diff --git a/src/application/Uninstall.ts b/src/application/Uninstall.ts
index 3e3099ea31..d363f950d6 100644
--- a/src/application/Uninstall.ts
+++ b/src/application/Uninstall.ts
@@ -184,10 +184,7 @@ export const systemUninstallHost = (
     removeClient: (client) => removeClient(client, fileSystem),
     removeSkill: () =>
       removeManagedSkills(home, fileSystem, environment, platform),
-    purgeData: async () => [
-      await removeManagedPath(join(home, ".rea/cache"), "cache", fileSystem),
-      await removeManagedPath(join(home, ".rea/state"), "state", fileSystem),
-    ],
+    purgeData: () => purgeManagedData(join(home, ".rea"), fileSystem),
   };
 };
 
@@ -380,6 +377,39 @@ const isOwnedRegistration = (value: unknown, client: SetupClient): boolean => {
   return isOwnedClientRegistrationCommand([command, ...args]);
 };
 
+const purgeManagedData = async (
+  root: string,
+  fileSystem: UninstallFileSystem,
+): Promise<readonly UninstallItem[]> => {
+  const names = ["cache", "state"];
+  try {
+    const stats = await fileSystem.stat(root);
+    const linked = stats.isSymbolicLink();
+    if (linked || stats.isDirectory?.() !== true)
+      return names.map((name) =>
+        item(
+          name,
+          "retained",
+          `REA did not remove this item because its managed data root ${root} is ${linked ? "a symbolic link" : "not a directory"}. Verify the root before removing its data manually.`,
+        ),
+      );
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    return names.map((name) =>
+      isMissing(cause)
+        ? item(name, "skipped", `${join(root, name)} does not exist.`)
+        : item(
+            name,
+            "failed",
+            `The managed data root ${root} could not be verified. Check its permissions, then rerun uninstall.`,
+          ),
+    );
+  }
+  const items: UninstallItem[] = [];
+  for (const name of names)
+    items.push(await removeManagedPath(join(root, name), name, fileSystem));
+  return items;
+};
+
 const removeManagedPath = async (
   path: string,
   name: string,
diff --git a/tests/boundary/cli/clientProfileLifecycle.test.ts b/tests/boundary/cli/clientProfileLifecycle.test.ts
index 286d043577..531e6378a7 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/cli/clientProfileLifecycle.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/cli/clientProfileLifecycle.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
-import { access, readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import {
+  access,
+  lstat,
+  mkdir,
+  readFile,
+  realpath,
+  symlink,
+  writeFile,
+} from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { expect } from "vitest";
 import { createTestTempDirectory } from "../../fixtures/temporaryDirectory.js";
@@ -78,6 +86,54 @@ const groups = [
     ],
   },
 ];
+
+cliTest(
+  "uninstall purge retains unrelated data behind a managed-root symlink",
+  async ({ cli }) => {
+    const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-uninstall-root-link-");
+    const home = join(root, "home");
+    const unrelated = join(root, "unrelated-application");
+    await mkdir(home);
+    for (const name of ["cache", "state"]) {
+      await mkdir(join(unrelated, name), { recursive: true });
+      await writeFile(join(unrelated, name, "keep.txt"), `unrelated ${name}`);
+    }
+    const managedRoot = join(home, ".rea");
+    await symlink(
+      unrelated,
+      managedRoot,
+      process.platform === "win32" ? "junction" : "dir",
+    );
+
+    const result = await cli.run({
+      arguments: ["uninstall", "--purge-data", "--json"],
+      cwd: home,
+      environment: {
+        HOME: home,
+        USERPROFILE: home,
+        XDG_CONFIG_HOME: join(root, "xdg-config"),
+        XDG_CACHE_HOME: join(root, "xdg-cache"),
+      },
+      timeoutMs: 20_000,
+    });
+
+    expect(result.exitCode, result.stderr).toBe(0);
+    expect.soft(result.json).toMatchObject({
+      status: "complete",
+      items: expect.arrayContaining([
+        expect.objectContaining({ name: "cache", status: "retained" }),
+        expect.objectContaining({ name: "state", status: "retained" }),
+      ]),
+    });
+    expect((await lstat(managedRoot)).isSymbolicLink()).toBe(true);
+    expect(await realpath(managedRoot)).toBe(await realpath(unrelated));
+    for (const name of ["cache", "state"])
+      await expect
+        .soft(readFile(join(unrelated, name, "keep.txt"), "utf8"))
+        .resolves.toBe(`unrelated ${name}`);
+  },
+);
+
 for (const group of groups) {
   cliTest(
     `${group.name} lifecycle follows the selected roots`,
diff --git a/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts b/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts
index ae814c8855..9b3e8f5b93 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts
@@ -1341,6 +1341,146 @@ describe("Codex configuration comments", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("managed data purge root validation", () => {
+  it.each(["existing", "dangling"] as const)(
+    "retains cache and state when the managed-root symlink is %s",
+    async (targetState) => {
