diff --git a/desktop/src/main/index.ts b/desktop/src/main/index.ts
index c08c5941..50dbf679 100644
--- a/desktop/src/main/index.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/main/index.ts
@@ -3,9 +3,13 @@ import path from 'path'
 import fs from 'fs'
 import http from 'http'
 import { PythonBackend } from './python-manager'
+import { buildAppMenu } from './menu'
+import { createTray, destroyTray } from './tray'
 
 let mainWindow: BrowserWindow | null = null
 let pythonBackend: PythonBackend | null = null
+// True once the user explicitly quits (menu/tray), so close-to-tray is bypassed.
+let isQuitting = false
 
 const isDev = !app.isPackaged
 const VITE_DEV_PORTS = [5173, 5174, 5175, 5176]
@@ -125,6 +129,15 @@ function createWindow() {
     return { action: 'deny' }
   })
 
+  // Close-to-tray: hide the window instead of destroying it, so the tray's
+  // "Show" can bring it back. Only a real Quit (menu/tray/Cmd+Q) destroys it.
+  mainWindow.on('close', (e) => {
+    if (!isQuitting) {
+      e.preventDefault()
+      mainWindow?.hide()
+    }
+  })
+
   mainWindow.on('closed', () => {
     mainWindow = null
   })
@@ -202,6 +215,20 @@ function emitMaximizeState() {
   mainWindow?.webContents.send('window-maximize-changed', max)
 }
 
+// Single-instance lock: focus the existing window instead of opening a second app.
+const gotTheLock = app.requestSingleInstanceLock()
+if (!gotTheLock) {
+  app.quit()
+} else {
+  app.on('second-instance', () => {
+    if (mainWindow) {
+      if (mainWindow.isMinimized()) mainWindow.restore()
+      mainWindow.show()
+      mainWindow.focus()
+    }
+  })
+}
+
 app.whenReady().then(async () => {
   // Set Dock icon on macOS (PNG is most reliable for nativeImage)
   if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
@@ -221,11 +248,22 @@ app.whenReady().then(async () => {
 
   setupIPC()
   createWindow()
+  buildAppMenu(() => mainWindow)
+  createTray({
+    getWindow: () => mainWindow,
+    iconPath: getIconPath('png'),
+    onQuit: () => {
+      isQuitting = true
+      app.quit()
+    },
+  })
   await startBackend()
 
   app.on('activate', () => {
     if (BrowserWindow.getAllWindows().length === 0) {
       createWindow()
+    } else {
+      mainWindow?.show()
     }
   })
 })
@@ -237,6 +275,8 @@ app.on('window-all-closed', () => {
 })
 
