diff --git a/crates/aura-cli/tests/run_refuses_unrunnable_blueprint.rs b/crates/aura-cli/tests/run_refuses_unrunnable_blueprint.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc14a96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/aura-cli/tests/run_refuses_unrunnable_blueprint.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+//! `aura run <blueprint.json>` must REFUSE a user-authorable blueprint it
+//! cannot run — a clean `aura:`-prefixed message on stderr and exit 1, the
+//! established binding-refusal register — never a process panic. Both cases
+//! are user mistakes on the hand-authored single-run path, so each deserves a
+//! diagnosis, not a stack trace.
+//!
+//! Two independent unrunnable shapes, each pinned as its own minimal,
+//! self-contained blueprint (inlined here — no shared fixture file):
+//!   1. a declared tap whose `from` wire references an out-of-range node
+//!      index (taps are authored by raw node index, so a miscount is the
+//!      expected mistake) — compiles to `CompileError::TapWireOutOfRange`;
+//!   2. an exposed output that is not a `bias` stream (a measurement-only
+//!      blueprint) — `wrap_r` cannot weld it to the R-evaluator.
+
+use std::path::Path;
+use std::process::Command;
+
+/// 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 per test (so nothing a run might emit
+/// dirties the repo). Unique per test + per process.
+fn temp_cwd(name: &str) -> std::path::PathBuf {
+    let dir = Path::new(env!("CARGO_TARGET_TMPDIR")).join(format!("aura-cli-refuse-{name}"));
+    let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&dir);
+    std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir).expect("create temp cwd");
+    dir
+}
+
+/// Run `aura run <path>` in an isolated cwd and assert the CLEAN-REFUSAL
+/// contract: exit code 1, an `aura:`-prefixed stderr message, and NO panic —
+/// the property both cases share. `what` names the offending shape for the
+/// failure message.
+fn assert_clean_refusal(bp_json: &str, tag: &str, what: &str) {
+    let cwd = temp_cwd(tag);
+    let bp_path = cwd.join("blueprint.json");
+    std::fs::write(&bp_path, bp_json).expect("write blueprint");
+
+    let out = Command::new(BIN)
+        .args(["run", bp_path.to_str().expect("utf-8 path")])
+        .current_dir(&cwd)
+        .output()
+        .expect("spawn aura run");
+
+    let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr);
+
+    // The defining symptom of the bug: the process panics (Rust's default
+    // unwind exits 101 and prints "panicked at ...") instead of refusing.
+    assert!(
+        !stderr.to_lowercase().contains("panic"),
+        "{what}: expected a clean refusal, got a PANIC:\n{stderr}"
+    );
+    // The clean-refusal register: `aura: <msg>` on stderr, exit 1 — exactly
+    // what the binding refusals in `run_signal_r` already emit.
+    assert!(
+        stderr.contains("aura:"),
+        "{what}: refusal must carry the `aura:` prefix:\n{stderr}"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        out.status.code(),
+        Some(1),
+        "{what}: a refusal exits 1 (not 101 panic, not 2 usage):\n{stderr}"
+    );
+}
+
+/// Property: a blueprint whose declared tap wire points at an out-of-range
+/// node index is refused, not crashed. Minimal trigger — a single-node closed
+/// strategy (`price → Bias → "bias"`, so the R-wrap welds cleanly) carrying
+/// one tap whose `from.node` (5) is out of range for a one-node graph. This
+/// compiles to `CompileError::TapWireOutOfRange`, which `run_signal_r`'s
+/// `compile_with_params(...).expect(...)` currently turns into a panic.
+#[test]
+fn run_refuses_a_tap_wire_pointing_out_of_range() {
+    let bp = r#"{
+        "format_version": 1,
+        "blueprint": {
+            "name": "bias_with_bad_tap",
+            "nodes": [
+                {"primitive": {"type": "Bias", "name": "bias",
+                    "bound": [{"pos": 0, "name": "scale", "kind": "F64", "value": {"F64": 1.0}}]}}
+            ],
+            "edges": [],
+            "input_roles": [{"name": "price", "targets": [{"node": 0, "slot": 0}], "source": "F64"}],
+            "output": [{"node": 0, "field": 0, "name": "bias"}],
+            "taps": [{"name": "bad", "from": {"node": 5, "field": 0}}]
+        }
+    }"#;
+    assert_clean_refusal(bp, "bad-tap-wire", "out-of-range tap wire");
+}
+
+/// Property: a blueprint whose single exposed output is not a `bias` stream
+/// (a measurement-only blueprint — here `price → SMA → "measurement"`) is
+/// refused, not crashed. `wrap_r` welds the nested signal by its `"bias"`
+/// output port; a non-bias output makes that weld resolve to
+/// `BuildError::UnknownOutPort`, which `wrap_r`'s `g.build().expect(...)`
+/// currently turns into a panic. (This pins the refusal only — teaching
+/// `aura run` to accept bias-less blueprints is a separate feature.)
+#[test]
+fn run_refuses_a_non_bias_output_blueprint() {
+    let bp = r#"{
+        "format_version": 1,
+        "blueprint": {
+            "name": "measurement_only",
+            "nodes": [
+                {"primitive": {"type": "SMA", "name": "avg",
+                    "bound": [{"pos": 0, "name": "length", "kind": "I64", "value": {"I64": 2}}]}}
+            ],
+            "edges": [],
+            "input_roles": [{"name": "price", "targets": [{"node": 0, "slot": 0}], "source": "F64"}],
+            "output": [{"node": 0, "field": 0, "name": "measurement"}]
+        }
+    }"#;
+    assert_clean_refusal(bp, "non-bias-output", "non-bias exposed output");
+}