diff --git a/bin/muse-cli-node b/bin/muse-cli-node
index 573bd96..de2ce7d 100755
--- a/bin/muse-cli-node
+++ b/bin/muse-cli-node
@@ -12,6 +12,15 @@ shift
 CONF_DIR="$HOME/.config/muse-cli/$NODE"
 mkdir -p "$CONF_DIR"
 
+ensure_node_up() {
+    if ! ip netns list 2>/dev/null | grep -q "^warp-${NODE}\b"; then
+        echo "Notice: warp-${NODE} network namespace is down; bringing up via netvm-node-up.sh..." >&2
+        sudo -n "$NETVM_BIN/netvm-node-up.sh" "$NODE" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    fi
+}
+
+ensure_node_up
+
 run_cli() {
     export MUSE_CONFIG_DIR="$CONF_DIR"
     "$NETVM_BIN/netvm-exec.sh" "$NODE" -- python3 "$NETVM_BIN/muse-cli-inner.py" "$NODE" "$@"