diff --git a/ui-tui/src/__tests__/terminalModes.test.ts b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/terminalModes.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3eacdba55fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/terminalModes.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+
+import { resetTerminalModes, TERMINAL_MODE_RESET } from '../lib/terminalModes.js'
+
+describe('terminal mode reset', () => {
+  it('includes the sticky input modes Hermes enables', () => {
+    expect(TERMINAL_MODE_RESET).toContain('\x1b[?1006l')
+    expect(TERMINAL_MODE_RESET).toContain('\x1b[?1003l')
+    expect(TERMINAL_MODE_RESET).toContain('\x1b[?1002l')
+    expect(TERMINAL_MODE_RESET).toContain('\x1b[?1000l')
+    expect(TERMINAL_MODE_RESET).toContain('\x1b[?1004l')
+    expect(TERMINAL_MODE_RESET).toContain('\x1b[?2004l')
+    expect(TERMINAL_MODE_RESET).toContain('\x1b[?1049l')
+  })
+
+  it('writes reset sequence to TTY streams without fds', () => {
+    const write = vi.fn()
+
+    expect(resetTerminalModes({ isTTY: true, write } as unknown as NodeJS.WriteStream)).toBe(true)
+    expect(write).toHaveBeenCalledWith(TERMINAL_MODE_RESET)
+  })
+
+  it('skips non-TTY streams', () => {
+    const write = vi.fn()
+
+    expect(resetTerminalModes({ isTTY: false, write } as unknown as NodeJS.WriteStream)).toBe(false)
+    expect(write).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/entry.tsx b/ui-tui/src/entry.tsx
index f1ce52bab5d..c2c9fefe6c4 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/entry.tsx
+++ b/ui-tui/src/entry.tsx
@@ -11,12 +11,17 @@ import { GatewayClient } from './gatewayClient.js'
 import { setupGracefulExit } from './lib/gracefulExit.js'
 import { formatBytes, type HeapDumpResult, performHeapDump } from './lib/memory.js'
 import { type MemorySnapshot, startMemoryMonitor } from './lib/memoryMonitor.js'
+import { resetTerminalModes } from './lib/terminalModes.js'
 
 if (!process.stdin.isTTY) {
   console.log('hermes-tui: no TTY')
   process.exit(0)
 }
 
+// Start from a clean slate. If a previous TUI crashed or was kill -9'd, the
+// terminal tab can still have mouse/focus/paste modes enabled.
+resetTerminalModes()
+
 const gw = new GatewayClient()
 
 gw.start()
@@ -25,17 +30,27 @@ const dumpNotice = (snap: MemorySnapshot, dump: HeapDumpResult | null) =>
   `hermes-tui: ${snap.level} memory (${formatBytes(snap.heapUsed)}) — auto heap dump → ${dump?.heapPath ?? '(failed)'}\n`
 
 setupGracefulExit({
-  cleanups: [() => gw.kill()],
+  cleanups: [
+    () => {
+      resetTerminalModes()
+
+      return gw.kill()
+    }
+  ],
   onError: (scope, err) => {
     const message = err instanceof Error ? `${err.name}: ${err.message}` : String(err)
 
     process.stderr.write(`hermes-tui ${scope}: ${message.slice(0, 2000)}\n`)
   },
-  onSignal: signal => process.stderr.write(`hermes-tui: received ${signal}\n`)
+  onSignal: signal => {
+    resetTerminalModes()
+    process.stderr.write(`hermes-tui: received ${signal}\n`)
+  }
 })
 
 const stopMemoryMonitor = startMemoryMonitor({
   onCritical: (snap, dump) => {
+    resetTerminalModes()
     process.stderr.write(dumpNotice(snap, dump))
     process.stderr.write('hermes-tui: exiting to avoid OOM; restart to recover\n')
     process.exit(137)
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/lib/terminalModes.ts b/ui-tui/src/lib/terminalModes.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bf60b667e40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui-tui/src/lib/terminalModes.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { writeSync } from 'node:fs'
+
+export const TERMINAL_MODE_RESET =
+  '\x1b[?1006l' + // SGR mouse
+  '\x1b[?1003l' + // any-motion mouse
+  '\x1b[?1002l' + // button-motion mouse
+  '\x1b[?1000l' + // click mouse
+  '\x1b[?1004l' + // focus events
+  '\x1b[?2004l' + // bracketed paste
+  '\x1b[?1049l' + // alternate screen
+  '\x1b[0m' + // attributes
+  '\x1b[?25h' // cursor visible
+
+type ResettableStream = Pick<NodeJS.WriteStream, 'isTTY' | 'write'> & {
+  fd?: number
+}
+
+export function resetTerminalModes(stream: ResettableStream = process.stdout): boolean {
+  if (!stream.isTTY) {
+    return false
+  }
+
+  const fd = typeof stream.fd === 'number' ? stream.fd : stream === process.stdout ? 1 : undefined
+  if (fd !== undefined) {
+    try {
+      writeSync(fd, TERMINAL_MODE_RESET)
+
+      return true
+    } catch {
+      // Fall through to stream.write for mocked or unusual TTY streams.
+    }
+  }
+
+  try {
+    stream.write(TERMINAL_MODE_RESET)
+
+    return true
+  } catch {
+    return false
+  }
+}