diff --git a/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/spec/unit/tui/ansi_spec.cr b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/spec/unit/tui/ansi_spec.cr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e63f3108
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/spec/unit/tui/ansi_spec.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# ===================
+# ©AngelaMos | 2026
+# ansi_spec.cr
+# ===================
+
+require "../../spec_helper"
+require "../../../src/cre/tui/ansi"
+
+describe CRE::Tui::Ansi do
+  it "wraps text with color escape codes" do
+    out = CRE::Tui::Ansi.green("hello")
+    out.should contain "\e[32m"
+    out.should contain "hello"
+    out.should end_with "\e[0m"
+  end
+
+  it "move produces a CSI cursor-position sequence" do
+    CRE::Tui::Ansi.move(5, 10).should eq "\e[5;10H"
+  end
+
+  it "strip removes escape sequences" do
+    raw = "\e[1m\e[33mwarn\e[0m message"
+    CRE::Tui::Ansi.strip(raw).should eq "warn message"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/spec/unit/tui/renderer_spec.cr b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/spec/unit/tui/renderer_spec.cr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4e65a57c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/spec/unit/tui/renderer_spec.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# ===================
+# ©AngelaMos | 2026
+# renderer_spec.cr
+# ===================
+
+require "../../spec_helper"
+require "../../../src/cre/tui/renderer"
+require "../../../src/cre/events/credential_events"
+
+describe CRE::Tui::Renderer do
+  it "renders the layout with header + panels" do
+    state = CRE::Tui::State.new(kek_version: 3)
+    io = IO::Memory.new
+    CRE::Tui::Renderer.new(state, io, use_color: false).render
+
+    out = CRE::Tui::Ansi.strip(io.to_s)
+    out.should contain "Credential Rotation Enforcer"
+    out.should contain "STATUS"
+    out.should contain "Active Rotations"
+    out.should contain "Recent Events"
+    out.should contain "(no active rotations)"
+    out.should contain "(no events yet)"
+    out.should contain "v3"
+  end
+
+  it "renders active rotations" do
+    state = CRE::Tui::State.new
+    cred_id = UUID.random
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationStarted.new(cred_id, UUID.random, "aws_secretsmgr"))
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationStepCompleted.new(cred_id, UUID.random, :generate))
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationStepCompleted.new(cred_id, UUID.random, :apply))
+
+    io = IO::Memory.new
+    CRE::Tui::Renderer.new(state, io, use_color: false).render
+    out = CRE::Tui::Ansi.strip(io.to_s)
+    out.should contain "aws_secretsmgr"
+    out.should contain "step 2/4"
+  end
+
+  it "renders recent events with timestamps" do
+    state = CRE::Tui::State.new
+    cred_id = UUID.random
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationCompleted.new(cred_id, UUID.random))
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::PolicyViolation.new(cred_id, "p1", "stale"))
+
+    io = IO::Memory.new
+    CRE::Tui::Renderer.new(state, io, use_color: false).render
+    out = CRE::Tui::Ansi.strip(io.to_s)
+    out.should contain "rotation completed"
+    out.should contain "p1"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/spec/unit/tui/state_spec.cr b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/spec/unit/tui/state_spec.cr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..715a3545
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/spec/unit/tui/state_spec.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# ===================
+# ©AngelaMos | 2026
+# state_spec.cr
+# ===================
+
+require "../../spec_helper"
+require "../../../src/cre/tui/state"
+require "../../../src/cre/events/credential_events"
+
+describe CRE::Tui::State do
+  it "tracks active rotations through their step lifecycle" do
+    state = CRE::Tui::State.new
+    cred_id = UUID.random
+    rot_id = UUID.random
+
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationStarted.new(cred_id, rot_id, "env_file"))
+    state.active[cred_id]?.should_not be_nil
+    state.active[cred_id].step.should eq "starting"
+    state.active[cred_id].progress.should eq 0
+
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationStepCompleted.new(cred_id, rot_id, :generate))
+    state.active[cred_id].progress.should eq 1
+    state.active[cred_id].step.should eq "generate"
+
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationStepCompleted.new(cred_id, rot_id, :apply))
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationStepCompleted.new(cred_id, rot_id, :verify))
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationStepCompleted.new(cred_id, rot_id, :commit))
+    state.active[cred_id].progress.should eq 4
+
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationCompleted.new(cred_id, rot_id))
+    state.active.has_key?(cred_id).should be_false
+    state.completed_24h.should eq 1
+    state.recent.size.should eq 1
+    state.recent.first.symbol.should eq "✓"
+  end
+
+  it "records failed rotations" do
+    state = CRE::Tui::State.new
+    cred_id = UUID.random
+    state.apply(CRE::Events::RotationFailed.new(cred_id, UUID.random, "boom"))
+    state.recent.first.symbol.should eq "!"
