diff --git a/src/snapshot-tests/__tests__/json-harness-error-state.test.ts b/src/snapshot-tests/__tests__/json-harness-error-state.test.ts
index 17e144d3..573b6634 100644
--- a/src/snapshot-tests/__tests__/json-harness-error-state.test.ts
+++ b/src/snapshot-tests/__tests__/json-harness-error-state.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
-import { resolveCliJsonSnapshotErrorState } from '../harness.ts';
+import { assertCliSnapshotProcessResult, resolveCliJsonSnapshotErrorState } from '../harness.ts';
 import { resolveMcpSnapshotErrorState } from '../mcp-harness.ts';
 import type { StructuredOutputEnvelope } from '../../types/structured-output.ts';
 
@@ -17,6 +17,42 @@ const errorEnvelope: StructuredOutputEnvelope<null> = {
   error: 'Failed',
 };
 
+describe('CLI snapshot process result guard', () => {
+  it('accepts completed domain invocations without process stderr', () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      assertCliSnapshotProcessResult(
+        { error: undefined, signal: null, status: 1, stderr: '' },
+        'tool',
+      ),
+    ).not.toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it('rejects process stderr so domain snapshots cannot hide user-visible noise', () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      assertCliSnapshotProcessResult(
+        { error: undefined, signal: null, status: 0, stderr: 'warning\n' },
+        'tool',
+      ),
+    ).toThrow('CLI process emitted unexpected stderr for tool:\nwarning');
+  });
+
+  it('rejects failed process execution before snapshot matching', () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      assertCliSnapshotProcessResult(
+        { error: new Error('spawn failed'), signal: null, status: null, stderr: '' },
+        'tool',
+      ),
+    ).toThrow('CLI process failed for tool: spawn failed');
+
+    expect(() =>
+      assertCliSnapshotProcessResult(
+        { error: undefined, signal: 'SIGTERM', status: null, stderr: '' },
+        'tool',
+      ),
+    ).toThrow('CLI process for tool was terminated by signal SIGTERM.');
+  });
+});
+
 describe('JSON snapshot harness error state', () => {
   it('uses CLI process status and envelope.didError when they agree', () => {
     expect(resolveCliJsonSnapshotErrorState(0, successEnvelope, 'tool')).toBe(false);
diff --git a/src/snapshot-tests/harness.ts b/src/snapshot-tests/harness.ts
index 42da3036..4f5b5114 100644
--- a/src/snapshot-tests/harness.ts
+++ b/src/snapshot-tests/harness.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,34 @@ function runSnapshotCli(
   });
 }
 
+function readProcessOutput(output: string | Buffer | null | undefined): string {
+  return typeof output === 'string' ? output : (output?.toString('utf8') ?? '');
+}
+
+export function assertCliSnapshotProcessResult(
+  result: Pick<ReturnType<typeof spawnSync>, 'error' | 'signal' | 'status' | 'stderr'>,
+  label: string,
+): void {
+  if (result.error) {
+    throw new Error(`CLI process failed for ${label}: ${result.error.message}`);
+  }
+
+  if (result.signal) {
+    throw new Error(`CLI process for ${label} was terminated by signal ${result.signal}.`);
+  }
+
+  if (result.status === null) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `CLI process exit status was null for ${label}; the process may have timed out or been killed by a signal.`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  const stderr = readProcessOutput(result.stderr).trim();
+  if (stderr.length > 0) {
+    throw new Error(`CLI process emitted unexpected stderr for ${label}:\n${stderr}`);
+  }
+}
+
 function parseStructuredEnvelope(
   stdout: string,
   label: string,
@@ -107,9 +135,10 @@ export async function createSnapshotHarness(
       throw new Error(`Tool '${cliToolName}' in workflow '${workflow}' is not CLI-available`);
     }
 
+    const label = `${workflow}/${cliToolName}`;
     const result = runSnapshotCli(workflow, cliToolName, args, 'text', options);
-    const stdout =
-      typeof result.stdout === 'string' ? result.stdout : (result.stdout?.toString('utf8') ?? '');
+    assertCliSnapshotProcessResult(result, label);
+    const stdout = readProcessOutput(result.stdout);
 
     return {
       text: normalizeSnapshotOutput(stdout),
@@ -141,19 +170,16 @@ export async function createCliJsonSnapshotHarness(
       throw new Error(`Tool '${cliToolName}' in workflow '${workflow}' is not CLI-available`);
     }
 
+    const label = `${workflow}/${cliToolName}`;
     const result = runSnapshotCli(workflow, cliToolName, args, 'json', options);
-    const stdout =
-      typeof result.stdout === 'string' ? result.stdout : (result.stdout?.toString('utf8') ?? '');
-    const envelope = parseStructuredEnvelope(stdout, `${workflow}/${cliToolName}`);
+    assertCliSnapshotProcessResult(result, label);
+    const stdout = readProcessOutput(result.stdout);
+    const envelope = parseStructuredEnvelope(stdout, label);
 
     return {
       text: formatStructuredEnvelopeFixture(envelope),
       rawText: stdout,
-      isError: resolveCliJsonSnapshotErrorState(
-        result.status,
-        envelope,
-        `${workflow}/${cliToolName}`,
-      ),
+      isError: resolveCliJsonSnapshotErrorState(result.status, envelope, label),
       structuredEnvelope: envelope,
     };
   }