diff --git a/packages/cli/src/acp-integration/live/capture-screen-context.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/acp-integration/live/capture-screen-context.test.ts
index 9437d46a7dd..cabf2d91ae8 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/acp-integration/live/capture-screen-context.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/acp-integration/live/capture-screen-context.test.ts
@@ -98,6 +98,29 @@ describe('CaptureScreenContextTool', () => {
     },
   );
 
+  it('reports the dedicated symlink error on every platform', async () => {
+    const target = await captureFile();
+    const link = join(target.directory, 'linked.png');
+    await symlink(target.path, link);
+    const tool = new CaptureScreenContextTool(
+      async () => ({
+        appName: 'Finder',
+        accessibilityText: '',
+        screenshotPath: link,
+      }),
+      target.directory,
+    );
+
+    const result = await tool.build({}).execute(new AbortController().signal);
+
+    // The exact message pins the explicit lstat guard: without it, win32
+    // reads through the link (no error at all) while POSIX falls back to
+    // O_NOFOLLOW's generic ELOOP message.
+    expect(result.error?.message).toBe(
+      'Host returned a symbolic link screenshot path.',
+    );
+  });
+
   it('rejects a screenshot outside the Host private directory', async () => {
     const outside = await captureFile();
     const allowed = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'capture-screen-allowed-'));
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/acp-integration/live/capture-screen-context.ts b/packages/cli/src/acp-integration/live/capture-screen-context.ts
index b1dc3c04497..8b3078b781f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/acp-integration/live/capture-screen-context.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/acp-integration/live/capture-screen-context.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import { constants } from 'node:fs';
-import { open, unlink } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { lstat, open, unlink } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
 import {
@@ -52,6 +52,11 @@ function resolvePrivatePngPath(path: string, captureDirectory: string): string {
 }
 
 async function readPrivatePng(path: string): Promise<Buffer> {
+  // Windows silently ignores O_NOFOLLOW, so a symlinked screenshot path
+  // would be followed and read on win32. Probe the link itself first.
+  if ((await lstat(path)).isSymbolicLink()) {
+    throw new Error('Host returned a symbolic link screenshot path.');
+  }
   const handle = await open(path, constants.O_RDONLY | constants.O_NOFOLLOW);
   try {
     const stat = await handle.stat();