diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.App/App.axaml.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.App/App.axaml.cs
index 0aaead40..5d7c6733 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.App/App.axaml.cs
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.App/App.axaml.cs
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ using Avalonia;
 using Avalonia.Controls;
 using Avalonia.Controls.ApplicationLifetimes;
 using Avalonia.Markup.Xaml;
+using Avalonia.Threading;
 using ClaudeDo.Ui;
+using ClaudeDo.Ui.Localization;
 using ClaudeDo.Ui.Services;
 using ClaudeDo.Ui.ViewModels;
 using ClaudeDo.Ui.Views;
@@ -40,9 +42,22 @@ public partial class App : Application
             // modeless Mission Control window is still open.
             desktop.ShutdownMode = ShutdownMode.OnMainWindowClose;
 
+            var shell = services.GetRequiredService<IslandsShellViewModel>();
+
+            // Last-resort backstop: an exception escaping a dispatcher job kills the process, and
+            // ClaudeDo hosts third-party UI (the ConPTY terminal control) whose async void key and
+            // render handlers have done exactly that — one bad keystroke took the whole app down,
+            // losing every open session. Swallowing is the lesser evil here: the failing job is
+            // already dead either way, and the user still gets told via the footer error strip.
+            Dispatcher.UIThread.UnhandledException += (_, e) =>
+            {
+                e.Handled = true;
+                shell.FlashFooterError(Loc.T("vm.shell.unexpectedError", e.Exception.Message));
+            };
+
             desktop.MainWindow = new MainWindow
             {
-                DataContext = services.GetRequiredService<IslandsShellViewModel>(),
+                DataContext = shell,
             };
 
             // Kick off the SignalR retry loop — reconnects indefinitely if the worker
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/de.json b/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/de.json
index e025438e..8921d76e 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/de.json
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/de.json
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@
   },
   "vm": {
     "connection": { "online": "Online", "connecting": "Verbinden…", "offline": "Offline" },
-    "shell": { "restartingWorker": "Worker wird neu gestartet…" },
+    "shell": { "restartingWorker": "Worker wird neu gestartet…", "unexpectedError": "Unerwarteter Fehler: {0}" },
     "agentStatus": { "idle": "Leerlauf", "queued": "In Warteschlange", "running": "Läuft", "review": "Prüfung", "children": "Wartet auf Teilaufgaben", "done": "Fertig", "failed": "Fehlgeschlagen", "cancelled": "Abgebrochen" },
     "taskStatus": { "idle": "Leerlauf", "queued": "In Warteschlange", "running": "Läuft", "waitingForReview": "Wartet auf Prüfung", "waitingForChildren": "Wartet auf Teilaufgaben", "done": "Fertig", "failed": "Fehlgeschlagen", "cancelled": "Abgebrochen", "parked": "Geparkt", "interactive": "Interaktiv" },
     "planningBadge": { "active": "PLANUNG", "finalized": "GEPLANT" },
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/en.json b/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/en.json
index e8116ff6..372d2d9a 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/en.json
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Localization/locales/en.json
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@
   },
   "vm": {
     "connection": { "online": "Online", "connecting": "Connecting…", "offline": "Offline" },
-    "shell": { "restartingWorker": "Restarting worker…" },
+    "shell": { "restartingWorker": "Restarting worker…", "unexpectedError": "Unexpected error: {0}" },
     "agentStatus": { "idle": "Idle", "queued": "Queued", "running": "Running", "review": "Review", "children": "Waiting for Subtasks", "done": "Done", "failed": "Failed", "cancelled": "Cancelled" },
     "taskStatus": { "idle": "Idle", "queued": "Queued", "running": "Running", "waitingForReview": "Waiting for Review", "waitingForChildren": "Waiting for Subtasks", "done": "Done", "failed": "Failed", "cancelled": "Cancelled", "parked": "Parked", "interactive": "Interactive" },
     "planningBadge": { "active": "PLANNING", "finalized": "PLANNED" },