diff --git a/crates/ide-core/src/lib.rs b/crates/ide-core/src/lib.rs
index 7113b25e..574f2f89 100644
--- a/crates/ide-core/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-core/src/lib.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ pub mod event;
 pub mod ids;
 pub mod ignored;
 pub mod ipc_path;
+pub mod process;
 pub mod project_dir;
 pub mod settings;
 pub mod text;
diff --git a/crates/ide-core/src/process.rs b/crates/ide-core/src/process.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bcfbadb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ide-core/src/process.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+//! Child-process helpers shared by every crate that spawns tools.
+
+use std::process::Command;
+
+/// Keeps a console child (java, node, curl, a language server, ...) from
+/// opening its own console window on Windows. Release builds use the GUI
+/// subsystem, so without this every spawn flashes a `cmd` window. A no-op
+/// elsewhere. For a `tokio::process::Command`, pass `cmd.as_std_mut()`.
+pub fn no_window(cmd: &mut Command) -> &mut Command {
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    {
+        use std::os::windows::process::CommandExt;
+        const CREATE_NO_WINDOW: u32 = 0x0800_0000;
+        cmd.creation_flags(CREATE_NO_WINDOW);
+    }
+    cmd
+}
diff --git a/crates/ide-coverage/src/lib.rs b/crates/ide-coverage/src/lib.rs
index 48972d60..ccb1c308 100644
--- a/crates/ide-coverage/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-coverage/src/lib.rs
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ pub fn collect(spec: &CoverageReportSpec) -> IdeResult<CoverageSuite> {
         CoverageReportSpec::Exported { runner, argv, cwd, env, lcov } => {
             let (program, args) =
                 argv.split_first().ok_or_else(|| IdeError::invalid("empty coverage export command"))?;
-            let out = Command::new(program)
+            let out = ide_core::process::no_window(&mut Command::new(program))
                 .args(args)
                 .current_dir(cwd)
                 .envs(env)
diff --git a/crates/ide-dap/src/adapter.rs b/crates/ide-dap/src/adapter.rs
index 1e75a833..1b3ce2d2 100644
--- a/crates/ide-dap/src/adapter.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-dap/src/adapter.rs
@@ -233,7 +233,9 @@ pub async fn prepare_debugpy(spec: &mut AdapterSpec) -> IdeResult<()> {
     let Some(python) = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || resolve_binary(&command, &cwd)).await.ok().flatten() else {
         return Ok(()); // Reported as a missing adapter when it is started.
     };
-    let probe = Command::new(&python)
+    let mut probe = Command::new(&python);
+    ide_core::process::no_window(probe.as_std_mut());
+    let probe = probe
         .args(["-c", "import debugpy.adapter"])
         .current_dir(&spec.cwd)
         .stdin(Stdio::null())
@@ -335,6 +337,7 @@ impl AdapterLauncher for ProcessLauncher {
                 None => spec.args.clone(),
             };
             let mut cmd = Command::new(&binary);
+            ide_core::process::no_window(cmd.as_std_mut());
             cmd.args(&args)
                 .envs(spec.env.iter().map(|(k, v)| (k, v)))
                 .current_dir(&spec.cwd)
diff --git a/crates/ide-dap/src/cargo.rs b/crates/ide-dap/src/cargo.rs
index 6fb6cb8a..a96ca00a 100644
--- a/crates/ide-dap/src/cargo.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-dap/src/cargo.rs
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ pub async fn build(
 ) -> IdeResult<PathBuf> {
     let cargo = find_binary("cargo", cwd).ok_or_else(|| IdeError::unavailable("`cargo` not found on PATH"))?;
     let mut cmd = tokio::process::Command::new(cargo);
+    ide_core::process::no_window(cmd.as_std_mut());
     cmd.args(args)
