diff --git a/src/App.zig b/src/App.zig
index 12a4389c7..b9b9501eb 100644
--- a/src/App.zig
+++ b/src/App.zig
@@ -205,6 +205,7 @@ fn drainMailbox(self: *App, rt_app: *apprt.App) !void {
             .quit => try self.setQuit(),
             .surface_message => |msg| try self.surfaceMessage(msg.surface, msg.message),
             .redraw_surface => |surface| try self.redrawSurface(rt_app, surface),
+            .redraw_inspector => |surface| try self.redrawInspector(rt_app, surface),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -232,6 +233,11 @@ fn redrawSurface(self: *App, rt_app: *apprt.App, surface: *apprt.Surface) !void
     rt_app.redrawSurface(surface);
 }
 
+fn redrawInspector(self: *App, rt_app: *apprt.App, surface: *apprt.Surface) !void {
+    if (!self.hasSurface(&surface.core_surface)) return;
+    rt_app.redrawInspector(surface);
+}
+
 /// Create a new window
 pub fn newWindow(self: *App, rt_app: *apprt.App, msg: Message.NewWindow) !void {
     if (!@hasDecl(apprt.App, "newWindow")) {
@@ -304,6 +310,10 @@ pub const Message = union(enum) {
     /// message if it needs to.
     redraw_surface: *apprt.Surface,
 
+    /// Redraw the inspector. This is called whenever some non-OS event
+    /// causes the inspector to need to be redrawn.
+    redraw_inspector: *apprt.Surface,
+
     const NewWindow = struct {
         /// The parent surface
         parent: ?*Surface = null,
diff --git a/src/Surface.zig b/src/Surface.zig
index 5cb08de89..b59a90daf 100644
--- a/src/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/Surface.zig
@@ -584,10 +584,16 @@ pub fn activateInspector(self: *Surface) !void {
     self.inspector = ptr;
 
     // Put the inspector onto the render state
-    self.renderer_state.mutex.lock();
-    defer self.renderer_state.mutex.unlock();
-    assert(self.renderer_state.inspector == null);
-    self.renderer_state.inspector = self.inspector;
+    {
+        self.renderer_state.mutex.lock();
+        defer self.renderer_state.mutex.unlock();
+        assert(self.renderer_state.inspector == null);
+        self.renderer_state.inspector = self.inspector;
+    }
+
+    // Notify our components we have an inspector active
+    _ = self.renderer_thread.mailbox.push(.{ .inspector = true }, .{ .forever = {} });
+    _ = self.io_thread.mailbox.push(.{ .inspector = true }, .{ .forever = {} });
 }
 
 /// Deactivate the inspector and stop collecting any information.
@@ -602,6 +608,10 @@ pub fn deactivateInspector(self: *Surface) void {
         self.renderer_state.inspector = null;
     }
 
+    // Notify our components we have deactivated inspector
+    _ = self.renderer_thread.mailbox.push(.{ .inspector = false }, .{ .forever = {} });
+    _ = self.io_thread.mailbox.push(.{ .inspector = false }, .{ .forever = {} });
+
     // Deinit the inspector
     inspector.deinit();
     self.alloc.destroy(inspector);
diff --git a/src/apprt/embedded.zig b/src/apprt/embedded.zig
index 6c929b9f5..173fc4378 100644
--- a/src/apprt/embedded.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/embedded.zig
@@ -181,6 +181,11 @@ pub const App = struct {
         // No-op, we use a threaded interface so we're constantly drawing.
     }
 
+    pub fn redrawInspector(self: *App, surface: *Surface) void {
+        _ = self;
+        surface.queueInspectorRender();
+    }
+
     pub fn newWindow(self: *App, parent: ?*CoreSurface) !void {
         _ = self;
 
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
index ff669628b..74d3c6b76 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
@@ -279,6 +279,12 @@ pub fn redrawSurface(self: *App, surface: *Surface) void {
     surface.redraw();
 }
 
