diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantCanvas.tsx b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantCanvas.tsx
index 725c9fae0e..7b560a1a65 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantCanvas.tsx
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantCanvas.tsx
@@ -18,9 +18,12 @@ type AssistantCanvasProps = {
 
 export const AssistantCanvas: React.FC<AssistantCanvasProps> = ({ selectedThreadID }) => {
   const [mounted, setMounted] = React.useState(false);
+  const [isAnimating, setIsAnimating] = React.useState(false);
+  const [userInterctedScroll, setUserInteractedScroll] = React.useState(false);
+
   const messages = useAssistantMessagesStore(useShallow((state) => state.messages));
   const setMessages = useAssistantMessagesStore(useShallow((state) => state.setMessages));
-  const activeRun = useAssistantRunStore(useShallow((state) => state.activeRun));
+  const { activeRun, lastActiveRun, clearLastActiveRun } = useAssistantRunStore(useShallow((state) => state));
   const isCreatingAResponse = useIsMutating({ mutationKey: ["create-assistant-run"] });
 
   const memoedMessages = React.useMemo(() => messages, [messages]);
@@ -50,14 +53,46 @@ export const AssistantCanvas: React.FC<AssistantCanvasProps> = ({ selectedThread
     setMounted(true);
   }, []);
 
+  const scrollToChatEnd = (): void => {
+    const scrollPosition: any = scrollerRef.current;
+    const scrollHeight: any = loggerRef.current;
+    scrollPosition?.scrollTo({ top: scrollHeight.scrollHeight, behavior: "smooth" });
+  };
+
   // scroll to bottom of chat log when new messages are added
   React.useEffect(() => {
     if (!mounted || !loggerRef.current) return;
-    scrollerRef.current?.scrollTo({ top: loggerRef.current.scrollHeight, behavior: "smooth" });
+    scrollToChatEnd();
   }, [memoedMessages, mounted]);
 
+  const onAnimationEnd = (): void => {
+    setIsAnimating(false);
+    setUserInteractedScroll(false);
+    // avoid reanimating the same message
+    clearLastActiveRun();
+  };
+
+  const onAnimationStart = (): void => {
+    setUserInteractedScroll(false);
+    setIsAnimating(true);
+  };
+
+  const userScrolled = (): void => setUserInteractedScroll(true);
+
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    scrollerRef.current?.addEventListener("wheel", userScrolled);
+    scrollerRef.current?.addEventListener("touchmove", userScrolled);
+
+    const interval = setInterval(() => isAnimating && !userInterctedScroll && scrollToChatEnd(), 5);
+    return () => {
+      if (interval) clearInterval(interval);
+      scrollerRef.current?.removeEventListener("wheel", userScrolled);
+      scrollerRef.current?.removeEventListener("touchmove", userScrolled);
+    };
+  }, [isAnimating, userInterctedScroll]);
+
   return (
-    <Box ref={scrollerRef} tabIndex={0} overflowY="auto">
+    <Box ref={scrollerRef} tabIndex={0} overflowY="auto" paddingX="space60">
       <Box maxWidth="1000px" marginX="auto">
         {activeRun != null && <AssistantMessagePoller />}
         <AIChatLog ref={loggerRef}>
@@ -94,11 +129,21 @@ export const AssistantCanvas: React.FC<AssistantCanvasProps> = ({ selectedThread
               Your conversations are not used to train OpenAI&apos;s models, but are stored by OpenAI.
             </Text>
           </Box>
-          {messages?.map((threadMessage): React.ReactNode => {
+          {messages?.map((threadMessage, index): React.ReactNode => {
             if (threadMessage.role === "assistant") {
-              return <AssistantMessage key={threadMessage.id} threadMessage={threadMessage} />;
+              return (
+                <AssistantMessage
+                  key={threadMessage.id}
+                  threadMessage={threadMessage}
+                  // Only animate the last message recieved from AI and must be most recent run to avoid reanimating
+                  animated={index === messages.length - 1 && lastActiveRun?.id === threadMessage.run_id}
+                  size="fullScreen"
+                  onAnimationEnd={onAnimationEnd}
+                  onAnimationStart={onAnimationStart}
+                />
+              );
             }
-            return <UserMessage key={threadMessage.id} threadMessage={threadMessage} />;
+            return <UserMessage key={threadMessage.id} threadMessage={threadMessage} size="fullScreen" />;
           })}
           {(isCreatingAResponse || activeRun != null) && <LoadingMessage />}
         </AIChatLog>
diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantComposer.tsx b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantComposer.tsx
index 3e1ad0b75d..91478213ac 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantComposer.tsx
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantComposer.tsx
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { useIsMutating } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { Button } from "@twilio-paste/button";
 import { ChatComposer, ChatComposerActionGroup, ChatComposerContainer } from "@twilio-paste/chat-composer";
 import { SendIcon } from "@twilio-paste/icons/esm/SendIcon";
@@ -9,7 +10,9 @@ import {
   type LexicalEditor,
 } from "@twilio-paste/lexical-library";
 import * as React from "react";
+import { useShallow } from "zustand/react/shallow";
 
