diff --git a/bin.ts b/bin.ts
index f4bb1bd5..60ab2056 100644
--- a/bin.ts
+++ b/bin.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,19 @@ import { uploadSourcemapsCommand } from './src/commands/upload-sourcemaps';
 import { skillCommand } from './src/commands/skill';
 import { cliCommand } from './src/commands/cli';
 import { recoverOrphanedSettingsBackups } from './src/lib/agent/claude-settings';
+import { analytics } from './src/utils/analytics';
+import { logToFile } from './src/utils/debug';
+import { installWizardUncaughtExceptionHandler } from './src/utils/uncaught-exception';
+
+// posthog-node installs its autocapture listener while analytics is imported.
+// Register after it so the SDK records unexpected errors first, while the
+// wizard decides whether this one known Node transport error is actually fatal.
+installWizardUncaughtExceptionHandler({
+  runtime: process,
+  flush: (timeoutMs) => analytics.flush(timeoutMs),
+  log: logToFile,
+  print: (error) => process.stderr.write(`${error.stack ?? String(error)}\n`),
+});
 
 // Heal any .claude/settings backup a previous interrupted run left orphaned,
 // before anything else reads Claude settings — conflict detection, OAuth, and
diff --git a/src/utils/__tests__/analytics.test.ts b/src/utils/__tests__/analytics.test.ts
index fe4ed004..382d42db 100644
--- a/src/utils/__tests__/analytics.test.ts
+++ b/src/utils/__tests__/analytics.test.ts
@@ -557,6 +557,12 @@ describe('Analytics', () => {
   });
 
   describe('shutdown', () => {
+    it('passes a flush deadline through to the PostHog client', async () => {
+      await analytics.flush(2_000);
+
+      expect(mockPostHogInstance.shutdown).toHaveBeenCalledWith(2_000);
+    });
+
     it('emits the terminal event once — the first status wins over the interrupt fallback', async () => {
       analytics.setTag('program_id', 'warehouse-source');
 
diff --git a/src/utils/__tests__/uncaught-exception.test.ts b/src/utils/__tests__/uncaught-exception.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dcec9fb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/__tests__/uncaught-exception.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+import { installWizardUncaughtExceptionHandler } from '@utils/uncaught-exception';
+
+describe('installWizardUncaughtExceptionHandler', () => {
+  const buildHarness = () => {
+    let listener: ((error: Error) => void) | undefined;
+    const runtime = {
+      on: vi.fn(
+        (event: 'uncaughtException', nextListener: (error: Error) => void) => {
+          expect(event).toBe('uncaughtException');
+          listener = nextListener;
+          return runtime;
+        },
+      ),
+      exit: vi.fn(),
+    };
+    const flush = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+    const log = vi.fn();
+    const print = vi.fn();
+
+    const options = {
+      runtime,
+      flush,
+      log,
+      print,
+    };
+    installWizardUncaughtExceptionHandler(options);
+
+    if (!listener)
+      throw new Error('uncaughtException listener was not installed');
+    return { listener, runtime, flush, log, print, options };
+  };
+
+  it('installs only once on the same runtime', () => {
+    const { runtime, options } = buildHarness();
+
+    installWizardUncaughtExceptionHandler(options);
+
+    expect(runtime.on).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps the wizard alive for the Node HTTP/2 idle timeout', async () => {
+    const { listener, runtime, flush, log, print } = buildHarness();
+    const error = new Error('socket idle timeout');
+    error.name = 'InformationalError';
+
+    listener(error);
+    await Promise.resolve();
+
+    expect(log).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      '[uncaught-exception] ignored Node HTTP/2 idle timeout',
+      error,
+    );
+    expect(flush).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(print).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(runtime.exit).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    Object.assign(new Error('socket idle timeout'), { name: 'Error' }),
+    Object.assign(new Error('different failure'), {
+      name: 'InformationalError',
+    }),
+  ])('preserves fatal handling for %s', async (error) => {
+    const { listener, runtime, flush, print } = buildHarness();
+
+    listener(error);
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(runtime.exit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(1));
+
+    expect(print).toHaveBeenCalledWith(error);
+    expect(flush).toHaveBeenCalledWith(2_000);
+  });
+
+  it('still exits when analytics flushing fails', async () => {
+    const { listener, runtime, flush } = buildHarness();
+    flush.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('flush failed'));
+
+    listener(new Error('boom'));
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(runtime.exit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(1));
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/utils/analytics.ts b/src/utils/analytics.ts
index 5ceafd8a..9ede46fa 100644
--- a/src/utils/analytics.ts
+++ b/src/utils/analytics.ts
@@ -308,8 +308,8 @@ export class Analytics {
    * starts — `shutdown()` would inflate the run count with a "finished" event
    * for a parse error that never actually ran the wizard.
    */
-  async flush(): Promise<void> {
-    await this.client.shutdown();
+  async flush(timeoutMs?: number): Promise<void> {
+    await this.client.shutdown(timeoutMs);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/utils/uncaught-exception.ts b/src/utils/uncaught-exception.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1e0369bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/uncaught-exception.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+const handlerInstalled = Symbol.for(
+  'posthog-wizard.uncaught-exception-handler-installed',
+);
+
+type ExceptionHandlerRuntime = {
+  on(event: 'uncaughtException', listener: (error: Error) => void): unknown;
+  exit(code: number): unknown;
+  [handlerInstalled]?: true;
+};
+
+type ExceptionHandlerOptions = {
+  runtime: ExceptionHandlerRuntime;
+  flush: (timeoutMs: number) => Promise<void>;
+  log: (...args: unknown[]) => void;
+  print: (error: Error) => void;
+};
+
+export function installWizardUncaughtExceptionHandler(
+  options: ExceptionHandlerOptions,
+): void {
+  if (options.runtime[handlerInstalled]) return;
+  options.runtime[handlerInstalled] = true;
+
+  let exiting = false;
+
+  options.runtime.on('uncaughtException', (error) => {
+    if (
+      error.name === 'InformationalError' &&
+      error.message === 'socket idle timeout'
+    ) {
+      options.log(
+        '[uncaught-exception] ignored Node HTTP/2 idle timeout',
+        error,
+      );
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (exiting) return;
+    exiting = true;
+    options.print(error);
+    void options.flush(2_000).then(
+      () => options.runtime.exit(1),
+      () => options.runtime.exit(1),
+    );
+  });
+}