+/// Redraw the inspector for the given surface.
+pub fn redrawInspector(self: *App, surface: *Surface) void {
+    _ = self;
+    surface.queueInspectorRender();
+}
+
 /// Called by CoreApp to create a new window with a new surface.
 pub fn newWindow(self: *App, parent_: ?*CoreSurface) !void {
     const alloc = self.core_app.alloc;
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
index 688a48c29..c6403a0d5 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
@@ -239,10 +239,14 @@ pub fn deinit(self: *Surface) void {
 }
 
 fn render(self: *Surface) !void {
-    if (self.inspector) |v| v.queueRender();
     try self.core_surface.renderer.draw();
 }
 
+/// Queue the inspector to render if we have one.
+pub fn queueInspectorRender(self: *Surface) void {
+    if (self.inspector) |v| v.queueRender();
+}
+
 /// Invalidate the surface so that it forces a redraw on the next tick.
 pub fn redraw(self: *Surface) void {
     c.gtk_gl_area_queue_render(self.gl_area);
diff --git a/src/renderer/Thread.zig b/src/renderer/Thread.zig
index df3001b4e..f1c2280ca 100644
--- a/src/renderer/Thread.zig
+++ b/src/renderer/Thread.zig
@@ -48,11 +48,6 @@ cursor_h: xev.Timer,
 cursor_c: xev.Completion = .{},
 cursor_c_cancel: xev.Completion = .{},
 
-/// This is true when a blinking cursor should be visible and false
-/// when it should not be visible. This is toggled on a timer by the
-/// thread automatically.
-cursor_blink_visible: bool = false,
-
 /// The surface we're rendering to.
 surface: *apprt.Surface,
 
@@ -69,6 +64,16 @@ mailbox: *Mailbox,
 /// Mailbox to send messages to the app thread
 app_mailbox: App.Mailbox,
 
+flags: packed struct {
+    /// This is true when a blinking cursor should be visible and false
+    /// when it should not be visible. This is toggled on a timer by the
+    /// thread automatically.
+    cursor_blink_visible: bool = false,
+
+    /// This is true when the inspector is active.
+    has_inspector: bool = false,
+} = .{},
+
 /// Initialize the thread. This does not START the thread. This only sets
 /// up all the internal state necessary prior to starting the thread. It
 /// is up to the caller to start the thread with the threadMain entrypoint.
@@ -225,7 +230,7 @@ fn drainMailbox(self: *Thread) !void {
                     // If we're focused, we immediately show the cursor again
                     // and then restart the timer.
                     if (self.cursor_c.state() != .active) {
-                        self.cursor_blink_visible = true;
+                        self.flags.cursor_blink_visible = true;
                         self.cursor_h.run(
                             &self.loop,
                             &self.cursor_c,
@@ -239,7 +244,7 @@ fn drainMailbox(self: *Thread) !void {
             },
 
             .reset_cursor_blink => {
-                self.cursor_blink_visible = true;
+                self.flags.cursor_blink_visible = true;
                 if (self.cursor_c.state() == .active) {
                     self.cursor_h.reset(
                         &self.loop,
@@ -265,6 +270,8 @@ fn drainMailbox(self: *Thread) !void {
                 defer config.alloc.destroy(config.ptr);
                 try self.renderer.changeConfig(config.ptr);
             },
+
+            .inspector => |v| self.flags.has_inspector = v,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -322,10 +329,15 @@ fn renderCallback(
         return .disarm;
     };
 
+    // If we have an inspector, let the app know we want to rerender that.
+    if (t.flags.has_inspector) {
+        _ = t.app_mailbox.push(.{ .redraw_inspector = t.surface }, .{ .instant = {} });
+    }
+
     t.renderer.render(
         t.surface,
         t.state,
-        t.cursor_blink_visible,
+        t.flags.cursor_blink_visible,
     ) catch |err|
         log.warn("error rendering err={}", .{err});
 