+import { useAssistantRunStore } from "../../stores/assistantRunStore";
 import { useAssistantThreadsStore } from "../../stores/assistantThreadsStore";
 import useStoreWithLocalStorage from "../../stores/useStore";
 import { EnterKeySubmitPlugin } from "./EnterKeySubmitPlugin";
@@ -20,9 +23,12 @@ export const AssistantComposer: React.FC<{ onMessageCreation: (message: string,
   const [message, setMessage] = React.useState("");
   const threadsStore = useStoreWithLocalStorage(useAssistantThreadsStore, (state) => state);
   const selectedThread = threadsStore?.selectedThreadID;
-
+  const { activeRun } = useAssistantRunStore(useShallow((state) => state));
+  const isCreatingAResponse = useIsMutating({ mutationKey: ["create-assistant-run"] });
   const editorInstanceRef = React.useRef<LexicalEditor>(null);
 
+  const isLoading = Boolean(isCreatingAResponse || activeRun != null);
+
   const handleComposerChange = (editorState: EditorState): void => {
     editorState.read(() => {
       const text = $getRoot().getTextContent();
@@ -49,21 +55,25 @@ export const AssistantComposer: React.FC<{ onMessageCreation: (message: string,
             throw error;
           },
         }}
+        disabled={isLoading}
         ariaLabel="Message"
         placeholder="Type here..."
         onChange={handleComposerChange}
         editorInstanceRef={editorInstanceRef}
       >
         <ClearEditorPlugin />
-        <EnterKeySubmitPlugin onKeyDown={submitMessage} />
+        <EnterKeySubmitPlugin onKeyDown={() => !isLoading && submitMessage()} />
       </ChatComposer>
       <ChatComposerActionGroup>
         <Button
           variant="primary_icon"
           size="reset"
+          disabled={isLoading}
           onClick={() => {
-            submitMessage();
-            editorInstanceRef.current?.dispatchCommand(CLEAR_EDITOR_COMMAND, undefined);
+            if (!isLoading) {
+              submitMessage();
+              editorInstanceRef.current?.dispatchCommand(CLEAR_EDITOR_COMMAND, undefined);
+            }
           }}
         >
           <SendIcon decorative={false} title="Send" />
diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantLayout.tsx b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantLayout.tsx
index d7086681b8..a4396a7230 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantLayout.tsx
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantLayout.tsx
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import React from "react";
 
