diff --git a/neode-ui/src/locales/__tests__/i18nMessagesCompile.test.ts b/neode-ui/src/locales/__tests__/i18nMessagesCompile.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2cd34f7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/neode-ui/src/locales/__tests__/i18nMessagesCompile.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// Every message string must survive vue-i18n's message compiler. Found the
+// hard way (2026-09-08): a bare `@` in a message is parsed as the start of
+// "linked message" syntax (`@:key`), so a literal `@` (an email/handle-style
+// placeholder, e.g. "user@example.com") throws a SyntaxError the first time
+// it's *rendered*, not at build time — see [[vue-i18n-bare-at-sign-crash]]
+// in project memory for the full incident (it blanked a whole modal in both
+// the browser and the Android companion's WebView). A literal `@`, `{`, `}`
+// or other message-syntax character must be escaped as e.g. `{'@'}`.
+//
+// This walks every string in every locale file and asks the real compiler
+// to parse it — no rendering, no component needed, so it's fast and catches
+// the whole class of bug regardless of which component ever ends up using
+// the string.
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest'
+import i18n from '@/i18n'
+import en from '../en.json'
+import es from '../es.json'
+
+function collectStrings(obj: unknown, path: string, out: Array<[string, string]>) {
+  if (typeof obj === 'string') {
+    out.push([path, obj])
+  } else if (obj && typeof obj === 'object') {
+    for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(obj as Record<string, unknown>)) {
+      collectStrings(v, path ? `${path}.${k}` : k, out)
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+describe('locale messages compile', () => {
+  it.each([
+    ['en', en],
+    ['es', es],
+  ])('every %s message string compiles under the real vue-i18n compiler', (_locale, messages) => {
+    const strings: Array<[string, string]> = []
+    collectStrings(messages, '', strings)
+    expect(strings.length).toBeGreaterThan(100)
+
+    const failures: string[] = []
+    for (const [path, msg] of strings) {
+      try {
+        i18n.global.t(path)
+      } catch (e) {
+        failures.push(`${path}: ${(e as Error).message.split('\n')[0]} (source: ${JSON.stringify(msg)})`)
+      }
+    }
+    expect(failures).toEqual([])
+  })
+})
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/locales/en.json b/neode-ui/src/locales/en.json
index 751bc17b..b7e17f8a 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/locales/en.json
+++ b/neode-ui/src/locales/en.json
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@
     "passwordNeedUppercase": "Password must contain at least one uppercase letter",
     "passwordNeedLowercase": "Password must contain at least one lowercase letter",
     "passwordNeedDigit": "Password must contain at least one digit",
-    "passwordNeedSpecial": "Password must contain at least one special character (!@#$%^&* etc.)",
+    "passwordNeedSpecial": "Password must contain at least one special character (!{'@'}#$%^&* etc.)",
     "setupFailed": "Setup failed",
     "verificationFailed": "Verification failed",
     "disableFailed": "Failed to disable 2FA",
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/locales/es.json b/neode-ui/src/locales/es.json
index d1ceb5cd..5f9fa831 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/locales/es.json
+++ b/neode-ui/src/locales/es.json
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@
     "passwordNeedUppercase": "La contrase\u00f1a debe contener al menos una letra may\u00fascula",
     "passwordNeedLowercase": "La contrase\u00f1a debe contener al menos una letra min\u00fascula",
     "passwordNeedDigit": "La contrase\u00f1a debe contener al menos un d\u00edgito",
-    "passwordNeedSpecial": "La contrase\u00f1a debe contener al menos un car\u00e1cter especial (!@#$%^&* etc.)",
+    "passwordNeedSpecial": "La contrase\u00f1a debe contener al menos un car\u00e1cter especial (!{'@'}#$%^&* etc.)",
     "setupFailed": "La configuraci\u00f3n fall\u00f3",
     "verificationFailed": "La verificaci\u00f3n fall\u00f3",
     "disableFailed": "Error al deshabilitar 2FA",