diff --git a/.changeset/cli-duration-axis-tick-compact.md b/.changeset/cli-duration-axis-tick-compact.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a665a68c13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/cli-duration-axis-tick-compact.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'@hyperdx/cli': patch
+---
+
+fix: use compact duration labels on terminal chart axis ticks
+
+`axisTickFormatter` is a documented port of the web's `formatAxisTick` (fixed in #3148) and is expected to stay behaviorally in sync with it, but it fell through to the wide `formatDurationMs` instead of the compact formatter for duration-formatted charts. `hdx chart` now renders the same short labels (e.g. "13m" instead of "13.33min") as the web app.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/formatNumber.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/formatNumber.test.ts
index 71f64140c3..6991ffa454 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/formatNumber.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/formatNumber.test.ts
@@ -58,4 +58,27 @@ describe('axisTickFormatter', () => {
       axisTickFormatter({ output: 'throughput', mantissa: 2 })?.(1234567),
     ).toBe('1234567');
   });
+
+  describe('duration output', () => {
+    it('renders minutes with a single-character unit, not "min"', () => {
+      expect(axisTickFormatter({ output: 'duration' })?.(799.8)).toBe('13m');
+    });
+
+    it('renders seconds compactly', () => {
+      expect(axisTickFormatter({ output: 'duration' })?.(39.51)).toBe('39.5s');
+    });
+
+    it('respects a configured factor, matching formatNumber`s own duration math', () => {
+      expect(
+        axisTickFormatter({ output: 'duration', factor: 0.001 })?.(442_800),
+      ).toBe('7.4m');
+    });
+
+    it('renders sub-millisecond and hour-scale values compactly too', () => {
+      expect(axisTickFormatter({ output: 'duration' })?.(0.0000005)).toBe(
+        '500ns',
+      );
+      expect(axisTickFormatter({ output: 'duration' })?.(7500)).toBe('2.1h');
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/shared/formatNumber.ts b/packages/cli/src/shared/formatNumber.ts
index 97e750e17b..5b309e77fa 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/shared/formatNumber.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/shared/formatNumber.ts
@@ -289,6 +289,27 @@ function formatDurationMs(ms: number): string {
   return `${parseFloat((ms / 3_600_000).toFixed(2))}h`;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Compact duration labels for axis ticks — fewer decimals, shorter units.
+ *
+ * @source packages/app/src/utils.ts (formatDurationMsCompact)
+ */
+function formatDurationMsCompact(ms: number): string {
+  if (ms < 0) return `-${formatDurationMsCompact(-ms)}`;
+  if (ms === 0) return '0';
+  if (ms < 0.001) return `${+(ms * 1e6).toPrecision(2)}ns`;
+  if (ms < 1) {
+    const µs = ms * 1000;
+    return µs < 10 ? `${+µs.toPrecision(2)}µs` : `${Math.round(µs)}µs`;
+  }
+  if (ms < 1000) {
+    return ms < 10 ? `${+ms.toPrecision(2)}ms` : `${Math.round(ms)}ms`;
+  }
+  if (ms < 120_000) return `${+(ms / 1000).toPrecision(3)}s`;
+  if (ms < 3_600_000) return `${+(ms / 60_000).toPrecision(2)}m`;
+  return `${+(ms / 3_600_000).toPrecision(2)}h`;
+}
+
 // ---- Number-format resolution (de-hooked from packages/app/src/source.ts) --
 
 // Aggregate functions whose output preserves the unit of the input value.
@@ -506,6 +527,13 @@ export function axisTickFormatter(
     return undefined;
   }
   return (value: number) => {
+    // formatNumber returns early for 'duration' - use the compact formatter
+    // instead, matching the web's formatAxisTick.
+    if (numberFormat.output === 'duration') {
+      const factor = numberFormat.factor ?? 1;
+      return formatDurationMsCompact(value * factor * 1000);
+    }
+
     const displayed = numberFormat.output === 'percent' ? value * 100 : value;
     return formatNumber(value, {
       ...numberFormat,