 const Window: React.FC<React.PropsWithChildren> = ({ children }) => {
   return (
-    <Box display="grid" gridTemplateColumns="400px 1fr" height="100svh" width="100%">
+    <Box display="grid" gridTemplateColumns="300px 1fr" height="100svh" width="100%">
       {children}
     </Box>
   );
diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantMarkdown.tsx b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantMarkdown.tsx
index 170e5a0990..73cda172be 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantMarkdown.tsx
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantMarkdown.tsx
@@ -3,37 +3,39 @@ import { Box } from "@twilio-paste/box";
 import { CodeBlock, CodeBlockHeader, type CodeBlockProps, CodeBlockWrapper } from "@twilio-paste/code-block";
 import { Heading } from "@twilio-paste/heading";
 import { InlineCode } from "@twilio-paste/inline-code";
-import { ListItem, OrderedList, UnorderedList } from "@twilio-paste/list";
-import { Separator } from "@twilio-paste/separator";
 import { TBody, THead, Table, Td, Th, Tr } from "@twilio-paste/table";
-import Markdown from "markdown-to-jsx";
+import Markdown, { MarkdownToJSX } from "markdown-to-jsx";
 import * as React from "react";
 
-export const AssistantHeading: React.FC<React.PropsWithChildren> = ({ children }) => {
+export const AssistantHeading1: React.FC<React.PropsWithChildren> = ({ children }) => {
   return (
-    <Heading as="h2" variant="heading40">
+    <Heading as="h1" variant="heading10">
       {children}
     </Heading>
   );
 };
-export const AssistantParagraph: React.FC<React.PropsWithChildren> = ({ children }) => {
+export const AssistantHeading2: React.FC<React.PropsWithChildren> = ({ children }) => {
   return (
-    <Box
-      as="p"
-      color="inherit"
-      fontSize="fontSize30"
-      fontWeight="fontWeightNormal"
-      lineHeight="lineHeight30"
-      marginTop="space0"
-      marginBottom="space50"
-    >
+    <Heading as="h2" variant="heading20">
       {children}
-    </Box>
+    </Heading>
   );
 };
-export const AssistantSeparator: React.FC = () => {
-  return <Separator orientation="horizontal" verticalSpacing="space50" />;
+export const AssistantHeading3: React.FC<React.PropsWithChildren> = ({ children }) => {
+  return (
+    <Heading as="h3" variant="heading30">
+      {children}
+    </Heading>
+  );
+};
+export const AssistantHeading4: React.FC<React.PropsWithChildren> = ({ children }) => {
+  return (
+    <Heading as="h4" variant="heading40">
+      {children}
+    </Heading>
+  );
 };
+
 export const AssistantTable: React.FC<React.PropsWithChildren> = ({ children }) => {
   return (
     <Box marginBottom="space50">
@@ -43,84 +45,64 @@ export const AssistantTable: React.FC<React.PropsWithChildren> = ({ children })
   );
 };
 
-export const AssistantMarkdown: React.FC<{ children: string }> = ({ children }) => {
-  return (
-    <Markdown
-      options={{
-        renderRule(next, node) {
-          if (node.type === "3") {
-            return (
-              <Box marginBottom="space50">
-                <CodeBlockWrapper>
-                  <CodeBlockHeader>{node.lang ? node.lang : "javascript"}</CodeBlockHeader>
-                  <CodeBlock
-                    code={String.raw`${node.text}`}
-                    maxLines={10}
-                    language={node.lang ? (node.lang as CodeBlockProps["language"]) : "javascript"}
-                  />
-                </CodeBlockWrapper>
-              </Box>
-            );
-          }
+export const assistantMarkdownOptions = {
+  renderRule(next: () => React.ReactChild, node: MarkdownToJSX.ParserResult) {
+    if (node.type === "3") {
+      return (
+        <Box marginBottom="space50">
+          <CodeBlockWrapper>
+            <CodeBlockHeader>{node.lang ? node.lang : "javascript"}</CodeBlockHeader>
+            <CodeBlock
+              code={String.raw`${node.text}`}
+              maxLines={10}
+              language={node.lang ? (node.lang as CodeBlockProps["language"]) : "javascript"}
+            />
+          </CodeBlockWrapper>
+        </Box>
+      );
+    }
+    return next();
+  },
+  overrides: {
+    code: {
+      component: InlineCode,
+    },
+    a: {
+      component: Anchor,
+    },
+    table: {
+      component: AssistantTable,
+    },
+    thead: {
+      component: THead,
+    },
+    tbody: {
+      component: TBody,
+    },
+    tr: {
+      component: Tr,
+    },
+    td: {
+      component: Td,
+    },
+    th: {
+      component: Th,
+    },
+    h1: {
+      component: AssistantHeading1,
+    },
+    h2: {
+      component: AssistantHeading2,
+    },
+    h3: {
+      component: AssistantHeading3,
+    },
+    h4: {
+      component: AssistantHeading4,
+    },
+  },
+};
 
