diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d62e3a0..d000ac9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Features
+
+* **renderer:** randomize star field seeds between runs
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* **renderer:** keep wide Unicode graphemes wrapped and aligned in the live terminal UI
+
 ## [0.1.9](https://github.com/kunchenguid/gnhf/compare/gnhf-v0.1.8...gnhf-v0.1.9) (2026-04-03)
 
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8f3de35..d18c3f3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ You wake up to a branch full of clean work and a log of everything that happened
 - **Dead simple** — one command starts an autonomous loop that runs until you Ctrl+C or a configured runtime cap is reached
 - **Long running** — each iteration is committed on success, rolled back on failure, with sensible retries and exponential backoff
 - **Agent-agnostic** — works with Claude Code, Codex, Rovo Dev, or OpenCode out of the box
+- **Terminal-safe rendering** — the live UI keeps wide Unicode text such as emoji and CJK glyphs aligned instead of clipping or shifting the frame
 
 ## Quick Start
 
diff --git a/src/renderer-diff.ts b/src/renderer-diff.ts
index 22e67ee..60ead9d 100644
--- a/src/renderer-diff.ts
+++ b/src/renderer-diff.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { graphemeWidth, splitGraphemes } from "./utils/terminal-width.js";
+
 // ── Cell types ───────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 export type Style = "normal" | "bold" | "dim";
@@ -5,7 +7,7 @@ export type Style = "normal" | "bold" | "dim";
 export interface Cell {
   char: string;
   style: Style;
-  /** 1 = normal char, 2 = wide (emoji), 0 = continuation of wide char */
+  /** 1 = normal grapheme, 2 = wide grapheme, 0 = continuation of a wide grapheme */
   width: number;
 }
 
@@ -20,14 +22,13 @@ export interface Change {
 const SPACE: Cell = { char: " ", style: "normal", width: 1 };
 
 export function makeCell(char: string, style: Style): Cell {
-  const cp = char.codePointAt(0) ?? 0;
-  return { char, style, width: cp > 0xffff ? 2 : 1 };
+  return { char, style, width: graphemeWidth(char) };
 }
 
 export function textToCells(text: string, style: Style): Cell[] {
   const cells: Cell[] = [];
-  for (const char of text) {
-    const cell = makeCell(char, style);
+  for (const grapheme of splitGraphemes(text)) {
+    const cell = makeCell(grapheme, style);
     cells.push(cell);
     if (cell.width === 2) {
       cells.push({ char: "", style: "normal", width: 0 });
diff --git a/src/renderer.test.ts b/src/renderer.test.ts
index dc9e6d8..ffc4386 100644
--- a/src/renderer.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { EventEmitter } from "node:events";
 import { describe, it, expect, vi } from "vitest";
+import * as renderer from "./renderer.js";
 import {
   Renderer,
   stripAnsi,
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   renderMoonStrip,
   renderStarFieldLines,
   buildFrame,
+  buildFrameCells,
   buildContentCells,
 } from "./renderer.js";
 import { rowToString } from "./renderer-diff.js";
@@ -82,6 +84,14 @@ describe("renderAgentMessage", () => {
     expect(plain).toContain("\u2026");
     expect(plain).not.toContain("Line four");
   });
+
+  it("keeps a trailing wide glyph intact at the message width boundary", () => {
+    expect(
+      renderAgentMessage(`${"A".repeat(62)}🌕`, "running")
+        .map(stripAnsi)
+        .filter(Boolean),
+    ).toEqual(["A".repeat(62), "🌕"]);
+  });
 });
 
 describe("renderMoonStrip", () => {
@@ -135,6 +145,35 @@ describe("buildFrame", () => {
   const stripCursorHome = (frame: string) =>
     frame.startsWith("\x1b[H") ? frame.slice(3) : frame;
 
+  it("wraps a trailing wide prompt glyph onto the next line instead of dropping it", () => {
+    const state: OrchestratorState = {
+      status: "running",
+      currentIteration: 1,
+      totalInputTokens: 0,
+      totalOutputTokens: 0,
+      commitCount: 0,
+      iterations: [],
+      successCount: 0,
+      failCount: 0,
+      consecutiveFailures: 0,
+      startTime: new Date("2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"),
+      waitingUntil: null,
+      lastMessage: null,
+    };
+
+    const lines = renderer
+      .buildContentLines(
+        `${"A".repeat(62)}🌕`,
+        "claude",
+        state,
+        "00:00:00",
+        Date.now(),
+      )
+      .map(stripAnsi);
+
+    expect(lines.slice(8, 11).filter(Boolean)).toEqual(["A".repeat(62), "🌕"]);
+  });
+
   it("shows the stop and resume hint on the second-to-last row with blank bottom padding", () => {
     const state: OrchestratorState = {
       status: "running",
@@ -217,6 +256,47 @@ describe("buildFrame", () => {
     expect(plainLines.at(-1)?.trim()).toBe("");
   });
 
