diff --git a/server/src/html/forum.rs b/server/src/html/forum.rs
index f6e45b05bb92126966e304619f80ef1d45be7a4b..075860914a6ce18bb0dfa73dc5651ef1a6318b67 100644
--- a/server/src/html/forum.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/forum.rs
@@ -718,7 +718,7 @@ pub async fn home(
             }
             div id="public-new-thread-ui-slot" {}
             (render_thread_feed(Some(&nav), "thread-feed", &public_rows, now))
-            (cli_panel("npx slugsocial public forum list"))
+            (cli_panel(&["npx slugsocial public forum list"]))
         },
         None,
         theme_from_jar(&jar),
@@ -868,7 +868,7 @@ async fn thread_view_inner(
             div id="thread-live-region" {
                 (compose_form(&nav, &tag, show_compose))
             }
-            (cli_panel(&cli))
+            (cli_panel(std::slice::from_ref(&cli)))
         },
         None,
         theme_from_jar(&jar),
@@ -984,9 +984,7 @@ pub async fn room_page(
                     (new_thread_form_for_room(&nav, true, false))
                 }
             }
-            (cli_panel(&forum_cli))
-            (cli_panel(&garden_cli))
-            (cli_panel(&audit_cli))
+            (cli_panel(&[forum_cli, garden_cli, audit_cli]))
         },
         None,
         theme_from_jar(&jar),
@@ -1409,7 +1407,7 @@ pub async fn user_profile_page(
                     }
                 }
             }
-            (cli_panel(&format!("npx slugsocial public forum list")))
+            (cli_panel(&[format!("npx slugsocial public forum list")]))
         },
         None,
         theme_from_jar(&jar),
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden.rs b/server/src/html/garden.rs
index 9b4789a79c3e293cbfc5f033a0eac8650320d94d..c8ce7de450f7d14e04020511e7eb7323bd487deb 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden.rs
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ pub async fn garden_index(
                     }
                 }
             }
-            (cli_panel("npx slugsocial garden tree"))
+            (cli_panel(&["npx slugsocial garden tree"]))
         },
         None,
         theme_from_jar(&jar),
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ async fn render_scope_view(
                 ScopeId::Public => format!("npx slugsocial public garden body {}", path.as_str().trim_start_matches("https://slug.social/~/")),
                 ScopeId::Room(room_id) => format!("npx slugsocial private {room_id} garden body {}", path.as_str().trim_start_matches("https://slug.social/~/")),
             };
-            (cli_panel(&cli))
+            (cli_panel(std::slice::from_ref(&cli)))
         },
         None,
         theme_from_jar(&jar),
diff --git a/server/src/html/mod.rs b/server/src/html/mod.rs
index e7f5bfb7a4b2dee2adf96447224c58d641092124..6617781a2e8e86c2e2693788ea7cd0eb0e3659a2 100644
--- a/server/src/html/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/mod.rs
@@ -599,18 +599,38 @@ pub(super) fn render_linkified_with_embeds_in_scope(raw: &str, garden_prefix: &s
     }
 }
 
-/// Small CLI hint panel showing how to look up this page from the terminal.
-pub(super) fn cli_panel(cmd: &str) -> Markup {
+/// CLI strings are embedded in a single-quoted JS literal; they must never need escaping.
+fn assert_cli_panel_cmd_js_single_quote_safe(s: &str) {
+    assert!(
+        !s.contains('\\')
+            && !s.contains('\'')
+            && !s.contains('\n')
+            && !s.contains('\r'),
+        "cli_panel cmd must not contain `\\`, `'`, or newlines (got {s:?})"
+    );
+}
+
+/// Small CLI hint panel: one border and title; each line is hover-highlighted and copies on click.