-          return next();
-        },
-        overrides: {
-          code: {
-            component: InlineCode,
-          },
-          a: {
-            component: Anchor,
-          },
-          h1: {
-            component: AssistantHeading,
-          },
-          h2: {
-            component: AssistantHeading,
-          },
-          h3: {
-            component: AssistantHeading,
-          },
-          h4: {
-            component: AssistantHeading,
-          },
-          p: {
-            component: AssistantParagraph,
-          },
-          ol: {
-            component: OrderedList,
-          },
-          ul: {
-            component: UnorderedList,
-          },
-          li: {
-            component: ListItem,
-          },
-          hr: {
-            component: AssistantSeparator,
-          },
-          table: {
-            component: AssistantTable,
-          },
-          thead: {
-            component: THead,
-          },
-          tbody: {
-            component: TBody,
-          },
-          tr: {
-            component: Tr,
-          },
-          td: {
-            component: Td,
-          },
-          th: {
-            component: Th,
-          },
-        },
-      }}
-    >
-      {children}
-    </Markdown>
-  );
+export const AssistantMarkdown: React.FC<{ children: string }> = ({ children }) => {
+  return <Markdown options={assistantMarkdownOptions}>{children}</Markdown>;
 };
diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantMessage.tsx b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantMessage.tsx
index 22861fac43..4a557deb70 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantMessage.tsx
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantMessage.tsx
@@ -1,20 +1,30 @@
-import { AIChatMessage, AIChatMessageAuthor, AIChatMessageBody } from "@twilio-paste/ai-chat-log";
+import {
+  AIChatMessage,
+  AIChatMessageAuthor,
+  AIChatMessageBody,
+  AIChatMessageBodyProps,
+} from "@twilio-paste/ai-chat-log";
+import { compiler } from "markdown-to-jsx";
 import { type Message } from "openai/resources/beta/threads/messages";
 import * as React from "react";
 
 import { formatTimestamp } from "../../utils/formatTimestamp";
-import { AssistantMarkdown } from "./AssistantMarkdown";
+import { assistantMarkdownOptions } from "./AssistantMarkdown";
 
-export const AssistantMessage: React.FC<{ threadMessage: Message }> = ({ threadMessage }) => {
+interface AssistantMessageProps extends AIChatMessageBodyProps {
+  threadMessage: Message;
+}
+
+export const AssistantMessage: React.FC<AssistantMessageProps> = ({ threadMessage, ...props }) => {
   return (
     <AIChatMessage variant="bot">
       <AIChatMessageAuthor aria-label={`said by paste assistant at ${formatTimestamp(threadMessage.created_at)}`}>
         PasteBot
       </AIChatMessageAuthor>
-      <AIChatMessageBody>
-        {threadMessage.content[0].type === "text" && (
-          <AssistantMarkdown key={threadMessage.id}>{threadMessage.content[0].text.value}</AssistantMarkdown>
-        )}
+      <AIChatMessageBody {...props}>
+        {threadMessage.content.length > 0 &&
+          threadMessage.content[0]?.type === "text" &&
+          compiler(threadMessage.content[0].text.value, assistantMarkdownOptions)}
       </AIChatMessageBody>
     </AIChatMessage>
   );
diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/UserMessage.tsx b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/UserMessage.tsx
index c994f610f6..831a4aea9e 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/UserMessage.tsx
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/UserMessage.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,22 @@
-import { AIChatMessage, AIChatMessageAuthor, AIChatMessageBody } from "@twilio-paste/ai-chat-log";
+import {
+  AIChatMessage,
+  AIChatMessageAuthor,
+  AIChatMessageBody,
+  AIChatMessageBodyProps,
+} from "@twilio-paste/ai-chat-log";
 import { UserIcon } from "@twilio-paste/icons/esm/UserIcon";
+import { compiler } from "markdown-to-jsx";
 import { type Message } from "openai/resources/beta/threads/messages";
 import * as React from "react";
 
 import { formatTimestamp } from "../../utils/formatTimestamp";
-import { AssistantMarkdown } from "./AssistantMarkdown";
+import { assistantMarkdownOptions } from "./AssistantMarkdown";
 