+  it("does not let wide agent text push side stars out of position", () => {
+    // Use width where (width - CONTENT_WIDTH) is even so sideWidth*2 + 63 = width
+    const terminalWidth = 83;
+    const terminalHeight = 30;
+    // Message that overflows CONTENT_WIDTH only because the trailing glyph is 2 cells wide.
+    const longMessage = `${"A".repeat(62)}🌕`;
+
+    const state: OrchestratorState = {
+      status: "running",
+      currentIteration: 1,
+      totalInputTokens: 500,
+      totalOutputTokens: 300,
+      commitCount: 0,
+      iterations: [],
+      successCount: 0,
+      failCount: 0,
+      consecutiveFailures: 0,
+      startTime: new Date("2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"),
+      waitingUntil: null,
+      lastMessage: longMessage,
+    };
+
+    const cells = buildFrameCells(
+      "ship it",
+      "claude",
+      state,
+      [],
+      [],
+      [],
+      Date.now(),
+      terminalWidth,
+      terminalHeight,
+    );
+
+    // Every row must be exactly terminalWidth — a wider agent message row
+    // would push the right-side stars out of alignment.
+    for (let r = 0; r < cells.length; r++) {
+      expect(cells[r]).toHaveLength(terminalWidth);
+    }
+  });
+
   it("keeps stats visible when moon rows exceed the content viewport", () => {
     const state: OrchestratorState = {
       status: "done",
@@ -301,6 +381,12 @@ describe("buildFrame", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("renderer module exports", () => {
+  it("does not expose clampCellsToWidth", () => {
+    expect("clampCellsToWidth" in renderer).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
 describe("buildContentCells adaptive height", () => {
   const state: OrchestratorState = {
     status: "running",
diff --git a/src/renderer.ts b/src/renderer.ts
index 67c5e7d..15514f8 100644
--- a/src/renderer.ts
+++ b/src/renderer.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ const TICK_MS = 200;
 const MOONS_PER_ROW = 30;
 const MOON_PHASE_PERIOD = 1600;
 const MAX_MSG_LINES = 3;
-const MAX_MSG_LINE_LEN = 64;
+const MAX_MSG_LINE_LEN = CONTENT_WIDTH;
 const RESUME_HINT = "[ctrl+c to stop, gnhf again to resume]";
 
 export type RendererExitReason = "interrupted" | "stopped";
@@ -249,11 +249,35 @@ function renderSideStarsCells(
   return cells;
 }
 
+function clampCellsToWidth(content: Cell[], width: number): Cell[] {
+  if (content.length <= width) return content;
+
+  const clamped: Cell[] = [];
+  let remaining = width;
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < content.length && remaining > 0; i++) {
+    const cell = content[i];
+    if (cell.width === 0) continue;
+    if (cell.width > remaining) break;
+
+    clamped.push(cell);
+    remaining -= cell.width;
+
+    if (cell.width === 2 && content[i + 1]?.width === 0) {
+      clamped.push(content[i + 1]);
+      i += 1;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return clamped;
+}
+
 function centerLineCells(content: Cell[], width: number): Cell[] {
-  const w = content.length;
+  const clamped = clampCellsToWidth(content, width);
+  const w = clamped.length;
   const pad = Math.max(0, Math.floor((width - w) / 2));
   const rightPad = Math.max(0, width - w - pad);
-  return [...emptyCells(pad), ...content, ...emptyCells(rightPad)];
+  return [...emptyCells(pad), ...clamped, ...emptyCells(rightPad)];
 }
 
 function renderResumeHintCells(width: number): Cell[] {
@@ -482,12 +506,18 @@ export class Renderer {
   private cachedHeight = 0;
   private prevCells: Cell[][] = [];
   private isFirstFrame = true;
+  private seedTop: number;
+  private seedBottom: number;
+  private seedSide: number;
 
