diff --git a/ui-tui/src/__tests__/bundleNoAsyncEsmDeadlock.test.ts b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/bundleNoAsyncEsmDeadlock.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f0d62bc47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui-tui/src/__tests__/bundleNoAsyncEsmDeadlock.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+/**
+ * Bundle-shape regression for issue #31227.
+ *
+ * The dashboard TUI ships as a single esbuild-bundled `dist/entry.js`.
+ * When the bundle contains an `async`-init `__esm` wrapper that participates
+ * in a circular module graph, esbuild's lightweight init helper deadlocks
+ * the top-level `await Promise.all([...])` in src/entry.tsx — the user
+ * sees only 141 bytes of ANSI reset sequences and a blank screen forever.
+ *
+ * Root cause: re-exporting `ink-text-input` from `@hermes/ink`'s
+ * entry-exports drags the upstream `ink` package into the bundle. That
+ * `ink` graph and our in-tree `@hermes/ink` graph reference each other
+ * via React/`ink-text-input`, producing the circular async cycle that
+ * `__esm` cannot resolve.
+ *
+ * These tests guard the two structural properties that, together,
+ * keep the bundle deadlock-free:
+ *
+ *  1. No `async` `__esm` modules in the bundle. As long as every init
+ *     runs synchronously, `__esm`'s closure-capture quirk is irrelevant.
+ *  2. No `ink-text-input` / `node_modules/ink/build` modules in the
+ *     bundle. Their absence is what makes #1 hold; if a future commit
+ *     re-introduces the re-export, it would reintroduce the cycle.
+ *
+ * The bundle is a build artifact, so the test builds it on demand and
+ * skips itself when esbuild can't be resolved (e.g. during a partial
+ * install). It does not need a TTY.
+ */
+
+import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process'
+import { existsSync, readFileSync, statSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { dirname, resolve } from 'node:path'
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
+
+import { beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+const here = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
+const uiTuiRoot = resolve(here, '..', '..')
+const bundlePath = resolve(uiTuiRoot, 'dist', 'entry.js')
+
+function bundleIsFresh(): boolean {
+  if (!existsSync(bundlePath)) return false
+  try {
+    const bundleMtime = statSync(bundlePath).mtimeMs
+    const sourceMtime = statSync(
+      resolve(uiTuiRoot, 'packages/hermes-ink/src/entry-exports.ts'),
+    ).mtimeMs
+    return bundleMtime >= sourceMtime
+  } catch {
+    return false
+  }
+}
+
+let bundleSrc = ''
+
+beforeAll(() => {
+  if (!bundleIsFresh()) {
+    // Refresh the bundle so the regression test runs against current
+    // sources, not whatever was last committed by hand.
+    execFileSync(
+      process.execPath,
+      [resolve(uiTuiRoot, 'scripts/build.mjs')],
+      {
+        cwd: uiTuiRoot,
+        stdio: ['ignore', 'ignore', 'inherit'],
+        timeout: 120_000,
+      },
+    )
+  }
+  bundleSrc = readFileSync(bundlePath, 'utf8')
+}, 180_000)
+
+describe('TUI bundle (issue #31227)', () => {
+  it('has no async __esm wrappers (would risk circular-await deadlock)', () => {
+    // esbuild emits `async "<path>"() { ... }` as the first key of a
+    // module's `__esm` definition when the module body contains
+    // top-level await. The lightweight `__esm` helper at the top of
+    // the bundle does NOT await nested inits, so any async __esm
+    // module in a circular graph hangs forever the first time it's
+    // entered.
+    const matches = bundleSrc.match(/async "(packages|src|node_modules)\/[^"]+"\s*\(\)/g) ?? []
+    expect(matches, `Found ${matches.length} async __esm wrappers — these can deadlock #31227. First few:\n${matches.slice(0, 3).join('\n')}`).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('does not bundle the upstream ink package or ink-text-input', () => {
+    // Pulling either of these in re-creates the circular async chain
+    // that #31227 was about. The in-tree fork at @hermes/ink replaces
+    // all of `ink`; nothing in ui-tui imports `TextInput` from
+    // `@hermes/ink` so the re-export is unused dead weight.
+    expect(bundleSrc.includes('node_modules/ink/build/index.js')).toBe(false)
+    expect(bundleSrc.includes('node_modules/ink-text-input/build/index.js')).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('has the @hermes/ink entry-exports module compiled to sync init', () => {
+    // Sanity check that the alias swap to packages/hermes-ink/src/entry-exports.ts
+    // is still active and producing the expected synchronous init shape.
+    expect(bundleSrc).toMatch(/var init_entry_exports = __esm\(\{\s*"packages\/hermes-ink\/src\/entry-exports\.ts"\(\)/)
+  })
+})