-export const UserMessage: React.FC<{ threadMessage: Message }> = ({ threadMessage }) => {
+interface UserMessageProps extends AIChatMessageBodyProps {
+  threadMessage: Message;
+}
+
+export const UserMessage: React.FC<UserMessageProps> = ({ threadMessage, ...props }) => {
   return (
     <AIChatMessage variant="user">
       <AIChatMessageAuthor
@@ -15,10 +25,10 @@ export const UserMessage: React.FC<{ threadMessage: Message }> = ({ threadMessag
       >
         You
       </AIChatMessageAuthor>
-      <AIChatMessageBody>
-        {threadMessage.content[0].type === "text" && (
-          <AssistantMarkdown key={threadMessage.id}>{threadMessage.content[0].text.value}</AssistantMarkdown>
-        )}
+      <AIChatMessageBody {...props}>
+        {threadMessage.content.length > 0 &&
+          threadMessage.content[0]?.type === "text" &&
+          compiler(threadMessage.content[0].text.value, assistantMarkdownOptions)}
       </AIChatMessageBody>
     </AIChatMessage>
   );
diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/pages/api/paste-assistant-message.ts b/packages/paste-website/src/pages/api/paste-assistant-message.ts
index 48f08fa276..7bcd701a40 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/pages/api/paste-assistant-message.ts
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/pages/api/paste-assistant-message.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ const supabaseUrl = process.env.SUPABASE_URL;
 const supabaseServiceKey = process.env.SUPABASE_KEY;
 const slackChannelID = process.env.SLACK_CHANNEL_TMP_PASTE_ASSISTANT;
 
+const isDev = process.env.NODE_ENV === "development";
+
 const openai = new OpenAI({
   apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY, // defaults to process.env["OPENAI_API_KEY"]
 });
@@ -94,7 +96,7 @@ export default async function handler(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse)
     return;
   }
 
-  if (slackChannelID === undefined || slackChannelID === "") {
+  if ((slackChannelID === undefined || slackChannelID === "") && !isDev) {
     logger.error(`${LOG_PREFIX} Slack channel ID is undefined`);
     rollbar.error(`${LOG_PREFIX} Slack channel ID is undefined`);
     res.status(500).json({
@@ -140,42 +142,44 @@ export default async function handler(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse)
     });
   }
 
