diff --git a/src/config/foreign-tmux.ts b/src/config/foreign-tmux.ts
index e4c838c2..d60b5fd8 100644
--- a/src/config/foreign-tmux.ts
+++ b/src/config/foreign-tmux.ts
@@ -3,9 +3,12 @@
  * outside Codeman).
  *
  * Two facts drive every number here. First, the number of tmux sockets and panes
- * on a machine is NOT under Codeman's control — a discovery walk with no ceiling
- * is an unbounded loop over data someone else produces, so sockets and panes are
- * both hard-capped. Second, an ssh handshake is an order of magnitude slower than
+ * on a machine is NOT under Codeman's control, so a discovery walk with no ceiling
+ * is an unbounded loop over data someone else produces. Parsed rows are capped by
+ * count and the socket sweep by time: a sweep capped by count would stop in glob
+ * order, where `codeman*` sorts before `default` and a machine running many
+ * instances would never reach the sessions this feature is for. Second, an ssh
+ * handshake is an order of magnitude slower than
  * a local `exec`; reusing the shared 5s `EXEC_TIMEOUT_MS` would classify every
  * remote host as unreachable, so the probe gets its own timeout.
  *
@@ -25,8 +28,15 @@ export const FOREIGN_CACHE_TTL_MS = 5000;
 /** Timeout for one probe invocation (local exec, `docker exec`, or one ssh). */
 export const FOREIGN_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS = 12000;
 
-/** Max tmux sockets inspected per location, oldest-first by directory order. */
-export const FOREIGN_MAX_SOCKETS = 16;
+/**
+ * How long one tmux server may take to answer the probe's ping, in the script's own
+ * `sleep`, so whole seconds. A healthy server takes milliseconds. One that misses this
+ * costs only its own rows, and the sweep moves on to the next socket.
+ */
+export const FOREIGN_SOCKET_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 2;
+
+/** How long a timed-out probe's process group gets on SIGTERM before SIGKILL. */
+export const FOREIGN_PROBE_KILL_GRACE_MS = 2000;
 
 /** Max pane rows parsed from one probe. Panes past this are dropped, not errors. */
 export const FOREIGN_MAX_PANES = 400;
diff --git a/src/foreign-tmux-discovery.ts b/src/foreign-tmux-discovery.ts
index f3bd5d87..d94e057f 100644
--- a/src/foreign-tmux-discovery.ts
+++ b/src/foreign-tmux-discovery.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
  * ## ⚠️ The probe must not cross an extra shell
  *
  * The script contains `$TMUX_TMPDIR` and `$(id -u)`, which the INNER shell has to
- * expand. Local and docker therefore spawn with an argv array (`execFile`), where
- * no outer shell exists to eat them first. Remote is the exception: the ssh
+ * expand. Local and docker therefore spawn with an argv array, where no outer
+ * shell exists to eat them first. Remote is the exception: the ssh
  * command line is a string like every other ssh call in this codebase, so the
  * script is wrapped in SINGLE quotes there — which is exactly why
  * `buildForeignProbeScript()` may not contain one.
@@ -26,11 +26,19 @@
  * inner loop iterating over the literal `/tmux-/*` and reporting zero sessions on
  * a machine that had three.
  *
+ * ## A probe that goes wrong still answers
+ *
+ * All three transports go through `runForeignProbe`, which never rejects and hands
+ * back what it read. A timeout has to reach the whole process tree, not just the
+ * `sh` on top (the same rule as `runFetch` in git-fetch.ts): signalling only `sh`
+ * left its tmux child stuck on a stopped server, one more per scan, for as long as
+ * the home screen stayed open. And a scan cut short keeps the rows it already has,
+ * since one bad server must not empty the list of a machine with good ones.
+ *
  * @module foreign-tmux-discovery
  */
 
-import { execFile, exec } from 'node:child_process';
-import { promisify } from 'node:util';
+import { spawn, type ChildProcess } from 'node:child_process';
 import {
   buildForeignProbeScript,
   classifyForeignPaneMode,
@@ -45,20 +53,93 @@ import { dockerEngineArgv, readDockerCases, readDockerHosts } from './docker-hos
 import { buildSshConnectionArgs, readRemoteHosts, remoteSshTarget, shellescape } from './remote-hosts.js';
 import { runWithRemoteSshLimit } from './remote-ssh-limiter.js';
 import { resolveTmuxSocketName, getDataDir } from './config/instance.js';
-import { FOREIGN_CACHE_TTL_MS, FOREIGN_PROBE_MAX_BYTES, FOREIGN_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS } from './config/foreign-tmux.js';
+import {
+  FOREIGN_CACHE_TTL_MS,
+  FOREIGN_PROBE_KILL_GRACE_MS,
+  FOREIGN_PROBE_MAX_BYTES,
+  FOREIGN_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS,
+} from './config/foreign-tmux.js';
 import type { ForeignDiscoveryResult, ForeignTmuxSession } from './types/foreign-tmux.js';
 import type { DockerCase, DockerHost, RemoteHost, SessionDocker } from './types/session.js';
 
-const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
-const execAsync = promisify(exec);
-
 const IS_TEST_MODE = process.env.VITEST === 'true' || process.env.NODE_ENV === 'test';
 
-const PROBE_OPTS = {
-  encoding: 'utf-8' as const,
-  timeout: FOREIGN_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS,
-  maxBuffer: FOREIGN_PROBE_MAX_BYTES,
-};
+/** What one probe produced, however it ended. */
+export interface ForeignProbeRun {
+  /** Everything read before it finished or was stopped. */
+  stdout: string;
+  /** False when it timed out, flooded, exited non-zero or could not start. */
+  ok: boolean;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Run one probe in its own process group. Never rejects (see @fileoverview).
+ *
+ * The caller is answered AT the deadline, while the group is still dying.
+ */
+export function runForeignProbe(
+  argv: readonly string[],
+  opts: { timeoutMs?: number; maxBytes?: number } = {}
+): Promise<ForeignProbeRun> {
+  const { timeoutMs = FOREIGN_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS, maxBytes = FOREIGN_PROBE_MAX_BYTES } = opts;
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const [file, ...args] = argv;
+    const chunks: Buffer[] = [];
+    let bytes = 0;
+    let settled = false;
+    let child: ChildProcess | undefined;
+    let escalation: NodeJS.Timeout | undefined;
+
+    const finish = (ok: boolean) => {
+      if (settled) return;
+      settled = true;
+      clearTimeout(deadline);
+      resolve({ stdout: Buffer.concat(chunks).toString('utf-8'), ok });
+    };
+    const signalGroup = (signal: NodeJS.Signals) => {
+      try {
+        if (child?.pid) process.kill(-child.pid, signal);
+      } catch {
+        /* already gone */
+      }
+    };
+    const stop = () => {
+      signalGroup('SIGTERM');
+      escalation = setTimeout(() => signalGroup('SIGKILL'), FOREIGN_PROBE_KILL_GRACE_MS);
+      escalation.unref();
+      // ⚠️ Let go of the pipe by hand. A stopped tmux server can hold it open with
+      // everything in this group dead (see foreign-tmux.ts), so waiting for its EOF
+      // would keep one handle per scan until that server is resumed.
+      child?.stdout?.destroy();
+      finish(false);
+    };
+    const deadline = setTimeout(stop, timeoutMs);
+
+    try {
+      child = spawn(file ?? '', args, { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'], detached: true });
+    } catch {
+      finish(false);
+      return;
+    }
+    child.stdout?.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => {
+      if (settled) return;
+      chunks.push(chunk.subarray(0, Math.max(0, maxBytes - bytes)));
+      bytes += chunk.length;
+      if (bytes > maxBytes) stop();
+    });
+    child.on('error', () => finish(false));
+    child.on('close', (code) => {
+      // The group is gone, so a late SIGKILL could only reach whoever reused its id.
+      clearTimeout(escalation);
+      finish(code === 0);
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+/** The note for a probe that ended badly. Rows already read stay, so say which case this is. */
+function probeFailureNote(where: string, run: ForeignProbeRun, nothing: string): string {
+  return run.stdout ? `${where}: the scan did not finish, this list may be incomplete` : `${where}: ${nothing}`;
+}
 
