diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.styles.ts b/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.styles.ts
index 7273fa158..83611260e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.styles.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.styles.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,21 @@ export const useMessageListStyles = makeStyles({
     whiteSpace: 'pre-wrap',
     wordBreak: 'break-word',
   },
+  messageJsonBlock: {
+    margin: 0,
+    padding: tokens.spacingHorizontalS,
+    backgroundColor: tokens.colorNeutralBackground1,
+    border: `1px solid ${tokens.colorNeutralStroke2}`,
+    borderRadius: tokens.borderRadiusMedium,
+    fontFamily: tokens.fontFamilyMonospace,
+    fontSize: tokens.fontSizeBase200,
+    lineHeight: tokens.lineHeightBase200,
+    whiteSpace: 'pre-wrap',
+    wordBreak: 'break-word',
+    overflowX: 'auto',
+    maxHeight: '400px',
+    overflowY: 'auto',
+  },
   messageFooter: {
     display: 'flex',
     justifyContent: 'space-between',
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.test.tsx b/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.test.tsx
index fd68e15ab..612cda296 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.test.tsx
@@ -87,6 +87,152 @@ describe("MessageList", () => {
     expect(screen.getByText("Assistant message test")).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
+  describe("structured JSON assistant responses", () => {
+    // Targets like PromptShieldTarget return structured JSON instead of
+    // natural-language text. Render these as pretty-printed JSON in a <pre>
+    // so the user can actually read them.
+
+    it("renders JSON object responses as pretty-printed <pre>", () => {
+      const messages: Message[] = [
+        {
+          role: "assistant",
+          content: '{"userPromptAnalysis":{"attackDetected":false},"documentsAnalysis":[]}',
+          timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+        },
+      ];
+      render(
+        <TestWrapper>
+          <MessageList messages={messages} />
+        </TestWrapper>
+      );
+      const block = screen.getByTestId("message-json-0");
+      expect(block.tagName).toBe("PRE");
+      // Pretty-printed (2-space indent) and round-trips to the original payload.
+      const text = block.textContent ?? "";
+      expect(text).toContain('"userPromptAnalysis": {\n');
+      expect(text).toContain('"attackDetected": false');
+      expect(JSON.parse(text)).toEqual({
+        userPromptAnalysis: { attackDetected: false },
+        documentsAnalysis: [],
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("renders JSON array responses as pretty-printed <pre>", () => {
+      const messages: Message[] = [
+        {
+          role: "assistant",
+          content: '[{"label":"safe","score":0.97},{"label":"unsafe","score":0.03}]',
+          timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+        },
+      ];
+      render(
+        <TestWrapper>
+          <MessageList messages={messages} />
+        </TestWrapper>
+      );
+      const block = screen.getByTestId("message-json-0");
+      expect(block.tagName).toBe("PRE");
+      expect(JSON.parse(block.textContent ?? "")).toEqual([
+        { label: "safe", score: 0.97 },
+        { label: "unsafe", score: 0.03 },
+      ]);
+    });
+
+    it("does not reformat plain text assistant content", () => {
+      const messages: Message[] = [
+        {
+          role: "assistant",
+          content: "Hello there!",
+          timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+        },
+      ];
+      render(
+        <TestWrapper>
+          <MessageList messages={messages} />
+        </TestWrapper>
+      );
+      expect(screen.queryByTestId("message-json-0")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(screen.getByText("Hello there!")).toBeInTheDocument();
+    });
+
+    it("does not reformat malformed JSON-shaped content", () => {
+      const messages: Message[] = [
+        {
+          role: "assistant",
+          content: "{not really json",
+          timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+        },
+      ];
+      render(
+        <TestWrapper>
+          <MessageList messages={messages} />
+        </TestWrapper>
+      );
+      expect(screen.queryByTestId("message-json-0")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(screen.getByText("{not really json")).toBeInTheDocument();
+    });
+
+    it("does not reformat user messages even if they are JSON-shaped", () => {
+      // A user pasting JSON into the input shouldn't have it silently
+      // reformatted in their own bubble.
+      const messages: Message[] = [
+        {
+          role: "user",
+          content: '{"prompt":"hello"}',
+          timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+        },
+      ];
+      render(
+        <TestWrapper>
+          <MessageList messages={messages} />
+        </TestWrapper>
+      );
+      expect(screen.queryByTestId("message-json-0")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(screen.getByText('{"prompt":"hello"}')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    });
+
+    it("does not reformat scalar JSON values", () => {
+      // "true", "42", '"hello"' are all valid JSON but rendering them as
+      // pretty-printed JSON gains nothing — keep them as plain text.
+      for (const scalar of ["true", "42", '"hello"', "null"]) {
+        const { unmount } = render(
+          <TestWrapper>
+            <MessageList
+              messages={[
+                {
+                  role: "assistant",
+                  content: scalar,
+                  timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+                },
+              ]}
+            />
+          </TestWrapper>
+        );
+        expect(screen.queryByTestId("message-json-0")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+        unmount();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("does not reformat content while a message is still loading", () => {
+      // Streaming responses pass through with isLoading=true; the
+      // intermediate text may temporarily look JSON-ish.
+      const messages: Message[] = [
+        {
+          role: "assistant",
+          content: '{"partial":',
+          isLoading: true,
+          timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+        },
+      ];
+      render(
+        <TestWrapper>
+          <MessageList messages={messages} />
+        </TestWrapper>
+      );
+      expect(screen.queryByTestId("message-json-0")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    });
+  });
+
   it("should handle messages with image attachments", () => {
     const messagesWithAttachments: Message[] = [
       {
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.tsx b/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.tsx
index 6e2a54086..5f60b3373 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Chat/MessageList.tsx
@@ -80,6 +80,30 @@ function MediaWithFallback({ type, src, className }: { type: 'video' | 'audio';
   return <audio src={src} controls onError={handleError} data-testid="audio-player" />
 }
 