 app.on('before-quit', () => {
+  isQuitting = true
   saveWindowState()
+  destroyTray()
   pythonBackend?.stop()
 })
diff --git a/desktop/src/main/menu.ts b/desktop/src/main/menu.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cf7759af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/src/main/menu.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+import { app, Menu, BrowserWindow, shell } from 'electron'
+import type { MenuItemConstructorOptions } from 'electron'
+
+const isMac = process.platform === 'darwin'
+const SKILL_HUB_URL = 'https://skills.cowagent.ai/'
+
+// Send a menu-triggered action to the renderer (e.g. new chat, open settings).
+function emit(win: BrowserWindow | null, action: string) {
+  win?.webContents.send('menu-action', action)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Build a minimal, purpose-built application menu. We intentionally drop most of
+ * Electron's verbose defaults and keep only items that are actually useful for
+ * this app, plus the shortcuts users expect (New Chat, Settings, Reload, etc).
+ */
+export function buildAppMenu(getWindow: () => BrowserWindow | null) {
+  const win = () => getWindow()
+
+  const appMenu: MenuItemConstructorOptions[] = isMac
+    ? [
+        {
+          label: app.name,
+          submenu: [
+            { role: 'about' },
+            { type: 'separator' },
+            { label: 'Settings…', accelerator: 'Cmd+,', click: () => emit(win(), 'open-settings') },
+            { type: 'separator' },
+            { role: 'hide' },
+            { role: 'hideOthers' },
+            { role: 'unhide' },
+            { type: 'separator' },
+            { role: 'quit' },
+          ],
+        },
+      ]
+    : []
+
+  const fileMenu: MenuItemConstructorOptions = {
+    label: 'File',
+    submenu: [
+      { label: 'New Chat', accelerator: 'CmdOrCtrl+N', click: () => emit(win(), 'new-chat') },
+      ...(!isMac
+        ? ([
+            { label: 'Settings', accelerator: 'Ctrl+,', click: () => emit(win(), 'open-settings') },
+            { type: 'separator' },
+            { role: 'quit' },
+          ] as MenuItemConstructorOptions[])
+        : []),
+    ],
+  }
+
+  const editMenu: MenuItemConstructorOptions = {
+    label: 'Edit',
+    submenu: [
+      { role: 'undo' },
+      { role: 'redo' },
+      { type: 'separator' },
+      { role: 'cut' },
+      { role: 'copy' },
+      { role: 'paste' },
+      { role: 'selectAll' },
+    ],
+  }
+
+  const viewMenu: MenuItemConstructorOptions = {
+    label: 'View',
+    submenu: [
+      { role: 'reload' },
+      { role: 'toggleDevTools' },
+      { type: 'separator' },
+      { role: 'resetZoom' },
+      { role: 'zoomIn' },
+      { role: 'zoomOut' },
+      { type: 'separator' },
+      { role: 'togglefullscreen' },
+    ],
+  }
+
+  const windowMenu: MenuItemConstructorOptions = {
+    label: 'Window',
+    submenu: [
+      { role: 'minimize' },
+      ...(isMac ? ([{ role: 'zoom' }] as MenuItemConstructorOptions[]) : []),
+      { type: 'separator' },
+      // Explicit Close so Cmd/Ctrl+W reliably triggers our close-to-tray hide.
+      { label: 'Close Window', accelerator: 'CmdOrCtrl+W', click: () => win()?.close() },
+    ],
+  }
+
+  const helpMenu: MenuItemConstructorOptions = {
+    label: 'Help',
+    submenu: [{ label: 'Skill Hub', click: () => shell.openExternal(SKILL_HUB_URL) }],
+  }
+
+  const template: MenuItemConstructorOptions[] = [
+    ...appMenu,
+    fileMenu,
+    editMenu,
+    viewMenu,
+    windowMenu,
+    helpMenu,
+  ]
+
+  Menu.setApplicationMenu(Menu.buildFromTemplate(template))
+}
diff --git a/desktop/src/main/preload.ts b/desktop/src/main/preload.ts
index 642e2014..e34e7326 100644
--- a/desktop/src/main/preload.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/main/preload.ts
@@ -24,5 +24,10 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('electronAPI', {
     ipcRenderer.on('window-maximize-changed', (_event, max) => callback(max))
   },
 
