diff --git a/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/src/damage.rs b/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/src/damage.rs
index fa37af838e..b25f6c76ac 100644
--- a/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/src/damage.rs
+++ b/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/src/damage.rs
@@ -207,6 +207,58 @@ pub fn capture(terminal: &mut crate::Terminal) -> RawFrame {
     }
 }
 
+/// Copy the **entire visible viewport**, leaving damage untouched.
+///
+/// This exists for subscribers that arrive mid-stream: attach, reattach, and
+/// the successor side of a resize. Damage only describes what changed since
+/// the last capture, so a newcomer that starts from [`capture`] sees whatever
+/// happened to change next -- often just the cursor's line -- painted onto a
+/// blank screen. Upstream's `mark_fully_damaged` is private, so an embedder
+/// cannot ask for a full frame that way.
+///
+/// **It must not consume damage, and that is the load-bearing property.** The
+/// incumbent subscriber's next [`capture`] has to still see its rows. If this
+/// called `damage()`/`reset_damage()` it would steal them, and the incumbent
+/// would freeze on stale content while a newcomer's full-frame test passed.
+/// The absence of those two calls below is the mechanism; `snapshot_test.rs`
+/// is the proof.
+///
+/// **Runs under the lock; does no encoding.** Costs a full grid copy rather
+/// than a damaged-rows copy, so it belongs on attach, not in the frame loop.
+pub fn capture_all(terminal: &mut crate::Terminal) -> RawFrame {
+    let viewport = terminal.viewport();
+    let term = terminal.term_mut();
+    let columns = term.columns();
+    let screen_lines = term.screen_lines();
+    let cursor_point = term.grid().cursor.point;
+    let visible = term
+        .mode()
+        .contains(alacritty_terminal::term::TermMode::SHOW_CURSOR);
+
+    let grid = term.grid();
+    let mut rows = Vec::with_capacity(screen_lines);
+    for line in 0..screen_lines {
+        let row = &grid[Line(line as i32)];
+        rows.push((line, row[..Column(columns)].to_vec()));
+    }
+    let cursor = CursorFrame {
+        line: cursor_point.line.0.max(0) as usize,
+        column: cursor_point.column.0,
+        visible,
+    };
+
+    // No `damage()` and no `reset_damage()`: see the note above.
+    RawFrame {
+        rows,
+        cursor,
+        // A snapshot *is* a repaint, and marking it full also resets the
+        // consumer's `Encoder` hashes, so its dedup state describes the grid it
+        // was actually given rather than a predecessor's.
+        full: true,
+        viewport,
+    }
+}
+
 /// Suppresses rows whose content did not actually change.
 #[derive(Default)]
 pub struct Encoder {
diff --git a/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/src/shared.rs b/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/src/shared.rs
index 577908ee05..c76d094e9d 100644
--- a/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/src/shared.rs
+++ b/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/src/shared.rs
@@ -168,6 +168,24 @@ impl SharedTerminal {
         encoder.encode(raw)
     }
 
+    /// Copy the whole viewport for a subscriber that arrived mid-stream.
+    /// Renderer plane.
+    ///
+    /// Attach, reattach, and the successor side of a resize all need the
+    /// screen as it stands, not the next thing to change on it. Crucially this
+    /// leaves damage alone, so taking a snapshot for a newcomer cannot steal
+    /// the incumbent renderer's pending rows -- see [`damage::capture_all`].
+    ///
+    /// Costs a full grid copy under the lock, so call it on attach rather than
+    /// per frame.
+    pub fn snapshot(&self, encoder: &mut Encoder) -> Frame {
+        let raw = {
+            let mut term = self.acquire(&self.renderer);
+            damage::capture_all(&mut term)
+        };
+        encoder.encode(raw)
+    }
+
     /// Apply a coalesced resize. Renderer plane: this competes with the
     /// renderer for the same lock and can hold it for milliseconds.
     pub fn resize(&self, size: crate::Size) -> crate::Viewport {
diff --git a/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/tests/snapshot.rs b/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/tests/snapshot.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0035509043
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/src-tauri/crates/buzz-terminal/tests/snapshot.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+//! The attach contract: what a subscriber that arrives mid-stream is given,
+//! and what taking it must not cost the subscriber already there.
