diff --git a/src/claude_statusbar/render_thin.py b/src/claude_statusbar/render_thin.py
index ac5be46..5b33f8e 100644
--- a/src/claude_statusbar/render_thin.py
+++ b/src/claude_statusbar/render_thin.py
@@ -184,6 +184,18 @@ def _append_suffix(content: str, suffix: str) -> str:
     return content + suffix
 
 
+_STDIN_CHUNK = 64 * 1024
+
+
+def _payload_is_complete(buf: bytearray) -> bool:
+    """True once `buf` holds a whole JSON document."""
+    try:
+        json.loads(buf.decode("utf-8", errors="replace"))
+    except ValueError:  # JSONDecodeError ⊂ ValueError
+        return False
+    return True
+
+
 def _consume_stdin() -> bytes | None:
     """Read Claude Code's stdin payload (bytes) and return it.
 
@@ -191,17 +203,40 @@ def _consume_stdin() -> bytes | None:
     for both (a) writing it to per-session + legacy last_stdin.json so the
     daemon sees it on the next tick, and (b) replaying it into sys.stdin
     if the inline fallback path needs to consume it.
+
+    Stops at the end of the JSON document rather than at EOF. `read()` waits
+    for *every* write handle on the pipe to close, which is not something the
+    client controls: Claude Code spawns the statusLine through a shell, and on
+    Windows a sibling process that inherited the write handle keeps the pipe
+    open after that shell exits. The payload has arrived in full, but read()
+    never returns and the process lives forever — observed as a steady drip of
+    `cs render` processes, parent gone, each still resident minutes later.
+
+    One extra json.loads per chunk; the payload is a couple of KB and arrives
+    in a single read, so this costs ~0.05ms on the render hot path.
     """
     try:
         if sys.stdin.isatty():
             return None
     except (OSError, ValueError):
         return None
+    data = bytearray()
     try:
-        data = sys.stdin.buffer.read()
+        # read1() returns what one raw read yields; read() would block until
+        # the buffer is full or EOF, which is the behaviour being avoided.
+        read_some = getattr(sys.stdin.buffer, "read1", None)
+        if read_some is None:  # exotic stdin replacement — keep the old path
+            return sys.stdin.buffer.read() or None
+        while True:
+            chunk = read_some(_STDIN_CHUNK)
+            if not chunk:
+                break  # EOF — the writer closed as expected
+            data += chunk
+            if _payload_is_complete(data):
+                break  # whole document in hand; don't wait on the pipe
     except (OSError, AttributeError):
         return None
-    return data or None
+    return bytes(data) or None
 
 
 def _extract_session_id(payload: bytes) -> str:
diff --git a/tests/test_render_thin_stdin.py b/tests/test_render_thin_stdin.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e4e87fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_render_thin_stdin.py
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+"""`cs render` must not outlive the payload it was handed.
+
+`sys.stdin.buffer.read()` returns at EOF, and EOF needs *every* write handle
+on the pipe to close — not just the shell Claude Code spawned the statusLine
+through. On Windows a sibling process that inherited the handle keeps the pipe
+open after that shell exits, so the render process blocks forever with the
+complete payload already in memory.
+"""
+
+import json
+import sys
+
+import pytest
+
+from claude_statusbar import render_thin
+
+
+PAYLOAD = json.dumps({
+    "session_id": "abc-123",
+    "model": {"id": "claude-opus-5", "display_name": "Opus 5"},
+    "context_window": {"context_window_size": 1_000_000,
+                       "used_percentage": 6,
+                       "total_input_tokens": 63_824},
+}).encode("utf-8")
+
+
+class _FakeBuffer:
+    """Hands out `chunks`, then blocks — standing in for a pipe that never
+    reaches EOF because someone else still holds the write end."""
+
+    def __init__(self, chunks):
+        self._chunks = list(chunks)
+        self.reads = 0
+
+    def read1(self, _size):
+        self.reads += 1
+        if self._chunks:
+            return self._chunks.pop(0)
+        raise AssertionError("read1 called after the payload was complete "
+                             "— this is the call that hangs in production")
+
+    def read(self, *_a):  # pragma: no cover - guard, must never be reached
+        raise AssertionError("read() would block until EOF")
+
+
+class _FakeStdin:
+    def __init__(self, chunks, tty=False):
+        self.buffer = _FakeBuffer(chunks)
+        self._tty = tty
+
+    def isatty(self):
+        return self._tty
+
+
+def test_stops_at_end_of_json_without_waiting_for_eof(monkeypatch):
+    stdin = _FakeStdin([PAYLOAD])
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdin", stdin)
+
+    assert render_thin._consume_stdin() == PAYLOAD
+    assert stdin.buffer.reads == 1
+
+
+def test_reassembles_a_payload_split_across_chunks(monkeypatch):
+    half = len(PAYLOAD) // 2
+    stdin = _FakeStdin([PAYLOAD[:half], PAYLOAD[half:]])
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdin", stdin)
+
+    assert render_thin._consume_stdin() == PAYLOAD
+    assert stdin.buffer.reads == 2
+
+
+def test_non_json_input_still_reads_to_eof(monkeypatch):
+    """No JSON document to bound on — fall back to the old EOF behaviour
+    rather than truncating whatever the caller sent."""
+    stdin = _FakeStdin([b"not json", b""])
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdin", stdin)
+
+    assert render_thin._consume_stdin() == b"not json"
+
+
+def test_interactive_stdin_returns_none(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdin", _FakeStdin([PAYLOAD], tty=True))
+
+    assert render_thin._consume_stdin() is None
+
+
+def test_empty_stdin_returns_none(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdin", _FakeStdin([b""]))
+
+    assert render_thin._consume_stdin() is None
+
+
+def test_session_id_survives_the_bounded_read(monkeypatch):
+    """The bytes handed back must still route to the right session bucket."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stdin", _FakeStdin([PAYLOAD]))
+
+    payload = render_thin._consume_stdin()
+
+    assert render_thin._extract_session_id(payload) == "abc-123"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("buf,expected", [
+    (bytearray(b'{"a": 1}'), True),
+    (bytearray(b'{"a": 1'), False),
+    (bytearray(b'{"a": 1}\n'), True),
+    (bytearray(b''), False),
+])
+def test_payload_completeness_check(buf, expected):
+    assert render_thin._payload_is_complete(buf) is expected