diff --git a/org/channel-tui-main.org b/org/channel-tui-main.org
index 8709dbb..3502b4f 100644
--- a/org/channel-tui-main.org
+++ b/org/channel-tui-main.org
@@ -907,7 +907,7 @@ supplied (e.g. \"/\"), pre-fill the select filter with it."
          ;; A cat subprocess reads keyboard input from the terminal.
           ;; Global vars for cat subprocess — avoid lexical let* scope issue
           (progn
-            (setq *cat-proc* (uiop:launch-program '("cat")
+            (setq *cat-proc* (uiop:launch-program '("stdbuf" "-o0" "cat")
                                               :output :stream
                                               :input :interactive
                                               :stderr nil)
@@ -920,17 +920,9 @@ supplied (e.g. \"/\"), pre-fill the select filter with it."
           (let ((backend-type (if (typep be 'cl-tty.backend:modern-backend)
                                   "modern" "simple")))
             (add-msg :system (format nil "* ~a backend ~dx~d *" backend-type w h)))
-          ;; Guard against nil w/h from backend-size
+          ;; Initial dirty all to trigger first redraw in loop
           (setq w (or (and (numberp w) (> w 0) w) 80)
                 h (or (and (numberp h) (> h 0) h) 24))
-          ;; Log backend info and terminal dimensions
-          (cl-tty.backend:backend-clear be)
-          (view-status be w h)
-          (view-chat be w h)
-          ;; Draw separator line above input
-          (cl-tty.backend:draw-text be 0 (- h 4) (make-string w :initial-element #\─)
-                                    (theme-color :separator) nil)
-          (view-input be w h)
           (loop while (st :running) do
                (dolist (ev (drain-queue))
                  (cond
@@ -968,11 +960,14 @@ supplied (e.g. \"/\"), pre-fill the select filter with it."
                                        (when item
                                          (let ((cb (cl-tty.select:select-on-select sel)))
                                            (when cb (funcall cb item))))))
-                                    ((and (characterp ch) (graphic-char-p ch))
-                                     (setf (cl-tty.select:select-filter sel)
-                                           (concatenate 'string
-                                             (or (cl-tty.select:select-filter sel) "")
-                                             (string ch))))
+                                     ((let ((chr (if (characterp ch) ch
+                                                      (and (integerp ch) (<= 32 ch 126)
+                                                           (code-char ch)))))
+                                         (and chr (graphic-char-p chr))
+                                        (setf (cl-tty.select:select-filter sel)
+                                              (concatenate 'string
+                                                (or (cl-tty.select:select-filter sel) "")
+                                                (string chr)))))
                                     ((member ch '(:backspace 127 8))
                                      (let ((f (cl-tty.select:select-filter sel)))
                                        (when (> (length f) 0)