+/**
+ * If the trimmed text is a JSON object or array, return a 2-space pretty-printed
+ * version of it; otherwise return null. Used to render structured assistant
+ * responses (e.g. PromptShield verdicts) as readable JSON instead of a single
+ * line of compact text.
+ */
+function tryFormatJson(text: string): string | null {
+  const trimmed = text.trim()
+  if (!trimmed) return null
+  const first = trimmed[0]
+  const last = trimmed[trimmed.length - 1]
+  // Cheap pre-check: only attempt parsing for object- or array-shaped content
+  // so things like "1" or "true" (which are valid JSON) are still rendered as
+  // plain text.
+  if (!((first === '{' && last === '}') || (first === '[' && last === ']'))) {
+    return null
+  }
+  try {
+    return JSON.stringify(JSON.parse(trimmed), null, 2)
+  } catch {
+    return null
+  }
+}
+
 export default function MessageList({ messages, onCopyToInput, onCopyToNewConversation, onBranchConversation, onBranchAttack, isLoading, isSingleTurn, isOperatorLocked, isCrossTarget, noTargetSelected }: MessageListProps) {
   const styles = useMessageListStyles()
   const messagesEndRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)
@@ -204,11 +228,32 @@ export default function MessageList({ messages, onCopyToInput, onCopyToNewConver
               )}
 
               {/* Text content (converted / primary) */}
-              {message.content && (
-                <Text className={message.isLoading ? styles.loadingEllipsis : styles.messageText}>
-                  {message.content}
-                </Text>
-              )}
+              {message.content && (() => {
+                if (message.isLoading) {
+                  return (
+                    <Text className={styles.loadingEllipsis}>
+                      {message.content}
+                    </Text>
+                  )
+                }
+                // For assistant / simulated_assistant messages, detect
+                // structured JSON responses (e.g. PromptShield verdicts) and
+                // render them pretty-printed inside a <pre> so the user can
+                // actually read them. User-typed JSON is left as-is.
+                const formatted = !isUser ? tryFormatJson(message.content) : null
+                if (formatted !== null) {
+                  return (
+                    <pre className={styles.messageJsonBlock} data-testid={`message-json-${index}`}>
+                      {formatted}
+                    </pre>
+                  )
+                }
+                return (
+                  <Text className={styles.messageText}>
+                    {message.content}
+                  </Text>
+                )
+              })()}
 
               {/* Attachments (images, audio, video, files) */}
               {message.attachments && message.attachments.length > 0 && (