diff --git a/hermes_cli/copilot_auth.py b/hermes_cli/copilot_auth.py
index e6f63a1557c9..195c12f6e52e 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/copilot_auth.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/copilot_auth.py
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Optional
 
+from hermes_cli import _subprocess_compat
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # OAuth device code flow constants (same client ID as opencode/Copilot CLI)
@@ -135,12 +137,19 @@ def _try_gh_cli_token() -> Optional[str]:
         if hostname:
             cmd += ["--hostname", hostname]
         try:
+            # gh runs from the windowless desktop gateway (pythonw.exe), where a
+            # captured console child still allocates — and flashes — a console
+            # window. windows_hide_flags() is CREATE_NO_WINDOW on win32, 0 on
+            # POSIX. (The #53810 `_subprocess_compat.run` chokepoint was rolled
+            # back in the #53853 revert, so this uses the surviving helper
+            # directly.) See #52310.
             result = subprocess.run(
                 cmd,
                 capture_output=True,
                 text=True,
                 timeout=5,
                 env=clean_env,
+                creationflags=_subprocess_compat.windows_hide_flags(),
             )
         except (FileNotFoundError, subprocess.TimeoutExpired) as exc:
             logger.debug("gh CLI token lookup failed (%s): %s", gh_path, exc)
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_copilot_auth.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_copilot_auth.py
index 3d0b0bdeb722..bcdc1c2662da 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_copilot_auth.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_copilot_auth.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 """Tests for hermes_cli.copilot_auth — Copilot token validation and resolution."""
 
 import pytest
-from unittest.mock import patch
+from unittest.mock import patch, MagicMock
 
 
 class TestTokenValidation:
@@ -199,3 +199,35 @@ def test_copilot_env_vars_order_matches_docs(self):
         assert copilot.api_key_env_vars == (
             "COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN", "GH_TOKEN", "GITHUB_TOKEN"
         )
+
+
+class TestGhCliTokenHidesConsole:
+    """The `gh auth token` fallback must pass CREATE_NO_WINDOW so it doesn't
+    flash a console window when spawned from the windowless desktop gateway
+    (pythonw.exe). The footgun checker can't guard this site — the argv (`cmd`)
+    is a variable, not a literal, so its console-spawn rule can't see it's `gh`
+    — so this test is the only regression guard. See #52310.
+    """
+
+    def test_try_gh_cli_token_passes_no_window_flag(self, monkeypatch):
+        import subprocess
+        from hermes_cli import copilot_auth
+
+        called = {}
+
+        def fake_run(cmd, **kwargs):
+            called["cmd"] = cmd
+            called["kwargs"] = kwargs
+            return MagicMock(returncode=0, stdout="gho_token_from_gh\n")
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(subprocess, "run", fake_run)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(copilot_auth, "_gh_cli_candidates", lambda: ["gh"])
+
+        token = copilot_auth._try_gh_cli_token()
+
+        assert token == "gho_token_from_gh"
+        assert called["cmd"][:3] == ["gh", "auth", "token"]
+        assert (
+            called["kwargs"]["creationflags"]
+            == copilot_auth._subprocess_compat.windows_hide_flags()
+        )
diff --git a/tui_gateway/server.py b/tui_gateway/server.py
index ec61aed6d57e..6fea17a0a77f 100644
--- a/tui_gateway/server.py
+++ b/tui_gateway/server.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
     set_hermes_home_override,
 )
 from hermes_cli.env_loader import load_hermes_dotenv
+from hermes_cli import _subprocess_compat
 from utils import is_truthy_value
 from tui_gateway import git_probe
 from tui_gateway.transport import (
@@ -11619,12 +11620,18 @@ def _list_repo_files(root: str) -> list[str]:
 
     files: list[str] = []
     try:
+        # This git probe runs from the windowless desktop gateway (pythonw.exe),
+        # where capturing output does NOT stop a new console from being
+        # allocated (and flashing). windows_hide_flags() = CREATE_NO_WINDOW on
+        # win32, 0 on POSIX. (#53810's chokepoint was reverted in #53853, so we
+        # use the surviving helper directly.) See #52310.
         top_result = subprocess.run(
             ["git", "-C", root, "rev-parse", "--show-toplevel"],
             capture_output=True,
             timeout=2.0,
             check=False,
             stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+            creationflags=_subprocess_compat.windows_hide_flags(),
         )
         if top_result.returncode == 0:
             top = top_result.stdout.decode("utf-8", "replace").strip()
@@ -11643,6 +11650,7 @@ def _list_repo_files(root: str) -> list[str]:
                 timeout=2.0,
                 check=False,
                 stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+                creationflags=_subprocess_compat.windows_hide_flags(),
             )
             if list_result.returncode == 0:
                 for p in list_result.stdout.decode("utf-8", "replace").split("\0"):