diff --git a/.changeset/windows-npm-ctrl-c-prompt.md b/.changeset/windows-npm-ctrl-c-prompt.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..53d54e34f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/windows-npm-ctrl-c-prompt.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+"cf": patch
+---
+
+Exit cleanly after Ctrl+C when a framework command runs through npm on Windows
+
+`cf dev`, `cf build`, and `cf init` now start `npm` and `npx` commands through
+npm's CLI script instead of the `npm.cmd` and `npx.cmd` launchers. Those
+launchers keep a batch file running, so pressing Ctrl+C left cf waiting at
+cmd's "Terminate batch job (Y/N)?" prompt after the dev server had stopped.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/commands/dev/windows-console.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/commands/dev/windows-console.test.ts
index e373c92a51..4e1c40c373 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/commands/dev/windows-console.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/commands/dev/windows-console.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { execFile } from "node:child_process";
 import {
 	existsSync,
+	mkdirSync,
 	mkdtempSync,
 	readFileSync,
 	rmSync,
@@ -24,15 +25,42 @@ const harness = fileURLToPath(
 );
 const spawnSource = new URL("../../../commands/dev/spawn.ts", import.meta.url);
 const projectSource = new URL("../../../lib/autoconfig.ts", import.meta.url);
+// npm's bin/npx.cmd as shipped with Node.js.
+const NPX_CMD = [
+	":: Created by npm, please don't edit manually.",
+	"@ECHO OFF",
+	"",
+	"SETLOCAL",
+	"",
+	'SET "NODE_EXE=%~dp0\\node.exe"',
+	'IF NOT EXIST "%NODE_EXE%" (',
+	'  SET "NODE_EXE=node"',
+	")",
+	"",
+	'SET "NPM_PREFIX_JS=%~dp0\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npm-prefix.js"',
+	'SET "NPX_CLI_JS=%~dp0\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npx-cli.js"',
+	'FOR /F "delims=" %%F IN (\'CALL "%NODE_EXE%" "%NPM_PREFIX_JS%"\') DO (',
+	'  SET "NPM_PREFIX_NPX_CLI_JS=%%F\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npx-cli.js"',
+	")",
+	'IF EXIST "%NPM_PREFIX_NPX_CLI_JS%" (',
+	'  SET "NPX_CLI_JS=%NPM_PREFIX_NPX_CLI_JS%"',
+	")",
+	"",
+	'"%NODE_EXE%" "%NPX_CLI_JS%" %*',
+	"",
+].join("\r\n");
 
 describe.skipIf(process.platform !== "win32")("Windows console Ctrl+C", () => {
-	it.each<["implementation" | "framework", CommandOutput]>([
+	it.each<["implementation" | "framework" | "npx", CommandOutput]>([
 		["implementation", "inherit"],
 		["implementation", "stderr"],
 		["implementation", "silent"],
 		["framework", "inherit"],
 		["framework", "stderr"],
 		["framework", "silent"],
+		["npx", "inherit"],
+		["npx", "stderr"],
+		["npx", "silent"],
 	])(
 		"lets the %s delegate finish cleanup with %s output",
 		async (launcher, output) => {
@@ -40,9 +68,9 @@ describe.skipIf(process.platform !== "win32")("Windows console Ctrl+C", () => {
 			const driver = join(directory, "parent.mts");
 			const delegate = join(directory, "delegate");
 			const framework = join(directory, "framework.cmd");
-			writeFileSync(
-				delegate,
-				nodeScript(`
+			const npmDirectory = join(directory, "nodejs");
+			const npmBin = join(npmDirectory, "node_modules", "npm", "bin");
+			const delegateSource = nodeScript(`
 const { writeFileSync } = require("node:fs");
 let signals = 0;
 process.on("SIGINT", () => {
@@ -54,8 +82,8 @@ process.on("SIGINT", () => {
 });
 setInterval(() => {}, 1000);
 writeFileSync("delegate-ready.json", JSON.stringify({ pid: process.pid }));
-`)
-			);
+`);
+			writeFileSync(delegate, delegateSource);
 			// Cover the extensionless shebang and npm's Windows .cmd launch paths.
