diff --git a/crates/aura-cli/tests/cli_broken_pipe.rs b/crates/aura-cli/tests/cli_broken_pipe.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2942e3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/aura-cli/tests/cli_broken_pipe.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+//! Integration test: a family-emitting subcommand must survive its stdout
+//! reader closing early (the most natural CLI piping — `| head`, `| less`, a
+//! closed UI pane). Drives the built `aura` binary and closes the read end of
+//! its stdout pipe before the writer finishes, then asserts the EPIPE is
+//! handled cleanly, never a panic.
+
+use std::io::Read;
+use std::process::{Command, Stdio};
+
+/// Path to the freshly-built `aura` binary (Cargo sets this env var for the test
+/// crate; the binary is named `aura` in `Cargo.toml`).
+const BIN: &str = env!("CARGO_BIN_EXE_aura");
+
+/// A fresh, unique working directory so the spawned `aura sweep` writes its
+/// `./runs/runs.jsonl` into a throwaway dir, never dirtying the repo. Unique
+/// per test + per process; no external tempfile dependency (mirrors `cli_run.rs`).
+fn temp_cwd(name: &str) -> std::path::PathBuf {
+    let dir = std::env::temp_dir().join(format!("aura-cli-{}-{}", std::process::id(), name));
+    let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&dir);
+    std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir).expect("create temp cwd");
+    dir
+}
+
+/// Property: a family-emitting command whose stdout reader closes early exits on
+/// the EPIPE cleanly — it does NOT panic (`failed printing to stdout: Broken
+/// pipe`) and does NOT exit 101. `aura sweep` streams four family-member JSON
+/// lines via `println!`; when the reader closes stdout after the first line, the
+/// next write hits a closed pipe. Rust's runtime sets SIGPIPE to SIG_IGN at
+/// startup, so that write returns EPIPE and `println!` panics rather than the
+/// process terminating quietly — exactly the behaviour a CLI must not have. This
+/// is the contract: any aura subcommand can be piped into `| head` / `| less` /
+/// a UI pane that goes away, and it must finish quietly, not panic.
+///
+/// Autonomous: constructs its own early-closing reader inline (no `head`, no
+/// shell, no fixture files) by spawning the binary with a piped stdout and
+/// dropping the read handle after a single short read, which closes the pipe's
+/// read end and makes the writer's next write hit EPIPE.
+#[test]
+fn family_emitting_command_survives_early_reader_close() {
+    let cwd = temp_cwd("broken-pipe-sweep");
+
+    let mut child = Command::new(BIN)
+        .arg("sweep")
+        .current_dir(&cwd)
+        .stdout(Stdio::piped())
+        .stderr(Stdio::piped())
+        .spawn()
+        .expect("spawn aura sweep");
+
+    // Read just enough to guarantee the writer is mid-stream, then drop the read
+    // handle. Dropping it closes the read end of the pipe; the next `println!`
+    // in the writer then writes to a closed pipe and gets EPIPE.
+    {
+        let mut stdout = child.stdout.take().expect("child stdout piped");
+        let mut buf = [0u8; 64];
+        // One short read advances the stream; we deliberately ignore the rest.
+        let _ = stdout.read(&mut buf);
+        // `stdout` drops here, closing the read end of the pipe.
+    }
+
+    // Drain stderr so the child cannot block writing the panic message, then reap.
+    let mut stderr = String::new();
+    if let Some(mut err) = child.stderr.take() {
+        let _ = err.read_to_string(&mut stderr);
+    }
+    let status = child.wait().expect("reap aura sweep");
+
+    let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&cwd);
+
+    // The defect: stderr carries the broken-pipe panic.
+    assert!(
+        !stderr.contains("panicked"),
+        "a closed stdout reader must not panic the writer; stderr was: {stderr:?}"
+    );
+    assert!(
+        !stderr.contains("Broken pipe"),
+        "the broken pipe must be handled cleanly, not surfaced as an error; stderr was: {stderr:?}"
+    );
+
+    // And the exit is the clean broken-pipe outcome, never the panic's 101.
+    // A clean SIGPIPE termination is signal 13 (code is None); a deliberate
+    // clean-exit code is anything but 101. The only forbidden outcome is the
+    // panic abort.
+    assert_ne!(
+        status.code(),
+        Some(101),
+        "a closed stdout reader must not exit with the panic code 101; status: {status:?}"
+    );
+}