diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md
index 5d70832a..3a26e6cf 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,11 +2,16 @@
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+- Added "none" option to `doubleEscapeAction` setting to disable double-escape behavior entirely ([#973](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono/issues/973) by [@juanibiapina](https://github.com/juanibiapina))
+
 ### Fixed
 
 - Read tool now handles macOS filenames with curly quotes (U+2019) and NFD Unicode normalization ([#1078](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono/issues/1078))
 - Respect .gitignore, .ignore, and .fdignore files when scanning package resources for skills, prompts, themes, and extensions ([#1072](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono/issues/1072))
 - Fixed tool call argument defaults when providers omit inputs ([#1065](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono/issues/1065))
+- Invalid JSON in settings.json no longer causes the file to be overwritten with empty settings ([#1054](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono/issues/1054))
 
 ## [0.50.3] - 2026-01-29
 
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/core/settings-manager.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/core/settings-manager.ts
index c82ef528..af9aa791 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/core/settings-manager.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/core/settings-manager.ts
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ export interface Settings {
 	terminal?: TerminalSettings;
 	images?: ImageSettings;
 	enabledModels?: string[]; // Model patterns for cycling (same format as --models CLI flag)
-	doubleEscapeAction?: "fork" | "tree"; // Action for double-escape with empty editor (default: "tree")
+	doubleEscapeAction?: "fork" | "tree" | "none"; // Action for double-escape with empty editor (default: "tree")
 	thinkingBudgets?: ThinkingBudgetsSettings; // Custom token budgets for thinking levels
 	editorPaddingX?: number; // Horizontal padding for input editor (default: 0)
 	autocompleteMaxVisible?: number; // Max visible items in autocomplete dropdown (default: 5)
@@ -126,18 +126,21 @@ export class SettingsManager {
 	private persist: boolean;
 	private modifiedFields = new Set<keyof Settings>(); // Track fields modified during session
 	private modifiedNestedFields = new Map<keyof Settings, Set<string>>(); // Track nested field modifications
+	private globalSettingsLoadError: Error | null = null; // Track if settings file had parse errors
 
 	private constructor(
 		settingsPath: string | null,
 		projectSettingsPath: string | null,
 		initialSettings: Settings,
 		persist: boolean,
+		loadError: Error | null = null,
 	) {
 		this.settingsPath = settingsPath;
 		this.projectSettingsPath = projectSettingsPath;
 		this.persist = persist;
 		this.globalSettings = initialSettings;
 		this.inMemoryProjectSettings = {};
+		this.globalSettingsLoadError = loadError;
 		const projectSettings = this.loadProjectSettings();
 		this.settings = deepMergeSettings(this.globalSettings, projectSettings);
 	}
@@ -146,8 +149,19 @@ export class SettingsManager {
 	static create(cwd: string = process.cwd(), agentDir: string = getAgentDir()): SettingsManager {
 		const settingsPath = join(agentDir, "settings.json");
 		const projectSettingsPath = join(cwd, CONFIG_DIR_NAME, "settings.json");
-		const globalSettings = SettingsManager.loadFromFile(settingsPath);
-		return new SettingsManager(settingsPath, projectSettingsPath, globalSettings, true);
+
+		let globalSettings: Settings = {};
+		let loadError: Error | null = null;
+
+		try {
+			globalSettings = SettingsManager.loadFromFile(settingsPath);
+		} catch (error) {
+			loadError = error as Error;
+			console.error(`Warning: Invalid JSON in ${settingsPath}: ${error}`);
+			console.error(`Fix the syntax error to enable settings persistence.`);
+		}
+
+		return new SettingsManager(settingsPath, projectSettingsPath, globalSettings, true, loadError);
 	}
 
 	/** Create an in-memory SettingsManager (no file I/O) */
@@ -159,14 +173,9 @@ export class SettingsManager {
 		if (!existsSync(path)) {
 			return {};
 		}
-		try {
-			const content = readFileSync(path, "utf-8");
-			const settings = JSON.parse(content);
-			return SettingsManager.migrateSettings(settings);
-		} catch (error) {
-			console.error(`Warning: Could not read settings file ${path}: ${error}`);
-			return {};
-		}
+		const content = readFileSync(path, "utf-8");
+		const settings = JSON.parse(content);
+		return SettingsManager.migrateSettings(settings);
 	}
 
