringify(data)),offset ? 600 : 0);
+    } else if(url.pathname.startsWith('/api/')) {
+        res.setHeader('Content-Type','application/json');
+        res.end(JSON.stringify(url.pathname === '/api/tasks/taxonomy' ? {task_types:[],task_sources:[],defaults:{}} : {}));
+    } else {
+        const file = path.join(root,url.pathname);
+        if(!file.startsWith(root + '/') || !fs.existsSync(file)) {res.statusCode=404;res.end();return;}
+        res.setHeader('Content-Type',file.endsWith('.css')?'text/css':'text/javascript');
+        let source=fs.readFileSync(file,'utf8');
+        if(baseline && url.pathname === '/styles.css') source=require('node:child_process').execFileSync('git',['show',`${baseline}:src/frontend/web/von_interface/static/styles.css`],{encoding:'utf8'});
+        res.end(source);
+    }
+});
+(async()=>{
+    fs.mkdirSync(output,{recursive:true});
+    await new Promise(resolve=>server.listen(0,'127.0.0.1',resolve));
+    const browser=await chromium.launch();
+    const measurements=[];
+    try {
+        const page=await browser.newPage();
+        const errors=[];page.on('pageerror',e=>errors.push(e.message));
+        for(const viewport of [{width:1920,height:1080},{width:1536,height:864},{width:1280,height:900}]) {
+            await page.setViewportSize(viewport);
+            await page.goto(`http://127.0.0.1:${server.address().port}/`);
+            const more=page.getByRole('button',{name:'Load 50 more',exact:true});
+            await expect(more).toBeVisible();
+            await expect(page.locator('.task-inspector-card')).toBeVisible();
+            const measure=async state=>{
+                const result=await page.evaluate(()=>{
+                    const board=document.querySelector('#globalTaskList');
+                    const main=document.querySelector('.global-task-main').getBoundingClientRect();
+                    const inspector=document.querySelector('#globalTaskInspector').getBoundingClientRect();
+                    const btn=document.querySelector('[data-task-page-action]');
+                    const style=btn && getComputedStyle(btn);
+                    board.scrollTop=board.scrollHeight;
+                    return {boardHeight:board.clientHeight,scrollTop:board.scrollTop,scrollHeight:board.scrollHeight,mainBottom:main.bottom,inspectorBottom:inspector.bottom,sideBySide:inspector.x>main.x+main.width-1,color:style?.color,background:style?.backgroundColor,overflow:document.documentElement.scrollWidth-innerWidth};
+                });
+                measurements.push({viewport,state,...result});
+                if(!baseline) {
+                    assert(result.scrollTop>0,'loaded cards remain scrollable');
+                    assert(result.overflow<=1,'board does not overflow the document');
+                    if(result.sideBySide && state==='open') assert(Math.abs(result.mainBottom-result.inspectorBottom)<2,'board and pagination fill inspector height');
+                    if(result.color) assert.notEqual(result.color,result.background,'pagination label contrast');
+                }
+                await page.locator('#globalTaskPagination').scrollIntoViewIfNeeded();
+                await page.screenshot({path:path.join(output,`${viewport.width}-${state}.png`)});
+            };
+            await measure('open');
+            await more.click();
+            await expect(page.getByRole('button',{name:'Loading…',exact:true})).toBeDisabled();
+            await expect(page.locator('#globalTaskPagination')).toHaveText('No more tasks to load.');
+            const ids=await page.locator('#globalTaskList .task-item[data-task-id]').evaluateAll(nodes=>nodes.map(n=>n.dataset.taskId));
+            assert.equal(ids.length,100);assert.equal(new Set(ids).size,100);
+            for(let i=0;i<100;i++) assert(ids.includes(task(i).task_concept_id));
+            // The current UI always selects an inspector; hide it only to exercise
+            // the requested closed-pane layout, without inventing a product control.
+            await page.locator('#globalTaskInspector').evaluate(el=>el.hidden=true);
+            await measure('closed-fixture');
+        }
+        assert.deepEqual(errors,[]);
+        assert.equal(requests.length,6);requests.forEach(r=>assert.equal(r.limit,'50'));
+        fs.writeFileSync(path.join(output,'receipt.json'),JSON.stringify({scope:'isolated real-module browser fixture; no live authentication or deployment',baseline,requests,measurements,passed:true},null,2));
+        console.log(JSON.stringify(measurements,null,2));
+    } finally {await browser.close();await new Promise(resolve=>server.close(resolve));}
+})().catch(e=>{console.error(e);process.exitCode=1;});
diff --git a/tests/frontend/taskPanelLayout.test.js b/tests/frontend/taskPanelLayout.test.js
index 3f20c6e4..1e5dadb8 100644
--- a/tests/frontend/taskPanelLayout.test.js
+++ b/tests/frontend/taskPanelLayout.test.js
@@ -156,7 +156,8 @@ describe('global task board layout', () => {
         const mainRule = cssRule('.global-task-main');
 
         expect(boardViewportRule).toContain('overflow: auto');
-        expect(boardViewportRule).toContain('max-height: clamp(');
+        expect(boardViewportRule).toContain('flex: 1 1 0');
+        expect(boardViewportRule).toContain('min-height: max(420px, 68dvh)');
         expect(boardViewportRule).toContain('overscroll-behavior: contain');
         expect(listViewportRule).toContain('overflow: visible');
         expect(mainRule).not.toContain('overflow-x: auto');