diff --git a/surfsense_web/tests/fixtures/chat-thread.fixture.ts b/surfsense_web/tests/fixtures/chat-thread.fixture.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..81cf3b5c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_web/tests/fixtures/chat-thread.fixture.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import type { APIRequestContext } from "@playwright/test";
+import { authHeaders, BACKEND_URL } from "../helpers/api/auth";
+import type { SearchSpaceFixtures } from "./search-space.fixture";
+
+export type ChatThreadRow = {
+	id: number;
+	title: string;
+	search_space_id: number;
+	visibility: string;
+	created_by_id: string | null;
+	created_at: string;
+	updated_at: string;
+};
+
+export type ChatThreadFixtures = {
+	chatThread: ChatThreadRow;
+};
+
+type ChatThreadFixtureArgs = SearchSpaceFixtures & {
+	request: APIRequestContext;
+};
+
+export const chatThreadFixtures = {
+	chatThread: async (
+		{ request, apiToken, searchSpace }: ChatThreadFixtureArgs,
+		use: (thread: ChatThreadRow) => Promise<void>
+	) => {
+		const response = await request.post(`${BACKEND_URL}/api/v1/threads`, {
+			headers: authHeaders(apiToken),
+			data: {
+				title: "e2e-drive-journey",
+				search_space_id: searchSpace.id,
+				visibility: "PRIVATE",
+			},
+		});
+		if (!response.ok()) {
+			throw new Error(`create chat thread failed (${response.status()}): ${await response.text()}`);
+		}
+
+		await use((await response.json()) as ChatThreadRow);
+	},
+};
diff --git a/surfsense_web/tests/fixtures/index.ts b/surfsense_web/tests/fixtures/index.ts
index 84d4606c8..25df153cf 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/tests/fixtures/index.ts
+++ b/surfsense_web/tests/fixtures/index.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
  *   base (@playwright/test)
  *     └─ searchSpaceFixtures   — apiToken, searchSpace
  *         └─ composioDriveFixtures — composioDriveConnector
+ *             └─ composioDriveWithChatTest — chatThread
  *
  * To add a new connector (Gmail, Slack, manual upload, etc.):
  *   1. Add a fixture file under `fixtures/connectors/<name>.fixture.ts`.
@@ -16,9 +17,11 @@
  *      doesn't compose cleanly into the existing chain.
  */
 export { expect } from "@playwright/test";
-export { searchSpaceFixtures } from "./search-space.fixture";
+export { chatThreadFixtures } from "./chat-thread.fixture";
 export { composioDriveFixtures } from "./connectors/composio-drive.fixture";
+export { searchSpaceFixtures } from "./search-space.fixture";
 
+import { type ChatThreadFixtures, chatThreadFixtures } from "./chat-thread.fixture";
 import { composioDriveFixtures } from "./connectors/composio-drive.fixture";
 import { searchSpaceFixtures } from "./search-space.fixture";
 
@@ -26,3 +29,6 @@ import { searchSpaceFixtures } from "./search-space.fixture";
 export const test = searchSpaceFixtures;
 /** `test` for specs that also need a pre-connected Composio Drive connector. */
 export const composioDriveTest = composioDriveFixtures;
+/** `test` for specs that also need a chat thread. */
+export const composioDriveWithChatTest =
+	composioDriveFixtures.extend<ChatThreadFixtures>(chatThreadFixtures);
diff --git a/surfsense_web/tests/helpers/api/chat.ts b/surfsense_web/tests/helpers/api/chat.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f5e1f92bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_web/tests/helpers/api/chat.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+import type { APIRequestContext } from "@playwright/test";
+import { authHeaders, BACKEND_URL } from "./auth";
+
+export type ChatStreamEvent = {
+	type: string;
+	payload: unknown;
+};
+
+export type ChatStreamResult = {
+	assistantText: string;
+	events: ChatStreamEvent[];
+};
+
+function isRecord(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
+	return typeof value === "object" && value !== null && !Array.isArray(value);
+}
+
+export async function streamChatToCompletion(
+	request: APIRequestContext,
+	token: string,
+	args: { searchSpaceId: number; threadId: number; query: string }
+): Promise<ChatStreamResult> {
+	const response = await request.post(`${BACKEND_URL}/api/v1/new_chat`, {
+		headers: authHeaders(token),
+		data: {
+			chat_id: args.threadId,
+			search_space_id: args.searchSpaceId,
+			user_query: args.query,
+		},
+	});
+	if (!response.ok()) {
+		throw new Error(
+			`streamChatToCompletion failed (${response.status()}): ${await response.text()}`
+		);
+	}
+
+	const body = await response.text();
+	let assistantText = "";
+	let sawDone = false;
+	const events: ChatStreamEvent[] = [];
+
+	for (const rawFrame of body.split("\n\n")) {
+		const frame = rawFrame.trim();
+		if (!frame) continue;
+		if (!frame.startsWith("data: ")) continue;
+
+		const payloadText = frame.slice("data: ".length);
+		if (payloadText === "[DONE]") {
+			sawDone = true;
+			events.push({ type: "done", payload: "[DONE]" });
+			break;
+		}
+
+		const payload = JSON.parse(payloadText) as unknown;
+		const type = isRecord(payload) && typeof payload.type === "string" ? payload.type : "unknown";
+		if (type === "text-delta" && isRecord(payload) && typeof payload.delta === "string") {
+			assistantText += payload.delta;
+		}
+		events.push({ type, payload });
+	}
+
+	if (!sawDone) {
+		throw new Error(`Chat stream did not finish with [DONE]. Body: ${body.slice(0, 500)}`);
+	}
+
+	return { assistantText, events };
+}
diff --git a/surfsense_web/tests/smoke/chat-stream.spec.ts b/surfsense_web/tests/smoke/chat-stream.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..20fe67f43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_web/tests/smoke/chat-stream.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import { expect, test } from "../fixtures";
+import { authHeaders, BACKEND_URL } from "../helpers/api/auth";
+import { streamChatToCompletion } from "../helpers/api/chat";
+
+test.describe("Smoke", () => {
+	test("chat stream completes for an unrelated query", async ({
+		request,
+		apiToken,
+		searchSpace,
+	}) => {
+		const threadResponse = await request.post(`${BACKEND_URL}/api/v1/threads`, {
+			headers: authHeaders(apiToken),
+			data: {
+				title: "e2e-chat-stream-smoke",
+				search_space_id: searchSpace.id,
+				visibility: "PRIVATE",
+			},
+		});
+		expect(threadResponse.ok()).toBeTruthy();
+
+		const thread = (await threadResponse.json()) as { id: number };
+		const chat = await streamChatToCompletion(request, apiToken, {
+			searchSpaceId: searchSpace.id,
+			threadId: thread.id,
+			query: "E2E_NO_RELEVANT_CONTENT_SMOKE",
+		});
+
+		expect(chat.events.some((event) => event.type === "done")).toBeTruthy();
+		expect(chat.events.some((event) => event.type === "text-delta")).toBeTruthy();
+		expect(chat.assistantText).toContain("No relevant indexed content found.");
+	});
+});