diff --git a/ROADMAP.md b/ROADMAP.md
index 4e0d088d..f80b829d 100644
--- a/ROADMAP.md
+++ b/ROADMAP.md
@@ -131,6 +131,10 @@ Ranked; detail and milestones in [`docs/roadmap.md`](docs/roadmap.md).
 
 ## Progress log
 
+- **2026-10-20** · CLI option terminator (M0.9): `--` ends option parsing, so dash-prefixed
+  filenames open normally; the global `--no-system-fonts` flag also respects the terminator.
+  Binary regression coverage opens five such native files and checks their JSON info.
+
 - **2026-10-17** · Control channel while the window is minimised (M8, #720): a minimised or covered window answers every request that acts on the app's state (edits, `ui.inspect`, `ui.pointer`, `ui.key`, `ui.type`, `ui.set`, `app.quit`…) without drawing, and what needs a drawn frame (`ui.screenshot`, `ui.input`, `window.new`) is an error at once; before, those waited up to 60 s and held up every later request on the connection (an attached agent's `inspect_ui` or window screenshot stalled until the window came back). Measured on Windows 11, minimised: requests ~100 ms each (eframe wakes a minimised window at most ten times a second; ~2 ms on screen), a window screenshot fails in ~100 ms instead of 60 s, idle CPU 0. Numbers unchanged.
 - **2026-10-17** · Number variables on text content (M3, #629): the Typography section's variable picker also lists number variables for a text layer's content, as the engine already accepted (the text shows the number, e.g. 42.5, and follows the variable). Other text fields keep their own types. Numbers unchanged.
 - **2026-10-17** · Frames and sections convert into each other (M1, #719): `object.convertToSection` turns a frame on the page or in a section into a section in place (same box, name, fill and layers, which stay where they are; what only a frame has goes: auto layout, clipping, layout grids, guides, scrolling), and `object.convertToFrame` now also turns a section into a frame that keeps its fill and doesn't clip, so the look stays. Nested frames, instances, main components and sections holding sections are refused with the reason; one undo step each. Both are in the canvas context menu (Convert to section / Convert to frame) and in Spanish. Numbers unchanged.
diff --git a/apps/figcraft-cli/src/args.rs b/apps/figcraft-cli/src/args.rs
index 4c162dbb..665f7ee0 100644
--- a/apps/figcraft-cli/src/args.rs
+++ b/apps/figcraft-cli/src/args.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ impl Args {
         let mut a = Args::default();
         let mut it = argv.iter();
         while let Some(arg) = it.next() {
+            if arg == "--" {
+                a.positional.extend(it.cloned());
+                break;
+            }
             let name = if let Some(n) = arg.strip_prefix("--") {
                 n
             } else if let Some(n) = arg.strip_prefix('-').filter(|n| n.len() == 1 && !n.starts_with(|c: char| c.is_ascii_digit())) {
diff --git a/apps/figcraft-cli/src/main.rs b/apps/figcraft-cli/src/main.rs
index badc5bc3..c5d7833c 100644
--- a/apps/figcraft-cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/apps/figcraft-cli/src/main.rs
@@ -101,15 +101,24 @@ impl From<String> for CliError {
 
 pub type CliResult<T> = Result<T, CliError>;
 
