diff --git a/docs/installation.md b/docs/installation.md
index 17c9be092..1bc9fa286 100644
--- a/docs/installation.md
+++ b/docs/installation.md
@@ -573,8 +573,10 @@ rea uninstall --purge-data
 
 Uninstall preserves Hopper, Node.js, Evidence files, captures, unrelated skills
 and other MCP servers. Purging removes only REA's cache and state under
-`~/.rea`; malformed client configuration or purge-path symlinks stop the
-operation. See the [CLI guide](cli.md#output-and-exit-status) for exit statuses.
+`~/.rea`. A client configuration that is malformed, unreadable, or at an unsafe
+path stops the operation before anything is removed; a purge path that is a
+symbolic link is retained and reported rather than followed. See the
+[CLI guide](cli.md#output-and-exit-status) for exit statuses.
 
 ## MCP Registry
 
diff --git a/src/application/Uninstall.ts b/src/application/Uninstall.ts
index d0203ae2f..0f926d440 100644
--- a/src/application/Uninstall.ts
+++ b/src/application/Uninstall.ts
@@ -81,21 +81,39 @@ export const isUninstallFailure = (result: UninstallResult): boolean => {
 /** Filesystem boundary used by the contained uninstall workflow. */
 export interface UninstallHost {
   clients(): Promise<readonly SetupClient[]>;
+  /** Report a configuration that cannot be read safely, before any removal. */
+  inspectClient(client: SetupClient): Promise<UninstallItem | undefined>;
   removeClient(client: SetupClient): Promise<UninstallItem>;
   removeSkill(): Promise<UninstallItem>;
   purgeData(): Promise<readonly UninstallItem[]>;
 }
 
-/** Remove only REA-owned registrations and managed files, optionally including local state. */
+/**
+ * Remove only REA-owned registrations and managed files, optionally including
+ * local state. A client configuration that cannot be read safely stops the
+ * operation before anything is removed.
+ */
 export const runUninstall = async (
   purgeData: boolean,
   host: UninstallHost = systemUninstallHost(),
 ): Promise<UninstallResult> => {
-  const items: UninstallItem[] = [];
-  for (const client of await host.clients())
-    items.push(await host.removeClient(client));
-  items.push(await host.removeSkill());
-  if (purgeData) items.push(...(await host.purgeData()));
+  const clients = await host.clients();
+  const blocked: UninstallItem[] = [];
+  for (const client of clients) {
+    const blocking = await host.inspectClient(client);
+    if (blocking !== undefined) blocked.push(blocking);
+  }
+  const items: UninstallItem[] =
+    blocked.length > 0
+      ? [
+          ...blocked,
+          item(
+            "uninstall",
+            "skipped",
+            "No REA registration, skill, or data was removed. Repair each failed configuration, then rerun uninstall.",
+          ),
+        ]
+      : await removeAll(clients, purgeData, host);
   items.push({
     name: "analysis_engine",
     status: "retained",
@@ -109,12 +127,30 @@ export const runUninstall = async (
   };
 };
 
+const removeAll = async (
+  clients: readonly SetupClient[],
+  purgeData: boolean,
+  host: UninstallHost,
+): Promise<UninstallItem[]> => {
+  const items: UninstallItem[] = [];
+  for (const client of clients) items.push(await host.removeClient(client));
+  items.push(await host.removeSkill());
+  if (purgeData) items.push(...(await host.purgeData()));
+  return items;
+};
+
 /** Create uninstall effects contained to detected client configs and REA-owned paths. */
 export const systemUninstallHost = (
   home = homedir(),
   fileSystem: UninstallFileSystem = systemFileSystem,
 ): UninstallHost => ({
   clients: () => Promise.resolve(supportedClients(home)),
+  inspectClient: async (client) => {
+    const read = await readClientConfiguration(client, fileSystem);
+    return read.kind === "item" && read.item.status === "failed"
+      ? read.item
+      : undefined;
+  },
   removeClient: (client) => removeClient(client, fileSystem),
   removeSkill: () => removeManagedSkills(home, fileSystem),
   purgeData: async () => [
@@ -123,43 +159,72 @@ export const systemUninstallHost = (
   ],
 });
 
