diff --git a/.beans/claudbg-ut9q--tui-terminal-setup-event-loop-and-teardown.md b/.beans/claudbg-ut9q--tui-terminal-setup-event-loop-and-teardown.md
index 9fd6431..86a5767 100644
--- a/.beans/claudbg-ut9q--tui-terminal-setup-event-loop-and-teardown.md
+++ b/.beans/claudbg-ut9q--tui-terminal-setup-event-loop-and-teardown.md
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 ---
 # claudbg-ut9q
 title: 'TUI: terminal setup, event loop, and teardown'
-status: todo
+status: in-progress
 type: task
 priority: normal
 created_at: 2026-03-30T04:45:32Z
-updated_at: 2026-03-30T04:49:03Z
+updated_at: 2026-03-30T16:42:32Z
 parent: claudbg-i6l2
 blocked_by:
     - claudbg-nq36
diff --git a/src/commands/stubs.rs b/src/commands/stubs.rs
index 7bf582c..a8d2828 100644
--- a/src/commands/stubs.rs
+++ b/src/commands/stubs.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 //! Stub implementations for commands not yet fully implemented.
 
 use crate::error::Result;
+use crate::tui::run::run_tui;
 
-/// Run the `tui` subcommand stub.
+/// Run the `tui` subcommand.
 ///
-/// Prints a placeholder message until the TUI is implemented.
+/// Initialises the terminal, runs the interactive event loop, and restores
+/// the terminal on exit.
 pub fn tui() -> Result<()> {
-    println!("tui: coming soon!");
-    Ok(())
+    run_tui()
 }
 
 /// Run the `query` subcommand stub.
@@ -24,13 +25,6 @@ pub fn query() -> Result<()> {
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
-    /// `tui()` returns `Ok` without panicking.
-    #[test]
-    fn tui_returns_ok() {
-        let result = tui();
-        assert!(result.is_ok());
-    }
-
     /// `query()` returns `Ok` without panicking.
     #[test]
     fn query_returns_ok() {
diff --git a/src/tui/mod.rs b/src/tui/mod.rs
index ddf67f5..3f5fa1b 100644
--- a/src/tui/mod.rs
+++ b/src/tui/mod.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 //! TUI module — terminal user interface for claudbg.
 //!
-//! This module will grow to include rendering and event-handling logic.
-//! For now it exposes the application state model used by all TUI screens.
+//! - [`state`] — application state model (pure data, no I/O)
+//! - [`run`] — terminal setup, main event loop, and teardown
 
