diff --git a/bin/log_append.py b/bin/log_append.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..71e4167
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/log_append.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+"""Append-only experiment log utilities."""
+import json
+import os
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+
+LOG_PATH = os.path.expanduser('~/.claude/autoresearch/log.jsonl')
+
+
+def append_entry(entry: dict, path: str = LOG_PATH) -> None:
+    entry = dict(entry)  # don't mutate caller's dict
+    entry.setdefault('ts', datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat())
+    os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(path)), exist_ok=True)
+    with open(path, 'a') as f:
+        f.write(json.dumps(entry) + '\n')
+
+
+def read_entries(path: str = LOG_PATH) -> list:
+    if not os.path.exists(path):
+        return []
+    entries = []
+    with open(path) as f:
+        for line in f:
+            line = line.strip()
+            if not line:
+                continue
+            try:
+                entries.append(json.loads(line))
+            except json.JSONDecodeError:
+                pass
+    return entries
diff --git a/bin/log_view.py b/bin/log_view.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9657182
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/log_view.py
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+"""Live log viewer for overview pane. Run: python3 bin/log_view.py [--follow]"""
+import sys
+import time
+import os
+
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(__file__))
+from log_append import read_entries
+
+from rich.console import Console
+from rich.table import Table
+from rich import box
+
+LOG_PATH = os.path.expanduser('~/.claude/autoresearch/log.jsonl')
+console = Console()
+
+
+def render_table(entries):
+    table = Table(box=box.SIMPLE, show_header=True, header_style="bold #DA251C")
+    table.add_column("Time", style="dim", width=8)
+    table.add_column("Project", width=14)
+    table.add_column("Exp", width=6)
+    table.add_column("Description", width=42)
+    table.add_column("Δ", width=8, justify="right")
+    table.add_column("", width=2)
+    for e in entries[-40:]:
+        ts = (e.get('ts') or '')[11:16]  # HH:MM from ISO8601
+        before = e.get('metric_before')
+        after = e.get('metric_after')
+        if before is not None and after is not None:
+            delta = f"{after - before:+.3f}"
+            delta_style = "green" if after < before else "red"
+        else:
+            delta, delta_style = "n/a", "dim"
+        kept = "✓" if e.get('kept') else "✗"
+        kept_style = "green" if e.get('kept') else "red"
+        table.add_row(
+            ts,
+            (e.get('project') or '?')[:14],
+            str(e.get('exp') or '?'),
+            (e.get('description') or '')[:42],
+            f"[{delta_style}]{delta}[/{delta_style}]",
+            f"[{kept_style}]{kept}[/{kept_style}]",
+        )
+    return table
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    follow = '--follow' in sys.argv
+    while True:
+        entries = read_entries()
+        console.clear()
+        console.print(
+            f"[bold #DA251C]autoresearch[/bold #DA251C] — {len(entries)} experiments",
+            justify="center"
+        )
+        console.print(render_table(entries))
+        if not follow:
+            break
+        time.sleep(5)
diff --git a/tests/test_log.py b/tests/test_log.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94b4449
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_log.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import sys, os, json, tempfile, pytest
+sys.path.insert(0, 'bin')
+from log_append import append_entry, read_entries, LOG_PATH
+
+def test_append_creates_file(tmp_path):
+    log = str(tmp_path / "log.jsonl")
+    append_entry({"project": "test"}, path=log)
+    assert os.path.exists(log)
+
+def test_append_writes_valid_json(tmp_path):
+    log = str(tmp_path / "log.jsonl")
+    append_entry({"project": "x", "kept": True}, path=log)
+    with open(log) as f:
+        data = json.loads(f.read().strip())
+    assert data["project"] == "x"
+    assert data["kept"] is True
+
+def test_append_adds_timestamp(tmp_path):
+    log = str(tmp_path / "log.jsonl")
+    append_entry({"project": "x"}, path=log)
+    with open(log) as f:
+        data = json.loads(f.read().strip())
+    assert "ts" in data
+
+def test_append_multiple_entries(tmp_path):
+    log = str(tmp_path / "log.jsonl")
+    for i in range(3):
+        append_entry({"n": i}, path=log)
+    entries = read_entries(path=log)
+    assert len(entries) == 3
+    assert entries[1]["n"] == 1
+
+def test_read_entries_empty_if_no_file(tmp_path):
+    log = str(tmp_path / "nonexistent.jsonl")
+    assert read_entries(path=log) == []
+
+def test_read_entries_skips_malformed_lines(tmp_path):
+    log = str(tmp_path / "log.jsonl")
+    with open(log, 'w') as f:
+        f.write('{"project": "ok"}\n')
+        f.write('not-valid-json\n')
+        f.write('{"project": "also-ok"}\n')
+    entries = read_entries(path=log)
+    assert len(entries) == 2