diff --git a/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/components/AppLayout.tsx b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/components/AppLayout.tsx
index 901c492c8..35641f9fc 100644
--- a/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/components/AppLayout.tsx
+++ b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/components/AppLayout.tsx
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import {
 import { type CSSProperties, Fragment, type ReactNode, useState } from "react";
 import { PROFILE_TYPE_LABELS } from "@/constants/profileMode";
 import NotificationBellContainer from "@/features/notifications/NotificationBellContainer";
+import SupportWidget from "@/features/support/SupportWidget";
 
 export interface SidebarItem {
   label: string;
@@ -781,6 +782,9 @@ export function AppLayout({
         {children}
       </AppShell.Main>
 
+      {/* Floating customer-support chat launcher. */}
+      <SupportWidget />
+
       {/* Create-profile modal — opens when switching to a mode the company
           doesn't have a profile for yet. */}
       <Modal
diff --git a/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/SupportPanel.tsx b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/SupportPanel.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..77150866e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/SupportPanel.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,219 @@
+import { SupportAuthorRole, type SupportMessageDto } from "@edr/types";
+import {
+  ActionIcon,
+  Avatar,
+  Box,
+  Group,
+  Loader,
+  Paper,
+  ScrollArea,
+  Stack,
+  Text,
+  Textarea,
+  ThemeIcon,
+} from "@mantine/core";
+import { Headset, Send, X } from "lucide-react";
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
+
+import {
+  useConversation,
+  useMarkConversationRead,
+  useMessages,
+  useSendMessage,
+} from "./useSupport";
+
+function formatTime(iso?: string | null): string {
+  if (!iso) return "";
+  const d = new Date(iso);
+  const now = new Date();
+  const sameDay = d.toDateString() === now.toDateString();
+  return sameDay
+    ? d.toLocaleTimeString([], { hour: "2-digit", minute: "2-digit" })
+    : d.toLocaleDateString([], { month: "short", day: "numeric" });
+}
+
+export interface SupportPanelProps {
+  onClose: () => void;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The whole support surface: one ongoing thread with the EDR team. There is
+ * nothing to pick and nothing to open — the company has a single conversation,
+ * created server-side the moment the first message is sent.
+ */
+export function SupportPanel({ onClose }: SupportPanelProps) {
+  const { data: conversation } = useConversation();
+  const { data: messages, isLoading } = useMessages();
+  const send = useSendMessage();
+  const markRead = useMarkConversationRead();
+  const [draft, setDraft] = useState("");
+  const viewport = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+
+  // Mark read on open + whenever new messages arrive. No-op before the thread
+  // exists, so opening the panel never creates one.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (conversation) markRead.mutate();
+    // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+  }, [conversation?.id, messages?.length]);
+
+  // Auto-scroll to newest.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    viewport.current?.scrollTo({ top: viewport.current.scrollHeight });
+  }, [messages?.length]);
+
+  const submit = async () => {
+    const body = draft.trim();
+    if (!body) return;
+    setDraft("");
+    await send.mutateAsync(body);
+  };
+
+  const isEmpty = !isLoading && (messages ?? []).length === 0;
+
+  return (
+    <Paper
+      shadow="xl"
+      radius="lg"
+      withBorder
+      style={{
+        display: "flex",
+        flexDirection: "column",
+        width: 384,
+        height: 560,
+        maxHeight: "calc(100vh - 120px)",
+        overflow: "hidden",
+      }}
+    >
+      <Group
+        justify="space-between"
+        wrap="nowrap"
+        px="md"
+        py="sm"
+        style={{
+          background:
+            "linear-gradient(135deg, var(--mantine-color-edr-green-7), var(--mantine-color-edr-green-5))",
+          color: "white",
+        }}
+      >
+        <Group gap="sm" wrap="nowrap" style={{ minWidth: 0 }}>
+          <ThemeIcon variant="white" radius="xl" size="lg" color="edr-green">
+            <Headset size={18} />
+          </ThemeIcon>
+          <Box style={{ minWidth: 0 }}>
+            <Text fw={600} size="sm" truncate>
+              Support
+            </Text>
+            <Text size="xs" opacity={0.85} truncate>
+              We usually reply within a few minutes
+            </Text>
+          </Box>
+        </Group>
+        <ActionIcon variant="transparent" color="white" onClick={onClose}>
+          <X size={20} />
+        </ActionIcon>
+      </Group>
+
+      <ScrollArea style={{ flex: 1 }} viewportRef={viewport} type="hover">
+        {isLoading ? (
+          <Group justify="center" p="xl">
+            <Loader size="sm" color="edr-green" />
+          </Group>
+        ) : isEmpty ? (
+          <Stack align="center" gap="xs" px="lg" py={48} c="dimmed">
+            <ThemeIcon variant="light" color="edr-green" radius="xl" size={48}>
+              <Headset size={24} />
+            </ThemeIcon>
+            <Text size="sm" ta="center">
+              Send us a message and our team will help you out.