+pub mod run;
 pub mod state;
diff --git a/src/tui/run.rs b/src/tui/run.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3679b37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tui/run.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,198 @@
+//! TUI entry point: terminal setup, event loop, and graceful teardown.
+//!
+//! The public surface is [`run_tui`], a synchronous function that:
+//!
+//! 1. Enables raw mode and switches to the alternate screen.
+//! 2. Installs a panic hook that restores the terminal before printing the
+//!    panic message, so the user's shell is never left in raw mode.
+//! 3. Runs the main draw / event loop until the user quits.
+//! 4. Tears down the terminal (disable raw mode, leave alternate screen) via
+//!    an RAII guard, so cleanup happens even if an error is returned.
+
+use std::io::{self, Stdout};
+use std::time::Duration;
+
+use ratatui::crossterm::event::{self, Event, KeyCode, KeyEventKind};
+use ratatui::crossterm::execute;
+use ratatui::crossterm::terminal::{
+    EnterAlternateScreen, LeaveAlternateScreen, disable_raw_mode, enable_raw_mode,
+};
+use ratatui::Terminal;
+use ratatui::backend::CrosstermBackend;
+use ratatui::layout::Alignment;
+use ratatui::widgets::{Block, Borders, Paragraph};
+
+use crate::error::Result;
+use crate::tui::state::AppState;
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// RAII terminal guard
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Restores the terminal to its original state when dropped.
+///
+/// Wraps the `Terminal` so that `disable_raw_mode` and
+/// `LeaveAlternateScreen` are always called, whether the event loop exits
+/// normally or returns an error.
+struct TerminalGuard {
+    terminal: Terminal<CrosstermBackend<Stdout>>,
+}
+
+impl TerminalGuard {
+    /// Set up raw mode + alternate screen and build the `Terminal`.
+    fn new() -> Result<Self> {
+        enable_raw_mode()?;
+        let mut stdout = io::stdout();
+        execute!(stdout, EnterAlternateScreen)?;
+        let backend = CrosstermBackend::new(io::stdout());
+        let terminal = Terminal::new(backend)?;
+        Ok(Self { terminal })
+    }
+}
+
+impl Drop for TerminalGuard {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        // Best-effort: ignore errors during cleanup so we never panic in Drop.
+        let _ = disable_raw_mode();
+        let _ = execute!(self.terminal.backend_mut(), LeaveAlternateScreen);
+    }
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Panic hook
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Install a panic hook that restores the terminal before printing the panic.
+///
+/// Without this, a panic in raw mode leaves the user's shell in an unusable
+/// state.  The hook disables raw mode and leaves the alternate screen, then
+/// delegates to the default panic handler.
+fn install_panic_hook() {
+    let default_hook = std::panic::take_hook();
+    std::panic::set_hook(Box::new(move |info| {
+        // Ignore errors — we are already panicking.
+        let _ = disable_raw_mode();
+        let _ = execute!(io::stdout(), LeaveAlternateScreen);
+        default_hook(info);
+    }));
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Rendering
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Draw a single frame.
+///
+/// Currently renders a placeholder block.  Future tickets will replace this
+/// with proper screen-dispatched rendering.
+fn render(frame: &mut ratatui::Frame, _state: &AppState) {
+    let area = frame.area();
+    let block = Block::default()
+        .title(" claudbg TUI ")
+        .borders(Borders::ALL);
+    let paragraph = Paragraph::new("Press q or Esc to quit.")
+        .block(block)
+        .alignment(Alignment::Center);
+    frame.render_widget(paragraph, area);
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Event handling
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Handle a single crossterm [`Event`], mutating `state` as needed.
+fn handle_event(event: Event, state: &mut AppState) {
+    if let Event::Key(key) = event {
+        // Only react to key-press events (ignore release/repeat on Windows).
+        if key.kind != KeyEventKind::Press {
+            return;
+        }
+        match key.code {
+            KeyCode::Char('q') => state.should_quit = true,
+            KeyCode::Esc => state.go_back(),
+            _ => {}
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Main event loop
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Run the TUI synchronously.
+///
+/// Initialises the terminal, enters the event loop, and tears down cleanly
+/// whether the loop exits via `should_quit` or via an error.
+pub fn run_tui() -> Result<()> {
+    install_panic_hook();
+
+    let mut guard = TerminalGuard::new()?;
+    let mut state = AppState::new();
+
+    loop {
+        guard.terminal.draw(|f| render(f, &state))?;
+
+        if event::poll(Duration::from_millis(50))? {
+            handle_event(event::read()?, &mut state);
+        }
+
+        if state.should_quit {
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+    // `guard` is dropped here → terminal restored automatically.
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Tests
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use ratatui::crossterm::event::{KeyEvent, KeyEventState, KeyModifiers};
+
+    use super::*;
+    use crate::tui::state::Screen;
+
+    fn key_press(code: KeyCode) -> Event {
+        Event::Key(KeyEvent {
+            code,
+            modifiers: KeyModifiers::NONE,
+            kind: KeyEventKind::Press,
+            state: KeyEventState::NONE,
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Pressing `q` sets `should_quit`.
+    #[test]
+    fn q_sets_should_quit() {
+        let mut state = AppState::new();
+        handle_event(key_press(KeyCode::Char('q')), &mut state);
+        assert!(state.should_quit);
+    }
+
+    /// Pressing `Esc` calls `go_back` (returns to SessionList).
+    #[test]
+    fn esc_goes_back() {
+        let mut state = AppState::new();
+        state.enter_transcript("some-session");
+        handle_event(key_press(KeyCode::Esc), &mut state);
+        assert_eq!(state.screen, Screen::SessionList);
+    }
+
+    /// Key-release events are ignored.
+    #[test]
+    fn key_release_ignored() {
+        let mut state = AppState::new();
+        let release_event = Event::Key(KeyEvent {
+            code: KeyCode::Char('q'),
+            modifiers: KeyModifiers::NONE,
+            kind: KeyEventKind::Release,
+            state: KeyEventState::NONE,
+        });
+        handle_event(release_event, &mut state);
+        assert!(!state.should_quit);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/tui/state.rs b/src/tui/state.rs
index 2bba5e2..7cee7ce 100644
--- a/src/tui/state.rs
+++ b/src/tui/state.rs
@@ -67,20 +67,15 @@ pub enum Screen {
 ///
 /// On the session-list screen `Focus` is not meaningful; it is tracked here
 /// so the value is preserved when the user navigates back and forth.
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub enum Focus {
     /// The main chat-log pane (default).
+    #[default]
     ChatLog,
     /// The sub-agents side panel (shown when sub-agents are present).
     SubagentsPanel,
 }
 
-impl Default for Focus {
-    fn default() -> Self {
-        Self::ChatLog
-    }
-}
-
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // AppState
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -124,6 +119,10 @@ pub struct AppState {
     pub show_quit_dialog: bool,
     /// Whether the keyboard-shortcut help overlay is visible.
     pub show_help: bool,
+
+    // ── Lifecycle ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    /// Set to `true` to signal the event loop to exit.
+    pub should_quit: bool,
 }
 
 impl AppState {
@@ -145,6 +144,7 @@ impl AppState {
             focus: Focus::default(),
             show_quit_dialog: false,
             show_help: false,
+            should_quit: false,
         }
     }