+//!
+//! `render()` reports damage -- what changed since someone last looked. That
+//! is the right thing for a steady-state renderer and the wrong thing for a
+//! newcomer, who needs the screen as it stands. `snapshot()` supplies that,
+//! and the delicate part is that it must do so *without* consuming damage:
+//! two subscribers share one terminal, and damage is a single shared cursor.
+
+use buzz_terminal::damage::Encoder;
+use buzz_terminal::fences::Fences;
+use buzz_terminal::{Action, SharedTerminal, Size, Terminal};
+use std::sync::mpsc::Receiver;
+
+/// The receiver is returned rather than dropped: dropping it disconnects the
+/// channel and every subsequent listener send silently fails.
+fn terminal(columns: usize, screen_lines: usize) -> (SharedTerminal, Receiver<Action>) {
+    let size = Size {
+        columns,
+        screen_lines,
+        scrollback: 100,
+    };
+    let (term, actions) = Terminal::new(size, Fences::ALL);
+    (SharedTerminal::new(term), actions)
+}
+
+/// Collect the non-blank text of a frame's rows, for comparing what a
+/// subscriber can actually see.
+fn visible_text(frame: &buzz_terminal::damage::Frame) -> Vec<String> {
+    frame
+        .rows
+        .iter()
+        .map(|row| {
+            row.spans
+                .iter()
+                .map(|span| span.text.as_str())
+                .collect::<String>()
+                .trim_end()
+                .to_string()
+        })
+        .filter(|line| !line.is_empty())
+        .collect()
+}
+
+/// The reason `snapshot` exists. A subscriber that attaches mid-stream and
+/// starts from `render()` is handed only what changes next -- with a quiet
+/// terminal that is the cursor's line alone, so the scrollback-visible screen
+/// never arrives.
+#[test]
+fn a_late_render_shows_only_the_next_change_but_a_snapshot_shows_the_screen() {
+    let (shared, _actions) = terminal(20, 4);
+    shared.feed(b"first\r\nsecond\r\nthird");
+
+    // The incumbent consumes the damage from that output.
+    let mut incumbent = Encoder::new();
+    let seen = visible_text(&shared.render(&mut incumbent));
+    assert_eq!(seen, vec!["first", "second", "third"]);
+
+    // A newcomer rendering now sees essentially nothing: damage is spent.
+    let mut latecomer = Encoder::new();
+    let by_render = visible_text(&shared.render(&mut latecomer));
+    assert!(
+        !by_render.contains(&"first".to_string()),
+        "a late render cannot show scrollback it never saw damaged, got {by_render:?}"
+    );
+
+    // The same newcomer snapshotting sees the whole viewport.
+    let mut attaching = Encoder::new();
+    let by_snapshot = shared.snapshot(&mut attaching);
+    assert_eq!(
+        visible_text(&by_snapshot),
+        vec!["first", "second", "third"],
+        "a snapshot must carry the visible viewport"
+    );
+    assert!(by_snapshot.full, "a snapshot is a repaint");
+}
+
+/// **The law: `snapshot()` must not consume damage.**
+///
+/// Two subscribers share one terminal and damage is one shared cursor, so a
+/// snapshot taken for an attaching subscriber must leave the incumbent's
+/// pending rows intact. A naive implementation that calls `damage()` passes a
+/// full-frame test while freezing every other subscriber -- the newcomer looks
+/// perfect and the incumbent silently stops updating.
