diff --git a/apps/cli/test/e2e/interactive-menu.test.ts b/apps/cli/test/e2e/interactive-menu.test.ts
index fd10ee04..561ad599 100644
--- a/apps/cli/test/e2e/interactive-menu.test.ts
+++ b/apps/cli/test/e2e/interactive-menu.test.ts
@@ -452,6 +452,146 @@ const skipSuite = !hasTmux() || !hasPrlt();
     });
   });
 
+  // ===========================================================================
+  // PRLT-1233 ticket-required interactive flows
+  // ===========================================================================
+  describe('Work start interactive flow (prlt work start)', () => {
+    it('should show a ticket dropdown or external-source picker when run without args', () => {
+      session.sendCommand('prlt work start');
+      // Two possible entry points depending on provider config:
+      //   1. "Select ticket to work on:" — when a provider returns ready tickets
+      //   2. "Select external issue source:" — when no provider is configured
+      session.waitForOutput(
+        /Select ticket to work on|Select external issue source|No tickets available|❯/,
+        MENU_TIMEOUT
+      );
+
+      const screen = session.getScreen();
+      expect(screen.raw).to.match(
+        /Select ticket to work on|Select external issue source|No tickets available/i
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('Ticket move interactive flow (prlt ticket move)', () => {
+    it('should show the ticket picker when run without args', () => {
+      session.sendCommand('prlt ticket move');
+      session.waitForOutput(
+        /Select ticket to move|No tickets|TKT-|PRLT-/,
+        MENU_TIMEOUT
+      );
+
+      const screen = session.getScreen();
+      // Either the ticket picker rendered, or we hit a no-data path that
+      // still proves the command did not silently exit.
+      expect(screen.raw).to.match(/Select ticket to move|No tickets|TKT-|PRLT-/i);
+    });
+
+    it('should advance to the column picker after selecting a ticket', function (this: Mocha.Context) {
+      session.sendCommand('prlt ticket move');
+      // If there are no tickets, the picker won't render — skip that case.
+      try {
+        session.waitForOutput('Select ticket to move', MENU_TIMEOUT);
+      } catch {
+        this.skip();
+        return;
+      }
+
+      // Pick the first ticket
+      session.send('Space'); // checkbox prompt requires Space to mark
+      session.waitForStable(300);
+      session.send('Enter');
+
+      // After selecting we expect either a column picker or a destination prompt
+      session.waitForOutput(/Move to|column|Move selected tickets/i, MENU_TIMEOUT);
+      const screen = session.getScreen();
+      expect(screen.raw).to.match(/Move to|column|Move selected tickets/i);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('Session attach interactive flow (prlt session attach)', () => {
+    it('should show a session list or a clear empty-state message', () => {
+      session.sendCommand('prlt session attach');
+      // Either we get a session selector, or a graceful empty-state message —
+      // both prove the command rendered output without hanging.
+      session.waitForOutput(
+        /Select a session to attach to|No sessions|No active sessions|sessions found/i,
+        MENU_TIMEOUT
+      );
+
+      const screen = session.getScreen();
+      expect(screen.raw).to.match(/session/i);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('Orchestrator menu (prlt orchestrator)', () => {
+    it('should show orchestrator action choices', () => {
+      session.sendCommand('prlt orchestrator');
+      session.waitForOutput(/Orchestrator.*What would you like to do|Start orchestrator|Attach to/, MENU_TIMEOUT);
+
+      const screen = session.getScreen();
+      // The menu lists at least one of the documented actions
+      expect(screen.raw).to.match(/Start orchestrator|Attach|Check orchestrator status|List registered threads/i);
+    });
+
+    it('should render the inquirer ❯ selection indicator', () => {
+      session.sendCommand('prlt orchestrator');
+      session.waitForOutput(/Orchestrator.*What would you like to do|Start orchestrator|Attach to/, MENU_TIMEOUT);
+
+      const screen = session.getScreen();
+      expect(screen.raw).to.include('❯');
+    });
+  });
+
+  // ===========================================================================
+  // PRLT-1233: --json flag must bypass all interactive prompts
+  // ===========================================================================
+  describe('Non-interactive bypass (--json)', () => {
+    /**
+     * In --json mode, prlt should never render an inquirer menu — it should
+     * either complete the command, emit a JSON prompt config (the JSON-mode
+     * fallback for required input), or exit cleanly with a JSON error.
+     * In none of those cases should the ❯ selection indicator appear.
+     */
+    function assertNoInteractiveMenu(screen: { raw: string; lines: string[] }): void {
+      // No inquirer-style selection arrows
+      const inquirerLines = screen.lines.filter((line) => line.includes('❯'));
+      expect(
+        inquirerLines,
+        `Expected no inquirer ❯ selection in --json output. Screen:\n${screen.raw}`
+      ).to.have.length(0);
+
+      // No "Use arrow keys" hint, which only appears in interactive list prompts
+      expect(screen.raw, `--json should not render arrow-key hint. Screen:\n${screen.raw}`)
+        .to.not.match(/Use arrow keys to navigate/i);
+    }
+
+    it('prlt work start --json — does not render an interactive menu', () => {
+      session.sendCommand('prlt work start --json');
+      // Wait for any output to settle
+      session.waitForStable(1500, MENU_TIMEOUT);
+      assertNoInteractiveMenu(session.getScreen());
+    });
+
+    it('prlt ticket move --json — does not render an interactive menu', () => {
+      session.sendCommand('prlt ticket move --json');
+      session.waitForStable(1500, MENU_TIMEOUT);
+      assertNoInteractiveMenu(session.getScreen());
+    });
+
+    it('prlt session attach --json — does not render an interactive menu', () => {
+      session.sendCommand('prlt session attach --json');
+      session.waitForStable(1500, MENU_TIMEOUT);
+      assertNoInteractiveMenu(session.getScreen());
+    });
+
+    it('prlt orchestrator --json — does not render an interactive menu', () => {
+      session.sendCommand('prlt orchestrator --json');
+      session.waitForStable(1500, MENU_TIMEOUT);
+      assertNoInteractiveMenu(session.getScreen());
+    });
+  });
+
   // ===========================================================================
   // Output formatting & rendering
   // ===========================================================================
diff --git a/apps/cli/test/e2e/interactive-test-session.ts b/apps/cli/test/e2e/interactive-test-session.ts
index 61c293c0..354dc7e7 100644
--- a/apps/cli/test/e2e/interactive-test-session.ts
+++ b/apps/cli/test/e2e/interactive-test-session.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,34 @@
 import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
 import * as crypto from 'node:crypto';
 
