diff --git a/ui/src/views/Forecast.jsx b/ui/src/views/Forecast.jsx
index 861bd3c..71a02d6 100644
--- a/ui/src/views/Forecast.jsx
+++ b/ui/src/views/Forecast.jsx
@@ -1259,11 +1259,14 @@ export default function Forecast({ sources = [], sourceId, versions = [], versio
   //
   // The same floor goes under every row-header column, which is what makes it
   // safe for the indentation: a level's indent is the previous column's width,
-  // so a uniform floor steps evenly, where a per-column fit does not. Three
-  // characters was too mean to read a label through; this is the one number to
-  // turn if the labels are still squished, and the cost of turning it is that
-  // every level indents by that much more.
-  const MIN_ROW_LABEL_CHARS = 12
+  // so a uniform floor steps evenly, where a per-column fit does not.
+  //
+  // It is deliberately small, and must stay small: this number IS the
+  // indentation. Raising it to give a clipped label more room to render widens
+  // every level's inset by the same amount, which is the opposite of what a
+  // compact tree wants. Making labels readable is a separate job -- the text
+  // has to overflow its column, not the column grow to hold the text.
+  const MIN_ROW_LABEL_CHARS = 3
 
   async function ensureRowLabelWidth() {
     const grid = (await viewerRef.current?.getPlugin())?.regular_table