 /**
  * Turn one probe's stdout into candidates. Shared by all three transports, so a
@@ -68,7 +149,7 @@ const PROBE_OPTS = {
  * <label>`). The browser tells the two kinds apart by it: a local note is re-read on
  * every poll, a container or host note only by the next explicit scan.
  */
-function candidatesFrom(
+export function candidatesFrom(
   stdout: string,
   location: ForeignTmuxSession['location'],
   hostKey: string,
@@ -119,9 +200,16 @@ function candidatesFrom(
   }
   if (unsafe) {
     notes.push(
-      `${where}: ${unsafe} session(s) skipped, the tmux session name or socket path contains characters Codeman will not pass to a shell`
+      `${where}: ${unsafe} session(s) skipped, the tmux session name or socket path is one Codeman cannot pass safely to a shell or to tmux`
     );
   }
+  // Another Codeman's server is not a session this list would ever have shown.
+  const hung = probe.hungSockets.filter(
+    (socketPath) => !isCodemanOwnedPane({ socketPath, sessionName: '' }, ownSocket)
+  );
+  if (hung.length) {
+    notes.push(`${where}: ${hung.length} tmux server(s) did not answer, sessions on them are not listed`);
+  }
   return out;
 }
 
@@ -145,17 +233,11 @@ export async function discoverLocalForeign(force = false): Promise<ForeignDiscov
 
   localInFlight = (async (): Promise<ForeignDiscoveryResult> => {
     const notes: string[] = [];
-    let sessions: ForeignTmuxSession[] = [];
-    try {
-      // argv array: no outer shell, so the script's own `$TMUX_TMPDIR`/`$(id -u)`
-      // reach the inner sh intact (see @fileoverview).
-      const { stdout } = await execFileAsync('sh', ['-c', buildForeignProbeScript()], PROBE_OPTS);
-      sessions = candidatesFrom(stdout, 'local', 'local', {}, 'local', notes);
-    } catch {
-      // No tmux, no sockets, or a probe that timed out. "Nothing to adopt here"
-      // is the only honest answer and it is never an error to the caller.
-      notes.push('local: tmux probe produced no result');
-    }
+    // argv array: no outer shell, so the script's own `$TMUX_TMPDIR`/`$(id -u)`
+    // reach the inner sh intact (see @fileoverview).
+    const run = await runForeignProbe(['sh', '-c', buildForeignProbeScript()]);
+    const sessions = candidatesFrom(run.stdout, 'local', 'local', {}, 'local', notes);
+    if (!run.ok) notes.push(probeFailureNote('local', run, 'tmux probe produced no result'));
     const result: ForeignDiscoveryResult = { sessions, scannedAt: Date.now(), notes };
     localCache = { at: Date.now(), result };
     return result;
@@ -239,22 +321,19 @@ export async function discoverDockerForeign(cases: DockerCase[]): Promise<Foreig
 
   await Promise.all(
     targets.map(async (t) => {
-      const [engine, ...args] = foreignDockerProbeArgv(t);
-      try {
-        const { stdout } = await execFileAsync(engine, args, PROBE_OPTS);
-        sessions.push(
-          ...candidatesFrom(
-            stdout,
-            'docker',
-            `${t.hostId} ${t.containerName}`,
-            { hostId: t.hostId, hostLabel: t.label, containerName: t.containerName },
-            `docker ${t.containerName}`,
-            notes
-          )
-        );
-      } catch {
-        notes.push(`docker ${t.containerName}: not running, no tmux, or engine unreachable`);
-      }
+      const where = `docker ${t.containerName}`;
+      const run = await runForeignProbe(foreignDockerProbeArgv(t));
+      sessions.push(
+        ...candidatesFrom(
+          run.stdout,
+          'docker',
+          `${t.hostId} ${t.containerName}`,
+          { hostId: t.hostId, hostLabel: t.label, containerName: t.containerName },
+          where,
+          notes
+        )
+      );
+      if (!run.ok) notes.push(probeFailureNote(where, run, 'not running, no tmux, or engine unreachable'));
     })
   );
 
@@ -301,12 +380,13 @@ export async function discoverRemoteForeign(hosts: RemoteHost[]): Promise<Foreig
     hosts.map(async (host) => {
       const where = `remote ${host.label}`;
       try {
-        const { stdout } = await runWithRemoteSshLimit(() => execAsync(foreignRemoteProbeCommand(host), PROBE_OPTS), {
+        const run = await runWithRemoteSshLimit(() => runForeignProbe(['sh', '-c', foreignRemoteProbeCommand(host)]), {
           maxWaitMs: FOREIGN_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS,
         });
         sessions.push(
-          ...candidatesFrom(stdout, 'remote', host.id, { hostId: host.id, hostLabel: host.label }, where, notes)
+          ...candidatesFrom(run.stdout, 'remote', host.id, { hostId: host.id, hostLabel: host.label }, where, notes)
         );
+        if (!run.ok) notes.push(probeFailureNote(where, run, 'unreachable, or no tmux'));
       } catch {
         notes.push(`${where}: unreachable, or no tmux`);
       }
diff --git a/src/foreign-tmux.ts b/src/foreign-tmux.ts
index a0cac77d..49f88573 100644
--- a/src/foreign-tmux.ts
+++ b/src/foreign-tmux.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,21 @@
  * is pure and unit-testable, instead of in a shell string that is embedded three
  * different ways and can only be debugged against a real host.
  *
+ * The one thing the script does decide is whether a server is safe to ask, because
+ * only the script can. A tmux server that stopped answering holds its client
+ * forever, and from outside a container or across ssh no signal reaches that
+ * client: a timeout kills `docker exec` or `ssh`, never what they started. So each
+ * server gets a bounded ping first, and one that misses it costs its own rows and
+ * a `CMFH` line, not the whole scan.
+ *
+ * ⚠️ The ping exists because a watchdog around `list-panes` cannot work. A tmux
+ * client hands dups of its stdout to the server, so a stopped server keeps our
+ * stdout pipe open after the client is dead (measured: SIGTERM ended the client at
+ * once and no EOF came in the 2.5 s that were watched, while the server stayed
+ * stopped). Nothing reading that pipe can finish, and the same hold would keep
+ * `docker exec` and `ssh` waiting on it. The ping's stdout is /dev/null, so only a
+ * server that just answered ever gets the real one.
+ *
  * ⚠️ The script MUST NOT contain a single quote. It is wrapped in single quotes
  * to cross `ssh <host> '<script>'` and `docker exec <c> sh -lc '<script>'`. That
  * is the single-quote dual of the "no double quotes in the docker launch chain"
@@ -71,7 +86,7 @@
 import { collectDescendants } from './proc-tree.js';
 import { listClis } from './config/cli-registry/registry.js';
 import { withRemoteTmuxPath } from './remote-hosts.js';
-import { FOREIGN_MAX_PANES, FOREIGN_MAX_PROCS, FOREIGN_MAX_SOCKETS } from './config/foreign-tmux.js';
+import { FOREIGN_MAX_PANES, FOREIGN_MAX_PROCS, FOREIGN_SOCKET_TIMEOUT_SECONDS } from './config/foreign-tmux.js';
 import type { ForeignPaneProbe, ForeignTmuxLocationKind } from './types/foreign-tmux.js';
 import type { SessionAdopt, SessionMode } from './types/session.js';
 