+/**
+ * Pattern matcher used by waitForOutput.
+ * Exported for unit testing.
+ */
+export function matchesPattern(text: string, pattern: string | RegExp): boolean {
+  if (pattern instanceof RegExp) {
+    return pattern.test(text);
+  }
+  return text.includes(pattern);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns true when the given string is a tmux special-key name
+ * (e.g. "Up", "Enter", "C-c") rather than literal text input.
+ * Exported for unit testing.
+ */
+export function isTmuxSpecialKey(keys: string): boolean {
+  return /^(Up|Down|Left|Right|Enter|Escape|Tab|Space|BSpace|C-[a-z]|M-[a-z])$/.test(keys);
+}
+
+/**
+ * POSIX single-quote shell escape suitable for `sh -c`.
+ * Exported for unit testing.
+ */
+export function shellEscape(str: string): string {
+  return `'${str.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}'`;
+}
+
 /**
  * Configuration for an interactive test session.
  */
@@ -375,9 +403,7 @@ export class InteractiveTestSession {
   private tmuxSendKeys(keys: string): void {
     // For special keys and Ctrl combos, don't quote them
     // For text input, quote it to preserve spaces
-    const isSpecialKey = /^(Up|Down|Left|Right|Enter|Escape|Tab|Space|BSpace|C-[a-z]|M-[a-z])$/.test(keys);
-
-    if (isSpecialKey) {
+    if (isTmuxSpecialKey(keys)) {
       this.tmuxExec(`send-keys -t ${this.sessionName} ${keys}`);
     } else {
       // Send as literal text to avoid key interpretation issues
@@ -390,15 +416,11 @@ export class InteractiveTestSession {
   }
 
   private matchesPattern(text: string, pattern: string | RegExp): boolean {
-    if (pattern instanceof RegExp) {
-      return pattern.test(text);
-    }
-    return text.includes(pattern);
+    return matchesPattern(text, pattern);
   }
 
