diff --git a/packages/nikcli/src/cli/cmd/tui/thread.ts b/packages/nikcli/src/cli/cmd/tui/thread.ts
index a390b0f6f..5fd802157 100644
--- a/packages/nikcli/src/cli/cmd/tui/thread.ts
+++ b/packages/nikcli/src/cli/cmd/tui/thread.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { createNikcliClient, type Event } from "@nikcli-ai/sdk/httpapi"
 import type { EventSource } from "@nikcli-ai/tui/context/sdk"
 import { win32DisableProcessedInput, win32InstallCtrlCGuard } from "@nikcli-ai/util/win32"
 import { errorMessage } from "@nikcli-ai/util/error-format"
+import { HerdrBridge } from "@nikcli-ai/util/herdr-bridge"
 import { Process } from "@nikcli-ai/util/process"
 import { SessionPrimitives } from "@nikcli-ai/util/session-primitives"
 
@@ -265,6 +266,12 @@ export const TuiThreadCommand = cmd({
           error: errorMessage(error),
         })
       })
+      // The worker owns the herdr plugin, but on Windows its shutdown is
+      // fire-and-forget (see shutdownWorker), so the plugin's dispose is cut
+      // off before it can hand the pane back. This is the process that is
+      // actually about to exit, so release from here. Synchronous and
+      // idempotent; a no-op outside a herdr pane.
+      HerdrBridge.releasePaneSync()
       simulation?.backend.stop()
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/nikcli/src/plugin/herdr/index.ts b/packages/nikcli/src/plugin/herdr/index.ts
index c4239e75a..30f528d0a 100644
--- a/packages/nikcli/src/plugin/herdr/index.ts
+++ b/packages/nikcli/src/plugin/herdr/index.ts
@@ -319,7 +319,12 @@ export async function HerdrPlugin(_input: PluginInput): Promise<Hooks> {
   return {
     async dispose() {
       log.info("disposing herdr plugin")
+      // stop() resets runtime.released, so the CLI release has to run after
+      // it. Otherwise a late report could reclaim the pane we just handed
+      // back. The TUI process also calls releasePaneSync() because Windows
+      // never awaits this dispose.
       HerdrBridge.stop()
+      HerdrBridge.releasePaneSync()
     },
     async event(input) {
       // Session lifecycle is already covered by the bridge's GlobalBus
diff --git a/packages/nikcli/test/plugin/herdr/release-on-exit.test.ts b/packages/nikcli/test/plugin/herdr/release-on-exit.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..580e0de31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/nikcli/test/plugin/herdr/release-on-exit.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/**
+ * Shutdown contract for the herdr integration.
+ *
+ * Herdr only clears agents it recognizes by process. nikcli is reported,
+ * not detected, so quitting has to hand the pane back explicitly or the
+ * agent panel keeps a zombie row until the pane's shell exits.
+ */
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from "bun:test"
+import * as bridge from "@nikcli-ai/util/herdr-bridge"
+
+const originalEnv = { ...process.env }
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  process.env = { ...originalEnv }
+  bridge.setReleased(false)
+})
+
+describe("herdr shutdown", () => {
+  it("hands the pane back under the source herdr granted authority to", () => {
+    expect(bridge.releaseAgentArgv("w1:p1", 42)).toEqual([
+      "pane",
+      "release-agent",
+      "w1:p1",
+      "--source",
+      "herdr:nikcli",
+      "--agent",
+      "nikcli",
+      "--seq",
+      "42",
+    ])
+  })
+
+  it("does nothing when there is no pane to hand back", () => {
+    delete process.env.HERDR_PANE_ID
+    expect(() => bridge.releasePaneSync()).not.toThrow()
+  })
+
+  it("can still hand the pane back after stop() resets local runtime state", () => {
+    delete process.env.HERDR_PANE_ID
+    bridge.stop()
+    expect(() => bridge.releasePaneSync()).not.toThrow()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/util/src/herdr-bridge.ts b/packages/util/src/herdr-bridge.ts
index 1cb7743a6..81d8dee03 100644
--- a/packages/util/src/herdr-bridge.ts
+++ b/packages/util/src/herdr-bridge.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
  *     command) — never on import. This protects the chat session stream
  *     from being hooked while the user has no pane registered.
  */
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process"
 import { createConnection, type NetConnectOpts, type Socket } from "node:net"
 import { platform } from "node:os"
 import fs from "fs/promises"
@@ -556,6 +557,38 @@ export async function releasePane(input?: { paneId?: string; socketPath?: string
   })
 }
 
+/**
+ * Release the pane without an event loop.
+ *
+ * Herdr keeps a reported agent until someone releases it — it only clears
+ * agents it recognizes by process, and nikcli is not one of those, so a
+ * quit that skips the release leaves a zombie row in herdr's agent panel
+ * until the pane's shell itself exits. `process.on("exit")` cannot await a
+ * socket write, so the shutdown path goes through the herdr CLI instead,
+ * which is synchronous.
+ */
+export function releaseAgentArgv(paneId: string, seq: number): string[] {
+  return ["pane", "release-agent", paneId, "--source", HERDR_SOURCE, "--agent", HERDR_AGENT, "--seq", String(seq)]
+}
+
+export function releasePaneSync(): void {
+  if (runtime.released) return
+  const paneId = process.env["HERDR_PANE_ID"]
+  const bin = resolveHerdrBin()
+  if (!paneId || !bin) return
+  runtime.released = true
+  try {
+    spawnSync(bin, releaseAgentArgv(paneId, nextReportSeq()), {
+      stdio: "ignore",
+      timeout: 2000,
+      windowsHide: true,
+    })
+  } catch (error) {
+    log.debug("herdr release_agent (cli) failed", { error: errorMessage(error) })
+  }
+}
+
+
 /**
  * Report a nikcli session as a herdr agent. No-op when the bridge is not
  * enabled or the socket is unreachable. Failures are logged, never thrown,
@@ -982,6 +1015,7 @@ export const HerdrBridge = {
   handleEvent,
   handleChatMessage,
   releasePane,
+  releasePaneSync,
   isInHerdrPane,
   nextReportSeq,
   normalizeSnapshot,