+            </Text>
+          </Stack>
+        ) : (
+          <Stack gap="sm" p="md">
+            {(messages ?? []).map((m) => (
+              <MessageBubble key={m.id} m={m} />
+            ))}
+          </Stack>
+        )}
+      </ScrollArea>
+
+      <Box p="sm" style={{ borderTop: "1px solid var(--mantine-color-gray-2)" }}>
+        <Group gap="xs" align="flex-end" wrap="nowrap">
+          <Textarea
+            value={draft}
+            onChange={(e) => setDraft(e.currentTarget.value)}
+            placeholder="Type a message…"
+            autosize
+            minRows={1}
+            maxRows={4}
+            radius="md"
+            style={{ flex: 1 }}
+            onKeyDown={(e) => {
+              if (e.key === "Enter" && !e.shiftKey) {
+                e.preventDefault();
+                submit();
+              }
+            }}
+          />
+          <ActionIcon
+            size={38}
+            radius="md"
+            color="edr-green"
+            variant="filled"
+            loading={send.isPending}
+            disabled={!draft.trim()}
+            onClick={submit}
+          >
+            <Send size={18} />
+          </ActionIcon>
+        </Group>
+      </Box>
+    </Paper>
+  );
+}
+
+function MessageBubble({ m }: { m: SupportMessageDto }) {
+  const mine = m.authorRole === SupportAuthorRole.CUSTOMER;
+  return (
+    <Group
+      justify={mine ? "flex-end" : "flex-start"}
+      wrap="nowrap"
+      align="flex-end"
+      gap="xs"
+    >
+      {!mine && (
+        <Avatar size="sm" radius="xl" color="edr-green" variant="filled">
+          <Headset size={14} />
+        </Avatar>
+      )}
+      <Box style={{ maxWidth: "78%" }}>
+        {!mine && (
+          <Text size="xs" c="dimmed" mb={2} ml={4}>
+            {m.authorName || "Support agent"}
+          </Text>
+        )}
+        <Paper
+          px="sm"
+          py={8}
+          radius="lg"
+          style={{
+            background: mine
+              ? "var(--mantine-color-edr-green-6)"
+              : "var(--mantine-color-gray-1)",
+            color: mine ? "white" : "var(--mantine-color-dark-7)",
+            borderBottomRightRadius: mine ? 4 : undefined,
+            borderBottomLeftRadius: mine ? undefined : 4,
+          }}
+        >
+          <Text size="sm" style={{ whiteSpace: "pre-wrap", wordBreak: "break-word" }}>
+            {m.body}
+          </Text>
+        </Paper>
+        <Text size="10px" c="dimmed" mt={2} ta={mine ? "right" : "left"}>
+          {formatTime(m.createdAt)}
+        </Text>
+      </Box>
+    </Group>
+  );
+}
+
+export default SupportPanel;
diff --git a/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/SupportWidget.tsx b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/SupportWidget.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e525c2496
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/SupportWidget.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+import { SupportAuthorRole } from "@edr/types";
+import { Affix, Indicator, Transition } from "@mantine/core";
+import { Headset } from "lucide-react";
+import { useState } from "react";
+import toast from "react-hot-toast";
+
+import useAuth from "@/hooks/useAuth";
+
+import { SupportPanel } from "./SupportPanel";
+import { useSupportUnreadCount } from "./useSupport";
+import { useSupportSocket } from "./useSupportSocket";
+
+/**
+ * Floating customer-support launcher, mounted in the authenticated app shell.
+ * Shows an unread badge and opens the chat panel; live pushes keep the badge
+ * fresh and toast the customer when the panel is closed.
+ */
+export function SupportWidget() {
+  const { isAuthenticated } = useAuth();
+  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
+  const { data: unread = 0 } = useSupportUnreadCount(isAuthenticated);
+
+  useSupportSocket(isAuthenticated, (event) => {
+    // Only the customer-visible side matters here; agent replies arrive as AGENT.
