diff --git a/src/cli/components/InputRich.tsx b/src/cli/components/InputRich.tsx
index 5686b0b..063a16b 100644
--- a/src/cli/components/InputRich.tsx
+++ b/src/cli/components/InputRich.tsx
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ const appVersion = getVersion();
 
 // Only show token count when it exceeds this threshold
 const COUNTER_VISIBLE_THRESHOLD = 1000;
+// Window for double-escape to clear input
+const ESC_CLEAR_WINDOW_MS = 2500;
 
 export function Input({
   visible = true,
@@ -164,12 +166,12 @@ export function Input({
           setEscapePressed(false);
           if (escapeTimerRef.current) clearTimeout(escapeTimerRef.current);
         } else {
-          // First escape - start 1-second timer
+          // First escape - start timer to allow double-escape to clear
           setEscapePressed(true);
           if (escapeTimerRef.current) clearTimeout(escapeTimerRef.current);
           escapeTimerRef.current = setTimeout(() => {
             setEscapePressed(false);
-          }, 1000);
+          }, ESC_CLEAR_WINDOW_MS);
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/src/cli/components/PasteAwareTextInput.tsx b/src/cli/components/PasteAwareTextInput.tsx
index ae8d826..ed31728 100644
--- a/src/cli/components/PasteAwareTextInput.tsx
+++ b/src/cli/components/PasteAwareTextInput.tsx
@@ -333,6 +333,22 @@ export function PasteAwareTextInput({
   }, [internal_eventEmitter]);
 
   const handleChange = (newValue: string) => {
+    // Drop lone escape characters that Ink's text input would otherwise insert;
+    // they are used as control keys for double-escape handling and should not
+    // mutate the input value.
+    const sanitizedValue = newValue.replaceAll("\u001b", "");
+    if (sanitizedValue !== newValue) {
+      // Keep caret in bounds after stripping control chars
+      const nextCaret = Math.min(caretOffsetRef.current, sanitizedValue.length);
+      setNudgeCursorOffset(nextCaret);
+      caretOffsetRef.current = nextCaret;
+      newValue = sanitizedValue;
+      // If nothing actually changed after stripping, bail out early
+      if (sanitizedValue === displayValue) {
+        return;
+      }
+    }
+
     // Heuristic: detect large additions that look like pastes
     const addedLen = newValue.length - displayValue.length;
     const lineDelta = countLines(newValue) - countLines(displayValue);