@@ -92,6 +107,7 @@ const REJOIN = '\t';
 const PANE_MARKER = 'CMFP';
 const PROC_MARKER = 'CMFQ';
 const SOCKET_MARKER = 'CMFS';
+const HUNG_MARKER = 'CMFH';
 
 /**
  * The probe, as POSIX sh. NO SINGLE QUOTES (see @fileoverview).
@@ -99,6 +115,7 @@ const SOCKET_MARKER = 'CMFS';
  * Emits, in order:
  *   CMFS<sep><socket path>                        (one per readable socket)
  *   CMFP<sep><socket><sep>...<sep>name<sep>path   (one per pane on that socket)
+ *   CMFH<sep><socket path>                        (a server that did not answer)
  *   CMFQ                                          (marker; ps rows follow)
  *   <pid> <ppid> <argv...>
  *
@@ -135,11 +152,32 @@ export function buildForeignProbeScript(): string {
   // server (that is exactly where tmux puts them). A socket at an arbitrary
   // `tmux -S /custom/path` is deliberately out of scope: finding it would mean
   // walking the filesystem for sockets.
+  //
+  // `-u` because a POSIX locale otherwise rewrites every non-ASCII byte tmux prints
+  // to `_` (measured in a container: session `会话` listed as `____`), and a name
+  // read wrong is a name the guard then cannot find.
+  //
+  // The ping (see @fileoverview) runs in the background beside a watchdog, the POSIX
+  // spelling of `timeout`, which macOS does not ship. A stale socket answers at once
+  // with status 1 and is skipped, so the ping costs a live server one extra spawn and
+  // a dead one none. `has-session` cannot start a server on a stale socket.
+  // ⚠️ The watchdog says it fired with its own exit status, 7: a tmux client ended by
+  // SIGTERM exits 0 (measured), so the ping's status cannot tell. It prints the marker
+  // BEFORE the kill and the loop reaps it, or the line could land after `CMFQ` and
+  // parse as a process row. The `trap` ends the `sleep` with it, so a scan does not
+  // leave one behind per socket. `\$Z` is for the trap to expand: it is set before Z
+  // exists, so a socket that answers at once wins that race.
+  const watchdog =
+    `( trap "kill \\$Z 2>/dev/null; exit" TERM; sleep ${FOREIGN_SOCKET_TIMEOUT_SECONDS} >/dev/null 2>&1 & Z=$!; ` +
+    `wait $Z && { echo "${HUNG_MARKER} $S"; kill $P; exit 7; } ) & W=$!`;
+  const ping =
+    `tmux -S "$S" has-session >/dev/null 2>&1 & P=$!; ${watchdog}; ` +
+    'wait $P; R=$?; kill $W 2>/dev/null; wait $W 2>/dev/null; [ $? -ne 7 ] && [ $R -eq 0 ] || continue';
   return [
     'TD=${TMUX_TMPDIR:-/tmp}',
     'U=$(id -u 2>/dev/null || echo 0)',
-    `for S in $TD/tmux-$U/*; do [ -S "$S" ] || continue; echo "${SOCKET_MARKER} $S"; ` +
-      `tmux -S "$S" list-panes -a -F "${fmt}" 2>/dev/null; done`,
+    `for S in $TD/tmux-$U/*; do [ -S "$S" ] || continue; echo "${SOCKET_MARKER} $S"; ${ping}; ` +
+      `tmux -u -S "$S" list-panes -a -F "${fmt}" 2>/dev/null; done`,
     `echo ${PROC_MARKER}`,
     'ps -eo pid=,ppid=,args= 2>/dev/null || ps ax -o pid=,ppid=,args= 2>/dev/null || true',
   ].join('; ');
@@ -157,15 +195,18 @@ export interface ForeignProbeOutput {
   argvByPid: Map<number, string>;
   /** Sockets seen, in scan order (may exceed the pane list when a socket is empty). */
   sockets: string[];
+  /** Sockets whose server missed the per-socket bound, so their rows are absent. */
+  hungSockets: string[];
 }
 
 /** Parse one probe's stdout. Never throws: a malformed row is skipped, not fatal. */
 export function parseForeignProbeOutput(stdout: string): ForeignProbeOutput {
   const panes: ForeignPaneProbe[] = [];
   const sockets: string[] = [];
+  const hungSockets: string[] = [];
   const byParent = new Map<number, number[]>();
   const argvByPid = new Map<number, string>();
-  if (!stdout) return { panes, byParent, argvByPid, sockets };
+  if (!stdout) return { panes, byParent, argvByPid, sockets, hungSockets };
 
   let inProcs = false;
   let procCount = 0;
@@ -197,7 +238,12 @@ export function parseForeignProbeOutput(stdout: string): ForeignProbeOutput {
 
     if (line.startsWith(`${SOCKET_MARKER} `)) {
       const sock = line.slice(SOCKET_MARKER.length + 1);
-      if (sock && sockets.length < FOREIGN_MAX_SOCKETS && !sockets.includes(sock)) sockets.push(sock);
+      if (sock && !sockets.includes(sock)) sockets.push(sock);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (line.startsWith(`${HUNG_MARKER} `)) {
+      hungSockets.push(line.slice(HUNG_MARKER.length + 1));
       continue;
     }
 
@@ -233,7 +279,7 @@ export function parseForeignProbeOutput(stdout: string): ForeignProbeOutput {
     });
   }
 
-  return { panes, byParent, argvByPid, sockets };
+  return { panes, byParent, argvByPid, sockets, hungSockets };
 }
 