+///
+/// The interleaving is the point: write, snapshot, *then* let the incumbent
+/// render. But the interleaving alone is not enough to discriminate, and the
+/// reason is this module's own rule 2 -- `Term::damage()` marks the cursor
+/// line on every call. So an incumbent owed only the line it is sitting on
+/// gets that line back even when its damage was stolen, and a naive snapshot
+/// passes.
+///
+/// The owed row therefore has to be somewhere the cursor is *not*. Here row 0
+/// is rewritten and the cursor is parked on row 3, so a theft leaves the
+/// incumbent holding a blank cursor line and nothing else.
+#[test]
+fn a_snapshot_does_not_steal_the_incumbents_damage() {
+    let (shared, _actions) = terminal(20, 4);
+
+    // An established renderer, caught up to a quiet terminal. The initial
+    // content is shorter than its replacement so the rewrite below covers it
+    // completely and no tail of it survives.
+    let mut incumbent = Encoder::new();
+    shared.feed(b"old");
+    let _ = shared.render(&mut incumbent);
+
+    // Rewrite row 0, then park the cursor on row 3. The incumbent is now owed
+    // row 0, which is not the row the cursor will re-damage for free.
+    shared.feed(b"\x1b[1;1HAFTER\x1b[4;1H");
+
+    // A second subscriber attaches and snapshots first.
+    let mut attaching = Encoder::new();
+    let attached = shared.snapshot(&mut attaching);
+    assert_eq!(
+        visible_text(&attached),
+        vec!["AFTER"],
+        "the newcomer sees the whole screen"
+    );
+
+    // The incumbent must still be delivered row 0.
+    let follow_up = shared.render(&mut incumbent);
+    assert!(
+        follow_up.rows.iter().any(|row| row.line == 0),
+        "snapshot consumed the incumbent's damage: row 0 was never delivered, \
+         got rows {:?}",
+        follow_up.rows.iter().map(|r| r.line).collect::<Vec<_>>()
+    );
+    assert!(
+        visible_text(&follow_up).contains(&"AFTER".to_string()),
+        "the incumbent must still see the row written before the snapshot, got {:?}",
+        visible_text(&follow_up)
+    );
+}
+
+/// A snapshot stamps the geometry it was captured under and resets the
+/// consumer's dedup state, so an encoder reused across a resize cannot carry
+/// hashes describing rows of a different width.
+#[test]
+fn a_snapshot_realigns_a_reused_encoders_dedup_state() {
+    let (shared, _actions) = terminal(20, 4);
+    shared.feed(b"wide enough line");
+
+    let mut encoder = Encoder::new();
+    let before = shared.snapshot(&mut encoder);
+    assert_eq!(before.viewport.columns, 20);
+
+    let resized = shared.resize(Size {
+        columns: 10,
+        screen_lines: 4,
+        scrollback: 100,
+    });
+    assert_eq!(resized.columns, 10);
+
+    // Same encoder, new geometry: every row must be re-sent, not suppressed
+    // as unchanged against hashes taken at the old width.
+    let after = shared.snapshot(&mut encoder);
+    assert_eq!(
+        after.viewport.columns, 10,
+        "the capture-time grid is stamped"
+    );
+    assert!(after.full, "a snapshot is a repaint");
+    assert!(
+        !after.rows.is_empty(),
+        "stale hashes must not suppress rows after a resize"
+    );
+}
+
+/// Two consecutive snapshots with no output between them still both carry the
+/// screen. A snapshot is not a one-shot: reattach may happen repeatedly, and
+/// nothing about the first may disarm the second.
+#[test]
+fn snapshots_are_repeatable() {
+    let (shared, _actions) = terminal(20, 4);
+    shared.feed(b"persistent");
+
+    let mut first = Encoder::new();
+    let mut second = Encoder::new();
+    assert_eq!(
+        visible_text(&shared.snapshot(&mut first)),
+        vec!["persistent"]
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        visible_text(&shared.snapshot(&mut second)),
+        vec!["persistent"],
+        "a second subscriber attaching later must see the same screen"
+    );
+}