diff --git a/ui-tui/src/__tests__/textInputWrap.test.ts b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/textInputWrap.test.ts
index a05ed42ffe..5521012e9c 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/__tests__/textInputWrap.test.ts
+++ b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/textInputWrap.test.ts
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ describe('input metrics helpers', () => {
 
   it('reserves gutters on wide panes without starving narrow composer width', () => {
     expect(stableComposerColumns(100, 3)).toBe(93)
+    expect(stableComposerColumns(100, 5)).toBe(91)
     expect(stableComposerColumns(10, 3)).toBe(5)
     expect(stableComposerColumns(6, 3)).toBe(1)
   })
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/__tests__/theme.test.ts b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/theme.test.ts
index 7eb9458066..241e0978c2 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/__tests__/theme.test.ts
+++ b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/theme.test.ts
@@ -76,6 +76,11 @@ describe('fromSkin', () => {
     expect(brand.prompt).toBe('$')
   })
 
+  it('normalizes skin prompt symbols to one trimmed line', () => {
+    expect(fromSkin({}, { prompt_symbol: ' ⚔ ❯ \n' }).brand.prompt).toBe('⚔ ❯')
+    expect(fromSkin({}, { prompt_symbol: '\n\t' }).brand.prompt).toBe(DEFAULT_THEME.brand.prompt)
+  })
+
   it('defaults for empty skin', () => {
     expect(fromSkin({}, {}).color).toEqual(DEFAULT_THEME.color)
     expect(fromSkin({}, {}).brand.icon).toBe(DEFAULT_THEME.brand.icon)
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/components/appLayout.tsx b/ui-tui/src/components/appLayout.tsx
index dd8053230c..0d29143b10 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/components/appLayout.tsx
+++ b/ui-tui/src/components/appLayout.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { AlternateScreen, Box, NoSelect, ScrollBox, Text } from '@hermes/ink'
+import { AlternateScreen, Box, NoSelect, ScrollBox, stringWidth, Text } from '@hermes/ink'
 import { useStore } from '@nanostores/react'
 import { Fragment, memo, useMemo } from 'react'
 
@@ -113,8 +113,10 @@ const ComposerPane = memo(function ComposerPane({
   const ui = useStore($uiState)
   const isBlocked = useStore($isBlocked)
   const sh = (composer.inputBuf[0] ?? composer.input).startsWith('!')
-  const pw = sh ? 2 : 3
-  const inputColumns = stableComposerColumns(composer.cols, pw)
+  const promptText = sh ? '$' : ui.theme.brand.prompt
+  const promptLabel = `${promptText} `
+  const promptWidth = Math.max(1, stringWidth(promptLabel))
+  const inputColumns = stableComposerColumns(composer.cols, promptWidth)
   const inputHeight = inputVisualHeight(composer.input, inputColumns)
 
   return (
@@ -158,8 +160,8 @@ const ComposerPane = memo(function ComposerPane({
           <>
             {composer.inputBuf.map((line, i) => (
               <Box key={i}>
-                <Box width={3}>
-                  <Text color={ui.theme.color.muted}>{i === 0 ? `${ui.theme.brand.prompt} ` : '  '}</Text>
+                <Box width={promptWidth}>
+                  <Text color={ui.theme.color.muted}>{i === 0 ? promptLabel : ' '.repeat(promptWidth)}</Text>
                 </Box>
 
                 <Text color={ui.theme.color.text}>{line || ' '}</Text>
@@ -167,12 +169,12 @@ const ComposerPane = memo(function ComposerPane({
             ))}
 
             <Box position="relative">
-              <Box width={pw}>
+              <Box width={promptWidth}>
                 {sh ? (
-                  <Text color={ui.theme.color.shellDollar}>$ </Text>
+                  <Text color={ui.theme.color.shellDollar}>{promptLabel}</Text>
                 ) : (
                   <Text bold color={ui.theme.color.prompt}>
-                    {composer.inputBuf.length ? '  ' : `${ui.theme.brand.prompt} `}
+                    {composer.inputBuf.length ? ' '.repeat(promptWidth) : promptLabel}
                   </Text>
                 )}
               </Box>
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/theme.ts b/ui-tui/src/theme.ts
index bac19b0ada..b5845e11a3 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/theme.ts
+++ b/ui-tui/src/theme.ts
@@ -88,6 +88,14 @@ const BRAND: ThemeBrand = {
   helpHeader: '(^_^)? Commands'
 }
 
+const cleanPromptSymbol = (s: string | undefined, fallback: string) => {
+  const cleaned = String(s ?? '')
+    .replace(/\s+/g, ' ')
+    .trim()
+
+  return cleaned || fallback
+}
+
 export const DARK_THEME: Theme = {
   color: {
     primary: '#FFD700',
@@ -254,7 +262,7 @@ export function fromSkin(
     brand: {
       name: branding.agent_name ?? d.brand.name,
       icon: d.brand.icon,
-      prompt: branding.prompt_symbol ?? d.brand.prompt,
+      prompt: cleanPromptSymbol(branding.prompt_symbol, d.brand.prompt),
       welcome: branding.welcome ?? d.brand.welcome,
       goodbye: branding.goodbye ?? d.brand.goodbye,
       tool: toolPrefix || d.brand.tool,