diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/textUtils.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/textUtils.ts
index ecea36316aa..64d0372a5a3 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/textUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/textUtils.ts
@@ -82,13 +82,14 @@ export function cpSlice(str: string, start: number, end?: number): string {
  * Characters stripped:
  * - ANSI escape sequences (via strip-ansi)
  * - VT control sequences (via Node.js util.stripVTControlCharacters)
- * - C0 control chars (0x00-0x1F) except CR/LF which are handled elsewhere
+ * - C0 control chars (0x00-0x1F) except CR/LF/TAB which are handled elsewhere
  * - C1 control chars (0x80-0x9F) that can cause display issues
  *
  * Characters preserved:
  * - All printable Unicode including emojis
  * - DEL (0x7F) - handled functionally by applyOperations, not a display issue
  * - CR/LF (0x0D/0x0A) - needed for line breaks
+ * - TAB (0x09) - needed for structured text
  */
 export function stripUnsafeCharacters(str: string): string {
   const strippedAnsi = stripAnsi(str);
@@ -99,11 +100,8 @@ export function stripUnsafeCharacters(str: string): string {
       const code = char.codePointAt(0);
       if (code === undefined) return false;
 
-      // Preserve CR/LF for line handling
-      if (code === 0x0a || code === 0x0d) return true;
+      if (code === 0x0a || code === 0x0d || code === 0x09) return true;
 
-      // Remove C0 control chars (except CR/LF) that can break display
-      // Examples: BELL(0x07) makes noise, BS(0x08) moves cursor, VT(0x0B), FF(0x0C)
       if (code >= 0x00 && code <= 0x1f) return false;
 
       // Remove C1 control chars (0x80-0x9f) - legacy 8-bit control codes