 	/** Migrate old settings format to new format */
@@ -247,6 +256,14 @@ export class SettingsManager {
 
 	private save(): void {
 		if (this.persist && this.settingsPath) {
+			// Don't overwrite if the file had parse errors on initial load
+			if (this.globalSettingsLoadError) {
+				// Re-merge to update active settings even though we can't persist
+				const projectSettings = this.loadProjectSettings();
+				this.settings = deepMergeSettings(this.globalSettings, projectSettings);
+				return;
+			}
+
 			try {
 				const dir = dirname(this.settingsPath);
 				if (!existsSync(dir)) {
@@ -282,6 +299,7 @@ export class SettingsManager {
 				this.globalSettings = mergedSettings;
 				writeFileSync(this.settingsPath, JSON.stringify(this.globalSettings, null, 2), "utf-8");
 			} catch (error) {
+				// File may have been externally modified with invalid JSON - don't overwrite
 				console.error(`Warning: Could not save settings file: ${error}`);
 			}
 		}
@@ -644,11 +662,11 @@ export class SettingsManager {
 		this.save();
 	}
 
-	getDoubleEscapeAction(): "fork" | "tree" {
+	getDoubleEscapeAction(): "fork" | "tree" | "none" {
 		return this.settings.doubleEscapeAction ?? "tree";
 	}
 
-	setDoubleEscapeAction(action: "fork" | "tree"): void {
+	setDoubleEscapeAction(action: "fork" | "tree" | "none"): void {
 		this.globalSettings.doubleEscapeAction = action;
 		this.markModified("doubleEscapeAction");
 		this.save();
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/interactive/components/settings-selector.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/interactive/components/settings-selector.ts
index a79a7d48..9ba96d7d 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/interactive/components/settings-selector.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/interactive/components/settings-selector.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export interface SettingsConfig {
 	availableThemes: string[];
 	hideThinkingBlock: boolean;
 	collapseChangelog: boolean;
-	doubleEscapeAction: "fork" | "tree";
+	doubleEscapeAction: "fork" | "tree" | "none";
 	showHardwareCursor: boolean;
 	editorPaddingX: number;
 	autocompleteMaxVisible: number;
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ export interface SettingsCallbacks {
 	onThemePreview?: (theme: string) => void;
 	onHideThinkingBlockChange: (hidden: boolean) => void;
 	onCollapseChangelogChange: (collapsed: boolean) => void;
-	onDoubleEscapeActionChange: (action: "fork" | "tree") => void;
+	onDoubleEscapeActionChange: (action: "fork" | "tree" | "none") => void;
 	onShowHardwareCursorChange: (enabled: boolean) => void;
 	onEditorPaddingXChange: (padding: number) => void;
 	onAutocompleteMaxVisibleChange: (maxVisible: number) => void;
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ export class SettingsSelectorComponent extends Container {
 				label: "Double-escape action",
 				description: "Action when pressing Escape twice with empty editor",
 				currentValue: config.doubleEscapeAction,
-				values: ["tree", "fork"],
+				values: ["tree", "fork", "none"],
 			},
 			{
 				id: "thinking",
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/interactive/interactive-mode.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/interactive/interactive-mode.ts
index cb6f7bc4..f788c9c6 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/interactive/interactive-mode.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/interactive/interactive-mode.ts
@@ -1740,17 +1740,20 @@ export class InteractiveMode {
 				this.isBashMode = false;
 				this.updateEditorBorderColor();
 			} else if (!this.editor.getText().trim()) {
-				// Double-escape with empty editor triggers /tree or /fork based on setting
-				const now = Date.now();
-				if (now - this.lastEscapeTime < 500) {
-					if (this.settingsManager.getDoubleEscapeAction() === "tree") {
-						this.showTreeSelector();
+				// Double-escape with empty editor triggers /tree, /fork, or nothing based on setting
+				const action = this.settingsManager.getDoubleEscapeAction();
+				if (action !== "none") {
+					const now = Date.now();
+					if (now - this.lastEscapeTime < 500) {
+						if (action === "tree") {
+							this.showTreeSelector();
+						} else {
+							this.showUserMessageSelector();
+						}
+						this.lastEscapeTime = 0;
 					} else {
-						this.showUserMessageSelector();
+						this.lastEscapeTime = now;
 					}
-					this.lastEscapeTime = 0;
-				} else {
-					this.lastEscapeTime = now;
 				}
 			}
 		};