diff --git a/src/core/jobs.ts b/src/core/jobs.ts
index 1c469bd..0bd6aef 100644
--- a/src/core/jobs.ts
+++ b/src/core/jobs.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { randomBytes } from "node:crypto";
 import { mkdir } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { incompatibleShellReason, type ShellDialect } from "../config.js";
 import type { TmuxClient } from "../tmux/client.js";
-import type { Job } from "../types.js";
+import type { Job, PaneState } from "../types.js";
 import {
   jobLogPath,
   readLogTail,
@@ -138,6 +138,10 @@ export function scrubOutput(lines: string[]): string[] {
 /** Finished jobs retained for late read/wait lookups before pruning. */
 const MAX_FINISHED_JOBS = 100;
 
+/** How long launch waits for a fresh pane's shell to print its prompt. */
+const SHELL_READY_TIMEOUT_MS = 2000;
+const SHELL_READY_POLL_MS = 25;
+
 /**
  * How much of a job's log tail to scan for the exit sentinel. The sentinel
  * prints at exit, so it sits within the last few lines of the stream — but a
@@ -201,7 +205,7 @@ export class JobManager {
     command: string,
     forcedDialect: ShellDialect | null,
   ): Promise<Job> {
-    const state = await this.client.paneState(paneId);
+    const state = await this.awaitShellReady(paneId);
     // An unrecognized foreground command is not fatal — it is usually a
     // wrapper or a program the pane is running — and posix stays the safe
     // default. A shell that is known to be unable to evaluate the sentinel
@@ -245,6 +249,31 @@ export class JobManager {
     return job;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * A brand-new pane reports a completely blank screen — cursor at origin,
+   * no history — until its shell prints the first prompt. Typing the command
+   * before that still works (the pty buffers input), but the pty's canonical
+   * echo then precedes the prompt, which arrives later and glues itself to
+   * the job's first output line (`sh-5.3$ 1`). That pollutes reads and log
+   * parsing, and the prompt lands inside the job's output slice because the
+   * baseline was taken before it printed. Wait for the prompt; a pane that
+   * stays blank past the cap proceeds anyway (some shells print nothing).
+   */
+  private async awaitShellReady(paneId: string): Promise<PaneState> {
+    let state = await this.client.paneState(paneId);
+    const deadline = Date.now() + SHELL_READY_TIMEOUT_MS;
+    while (
+      state.historySize === 0 &&
+      state.cursorY === 0 &&
+      state.cursorX === 0 &&
+      Date.now() < deadline
+    ) {
+      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, SHELL_READY_POLL_MS));
+      state = await this.client.paneState(paneId);
+    }
+    return state;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Open the pane's output pipe onto this job's log file. Best-effort: a
    * failure (unwritable state dir, tmux hiccup) returns null and the run
diff --git a/src/tmux/formats.ts b/src/tmux/formats.ts
index 6069139..254bec5 100644
--- a/src/tmux/formats.ts
+++ b/src/tmux/formats.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ export const PANE_STATE_FORMAT = [
   "#{history_size}",
   "#{history_limit}",
   "#{cursor_y}",
+  "#{cursor_x}",
   "#{pane_height}",
   "#{pane_current_command}",
   "#{pane_current_path}",
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ export const PANE_STATE_FORMAT = [
 
 export function parsePaneState(line: string): PaneState {
   const parts = line.replace(/\n$/, "").split(SEP);
-  if (parts.length < 6) {
+  if (parts.length < 7) {
     throw new Error(`unexpected pane state line: ${JSON.stringify(line)}`);
   }
   const field = (index: number): string => parts[index] ?? "";
@@ -88,10 +89,11 @@ export function parsePaneState(line: string): PaneState {
     historySize: Number.parseInt(field(0), 10),
     historyLimit: Number.parseInt(field(1), 10),
     cursorY: Number.parseInt(field(2), 10),
-    paneHeight: Number.parseInt(field(3), 10),
-    currentCommand: field(4),
+    cursorX: Number.parseInt(field(3), 10),
+    paneHeight: Number.parseInt(field(4), 10),
+    currentCommand: field(5),
     // pane_current_path may itself contain tabs in pathological cases; rejoin.
-    currentPath: parts.slice(5).join(SEP),
+    currentPath: parts.slice(6).join(SEP),
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 1790b94..818fecc 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export interface PaneState {
   historySize: number;
   historyLimit: number;
   cursorY: number;
+  cursorX: number;
   paneHeight: number;
   currentCommand: string;
   currentPath: string;
diff --git a/test/unit/formats.test.ts b/test/unit/formats.test.ts
index 1d1815d..5e939df 100644
--- a/test/unit/formats.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/formats.test.ts
@@ -10,11 +10,12 @@ import {
 
 describe("parsePaneState", () => {
   test("parses a tab-separated state line", () => {
-    const state = parsePaneState("1042\t2000\t12\t50\tzsh\t/home/tom/code\n");
+    const state = parsePaneState("1042\t2000\t12\t7\t50\tzsh\t/home/tom/code\n");
     expect(state).toEqual({
       historySize: 1042,
       historyLimit: 2000,
       cursorY: 12,
+      cursorX: 7,
       paneHeight: 50,
       currentCommand: "zsh",
       currentPath: "/home/tom/code",
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ describe("parsePaneState", () => {
   });
 
   test("rejoins paths containing tabs", () => {
-    const state = parsePaneState("0\t2000\t0\t50\tbash\t/tmp/a\tb");
+    const state = parsePaneState("0\t2000\t0\t7\t50\tbash\t/tmp/a\tb");
     expect(state.currentPath).toBe("/tmp/a\tb");
   });
 
diff --git a/test/unit/jobs.test.ts b/test/unit/jobs.test.ts
index b23cfbc..b14d931 100644
--- a/test/unit/jobs.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/jobs.test.ts
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ function stubClient(currentCommand = "sh"): TmuxClient {
       historySize: 0,
       historyLimit: 2000,
       cursorY: 0,
+      cursorX: 8,
       paneHeight: 30,
       currentCommand,
       currentPath: "/proj",
@@ -166,6 +167,30 @@ describe("JobManager", () => {
     expect(sent).toMatch(/^cmd \| tee log; /);
   });
 
+  test("launch waits for a fresh pane's first prompt before typing", async () => {
+    // A pane created moments ago reports a fully blank screen until the
+    // shell prints its prompt; typing early makes the late prompt glue to
+    // the job's first output line (github flake sidemux-pbg).
+    const blank = {
+      historySize: 0,
+      historyLimit: 2000,
+      cursorY: 0,
+      cursorX: 0,
+      paneHeight: 30,
+      currentCommand: "sh",
+      currentPath: "/proj",
+    };
+    const ready = { ...blank, cursorX: 8 };
+    const states = [blank, blank, ready];
+    const client = stubClient();
+    vi.mocked(client.paneState).mockImplementation(
+      async () => states.shift() ?? ready,
+    );
+    await new JobManager(client).launch("%1", "echo hi", "posix");
+    expect(client.paneState).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3);
+    expect(client.sendLiteral).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+  });
+
   test("launch refuses a pane running a shell that cannot report exit codes", async () => {
     // tcsh parses `$?` as a variable-existence test, so the sentinel never
     // prints and the job would hang until its timeout. Failing here is the
@@ -274,6 +299,7 @@ describe("JobManager per-job log files", () => {
         historySize: 0,
         historyLimit: 2000,
         cursorY: 0,
+        cursorX: 8,
         paneHeight: 30,
         currentCommand: "sh",
         currentPath: "/proj",