diff --git a/scarf/scarf/Core/Services/HermesFileService.swift b/scarf/scarf/Core/Services/HermesFileService.swift
index 57e139a..2d21c23 100644
--- a/scarf/scarf/Core/Services/HermesFileService.swift
+++ b/scarf/scarf/Core/Services/HermesFileService.swift
@@ -1577,6 +1577,39 @@ struct HermesFileService: Sendable {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Split-stream variant of `runHermesCLI`. Use this when you need to
+    /// parse stdout (e.g. JSON output) without stderr contamination, and
+    /// surface stderr separately as a user-facing error message. Transport
+    /// failures land in `stderr` with an empty `stdout`.
+    @discardableResult
+    nonisolated func runHermesCLISplit(args: [String], timeout: TimeInterval = 60, stdinInput: String? = nil) -> (exitCode: Int32, stdout: String, stderr: String) {
+        let binary: String
+        if context.isRemote {
+            binary = context.paths.hermesBinary
+        } else {
+            guard let local = hermesBinaryPath() else { return (-1, "", "hermes binary not found") }
+            binary = local
+        }
+
+        let stdinData = stdinInput?.data(using: .utf8)
+        do {
+            let result = try transport.runProcess(
+                executable: binary,
+                args: args,
+                stdin: stdinData,
+                timeout: timeout
+            )
+            return (result.exitCode, result.stdoutString, result.stderrString)
+        } catch let error as TransportError {
+            let message = error.diagnosticStderr.isEmpty
+                ? (error.errorDescription ?? "transport error")
+                : error.diagnosticStderr
+            return (-1, "", message)
+        } catch {
+            return (-1, "", error.localizedDescription)
+        }
+    }
+
     // MARK: - File I/O
 
     /// Read a UTF-8 text file through the transport. Missing files and any
diff --git a/scarf/scarf/Features/Kanban/ViewModels/KanbanViewModel.swift b/scarf/scarf/Features/Kanban/ViewModels/KanbanViewModel.swift
index f6ae882..52dadfc 100644
--- a/scarf/scarf/Features/Kanban/ViewModels/KanbanViewModel.swift
+++ b/scarf/scarf/Features/Kanban/ViewModels/KanbanViewModel.swift
@@ -71,18 +71,17 @@ final class KanbanViewModel {
         isLoading = true
         let svc = fileService
         let filter = statusFilter
-        let result = await Task.detached { () -> (data: Data?, exitCode: Int32, stderr: String) in
+        let result = await Task.detached { () -> (exitCode: Int32, stdout: String, stderr: String) in
             var args = ["kanban", "list", "--json"]
             if filter != .all {
                 args.append(contentsOf: ["--status", filter.rawValue])
             }
-            let r = svc.runHermesCLI(args: args, timeout: 15)
-            return (r.output.data(using: .utf8), r.exitCode, r.output)
+            return svc.runHermesCLISplit(args: args, timeout: 15)
         }.value
 
         defer { isLoading = false }
 
-        guard result.exitCode == 0, let data = result.data else {
+        guard result.exitCode == 0 else {
             lastError = result.stderr.isEmpty
                 ? "kanban list failed (\(result.exitCode))"
                 : result.stderr
@@ -90,6 +89,12 @@ final class KanbanViewModel {
             return
         }
 
+        guard let data = result.stdout.data(using: .utf8) else {
+            lastError = "kanban list returned non-UTF8 output"
+            tasks = []
+            return
+        }
+
         do {
             let decoded = try JSONDecoder().decode([HermesKanbanTask].self, from: data)
             tasks = decoded
@@ -98,7 +103,7 @@ final class KanbanViewModel {
             // Hermes may print a "no matching tasks" line as text instead of
             // empty JSON; handle gracefully so the UI shows an empty list
             // without raising an error banner.
-            if String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)?.contains("no matching tasks") == true {
+            if result.stdout.contains("no matching tasks") {
                 tasks = []
                 lastError = nil
                 return