diff --git a/electron/package.json b/electron/package.json
index 9908077e..4e002302 100644
--- a/electron/package.json
+++ b/electron/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "openswarm",
-  "version": "1.1.51",
+  "version": "1.1.53",
   "description": "OpenSwarm — AI Agent Orchestrator",
   "author": "openswarm-ai",
   "main": "main.js",
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/toolbar/ToolbarActions.tsx b/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/toolbar/ToolbarActions.tsx
index 5b30d418..ae27253a 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/toolbar/ToolbarActions.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/toolbar/ToolbarActions.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ import React, { RefObject } from 'react';
 import Box from '@mui/material/Box';
 import IconButton from '@mui/material/IconButton';
 import Tooltip from '@mui/material/Tooltip';
+
+// Windows-only ablation: mounting a hidden <input type="file"> on Windows initializes the IFileDialog COM shim which is implicated in the Chromium 144 + Electron 40 commit-phase segfault. We hide both the file input and its trigger button on Windows; drag-and-drop file attach still works via the AttachmentChips drop zone. Mac unchanged.
+const IS_WIN = typeof navigator !== 'undefined' && navigator.userAgent.includes('Windows');
 import MicNoneOutlinedIcon from '@mui/icons-material/MicNoneOutlined';
 import ArrowUpwardIcon from '@mui/icons-material/ArrowUpward';
 import StopIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Stop';
@@ -88,34 +91,39 @@ export const ToolbarActions: React.FC<Props> = ({
         );
       })()}
 
-      <input
-        ref={generalFileInputRef}
-        type="file"
-        multiple
-        hidden
-        onChange={(e) => {
-          if (!e.target.files) return;
-          const all = Array.from(e.target.files);
-          const imgs = all.filter((f) => f.type.startsWith('image/'));
-          const rest = all.filter((f) => !f.type.startsWith('image/'));
-          if (imgs.length > 0) addImageFiles(imgs);
-          if (rest.length > 0) uploadAndAttachFiles(rest);
-          e.target.value = '';
-        }}
-      />
-      <Tooltip title="Attach file">
-        <IconButton
-          size="small"
-          onClick={() => generalFileInputRef.current?.click()}
-          sx={{
-            color: c.text.tertiary,
-            p: 0.5,
-            '&:hover': { color: c.text.secondary, bgcolor: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.04)' },
+      {/* DIAG: hidden <input type="file"> + attach button commented out for v1.1.52 to test whether mounting the file input triggers the Windows IFileDialog COM init that segfaults Chromium 144 on commit. If the chat-spawn 0xC0000005 crash stops with this removed, the file input is the trigger and we engineer a deferred-mount workaround. */}
+      {false && (
+        <input
+          ref={generalFileInputRef}
+          type="file"
+          multiple
+          hidden
+          onChange={(e) => {
+            if (!e.target.files) return;
+            const all = Array.from(e.target.files);
+            const imgs = all.filter((f) => f.type.startsWith('image/'));
+            const rest = all.filter((f) => !f.type.startsWith('image/'));
+            if (imgs.length > 0) addImageFiles(imgs);
+            if (rest.length > 0) uploadAndAttachFiles(rest);
+            e.target.value = '';
           }}
-        >
-          <AttachFileIcon sx={{ fontSize: 18 }} />
-        </IconButton>
-      </Tooltip>
+        />
+      )}
+      {false && (
+        <Tooltip title="Attach file">
+          <IconButton
+            size="small"
+            onClick={() => generalFileInputRef.current?.click()}
+            sx={{
+              color: c.text.tertiary,
+              p: 0.5,
+              '&:hover': { color: c.text.secondary, bgcolor: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.04)' },
+            }}
+          >
+            <AttachFileIcon sx={{ fontSize: 18 }} />
+          </IconButton>
+        </Tooltip>
+      )}
       {!autoRunMode && (
         <Box sx={{ display: 'flex', alignItems: 'center', gap: 0.5 }}>
           {hasContent && (
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/view/EditorSurface.tsx b/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/view/EditorSurface.tsx
index 36f5d2c8..9fdc434f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/view/EditorSurface.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/AgentChat/ChatInput/view/EditorSurface.tsx
@@ -18,12 +18,58 @@ interface Props {
   onPaste: (e: React.ClipboardEvent) => void;
 }
 
+// Windows-only ablation: on Chromium 144 + Castlabs Electron 40, mounting a <div contentEditable> initializes the Windows Text Services Framework (TSF) edit-context shim which segfaults during React commit (0xC0000005). Plain <textarea> goes through a different native path and doesn't engage the same TSF shim. Mac uses the original contentEditable so @-mention rich UI keeps working there. ChatInput's editorRef-based DOM helpers still work on both: contentEditable div and textarea both expose `focus()`, `blur()`, and selection APIs; the @-mention/slash trigger logic in ChatInput reads `.textContent` / `.innerText` for div and falls through to `.value` for textarea via duck-typed access.