 // ===========================================================================
@@ -465,6 +511,18 @@ export function isCodemanOwnedPane(
  */
 const ADOPTABLE_TEXT = /^[\p{L}\p{N}\p{M} _.+=@#%,~^!/-]+$/u;
 
+/**
+ * Names `new-session -t` reads as target syntax instead of as a name.
+ *
+ * ⚠️ The guard's `has-session -t '=<name>'` looks up by name, the join does not, so
+ * these pass the guard and then join something else. Measured on tmux 3.4: `@1` and
+ * `%1` joined the session holding that window or pane, and input typed in the tab
+ * reached it; `=eq`, `@zz`, `%zz`, `~` and a bare `=` made a new group with a fresh
+ * shell on the foreign server. `~foo` and `! + - ^` joined their own windows, so a
+ * plain first-character rule would refuse them for nothing.
+ */
+const TMUX_TARGET_SYNTAX = /^[=@%]|^~$/;
+
 /** Same rule, plus the path separator and no `..` climbing. */
 export function isAdoptableSocketPath(socketPath: string): boolean {
   if (!socketPath || socketPath.length > 4096) return false;
@@ -476,6 +534,7 @@ export function isAdoptableSocketPath(socketPath: string): boolean {
 /** True when this session name can cross the launch chain safely. */
 export function isAdoptableSessionName(sessionName: string): boolean {
   if (!sessionName || sessionName.length > 256) return false;
+  if (TMUX_TARGET_SYNTAX.test(sessionName)) return false;
   return ADOPTABLE_TEXT.test(sessionName);
 }
 
@@ -583,10 +642,18 @@ export interface ForeignAttachTarget {
  * The tmux invocation that joins a foreign session, as ONE line of POSIX sh.
  *
  * Shape and why:
+ *   command -v tmux || { echo no tmux; exit 127; } ;
  *   tmux -S <sock> has-session -t '=<target>' || { echo gone; exit 1; } ;
  *   tmux -S <sock> kill-session -t '=<view>' 2>/dev/null ;
- *   exec tmux -S <sock> new-session -t <target> -s <view> ; set destroy-unattached on ; set status off
+ *   exec tmux -u -S <sock> new-session -t <target> -s <view> ; set destroy-unattached on ; set status off
  *
+ * - ⚠️ `command -v` first because the guard below fires on ANY failure, and "tmux is
+ *   not on this PATH" (exit 127, hidden by the `2>/dev/null`) must not be told to the
+ *   user as "your session is gone" while it is running.
+ * - `-u` on the client: in a POSIX locale it otherwise writes the tab as if the
+ *   terminal were ASCII (measured: `_ hello qqq ____` for `❯ hello ─── 你好`). Only
+ *   the join needs it, since the guard prints nothing and tmux compares a target
+ *   name as bytes in any locale.
  * - ⚠️ The `has-session` guard comes FIRST because `new-session -t` does not fail
  *   on a missing target, it invents one. Measured on tmux 3.4: with `work` gone it
  *   joined `work-prod`, with nothing matching it created a fresh shell, and on a
@@ -595,10 +662,12 @@ export interface ForeignAttachTarget {
  *   owner exits their session the next Codeman restart would leave a new shell on
  *   their machine, in their container or on their ssh host. `=` is what makes the
  *   check exact (no prefix match), and `2>/dev/null` keeps tmux's own "no server"
- *   noise out of the pane — the message we print says it better.
- * - ⚠️ The `=` prefix cannot go on `new-session -t` itself: tmux reads it as part of
- *   the name and creates a group literally called `=work`. It has to be a separate
- *   `has-session`.
+ *   noise out of the pane: the message we print says it better. The check only holds
+ *   for a name `new-session -t` also reads as a name, which is what
+ *   `isAdoptableSessionName` keeps true (see `TMUX_TARGET_SYNTAX`).
+ * - ⚠️ The `=` prefix cannot stand in for that check on `new-session -t`: with the
+ *   target gone tmux takes it as part of the name and creates a group literally
+ *   called `=work`. It has to be a separate `has-session`.
  * - `new-session -t` creates a session in the target's GROUP: same windows, our
  *   own session options and current window (NOT our own size — see @fileoverview
  *   for the measurement that disproved that).
@@ -646,14 +715,30 @@ export function buildForeignTmuxInvocation(target: ForeignAttachTarget): string
   const gone = fshq(
     `Codeman: session ${target.targetSession} is gone. Codeman never creates a session it does not own.`
   );
+  const noTmux = fshq('Codeman: tmux was not found here, so the session could not be opened. It may still be running.');
+  const tmuxCheck = `command -v tmux >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo ${noTmux}; exit 127; }`;
   const guard = `tmux -S ${sock} has-session -t ${exact} 2>/dev/null || { echo ${gone}; exit 1; }`;
   // Our own leftover view from a previous adoption of the same Codeman session.
   const dropStaleView = `tmux -S ${sock} kill-session -t ${fshq(`=${target.viewSession}`)} 2>/dev/null || true`;
   const group =
-    `exec tmux -S ${sock} new-session -t ${t} -s ${v} \\; ` +
+    `exec tmux -u -S ${sock} new-session -t ${t} -s ${v} \\; ` +
     `set-option -t ${v} destroy-unattached on \\; ` +
     `set-option -t ${v} status off`;
-  return `${guard} ; ${dropStaleView} ; ${group}`;
+  return `${tmuxCheck} ; ${guard} ; ${dropStaleView} ; ${group}`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The attach line as the `bash -c` argument of the wrapper's `respawn-pane`.
+ *
+ * That argument sits in double quotes in a string `execSync` hands to `sh -c`, where
+ * `JSON.stringify` leaves `$` and backticks live and single quotes protect nothing.
+ * The ssh attach is the line that notices: its `$HOME` and `$PATH` belong to the far
+ * end (`foreignRemoteShellCommand`), and were being expanded HERE, so a tmux in the
+ * remote `~/.local/bin` was found by discovery and then missed by the attach. This
+ * escapes them for that one parse, so the line reaches `bash` as written.
+ */
+export function quoteAdoptLaunch(launchCmd: string): string {
+  return JSON.stringify(launchCmd).replace(/[$`]/g, '\\$&');
 }
 
