diff --git a/docs/PHASE1.md b/docs/PHASE1.md
index 153dfbb..3958d21 100644
--- a/docs/PHASE1.md
+++ b/docs/PHASE1.md
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ No new module file names beyond the §4 stubs already present (`ffi/pty.lua`,
 |---|---|---|
 | `ffi/curl.lua` | Blocking POST; response captured into a Lua string | Add `M.post_sse(url, body, headers, on_event)`. `on_event(delta)` is called per parsed SSE `data:` line. The Phase 0 `M.post` stays for non-streaming consumers. |
 | `ffi/pty.lua` | Stub | Implement: `M.spawn(argv) -> handle`; handle exposes `:read()`, `:write(data)`, `:close()`, `:wait() -> exit_code`. Uses `forkpty` + `waitpid`. |
-| `ffi/libc.lua` | `chdir`, `errno`, `strerror` | Add `waitpid`, `WEXITSTATUS` (macro materialized in Lua), `read`, `write`, `close`, `kill`, optional `tcgetattr`/`tcsetattr` for raw-mode toggle on the controlling tty. |
+| `ffi/libc.lua` | `chdir`, `errno`, `strerror` | Add `waitpid`, `WEXITSTATUS` (macro materialized in Lua), `read`, `write`, `close`, `kill`, `tcgetattr`/`tcsetattr` + `cfmakeraw` for raw-mode toggle on the controlling tty (required for single-key UIs to work — done-criteria #2), `poll` for stdin↔master multiplex in executor. |
 | `ffi/readline.lua` | `readline`, `add_history` | Add `rl_bind_keyseq` binding; expose `M.bind(seq, fn)`. |
 | `broker.lua` | `M.chat(cfg, msgs)` blocking | Add `M.chat_stream(cfg, msgs, on_delta)`. `M.chat` becomes a thin wrapper that buffers deltas. |
 | `executor.lua` | `popen` + sentinel exit-code recovery + `cd` interception + `CMD:` extract | Replace popen path with `pty.spawn`. The sentinel hack is deleted. `cd` interception unchanged (still routes through `libc.chdir`). `CMD:` extract unchanged. |
diff --git a/executor.lua b/executor.lua
index 3a8ec88..18a1530 100644
--- a/executor.lua
+++ b/executor.lua
@@ -1,14 +1,77 @@
 -- executor.lua — command execution.
--- Phase 1: forkpty via ffi/pty. Replaces Phase 0's io.popen + sentinel-echo
--- exit-code workaround; vim/less/htop now work because the child runs on a
--- real PTY. `cd` interception is unchanged (still libc.chdir per §3, §7).
+-- Phase 1: forkpty via ffi/pty + bidirectional multiplex. Replaces Phase 0's
+-- io.popen + sentinel-echo workaround. The multiplex loop forwards stdin
+-- keystrokes to the child master fd while streaming master output to stdout,
+-- so vim / less / htop / nano are usable end-to-end. Parent's tty (fd 0) is
+-- flipped to raw mode for the duration so single-key UIs work.
+-- `cd` interception is unchanged (still libc.chdir per §3, §7).
 -- See docs/PHASE0.md §7 and docs/PHASE1.md §5.
 
+local ffi  = require("ffi")
+local bit  = require("bit")
 local libc = require("ffi.libc")
 local pty  = require("ffi.pty")
 
 local M = {}
 
+local pollfd_arr2 = ffi.typeof("struct pollfd[2]")
+
+-- Multiplex stdin (fd 0) <-> sess.master_fd until the child writes EOF.
+-- Output is streamed live to stdout AND collected for the (output, code)
+-- return so context.append_exec_output still has the body to inject into
+-- the next user turn.
+local function multiplex(sess)
+    local saved_termios = libc.set_raw(0)  -- nil if stdin isn't a tty
+    local stdin_is_tty  = (saved_termios ~= nil)
+
+    local fds = pollfd_arr2()
+    -- Only poll stdin when it's a tty. With piped stdin (scripted runs /
+    -- tests), aish's stdin holds the *next* aish commands queued for the
+    -- repl loop — draining it into the child would swallow those.
+    fds[0].fd = stdin_is_tty and 0 or -1
+    fds[0].events = libc.POLLIN
+    fds[1].fd = sess.master_fd
+    fds[1].events = libc.POLLIN
+
+    local chunks = {}
+    while true do
+        fds[0].revents = 0
+        fds[1].revents = 0
+        local rc = libc.poll(fds, 2, -1)
+        if rc < 0 then
+            if libc.errno() == libc.EINTR then
+                -- signal during poll; loop and retry
+            else
+                break
+            end
+        else
+            -- Drain master first (output priority). Read on *any* revents —
+            -- POLLHUP fires (and POLLIN doesn't) when the child closes its
+            -- slave PTY end on exit; reading then returns 0 = EOF.
+            if fds[1].revents ~= 0 then
+                local data, n = sess:read()
+                if not data or n == 0 then break end
+                chunks[#chunks + 1] = data
+                io.write(data); io.flush()
+            end
+            -- Forward stdin keystrokes (or piped-in bytes) to the child.
+            if fds[0].revents ~= 0 then
+                local input, n = libc.read(0, 4096)
+                if input and n > 0 then
+                    sess:write(input)
+                elseif input == "" then
+                    -- aish's own stdin closed; stop forwarding but keep
+                    -- draining master until child exits
+                    fds[0].fd = -1
+                end
+            end
+        end
+    end
+
+    if saved_termios then libc.restore_termios(0, saved_termios) end
+    return chunks
+end
+
 -- Execute a shell command.
 -- Returns: (output_string, exit_code).
 --   0       success
@@ -25,22 +88,13 @@ function M.exec(cmd)
         return "(pty.spawn failed: " .. tostring(err) .. ")", -1
     end
 
