diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/ai_chat.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/ai_chat.php
index 9ee3886..7b58647 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/ai_chat.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/ai_chat.php
@@ -899,6 +899,9 @@ vv_ai_profiles_script();
     }
 
     const SEE_THINK_KEY = 'vvAiSeeThink:' + P;
+    // Per instance, like the reasoning key beside it: the Monitor card and a tab's assistant are
+    // opened for different reasons and should not share one answer to "pick up where I left off".
+    const RESUME_KEY    = 'vvAiResume:' + P;
     const seeThink = () => { const c = $('see-think'); return !!c && c.checked; };
 
     // Paths ride in data attributes rather than an onclick. They come out of the index, and a
@@ -2056,7 +2059,20 @@ vv_ai_profiles_script();
     //
     // Silent on failure. Nothing here is worth an error message: the fallback is the empty box
     // the operator would otherwise have got, and an empty box is a working chat.
-    if (store && o.resume !== false) {
+    // The checkbox decides, and it defaults ON — an unset key means a first visit, not a refusal.
+    // Read here rather than from the element, because construction runs before the header is
+    // wired and an unchecked box must prevent the fetch, not undo it afterwards.
+    let _resumeWanted = true;
+    try { _resumeWanted = localStorage.getItem(RESUME_KEY) !== '0'; } catch (_) {}
+    const resumeEl = $('resume');
+    if (resumeEl) {
+      resumeEl.checked = _resumeWanted;
+      resumeEl.addEventListener('change', () => {
+        try { localStorage.setItem(RESUME_KEY, resumeEl.checked ? '1' : '0'); } catch (_) {}
+      });
+    }
+
+    if (store && o.resume !== false && _resumeWanted) {
       fetch(API + '?action=chats').then(r => r.json()).then(d => {
         if (!d.ok || !(d.chats || []).length) return;
         // Do not clobber a conversation the operator has already started. The list arrives after
@@ -2307,6 +2323,12 @@ function vv_ai_chat_markup(string $prefix, array $o = []): void {
       <label class="vv-ai-cb" title="Show the model's reasoning as it is written, not after">
         <input type="checkbox" id="<?= $p ?>-see-think"> <span>Reasoning</span>
       </label>
+      <!-- Governs the NEXT open, not this one: by the time it can be clicked the thread it would
+           have resumed is already on screen. The title says so, because a checkbox that appears
+           to do nothing when ticked is worse than no checkbox. -->
+      <label class="vv-ai-cb" title="Reopen this card on your last conversation. Applies next time the page loads.">
+        <input type="checkbox" id="<?= $p ?>-resume" checked> <span>Load Last</span>
+      </label>
       <label class="vv-ai-cb" title="Follow the newest line. Unticks when you scroll up, re-ticks at the bottom.">
         <input type="checkbox" id="<?= $p ?>-follow" checked> <span>Auto Scroll</span>
       </label>