diff --git a/Agent.md b/Agent.md
index ea0c676b..a9e26da7 100644
--- a/Agent.md
+++ b/Agent.md
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ Community needs voiced in HN agent-UI discussions map directly to EMRG's design:
 pkill -f "emrg.server"; rm -f ~/.emrg/emrgd.token; python -m emrg
 ```
 
-Python: `uv run pytest tests/ -v` (1284) — import check: `uv run python -c "from emrg.client.app import run_client"`
+Python: `uv run pytest tests/ -v` (1290) — import check: `uv run python -c "from emrg.client.app import run_client"
 GUI: `cd emrg/gui && npm test` (100: 44 daemon_client + 20 conn-manager + 7 integration + 7 nav-policy + 7 gui-state + 6 build-config + 4 boot-contract + 3 preload-api + 2 theme-guard) — syntax: `node --check main.js preload.js daemon_client.js`
 Renderer: `cd emrg/gui/renderer && npm run typecheck && npm test` (514: 5 snapshot-store + 9 utils + 3 ErrorBoundary + 2 App smoke + 11 commands + 4 copywriting + 11 i18n + 13 markdown + 21 transcript + 11 TranscriptView + 15 history + 31 composer + 41 Composer + 6 LinkDialog + 16 sidebar + 17 Sidebar + 9 fileTree + 9 FileTree + 16 resultPanel + 8 ResultPanel + 27 workspaceView + 10 WorkspaceView + 10 dialog + 6 Dialog + 9 ConfirmDialog + 9 RenameDialog + 10 dialogLists + 3 HelpDialog + 9 MemoryDialog + 6 SkillsDialog + 8 openSession + 6 WelcomeDialog + 9 OpenSessionDialog + 7 NewSessionDialog + 7 rewind + 8 RewindDialog + 7 GithubDeviceDialog + 18 daemonBridge + 7 DaemonBridgeProvider + 30 Shell + 15 DialogHost + 20 SettingsPanel + 6 TaskFormDialog + 5 RantDialog + 4 vendorMarkdown) + `npm run build` → `renderer/dist/`
 CI: `uv run pytest` (ubuntu + **windows-2025 matrix** — Windows pytest 回归在 PR CI 即失败，v0.2.29 教训 #725) + GUI tests + **actionlint workflow lint** (`rhysd/actionlint@v1.7.12` gate, #444 — workflow 解析错误在 PR CI 即失败，如 `if:` secrets 上下文)
diff --git a/emrg/__main__.py b/emrg/__main__.py
index bc686861..0d0dc9d4 100644
--- a/emrg/__main__.py
+++ b/emrg/__main__.py
@@ -112,7 +112,35 @@ def _build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
     return parser
 
 
+def _harden_redirected_output() -> None:
+    """Keep redirected CLI output from aborting on a legacy codec.
+
+    When stdout/stderr is a pipe or a file, Python encodes with the *locale*
+    codec — ASCII under ``LANG=C``/POSIX, ``cp1252`` on older Windows, GBK on
+    zh-CN hosts. Typography the CLI prints freely (em dash, arrows in the
+    ``emrg update`` hints) has no mapping in some of those, so the ``print``
+    raises ``UnicodeEncodeError`` mid-write and the command dies with a
+    traceback: ``emrg --help > log.txt`` under an ASCII locale exited 1 and
+    printed nothing at all.
+
+    ``errors="replace"`` degrades an unencodable character to ``?`` instead of
+    aborting. That is the right trade for human-facing CLI text — the typography
+    is decorative, and a readable line beats a traceback. Interactive terminals
+    are deliberately left alone: they can encode the text, and the TUI must not
+    have its output rewritten.
+    """
+    for stream in (sys.stdout, sys.stderr):
+        try:
+            if not stream.isatty():
+                stream.reconfigure(errors="replace")
+        except (AttributeError, ValueError, OSError):
+            # Not a TextIOWrapper (already wrapped/closed), or the platform
+            # forbids it — the status quo is no worse than before the call.
+            pass
+
+
 def main() -> None:
+    _harden_redirected_output()
     parser = _build_parser()
     parsed = parser.parse_args()
 
diff --git a/tests/test_cli_output_encoding.py b/tests/test_cli_output_encoding.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..31352c73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_cli_output_encoding.py
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+"""The `emrg` CLI must not die when its output cannot be encoded.
+
+Background (cycle 2026-09-10, same class as the `scripts/` defect on #1121)
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+With stdout redirected, Python encodes using the *locale* codec rather than the
+console's: ASCII under ``LANG=C``/POSIX, ``cp1252`` on older Windows, GBK on
+zh-CN hosts. `emrg --help` prints an em dash, which the ASCII codec cannot
+represent, so the print raised ``UnicodeEncodeError`` mid-write:
+
+    $ PYTHONIOENCODING=ascii python -m emrg --help > log.txt
+    Traceback (most recent call last):
+      ...