+      const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-uninstall-data-root-");
+      roots.push(root);
+      const home = join(root, "home");
+      const outside = join(root, "unrelated-application");
+      await mkdir(home);
+      if (targetState === "existing")
+        for (const name of ["cache", "state"]) {
+          await mkdir(join(outside, name), { recursive: true });
+          await writeFile(join(outside, name, "keep.txt"), "unrelated data");
+        }
+      const managedRoot = join(home, ".rea");
+      await symlink(
+        outside,
+        managedRoot,
+        process.platform === "win32" ? "junction" : "dir",
+      );
+
+      const result = await runUninstall(
+        true,
+        systemUninstallHost(home, undefined, {}),
+      );
+
+      expect(result.status).toBe("complete");
+      expect((await lstat(managedRoot)).isSymbolicLink()).toBe(true);
+      for (const name of ["cache", "state"])
+        expect(result.items).toContainEqual(
+          expect.objectContaining({ name, status: "retained" }),
+        );
+      if (targetState === "existing")
+        for (const name of ["cache", "state"])
+          expect(await readFile(join(outside, name, "keep.txt"), "utf8")).toBe(
+            "unrelated data",
+          );
+      else
+        await expect(lstat(outside)).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: "ENOENT" });
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("retains a managed data root that is not a directory", async () => {
+    const home = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-uninstall-data-file-");
+    roots.push(home);
+    const managedRoot = join(home, ".rea");
+    await writeFile(managedRoot, "unrelated file");
+
+    const result = await runUninstall(
+      true,
+      systemUninstallHost(home, undefined, {}),
+    );
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe("complete");
+    for (const name of ["cache", "state"])
+      expect(result.items).toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({ name, status: "retained" }),
+      );
+    expect(await readFile(managedRoot, "utf8")).toBe("unrelated file");
+  });
+
+  it("purges ordinary managed data through a legitimate home directory link", async () => {
+    const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-uninstall-home-link-");
+    roots.push(root);
+    const home = join(root, "actual-home");
+    const linkedHome = join(root, "linked-home");
+    const managedRoot = join(home, ".rea");
+    for (const name of ["cache", "state"]) {
+      await mkdir(join(managedRoot, name), { recursive: true });
+      await writeFile(join(managedRoot, name, "data.txt"), "managed data");
+    }
+    await writeFile(join(managedRoot, "keep.txt"), "other data");
+    await symlink(
+      home,
+      linkedHome,
+      process.platform === "win32" ? "junction" : "dir",
+    );
+
+    const result = await runUninstall(
+      true,
+      systemUninstallHost(linkedHome, undefined, {}),
+    );
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe("complete");
+    for (const name of ["cache", "state"]) {
+      expect(result.items).toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({ name, status: "removed" }),
+      );
+      await expect(lstat(join(managedRoot, name))).rejects.toMatchObject({
+        code: "ENOENT",
+      });
+    }
+    expect((await lstat(linkedHome)).isSymbolicLink()).toBe(true);
+    expect(await readFile(join(managedRoot, "keep.txt"), "utf8")).toBe(
+      "other data",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("reports root inspection failure without removing managed data", async () => {
+    const home = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-uninstall-data-denied-");
+    roots.push(home);
+    const managedRoot = join(home, ".rea");
+    for (const name of ["cache", "state"]) {
+      await mkdir(join(managedRoot, name), { recursive: true });
+      await writeFile(join(managedRoot, name, "keep.txt"), "managed data");
+    }
+    const remove = vi.fn(testFileSystem.remove);
+    const result = await runUninstall(
+      true,
+      systemUninstallHost(
+        home,
+        {
+          ...testFileSystem,
+          stat: (path) =>
+            path === managedRoot
+              ? Promise.reject(
+                  Object.assign(new Error("root inspection denied"), {
+                    code: "EACCES",
+                  }),
+                )
+              : lstat(path),
+          remove,
+        },
+        {},
+      ),
+    );
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe("failed");
+    expect(remove).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    for (const name of ["cache", "state"]) {
+      expect(result.items).toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({ name, status: "failed" }),
+      );
+      expect(await readFile(join(managedRoot, name, "keep.txt"), "utf8")).toBe(
+        "managed data",
+      );
+    }
+  });
+});
+
 describe("client configuration filesystem removal", () => {
   it("uninstalls only owned entries and refuses purge symlinks", async () => {
     const home = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-uninstall-");