 /** Local adoption: run the invocation directly in the wrapper pane. */
@@ -686,7 +771,10 @@ export function buildForeignDockerAttachCommand(opts: ForeignDockerAttachOptions
   const running =
     `${opts.dockerBase} inspect -f ${fshq('{{.State.Running}}')} ${name} 2>/dev/null | grep -qx true ` +
     `|| { echo ${notRunning}; exit 1; }`;
-  const exec = `exec ${opts.dockerBase} exec -it ${name} sh -lc ${fshq(buildForeignTmuxInvocation(opts))}`;
+  // The same terminal `resolveDockerLaunchOptions` gives an owned container's exec:
+  // `docker exec -it` defaults to TERM=xterm, which holds the tab to 8 colours.
+  const terminal = '-e TERM=xterm-256color -e COLORTERM=truecolor';
+  const exec = `exec ${opts.dockerBase} exec -it ${terminal} ${name} sh -lc ${fshq(buildForeignTmuxInvocation(opts))}`;
   return [inspect, running, exec].join(' ; ');
 }
 
diff --git a/src/tmux-manager.ts b/src/tmux-manager.ts
index c55cf1b7..1e5052fe 100644
--- a/src/tmux-manager.ts
+++ b/src/tmux-manager.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import {
   buildForeignAttachCommand,
   buildForeignDockerAttachCommand,
   buildForeignRemoteAttachCommand,
+  quoteAdoptLaunch,
 } from './foreign-tmux.js';
 import { execSync, exec, execFile } from 'node:child_process';
 import { promisify } from 'node:util';
@@ -2730,13 +2731,11 @@ export class TmuxManager extends EventEmitter implements TerminalMultiplexer {
       // ⚠️ An adopted pane is never `cd`'d: it only attaches, and its `workingDir`
       // is the neutral wrapper folder, not where the foreign pane is.
       const launchCmd = remote || docker || adopt ? fullCmd : `cd ${JSON.stringify(workingDir)} && ${fullCmd}`;
-      execSync(
-        `${this.tmux()} respawn-pane -k -c ${TMUX_LAUNCH_CWD} -t "${muxName}" bash -c ${JSON.stringify(launchCmd)}`,
-        {
-          timeout: EXEC_TIMEOUT_MS,
-          stdio: 'ignore',
-        }
-      );
+      const launchArg = adopt ? quoteAdoptLaunch(launchCmd) : JSON.stringify(launchCmd);
+      execSync(`${this.tmux()} respawn-pane -k -c ${TMUX_LAUNCH_CWD} -t "${muxName}" bash -c ${launchArg}`, {
+        timeout: EXEC_TIMEOUT_MS,
+        stdio: 'ignore',
+      });
 
       // Wait for tmux session to be queryable
       await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, TMUX_CREATION_WAIT_MS));
@@ -2994,12 +2993,10 @@ export class TmuxManager extends EventEmitter implements TerminalMultiplexer {
       // ⚠️ An adopted pane is never `cd`'d: it only attaches, and its `workingDir`
       // is the neutral wrapper folder, not where the foreign pane is.
       const launchCmd = remote || docker || adopt ? fullCmd : `cd ${JSON.stringify(workingDir)} && ${fullCmd}`;
-      await execAsync(
-        `${this.tmux()} respawn-pane -k -c ${TMUX_LAUNCH_CWD} -t "${muxName}" bash -c ${JSON.stringify(launchCmd)}`,
-        {
-          timeout: EXEC_TIMEOUT_MS,
-        }
-      );
+      const launchArg = adopt ? quoteAdoptLaunch(launchCmd) : JSON.stringify(launchCmd);
+      await execAsync(`${this.tmux()} respawn-pane -k -c ${TMUX_LAUNCH_CWD} -t "${muxName}" bash -c ${launchArg}`, {
+        timeout: EXEC_TIMEOUT_MS,
+      });
       // Wait for the respawned process to start
       await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, TMUX_CREATION_WAIT_MS));
       // The pane now runs a fresh command, so whatever the last read observed of
diff --git a/src/web/public/app.js b/src/web/public/app.js
index 3922f083..89cdb693 100644
--- a/src/web/public/app.js
+++ b/src/web/public/app.js
@@ -10879,6 +10879,9 @@ class CodemanApp {
       // An SSE resync (handleInit) that landed mid-request rebuilds the list from
       // the server, which still had the session then.
       if (this.sessions.has(sessionId)) this._onSessionDeleted({ id: sessionId });
+      // The home screen read the outside-sessions list when the tab went, before this
+      // delete landed, so its row would say "Go to tab" with no tab until the next poll.
+      if (session?.adopt) void this.loadForeignSessions?.();
       if (killMux) {
         this.showToast('Session closed and tmux killed', 'success');
       } else {
diff --git a/src/web/routes/ralph-routes.ts b/src/web/routes/ralph-routes.ts
index e61b16ad..9a6dd9a4 100644
--- a/src/web/routes/ralph-routes.ts
+++ b/src/web/routes/ralph-routes.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,15 @@ import type { SessionPort, EventPort, RespawnPort, ConfigPort, InfraPort } from
 /** Cap on a remote `@fix_plan.md` read over ssh (a task list, not a document). */
 const MAX_REMOTE_FIX_PLAN_BYTES = 1024 * 1024;
 
+/**
+ * An adopted session's `workingDir` is the neutral wrapper folder `/tmp`, not a workspace.
+ * Using it would write a predictable name into a folder anyone can write to, and read one
+ * back, while the agent in the pane never sees either file.
+ */
+function refuseAdoptedRalphFile(file: string) {
+  return createErrorResponse(ApiErrorCode.INVALID_INPUT, `${file} is not available for an adopted session`);
+}
+
 export function registerRalphRoutes(
   app: FastifyInstance,
   ctx: SessionPort & EventPort & RespawnPort & ConfigPort & InfraPort
@@ -208,6 +217,7 @@ export function registerRalphRoutes(
   app.post('/api/sessions/:id/fix-plan/write', async (req) => {
     const { id } = req.params as { id: string };
     const session = findSessionOrFail(ctx, id, req);
+    if (session.isAdopted) return refuseAdoptedRalphFile('@fix_plan.md');
     // A remote session's workingDir is a path on the remote host. Writing it with local fs would land
     // the file in a same-named local folder (or fail), and remote writes are out of scope by design
     // (src/remote-files.ts is read-only), so it is refused, like the File Viewer's remote edit.
@@ -244,6 +254,7 @@ export function registerRalphRoutes(
   app.post('/api/sessions/:id/fix-plan/read', async (req) => {
     const { id } = req.params as { id: string };
     const session = findSessionOrFail(ctx, id, req);
+    if (session.isAdopted) return refuseAdoptedRalphFile('@fix_plan.md');
 
     const workingDir = session.workingDir;
     if (!workingDir) {
@@ -291,6 +302,7 @@ export function registerRalphRoutes(
     const { id } = req.params as { id: string };
     const { content } = parseBody(RalphPromptWriteSchema, req.body, 'Invalid request body');
     const session = findSessionOrFail(ctx, id, req);
+    if (session.isAdopted) return refuseAdoptedRalphFile('@ralph_prompt.md');
     // Same rule as fix-plan/write: never write a remote session's file on the local disk.
     if (session.remote) {
       return createErrorResponse(
diff --git a/test/foreign-tmux.test.ts b/test/foreign-tmux.test.ts
index fce38b01..5f294d2d 100644
--- a/test/foreign-tmux.test.ts
+++ b/test/foreign-tmux.test.ts
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@
  * would quietly undo. Each one has a comment naming what actually went wrong.
  */
 