+    state.recent.first.summary.should contain "FAILED"
+  end
+
+  it "trims recent events to MAX_RECENT_EVENTS" do
+    state = CRE::Tui::State.new
+    25.times do |i|
+      state.apply(CRE::Events::AlertRaised.new(CRE::Events::Severity::Info, "msg-#{i}"))
+    end
+    state.recent.size.should eq CRE::Tui::State::MAX_RECENT_EVENTS
+    state.recent.first.summary.should contain "msg-5"
+    state.recent.last.summary.should contain "msg-24"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/ansi.cr b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/ansi.cr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fa71dc58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/ansi.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# ===================
+# ©AngelaMos | 2026
+# ansi.cr
+# ===================
+
+module CRE::Tui
+  # Minimal ANSI escape helpers. We hand-roll instead of depending on a TUI
+  # framework so the rendering is small, predictable, and easy to test by
+  # capturing IO writes.
+  module Ansi
+    ESC = "\e["
+
+    CLEAR_SCREEN = "#{ESC}2J"
+    CLEAR_LINE   = "#{ESC}2K"
+    HIDE_CURSOR  = "#{ESC}?25l"
+    SHOW_CURSOR  = "#{ESC}?25h"
+    HOME         = "#{ESC}H"
+    RESET        = "#{ESC}0m"
+
+    BOLD     = "#{ESC}1m"
+    DIM      = "#{ESC}2m"
+
+    FG_RED    = "#{ESC}31m"
+    FG_GREEN  = "#{ESC}32m"
+    FG_YELLOW = "#{ESC}33m"
+    FG_BLUE   = "#{ESC}34m"
+    FG_CYAN   = "#{ESC}36m"
+    FG_WHITE  = "#{ESC}37m"
+    FG_GRAY   = "#{ESC}90m"
+
+    def self.move(row : Int, col : Int) : String
+      "#{ESC}#{row};#{col}H"
+    end
+
+    def self.colorize(text : String, color : String) : String
+      "#{color}#{text}#{RESET}"
+    end
+
+    def self.green(text : String) : String   ; colorize(text, FG_GREEN)  ; end
+    def self.red(text : String) : String     ; colorize(text, FG_RED)    ; end
+    def self.yellow(text : String) : String  ; colorize(text, FG_YELLOW) ; end
+    def self.cyan(text : String) : String    ; colorize(text, FG_CYAN)   ; end
+    def self.gray(text : String) : String    ; colorize(text, FG_GRAY)   ; end
+    def self.bold(text : String) : String    ; colorize(text, BOLD)      ; end
+    def self.dim(text : String) : String     ; colorize(text, DIM)       ; end
+
+    # Strip ANSI escape sequences (useful for testing rendered output).
+    def self.strip(text : String) : String
+      text.gsub(/\e\[[0-9;?]*[a-zA-Z]/, "")
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/renderer.cr b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/renderer.cr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cc6bc628
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/renderer.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+# ===================
+# ©AngelaMos | 2026
+# renderer.cr
+# ===================
+
+require "./ansi"
+require "./state"
+
+module CRE::Tui
+  # Renderer paints the four-panel TUI to a target IO. Decoupled from terminal
+  # ownership so it can render to STDOUT in production or to IO::Memory in
+  # tests for assertion.
+  class Renderer
+    HEADER     = "Credential Rotation Enforcer"
+    PANEL_HR   = "─"
+    PANEL_BL   = "└"
+    PANEL_BR   = "┘"
+    PANEL_TL   = "┌"
+    PANEL_TR   = "┐"
+    PANEL_VL   = "│"
+    PANEL_LMID = "├"
+    PANEL_RMID = "┤"
+    WIDTH      = 64
+
+    def initialize(@state : State, @io : IO = STDOUT, @use_color : Bool = true)
+    end
+
+    def render : Nil
+      @io << Ansi::HOME
+      render_header
+      render_status
+      render_active
+      render_recent
+      render_footer
+      @io.flush
+    end
+
+    private def render_header : Nil
+      title = "#{HEADER} - PID #{Process.pid} | Uptime #{format_span(@state.uptime)}"
+      line = pad_centered(title, WIDTH - 2)
+      @io << PANEL_TL << PANEL_HR * (WIDTH - 2) << PANEL_TR << '\n'
+      @io << PANEL_VL << colorize(line, Ansi::FG_CYAN) << PANEL_VL << '\n'
+      @io << PANEL_LMID << PANEL_HR * (WIDTH - 2) << PANEL_RMID << '\n'
+    end
+
+    private def render_status : Nil
+      header = " STATUS    CREDS    DUE-NOW    OVERDUE    ROTATED-24h    KEK"
+      values = " #{Ansi.green("● live")}   ?        ?          ?          #{@state.completed_24h.to_s.ljust(13)} v#{@state.kek_version}"
+      @io << PANEL_VL << pad(header, WIDTH - 2) << PANEL_VL << '\n'
+      @io << PANEL_VL << pad(values, WIDTH - 2) << PANEL_VL << '\n'
+      @io << PANEL_LMID << " Active Rotations " << PANEL_HR * (WIDTH - 21) << PANEL_RMID << '\n'
+    end
+
+    private def render_active : Nil
+      if @state.active.empty?
