diff --git a/.console/log.md b/.console/log.md
index 861923c..5854b4b 100644
--- a/.console/log.md
+++ b/.console/log.md
@@ -1,4 +1,46 @@
 # Log
+## 2026-08-03 — fix(cli): stop console encoding from failing a command that succeeded
+
+`cl reconcile check` computed a GREEN verdict, then died printing it:
+
+    UnicodeEncodeError: 'charmap' codec can't encode character '→'
+
+`check.py:132` renders cross-repo routing with `→`, and a default Windows
+console is cp1252. So any worksheet carrying a cross-repo item — the ordinary
+case, since routing work to its owning repo is the point — reported a passing
+gate as a traceback. The check had already finished; only the formatting failed.
+
+Fixed at the stream, not the glyph. Replacing `→` would have been whack-a-mole:
+the source carries nine distinct non-ASCII codepoints across ~940 occurrences,
+with output-bearing lines in `cli/ledger.py`, `reconcile/check.py` and
+`cli/loop.py`, and any new report line could reintroduce it. `ensure_printable_
+console()` prefers UTF-8 and falls back to `errors="replace"`, so output degrades
+to `?` instead of raising. Installed as a Typer root callback, which runs before
+every subcommand and takes no options, so the CLI surface is unchanged.
+
+Same fix and near-identical wording as Custodian's `cli/colors.py`, which hit
+this in its verbose audit report. Duplicated rather than shared — CL does not
+depend on Custodian, and it is fifteen lines.
+
+The fallback branch is not theoretical: a stream whose buffer is detached
+rejects an encoding change but still accepts an errors change, so the guard
+retries with errors alone rather than giving up on not-raising.
+
+8 tests in `tests/test_console.py`. The first asserts the cp1252 stream really
+does reject the report glyphs — without it the other seven could pass against a
+stream that was never capable of failing. Suite 449 -> 457 passed, the 25
+pre-existing failures and the 2 `cryptography` collection errors unchanged.
+
+Custodian's audit caught two things in the first draft, both fixed: T7 (the file
+was `test_console_encoding.py`, so `cli/console.py` had no parallel test) and T2
+(the skip-path test asserted nothing — it now writes through the stream and
+checks the content, so "skipping is a no-op" is actually verified rather than
+merely not crashing). Audit is back to 0 findings.
+
+Note for anyone reading CI here: `Lint (ruff)` is red on this branch and was
+already red on `main` — 204 findings, identical count before and after this
+change, none in the files touched here.
+
 ## 2026-07-17 — docs: D3 P5 — record stopped_logged_violation as spec-deferred
 
 Resolved P5 (the last D3 phase) as a **decision, not a build**. Investigated
diff --git a/src/context_lifecycle/cli/console.py b/src/context_lifecycle/cli/console.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d74562b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/context_lifecycle/cli/console.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+# Copyright (C) 2026 ProtocolWarden
+"""Console-encoding guard for the `cl` CLI.
+
+Formatting must never be able to fail a command that already succeeded.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import sys
+
+
+def ensure_printable_console() -> None:
+    """Stop console encoding from crashing a command that already did its work.
+
+    Windows consoles default to cp1252, which cannot encode the arrows, box
+    drawing, section signs and em-dashes this CLI's reports use. Printing them
+    raises ``UnicodeEncodeError`` *after* the command has finished, discarding
+    the result the operator asked for and exiting non-zero — a green check
+    reported as a failure.
+
+    Concretely: ``cl reconcile check`` on a worksheet containing any cross-repo
+    item died on the ``->`` glyph in its routing line, having already computed a
+    GREEN verdict. The gate passed; the operator saw a traceback.
+
+    Replacing glyphs one at a time does not hold — the source carries nine
+    distinct non-ASCII codepoints across ~940 occurrences, and any new report
+    line can reintroduce the crash. Fixing the stream instead makes the whole
+    class impossible: prefer UTF-8, and fall back to replacing unencodable
+    characters so output degrades to ``?`` rather than raising.
+
+    Idempotent, and safe to call on non-standard streams (pytest's capture
+    objects have no ``reconfigure``); those are skipped.
+    """
+    for stream in (sys.stdout, sys.stderr):
+        reconfigure = getattr(stream, "reconfigure", None)
+        if reconfigure is None:  # pytest capture, io.StringIO, closed stream
+            continue
+        try:
+            reconfigure(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace")
+        except (ValueError, OSError, LookupError):  # pragma: no cover
+            # Stream refuses a full reconfigure (detached buffer, exotic
+            # terminal). Salvage what matters: never raise on an unencodable
+            # character, even if the encoding itself cannot be changed.
+            try:
+                reconfigure(errors="replace")
+            except (ValueError, OSError):
+                pass
diff --git a/src/context_lifecycle/cli/main.py b/src/context_lifecycle/cli/main.py
index 45a62fb..7d632f3 100644
--- a/src/context_lifecycle/cli/main.py
+++ b/src/context_lifecycle/cli/main.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from context_lifecycle.cli import loop as loop_cmd
 from context_lifecycle.cli import reconcile as reconcile_cmd
 from context_lifecycle.cli import session as session_cmd
+from context_lifecycle.cli.console import ensure_printable_console
 
 app = typer.Typer(
     name="cl",
@@ -20,6 +21,19 @@
     add_completion=False,
 )
 
