diff --git a/packages/cli/src/telemetry/client.ts b/packages/cli/src/telemetry/client.ts
index afd059ffcb..d1ec7e318f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/telemetry/client.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/telemetry/client.ts
@@ -1,42 +1,20 @@
-import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
-import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
 import { readConfig, writeConfig } from "./config.js";
 import { VERSION } from "../version.js";
 import { c } from "../ui/colors.js";
 import { isDevMode } from "../utils/env.js";
 import { getSystemMeta } from "./system.js";
-
-// This is a public project API key — safe to embed in client-side code.
-// It only allows writing events, not reading data.
-const POSTHOG_API_KEY = "phc_zjjbX0PnWxERXrMHhkEJWj9A9BhGVLRReICgsfTMmpx";
-const POSTHOG_HOST = "https://us.i.posthog.com";
-const FLUSH_TIMEOUT_MS = 5_000;
+import { enqueue, POSTHOG_API_KEY, type EventProperties } from "./transport.js";
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// Lightweight PostHog client — uses the HTTP batch API directly to avoid
-// pulling in the full posthog-node SDK and its dependencies.
-// All calls are fire-and-forget with a hard timeout.
+// CLI-facing telemetry policy: opt-out checks, system-metadata enrichment, and
+// the first-run disclosure notice. The reliability-critical delivery layer
+// (the event queue, `flush()`, and the exit-time `flushSync()`) lives in
+// transport.ts. `flush` / `flushSync` are re-exported here so existing callers
+// (events.ts, index.ts, the cli.ts exit handlers) keep importing from
+// `./client.js` unchanged.
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-interface EventProperties {
-  [key: string]: string | number | boolean | null | undefined;
-}
-
-interface QueuedEvent {
-  // Client-generated event id. PostHog dedupes on it, so an event that gets
-  // sent by an interrupted flush() AND re-sent by the exit-time flushSync()
-  // fallback still counts once.
-  uuid: string;
-  event: string;
-  properties: EventProperties;
-  timestamp: string;
-  // Override for the batch distinct_id. Defaults to the install's anonymousId.
-  // Used to attribute server-side studio renders to the browser user who
-  // triggered them, so the render funnel is joinable across processes.
-  distinctId?: string;
-}
-
-let eventQueue: QueuedEvent[] = [];
+export { flush, flushSync } from "./transport.js";
 
 let telemetryEnabled: boolean | null = null;
 
@@ -70,6 +48,8 @@ export function shouldTrack(): boolean {
 
 /**
  * Queue a telemetry event. Non-blocking, fail-silent.
+ * Enriches the event with system metadata, then hands it to the transport
+ * queue (which stamps the dedup uuid + timestamp).
  */
 export function trackEvent(
   event: string,
@@ -79,11 +59,9 @@ export function trackEvent(
   if (!shouldTrack()) return;
 
   const sys = getSystemMeta();
-  eventQueue.push({
-    uuid: randomUUID(),
+  enqueue(
     event,
-    distinctId,
-    properties: {
+    {
       ...properties,
       cli_version: VERSION,
       os: process.platform,
@@ -106,101 +84,8 @@ export function trackEvent(
       term_program: sys.term_program ?? undefined,
       agent_env_hints: sys.agent_env_hints ?? undefined,
     },
-    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
-  });
-}
-
-/**
- * Serialize events into a PostHog `/batch/` payload string. Pure — the queue
- * is untouched, so callers decide when events count as delivered.
- *
- * Each event carries its client-generated `uuid`, which PostHog treats as the
- * event id — re-sending the same event is idempotent, not a duplicate.
- *
- * $ip:null tells PostHog not to record the request IP for any of these events.
- * Server-side "Discard client IP data" is also enabled in project settings.
- */
-function buildPayload(events: readonly QueuedEvent[]): string | null {
-  if (events.length === 0) return null;
-  const config = readConfig();
-  const batch = events.map((e) => ({
-    uuid: e.uuid,
-    event: e.event,
-    properties: { ...e.properties, $ip: null },
-    distinct_id: e.distinctId ?? config.anonymousId,
-    timestamp: e.timestamp,
-  }));
-  return JSON.stringify({ api_key: POSTHOG_API_KEY, batch });
-}
-
-/**
- * Flush all queued events to PostHog via async HTTP POST.