-fn run(argv: &[String]) -> CliResult<ExitCode> {
-    let system_fonts = !argv.iter().any(|a| a == "--no-system-fonts");
-    let argv: Vec<String> = argv.iter().filter(|a| *a != "--no-system-fonts").cloned().collect();
-    if system_fonts {
+fn parse_args(argv: &[String], valued: &[&str], flags: &[&str]) -> CliResult<Args> {
+    let flags = [flags, &["no-system-fonts"]].concat();
+    let args = Args::parse(argv, valued, &flags)?;
+    if !args.flag("no-system-fonts") {
         // Text lays out with the installed fonts, like the desktop app, so headless renders and
         // auto layout sizes match what users see.
         figcraft_text::scan_system_fonts_on_demand();
     }
-    let Some((cmd, rest)) = argv.split_first() else { return Err(CliError::Usage("missing subcommand".into())) };
+    Ok(args)
+}
+
+fn run(argv: &[String]) -> CliResult<ExitCode> {
+    let Some(command_index) = argv.iter().position(|a| a != "--no-system-fonts") else {
+        return Err(CliError::Usage("missing subcommand".into()));
+    };
+    let cmd = argv.get(command_index).ok_or_else(|| CliError::Usage("missing subcommand".into()))?;
+    // Keep leading global flags with the subcommand's options, where values and `--` are parsed.
+    let rest: Vec<String> = argv.iter().enumerate().filter(|(i, _)| *i != command_index).map(|(_, a)| a.clone()).collect();
     match cmd.as_str() {
         "help" | "--help" | "-h" => {
             println!("{USAGE}");
@@ -120,13 +129,13 @@ fn run(argv: &[String]) -> CliResult<ExitCode> {
             Ok(ExitCode::SUCCESS)
         }
         "info" => {
-            let a = Args::parse(rest, &ROOT_FLAGS, &["json"])?;
+            let a = parse_args(&rest, &ROOT_FLAGS, &["json"])?;
             let file = a.one_positional("info <file>")?;
             confined(&a, || files::info(&file, a.flag("json")))
         }
         "export" => {
             let valued = [&["format", "scale", "page", "node", "o", "out", "bleed"][..], &ROOT_FLAGS[..]].concat();
-            let a = Args::parse(rest, &valued, &["crop-marks", "bleed-marks", "cmyk"])?;
+            let a = parse_args(&rest, &valued, &["crop-marks", "bleed-marks", "cmyk"])?;
             let file = a.one_positional("export <file> -o <out>")?;
             let out = a.value("o").or_else(|| a.value("out")).ok_or_else(|| CliError::Usage("export needs -o <out>".into()))?;
             let target =
@@ -134,7 +143,7 @@ fn run(argv: &[String]) -> CliResult<ExitCode> {
             confined(&a, || files::export(&file, &out, &target))
         }
         "convert" => {
-            let a = Args::parse(rest, &ROOT_FLAGS, &[])?;
+            let a = parse_args(&rest, &ROOT_FLAGS, &[])?;
             match a.positional.as_slice() {
                 [i, o] => confined(&a, || files::convert(i, o)),
                 _ => Err(CliError::Usage("convert <in> <out>".into())),
@@ -142,19 +151,19 @@ fn run(argv: &[String]) -> CliResult<ExitCode> {
         }
         "render" => {
             let valued = [&["o", "out", "scale", "page"][..], &ROOT_FLAGS[..]].concat();
-            let a = Args::parse(rest, &valued, &[])?;
+            let a = parse_args(&rest, &valued, &[])?;
             let file = a.one_positional("render <file> -o <out.png>")?;
             let out = a.value("o").or_else(|| a.value("out")).ok_or_else(|| CliError::Usage("render needs -o <out.png>".into()))?;
             confined(&a, || files::render(&file, &out, a.scale()?, a.value("page").as_deref()))
         }
         "run" => {
             let valued = [&["in", "out"][..], &ROOT_FLAGS[..]].concat();
-            let a = Args::parse(rest, &valued, &[])?;
+            let a = parse_args(&rest, &valued, &[])?;
             let script = a.one_positional("run <script.json|.jsonl>")?;
             confined(&a, || files::run_script(&script, a.value("in").as_deref(), a.value("out").as_deref()))
         }
         "commands" => {
-            let a = Args::parse(rest, &["filter"], &["json"])?;
+            let a = parse_args(&rest, &["filter"], &["json"])?;
             if !a.positional.is_empty() {
                 return Err(CliError::Usage("commands takes no positional arguments".into()));
             }
@@ -163,7 +172,7 @@ fn run(argv: &[String]) -> CliResult<ExitCode> {
         }
         "mcp" => {
             let valued = [&["attach"][..], &ROOT_FLAGS[..]].concat();