   constructor(orchestrator: Orchestrator, prompt: string, agentName: string) {
     this.orchestrator = orchestrator;
     this.prompt = prompt;
     this.agentName = agentName;
     this.state = orchestrator.getState();
+    this.seedTop = Math.floor(Math.random() * 2147483646) + 1;
+    this.seedBottom = Math.floor(Math.random() * 2147483646) + 1;
+    this.seedSide = Math.floor(Math.random() * 2147483646) + 1;
     this.exitPromise = new Promise((resolve) => {
       this.exitResolve = resolve;
     });
@@ -550,17 +580,20 @@ export class Renderer {
         const star = s.char !== "·" ? { ...s, char: "·" } : s;
         return star.rest === "bright" ? { ...star, rest: "dim" } : star;
       };
-      this.topStars = generateStarField(w, h, STAR_DENSITY, 42).map((s) =>
-        shrinkBig(s, s.y >= topHeight - proximityRows),
-      );
-      this.bottomStars = generateStarField(w, h, STAR_DENSITY, 137).map((s) =>
-        shrinkBig(s, s.y < proximityRows),
+      this.topStars = generateStarField(w, h, STAR_DENSITY, this.seedTop).map(
+        (s) => shrinkBig(s, s.y >= topHeight - proximityRows),
       );
+      this.bottomStars = generateStarField(
+        w,
+        h,
+        STAR_DENSITY,
+        this.seedBottom,
+      ).map((s) => shrinkBig(s, s.y < proximityRows));
       this.sideStars = generateStarField(
         w,
         Math.max(BASE_CONTENT_ROWS, availableHeight),
         STAR_DENSITY,
-        99,
+        this.seedSide,
       );
       return true;
     }
diff --git a/src/utils/terminal-width.test.ts b/src/utils/terminal-width.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..434e2ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/terminal-width.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { graphemeWidth } from "./terminal-width.js";
+
+describe("graphemeWidth", () => {
+  it("treats narrow supplementary-plane graphemes as single-width", () => {
+    expect(graphemeWidth("𝒜")).toBe(1);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/utils/terminal-width.ts b/src/utils/terminal-width.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eb4e557
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/terminal-width.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+const graphemeSegmenter = new Intl.Segmenter(undefined, {
+  granularity: "grapheme",
+});
+
+const MARK_REGEX = /\p{Mark}/u;
+const REGIONAL_INDICATOR_REGEX = /\p{Regional_Indicator}/u;
+const EXTENDED_PICTOGRAPHIC_REGEX = /\p{Extended_Pictographic}/u;
+
+function isFullWidthCodePoint(codePoint: number): boolean {
+  return (
+    codePoint >= 0x1100 &&
+    (codePoint <= 0x115f ||
+      codePoint === 0x2329 ||
+      codePoint === 0x232a ||
+      (codePoint >= 0x2e80 && codePoint <= 0x3247 && codePoint !== 0x303f) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0x3250 && codePoint <= 0x4dbf) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0x4e00 && codePoint <= 0xa4c6) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0xa960 && codePoint <= 0xa97c) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0xac00 && codePoint <= 0xd7a3) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0xf900 && codePoint <= 0xfaff) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0xfe10 && codePoint <= 0xfe19) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0xfe30 && codePoint <= 0xfe6b) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0xff01 && codePoint <= 0xff60) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0xffe0 && codePoint <= 0xffe6) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0x1b000 && codePoint <= 0x1b001) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0x1f200 && codePoint <= 0x1f251) ||
+      (codePoint >= 0x20000 && codePoint <= 0x3fffd))
+  );
+}
+
+function codePointWidth(codePoint: number): number {
+  if (
+    codePoint === 0 ||
+    codePoint === 0x200c ||
+    codePoint === 0x200d ||
+    codePoint === 0xfe0e ||
+    codePoint === 0xfe0f
+  ) {
+    return 0;
+  }
+
+  if (MARK_REGEX.test(String.fromCodePoint(codePoint))) return 0;
+  return isFullWidthCodePoint(codePoint) ? 2 : 1;
+}
+
+function isWideEmojiGrapheme(grapheme: string): boolean {
+  return (
+    grapheme.includes("\u200d") ||
+    grapheme.includes("\ufe0f") ||
+    grapheme.includes("\u20e3") ||
+    REGIONAL_INDICATOR_REGEX.test(grapheme) ||
+    Array.from(grapheme).some((char) => EXTENDED_PICTOGRAPHIC_REGEX.test(char))
+  );
+}
+
+export function splitGraphemes(text: string): string[] {
+  return Array.from(graphemeSegmenter.segment(text), ({ segment }) => segment);
+}
+
+export function graphemeWidth(grapheme: string): number {
+  if (!grapheme) return 0;
+  if (isWideEmojiGrapheme(grapheme)) return 2;
+
+  let width = 0;
+  for (const char of grapheme) {
+    width += codePointWidth(char.codePointAt(0) ?? 0);
+  }
+  return width;
+}
+
+export function stringWidth(text: string): number {
+  let width = 0;
+  for (const grapheme of splitGraphemes(text)) {
+    width += graphemeWidth(grapheme);
+  }
+  return width;
+}
diff --git a/src/utils/wordwrap.test.ts b/src/utils/wordwrap.test.ts
index cf96440..f413ce5 100644
--- a/src/utils/wordwrap.test.ts
+++ b/src/utils/wordwrap.test.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,14 @@ describe("wordWrap", () => {
     expect(wordWrap("abcdefghij", 5)).toEqual(["abcde", "fghij"]);
   });
 
