diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 89ab3018..e726cc12 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 doc/feature
+node_modules/
diff --git a/index.ts b/index.ts
index 358a3773..cc4cdbd8 100644
--- a/index.ts
+++ b/index.ts
@@ -1214,6 +1214,7 @@ export class ModalEditor extends CustomEditor {
     if ("insert" === this.mode) {
       this.clearUnderlyingPasteStateIfActive();
       this.setMode("normal");
+      if (this.getCursor().col > 0) this.moveCursorBy(-1);
     } else {
       super.handleInput("\x1b"); // pass escape to abort agent
     }
@@ -2017,7 +2018,7 @@ export class ModalEditor extends CustomEditor {
         this.setMode();
         break;
       case "x":
-        this.cutCharUnderCursor();
+        this.cutCharUnderCursor(true);
         break;
       case "j":
         this.moveCursorVertically(1);
@@ -2615,7 +2616,7 @@ export class ModalEditor extends CustomEditor {
     return col >= line.length;
   }
 
-  private cutCharUnderCursor(): void {
+  private cutCharUnderCursor(normal: boolean = false): void {
     const count = Math.max(1, Math.min(MAX_COUNT, this.takeTotalCount(1)));
     const cursor = this.getCursor();
     const line = this.getLines()[cursor.line] ?? "";
@@ -2630,6 +2631,10 @@ export class ModalEditor extends CustomEditor {
         text.slice(lineStartAbs + range.end),
       lineStartAbs + range.start,
     );
+    if (normal) {
+      const { line, col } = this.getCurrentLineAndCol();
+      if (line && col >= line.length) this.moveCursorBy(-1);
+    }
   }
 
   private cutToEndOfLine(): void {
diff --git a/script/pack-check.ts b/script/pack-check.ts
index b36d8bac..bf442d27 100644
--- a/script/pack-check.ts
+++ b/script/pack-check.ts
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ const THRESHOLDS = {
   maxFiles: 12,
   // WORD/delimited text objects plus mode-color settings add package surface.
   // Keep budgets tight enough to catch accidental docs/tests in the package.
-  maxSize: 31400,
+  maxSize: 31450,
   maxUnpackedSize: 139500,
 } as const;
 
diff --git a/test/modal-editor.test.ts b/test/modal-editor.test.ts
index a7188c49..ebd886f6 100644
--- a/test/modal-editor.test.ts
+++ b/test/modal-editor.test.ts
@@ -801,6 +801,36 @@ describe("mode transitions", () => {
     assert.equal(editor.getMode(), "normal");
   });
 
+  it("escape from insert mode places normal cursor on previous character", () => {
+    const editor = new ModalEditor(stubTui, stubTheme, stubKeybindings);
+
+    sendKeys(editor, ["h", "e", "l", "l", "o"]);
+    assert.deepEqual(editor.getCursor(), { line: 0, col: 5 });
+
+    sendKeys(editor, ["\x1b"]);
+
+    assert.equal(editor.getMode(), "normal");
+    assert.deepEqual(editor.getCursor(), { line: 0, col: 4 });
+  });
+
+  it("escape from insert mode does not move before line start", () => {
+    const { editor } = createEditorWithSpy("hello");
+
+    sendKeys(editor, ["i", "\x1b"]);
+
+    assert.equal(editor.getMode(), "normal");
+    assert.deepEqual(editor.getCursor(), { line: 0, col: 0 });
+  });
+
+  it("escape from insert mode moves by one grapheme", () => {
+    const editor = new ModalEditor(stubTui, stubTheme, stubKeybindings);
+
+    sendKeys(editor, ["a", "😀", "\x1b"]);
+
+    assert.equal(editor.getMode(), "normal");
+    assert.deepEqual(editor.getCursor(), { line: 0, col: 1 });
+  });
+
   it("kitty ctrl+[ enters normal mode like escape", () => {
     const { editor } = createEditorWithSpy("hello");
     sendKeys(editor, ["i"]);
@@ -3802,6 +3832,25 @@ describe("single-key edits — x / s / S / D / C", () => {
     assert.deepEqual(clipboardWrites, ["h"]);
   });
 
+  it("x keeps the cursor on the next character after deleting in the middle", () => {
+    const { editor } = createEditorWithSpy("abcd");
+
+    sendKeys(editor, ["l", "l", "x"]);
+
+    assert.equal(editor.getText(), "abd");
+    assert.deepEqual(editor.getCursor(), { line: 0, col: 2 });
+  });
+
+  it("x moves back by one grapheme after deleting the last character", () => {
+    const { editor } = createEditorWithSpy("a😀b");
+
+    setInternalCursor(editor, 3);
+    sendKeys(editor, ["x"]);
+
+    assert.equal(editor.getText(), "a😀");
+    assert.deepEqual(editor.getCursor(), { line: 0, col: 1 });
+  });
+
   it("s: deletes char under cursor, enters insert mode", () => {
     const { editor } = createEditorWithSpy("hello");
     sendKeys(editor, ["s"]);
@@ -3856,6 +3905,7 @@ describe("Universal Counts: Edits and Put", () => {
 
     assert.equal(editor.getText(), "abcd");
     assert.equal(editor.getRegister(), "ef");
+    assert.deepEqual(editor.getCursor(), { line: 0, col: 3 });
   });
 
   it("3p pastes register text three times after cursor", () => {
@@ -4186,6 +4236,7 @@ describe("EOL and newline semantics", () => {
     sendKeys(editor, ["e", "x"]);
     assert.equal(editor.getRegister(), "1");
     assert.equal(editor.getText(), "line\nline2"); // only '1' gone, newline intact
+    assert.deepEqual(editor.getCursor(), { line: 0, col: 3 });
   });
 });
 
@@ -5321,7 +5372,7 @@ describe("undo / redo — u / ctrl+r", () => {
       initial: "hello world",
       keys: ["c", "w", "Z", "\x1b"],
       expectedText: "Zworld",
-      expectedCursor: { line: 0, col: 1 },
+      expectedCursor: { line: 0, col: 0 },
       expectedRegister: "hello ",
     });
   });