diff --git a/packages/happy-cli/scripts/claude_version_utils.cjs b/packages/happy-cli/scripts/claude_version_utils.cjs
index 2184917ae..803a96c1b 100644
--- a/packages/happy-cli/scripts/claude_version_utils.cjs
+++ b/packages/happy-cli/scripts/claude_version_utils.cjs
@@ -497,7 +497,35 @@ function runClaudeCli(cliPath) {
             stdio: 'inherit',
             env: process.env
         });
+
+        // Forward termination signals to the child process.
+        // Without this, the child becomes an orphan competing for stdin
+        // when the parent is killed (e.g., during remote→local mode switch).
+        // Note: we track exit ourselves rather than using child.killed, because
+        // child.killed becomes true after the first kill() call — not when the
+        // child actually exits. We need to keep forwarding signals (e.g., a
+        // second SIGTERM) in case the child trapped the first one.
+        let childExited = false;
+        const forwardSignal = (signal) => {
+            if (!childExited) {
+                try {
+                    child.kill(signal);
+                } catch {
+                    // Child already gone
+                }
+            }
+        };
+        const signals = ['SIGINT', 'SIGTERM', 'SIGHUP'];
+        for (const sig of signals) {
+            process.on(sig, () => forwardSignal(sig));
+        }
+
         child.on('exit', (code) => {
+            childExited = true;
+            // Clean up signal handlers to avoid leaks
+            for (const sig of signals) {
+                process.removeAllListeners(sig);
+            }
             process.exit(code || 0);
         });
     }
diff --git a/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/claudeLocal.ts b/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/claudeLocal.ts
index d1dc7d11d..e5c8a8a07 100644
--- a/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/claudeLocal.ts
+++ b/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/claudeLocal.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { claudeFindLastSession } from "./utils/claudeFindLastSession";
 import { getProjectPath } from "./utils/path";
 import { projectPath } from "@/projectPath";
 import { systemPrompt } from "./utils/systemPrompt";
+import { restoreStdin } from "@/utils/restoreStdin";
 
 /**
  * Error thrown when the Claude process exits with a non-zero exit code.
@@ -177,8 +178,10 @@ export async function claudeLocal(opts: {
 
     // Spawn the process
     try {
-        // Start the interactive process
-        process.stdin.pause();
+        // Ensure stdin is fully clean before handing it to the child process.
+        // This guards against edge cases where remote mode cleanup was incomplete
+        // (e.g., encoding left as utf8, raw mode still active, flowing mode).
+        restoreStdin();
         await new Promise<void>((r, reject) => {
             const args: string[] = []
 
diff --git a/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/claudeRemoteLauncher.ts b/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/claudeRemoteLauncher.ts
index 81e6454ab..5af37d04e 100644
--- a/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/claudeRemoteLauncher.ts
+++ b/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/claudeRemoteLauncher.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import React from "react";
 import { claudeRemote } from "./claudeRemote";
 import { PermissionHandler } from "./utils/permissionHandler";
 import { Future } from "@/utils/future";
+import { restoreStdin } from "@/utils/restoreStdin";
 import { SDKAssistantMessage, SDKMessage, SDKUserMessage } from "./sdk";
 import { formatClaudeMessageForInk } from "@/ui/messageFormatterInk";
 import { logger } from "@/ui/logger";
@@ -441,14 +442,19 @@ export async function claudeRemoteLauncher(session: Session): Promise<'switch' |
         // Clean up permission handler
         permissionHandler.reset();
 
-        // Reset Terminal
-        process.stdin.off('data', abort);
-        if (process.stdin.isTTY) {
-            process.stdin.setRawMode(false);
-        }
+        // Unmount Ink FIRST — it expects raw mode to still be active during teardown.
+        // Reversing this order (disabling raw mode first) causes Ink to corrupt the terminal.
         if (inkInstance) {
-            inkInstance.unmount();
+            try {
+                inkInstance.unmount();
+            } catch {
+                // Ink unmount can throw if already unmounted
+            }
         }
+
+        // Now restore stdin to a clean state for the next consumer (local mode / child process)
+        restoreStdin();
+
         messageBuffer.clear();
 
         // Resolve abort future
diff --git a/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/runClaude.ts b/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/runClaude.ts
index 5e157bd45..3724167a1 100644
--- a/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/runClaude.ts
+++ b/packages/happy-cli/src/claude/runClaude.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import { startOfflineReconnection, connectionState } from '@/utils/serverConnect
 import { claudeLocal } from '@/claude/claudeLocal';
 import { createSessionScanner } from '@/claude/utils/sessionScanner';
 import { Session } from './session';
+import { restoreStdin } from '@/utils/restoreStdin';
 
 /** JavaScript runtime to use for spawning Claude Code */
 export type JsRuntime = 'node' | 'bun'
@@ -372,6 +373,11 @@ export async function runClaude(credentials: Credentials, options: StartOptions
     const cleanup = async () => {
         logger.debug('[START] Received termination signal, cleaning up...');
 
+        // Restore terminal BEFORE any async work or process.exit() —
+        // signal handlers bypass finally blocks, so this is our only chance
+        // to prevent leaving the terminal in raw mode.
+        restoreStdin();
+
         try {
             // Update lifecycle state to archived before closing
             if (session) {
diff --git a/packages/happy-cli/src/utils/restoreStdin.ts b/packages/happy-cli/src/utils/restoreStdin.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..10aab4ea0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/happy-cli/src/utils/restoreStdin.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/**
+ * Restores process.stdin to a clean state after raw mode / Ink usage.
+ *
+ * When switching from remote mode (Ink UI with raw mode) back to local mode
+ * (Claude with inherited stdio), stdin must be fully reset:
+ *   1. Raw mode disabled (so the terminal handles line editing again)
+ *   2. Paused (exits flowing mode so the child process can read stdin)
+ *   3. Encoding reset from utf8 back to Buffer (setEncoding is sticky)
+ *   4. Orphaned "data" listeners removed (prevents phantom keypress handling)
+ *
+ * Idempotent — safe to call multiple times or when stdin is already clean.
+ */
+export function restoreStdin(): void {
+    try {
+        // 1. Disable raw mode (only on TTY)
+        if (process.stdin.isTTY) {
+            try {
+                process.stdin.setRawMode(false);
+            } catch {
+                // Already not in raw mode, or stdin is destroyed
+            }
+        }
+
+        // 2. Pause stdin (exit flowing mode)
+        try {
+            process.stdin.pause();
+        } catch {
+            // Already paused or destroyed
+        }
+
+        // 3. Reset encoding back to Buffer mode
+        //    setEncoding("utf8") is a one-way operation on the public API —
+        //    the only way to undo it is to null out the internal decoder state.
+        try {
+            const state = (process.stdin as any)._readableState;
+            if (state) {
+                state.encoding = null;
+                state.decoder = null;
+            }
+        } catch {
+            // Internal state not accessible — non-critical
+        }
+
+        // 4. Remove orphaned "data" listeners that Ink or remote mode attached
+        try {
+            process.stdin.removeAllListeners('data');
+        } catch {
+            // Listeners already gone or stdin destroyed
+        }
+    } catch {
+        // Entire restoration failed — non-critical, best-effort cleanup
+    }
+}