diff --git a/client/package-lock.json b/client/package-lock.json
index b0470cc2..f440eb29 100644
--- a/client/package-lock.json
+++ b/client/package-lock.json
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
       "dependencies": {
         "@fontsource/inter": "^5.2.8",
         "@fontsource/jetbrains-mono": "^5.2.8",
+        "@xterm/addon-canvas": "^0.7.0",
         "@xterm/addon-fit": "^0.10.0",
         "@xterm/xterm": "^5.5.0",
         "d3": "^7.9.0",
@@ -2073,6 +2074,15 @@
         "url": "https://opencollective.com/vitest"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/@xterm/addon-canvas": {
+      "version": "0.7.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@xterm/addon-canvas/-/addon-canvas-0.7.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-LF5LYcfvefJuJ7QotNRdRSPc9YASAVDeoT5uyXS/nZshZXjYplGXRECBGiznwvhNL2I8bq1Lf5MzRwstsYQ2Iw==",
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "@xterm/xterm": "^5.0.0"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/@xterm/addon-fit": {
       "version": "0.10.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@xterm/addon-fit/-/addon-fit-0.10.0.tgz",
diff --git a/client/package.json b/client/package.json
index 547cd448..216779bf 100644
--- a/client/package.json
+++ b/client/package.json
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@fontsource/inter": "^5.2.8",
     "@fontsource/jetbrains-mono": "^5.2.8",
+    "@xterm/addon-canvas": "^0.7.0",
     "@xterm/addon-fit": "^0.10.0",
     "@xterm/xterm": "^5.5.0",
     "d3": "^7.9.0",
diff --git a/client/src/components/run/TerminalView.tsx b/client/src/components/run/TerminalView.tsx
index 4b956acb..b485c6f1 100644
--- a/client/src/components/run/TerminalView.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/run/TerminalView.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import { useEffect, useRef } from "react";
 import { Terminal } from "@xterm/xterm";
 import { FitAddon } from "@xterm/addon-fit";
+import { CanvasAddon } from "@xterm/addon-canvas";
 import "@xterm/xterm/css/xterm.css";
 
 interface TerminalViewProps {
@@ -29,6 +30,24 @@ export function TerminalView({ runId, wsBaseUrl }: TerminalViewProps) {
     const fit = new FitAddon();
     term.loadAddon(fit);
     if (containerRef.current) term.open(containerRef.current);
+
+    // Draw each cell at a fixed position instead of letting the browser lay the
+    // row out as text. xterm's default DOM renderer aligns a row with a single
+    // `letter-spacing`, which only holds while every glyph comes from one
+    // monospace font — Vietnamese diacritics and CJK fall through to a fallback
+    // face whose advance width differs, so glyphs shove their neighbours along
+    // and the row's tail spills onto the row below. The buffer is correct
+    // throughout (copying the line yields clean text); only the painting drifts,
+    // and no CSS can correct it. Best-effort: a browser that cannot give a 2D
+    // context keeps the DOM renderer rather than losing the terminal.
+    let canvas: CanvasAddon | null = null;
+    try {
+      canvas = new CanvasAddon();
+      term.loadAddon(canvas);
+    } catch {
+      canvas = null;
+    }
+
     fit.fit();
 
     // When the pane's program has NOT enabled wheel reporting, xterm falls back
@@ -160,6 +179,7 @@ export function TerminalView({ runId, wsBaseUrl }: TerminalViewProps) {
       resizeDisposable.dispose();
       dataDisposable.dispose();
       ws?.close();
+      canvas?.dispose();
       term.dispose();
     };
   }, [runId, wsBaseUrl]);
diff --git a/client/src/components/run/__tests__/TerminalView.test.tsx b/client/src/components/run/__tests__/TerminalView.test.tsx
index 94c46e17..0a661354 100644
--- a/client/src/components/run/__tests__/TerminalView.test.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/run/__tests__/TerminalView.test.tsx
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ const openMock = vi.fn();
 const disposeMock = vi.fn();
 const wheelHandlerMock = vi.fn();
 const keyHandlerMock = vi.fn();
+const loadAddonMock = vi.fn();
 // Mutable stand-ins for the two live terminal facts the wheel handler reads.
 const termState = {
   modes: { mouseTrackingMode: "none" as "none" | "x10" | "vt200" | "drag" | "any" },
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ vi.mock("@xterm/xterm", () => ({
       return { dispose: vi.fn() };
     },
     dispose: disposeMock,
-    loadAddon: vi.fn(),
+    loadAddon: loadAddonMock,
     attachCustomWheelEventHandler: wheelHandlerMock,
     attachCustomKeyEventHandler: keyHandlerMock,
   })),
@@ -58,6 +59,9 @@ vi.mock("@xterm/xterm", () => ({
 vi.mock("@xterm/addon-fit", () => ({
   FitAddon: vi.fn().mockImplementation(() => ({ fit: vi.fn() })),
 }));
+vi.mock("@xterm/addon-canvas", () => ({
+  CanvasAddon: vi.fn().mockImplementation(() => ({ __canvas: true, dispose: vi.fn() })),
+}));
 
 class MockWebSocket {
   static instances: MockWebSocket[] = [];
@@ -94,6 +98,7 @@ describe("TerminalView", () => {
     writeMock.mockClear();
     wheelHandlerMock.mockClear();
     keyHandlerMock.mockClear();
+    loadAddonMock.mockClear();
     openMock.mockClear();
   });
 
@@ -179,6 +184,18 @@ describe("TerminalView", () => {
     expect(preventPlainTab).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("renders through the canvas addon, not xterm's DOM renderer", () => {
+    // The DOM renderer aligns a row with one `letter-spacing`, which holds only
+    // while every glyph shares a font. Vietnamese diacritics and CJK fall to a
+    // fallback face with a different advance, so glyphs shove their neighbours
+    // and the row's tail spills onto the row below — buffer clean, painting
+    // wrong. The canvas renderer draws each cell at a fixed position instead.
+    render(<TerminalView runId="ccam-lane-1" wsBaseUrl="ws://localhost:4820" />);
+    expect(loadAddonMock.mock.calls.some(([a]) => (a as { __canvas?: boolean }).__canvas)).toBe(
+      true
+    );
+  });
+
   describe("size reporting (tmux must never be wider than the terminal)", () => {
     // A tmux pane wider than xterm wraps each over-long row's tail onto the
     // next row's left margin, and tmux never repaints a row it believes