+        @io << PANEL_VL << pad("  (no active rotations)", WIDTH - 2) << PANEL_VL << '\n'
+      else
+        @state.active.values.first(State::MAX_ACTIVE_ROTATIONS).each do |row|
+          progress = "▰" * row.progress + "▱" * (4 - row.progress)
+          line = "  [▶] #{row.rotator_kind.ljust(20)} #{progress}  step #{row.progress}/4: #{row.step}"
+          @io << PANEL_VL << pad(line, WIDTH - 2) << PANEL_VL << '\n'
+        end
+      end
+      @io << PANEL_LMID << " Recent Events " << PANEL_HR * (WIDTH - 18) << PANEL_RMID << '\n'
+    end
+
+    private def render_recent : Nil
+      if @state.recent.empty?
+        @io << PANEL_VL << pad("  (no events yet)", WIDTH - 2) << PANEL_VL << '\n'
+      else
+        @state.recent.last(8).each do |row|
+          ts = row.occurred_at.to_s("%H:%M:%S")
+          line = "  #{ts}  #{row.symbol}  #{row.summary}"
+          @io << PANEL_VL << pad(line, WIDTH - 2) << PANEL_VL << '\n'
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    private def render_footer : Nil
+      @io << PANEL_BL << PANEL_HR * (WIDTH - 2) << PANEL_BR << '\n'
+      @io << Ansi.dim(" q=quit  r=refresh  ?=help") << '\n'
+    end
+
+    private def colorize(text : String, color : String) : String
+      @use_color ? Ansi.colorize(text, color) : text
+    end
+
+    private def pad(text : String, width : Int) : String
+      visible = Ansi.strip(text)
+      return text[0, width + (text.size - visible.size)] if visible.size >= width
+      text + " " * (width - visible.size)
+    end
+
+    private def pad_centered(text : String, width : Int) : String
+      visible_size = Ansi.strip(text).size
+      return text[0, width] if visible_size >= width
+      pad = (width - visible_size) // 2
+      " " * pad + text + " " * (width - pad - visible_size)
+    end
+
+    private def format_span(span : Time::Span) : String
+      total = span.total_seconds.to_i
+      hours = total // 3600
+      mins = (total % 3600) // 60
+      "#{hours}h #{mins}m"
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/state.cr b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/state.cr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ff459e3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/state.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+# ===================
+# ©AngelaMos | 2026
+# state.cr
+# ===================
+
+require "../events/credential_events"
+require "../events/system_events"
+
+module CRE::Tui
+  # State holds the rolling view of recent events for the TUI to render.
+  # Updated synchronously from the event subscriber; rendering reads it.
+  class State
+    MAX_RECENT_EVENTS    = 20
+    MAX_ACTIVE_ROTATIONS = 10
+
+    record EventRow,
+      occurred_at : Time,
+      symbol : String,
+      summary : String
+
+    record RotationRow,
+      credential_id : UUID,
+      rotator_kind : String,
+      step : String,
+      progress : Int32 # 0..4
+
+    @recent : Array(EventRow)
+    @active : Hash(UUID, RotationRow)
+    @completed_24h : Int32
+    @started_at : Time
+    @kek_version : Int32
+
+    def initialize(@kek_version : Int32 = 0)
+      @recent = [] of EventRow
+      @active = {} of UUID => RotationRow
+      @completed_24h = 0
+      @started_at = Time.utc
+    end
+
+    def apply(ev : Events::Event) : Nil
+      case ev
+      when Events::RotationStarted
+        @active[ev.credential_id] = RotationRow.new(
+          credential_id: ev.credential_id,
+          rotator_kind: ev.rotator_kind,
+          step: "starting",
+          progress: 0,
+        )
+      when Events::RotationStepStarted
+        if row = @active[ev.credential_id]?