+  // App menu / shortcut actions forwarded from the main process.
+  onMenuAction: (callback: (action: string) => void) => {
+    ipcRenderer.on('menu-action', (_event, action: string) => callback(action))
+  },
+
   platform: process.platform,
 })
diff --git a/desktop/src/main/tray.ts b/desktop/src/main/tray.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3039754d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/src/main/tray.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+import { app, Tray, Menu, BrowserWindow, nativeImage } from 'electron'
+
+let tray: Tray | null = null
+
+interface TrayDeps {
+  getWindow: () => BrowserWindow | null
+  iconPath?: string
+  // Called when the user picks "Quit" so the app can fully exit.
+  onQuit: () => void
+}
+
+// Build a system tray icon with a minimal menu. The tray lets users restore the
+// window after closing it to the background and start a new chat quickly.
+export function createTray({ getWindow, iconPath, onQuit }: TrayDeps): Tray | null {
+  if (tray) return tray
+  if (!iconPath) return null
+
+  let image = nativeImage.createFromPath(iconPath)
+  if (image.isEmpty()) return null
+  // Tray icons render small; resize to avoid an oversized image on some platforms.
+  image = image.resize({ width: 18, height: 18 })
+  // macOS renders template images correctly in both light/dark menubars.
+  if (process.platform === 'darwin') image.setTemplateImage(false)
+
+  tray = new Tray(image)
+  tray.setToolTip(app.name)
+
+  const showWindow = () => {
+    const win = getWindow()
+    if (!win) return
+    if (win.isMinimized()) win.restore()
+    win.show()
+    win.focus()
+  }
+
+  const contextMenu = Menu.buildFromTemplate([
+    { label: 'Show CowAgent', click: showWindow },
+    {
+      label: 'New Chat',
+      click: () => {
+        showWindow()
+        getWindow()?.webContents.send('menu-action', 'new-chat')
+      },
+    },
+    { type: 'separator' },
+    { label: 'Quit', click: onQuit },
+  ])
+  tray.setContextMenu(contextMenu)
+
+  // Single click restores the window (common Windows/Linux behavior).
+  tray.on('click', showWindow)
+
+  return tray
+}
+
+export function destroyTray() {
+  tray?.destroy()
+  tray = null
+}
diff --git a/desktop/src/renderer/src/App.tsx b/desktop/src/renderer/src/App.tsx
index 5e746074..0e45febb 100644
--- a/desktop/src/renderer/src/App.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/renderer/src/App.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import React, { useState, useCallback, useEffect } from 'react'
-import { Routes, Route, useLocation } from 'react-router-dom'
+import { Routes, Route, useLocation, useNavigate } from 'react-router-dom'
 import { PanelLeftOpen } from 'lucide-react'
 import NavRail from './layout/NavRail'
 import SessionList from './layout/SessionList'
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import StatusScreen from './components/StatusScreen'
 import { useBackend } from './hooks/useBackend'
 import { usePlatform } from './hooks/usePlatform'
 import { useUIStore } from './store/uiStore'
+import { useSessionStore } from './store/sessionStore'
 import apiClient from './api/client'
 import { t } from './i18n'
 import ChatPage from './pages/ChatPage'
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ import LogsPage from './pages/LogsPage'
 const App: React.FC = () => {
   const backend = useBackend()
   const location = useLocation()
+  const navigate = useNavigate()
   const { isWin } = usePlatform()
   const { sessionsCollapsed, toggleSessions } = useUIStore()
   const [, forceUpdate] = useState(0)
@@ -30,6 +32,18 @@ const App: React.FC = () => {
     if (backend.status === 'ready') apiClient.setBaseUrl(backend.baseUrl)
   }, [backend.status, backend.baseUrl])
 
+  // Handle app-menu / shortcut actions forwarded from the main process.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    window.electronAPI?.onMenuAction?.((action) => {
+      if (action === 'new-chat') {
+        useSessionStore.getState().newSession()
+        navigate('/')
+      } else if (action === 'open-settings') {
+        navigate('/settings')
+      }
+    })
+  }, [navigate])
+
   const handleLangChange = useCallback(() => forceUpdate((n) => n + 1), [])
 
   if (backend.status !== 'ready') {
diff --git a/desktop/src/renderer/src/types.ts b/desktop/src/renderer/src/types.ts
index 276b1d1d..44dbffec 100644
--- a/desktop/src/renderer/src/types.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/renderer/src/types.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ export interface ElectronAPI {
   windowClose: () => Promise<void>
   windowIsMaximized: () => Promise<boolean>
   onMaximizeChange: (callback: (maximized: boolean) => void) => void
+  onMenuAction?: (callback: (action: string) => void) => void
   platform: string
 }