+  it("treats BMP full-width characters as double-width", () => {
+    expect(wordWrap("漢A", 2)).toEqual(["漢", "A"]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps ZWJ emoji graphemes intact when wrapping", () => {
+    expect(wordWrap("👨‍👩‍👧‍👦", 2)).toEqual(["👨‍👩‍👧‍👦"]);
+  });
+
   it("caps at maxLines with ellipsis on last line", () => {
     const text = "one two three four five six seven eight";
     const lines = wordWrap(text, 10, 2);
diff --git a/src/utils/wordwrap.ts b/src/utils/wordwrap.ts
index c9ab330..aff4dde 100644
--- a/src/utils/wordwrap.ts
+++ b/src/utils/wordwrap.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,45 @@
+import {
+  graphemeWidth,
+  splitGraphemes,
+  stringWidth,
+} from "./terminal-width.js";
+
+function sliceToWidth(text: string, width: number): string {
+  let result = "";
+  let currentWidth = 0;
+
+  for (const grapheme of splitGraphemes(text)) {
+    const nextWidth = currentWidth + graphemeWidth(grapheme);
+    if (nextWidth > width) break;
+    result += grapheme;
+    currentWidth = nextWidth;
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
+
+function splitByWidth(text: string, width: number): string[] {
+  const lines: string[] = [];
+  let current = "";
+  let currentWidth = 0;
+
+  for (const grapheme of splitGraphemes(text)) {
+    const glyphWidth = graphemeWidth(grapheme);
+    if (current && currentWidth + glyphWidth > width) {
+      lines.push(current);
+      current = grapheme;
+      currentWidth = glyphWidth;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    current += grapheme;
+    currentWidth += glyphWidth;
+  }
+
+  if (current) lines.push(current);
+  return lines;
+}
+
 export function wordWrap(
   text: string,
   width: number,
@@ -14,24 +56,31 @@ export function wordWrap(
       continue;
     }
     let current = "";
+    let currentWidth = 0;
 
     for (const word of words) {
-      if (word.length > width) {
+      const wordWidth = stringWidth(word);
+
+      if (wordWidth > width) {
         if (current) {
           lines.push(current);
           current = "";
+          currentWidth = 0;
         }
-        for (let i = 0; i < word.length; i += width) {
-          lines.push(word.slice(i, i + width));
+        for (const slice of splitByWidth(word, width)) {
+          lines.push(slice);
         }
         continue;
       }
 
-      if (current && current.length + 1 + word.length > width) {
+      const nextWidth = current ? currentWidth + 1 + wordWidth : wordWidth;
+      if (current && nextWidth > width) {
         lines.push(current);
         current = word;
+        currentWidth = wordWidth;
       } else {
         current = current ? current + " " + word : word;
+        currentWidth = nextWidth;
       }
     }
     if (current) lines.push(current);
@@ -41,7 +90,9 @@ export function wordWrap(
     const capped = lines.slice(0, maxLines);
     const last = capped[maxLines - 1];
     capped[maxLines - 1] =
-      last.length >= width ? last.slice(0, width - 1) + "…" : last + "…";
+      stringWidth(last) >= width
+        ? sliceToWidth(last, width - 1) + "…"
+        : last + "…";
     return capped;
   }