+          @active[ev.credential_id] = RotationRow.new(
+            credential_id: row.credential_id,
+            rotator_kind: row.rotator_kind,
+            step: ev.step.to_s,
+            progress: row.progress,
+          )
+        end
+      when Events::RotationStepCompleted
+        if row = @active[ev.credential_id]?
+          @active[ev.credential_id] = RotationRow.new(
+            credential_id: row.credential_id,
+            rotator_kind: row.rotator_kind,
+            step: ev.step.to_s,
+            progress: row.progress + 1,
+          )
+        end
+      when Events::RotationCompleted
+        @active.delete(ev.credential_id)
+        @completed_24h += 1
+        push_event("✓", "rotation completed for #{short(ev.credential_id)}")
+      when Events::RotationFailed
+        @active.delete(ev.credential_id)
+        push_event("!", "rotation FAILED for #{short(ev.credential_id)}: #{ev.reason}")
+      when Events::PolicyViolation
+        push_event("⚠", "policy '#{ev.policy_name}' violated by #{short(ev.credential_id)}")
+      when Events::DriftDetected
+        push_event("⚠", "drift detected on #{short(ev.credential_id)}")
+      when Events::AlertRaised
+        sym = case ev.severity
+              in Events::Severity::Critical then "!"
+              in Events::Severity::Warn     then "⚠"
+              in Events::Severity::Info     then "ℹ"
+              end
+        push_event(sym, ev.message)
+      end
+    end
+
+    getter recent : Array(EventRow)
+    getter active : Hash(UUID, RotationRow)
+    getter completed_24h : Int32
+    getter started_at : Time
+    getter kek_version : Int32
+
+    def uptime : Time::Span
+      Time.utc - @started_at
+    end
+
+    private def push_event(symbol : String, summary : String) : Nil
+      @recent << EventRow.new(occurred_at: Time.utc, symbol: symbol, summary: summary)
+      @recent.shift if @recent.size > MAX_RECENT_EVENTS
+    end
+
+    private def short(uuid : UUID) : String
+      uuid.to_s[0, 8]
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/tui.cr b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/tui.cr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..253d218a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PROJECTS/intermediate/credential-rotation-enforcer/src/cre/tui/tui.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+# ===================
+# ©AngelaMos | 2026
+# tui.cr
+# ===================
+
+require "./ansi"
+require "./state"
+require "./renderer"
+require "../engine/event_bus"
+
+module CRE::Tui
+  # Tui glues State + Renderer to the event bus. A single fiber consumes events
+  # (Drop overflow - stale UI is acceptable) and triggers a repaint at most
+  # every refresh_interval to coalesce bursts.
+  class Tui
+    @running : Bool
+    @ch : ::Channel(Events::Event)?
+    @last_render : Time
+
+    def initialize(
+      @bus : Engine::EventBus,
+      @state : State = State.new,
+      @io : IO = STDOUT,
+      @refresh_interval : Time::Span = 200.milliseconds,
+      @use_color : Bool = true,
+    )
+      @running = false
+      @last_render = Time::UNIX_EPOCH
+    end
+
+    def start : Nil
+      @running = true
+      ch = @bus.subscribe(buffer: 64, overflow: Engine::EventBus::Overflow::Drop)
+      @ch = ch
+      enter_alt_screen if @io == STDOUT
+
+      spawn(name: "tui-events") do
+        while @running
+          begin
+            ev = ch.receive
+          rescue ::Channel::ClosedError
+            break
+          end
+          @state.apply(ev)
+          maybe_render
+        end
+      end
+
+      spawn(name: "tui-tick") do
+        while @running
+          sleep @refresh_interval
+          maybe_render
+        end
+      end
+
+      maybe_render(force: true)
+    end
+
+    def stop : Nil
+      @running = false
+      @ch.try(&.close)
+      leave_alt_screen if @io == STDOUT
+    end
+
+    def state : State
+      @state
+    end
+
+    def force_render : Nil
+      Renderer.new(@state, @io, @use_color).render
+      @last_render = Time.utc
+    end
+
+    private def maybe_render(force : Bool = false) : Nil
+      now = Time.utc
+      return if !force && (now - @last_render) < @refresh_interval
+      Renderer.new(@state, @io, @use_color).render
+      @last_render = now
+    end
+
+    private def enter_alt_screen : Nil
+      @io << "\e[?1049h"
+      @io << Ansi::HIDE_CURSOR
+      @io << Ansi::CLEAR_SCREEN
+      @io.flush
+    end
+
+    private def leave_alt_screen : Nil
+      @io << Ansi::SHOW_CURSOR
+      @io << "\e[?1049l"
+      @io.flush
+    end
+  end
+end