diff --git a/src/sync/paths.test.ts b/src/sync/paths.test.ts
index 06764f4..2b7a01d 100644
--- a/src/sync/paths.test.ts
+++ b/src/sync/paths.test.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,36 @@ describe('resolveXdgPaths', () => {
     expect(paths.configDir).toBe('C:\\Users\\Test\\AppData\\Roaming');
     expect(paths.dataDir).toBe('C:\\Users\\Test\\AppData\\Local');
   });
+
+  it('respects XDG env vars on windows', () => {
+    const env = {
+      USERPROFILE: 'C:\\Users\\Test',
+      APPDATA: 'C:\\Users\\Test\\AppData\\Roaming',
+      LOCALAPPDATA: 'C:\\Users\\Test\\AppData\\Local',
+      XDG_CONFIG_HOME: 'C:\\Users\\Test\\.config',
+      XDG_DATA_HOME: 'C:\\Users\\Test\\.local\\share',
+      XDG_STATE_HOME: 'C:\\Users\\Test\\.local\\state',
+    } as NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+    const paths = resolveXdgPaths(env, 'win32');
+
+    expect(paths.configDir).toBe('C:\\Users\\Test\\.config');
+    expect(paths.dataDir).toBe('C:\\Users\\Test\\.local\\share');
+    expect(paths.stateDir).toBe('C:\\Users\\Test\\.local\\state');
+  });
+
+  it('prefers XDG on windows when only XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set', () => {
+    const env = {
+      USERPROFILE: 'C:\\Users\\Test',
+      APPDATA: 'C:\\Users\\Test\\AppData\\Roaming',
+      LOCALAPPDATA: 'C:\\Users\\Test\\AppData\\Local',
+      XDG_CONFIG_HOME: 'C:\\Users\\Test\\.config',
+    } as NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+    const paths = resolveXdgPaths(env, 'win32');
+
+    expect(paths.configDir).toBe('C:\\Users\\Test\\.config');
+    expect(paths.dataDir).toBe('C:\\Users\\Test\\.local\\share');
+    expect(paths.stateDir).toBe('C:\\Users\\Test\\.local\\state');
+  });
 });
 
 describe('resolveSyncLocations', () => {
diff --git a/src/sync/paths.ts b/src/sync/paths.ts
index 6440394..071b320 100644
--- a/src/sync/paths.ts
+++ b/src/sync/paths.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import crypto from 'node:crypto';
+import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 
 import type { SyncConfig } from './config.js';
@@ -83,9 +84,25 @@ export function resolveXdgPaths(
   }
 
   if (platform === 'win32') {
+    // On Windows, prefer XDG environment variables when explicitly set.
+    // Some tools (including opencode itself) use XDG-style paths on Windows
+    // (e.g. ~/.config, ~/.local/share, ~/.local/state) instead of AppData.
+    // If XDG vars are set, honor them. Otherwise, detect whether opencode
+    // is using XDG layout by checking for ~/.config/opencode, and fall back
+    // to standard Windows paths only if XDG paths don't exist.
+    const xdgConfigDir = env.XDG_CONFIG_HOME ?? path.join(homeDir, '.config');
+    const xdgDataDir = env.XDG_DATA_HOME ?? path.join(homeDir, '.local', 'share');
+    const xdgStateDir = env.XDG_STATE_HOME ?? path.join(homeDir, '.local', 'state');
+
+    const hasXdgEnv = Boolean(env.XDG_CONFIG_HOME ?? env.XDG_DATA_HOME ?? env.XDG_STATE_HOME);
+    const xdgConfigExists = fs.existsSync(path.join(xdgConfigDir, 'opencode'));
+
+    if (hasXdgEnv || xdgConfigExists) {
+      return { homeDir, configDir: xdgConfigDir, dataDir: xdgDataDir, stateDir: xdgStateDir };
+    }
+
     const configDir = env.APPDATA ?? path.join(homeDir, 'AppData', 'Roaming');
     const dataDir = env.LOCALAPPDATA ?? path.join(homeDir, 'AppData', 'Local');
-    // Windows doesn't have XDG_STATE_HOME equivalent, use LOCALAPPDATA
     const stateDir = env.LOCALAPPDATA ?? path.join(homeDir, 'AppData', 'Local');
     return { homeDir, configDir, dataDir, stateDir };
   }