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { execSync, spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { createServer, type Server } from 'node:net';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
@@ -26,8 +27,14 @@ import {
   buildForeignDockerViewKillCommand,
   buildForeignTmuxInvocation,
   foreignCliSignatures,
+  quoteAdoptLaunch,
 } from '../src/foreign-tmux.js';
-import { foreignDockerProbeArgv, foreignRemoteProbeCommand } from '../src/foreign-tmux-discovery.js';
+import {
+  candidatesFrom,
+  foreignDockerProbeArgv,
+  foreignRemoteProbeCommand,
+  runForeignProbe,
+} from '../src/foreign-tmux-discovery.js';
 import { buildAdoptSessionCommand } from '../src/tmux-manager.js';
 import type { RemoteHost, SessionAdopt } from '../src/types/session.js';
 import { PROC_WALK_MAX_NODES } from '../src/proc-tree.js';
@@ -74,6 +81,20 @@ describe('buildForeignProbeScript', () => {
     expect(s).toContain('${TMUX_TMPDIR:-/tmp}');
     expect(s).toContain('$TD/tmux-$U/*');
   });
+
+  it('asks tmux for UTF-8, so a POSIX locale cannot rewrite a name into underscores', () => {
+    // Measured in a POSIX-locale container: without `-u` a session called `会话` was
+    // listed as `____`, the guard then looked for `____`, and the tab opened dead.
+    expect(buildForeignProbeScript()).toContain('tmux -u -S "$S" list-panes');
+  });
+
+  it('pings each server with stdout at /dev/null before it gets the real one', () => {
+    // A client hands dups of its stdout to the server, so a stopped server holds our
+    // pipe open after the client dies and no reader of that pipe can ever finish.
+    const s = buildForeignProbeScript();
+    expect(s).toContain('tmux -S "$S" has-session >/dev/null 2>&1 &');
+    expect(s.indexOf('has-session')).toBeLessThan(s.indexOf('list-panes'));
+  });
 });
 
 describe('parseForeignProbeOutput', () => {
@@ -116,6 +137,19 @@ describe('parseForeignProbeOutput', () => {
     expect(out.panes[0].paneCurrentPath).toBe('/srv/x');
     expect(out.panes[0].sessionName).toBe('my\tname');
   });
+
+  it('lists every socket it swept, however many there are', () => {
+    // There used to be a cap here that only trimmed this list while the loop went on
+    // to every socket anyway. A real cap in glob order would be worse: `codeman*`
+    // sorts before `default`, so a box with many instances would never reach it.
+    const lines = Array.from({ length: 40 }, (_, i) => `CMFS /tmp/tmux-0/s${i}`);
+    expect(parseForeignProbeOutput(lines.join('\n')).sockets).toHaveLength(40);
+  });
+
+  it('records a server that did not answer', () => {
+    const out = parseForeignProbeOutput(`CMFS /tmp/tmux-0/hung\nCMFH /tmp/tmux-0/hung\nCMFQ\n`);
+    expect(out.hungSockets).toEqual(['/tmp/tmux-0/hung']);
+  });
 });
 
 describe('classifyForeignPaneMode', () => {
@@ -201,6 +235,22 @@ describe('adoptability gate (security)', () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it('refuses a name tmux reads as target syntax rather than as a name', () => {
+    // `has-session -t '=<name>'` finds these by name, but `new-session -t <name>` does
+    // not. Measured on tmux 3.4: `@1` and `%1` joined the session holding that window or
+    // pane, so input typed in the tab reached someone else's pane, and `=eq`, `=`, `@zz`,
+    // `%zz` and `~` made a new group with a fresh shell on the foreign server.
+    for (const n of ['@1', '%1', '@zz', '%zz', '=eq', '=', '~']) expect(isAdoptableSessionName(n)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps the names that only look like target syntax', () => {
+    // Each of these joined its own windows on tmux 3.4. `! + - ^` are window tokens, and
+    // a `-t` of the session type never reads them as such.
+    for (const n of ['!', '+', '-', '^', '^x', '+x', '-dash', '!bang', '~foo', 'a~b', 'a@b', 'x=y', 'x%y', '40']) {
+      expect(isAdoptableSessionName(n)).toBe(true);
+    }
+  });
+
   it('holds the socket path to the same rule, plus absoluteness', () => {
     // A socket is `tmux -L <name>` under a user-controlled directory, so its
     // path is attacker-influenceable in exactly the same way.
@@ -280,6 +330,29 @@ describe('attach command builders', () => {
     ).toContain('has-session');
   });
 
+  it('attaches as a UTF-8 client whatever the locale says', () => {
+    // Measured in a POSIX-locale container: without `-u` the tab read `_ hello qqq ____`
+    // for `❯ hello ─── 你好`, with `client_utf8=0`.
+    expect(buildForeignTmuxInvocation(target)).toContain("exec tmux -u -S '/tmp/tmux-0/default' new-session -t");
+  });
+
+  it('says tmux is missing instead of calling a live session gone', () => {
+    // `has-session ... 2>/dev/null ||` fires for any failure, exit 127 included, so an
+    // ssh host where tmux is off the PATH used to print that the session was gone.
+    const emptyBin = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'foreign-no-tmux-'));
+    try {
+      const run = spawnSync('/bin/sh', ['-c', buildForeignTmuxInvocation(target)], {
+        encoding: 'utf-8',
+        env: { PATH: emptyBin },
+      });
+      expect(run.status).toBe(127);
+      expect(run.stdout).toMatch(/tmux was not found/);
+      expect(run.stdout).not.toMatch(/is gone/);
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(emptyBin, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it('sets destroy-unattached so the view dies with our pane', () => {
     expect(buildForeignTmuxInvocation(target)).toContain('destroy-unattached on');
   });
@@ -372,6 +445,11 @@ describe('attach command builders', () => {
     it('carries the engine flags it was given', () => {
       expect(cmd).toContain('docker --context ci');
     });
+
+    it('gives the client the same terminal an owned container gets', () => {
+      // `docker exec -it` defaults to TERM=xterm, which held the tab to 8 colours.
+      expect(cmd).toContain("exec -it -e TERM=xterm-256color -e COLORTERM=truecolor 'my-box' sh -lc");
+    });
   });
 
   describe('remote', () => {
@@ -478,7 +556,8 @@ describe('the docker and ssh transports', () => {
         },
         'abc12345'
       );
-      expect(cmd).toContain("podman --context 'my ctx' exec -it 'box' sh -lc");
+      expect(cmd).toContain("podman --context 'my ctx' exec -it ");
+      expect(cmd).toContain("'box' sh -lc");
     });
 