+@app.callback()
+def _root() -> None:
+    """Runs before every subcommand.
+
+    Only job is the console-encoding guard: reports carry non-ASCII glyphs that
+    a cp1252 Windows console cannot encode, and the resulting UnicodeEncodeError
+    fires *after* the command's real work is done. Installed here rather than in
+    each command so no future report line can reintroduce the crash. Takes no
+    options, so the CLI surface is unchanged.
+    """
+    ensure_printable_console()
+
+
 app.add_typer(hook_cmd.app, name="hook", help="Claude Code hook adapters (pre_tool_use, stop).")
 app.add_typer(session_cmd.app, name="session", help="Session anchor lifecycle (start, show, end).")
 app.add_typer(context_cmd.app, name="context", help="Session-boundary cognition (hydrate, capture, peek) for non-hook CLIs.")
diff --git a/tests/test_console.py b/tests/test_console.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..668a99b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_console.py
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+# Copyright (C) 2026 ProtocolWarden
+"""Tests for the console-encoding guard.
+
+Regression cover for: `cl reconcile check` computed a GREEN verdict, then died
+with UnicodeEncodeError printing the `->` glyph in its cross-repo routing line
+on a cp1252 Windows console. The gate passed; the operator saw a traceback and
+a non-zero exit.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import io
+import sys
+
+import pytest
+from typer.testing import CliRunner
+
+from context_lifecycle.cli.console import ensure_printable_console
+from context_lifecycle.cli.main import app
+
+# One of each non-ASCII codepoint the CLI's report lines actually use.
+REPORT_GLYPHS = "→ ⇒ — ─ § … ≥ ✓ ✗"
+
+
+class _Cp1252Stream(io.TextIOBase):
+    """A stream that encodes as cp1252 — i.e. a default Windows console.
+
+    `reconfigure` mutates the declared encoding/errors the way a real
+    TextIOWrapper does, so the guard can be observed taking effect.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        super().__init__()
+        self._encoding = "cp1252"
+        self._errors = "strict"
+        self.written: list[str] = []
+
+    @property
+    def encoding(self) -> str:
+        return self._encoding
+
+    @property
+    def errors(self) -> str:
+        return self._errors
+
+    def reconfigure(self, *, encoding: str | None = None, errors: str | None = None) -> None:
+        if encoding is not None:
+            self._encoding = encoding
+        if errors is not None:
+            self._errors = errors
+
+    def write(self, s: str) -> int:
+        # Mimic a real console: encoding happens at write time and raises
+        # under 'strict', which is exactly how the original crash surfaced.
+        s.encode(self._encoding, self._errors)
+        self.written.append(s)
+        return len(s)
+
+
+def test_cp1252_stream_rejects_report_glyphs_before_the_guard():
+    """Without the guard the failure is real — otherwise this suite proves nothing."""
+    stream = _Cp1252Stream()
+    with pytest.raises(UnicodeEncodeError):
+        stream.write(REPORT_GLYPHS)
+
+
+def test_guard_makes_report_glyphs_printable(monkeypatch):
+    stream = _Cp1252Stream()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdout", stream)
+    ensure_printable_console()
+    stream.write(REPORT_GLYPHS)
+    assert stream.written == [REPORT_GLYPHS]
+
+
+def test_guard_reconfigures_both_streams(monkeypatch):
+    out, err = _Cp1252Stream(), _Cp1252Stream()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdout", out)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stderr", err)
+    ensure_printable_console()
+    for stream in (out, err):
+        assert stream.encoding == "utf-8"
+        assert stream.errors == "replace"
+
+
+def test_guard_falls_back_to_errors_only_when_encoding_is_refused(monkeypatch):
+    """A stream with a detached buffer rejects an encoding change.
+
+    Never raising on an unencodable character still matters, so the guard must
+    retry with errors alone rather than give up.
+    """
+
+    class _RefusesEncoding(_Cp1252Stream):
+        def reconfigure(self, *, encoding=None, errors=None):
+            if encoding is not None:
+                raise ValueError("cannot change encoding of a detached stream")
+            super().reconfigure(errors=errors)
+
+    stream = _RefusesEncoding()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdout", stream)
+    ensure_printable_console()
+    assert stream.encoding == "cp1252"  # unchanged — the refusal stood
+    assert stream.errors == "replace"   # but output can no longer raise
+    stream.write(REPORT_GLYPHS)         # would raise under 'strict'
+
+
+def test_guard_skips_streams_without_reconfigure(monkeypatch):
+    """pytest capture objects and StringIO have no reconfigure; must not raise.
+
+    Asserts the stream stays usable afterwards rather than just that the call
+    returned — skipping must be a no-op, not a half-applied change.
+    """
+    out = io.StringIO()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdout", out)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stderr", io.StringIO())
+    ensure_printable_console()
+    out.write(REPORT_GLYPHS)
+    assert out.getvalue() == REPORT_GLYPHS
+
+
+def test_guard_is_idempotent(monkeypatch):
+    stream = _Cp1252Stream()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdout", stream)
+    ensure_printable_console()
+    ensure_printable_console()
+    assert stream.encoding == "utf-8"
+    assert stream.errors == "replace"
+
+
+def test_root_callback_runs_the_guard(monkeypatch):
+    """The guard must be wired to the app, not merely importable."""
+    calls: list[int] = []
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "context_lifecycle.cli.main.ensure_printable_console",
+        lambda: calls.append(1),
+    )
+    CliRunner().invoke(app, ["reconcile", "--help"])
+    assert calls, "root callback did not invoke the console guard"
+
+
+def test_cli_surface_is_unchanged_by_the_callback():
+    """The callback takes no options, so `cl --help` still lists every command."""
+    result = CliRunner().invoke(app, ["--help"])
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    for name in ("hook", "session", "context", "reconcile", "ledger", "loop"):
+        assert name in result.output