         .arg("--message-format=json-render-diagnostics")
         .current_dir(cwd)
diff --git a/crates/ide-dap/src/session.rs b/crates/ide-dap/src/session.rs
index 80534b96..7fefb1e0 100644
--- a/crates/ide-dap/src/session.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-dap/src/session.rs
@@ -390,6 +390,7 @@ pub(crate) fn run_in_terminal(s: &Arc<Session>, args: &Value) -> Result<Value, S
         return Err("runInTerminal without args".into());
     };
     let mut cmd = tokio::process::Command::new(program);
+    ide_core::process::no_window(cmd.as_std_mut());
     cmd.args(rest).stdin(Stdio::null()).stdout(Stdio::piped()).stderr(Stdio::piped()).kill_on_drop(true);
     if let Some(cwd) = args.get("cwd").and_then(Value::as_str).filter(|c| !c.is_empty()) {
         cmd.current_dir(cwd);
diff --git a/crates/ide-jsonrpc/src/lib.rs b/crates/ide-jsonrpc/src/lib.rs
index 6b0e62b7..3ff6e985 100644
--- a/crates/ide-jsonrpc/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-jsonrpc/src/lib.rs
@@ -241,6 +241,7 @@ impl Peer {
     ) -> std::io::Result<Self> {
         use std::process::Stdio;
         let mut cmd = tokio::process::Command::new(command);
+        ide_core::process::no_window(cmd.as_std_mut());
         cmd.args(args)
             .current_dir(cwd)
             .envs(env.iter().map(|(k, v)| (k.as_str(), v.as_str())))
diff --git a/crates/ide-lsp/src/launch.rs b/crates/ide-lsp/src/launch.rs
index 52ab31b7..728e1083 100644
--- a/crates/ide-lsp/src/launch.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-lsp/src/launch.rs
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ fn resolve_rustup_proxy(command: &str, binary: PathBuf) -> PathBuf {
     if !is_proxy || command.contains('/') {
         return binary;
     }
-    let works = std::process::Command::new(&binary)
+    let works = ide_core::process::no_window(&mut std::process::Command::new(&binary))
         .arg("--version")
         .stdin(std::process::Stdio::null())
         .stdout(std::process::Stdio::null())
diff --git a/crates/ide-profiler/src/lib.rs b/crates/ide-profiler/src/lib.rs
index bdee90b4..ae4f7872 100644
--- a/crates/ide-profiler/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-profiler/src/lib.rs
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ pub fn collect(spec: &ProfileSpec) -> IdeResult<Profile> {
             if !data.is_file() {
                 return Err(nothing_recorded("perf wrote no data"));
             }
-            let out = Command::new(perf)
+            let out = ide_core::process::no_window(&mut Command::new(perf))
                 .args(["script", "-i"])
                 .arg(data.as_ref() as &Path)
                 .current_dir(cwd)
diff --git a/crates/ide-run/src/wrap.rs b/crates/ide-run/src/wrap.rs
index 6a4fea77..d3fe25b9 100644
--- a/crates/ide-run/src/wrap.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-run/src/wrap.rs
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ pub fn find_tool(name: &str, config: &RunConfig, dir: &Path, root: &Path) -> Opt
 pub fn probe(argv: &[String], dir: &Path, config: &RunConfig) -> bool {
     let Some((program, args)) = argv.split_first() else { return false };
     let program = resolve(program, config);
-    Command::new(program)
+    ide_core::process::no_window(&mut Command::new(program))
         .args(args)
         .current_dir(dir)
         .envs(&config.env)
diff --git a/crates/ide-sdk/src/exec.rs b/crates/ide-sdk/src/exec.rs
index 50b53e8b..267aa91d 100644
--- a/crates/ide-sdk/src/exec.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-sdk/src/exec.rs
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ pub(crate) fn which(name: &str) -> Option<PathBuf> {
 /// Runs `program args` and returns trimmed stdout (stderr when stdout is empty)
 /// on success; `None` on failure or after `timeout`.