+    if (!open && event.message.authorRole === SupportAuthorRole.AGENT) {
+      toast(
+        `Support replied: ${event.message.body.slice(0, 60)}${
+          event.message.body.length > 60 ? "…" : ""
+        }`,
+        { icon: "💬" },
+      );
+    }
+  });
+
+  if (!isAuthenticated) return null;
+
+  return (
+    <Affix position={{ bottom: 24, right: 24 }} zIndex={300}>
+      <Transition mounted={open} transition="pop-bottom-right" duration={200}>
+        {(styles) => (
+          <div style={styles} className="mb-3">
+            <SupportPanel onClose={() => setOpen(false)} />
+          </div>
+        )}
+      </Transition>
+
+      <Transition mounted={!open} transition="pop" duration={150}>
+        {(styles) => (
+          <div style={styles} className="flex justify-end">
+            <Indicator
+              label={unread > 9 ? "9+" : unread}
+              size={20}
+              offset={8}
+              color="red"
+              disabled={unread === 0}
+              processing
+              withBorder
+            >
+              <button
+                type="button"
+                aria-label="Open support chat"
+                onClick={() => setOpen(true)}
+                className="group relative flex cursor-pointer items-center gap-2.5 rounded-full bg-linear-135 from-edr-primary-dark to-edr-primary py-2 pr-2 pl-2 text-white shadow-[0_10px_28px_rgba(13,92,44,0.4)] transition-transform duration-150 hover:-translate-y-0.5 focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-3 focus-visible:outline-edr-primary active:translate-y-0 motion-reduce:transition-none motion-reduce:hover:translate-y-0 sm:pr-5"
+              >
+                {/* Faint breathing ring; the unread badge already pulses, so stand down then. */}
+                {unread === 0 && (
+                  <span className="pointer-events-none absolute -inset-1 animate-pulse rounded-full ring-2 ring-edr-primary/50 motion-reduce:animate-none" />
+                )}
+
+                <span className="relative grid size-[42px] shrink-0 place-items-center rounded-full bg-white/20">
+                  <Headset size={22} />
+                </span>
+
+                <span className="relative hidden text-left leading-tight sm:block">
+                  <span className="block text-sm font-semibold whitespace-nowrap">
+                    👋 Need help?
+                  </span>
+                  <span className="block text-[11px] whitespace-nowrap opacity-85">
+                    Chat with our team
+                  </span>
+                </span>
+              </button>
+            </Indicator>
+          </div>
+        )}
+      </Transition>
+    </Affix>
+  );
+}
+
+export default SupportWidget;
diff --git a/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/supportApi.ts b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/supportApi.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f04c73545
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/supportApi.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import type {
+  SendSupportMessageResult,
+  SupportConversationDto,
+  SupportMessageDto,
+} from "@edr/types";
+
+import { client } from "@/utils/api";
+
+/**
+ * Portal support-chat REST calls. My company has exactly one thread, so nothing
+ * here takes a conversation id — the server derives it from the caller.
+ *
+ * The portal axios `client` returns the raw response and the API wraps payloads
+ * in a `{ success, data }` envelope, so we unwrap `.data.data` (same convention
+ * as the other portal services).
+ */
+export const supportApi = {
+  /** Null until someone has actually sent a message. */
+  getConversation: async (): Promise<SupportConversationDto | null> => {
+    const { data } = await client.get("/api/support/conversation");
+    return data.data;
+  },
+  listMessages: async (): Promise<SupportMessageDto[]> => {
+    const { data } = await client.get("/api/support/conversation/messages");
+    return data.data;
+  },
+  sendMessage: async (body: string): Promise<SendSupportMessageResult> => {
+    const { data } = await client.post("/api/support/conversation/messages", {
+      body,
+    });
+    return data.data;
+  },
+  markRead: async (): Promise<{ unreadCount: number }> => {
+    const { data } = await client.post("/api/support/conversation/read");
+    return data.data;
+  },
+  unreadCount: async (): Promise<number> => {
+    const { data } = await client.get("/api/support/unread-count");
+    return data.data.unreadCount;
+  },
+};
diff --git a/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/useSupport.ts b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/useSupport.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d89a8f701
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/useSupport.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import type { SupportConversationDto } from "@edr/types";
+import { useMutation, useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
+
+import { supportApi } from "./supportApi";
+
+export const SUPPORT_KEY = ["support"] as const;
+export const SUPPORT_CONVERSATION_KEY = ["support", "conversation"] as const;
+export const SUPPORT_MESSAGES_KEY = ["support", "messages"] as const;
+export const SUPPORT_UNREAD_KEY = ["support", "unread"] as const;
+
+/** My company's support thread — null until the first message is sent. */
+export function useConversation(enabled = true) {
+  return useQuery({
+    queryKey: SUPPORT_CONVERSATION_KEY,
+    queryFn: () => supportApi.getConversation(),
+    enabled,
+  });
+}
+
+/** The thread's messages, oldest first. Empty until the thread exists. */
+export function useMessages(enabled = true) {
+  return useQuery({
+    queryKey: SUPPORT_MESSAGES_KEY,
+    queryFn: () => supportApi.listMessages(),
+    enabled,
+  });
+}
+
+export function useSupportUnreadCount(enabled = true) {
+  return useQuery({
+    queryKey: SUPPORT_UNREAD_KEY,
+    queryFn: () => supportApi.unreadCount(),
+    enabled,
+    // WebSocket keeps this fresh; poll as a fallback if the socket drops.