-            let a = Args::parse(rest, &valued, &[])?;
+            let a = parse_args(&rest, &valued, &[])?;
             if !a.positional.is_empty() {
                 return Err(CliError::Usage("mcp takes no positional arguments".into()));
             }
@@ -178,7 +187,7 @@ fn run(argv: &[String]) -> CliResult<ExitCode> {
             mcp(attach.as_deref(), roots_of(&a)?)
         }
         "plugin" => {
-            let a = Args::parse(rest, &["server"], &[])?;
+            let a = parse_args(&rest, &["server"], &[])?;
             match a.positional.as_slice() {
                 [verb, folder] if verb == "publish" => {
                     let server = a.value("server").ok_or_else(|| CliError::Usage("plugin publish needs --server ws://host:port/".into()))?;
@@ -188,10 +197,10 @@ fn run(argv: &[String]) -> CliResult<ExitCode> {
             }
         }
         "perf" => {
-            let a = Args::parse(rest, &["layers", "instances"], &[])?;
+            let a = parse_args(&rest, &["layers", "instances"], &[])?;
             let sizes: Vec<usize> = a.usizes("layers", &[1000, 10_000])?.into_iter().map(|n| n.clamp(10, 2_000_000)).collect();
             let instances: Vec<usize> = a.usizes("instances", &[2000])?.into_iter().filter(|n| *n > 0).map(|n| n.min(100_000)).collect();
-            perf::run(&sizes, &instances, system_fonts)
+            perf::run(&sizes, &instances, !a.flag("no-system-fonts"))
         }
         other => Err(CliError::Usage(format!("unknown subcommand `{other}`"))),
     }
diff --git a/apps/figcraft-cli/tests/cli.rs b/apps/figcraft-cli/tests/cli.rs
index eb42b8d8..1928cab5 100644
--- a/apps/figcraft-cli/tests/cli.rs
+++ b/apps/figcraft-cli/tests/cli.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,38 @@ fn tmp(name: &str) -> std::path::PathBuf {
     d
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn option_terminator_allows_dash_prefixed_filenames() {
+    let dir = tmp("option-terminator");
+    let doc = figcraft_doc::Document::new("Dash-prefixed file");
+    let bytes = figcraft_format::save_bytes(&doc, None).unwrap();
+    for name in ["--drawing.figcraft", "-h", "--json", "--no-system-fonts", "--"] {
+        std::fs::write(dir.join(name), &bytes).unwrap();
+        let output = bin().current_dir(&dir).args(["info", "--json", "--no-system-fonts", "--", name]).output().unwrap();
+        assert!(output.status.success(), "{name}: {}", String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr));
+        let info: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_slice(&output.stdout).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(info["file"], name);
+        assert_eq!(info["name"], "Dash-prefixed file");
+    }
+    std::fs::remove_dir_all(dir).unwrap();
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn global_font_flag_respects_option_values() {
+    for filter in ["--", "--no-system-fonts"] {
+        let output = bin().args(["commands", "--filter", filter, "--no-system-fonts", "--json"]).output().unwrap();
+        assert!(output.status.success(), "{filter}: {}", String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr));
+        assert!(serde_json::from_slice::<serde_json::Value>(&output.stdout).unwrap().is_array());
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn global_font_flag_can_precede_the_subcommand() {
+    let output = bin().args(["--no-system-fonts", "commands", "--json"]).output().unwrap();
+    assert!(output.status.success(), "{}", String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr));
+    assert!(!serde_json::from_slice::<Vec<serde_json::Value>>(&output.stdout).unwrap().is_empty());
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn bad_arguments_exit_2_without_panicking() {
     for args in [
diff --git a/docs/cli.md b/docs/cli.md
index 699b6ba2..37e4b594 100644
--- a/docs/cli.md
+++ b/docs/cli.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ commands, serve MCP and measure performance. Build it with
 
 Bad arguments print usage and exit with code 2; failures exit with 1. The CLI never panics on input.
 
+Put options before `--` to pass a filename beginning with a dash, for example
+`figcraft-cli info --json -- --drawing.figcraft`. Every argument after `--` is literal,
+including a filename named `--no-system-fonts`.
+
 ## Fonts
 
 Text lays out and renders with the same fonts as the desktop app: the fonts built into FigCraft