-const removeClient = async (
+type ClientConfigurationRead =
+  | { readonly kind: "item"; readonly item: UninstallItem }
+  | {
+      readonly kind: "configuration";
+      readonly transactionPath: string;
+      readonly original: string;
+      readonly parsed: ClientConfigurationDocument;
+    };
+
+const readClientConfiguration = async (
   client: SetupClient,
   fileSystem: UninstallFileSystem,
-): Promise<UninstallItem> => {
+): Promise<ClientConfigurationRead> => {
   if (client.format === "unsupported")
-    return item(
-      client.name,
-      "skipped",
-      manualRegistrationRemediation(client.name) ??
-        "This client has no documented local MCP configuration boundary.",
+    return itemRead(
+      item(
+        client.name,
+        "skipped",
+        manualRegistrationRemediation(client.name) ??
+          "This client has no documented local MCP configuration boundary.",
+      ),
     );
   const resolved = await resolveUninstallConfigPath(client, fileSystem);
-  if (typeof resolved !== "string") return resolved;
+  if (typeof resolved !== "string") return itemRead(resolved);
   const transactionPath = resolved;
   let original: string;
   try {
     original = await fileSystem.readText(transactionPath);
   } catch (cause: unknown) {
-    return isMissing(cause)
-      ? item(client.name, "skipped", "Configuration does not exist.")
-      : item(
-          client.name,
-          "failed",
-          "Configuration could not be read. Check file permissions, then rerun uninstall.",
-        );
-  }
-  let parsed: ClientConfigurationDocument;
-  try {
-    parsed = parseClientConfiguration(original, client.format);
-  } catch (cause: unknown) {
-    void cause;
-    return item(
-      client.name,
-      "failed",
-      `Configuration is not valid ${client.format === "toml" || client.format === "grok" ? "TOML" : client.format === "opencode" ? "JSONC" : "JSON"} and was not changed. Repair it, then rerun uninstall.`,
+    return itemRead(
+      isMissing(cause)
+        ? item(client.name, "skipped", "Configuration does not exist.")
+        : item(
+            client.name,
+            "failed",
+            "Configuration could not be read. Check file permissions, then rerun uninstall.",
+          ),
     );
   }
+  try {
+    const parsed = parseClientConfiguration(original, client.format);
+    return { kind: "configuration", transactionPath, original, parsed };
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
+    return itemRead(
+      item(
+        client.name,
+        "failed",
+        `Configuration is not valid ${client.format === "toml" || client.format === "grok" ? "TOML" : client.format === "opencode" ? "JSONC" : "JSON"} and was not changed. Repair it, then rerun uninstall.`,
+      ),
+    );
+  }
+};
+
+const itemRead = (result: UninstallItem): ClientConfigurationRead => ({
+  kind: "item",
+  item: result,
+});
+
+const removeClient = async (
+  client: SetupClient,
+  fileSystem: UninstallFileSystem,
+): Promise<UninstallItem> => {
+  const read = await readClientConfiguration(client, fileSystem);
+  if (read.kind === "item") return read.item;
+  const { transactionPath, original, parsed } = read;
   const name = PRODUCT_IDENTITY.mcpServerKey;
   // Beside a native OpenCode V2 table, OpenCode also loads a V1 `mcp.rea`.
   const legacyPath = legacyClientServerPath(parsed, name);
diff --git a/src/cliLogging.test.ts b/src/cliLogging.test.ts
index e275519e6..dc0544109 100644
--- a/src/cliLogging.test.ts
+++ b/src/cliLogging.test.ts
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ describe("CLI command outcome classification", () => {
   it("returns nonzero when the real uninstall outcome contains a failed action", async () => {
     const host: UninstallHost = {
       clients: () => Promise.resolve([]),
+      inspectClient: () => Promise.resolve(undefined),
       removeClient: () =>
         Promise.resolve({ name: "client", status: "failed", detail: "write" }),
       removeSkill: () =>
diff --git a/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts b/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts
index 8ea5a9945..2c66bd42d 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts
@@ -1418,6 +1418,53 @@ describe("client configuration filesystem removal", () => {
     );
     expect(await readFile(config, "utf8")).toBe("not-json");
   });
+
+  it("stops before any removal when one client configuration is malformed", async () => {
+    const home = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-uninstall-stop-");
+    roots.push(home);
+    const codex = join(home, ".codex/config.toml");
+    const cursor = join(home, ".cursor/mcp.json");
+    const managed = [
+      join(home, ".agents/skills/reverse-engineer-anything/marker.txt"),
+      join(home, ".rea/cache/marker.txt"),
+      join(home, ".rea/state/marker.txt"),
+    ];
+    const cursorConfig = JSON.stringify({
+      mcpServers: {
+        rea: { command: "npx", args: ["-y", "rea-agents@6.1.0", "mcp"] },
+        other: { command: "echo", args: ["hello"] },
+      },
+    });
+    for (const path of [codex, cursor, ...managed])
+      await mkdir(dirname(path), { recursive: true });
+    await writeFile(codex, "[mcp_servers.rea]\ncommand = [broken\n");
+    await writeFile(cursor, cursorConfig);
+    for (const path of managed) await writeFile(path, "marker");
+
+    const stopped = await runUninstall(true, systemUninstallHost(home));
+
+    expect(stopped.status).toBe("failed");
+    expect(stopped.items.map(({ name, status }) => [name, status])).toEqual([
+      ["codex", "failed"],
+      ["uninstall", "skipped"],
+      ["analysis_engine", "retained"],
+    ]);
+    expect(await readFile(codex, "utf8")).toBe(
+      "[mcp_servers.rea]\ncommand = [broken\n",
+    );
+    expect(await readFile(cursor, "utf8")).toBe(cursorConfig);
+    for (const path of managed)
+      expect(await readFile(path, "utf8")).toBe("marker");
+
+    await writeFile(codex, "");
+    const repaired = await runUninstall(true, systemUninstallHost(home));
+    expect(repaired.status).toBe("complete");
+    expect(JSON.parse(await readFile(cursor, "utf8"))).toEqual({
+      mcpServers: { other: { command: "echo", args: ["hello"] } },
+    });
+    for (const path of managed)
+      await expect(readFile(path, "utf8")).rejects.toThrow();
+  });
 });
 
 describe("client configuration filesystem failure reporting", () => {