diff --git a/contributors/emails/seraphine@Seraphines-Mac-Studio.local b/contributors/emails/seraphine@Seraphines-Mac-Studio.local
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..55d62986543e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contributors/emails/seraphine@Seraphines-Mac-Studio.local
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Bartok9
+# Seraphine Mac Studio local email on Bartok9 PR tips (per-PR attribution; Teknium/Daniel 2026-08-01)
diff --git a/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py b/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py
index cc1da55ffaf4..e129dae14c5e 100644
--- a/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py
+++ b/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py
@@ -32,6 +32,26 @@
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+
+def _sanitize_url(url: str | None) -> str | None:
+    """Return url unchanged, or None if it contains non-printable ASCII characters.
+
+    A stray terminal escape sequence (e.g. \x1b from copy-paste) in a URL can
+    cause upstream SDKs to raise ``Invalid non-printable ASCII character`` at
+    client construction time. Dropping the bad value keeps Honcho disabled with
+    a clear warning rather than poisoning startup.
+    """
+    if url is None:
+        return None
+    if all(0x20 <= ord(c) < 0x7F for c in url):
+        return url
+    logger.warning(
+        "Honcho base_url contains non-printable characters and will be ignored: %r",
+        url,
+    )
+    return None
+
+
 HOST = "hermes"
 
 
@@ -470,7 +490,7 @@ def from_env(
         """Create config from environment variables (fallback)."""
         resolved_host = host or resolve_active_host()
         api_key = os.environ.get("HONCHO_API_KEY")
-        base_url = os.environ.get("HONCHO_BASE_URL", "").strip() or None
+        base_url = _sanitize_url(os.environ.get("HONCHO_BASE_URL", "").strip() or None)
         timeout = _resolve_optional_float(os.environ.get("HONCHO_TIMEOUT"))
         return cls(
             host=resolved_host,
@@ -533,7 +553,7 @@ def from_global_config(
             or raw.get("environment", "production")
         )
 
-        base_url = (
+        base_url = _sanitize_url(
             raw.get("baseUrl")
             or raw.get("base_url")
             or os.environ.get("HONCHO_BASE_URL", "").strip()
@@ -1038,7 +1058,7 @@ def _build() -> "Honcho":
                 honcho_cfg = hermes_cfg.get("honcho", {})
                 if isinstance(honcho_cfg, dict):
                     if not resolved_base_url:
-                        resolved_base_url = honcho_cfg.get("base_url", "").strip() or None
+                        resolved_base_url = _sanitize_url(honcho_cfg.get("base_url", "").strip() or None)
                     if resolved_timeout is None:
                         resolved_timeout = _resolve_optional_float(
                             honcho_cfg.get("timeout"),