 			// npm ends the batch context before running Node to avoid its Ctrl+C
 			// confirmation prompt: npm/cmd-shim's lib/index.js uses this tail.
@@ -63,23 +91,34 @@ writeFileSync("delegate-ready.json", JSON.stringify({ pid: process.pid }));
 				framework,
 				`@echo off\r\nsetlocal\r\nendlocal & goto #_undefined_# 2>NUL || title %COMSPEC% & "${process.execPath}" "%~dp0delegate" %*\r\n`
 			);
+			// The npx.cmd bundled with Node has no such tail, so mirror it verbatim.
+			mkdirSync(npmBin, { recursive: true });
+			writeFileSync(join(npmDirectory, "npx.cmd"), NPX_CMD);
+			writeFileSync(join(npmBin, "npx-cli.js"), delegateSource);
+			writeFileSync(
+				join(npmBin, "npm-prefix.js"),
+				`console.log(${JSON.stringify(directory)});\n`
+			);
+			const executions = {
+				implementation: `spawnImpl({
+  impl: { ecosystem: "npm", pkg: "test", installCommands: ["test"] },
+  binary: ${JSON.stringify(delegate)},
+  manifestPath: "test"
+}, "dev", [], { output: ${JSON.stringify(output)} })`,
+				framework: `runProjectCommand(${JSON.stringify(`"${framework}"`)}, ${JSON.stringify(directory)}, { output: ${JSON.stringify(output)} })`,
+				npx: `runProjectCommand("npx astro dev", ${JSON.stringify(directory)}, { output: ${JSON.stringify(output)} })`,
+			};
 			writeFileSync(
 				driver,
 				`
 import { existsSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { delimiter } from "node:path";
 import { spawnImpl } from ${JSON.stringify(spawnSource.href)};
 import { runProjectCommand } from ${JSON.stringify(projectSource.href)};
+process.env.PATH = ${JSON.stringify(npmDirectory)} + delimiter + process.env.PATH;
 const sigintListeners = process.listenerCount("SIGINT");
 const sigtermListeners = process.listenerCount("SIGTERM");
-const execution = ${
-					launcher === "implementation"
-						? `spawnImpl({
-  impl: { ecosystem: "npm", pkg: "test", installCommands: ["test"] },
-  binary: ${JSON.stringify(delegate)},
-  manifestPath: "test"
-}, "dev", [], { output: ${JSON.stringify(output)} })`
-						: `runProjectCommand(${JSON.stringify(`"${framework}"`)}, ${JSON.stringify(directory)}, { output: ${JSON.stringify(output)} })`
-				};
+const execution = ${executions[launcher]};
 writeFileSync("parent-ready.json", JSON.stringify({ pid: process.pid }));
 const result = await execution;
 writeFileSync("parent-result.json", JSON.stringify({
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/lib/npm-launcher.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/lib/npm-launcher.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5583125180
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/lib/npm-launcher.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { delimiter, dirname, join } from "node:path";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vite-plus/test";
+import { resolveNpmLauncher } from "../../lib/npm-launcher.js";
+
+function npmInstall(root: string, files: string[] = []): string {
+	const bin = join(root, "node_modules", "npm", "bin");
+	mkdirSync(bin, { recursive: true });
+	for (const name of ["npm", "npx"]) {
+		writeFileSync(join(bin, `${name}-cli.js`), "");
+	}
+	for (const file of files) {
+		writeFileSync(join(root, file), "");
+	}
+	return bin;
+}
+
+function fakeExecutable(directory: string, file: string): string {
+	mkdirSync(directory, { recursive: true });
+	writeFileSync(join(directory, file), "");
+	return join(directory, file);
+}
+
+// The empty extension lets the real node binary resolve on POSIX test hosts.
