diff --git a/app/src-tauri/src/web_terminal/terminal.html b/app/src-tauri/src/web_terminal/terminal.html
index 8e6259a..ba266ba 100644
--- a/app/src-tauri/src/web_terminal/terminal.html
+++ b/app/src-tauri/src/web_terminal/terminal.html
@@ -757,7 +757,13 @@
         sessionType === 'claude'
       ) {
         sendTerminalInput('\x1b\r');
-        return false; // xterm must not also send a bare CR, which submits
+        // `preventDefault()` is what stops the submit, not the `return false`.
+        // xterm's `_keyDown` returns before setting `_keyDownHandled`, so
+        // `_keyPress` still fires and emits a bare CR for Enter — inserting the
+        // newline and then submitting the prompt anyway. See the same comment
+        // in TerminalView.tsx.
+        e.preventDefault();
+        return false;
       }
       return true;
     });
diff --git a/app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.test.tsx b/app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.test.tsx
index 900e388..42284d0 100644
--- a/app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.test.tsx
+++ b/app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.test.tsx
@@ -137,19 +137,36 @@ afterEach(() => {
 });
 
 describe("TerminalView — Shift+Enter", () => {
-  it("sends ESC+CR and nothing else in a Claude session", () => {
+  it("sends ESC+CR and cancels the keydown, so no bare CR follows", () => {
+    // **The cancel is the load-bearing half, and this test could not see it.**
+    //
+    // Returning `false` from xterm's custom key handler does not cancel the
+    // event: `_keyDown` returns before setting `_keyDownHandled`, so
+    // `_keyPress` still runs and emits a bare CR for Enter's charCode 13. In a
+    // real browser that submitted the prompt straight after inserting the
+    // newline. jsdom never synthesizes the follow-up keypress, so the old
+    // `expect(sent()).not.toContain("\r")` assertion below could not fail no
+    // matter what the code did — it was named for a behaviour it could not
+    // exercise.
+    //
+    // Asserting `defaultPrevented` pins the actual mechanism that stops the
+    // keypress, which is a property jsdom *can* observe.
     const { container } = mountSession("claude");
 
-    fireEvent.keyDown(helperTextarea(container), {
+    const event = new KeyboardEvent("keydown", {
       key: "Enter",
       keyCode: 13,
       shiftKey: true,
+      bubbles: true,
+      cancelable: true,
     });
+    helperTextarea(container).dispatchEvent(event);
 
     // The bytes `/terminal-setup` installs for every other editor.
     expect(sent()).toEqual(["\x1b\r"]);
-    // And specifically not the bare CR that would have submitted the prompt.
     expect(sent()).not.toContain("\r");
+    // Without this, the browser fires keypress and xterm submits.
+    expect(event.defaultPrevented).toBe(true);
   });
 
   it("leaves a plain Enter alone", () => {
diff --git a/app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.tsx b/app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.tsx
index d9d1011..72d6ae0 100644
--- a/app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.tsx
+++ b/app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.tsx
@@ -414,7 +414,19 @@ export default function TerminalView({ sessionId, active }: Props) {
         sessionTypeRef.current === "claude"
       ) {
         sendInput(sessionId, "\x1b\r");
-        return false; // xterm must not also send a bare CR, which submits
+        // **`preventDefault()` is what stops the submit, not the `return false`.**
+        //
+        // xterm's `_keyDown` returns the instant a custom handler says `false`
+        // — *before* it sets `_keyDownHandled` and before it cancels the event.
+        // `_keyPress` then checks that same flag, finds it still false, and
+        // emits a bare CR for Enter's charCode 13. So returning `false` alone
+        // sent ESC+CR *and* a submit: the newline was inserted and the
+        // half-written prompt went to Claude with a stray blank line in it.
+        // Cancelling the keydown is what stops the browser firing keypress at
+        // all. Verified in Chromium; jsdom never synthesizes the follow-up
+        // keypress, which is why the unit test could not see this.
+        event.preventDefault();
+        return false;
       }
       return true;
     });