diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/dashboard.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/dashboard.ts
index 439f991a6..b0eb2d669 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/dashboard.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/dashboard.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ export function registerDashboard(program: Command): void {
 
       console.log(chalk.bold(`Starting dashboard on http://localhost:${port}\n`));
 
-      const env = buildDashboardEnv(
+      const env = await buildDashboardEnv(
         port,
         config.configPath,
         config.terminalPort,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts
index 8081f6d57..3e7edc1c9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts
@@ -65,14 +65,14 @@ function resolveProject(
  * Start dashboard server in the background.
  * Returns the child process handle for cleanup.
  */
-function startDashboard(
+async function startDashboard(
   port: number,
   webDir: string,
   configPath: string | null,
   terminalPort?: number,
   directTerminalPort?: number,
-): ChildProcess {
-  const env = buildDashboardEnv(port, configPath, terminalPort, directTerminalPort);
+): Promise<ChildProcess> {
+  const env = await buildDashboardEnv(port, configPath, terminalPort, directTerminalPort);
 
   const child = spawn("pnpm", ["run", "dev"], {
     cwd: webDir,
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ export function registerStart(program: Command): void {
             }
 
             spinner.start("Starting dashboard");
-            dashboardProcess = startDashboard(
+            dashboardProcess = await startDashboard(
               port,
               webDir,
               config.configPath,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/web-dir.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/web-dir.ts
index 0084ba22c..7ee48c311 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/web-dir.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/web-dir.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
  * Shared utility to avoid duplication between dashboard.ts and start.ts.
  */
 
+import { createServer } from "node:net";
 import { createRequire } from "node:module";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 import { resolve, dirname } from "node:path";
@@ -12,20 +13,59 @@ const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
 const __dirname = dirname(__filename);
 const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
 
+/** Default terminal server base port (14800 range: zero IANA registrations, no dev tool conflicts) */
+const DEFAULT_TERMINAL_PORT = 14800;
+
+/**
+ * Check if a TCP port is available by attempting to bind to it.
+ * Returns true if the port is free, false if in use.
+ */
+function isPortAvailable(port: number): Promise<boolean> {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const server = createServer();
+    server.once("error", () => {
+      resolve(false);
+    });
+    server.once("listening", () => {
+      server.close(() => resolve(true));
+    });
+    server.listen(port, "127.0.0.1");
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Find a pair of consecutive available ports starting from `base`.
+ * Scans upward in steps of 2 (keeping ports paired) until both are free.
+ * Returns [terminalPort, directTerminalPort].
+ */
+async function findAvailablePortPair(base: number): Promise<[number, number]> {
+  const MAX_ATTEMPTS = 50;
+  for (let i = 0; i < MAX_ATTEMPTS; i++) {
+    const p1 = base + i * 2;
+    const p2 = p1 + 1;
+    const [free1, free2] = await Promise.all([isPortAvailable(p1), isPortAvailable(p2)]);
+    if (free1 && free2) {
+      return [p1, p2];
+    }
+  }
+  // If all 50 pairs exhausted, fall back to the base (will fail at bind time with clear error)
+  return [base, base + 1];
+}
+
 /**
  * Build environment variables for spawning the dashboard process.
  * Shared between `ao start` and `ao dashboard` to avoid duplication.
  *
- * Terminal server ports default to 3001/3003 but can be overridden via config
- * to allow multiple dashboard instances to run simultaneously (e.g., different
- * projects on different ports without EADDRINUSE conflicts).
+ * Terminal server ports default to 14800/14801 but can be overridden via config.
+ * When no explicit port is set, auto-detects available ports to allow multiple
+ * dashboard instances to run simultaneously without EADDRINUSE conflicts.
  */
-export function buildDashboardEnv(
+export async function buildDashboardEnv(
   port: number,
   configPath: string | null,
   terminalPort?: number,
   directTerminalPort?: number,
-): Record<string, string> {
+): Promise<Record<string, string>> {
   const env: Record<string, string> = { ...process.env } as Record<string, string>;
 
   // Pass config path so dashboard uses the same config as the CLI
@@ -33,19 +73,37 @@ export function buildDashboardEnv(
     env["AO_CONFIG_PATH"] = configPath;
   }
 
-  // Set ports for client-side access (Next.js requires NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefix)
-  // Priority: config value > env var > default
   env["PORT"] = String(port);
 
-  const resolvedTerminalPort = String(terminalPort ?? env["TERMINAL_PORT"] ?? "14800");
-  const resolvedDirectTerminalPort = String(
-    directTerminalPort ?? env["DIRECT_TERMINAL_PORT"] ?? "14801",
-  );
+  // If explicit ports provided (config or env var), use them directly.
+  // Otherwise, auto-detect an available pair starting from the default.
+  const explicitTerminal = terminalPort ?? (env["TERMINAL_PORT"] ? parseInt(env["TERMINAL_PORT"], 10) : undefined);
+  const explicitDirect = directTerminalPort ?? (env["DIRECT_TERMINAL_PORT"] ? parseInt(env["DIRECT_TERMINAL_PORT"], 10) : undefined);
 
-  env["TERMINAL_PORT"] = resolvedTerminalPort;
-  env["DIRECT_TERMINAL_PORT"] = resolvedDirectTerminalPort;
-  env["NEXT_PUBLIC_TERMINAL_PORT"] = resolvedTerminalPort;
-  env["NEXT_PUBLIC_DIRECT_TERMINAL_PORT"] = resolvedDirectTerminalPort;
+  let resolvedTerminal: number;
+  let resolvedDirect: number;
+
+  if (explicitTerminal !== undefined && explicitDirect !== undefined) {
+    // Both explicitly set — use as-is
+    resolvedTerminal = explicitTerminal;
+    resolvedDirect = explicitDirect;
+  } else if (explicitTerminal !== undefined) {
+    // Terminal port set, derive direct from it
+    resolvedTerminal = explicitTerminal;
+    resolvedDirect = explicitTerminal + 1;
+  } else if (explicitDirect !== undefined) {
+    // Direct port set, derive terminal from it
+    resolvedTerminal = explicitDirect - 1;
+    resolvedDirect = explicitDirect;
+  } else {
+    // Neither set — auto-detect available pair
+    [resolvedTerminal, resolvedDirect] = await findAvailablePortPair(DEFAULT_TERMINAL_PORT);
+  }
+
+  env["TERMINAL_PORT"] = String(resolvedTerminal);
+  env["DIRECT_TERMINAL_PORT"] = String(resolvedDirect);
+  env["NEXT_PUBLIC_TERMINAL_PORT"] = String(resolvedTerminal);
+  env["NEXT_PUBLIC_DIRECT_TERMINAL_PORT"] = String(resolvedDirect);
 
   return env;
 }