diff --git a/.changeset/fix-resume-missing-session-footer-leak.md b/.changeset/fix-resume-missing-session-footer-leak.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..58c2e1eede
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fix-resume-missing-session-footer-leak.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@moonshot-ai/kimi-code": patch
+---
+
+Fix footer leaking onto the terminal when resuming a non-existent session.
diff --git a/apps/kimi-code/src/tui/kimi-tui.ts b/apps/kimi-code/src/tui/kimi-tui.ts
index ad69644dcc..79622dfd52 100644
--- a/apps/kimi-code/src/tui/kimi-tui.ts
+++ b/apps/kimi-code/src/tui/kimi-tui.ts
@@ -377,6 +377,8 @@ export class KimiTUI {
   private async initMainTui(): Promise<boolean> {
     const shouldReplayHistory = await this.init();
 
+    // Mount only after init() succeeds; see mountFooter().
+    this.mountFooter();
     this.renderWelcome();
     this.setupAutocomplete();
     void this.loadPersistedInputHistory();
@@ -601,11 +603,18 @@ export class KimiTUI {
     ui.addChild(this.state.todoPanelContainer);
     ui.addChild(this.state.queueContainer);
     ui.addChild(this.state.editorContainer);
-    // FooterComponent isn't a Container; wrap it so it picks up the same
-    // outer gutter as the transcript/panels above.
+    // Footer is mounted later (mountFooter), not here.
+  }
+
+  // Footer is the only chrome with content before a session is ready, so
+  // mounting it at construction lets a stray pre-start render leak it to the
+  // terminal — e.g. above the error when resuming a missing session. Mount it
+  // only once init() succeeds. FooterComponent isn't a Container, so wrap it to
+  // pick up the same outer gutter as the panels above.
+  private mountFooter(): void {
     const footerWrap = new GutterContainer(CHROME_GUTTER, CHROME_GUTTER);
     footerWrap.addChild(this.state.footer);
-    ui.addChild(footerWrap);
+    this.state.ui.addChild(footerWrap);
   }
 
   // =========================================================================
diff --git a/apps/kimi-code/test/tui/kimi-tui-startup.test.ts b/apps/kimi-code/test/tui/kimi-tui-startup.test.ts
index 0b1ba55e9f..570f7efe46 100644
--- a/apps/kimi-code/test/tui/kimi-tui-startup.test.ts
+++ b/apps/kimi-code/test/tui/kimi-tui-startup.test.ts
@@ -776,4 +776,51 @@ describe("KimiTUI startup", () => {
 
     await expect(driver.init()).rejects.toThrow("provider config is invalid");
   });
+
+  it("does not mount the footer when resuming a missing session fails", async () => {
+    // Regression: a stray pre-startEventLoop render used to paint the footer
+    // (cwd/git + "context:" statusline) to the terminal before the fatal
+    // error, leaving it stranded above the error message. The footer must not
+    // be in the layout tree when initMainTui() throws.
+    const harness = makeHarness(makeSession(), {
+      listSessions: vi.fn(async () => []),
+    });
+    const driver = makeDriver(
+      harness,
+      makeStartupInput({ session: "missing-session" }),
+    ) as unknown as MigrateExitDriver;
+
+    await expect(driver.initMainTui()).rejects.toThrow(
+      'Session "missing-session" not found.',
+    );
+    expect(uiContainsFooter(driver)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("mounts the footer once startup reaches the main TUI", async () => {
+    const session = makeSession({ id: "ses-target" });
+    const harness = makeHarness(session, {
+      listSessions: vi.fn(async () => [{ id: "ses-target", workDir: "/tmp/proj-a" }]),
+    });
+    const driver = makeDriver(
+      harness,
+      makeStartupInput({ session: "ses-target" }),
+    ) as unknown as MigrateExitDriver;
+
+    // Not mounted until init() succeeds.
+    expect(uiContainsFooter(driver)).toBe(false);
+
+    await driver.initMainTui();
+
+    expect(uiContainsFooter(driver)).toBe(true);
+  });
 });
+
+function uiContainsFooter(driver: StartupDriver): boolean {
+  const target: unknown = driver.state.footer;
+  const visit = (node: unknown): boolean => {
+    if (node === target) return true;
+    const children = (node as { children?: unknown[] }).children;
+    return Array.isArray(children) && children.some(visit);
+  };
+  return visit(driver.state.ui);
+}