diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-rttime-limit.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-rttime-limit.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0e23126d51e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-rttime-limit.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { warnWhenRealtimeTimeoutIsZero } from './daemon-rttime-limit'
+
+const dirs: string[] = []
+afterEach(() => {
+  for (const dir of dirs.splice(0)) {
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  }
+})
+
+function procLimits(soft: string, hard: string): string {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-limits-'))
+  dirs.push(dir)
+  const path = join(dir, 'limits')
+  writeFileSync(
+    path,
+    [
+      'Limit                     Soft Limit           Hard Limit           Units     ',
+      'Max realtime priority     0                    0                    ',
+      `Max realtime timeout      ${soft.padEnd(21)}${hard.padEnd(21)}us        `,
+      ''
+    ].join('\n')
+  )
+  return path
+}
+
+describe('warnWhenRealtimeTimeoutIsZero', () => {
+  it.each([
+    ['0', '0'],
+    ['0', '200000']
+  ])('warns with a remedy hint for soft %s and hard %s', (soft, hard) => {
+    const log = vi.fn()
+    warnWhenRealtimeTimeoutIsZero(log, 'linux', procLimits(soft, hard))
+    expect(log).toHaveBeenCalledWith('rttime-limit-zero', {
+      soft,
+      hard,
+      hint: expect.stringContaining('RealtimeKit')
+    })
+  })
+
+  it.each([
+    ['unlimited', 'unlimited'],
+    ['200000', '200000']
+  ])('stays quiet for soft %s and hard %s', (soft, hard) => {
+    const log = vi.fn()
+    warnWhenRealtimeTimeoutIsZero(log, 'linux', procLimits(soft, hard))
+    expect(log).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('stays quiet when the limits file is unreadable or off Linux', () => {
+    const log = vi.fn()
+    warnWhenRealtimeTimeoutIsZero(log, 'linux', '/definitely/missing')
+    warnWhenRealtimeTimeoutIsZero(log, 'darwin', procLimits('0', '0'))
+    warnWhenRealtimeTimeoutIsZero(log, 'win32', procLimits('0', '0'))
+    expect(log).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-rttime-limit.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-rttime-limit.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..375e8d79245
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-rttime-limit.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+
+// Why: PTYs inherit the daemon's RLIMIT_RTTIME; at 0 the kernel kills timer-armed jobs (SIGXCPU soft, SIGKILL hard) and unprivileged code can't raise the hard limit (#29745).
+export function warnWhenRealtimeTimeoutIsZero(
+  log: (event: string, details?: Record<string, unknown>) => void,
+  platform: NodeJS.Platform = process.platform,
+  limitsPath = '/proc/self/limits'
+): void {
+  if (platform !== 'linux') {
+    return
+  }
+  let limits: string
+  try {
+    limits = readFileSync(limitsPath, 'utf8')
+  } catch {
+    return
+  }
+  const [, soft, hard] = /^Max realtime timeout\s+(\S+)\s+(\S+)/m.exec(limits) ?? []
+  if (soft !== '0' && hard !== '0') {
+    return
+  }
+  log('rttime-limit-zero', {
+    soft,
+    hard,
+    hint:
+      'Terminals inherit a zero RLIMIT_RTTIME, so the kernel may kill their jobs (exit 137 or 152). ' +
+      'Installing and enabling RealtimeKit (rtkit), then rebooting, often restores a nonzero limit; ' +
+      'if this keeps appearing, check the launcher, desktop session, or systemd unit (LimitRTTIME) that starts Orca.'
+  })
+}
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/terminal-scopes-runtime.ts b/src/main/daemon/terminal-scopes-runtime.ts
index 7f0cfa6cc2f..70e65b16a2a 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/terminal-scopes-runtime.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/terminal-scopes-runtime.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { existsSync } from 'node:fs'
 import { userManagerEnv } from './daemon-cgroup-scope'
+import { warnWhenRealtimeTimeoutIsZero } from './daemon-rttime-limit'
 import { setPtyActiveProcessLimit } from '../windows/windows-pty-job'
 import { resolveTerminalScopes, type TerminalScopeRuntime } from './terminal-scopes'
 import type { PtyProcessCeilingState } from '../../shared/pty-process-ceiling-state'
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ export function initializeTerminalScopes(
     // Report requested limits even on hosts that cannot enforce them.
     log('terminal-memory-limits', { platform: process.platform, ...resolved.memory })
   }
+  warnWhenRealtimeTimeoutIsZero(log)
   return resolved.ceiling
 }