   private shellEscape(str: string): string {
-    // Use single quotes for shell escaping, handling embedded single quotes
-    return `'${str.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}'`;
+    return shellEscape(str);
   }
 
   private sleep(ms: number): void {
diff --git a/apps/cli/test/unit/interactive-test-session.test.ts b/apps/cli/test/unit/interactive-test-session.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e129420a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/cli/test/unit/interactive-test-session.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/**
+ * Unit tests for the InteractiveTestSession helpers (PRLT-1233).
+ *
+ * The InteractiveTestSession class itself spins up a real tmux session, so
+ * direct unit-testing it is impractical. Instead we cover the pure helpers
+ * that drive its behavior: pattern matching for waitForOutput, special-key
+ * detection for tmux send-keys, and POSIX shell escaping.
+ */
+
+import { expect } from 'chai';
+import {
+  isTmuxSpecialKey,
+  matchesPattern,
+  shellEscape,
+} from '../e2e/interactive-test-session.js';
+
+describe('InteractiveTestSession helpers', () => {
+  describe('matchesPattern', () => {
+    it('matches a substring with a string pattern', () => {
+      expect(matchesPattern('Ticket Operations menu', 'Operations')).to.equal(true);
+    });
+
+    it('returns false when the substring is missing', () => {
+      expect(matchesPattern('Ticket Operations menu', 'Project')).to.equal(false);
+    });
+
+    it('matches against a RegExp pattern', () => {
+      expect(matchesPattern('TKT-1234 some title', /TKT-\d+/)).to.equal(true);
+    });
+
+    it('returns false when RegExp does not match', () => {
+      expect(matchesPattern('no ticket here', /TKT-\d+/)).to.equal(false);
+    });
+
+    it('treats string patterns as literal — no regex meta-character interpretation', () => {
+      // Without regex semantics, '.+' is matched literally
+      expect(matchesPattern('hello world', '.+')).to.equal(false);
+      expect(matchesPattern('hello.+world', '.+')).to.equal(true);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('isTmuxSpecialKey', () => {
+    const specialKeys = [
+      'Up',
+      'Down',
+      'Left',
+      'Right',
+      'Enter',
+      'Escape',
+      'Tab',
+      'Space',
+      'BSpace',
+      'C-c',
+      'C-d',
+      'M-x',
+    ];
+
+    for (const key of specialKeys) {
+      it(`recognises "${key}" as a special key`, () => {
+        expect(isTmuxSpecialKey(key)).to.equal(true);
+      });
+    }
+
+    it('treats arbitrary text as non-special', () => {
+      expect(isTmuxSpecialKey('prlt ticket')).to.equal(false);
+      expect(isTmuxSpecialKey('hello world')).to.equal(false);
+      expect(isTmuxSpecialKey('')).to.equal(false);
+    });
+
+    it('does not match uppercase ctrl combos (tmux requires lowercase)', () => {
+      expect(isTmuxSpecialKey('C-C')).to.equal(false);
+    });
+
+    it('does not match multi-key sequences', () => {
+      expect(isTmuxSpecialKey('Up Down')).to.equal(false);
+      expect(isTmuxSpecialKey('Enter Enter')).to.equal(false);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('shellEscape', () => {
+    it('wraps a plain value in single quotes', () => {
+      expect(shellEscape('hello')).to.equal("'hello'");
+    });
+
+    it('preserves spaces inside the quoted value', () => {
+      expect(shellEscape('hello world')).to.equal("'hello world'");
+    });
+
+    it('escapes embedded single quotes using the POSIX dance', () => {
+      // ' becomes '\''  → close, escaped quote, reopen
+      expect(shellEscape("it's")).to.equal("'it'\\''s'");
+    });
+
+    it('handles empty strings', () => {
+      expect(shellEscape('')).to.equal("''");
+    });
+
+    it('passes shell metacharacters through literally inside the quotes', () => {
+      expect(shellEscape('$(rm -rf /)')).to.equal("'$(rm -rf /)'");
+      expect(shellEscape('a;b|c&d')).to.equal("'a;b|c&d'");
+    });
+  });
+});