- * Call sites: the `beforeExit` hook in cli.ts (normal exit), eager sends right
- * after high-value events (trackRenderComplete / trackRenderError), and the
- * `events` beacon command, which awaits delivery before its process exits.
- *
- * Events are only removed from the queue once the request has completed.
- * The old drain-first version silently lost the whole batch whenever the
- * process died with the fetch in flight — which is the NORMAL exit path for
- * `render`: an agent pipe closing triggers the EPIPE `process.exit(0)`, and
- * error paths call `process.exit(1)` directly, both killing the in-flight
- * request that `beforeExit` had just started. Keeping the queue intact until
- * delivery lets the exit-time flushSync() child (which survives the parent)
- * re-send anything unconfirmed; event uuids make that re-send idempotent.
- */
-export async function flush(): Promise<void> {
-  // Copy, not alias — events queued while the request is in flight must not
-  // be swept into the "delivered" set below.
-  const snapshot = eventQueue.slice();
-  const payload = buildPayload(snapshot);
-  if (payload == null) return;
-
-  const controller = new AbortController();
-  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), FLUSH_TIMEOUT_MS);
-
-  try {
-    await fetch(`${POSTHOG_HOST}/batch/`, {
-      method: "POST",
-      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json", Connection: "close" },
-      body: payload,
-      signal: controller.signal,
-    });
-    // Delivered — forget exactly what was sent (events queued while the
-    // request was in flight stay for the next flush).
-    const sent = new Set(snapshot);
-    eventQueue = eventQueue.filter((e) => !sent.has(e));
-  } catch {
-    // Silently ignore — telemetry must never break the CLI. The events stay
-    // queued so the exit-time flushSync() fallback can still deliver them.
-  } finally {
-    clearTimeout(timeout);
-  }
-}
-
-/**
- * Fire-and-forget flush for use in the `exit` event handler.
- * Spawns a detached child process that sends the HTTP request independently,
- * so the parent process exits immediately without waiting.
- */
-export function flushSync(): void {
-  const payload = buildPayload(eventQueue);
-  if (payload == null) return;
-  eventQueue = [];
-
-  try {
-    const child = spawn(
-      process.execPath,
-      [
-        "-e",
-        `fetch(${JSON.stringify(`${POSTHOG_HOST}/batch/`)},{method:"POST",headers:{"Content-Type":"application/json"},body:${JSON.stringify(payload)},signal:AbortSignal.timeout(${FLUSH_TIMEOUT_MS})}).catch(()=>{})`,
-      ],
-      { detached: true, stdio: "ignore" },
-    );
-    // Let the parent exit without waiting for the child
-    child.unref();
-  } catch {
-    // Silently ignore
-  }
+    distinctId,
+  );
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/telemetry/transport.ts b/packages/cli/src/telemetry/transport.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9ec9ac0031
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/telemetry/transport.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
+import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
+import { readConfig } from "./config.js";
+
+// This is a public project API key — safe to embed in client-side code.
+// It only allows writing events, not reading data.
+export const POSTHOG_API_KEY = "phc_zjjbX0PnWxERXrMHhkEJWj9A9BhGVLRReICgsfTMmpx";
+const POSTHOG_HOST = "https://us.i.posthog.com";
+const FLUSH_TIMEOUT_MS = 5_000;
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Lightweight PostHog transport — talks to the HTTP batch API directly to
+// avoid pulling in the full posthog-node SDK and its dependencies. Owns the
+// in-memory event queue and the two delivery paths: the async `flush()` used
+// during a live process, and the exit-time `flushSync()` that hands the queue
+// to a detached child which outlives the parent.
+//
+// This is the reliability-critical layer — telemetry must never break the CLI,
+// and events must survive the render command's abrupt `process.exit()` teardown
+// (see `flush()` for the exit-race that made this subtle). The CLI-facing policy
+// (opt-out, system-metadata enrichment, first-run notice) lives in client.ts.
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+export interface EventProperties {
+  [key: string]: string | number | boolean | null | undefined;
+}
+
+interface QueuedEvent {
+  // Client-generated event id. PostHog dedupes on it, so an event that gets
+  // sent by an interrupted flush() AND re-sent by the exit-time flushSync()
+  // fallback still counts once.
+  uuid: string;
+  event: string;
+  properties: EventProperties;
+  timestamp: string;
+  // Override for the batch distinct_id. Defaults to the install's anonymousId.