-    -- Drain until the child closes its end. PTY combines stdout+stderr
-    -- on the master fd (no 2>&1 needed); CR LF gets normalized below.
-    local chunks = {}
-    while true do
-        local data, n = sess:read()
-        if not data then break end
-        if n == 0 then break end
-        chunks[#chunks + 1] = data
-    end
-
+    local chunks = multiplex(sess)
     local kind, code = sess:wait()
     sess:close()
 
     -- PTY line discipline emits \r\n for every \n the child writes; collapse
     -- back to \n so the Phase 0 caller contract ("output uses \n separators")
-    -- still holds.
+    -- still holds for context-injection purposes.
     local output = table.concat(chunks):gsub("\r\n", "\n")
 
     if kind == "exit"   then return output, code         end
diff --git a/ffi/libc.lua b/ffi/libc.lua
index ac3742d..b22123b 100644
--- a/ffi/libc.lua
+++ b/ffi/libc.lua
@@ -21,6 +21,18 @@ ssize_t read   (int fd, void *buf, size_t count);
 ssize_t write  (int fd, const void *buf, size_t count);
 int     close  (int fd);
 int     kill   (pid_t pid, int sig);
+
+/* termios for raw-mode toggle around interactive PTY children. The struct
+   is treated as opaque — cfmakeraw fills it; size 64 is comfortably larger
+   than glibc's struct termios (60 bytes) on aarch64/x86_64 Linux. */
+struct termios { char _opaque[64]; };
+int  tcgetattr(int fd, struct termios *tio);
+int  tcsetattr(int fd, int actions, const struct termios *tio);
+void cfmakeraw(struct termios *tio);
+
+/* poll for stdin↔master multiplex in executor. */
+struct pollfd { int fd; short events; short revents; };
+int poll(struct pollfd *fds, unsigned long nfds, int timeout);
 ]]
 
 local C = ffi.C
@@ -106,4 +118,37 @@ function M.kill(pid, sig)
     return false, ffi.string(C.strerror(C.__errno_location()[0]))
 end
 
+-- ---------------------------------------------------------------- termios
+-- Save current tty mode and switch to raw via cfmakeraw. Returns the saved
+-- termios pointer (to be passed back to M.restore_termios) or (nil, err) if
+-- fd isn't a tty (e.g. stdin redirected from a file in CI / scripted runs).
+local TCSANOW = 0
+
+function M.set_raw(fd)
+    local saved = ffi.new("struct termios")
+    if C.tcgetattr(fd, saved) < 0 then
+        return nil, M.strerror(M.errno())
+    end
+    local raw = ffi.new("struct termios")
+    ffi.copy(raw, saved, ffi.sizeof("struct termios"))
+    C.cfmakeraw(raw)
+    if C.tcsetattr(fd, TCSANOW, raw) < 0 then
+        return nil, M.strerror(M.errno())
+    end
+    return saved
+end
+
+function M.restore_termios(fd, saved)
+    return C.tcsetattr(fd, TCSANOW, saved) == 0
+end
+
+-- ---------------------------------------------------------------- poll
+M.POLLIN  = 0x0001
+M.EINTR   = 4
+
+-- Returns: rc (>= 0 fds ready, 0 timeout, -1 error)
+function M.poll(fds_arr, nfds, timeout_ms)
+    return C.poll(fds_arr, nfds, timeout_ms or -1)
+end
+
 return M
diff --git a/renderer.lua b/renderer.lua
index 20d4a43..1ee776c 100644
--- a/renderer.lua
+++ b/renderer.lua
@@ -31,12 +31,15 @@ function M.assistant(text)
     end
 end
 
--- Frame captured shell-exec output with a top rule + the body + a closing
--- rule that carries the exit code (red on non-zero).
-function M.exec_output(output, exit_code)
-    output = (output or ""):gsub("\n$", "")
+-- Phase 1: executor.exec streams output live to stdout (PTY multiplex), so
+-- the frame is split — exec_begin before the spawn, exec_end after wait().
+-- The body is not re-rendered here; live output lands directly between the
+-- two rules.
+function M.exec_begin()
     emit(A.dim, "─── exec output ───", A.reset, "\n")
-    if output ~= "" then emit(output, "\n") end
+end
+
+function M.exec_end(exit_code)
     if exit_code and exit_code ~= 0 then
         emit(A.dim, "─── exit ", A.reset,
              A.red, tostring(exit_code), A.reset,
diff --git a/repl.lua b/repl.lua
index b84b5d8..7c70381 100644
--- a/repl.lua
+++ b/repl.lua
@@ -96,8 +96,9 @@ function M.run(config)
             end
             return
         end
+        renderer.exec_begin()
         local out, code = executor.exec(cmd)
-        renderer.exec_output(out, code)
+        renderer.exec_end(code)
         if config.shell and config.shell.capture_output then
             ctx:append_exec_output(out)
         end