diff --git a/eslint.config.js b/eslint.config.js
index cda07f41d5..caffbdf336 100644
--- a/eslint.config.js
+++ b/eslint.config.js
@@ -72,6 +72,27 @@ export default tseslint.config(
       'import/namespace': 'off', // Disabled due to https://github.com/import-js/eslint-plugin-import/issues/2866
     },
   },
+  {
+    // `utils/` is the layer every other directory imports, so it must not
+    // import back into one. The daemon direction is clean and enforced here;
+    // the remaining `ui/`, `config/`, `i18n/` and `nonInteractive/` edges are
+    // tracked in #9146 and will be added to this group as they are resolved.
+    files: ['packages/cli/src/utils/**/*.{ts,tsx}'],
+    rules: {
+      'no-restricted-imports': [
+        'error',
+        {
+          patterns: [
+            {
+              group: ['**/serve/*', '**/serve/**'],
+              message:
+                'packages/cli/src/utils must not import serve/. Move lifecycle-free logic down into utils/ instead (#9146).',
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  },
   {
     // General overrides and rules for the project (TS/TSX files)
     files: [
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cli.ts b/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
index 7a723ec85f..7e2929bce2 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import {
 } from 'node:fs';
 import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
 import type { ArgumentsCamelCase, Argv, Options } from 'yargs';
-import { normalizeServeFastPathArgv } from './serve/fast-path-argv.js';
+import { normalizeServeFastPathArgv } from './utils/serve-fast-path-argv.js';
 import { initStartupProfiler } from './utils/startupProfiler.js';
 import { initCpuProfiler } from './utils/cpuProfiler.js';
 import {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/serve/fast-path.ts b/packages/cli/src/serve/fast-path.ts
index 85021680cb..f06d73a13c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/serve/fast-path.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/serve/fast-path.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {
   isValidMemoryBudgetMb,
   memoryBudgetRangeError,
 } from '@qwen-code/acp-bridge/daemonMemoryBudget';
-import { normalizeServeFastPathArgv } from './fast-path-argv.js';
+import { normalizeServeFastPathArgv } from '../utils/serve-fast-path-argv.js';
 import type { ServeFastPathSettings } from './fast-path-settings.js';
 import { RUNTIME_STARTUP_CANCELLED_MESSAGE } from './runtime-startup-errors.js';
 import type { ServeOptions } from './types.js';
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/AppContainer.test.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/AppContainer.test.tsx
index 4db7330262..4c45de623f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/AppContainer.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/AppContainer.test.tsx
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ vi.mock('./utils/terminal-resize-reflow.js', () => ({
   buildWakeRepaint: buildWakeRepaintSpy,
 }));
 
-vi.mock('../utils/windowTitle.js', async (importOriginal) => {
+vi.mock('./utils/windowTitle.js', async (importOriginal) => {
   const actual =
-    await importOriginal<typeof import('../utils/windowTitle.js')>();
+    await importOriginal<typeof import('./utils/windowTitle.js')>();
   return {
     ...actual,
     writeTerminalTitle: (
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ import {
 import {
   formatSessionWindowTitle,
   writeTerminalTitle,
-} from '../utils/windowTitle.js';
+} from './utils/windowTitle.js';
 import ansiEscapes from 'ansi-escapes';
 import {
   type Config,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/AppContainer.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/AppContainer.tsx
index 7e09894bbf..0772117c82 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/AppContainer.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/AppContainer.tsx
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ import {
   formatSessionWindowTitle,
   titleStatusPrefix,
   writeTerminalTitle,
-} from '../utils/windowTitle.js';
+} from './utils/windowTitle.js';
 import { clearScreen } from '../utils/stdioHelpers.js';
 import { useTextBuffer } from './components/shared/text-buffer.js';
 import { useLogger } from './hooks/useLogger.js';
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/startInteractiveUI.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/startInteractiveUI.tsx
index c3c26022c7..3d9387522d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/startInteractiveUI.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/startInteractiveUI.tsx
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ import { startPostRenderPrefetches } from '../startup/startup-prefetch.js';
 import {
   computeWindowTitle,
   writeTerminalTitle,
-} from '../utils/windowTitle.js';
+} from './utils/windowTitle.js';
 import { getCliVersion } from '../utils/version.js';
 
 const debugLogger = createDebugLogger('STARTUP');
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/windowTitle.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/windowTitle.test.ts
similarity index 99%
rename from packages/cli/src/utils/windowTitle.test.ts
rename to packages/cli/src/ui/utils/windowTitle.test.ts
index 167f3de5da..e0805d6084 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/windowTitle.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/windowTitle.test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
-import { StreamingState } from '../ui/types.js';
+import { StreamingState } from '../types.js';
 import {
   computeWindowTitle,
   writeTerminalTitle,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/windowTitle.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/windowTitle.ts
similarity index 96%
rename from packages/cli/src/utils/windowTitle.ts
rename to packages/cli/src/ui/utils/windowTitle.ts
index e2bd79761e..e15a8ac751 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/windowTitle.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/windowTitle.ts
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 
-import { sanitizeForOsc } from '../ui/utils/osc8.js';
-import { ICON } from '../ui/constants.js';
-import { StreamingState } from '../ui/types.js';
+import { sanitizeForOsc } from './osc8.js';
+import { ICON } from '../constants.js';
+import { StreamingState } from '../types.js';
 
 export const DEFAULT_WINDOW_TITLE = 'qwen';
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/serve/fast-path-argv.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/serve-fast-path-argv.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/cli/src/serve/fast-path-argv.ts
rename to packages/cli/src/utils/serve-fast-path-argv.ts
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/startupProfiler.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/startupProfiler.ts
index f4082b1d2d..c2029e323a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/startupProfiler.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/startupProfiler.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import * as path from 'node:path';
 import { performance } from 'node:perf_hooks';
 
 import type { StartupEventAttrs } from '@qwen-code/qwen-code-core';
-import { isServeFastPathArgv } from '../serve/fast-path-argv.js';
+import { isServeFastPathArgv } from './serve-fast-path-argv.js';
 
 interface Checkpoint {
   name: string;
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/systemInfo.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/systemInfo.ts
index 1dff4dd9f4..63905adb27 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/systemInfo.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/systemInfo.ts
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ import {
   IdeClient,
   AuthType,
   createDebugLogger,
+  formatMemoryUsage,
   type LspStatusSnapshot,
 } from '@qwen-code/qwen-code-core';
-import { formatMemoryUsage } from '../ui/utils/formatters.js';
 import { GIT_COMMIT_INFO } from '../generated/git-commit.js';
 
 const debugLogger = createDebugLogger('STATUS');