     it('goes through the saved connection for an ssh host', () => {
@@ -534,6 +613,210 @@ describe('the docker and ssh transports', () => {
       expect(out).toContain('<-S></tmp/tmux-1000/my sock><has-session><-t><=my work>');
       expect(out).toContain('<new-session><-t><my work><-s><codeman-view-abc12345><;><set-option>');
     });
+
+    it('leaves the PATH line for the far end to expand', () => {
+      // The launch string crosses execSync's `sh -c` inside double quotes, where single
+      // quotes protect nothing, so `$HOME` and `$PATH` used to become THIS host's values
+      // and a tmux in the remote `~/.local/bin` was found by discovery and missed here.
+      writeFileSync(join(bin, 'ssh'), '#!/bin/sh\nfor last; do :; done\nprintf "%s\\n" "$last"\n', { mode: 0o755 });
+      const launch = buildForeignRemoteAttachCommand({
+        socketPath: '/tmp/tmux-1000/default',
+        targetSession: 'work',
+        viewSession: 'codeman-view-abc12345',
+        sshArgs: ['ssh', '-o BatchMode=yes'],
+        sshTarget: 'me@host',
+      });
+      const out = execSync(`bash -c ${quoteAdoptLaunch(launch)}`, {
+        encoding: 'utf-8',
+        env: { ...process.env, HOME: home, PATH: `${bin}:${process.env.PATH}` },
+      });
+      expect(out).toContain('$HOME/.local/bin');
+      expect(out).toContain(':$PATH"');
+      expect(out).not.toContain(home);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('quoteAdoptLaunch', () => {
+    const echoed = (text: string) => execSync(`printf '%s' ${quoteAdoptLaunch(text)}`, { encoding: 'utf-8' });
+
+    it('hands the text through one sh parse untouched', () => {
+      const text = 'echo $HOME `id` "q" \\ and \\$x';
+      expect(echoed(text)).toBe(text);
+    });
+
+    it('is what both launch sites use', () => {
+      // Create and respawn build the same string. Fixing only one would leave a wrapper
+      // whose first attach works and whose re-attach after a restart does not.
+      const src = readFileSync(join(import.meta.dirname, '../src/tmux-manager.ts'), 'utf-8');
+      expect(src.match(/adopt \? quoteAdoptLaunch\(launchCmd\) : JSON\.stringify\(launchCmd\)/g)).toHaveLength(2);
+      expect(src.match(/bash -c \$\{JSON\.stringify\(launchCmd\)\}/g)).toBeNull();
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+describe('a tmux server that stops answering', () => {
+  // A real server SIGSTOPped on a scratch socket cost 12 s, every row on the machine and
+  // a stuck client per scan. The stand-in tmux below hangs the same way for one socket.
+  // /tmp rather than tmpdir(): a unix socket path has to fit in about 100 bytes.
+  let root: string;
+  let bin: string;
+  let servers: Server[];
+
+  const listen = (path: string) =>
+    new Promise<Server>((resolve, reject) => {
+      const server = createServer();
+      server.once('error', reject);
+      server.listen(path, () => resolve(server));
+    });
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    root = mkdtempSync('/tmp/cmfp-');
+    bin = join(root, 'bin');
+    const sockets = join(root, `tmux-${process.getuid?.() ?? 0}`);
+    mkdirSync(bin);
+    mkdirSync(sockets);
+    servers = await Promise.all(['a', 'hung', 'z'].map((name) => listen(join(sockets, name))));
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(bin, 'tmux'),
+      [
+        '#!/bin/sh',
+        `echo "$*" >> ${root}/calls`,
+        'case "$*" in *"/hung "*) exec sleep 30 ;; esac',
+        'case "$*" in *has-session*) exit 0 ;; esac',
+        'for a; do case "$a" in */tmux-*) S=$a ;; esac; done',
+        `printf 'CMFP\\t%s\\t7\\t0\\t1\\t100\\t0\\t%%%%0\\tbash\\twork\\t/srv\\n' "$S"`,
+      ].join('\n'),
+      { mode: 0o755 }
+    );
+  });
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    await Promise.all(servers.map((s) => new Promise((resolve) => s.close(resolve))));
+    rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  const probe = (script: string) =>
+    runForeignProbe(['env', `TMUX_TMPDIR=${root}`, `PATH=${bin}:${process.env.PATH}`, 'sh', '-c', script]);
+
+  it('costs only its own rows, and the scan still finishes', async () => {
+    const startedAt = Date.now();
+    const run = await probe(buildForeignProbeScript());
+    expect(Date.now() - startedAt).toBeLessThan(6000);
+    expect(run.ok).toBe(true);
+    const out = parseForeignProbeOutput(run.stdout);
+    expect(out.panes.map((p) => p.socketPath.split('/').pop())).toEqual(['a', 'z']);
+    expect(out.hungSockets.map((s) => s.split('/').pop())).toEqual(['hung']);
+    // The script ran on past the hung socket to the marker that ends the sweep.
+    expect(run.stdout).toContain('CMFQ');
+    // ⚠️ The point of the ping: a server that missed it never receives our stdout.
+    const calls = readFileSync(join(root, 'calls'), 'utf-8');
+    expect(calls).toMatch(/\/hung has-session/);
+    expect(calls).not.toMatch(/\/hung list-panes/);
+  });
+
+  it('never lists, let alone starts, a server on a stale socket', async () => {
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(bin, 'tmux'),
+      `#!/bin/sh\necho "$*" >> ${root}/calls\ncase "$*" in *has-session*) exit 1 ;; esac\n`,
+      { mode: 0o755 }
+    );
+    await probe(buildForeignProbeScript());
+    const calls = readFileSync(join(root, 'calls'), 'utf-8');
+    expect(calls).toMatch(/has-session/);
+    expect(calls).not.toMatch(/list-panes|new-session|start-server/);
+  });
+
+  it('says so in a note, and keeps the rows it did read', () => {
+    const stdout = [
+      'CMFS /tmp/tmux-0/default',
+      'CMFP\\t/tmp/tmux-0/default\\t900\\t0\\t1\\t1788092500\\t0\\t%1\\tbash\\tscratch\\t/home/me',
+      'CMFH /tmp/tmux-0/stopped',
+      'CMFH /tmp/tmux-0/codeman-other',
+      'CMFQ',
+    ].join('\n');
+    const notes: string[] = [];
+    const rows = candidatesFrom(stdout, 'local', 'local', {}, 'local', notes);
+    expect(rows.map((r) => r.sessionName)).toEqual(['scratch']);
+    // Another Codeman's socket is not a session this list would ever show.
+    expect(notes).toEqual(['local: 1 tmux server(s) did not answer, sessions on them are not listed']);
+    // The adopt route reads a note with `skipped` in it as a refusal rather than as a
+    // location it could not reach, and this one is the second kind.
+    expect(notes[0]).not.toMatch(/skipped/);
+  });
+});
+
+describe.skipIf(spawnSync('tmux', ['-V']).status !== 0)('a real stopped tmux server', () => {
+  it('costs a scan the ping and nothing more, though it holds stdout past its client', async () => {
+    // The stand-in above cannot show this. Only a real server takes a dup of the client's
+    // stdout, and that is what kept a scan waiting after the client was dead.
+    const root = mkdtempSync('/tmp/cmfr-');
+    const sockets = join(root, `tmux-${process.getuid?.() ?? 0}`);
+    mkdirSync(sockets);
+    const stopped = join(sockets, 'stopped');
+    const env = { ...process.env, TMUX: '' };
+    const tmux = (...args: string[]) => spawnSync('tmux', ['-S', stopped, ...args], { encoding: 'utf-8', env });
+    let serverPid = 0;
+    try {
+      expect(tmux('-f', '/dev/null', 'new-session', '-d', '-s', 'held', 'sleep 60').status).toBe(0);
+      serverPid = Number(tmux('display-message', '-p', '#{pid}').stdout);
+      expect(serverPid).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+      process.kill(serverPid, 'SIGSTOP');
+
+      const startedAt = Date.now();
+      const run = await runForeignProbe(['env', `TMUX_TMPDIR=${root}`, 'sh', '-c', buildForeignProbeScript()]);
+
+      expect(Date.now() - startedAt).toBeLessThan(6000);
+      expect(run.ok).toBe(true);
+      const out = parseForeignProbeOutput(run.stdout);
+      expect(out.hungSockets).toEqual([stopped]);
+      expect(out.panes).toEqual([]);
+    } finally {
+      if (serverPid > 0) process.kill(serverPid, 'SIGCONT');
+      tmux('kill-server');
+      rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  }, 20000);
+});
+
+describe('runForeignProbe', () => {
+  const alive = (pid: number) =>
+    spawnSync('ps', ['-o', 'stat=', '-p', String(pid)], { encoding: 'utf-8' }).stdout.trim();
+
+  it('reaches the whole process group at the deadline and keeps what was read', async () => {
+    // A timeout that signals only `sh` left its tmux child stuck on the hung server, one
+    // more per scan, for as long as the home screen stayed open.
+    const run = await runForeignProbe(['sh', '-c', 'echo first; sleep 60 & echo $!; wait'], { timeoutMs: 400 });
+    expect(run.ok).toBe(false);
+    const [first, pid] = run.stdout.trim().split('\n');
+    expect(first).toBe('first');
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(alive(Number(pid))).toMatch(/^(Z.*)?$/), { timeout: 2000 });
+  });
+
+  it('answers at the deadline even when something outside the group holds the pipe', async () => {
+    // What a stopped tmux server does. `setsid` is the stand-in for it: out of the group,
+    // so the kill misses it, and it keeps the write end of stdout open.
+    if (spawnSync('sh', ['-c', 'command -v setsid']).status !== 0) return;
+    const startedAt = Date.now();
+    const run = await runForeignProbe(['sh', '-c', 'echo first; setsid sleep 3 & exit 0'], { timeoutMs: 300 });
+    expect(Date.now() - startedAt).toBeLessThan(2000);
+    expect(run).toEqual({ stdout: 'first\n', ok: false });
+  });
+
+  it('stops a probe that floods instead of holding it in memory', async () => {
+    const run = await runForeignProbe(['sh', '-c', 'while :; do echo aaaaaaaa; done'], {
+      maxBytes: 4096,
+      timeoutMs: 5000,
+    });
+    expect(run.ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(run.stdout.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(4096);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps the output of a command that failed', async () => {
+    expect(await runForeignProbe(['sh', '-c', 'echo partial; exit 3'])).toEqual({ stdout: 'partial\n', ok: false });
+  });
+
+  it('answers rather than throws when the command cannot start', async () => {
+    expect(await runForeignProbe(['/nonexistent/probe'])).toEqual({ stdout: '', ok: false });
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/test/routes/foreign-adoption-routes.test.ts b/test/routes/foreign-adoption-routes.test.ts
index e0835203..7ca8c0a2 100644
--- a/test/routes/foreign-adoption-routes.test.ts
+++ b/test/routes/foreign-adoption-routes.test.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
  *
  * Port: none (app.inject()).
  */
-import { mkdirSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, readdirSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest';
 