+function windowsEnv(...path: string[]): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
+	return {
+		Path: path.join(delimiter),
+		PATHEXT: [".exe", ".cmd", ""].join(delimiter),
+	};
+}
+
+describe("resolveNpmLauncher", () => {
+	it("runs npx through the CLI script with the node.exe beside npx.cmd", () => {
+		const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "cf-npm-launcher-"));
+		const nodejs = join(root, "nodejs");
+		const bin = npmInstall(nodejs, ["npx.cmd", "node.exe"]);
+		const otherNode = fakeExecutable(join(root, "other"), "node.exe");
+
+		expect(
+			resolveNpmLauncher(
+				["npx", "astro", "dev"],
+				root,
+				windowsEnv(join(root, "empty"), dirname(otherNode), nodejs),
+				"win32"
+			)
+		).toEqual([
+			join(nodejs, "node.exe"),
+			join(bin, "npx-cli.js"),
+			"astro",
+			"dev",
+		]);
+	});
+
+	it("falls back to node from PATH when npm.cmd has no adjacent node.exe", () => {
+		const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "cf-npm-launcher-"));
+		const prefix = join(root, "prefix");
+		const bin = npmInstall(prefix, ["npm.cmd"]);
+		const node = fakeExecutable(join(root, "nodejs"), "node.exe");
+
+		expect(
+			resolveNpmLauncher(
+				["npm", "run", "dev"],
+				root,
+				windowsEnv(prefix, dirname(node)),
+				"win32"
+			)
+		).toEqual([node, join(bin, "npm-cli.js"), "run", "dev"]);
+	});
+
+	it("leaves npm alone when an earlier PATH entry has a native npm.exe shim", () => {
+		const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "cf-npm-launcher-"));
+		const shim = fakeExecutable(join(root, "shims"), "npm.exe");
+		const nodejs = join(root, "nodejs");
+		npmInstall(nodejs, ["npm.cmd", "node.exe"]);
+
+		expect(
+			resolveNpmLauncher(
+				["npm", "run", "dev"],
+				root,
+				windowsEnv(dirname(shim), nodejs),
+				"win32"
+			)
+		).toEqual(["npm", "run", "dev"]);
+	});
+
+	it("prefers an npm upgraded into the global prefix, like npm.cmd", () => {
+		const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "cf-npm-launcher-"));
+		const nodejs = join(root, "nodejs");
+		const prefix = join(root, "prefix");
+		const bundledBin = npmInstall(nodejs, ["npm.cmd"]);
+		const prefixBin = npmInstall(prefix);
+		writeFileSync(
+			join(bundledBin, "npm-prefix.js"),
+			`console.log(${JSON.stringify(prefix)});`
+		);
+
+		expect(
+			resolveNpmLauncher(
+				["npm.cmd", "run", "build"],
+				root,
+				windowsEnv(nodejs, dirname(process.execPath)),
+				"win32"
+			)
+		).toEqual([
+			process.execPath,
+			join(prefixBin, "npm-cli.js"),
+			"run",
+			"build",
+		]);
+	});
+
+	it("leaves other commands and other platforms unchanged", () => {
+		const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "cf-npm-launcher-"));
+		const nodejs = join(root, "nodejs");
+		npmInstall(nodejs, ["npx.cmd", "pnpm.cmd", "node.exe"]);
+
+		expect(
+			resolveNpmLauncher(["pnpm", "dev"], root, windowsEnv(nodejs), "win32")
+		).toEqual(["pnpm", "dev"]);
+		expect(
+			resolveNpmLauncher(["npx", "astro"], root, windowsEnv(nodejs), "linux")
+		).toEqual(["npx", "astro"]);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/autoconfig.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/autoconfig.ts
index dd38fadfa5..6b437592e5 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/autoconfig.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/autoconfig.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { x } from "tinyexec";
 import { CliExit } from "./cli-exit.js";
 import { confirm, prompt, select } from "./dialog.js";
 import { isNonInteractiveOrCI } from "./interactive.js";
+import { resolveNpmLauncher } from "./npm-launcher.js";
 import { createChildProcessController } from "./process.js";
 import { log } from "./ui/log.js";
 import { maybeApplyVinextCommandOverrides } from "./vinext.js";
@@ -179,7 +180,12 @@ export async function runProjectCommand(
 			`Delegating to ${command}${formattedArgs ? ` ${formattedArgs}` : ""}${environmentSuffix}`
 		);
 	}
-	const [file, ...commandArgs] = parseProjectCommand(command);
+	// Match the environment tinyexec gives the child so both resolve the same npm.