+pub(super) fn cli_panel<I: AsRef<str>>(cmds: &[I]) -> Markup {
+    if cmds.is_empty() {
+        return html! {};
+    }
+    for cmd in cmds {
+        assert_cli_panel_cmd_js_single_quote_safe(cmd.as_ref());
+    }
     html! {
         div class="cli-panel" {
             span class="cli-panel-label muted" { "cli" }
-            code class="cli-panel-cmd" { (cmd) }
-            button
-                class="cli-panel-copy"
-                title="Copy to clipboard"
-                onclick=(format!(r#"navigator.clipboard.writeText('{}'); this.textContent='✓'; setTimeout(() => this.textContent='copy', 2000);"#, cmd.replace("'", "\\'")))
-            {
-                "copy"
+            div class="cli-panel-cmds" {
+                @for cmd in cmds {
+                    @let s = cmd.as_ref();
+                    button type="button" class="cli-panel-row" title="Copy command" onclick=(format!(
+                        r#"navigator.clipboard.writeText('{}');"#,
+                        s
+                    )) {
+                        code class="cli-panel-cmd" { (s) }
+                    }
+                }
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/server/src/html/search.rs b/server/src/html/search.rs
index 28ceaa53c3fcac6777311535e95fb771b19438f5..43e6ebf36cf0fe72c96f0f9d850bea51ac094c43 100644
--- a/server/src/html/search.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/search.rs
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ pub async fn search_page(
                     value=(query) autocomplete="off" autofocus;
             }
             (render_search_results(&results, &query))
-            (cli_panel("npx slugsocial search <query>"))
+            (cli_panel(&["npx slugsocial search <query>"]))
         },
         None,
         theme_from_jar(&jar),
diff --git a/server/static/theme_default.css b/server/static/theme_default.css
index e024a5c8b74139ae8be37b2a1bd17e4c3abe9324..764b66c8208e91e6138b83c534387cf43c85b8b5 100644
--- a/server/static/theme_default.css
+++ b/server/static/theme_default.css
@@ -610,7 +610,7 @@ code {
    CLI PANEL — how to view this page from the terminal
    ---------------------------------------------------------------- */
 div.cli-panel {
-  align-items: baseline;
+  align-items: flex-start;
   background: var(--g1);
   border: var(--bv) solid;
   border-color: var(--lo) var(--hi) var(--hi) var(--lo); /* inset */
@@ -621,11 +621,34 @@ div.cli-panel {
   width: fit-content;
   max-width: 100%;
 }
+.cli-panel-cmds {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  gap: 4px;
+  flex: 1;
+  min-width: 0;
+}
+button.cli-panel-row {
+  background: transparent;
+  border: none;
+  color: inherit;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  display: block;
+  font: inherit;
+  margin: 0;
+  padding: 2px 4px;
+  text-align: left;
+  width: 100%;
+}
+button.cli-panel-row:hover {
+  background: var(--g3);
+}
 .cli-panel-label {
   font-size: 11px;
   letter-spacing: 0.08em;
   text-transform: uppercase;
   flex-shrink: 0;
+  padding-top: 2px;
 }
 .cli-panel-cmd {
   background: none;
diff --git a/server/static/theme_retro_craft.css b/server/static/theme_retro_craft.css
index 00714575bfa533d1d9c66653b9089642e2b0a6ca..f89ecbc3a18eb9b2b27d1f7764330f6bd6987552 100644
--- a/server/static/theme_retro_craft.css
+++ b/server/static/theme_retro_craft.css
@@ -306,19 +306,41 @@ a.post-nav-btn:hover {
 }
 
 div.cli-panel {
-  align-items: baseline;
+  align-items: flex-start;
   border: 1px dashed var(--line);
   display: flex;
-  flex-wrap: wrap;
   gap: 0.5rem;
   margin: 0.65rem 0;
   padding: 0.45rem 0.65rem;
 }
+.cli-panel-cmds {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  gap: 0.25rem;
+  flex: 1;
+  min-width: 0;
+}
+button.cli-panel-row {
+  background: transparent;
+  border: none;
+  color: inherit;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  display: block;
+  font: inherit;
+  margin: 0;
+  padding: 0.1rem 0.2rem;
+  text-align: left;
+  width: 100%;
+}
+button.cli-panel-row:hover {
+  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 14%, transparent);
+}
 .cli-panel-label {
   color: var(--ink-dim);
   font-size: 0.72rem;
   letter-spacing: 0.12em;
   text-transform: uppercase;
+  padding-top: 0.12rem;
 }
 .cli-panel-cmd {
   color: var(--accent);