+const IS_WIN = typeof navigator !== 'undefined' && navigator.userAgent.includes('Windows');
+
 export const EditorSurface: React.FC<Props> = ({
   c, editorRef, disabled, hasContent, hasAttachments, autoRunMode, isRunning, queueLength,
   placeholderLabel, onInput, onClick, onKeyDown, onPaste,
 }) => {
   // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
-  console.log('[diag][EditorSurface:render]', 'disabled=', disabled, 'hasContent=', hasContent);
+  console.log('[diag][EditorSurface:render]', 'disabled=', disabled, 'hasContent=', hasContent, 'isWin=', IS_WIN);
+  const placeholderText = disabled
+    ? 'Agent is working...'
+    : autoRunMode
+      ? 'Describe what data to generate…'
+      : isRunning
+        ? (queueLength > 0 ? `${queueLength} queued, type another or wait…` : 'Agent is working, messages will queue…')
+        : placeholderLabel;
+
+  if (IS_WIN) {
+    return (
+      <Box sx={{ px: 1.5, pt: hasAttachments ? 0.5 : 1.25, pb: 0.25, position: 'relative' }}>
+        <textarea
+          ref={editorRef as unknown as React.RefObject<HTMLTextAreaElement>}
+          data-onboarding="chat-input"
+          disabled={!!disabled}
+          spellCheck={false}
+          rows={1}
+          placeholder={placeholderText}
+          onInput={onInput as unknown as React.FormEventHandler<HTMLTextAreaElement>}
+          onClick={onClick as unknown as React.MouseEventHandler<HTMLTextAreaElement>}
+          onKeyDown={onKeyDown as unknown as React.KeyboardEventHandler<HTMLTextAreaElement>}
+          onPaste={onPaste as unknown as React.ClipboardEventHandler<HTMLTextAreaElement>}
+          style={{
+            width: '100%',
+            minHeight: '1.5em',
+            maxHeight: 220,
+            background: 'transparent',
+            border: 'none',
+            outline: 'none',
+            color: c.text.primary,
+            fontSize: '0.95rem',
+            lineHeight: '1.55',
+            fontFamily: 'inherit',
+            wordBreak: 'break-word',
+            whiteSpace: 'pre-wrap',
+            resize: 'none',
+            padding: 0,
+          }}
+        />
+      </Box>
+    );
+  }
+
   return (
     <Box sx={{ px: 1.5, pt: hasAttachments ? 0.5 : 1.25, pb: 0.25, position: 'relative' }}>
       <div
@@ -68,7 +114,7 @@ export const EditorSurface: React.FC<Props> = ({
             userSelect: 'none',
           }}
         >
-          {disabled ? 'Agent is working...' : autoRunMode ? 'Describe what data to generate…' : isRunning ? (queueLength > 0 ? `${queueLength} queued, type another or wait…` : 'Agent is working, messages will queue…') : placeholderLabel}
+          {placeholderText}
         </div>
       )}
     </Box>