+  // Used to attribute server-side studio renders to the browser user who
+  // triggered them, so the render funnel is joinable across processes.
+  distinctId?: string;
+}
+
+let eventQueue: QueuedEvent[] = [];
+
+/**
+ * Append an event to the in-memory queue, stamping it with a client-generated
+ * `uuid` (PostHog's dedup key) and an ISO timestamp. Non-blocking; the caller
+ * is responsible for enrichment (system metadata, cli_version, …).
+ */
+export function enqueue(event: string, properties: EventProperties, distinctId?: string): void {
+  eventQueue.push({
+    uuid: randomUUID(),
+    event,
+    distinctId,
+    properties,
+    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Serialize events into a PostHog `/batch/` payload string. Pure — the queue
+ * is untouched, so callers decide when events count as delivered.
+ *
+ * Each event carries its client-generated `uuid`, which PostHog treats as the
+ * event id — re-sending the same event is idempotent, not a duplicate.
+ *
+ * $ip:null tells PostHog not to record the request IP for any of these events.
+ * Server-side "Discard client IP data" is also enabled in project settings.
+ */
+function buildPayload(events: readonly QueuedEvent[]): string | null {
+  if (events.length === 0) return null;
+  const config = readConfig();
+  const batch = events.map((e) => ({
+    uuid: e.uuid,
+    event: e.event,
+    properties: { ...e.properties, $ip: null },
+    distinct_id: e.distinctId ?? config.anonymousId,
+    timestamp: e.timestamp,
+  }));
+  return JSON.stringify({ api_key: POSTHOG_API_KEY, batch });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Flush all queued events to PostHog via async HTTP POST.
+ * Call sites: the `beforeExit` hook in cli.ts (normal exit), eager sends right
+ * after high-value events (trackRenderComplete / trackRenderError), and the
+ * `events` beacon command, which awaits delivery before its process exits.
+ *
+ * Events are only removed from the queue once the request has completed.
+ * The old drain-first version silently lost the whole batch whenever the
+ * process died with the fetch in flight — which is the NORMAL exit path for
+ * `render`: an agent pipe closing triggers the EPIPE `process.exit(0)`, and
+ * error paths call `process.exit(1)` directly, both killing the in-flight
+ * request that `beforeExit` had just started. Keeping the queue intact until
+ * delivery lets the exit-time flushSync() child (which survives the parent)
+ * re-send anything unconfirmed; event uuids make that re-send idempotent.
+ */
+export async function flush(): Promise<void> {
+  // Copy, not alias — events queued while the request is in flight must not
+  // be swept into the "delivered" set below.
+  const snapshot = eventQueue.slice();
+  const payload = buildPayload(snapshot);
+  if (payload == null) return;
+
+  const controller = new AbortController();
+  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), FLUSH_TIMEOUT_MS);
+
+  try {
+    await fetch(`${POSTHOG_HOST}/batch/`, {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json", Connection: "close" },
+      body: payload,
+      signal: controller.signal,
+    });
+    // Delivered — forget exactly what was sent (events queued while the
+    // request was in flight stay for the next flush).
+    const sent = new Set(snapshot);
+    eventQueue = eventQueue.filter((e) => !sent.has(e));
+  } catch {
+    // Silently ignore — telemetry must never break the CLI. The events stay
+    // queued so the exit-time flushSync() fallback can still deliver them.
+  } finally {
+    clearTimeout(timeout);
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Fire-and-forget flush for use in the `exit` event handler.
+ * Spawns a detached child process that sends the HTTP request independently,
+ * so the parent process exits immediately without waiting.
+ */
+export function flushSync(): void {
+  const payload = buildPayload(eventQueue);
+  if (payload == null) return;
+  eventQueue = [];
+
+  try {
+    const child = spawn(
+      process.execPath,
+      [
+        "-e",
+        `fetch(${JSON.stringify(`${POSTHOG_HOST}/batch/`)},{method:"POST",headers:{"Content-Type":"application/json"},body:${JSON.stringify(payload)},signal:AbortSignal.timeout(${FLUSH_TIMEOUT_MS})}).catch(()=>{})`,
+      ],
+      { detached: true, stdio: "ignore" },
+    );
+    // Let the parent exit without waiting for the child
+    child.unref();
+  } catch {
+    // Silently ignore
+  }
+}