**Category:** fix
**User Impact:** Inline chips now read more consistently, fit cleanly in
the composer, and show deleted message links with the same calm muted
treatment as unresolved links.
**Problem:** Deleted message links looked like destructive actions even
though they are informational, while mention chips had slightly uneven
vertical spacing, a high-set human icon, and could clip inside the
composer. **Solution:** Unify unavailable-state styling, tighten chip
spacing, optically align the human icon, and give composer chips enough
line height to paint without changing caret behavior.
<details>
<summary>File changes</summary>
**desktop/src/shared/styles/globals/markdown.css**
Makes chip padding vertically symmetric, moves only the human `@` icon
down by 1px, and shares muted colors between deleted and unresolved
message links while preserving their separate semantic classes.
**desktop/src/shared/styles/globals/composer.css**
Adds a composer-only line height derived from the text size and chip
padding so inline chips no longer clip while retaining inline caret
behavior.
**desktop/tests/e2e/entity-link-recipient-cards.spec.ts**
Verifies deleted and unresolved chips have matching computed colors
while deleted links retain their tooltip, semantics, and navigation
behavior.
**desktop/tests/e2e/mentions.spec.ts**
Covers composer chip height, clipping, the human icon's 1px optical
offset, and visual capture.
</details>
## Reproduction steps
1. Open a channel containing a link to a definitively deleted message
and compare it with a transient or unresolved message link; both should
use the muted unavailable treatment, while the deleted link still says
“Message deleted” and navigates to its fallback destination.
2. Insert a person mention in the composer; the chip should have
balanced vertical spacing and paint fully without clipping.
3. Compare a person mention with a channel chip; only the human `@` icon
should sit 1px lower.
## Screenshots
### Deleted message link
| Before | After |
| --- | --- |
| 
| 
|
### Composer chip polish
| Before | After |
| --- | --- |
| 
| 
|
## Validation
- `desktop/tests/e2e/entity-link-recipient-cards.spec.ts` +
`desktop/tests/e2e/mentions.spec.ts`: 82/82 passed
- Desktop unit suite: 5,397 passed
- Formatting and lint checks passed (existing informational warnings
only)
- Pre-push desktop check, typecheck, and unit tests passed at
`0255c3fd49f9244cd727d0dd20c514b3a1812152`
---------
Signed-off-by: Taylor Ho <taylorkmho@gmail.com>
a8e1c66c4a
