diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index d066cc19..8d448def 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -6084,6 +6084,15 @@
 			],
 			"license": "BSD-3-Clause"
 		},
+		"node_modules/ignore": {
+			"version": "7.0.5",
+			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ignore/-/ignore-7.0.5.tgz",
+			"integrity": "sha512-Hs59xBNfUIunMFgWAbGX5cq6893IbWg4KnrjbYwX3tx0ztorVgTDA6B2sxf8ejHJ4wz8BqGUMYlnzNBer5NvGg==",
+			"license": "MIT",
+			"engines": {
+				"node": ">= 4"
+			}
+		},
 		"node_modules/immediate": {
 			"version": "3.0.6",
 			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/immediate/-/immediate-3.0.6.tgz",
@@ -9051,6 +9060,7 @@
 				"diff": "^8.0.2",
 				"file-type": "^21.1.1",
 				"glob": "^11.0.3",
+				"ignore": "^7.0.5",
 				"marked": "^15.0.12",
 				"minimatch": "^10.1.1",
 				"proper-lockfile": "^4.1.2",
diff --git a/packages/tui/src/components/box.ts b/packages/tui/src/components/box.ts
index 3d4f2a88..c99b8600 100644
--- a/packages/tui/src/components/box.ts
+++ b/packages/tui/src/components/box.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 import type { Component } from "../tui.js";
 import { applyBackgroundToLine, visibleWidth } from "../utils.js";
 
+type RenderCache = {
+	childLines: string[];
+	width: number;
+	bgSample: string | undefined;
+	lines: string[];
+};
+
 /**
  * Box component - a container that applies padding and background to all children
  */
@@ -11,10 +18,7 @@ export class Box implements Component {
 	private bgFn?: (text: string) => string;
 
 	// Cache for rendered output
-	private cachedWidth?: number;
-	private cachedChildLines?: string;
-	private cachedBgSample?: string;
-	private cachedLines?: string[];
+	private cache?: RenderCache;
 
 	constructor(paddingX = 1, paddingY = 1, bgFn?: (text: string) => string) {
 		this.paddingX = paddingX;
@@ -46,10 +50,18 @@ export class Box implements Component {
 	}
 
 	private invalidateCache(): void {
-		this.cachedWidth = undefined;
-		this.cachedChildLines = undefined;
-		this.cachedBgSample = undefined;
-		this.cachedLines = undefined;
+		this.cache = undefined;
+	}
+
+	private matchCache(width: number, childLines: string[], bgSample: string | undefined): boolean {
+		const cache = this.cache;
+		return (
+			!!cache &&
+			cache.width === width &&
+			cache.bgSample === bgSample &&
+			cache.childLines.length === childLines.length &&
+			cache.childLines.every((line, i) => line === childLines[i])
+		);
 	}
 
 	invalidate(): void {
@@ -84,14 +96,8 @@ export class Box implements Component {
 		const bgSample = this.bgFn ? this.bgFn("test") : undefined;
 
 		// Check cache validity
-		const childLinesKey = childLines.join("\n");
-		if (
-			this.cachedLines &&
-			this.cachedWidth === width &&
-			this.cachedChildLines === childLinesKey &&
-			this.cachedBgSample === bgSample
-		) {
-			return this.cachedLines;
+		if (this.matchCache(width, childLines, bgSample)) {
+			return this.cache!.lines;
 		}
 
 		// Apply background and padding
@@ -113,10 +119,7 @@ export class Box implements Component {
 		}
 
 		// Update cache
-		this.cachedWidth = width;
-		this.cachedChildLines = childLinesKey;
-		this.cachedBgSample = bgSample;
-		this.cachedLines = result;
+		this.cache = { childLines, width, bgSample, lines: result };
 
 		return result;
 	}
diff --git a/packages/tui/src/components/markdown.ts b/packages/tui/src/components/markdown.ts
index 7e450920..2ebdc309 100644
--- a/packages/tui/src/components/markdown.ts
+++ b/packages/tui/src/components/markdown.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { marked, type Token } from "marked";
+import { isImageLine } from "../terminal-image.js";
 import type { Component } from "../tui.js";
 import { applyBackgroundToLine, visibleWidth, wrapTextWithAnsi } from "../utils.js";
 