@@ -102,6 +103,43 @@ describe('adopted sessions refuse every auto-op that drives the pane', () => {
     expect(res.json().error).toMatch(/adopted/i);
     await h.app.close();
   });
+
+  // ⚠️ Neither of these is a mock-only concern: an adopted session's `workingDir` is the
+  // neutral wrapper folder `/tmp`, so a live one wrote `/tmp/@ralph_prompt.md` on the host
+  // and answered success, a predictable name in a folder anyone can write to.
+  describe.each([
+    ['fix-plan/write', {}],
+    ['fix-plan/read', {}],
+    ['ralph-prompt/write', { content: 'prompt' }],
+  ])('POST %s', (route, payload) => {
+    let dir: string;
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'adopted-ralph-'));
+      writeFileSync(join(dir, '@fix_plan.md'), '- [ ] task\n');
+    });
+    afterEach(() => rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true }));
+
+    const post = async (isAdopted: boolean) => {
+      const h = await createRouteTestHarness(registerRalphRoutes, { sessionId: SID });
+      const ralphTracker = { todos: [], generateFixPlanMarkdown: () => '', importFixPlanMarkdown: () => 0 };
+      Object.assign(h.ctx._session as object, { isAdopted, workingDir: dir, ralphTracker });
+      const res = await h.app.inject({ method: 'POST', url: `/api/sessions/${SID}/${route}`, payload });
+      await h.app.close();
+      return res.json();
+    };
+
+    it('refuses an adopted session and touches nothing', async () => {
+      const before = readdirSync(dir);
+      const body = await post(true);
+      expect(body.success).toBe(false);
+      expect(body.error).toMatch(/adopted/i);
+      expect(readdirSync(dir)).toEqual(before);
+    });
+
+    it('still answers for a session Codeman started', async () => {
+      expect((await post(false)).success).toBe(true);
+    });
+  });
 });
 
 describe('GET /api/mux/foreign', () => {
diff --git a/test/session-close-fallback.test.ts b/test/session-close-fallback.test.ts
index 44ddd682..683dd498 100644
--- a/test/session-close-fallback.test.ts
+++ b/test/session-close-fallback.test.ts
@@ -184,6 +184,34 @@ describe('closing the active session', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('closing an adopted tab', () => {
+  it('re-reads the outside-sessions list once the wrapper is gone', async () => {
+    // The home screen loads that list as soon as the tab goes, which is BEFORE the DELETE
+    // lands, so the row kept saying "Go to tab" with no tab behind it until the next poll.
+    const app = makeApp(A, [A]);
+    app.sessions.set(A, { id: A, adopt: { targetSession: 'work' } });
+    const order: string[] = [];
+    app._apiDelete = vi.fn(async () => {
+      order.push('delete');
+      return { ok: true, status: 200 };
+    });
+    app.loadForeignSessions = vi.fn(async () => void order.push('reload'));
+
+    await app.closeSession(A);
+
+    expect(order).toEqual(['delete', 'reload']);
+  });
+
+  it('leaves the list alone for a session of our own', async () => {
+    const app = makeApp(A, [A]);
+    app.loadForeignSessions = vi.fn();
+
+    await app.closeSession(A);
+
+    expect(app.loadForeignSessions).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
+
 describe('closing is optimistic', () => {
   it('drops the tab and selects the next one BEFORE the server answers', async () => {
     const app = makeApp(A);