-  // get the slack thread ID for the message thread being updated so that we can post the new message to the correct slack thread
-  const supabaseClient = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabaseServiceKey);
-  const { data: slackThreadID, error: slackThreadIDError } = await supabaseClient
-    .from("assistant_threads")
-    .select("slack_thread_ts")
-    .eq("openai_thread_id", threadId);
-
-  if (slackThreadIDError || slackThreadID == null) {
-    logger.error(`${LOG_PREFIX} Error getting slack thread ID for the message thread being updated`, {
-      slackThreadIDError,
-    });
-  } else {
-    try {
-      // Post that new message to the correct slack thread for this assistant thread
-      const postToSlackResponse = await fetch(`${protocol}://${host}/api/post-to-slack`, {
-        method: "POST",
-        headers: {
-          "Content-Type": "application/json",
-        },
-        body: JSON.stringify({
-          message: `New message was added to the thread: \n\n --- \n\n${message}`,
-          channelID: slackChannelID,
-          threadID: slackThreadID,
-        }),
-      });
-      const slackResponseJSON = await postToSlackResponse.json();
-      const slackResult = slackResponseJSON.result as ChatPostMessageResponse;
-
-      logger.info(`${LOG_PREFIX} Posted to slack`, {
-        slackMessageCreated: slackResult.ts,
-        message: slackResult.message?.text,
-      });
-    } catch (error) {
-      logger.error(`${LOG_PREFIX} Error sending slack message for thread being updated`, {
-        error,
+  if (!isDev) {
+    // get the slack thread ID for the message thread being updated so that we can post the new message to the correct slack thread
+    const supabaseClient = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabaseServiceKey);
+    const { data: slackThreadID, error: slackThreadIDError } = await supabaseClient
+      .from("assistant_threads")
+      .select("slack_thread_ts")
+      .eq("openai_thread_id", threadId);
+
+    if (slackThreadIDError || slackThreadID == null) {
+      logger.error(`${LOG_PREFIX} Error getting slack thread ID for the message thread being updated`, {
+        slackThreadIDError,
       });
+    } else {
+      try {
+        // Post that new message to the correct slack thread for this assistant thread
+        const postToSlackResponse = await fetch(`${protocol}://${host}/api/post-to-slack`, {
+          method: "POST",
+          headers: {
+            "Content-Type": "application/json",
+          },
+          body: JSON.stringify({
+            message: `New message was added to the thread: \n\n --- \n\n${message}`,
+            channelID: slackChannelID,
+            threadID: slackThreadID,
+          }),
+        });
+        const slackResponseJSON = await postToSlackResponse.json();
+        const slackResult = slackResponseJSON.result as ChatPostMessageResponse;
+
+        logger.info(`${LOG_PREFIX} Posted to slack`, {
+          slackMessageCreated: slackResult.ts,
+          message: slackResult.message?.text,
+        });
+      } catch (error) {
+        logger.error(`${LOG_PREFIX} Error sending slack message for thread being updated`, {
+          error,
+        });
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/pages/api/paste-assistant-thread/index.ts b/packages/paste-website/src/pages/api/paste-assistant-thread/index.ts
index 8bb9063d52..d5ff1ad382 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/pages/api/paste-assistant-thread/index.ts
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/pages/api/paste-assistant-thread/index.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ const supabaseUrl = process.env.SUPABASE_URL;
 const supabaseServiceKey = process.env.SUPABASE_KEY;
 const slackChannelID = process.env.SLACK_CHANNEL_TMP_PASTE_ASSISTANT;
 
+const isDev = process.env.NODE_ENV === "development";
+
 const openai = new OpenAI({
   apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY, // defaults to process.env["OPENAI_API_KEY"]
 });
@@ -73,39 +75,43 @@ export default async function handler(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse)
       throw new ApplicationError("Missing environment variable SUPABASE_KEY");
     }
 
-    if (!slackChannelID) {
+    if (!slackChannelID && !isDev) {
       throw new ApplicationError("Missing environment variable SLACK_CHANNEL_TMP_PASTE_ASSISTANT");
     }
 
     const newThread = await createThread();
     logger.info(`${LOG_PREFIX} Created thread`, { newThread });
 
-    // post to slack
-    const postToSlackResponse = await fetch(`${protocol}://${host}/api/post-to-slack`, {
-      method: "POST",
-      headers: {
-        "Content-Type": "application/json",
-      },
-      body: JSON.stringify({
-        message: `New Paste Assistant thread created: ${newThread.id}`,
-        channelID: slackChannelID,
-      }),
-    });
-
-    const slackResponseJSON = await postToSlackResponse.json();
-    const slackResult = slackResponseJSON.result as ChatPostMessageResponse;
-
-    logger.info(`${LOG_PREFIX} Posted to slack`, {
-      slackMessageCreated: slackResult.ts,
-      message: slackResult.message?.text,
-    });
+    let slackResult: ChatPostMessageResponse | undefined;
+
+    if (!isDev) {
+      // post to slack
+      const postToSlackResponse = await fetch(`${protocol}://${host}/api/post-to-slack`, {
+        method: "POST",
+        headers: {
+          "Content-Type": "application/json",
+        },
+        body: JSON.stringify({
+          message: `New Paste Assistant thread created: ${newThread.id}`,
+          channelID: slackChannelID,
+        }),
+      });
+
+      const slackResponseJSON = await postToSlackResponse.json();
+      slackResult = slackResponseJSON.result as ChatPostMessageResponse;
+
+      logger.info(`${LOG_PREFIX} Posted to slack`, {
+        slackMessageCreated: slackResult.ts,
+        message: slackResult.message?.text,
+      });
+    }
 