@@ -121,7 +122,11 @@ export class Markdown implements Component {
 		// Wrap lines (NO padding, NO background yet)
 		const wrappedLines: string[] = [];
 		for (const line of renderedLines) {
-			wrappedLines.push(...wrapTextWithAnsi(line, contentWidth));
+			if (isImageLine(line)) {
+				wrappedLines.push(line);
+			} else {
+				wrappedLines.push(...wrapTextWithAnsi(line, contentWidth));
+			}
 		}
 
 		// Add margins and background to each wrapped line
@@ -131,6 +136,11 @@ export class Markdown implements Component {
 		const contentLines: string[] = [];
 
 		for (const line of wrappedLines) {
+			if (isImageLine(line)) {
+				contentLines.push(line);
+				continue;
+			}
+
 			const lineWithMargins = leftMargin + line + rightMargin;
 
 			if (bgFn) {
diff --git a/packages/tui/src/terminal-image.ts b/packages/tui/src/terminal-image.ts
index ef48e21b..0a504a46 100644
--- a/packages/tui/src/terminal-image.ts
+++ b/packages/tui/src/terminal-image.ts
@@ -79,6 +79,24 @@ export function getCapabilities(): TerminalCapabilities {
 
 export function resetCapabilitiesCache(): void {
 	cachedCapabilities = null;
+	imageEscapePrefix = undefined;
+}
+
+let imageEscapePrefix: string | null | undefined;
+
+function getImageEscapePrefix(): string | null {
+	if (imageEscapePrefix === undefined) {
+		const protocol = getCapabilities().images;
+		if (protocol === "kitty") imageEscapePrefix = "\x1b_G";
+		else if (protocol === "iterm2") imageEscapePrefix = "\x1b]1337;File=";
+		else imageEscapePrefix = null;
+	}
+	return imageEscapePrefix;
+}
+
+export function isImageLine(line: string): boolean {
+	const prefix = getImageEscapePrefix();
+	return prefix !== null && line.startsWith(prefix);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/tui/src/tui.ts b/packages/tui/src/tui.ts
index f872cb05..3a44efbd 100644
--- a/packages/tui/src/tui.ts
+++ b/packages/tui/src/tui.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import * as os from "node:os";
 import * as path from "node:path";
 import { isKeyRelease, matchesKey } from "./keys.js";
 import type { Terminal } from "./terminal.js";
-import { getCapabilities, setCellDimensions } from "./terminal-image.js";
+import { getCapabilities, isImageLine, setCellDimensions } from "./terminal-image.js";
 import { extractSegments, sliceByColumn, sliceWithWidth, visibleWidth } from "./utils.js";
 
 /**
@@ -489,10 +489,6 @@ export class TUI extends Container {
 		return result;
 	}
 
-	private containsImage(line: string): boolean {
-		return line.includes("\x1b_G") || line.includes("\x1b]1337;File=");
-	}
-
 	/**
 	 * Resolve overlay layout from options.
 	 * Returns { width, row, col, maxHeight } for rendering.
@@ -712,7 +708,13 @@ export class TUI extends Container {
 
 	private applyLineResets(lines: string[]): string[] {
 		const reset = TUI.SEGMENT_RESET;
-		return lines.map((line) => (this.containsImage(line) ? line : line + reset));
+		for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+			const line = lines[i];
+			if (!isImageLine(line)) {
+				lines[i] = line + reset;
+			}
+		}
+		return lines;
 	}
 
 	/** Splice overlay content into a base line at a specific column. Single-pass optimized. */
@@ -723,7 +725,7 @@ export class TUI extends Container {
 		overlayWidth: number,
 		totalWidth: number,
 	): string {
-		if (this.containsImage(baseLine)) return baseLine;
+		if (isImageLine(baseLine)) return baseLine;
 
 		// Single pass through baseLine extracts both before and after segments
 		const afterStart = startCol + overlayWidth;
@@ -971,8 +973,8 @@ export class TUI extends Container {
 			if (i > firstChanged) buffer += "\r\n";
 			buffer += "\x1b[2K"; // Clear current line
 			const line = newLines[i];
-			const isImageLine = this.containsImage(line);
-			if (!isImageLine && visibleWidth(line) > width) {
+			const isImage = isImageLine(line);
+			if (!isImage && visibleWidth(line) > width) {
 				// Log all lines to crash file for debugging
 				const crashLogPath = path.join(os.homedir(), ".pi", "agent", "pi-crash.log");
 				const crashData = [