@@ -365,7 +377,7 @@ fn cursorTimerCallback(
         return .disarm;
     };
 
-    t.cursor_blink_visible = !t.cursor_blink_visible;
+    t.flags.cursor_blink_visible = !t.flags.cursor_blink_visible;
     t.wakeup.notify() catch {};
 
     t.cursor_h.run(&t.loop, &t.cursor_c, CURSOR_BLINK_INTERVAL, Thread, t, cursorTimerCallback);
diff --git a/src/renderer/message.zig b/src/renderer/message.zig
index 19cde4385..d3fdc21de 100644
--- a/src/renderer/message.zig
+++ b/src/renderer/message.zig
@@ -34,4 +34,7 @@ pub const Message = union(enum) {
         alloc: Allocator,
         ptr: *renderer.Renderer.DerivedConfig,
     },
+
+    /// Activate or deactivate the inspector.
+    inspector: bool,
 };
diff --git a/src/termio/Thread.zig b/src/termio/Thread.zig
index 459cec97c..93faa38d5 100644
--- a/src/termio/Thread.zig
+++ b/src/termio/Thread.zig
@@ -62,14 +62,19 @@ sync_reset_cancel_c: xev.Completion = .{},
 /// The underlying IO implementation.
 impl: *termio.Impl,
 
-/// True if linefeed mode is enabled. This is duplicated here so that the
-/// write thread doesn't need to grab a lock to check this on every write.
-linefeed_mode: bool = false,
-
 /// The mailbox that can be used to send this thread messages. Note
 /// this is a blocking queue so if it is full you will get errors (or block).
 mailbox: *Mailbox,
 
+flags: packed struct {
+    /// True if linefeed mode is enabled. This is duplicated here so that the
+    /// write thread doesn't need to grab a lock to check this on every write.
+    linefeed_mode: bool = false,
+
+    /// This is true when the inspector is active.
+    has_inspector: bool = false,
+} = .{},
+
 /// Initialize the thread. This does not START the thread. This only sets
 /// up all the internal state necessary prior to starting the thread. It
 /// is up to the caller to start the thread with the threadMain entrypoint.
@@ -174,17 +179,18 @@ fn drainMailbox(self: *Thread) !void {
                 defer config.alloc.destroy(config.ptr);
                 try self.impl.changeConfig(config.ptr);
             },
+            .inspector => |v| self.flags.has_inspector = v,
             .resize => |v| self.handleResize(v),
             .clear_screen => |v| try self.impl.clearScreen(v.history),
             .scroll_viewport => |v| try self.impl.scrollViewport(v),
             .jump_to_prompt => |v| try self.impl.jumpToPrompt(v),
             .start_synchronized_output => self.startSynchronizedOutput(),
-            .linefeed_mode => |v| self.linefeed_mode = v,
-            .write_small => |v| try self.impl.queueWrite(v.data[0..v.len], self.linefeed_mode),
-            .write_stable => |v| try self.impl.queueWrite(v, self.linefeed_mode),
+            .linefeed_mode => |v| self.flags.linefeed_mode = v,
+            .write_small => |v| try self.impl.queueWrite(v.data[0..v.len], self.flags.linefeed_mode),
+            .write_stable => |v| try self.impl.queueWrite(v, self.flags.linefeed_mode),
             .write_alloc => |v| {
                 defer v.alloc.free(v.data);
-                try self.impl.queueWrite(v.data, self.linefeed_mode);
+                try self.impl.queueWrite(v.data, self.flags.linefeed_mode);
             },
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/termio/message.zig b/src/termio/message.zig
index c7fe19976..bffe0592a 100644
--- a/src/termio/message.zig
+++ b/src/termio/message.zig
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ pub const Message = union(enum) {
         ptr: *termio.Impl.DerivedConfig,
     },
 
+    /// Activate or deactivate the inspector.
+    inspector: bool,
+
     /// Resize the window.
     resize: Resize,