     // save to supabase
     const supabaseClient = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabaseServiceKey);
     const { data: newAssistantThreadData, error: newAssistantThreadError } = await supabaseClient
       .from("assistant_threads")
       // eslint-disable-next-line camelcase
-      .insert([{ openai_thread_id: newThread.id, slack_thread_ts: slackResult.ts }]);
+      .insert([{ openai_thread_id: newThread.id, slack_thread_ts: slackResult?.ts }]);
 
     if (newAssistantThreadError) {
       throw new ApplicationError("Failed to store new thread", newAssistantThreadError);
diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/pages/assistant.tsx b/packages/paste-website/src/pages/assistant.tsx
index 89907e48ec..2b7136a44e 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/pages/assistant.tsx
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/pages/assistant.tsx
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ const Assistant: NextPage = () => {
         />
       </Head>
       <AssistantPage />
-      <ReactQueryDevtools initialIsOpen={false} />
+      <ReactQueryDevtools initialIsOpen={false} buttonPosition="bottom-left" />
     </QueryClientProvider>
   );
 };
diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/pages/components/ai-chat-log/index.mdx b/packages/paste-website/src/pages/components/ai-chat-log/index.mdx
index 21f6ace080..f87ca3e9f2 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/pages/components/ai-chat-log/index.mdx
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/pages/components/ai-chat-log/index.mdx
@@ -299,6 +299,8 @@ The `AIChatMessageBody` component has an optional `animated` prop that can be us
 
 It also accepts `onAnimationStart` and `onAnimationEnd` props to trigger actions when the animation starts and ends allowing additional logic such as scrolling to be implemented.
 
+If you are using a Markdown parser to render the message body we recommend using [markdown-to-jsx](https://www.npmjs.com/package/markdown-to-jsx). It allows you to pass in Paste components to replace specific markdown elements. You can view our implementation for the [Paste Assistant](/assistant) for an example. [AIChatMessageBody implementation](https://github.com/twilio-labs/paste/blob/main/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantMessage.tsx#L27), [Markdown options implementation](https://github.com/twilio-labs/paste/blob/main/packages/paste-website/src/components/assistant/AssistantMarkdown.tsx#L48)
+
 <LivePreview
   scope={{
     useAIChatLogger,
diff --git a/packages/paste-website/src/stores/assistantRunStore.ts b/packages/paste-website/src/stores/assistantRunStore.ts
index da6915ed23..db0b817603 100644
--- a/packages/paste-website/src/stores/assistantRunStore.ts
+++ b/packages/paste-website/src/stores/assistantRunStore.ts
@@ -2,14 +2,22 @@ import { type Run } from "openai/resources/beta/threads/runs";
 import { create } from "zustand";
 import { devtools } from "zustand/middleware";
 
-type State = { activeRun: Run | undefined };
-type Actions = { setActiveRun: (newRun: Run | undefined) => void };
+type State = { activeRun: Run | undefined; lastActiveRun: Run | undefined };
+type Actions = { setActiveRun: (newRun: Run | undefined) => void; clearLastActiveRun: () => void };
 
 export const useAssistantRunStore = create<State & Actions>()(
   devtools((set) => ({
     activeRun: undefined,
+    lastActiveRun: undefined,
     setActiveRun: (newRun) => {
-      set(() => ({ activeRun: newRun }));
+      set((prevState) => ({
+        ...prevState,
+        activeRun: newRun,
+        lastActiveRun: !newRun ? prevState.lastActiveRun : newRun,
+      }));
+    },
+    clearLastActiveRun: () => {
+      set((prevState) => ({ ...prevState, lastActiveRun: undefined }));
     },
   })),
 );