 pub(crate) fn query(program: &Path, args: &[&str], timeout: Duration) -> Option<String> {
-    let mut child = Command::new(program)
+    let mut child = ide_core::process::no_window(&mut Command::new(program))
         .args(args)
         .env("PATH", search_path())
         .stdin(Stdio::null())
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ pub(crate) fn stream(
     on_line: &dyn Fn(String),
 ) -> IdeResult<String> {
     let mut cmd = Command::new(program);
+    ide_core::process::no_window(&mut cmd);
     cmd.args(args).env("PATH", search_path()).stdin(Stdio::null()).stdout(Stdio::piped()).stderr(Stdio::piped());
     cmd.envs(env.iter().map(|(k, v)| (k, v)));
     if let Some(cwd) = cwd {
diff --git a/crates/ide-tools/src/archive.rs b/crates/ide-tools/src/archive.rs
index 539bb29f..99dfc57e 100644
--- a/crates/ide-tools/src/archive.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-tools/src/archive.rs
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ fn extract_zip(archive: &Path, dest: &Path) -> IdeResult<()> {
 /// `.tar.xz` goes through the system `tar` (bsdtar on macOS/Windows, GNU tar + xz on Linux).
 fn extract_tar_xz(archive: &Path, dest: &Path) -> IdeResult<()> {
     let tar = which::which("tar").map_err(|_| IdeError::unavailable("`tar` is required to unpack .tar.xz archives"))?;
-    let out = std::process::Command::new(tar)
+    let out = ide_core::process::no_window(&mut std::process::Command::new(tar))
         .arg("-xJf")
         .arg(archive)
         .arg("-C")
diff --git a/crates/ide-tools/src/lib.rs b/crates/ide-tools/src/lib.rs
index d09ed65b..1b1ec4a5 100644
--- a/crates/ide-tools/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-tools/src/lib.rs
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ impl Tools {
 
     fn command(&self, program: impl AsRef<std::ffi::OsStr>) -> Command {
         let mut cmd = Command::new(program);
-        cmd.env("PATH", &self.child_path);
+        ide_core::process::no_window(&mut cmd).env("PATH", &self.child_path);
         cmd
     }
 
diff --git a/crates/ide-tools/src/process.rs b/crates/ide-tools/src/process.rs
index 0ad77520..42a1a9d1 100644
--- a/crates/ide-tools/src/process.rs
+++ b/crates/ide-tools/src/process.rs
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ pub fn run_streamed(cmd: Command, cancel: &CancellationToken, emit: Emit) -> Ide
 /// Like [`run_streamed`] but returns `(success, output, status text)` instead of failing on a non-zero exit.
 pub fn run_collect(mut cmd: Command, cancel: &CancellationToken, emit: Emit) -> IdeResult<(bool, String, String)> {
     emit(InstallEvent::Line { text: format!("$ {}", describe(&cmd)) });
-    cmd.stdin(Stdio::null()).stdout(Stdio::piped()).stderr(Stdio::piped());
+    ide_core::process::no_window(&mut cmd).stdin(Stdio::null()).stdout(Stdio::piped()).stderr(Stdio::piped());
     let mut child = cmd.spawn().map_err(|e| IdeError::unavailable(format!("cannot run {}: {e}", describe(&cmd))))?;
     let (tx, rx) = mpsc::channel::<String>();
     let pipes: [Option<Box<dyn Read + Send>>; 2] = [
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ pub fn run_collect(mut cmd: Command, cancel: &CancellationToken, emit: Emit) ->
 
 /// Runs `cmd` to completion within `timeout`; returns (success, stdout + stderr).
 pub fn run_quiet(mut cmd: Command, timeout: Duration) -> Option<(bool, String)> {
-    cmd.stdin(Stdio::null()).stdout(Stdio::piped()).stderr(Stdio::piped());
+    ide_core::process::no_window(&mut cmd).stdin(Stdio::null()).stdout(Stdio::piped()).stderr(Stdio::piped());
     let mut child = cmd.spawn().ok()?;
     let mut stdout = child.stdout.take()?;
     let mut stderr = child.stderr.take()?;
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ impl Http {
 
     fn base(&self, url: &str) -> Command {
         let mut cmd = Command::new(&self.curl);
+        ide_core::process::no_window(&mut cmd);
         cmd.args(["-fsSL", "--retry", "2", "--connect-timeout", "20", "-A", "openidea"]);
         if url.starts_with("https://api.github.com/")
             && let Ok(token) = std::env::var("GITHUB_TOKEN").or_else(|_| std::env::var("GH_TOKEN"))