+    UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character '\\u2014'
+    $ echo $?
+    1
+
+The command exited 1 and printed *nothing* -- `--help` failing at a point where
+a caller reads "the CLI is broken". ``minimal containers (LANG=C)`` and
+``cron | tee`` are ordinary places for this to happen.
+
+The fix degrades unencodable characters instead of aborting, and applies only
+to non-interactive streams (see ``emrg.__main__._harden_redirected_output``),
+so an interactive console keeps its full typography.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+from emrg.__main__ import _harden_redirected_output
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+
+
+def _run_cli(args: list[str], codec: str) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[bytes]:
+    """Run the CLI with a forced stdout codec, capturing raw bytes.
+
+    Byte capture (no ``text=True``) is deliberate: a text-mode capture decodes
+    in the *parent*, which hides the child's own failure.
+    """
+    import os
+
+    env = dict(os.environ, PYTHONIOENCODING=codec)
+    return subprocess.run(
+        [sys.executable, "-m", "emrg", *args],
+        cwd=REPO_ROOT,
+        env=env,
+        capture_output=True,
+        check=False,
+    )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("codec", ["ascii", "cp1252"])
+def test_cli_help_survives_a_legacy_stdout(codec: str) -> None:
+    """`--help` must print and exit 0 under a codec that cannot encode its text.
+
+    ASCII is the reported failure (LANG=C / POSIX); cp1252 is the older Windows
+    default. Both must yield usable output rather than a traceback.
+    """
+    proc = _run_cli(["--help"], codec)
+
+    assert proc.returncode == 0, proc.stdout + proc.stderr
+    assert b"Traceback" not in proc.stderr, proc.stderr
+    assert b"UnicodeEncodeError" not in proc.stderr, proc.stderr
+    assert proc.stdout.strip(), "help text must still be printed"
+    assert b"usage:" in proc.stdout
+
+    # Everything emitted must be round-trippable by the codec that produced it.
+    # The two codecs reach that differently, and the difference is the point:
+    # cp1252 *can* encode the em dash (0x97), so it passes through untouched,
+    # while ASCII cannot, so that character degrades to "?" rather than raising.
+    assert proc.stdout.decode(codec)
+    if codec == "ascii":
+        assert proc.stdout.isascii()
+        assert b"EMRG ?" in proc.stdout, "the unencodable char should degrade to '?'"
+
+
+def test_cli_help_keeps_its_typography_on_a_utf8_stdout() -> None:
+    """The degradation must not apply where the text *is* encodable.
+
+    Positive control for the fix: hardening redirected streams must not be a
+    blanket ASCII-ification of the CLI's output.
+    """
+    proc = _run_cli(["--help"], "utf-8")
+
+    assert proc.returncode == 0, proc.stdout + proc.stderr
+    assert b"usage:" in proc.stdout
+    assert "\u2014".encode("utf-8") in proc.stdout, "em dash should survive UTF-8"
+
+
+class _FakeStream:
+    """Minimal stdout stand-in recording reconfigure() calls."""
+
+    def __init__(self, tty: bool) -> None:
+        self._tty = tty
+        self.calls: list[dict] = []
+
+    def isatty(self) -> bool:
+        return self._tty
+
+    def reconfigure(self, **kwargs) -> None:
+        self.calls.append(kwargs)
+
+
+class _BareStream:
+    """A stream object with no reconfigure() (e.g. a wrapper)."""
+
+    def isatty(self) -> bool:
+        return False
+
+
+def test_interactive_streams_are_left_alone(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    """A terminal can encode the text; the TUI's streams must not be rewritten."""
+    out, err = _FakeStream(tty=True), _FakeStream(tty=True)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdout", out)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stderr", err)
+
+    _harden_redirected_output()
+
+    assert out.calls == []
+    assert err.calls == []
+
+
+def test_redirected_streams_degrade_instead_of_aborting(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    """A pipe/file stream gets errors="replace" so an unencodable char cannot raise."""
+    out, err = _FakeStream(tty=False), _FakeStream(tty=False)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdout", out)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stderr", err)
+
+    _harden_redirected_output()
+
+    assert out.calls == [{"errors": "replace"}]
+    assert err.calls == [{"errors": "replace"}]
+
+
+def test_streams_without_reconfigure_are_tolerated(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    """Streams that cannot be reconfigured must not turn the hardening into a crash."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdout", _BareStream())
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stderr", _BareStream())
+
+    _harden_redirected_output()  # must not raise