+    refetchInterval: 60_000,
+  });
+}
+
+/** Send as the customer. Opens the thread server-side if this is the first one. */
+export function useSendMessage() {
+  const qc = useQueryClient();
+  return useMutation({
+    mutationFn: (body: string) => supportApi.sendMessage(body),
+    onSuccess: () => {
+      qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: SUPPORT_MESSAGES_KEY });
+      qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: SUPPORT_CONVERSATION_KEY });
+    },
+  });
+}
+
+export function useMarkConversationRead() {
+  const qc = useQueryClient();
+  return useMutation({
+    mutationFn: () => supportApi.markRead(),
+    onSuccess: () => {
+      qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: SUPPORT_CONVERSATION_KEY });
+      qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: SUPPORT_UNREAD_KEY });
+    },
+  });
+}
+
+export type { SupportConversationDto };
diff --git a/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/useSupportSocket.ts b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/useSupportSocket.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e5c578c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/edr-freight-web/portal/src/features/support/useSupportSocket.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+import {
+  SUPPORT_CHAT_WS_EVENTS,
+  SUPPORT_CHAT_WS_NAMESPACE,
+  type SupportConversationDto,
+  type SupportMessageEvent,
+} from "@edr/types";
+import { useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
+import { useEffect, useRef } from "react";
+import { io } from "socket.io-client";
+
+import { API_BASE_URL } from "@/constants/apiConfig";
+
+import {
+  SUPPORT_CONVERSATION_KEY,
+  SUPPORT_MESSAGES_KEY,
+  SUPPORT_UNREAD_KEY,
+} from "./useSupport";
+
+function getAuthToken(): string | undefined {
+  return document.cookie
+    .split("; ")
+    .find((row) => row.startsWith("auth-token="))
+    ?.split("=")[1];
+}
+
+// The socket namespace lives at the server root, not under the `/api` REST
+// prefix — strip a trailing `/api` if the base URL carries one.
+const SOCKET_ORIGIN = String(API_BASE_URL ?? "").replace(/\/api\/?$/, "");
+
+/**
+ * Subscribes to live support-chat pushes for the signed-in customer. The company
+ * only has one thread, so any push refreshes it wholesale — messages, the
+ * conversation itself, and the unread badge — and fires `onMessage` (the widget
+ * shows a toast when the panel is closed).
+ */
+export function useSupportSocket(
+  enabled: boolean,
+  onMessage?: (event: SupportMessageEvent) => void,
+) {
+  const qc = useQueryClient();
+  const onMessageRef = useRef(onMessage);
+  onMessageRef.current = onMessage;
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!enabled) return;
+    const token = getAuthToken();
+    if (!token) return;
+
+    const socket = io(`${SOCKET_ORIGIN}/${SUPPORT_CHAT_WS_NAMESPACE}`, {
+      auth: { token },
+      transports: ["websocket"],
+      withCredentials: true,
+    });
+
+    socket.on(SUPPORT_CHAT_WS_EVENTS.MESSAGE_NEW, (event: SupportMessageEvent) => {
+      qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: SUPPORT_MESSAGES_KEY });
+      qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: SUPPORT_CONVERSATION_KEY });
+      qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: SUPPORT_UNREAD_KEY });
+      onMessageRef.current?.(event);
+    });
+
+    socket.on(
+      SUPPORT_CHAT_WS_EVENTS.CONVERSATION_UPDATED,
+      (_conversation: SupportConversationDto) => {
+        qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: SUPPORT_CONVERSATION_KEY });
+        qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: SUPPORT_UNREAD_KEY });
+      },
+    );
+
+    return () => {
+      socket.off();
+      socket.disconnect();
+    };
+  }, [enabled, qc]);
+}