diff --git a/hermes_cli/main.py b/hermes_cli/main.py
index ef6a176a2..918733325 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main.py
@@ -1650,6 +1650,22 @@ def _find_bundled_tui(hermes_cli_dir: Path | None = None) -> Path | None:
     return bundled if bundled.is_file() else None
 
 
+def _exit_missing_tui_workspace(tui_dir: Path) -> "NoReturn":
+    """Abort TUI launch with a recovery hint when the workspace checkout is missing."""
+    print(
+        "Error: the TUI workspace is missing from this Hermes checkout.\n"
+        f"Expected directory: {tui_dir}\n"
+        "This usually means `hermes update` left tracked ui-tui files deleted.\n"
+        "Recovery:\n"
+        "  1. From the Hermes checkout, run `git restore -- ui-tui`\n"
+        "  2. Run `npm install --silent --no-fund --no-audit --progress=false`\n"
+        "  3. Retry `hermes --tui`\n"
+        "If the checkout is still inconsistent, run `hermes update --force`.",
+        file=sys.stderr,
+    )
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+
 def _make_tui_argv(tui_dir: Path, tui_dev: bool) -> tuple[list[str], Path]:
     """TUI: --dev → tsx src; else node dist (HERMES_TUI_DIR prebuilt or esbuild)."""
     _ensure_tui_node()
@@ -1683,6 +1699,9 @@ def _make_tui_argv(tui_dir: Path, tui_dev: bool) -> tuple[list[str], Path]:
         )
         sys.exit(1)
 
+    if not ext_dir and not tui_dir.is_dir():
+        _exit_missing_tui_workspace(tui_dir)
+
     # 1. Prebuilt bundle (nix / packaged release): just run it.
     if not tui_dev:
         if ext_dir:
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_tui_npm_install.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_tui_npm_install.py
index b2f58fefa..08a2200fa 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_tui_npm_install.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_tui_npm_install.py
@@ -327,6 +327,27 @@ def test_make_tui_argv_decodes_dev_prebuild_with_utf8_replace(
     _assert_utf8_replace_capture(calls[0][1])
 
 
+def test_make_tui_argv_exits_with_recovery_hint_when_workspace_missing(
+    tmp_path: Path, main_mod, monkeypatch, capsys
+) -> None:
+    monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_TUI_DIR", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(main_mod, "_ensure_tui_node", lambda: None)
+
+    def fail_which(_name: str) -> str:
+        raise AssertionError("node/npm lookup must not run when ui-tui is missing")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(main_mod.shutil, "which", fail_which)
+
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as exc:
+        main_mod._make_tui_argv(tmp_path / "ui-tui", tui_dev=False)
+
+    assert exc.value.code == 1
+    err = capsys.readouterr().err
+    assert "TUI workspace is missing" in err
+    assert "git restore -- ui-tui" in err
+    assert "hermes update --force" in err
+
+
 # ── _workspace_root helper ──────────────────────────────────────────