+	const [file, ...commandArgs] = resolveNpmLauncher(
+		parseProjectCommand(command),
+		cwd,
+		{ ...process.env, ...options.env }
+	);
 	const subprocess = x(file, [...commandArgs, ...(options.args ?? [])], {
 		nodePath: false,
 		nodeOptions: {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/npm-launcher.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/npm-launcher.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..16709d9287
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/npm-launcher.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { existsSync, statSync } from "node:fs";
+import { basename, delimiter, dirname, join, resolve } from "node:path";
+
+/**
+ * Run `npm` / `npx` on Windows through the CLI script their `.cmd` launcher
+ * would start. Node.js's bundled npm.cmd and npx.cmd keep a batch file active
+ * while npm runs, so a console Ctrl+C ends at cmd's "Terminate batch job
+ * (Y/N)?" prompt instead of exiting. Other commands are returned unchanged.
+ */
+export function resolveNpmLauncher(
+	command: [string, ...string[]],
+	cwd: string,
+	env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env,
+	platform: NodeJS.Platform = process.platform
+): [string, ...string[]] {
+	const [file, ...args] = command;
+	if (platform !== "win32" || !/^(?:npm|npx)(?:\.cmd)?$/i.test(file)) {
+		return command;
+	}
+
+	// Rewrite only when the child would start npm's batch launcher, so an
+	// earlier npm.exe shim (such as a version manager's) still wins.
+	const launcher = findExecutable(file, cwd, env);
+	if (launcher === undefined) {
+		return command;
+	}
+	const name = /^(npm|npx)\.cmd$/i.exec(basename(launcher))?.[1]?.toLowerCase();
+	if (name === undefined) {
+		return command;
+	}
+	const directory = dirname(launcher);
+	const bin = join(directory, "node_modules", "npm", "bin");
+	const script = join(bin, `${name}-cli.js`);
+	if (!existsSync(script)) {
+		return command;
+	}
+
+	const adjacentNode = join(directory, "node.exe");
+	let node: string | undefined;
+	if (existsSync(adjacentNode)) {
+		node = adjacentNode;
+	} else {
+		// npm.cmd falls back to `node` as cmd would resolve it, not cf's runtime.
+		node = findExecutable("node", cwd, env);
+	}
+	if (node === undefined) {
+		return command;
+	}
+	return [node, globalPrefixScript(node, bin, name) ?? script, ...args];
+}
+
+// Mirrors tinyexec's Windows lookup so the rewrite targets the same launcher.
+function findExecutable(
+	command: string,
+	cwd: string,
+	env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv
+): string | undefined {
+	const pathKey = Object.keys(env).find((key) => /^path$/i.test(key));
+	const path = pathKey === undefined ? "" : (env[pathKey] ?? "");
+	let extensions = env.PATHEXT
+		? env.PATHEXT.split(delimiter)
+		: [".EXE", ".CMD", ".BAT", ".COM"];
+	if (command.includes(".")) {
+		extensions = ["", ...extensions];
+	}
+	for (const directory of [cwd, ...path.split(delimiter)]) {
+		for (const extension of extensions) {
+			const candidate = resolve(cwd, directory, command + extension);
+			if (isFile(candidate)) {
+				return candidate;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return undefined;
+}
+
+function isFile(path: string): boolean {
+	try {
+		return statSync(path).isFile();
+	} catch {
+		return false;
+	}
+}
+
+/** Like the launchers, prefer an npm installed into the global prefix. */
+function globalPrefixScript(
+	node: string,
+	bin: string,
+	name: string
+): string | undefined {
+	const prefixScript = join(bin, "npm-prefix.js");
+	if (!existsSync(prefixScript)) {
+		return undefined;
+	}
+	try {
+		const prefix = execFileSync(node, [prefixScript], {
+			encoding: "utf8",
+			stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "ignore"],
+			// A hung probe would otherwise block the command from ever starting.
+			timeout: 5000,
+			windowsHide: true,
+		}).trim();
+		const script = join(prefix, "node_modules", "npm", "bin", `${name}-cli.js`);
+		return prefix !== "" && existsSync(script) ? script : undefined;
+	} catch {
+		return undefined;
+	}
+}