diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ba3c6c6..4bf8931 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@
     "start": "node bin/cc-web.js",
     "dev": "node bin/cc-web.js --dev",
     "test": "mocha test/*.test.js",
-    "release:pr": "bash scripts/release-pr.sh"
+    "release:pr": "bash scripts/release-pr.sh",
+    "postinstall": "node scripts/postinstall.js"
   },
   "keywords": [
     "claude",
diff --git a/scripts/postinstall.js b/scripts/postinstall.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7fefdfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/postinstall.js
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * Post-install script: ensure node-pty's spawn-helper binaries are executable.
+ *
+ * When npm installs a package, file permissions from the tarball are not always
+ * preserved on macOS. node-pty's spawn-helper binary must be executable or
+ * node-pty will throw "posix_spawnp failed" on every pty.spawn() call.
+ */
+'use strict';
+
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const prebuildsDirs = [
+  path.join(__dirname, '..', 'node_modules', 'node-pty', 'prebuilds'),
+];
+
+let fixed = 0;
+for (const prebuildsDir of prebuildsDirs) {
+  if (!fs.existsSync(prebuildsDir)) continue;
+  for (const platform of fs.readdirSync(prebuildsDir)) {
+    const helperPath = path.join(prebuildsDir, platform, 'spawn-helper');
+    if (!fs.existsSync(helperPath)) continue;
+    const mode = fs.statSync(helperPath).mode;
+    const execBit = 0o111;
+    if ((mode & execBit) !== execBit) {
+      fs.chmodSync(helperPath, mode | execBit);
+      console.log(`Fixed permissions for ${helperPath}`);
+      fixed++;
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+if (fixed > 0) {
+  console.log(`postinstall: fixed execute permissions on ${fixed} spawn-helper file(s).`);
+}
diff --git a/src/claude-bridge.js b/src/claude-bridge.js
index c7b4fee..dacf756 100644
--- a/src/claude-bridge.js
+++ b/src/claude-bridge.js
@@ -9,14 +9,28 @@ class ClaudeBridge {
   }
 
   findClaudeCommand() {
+    // Dynamically discover all nvm node versions that may have claude installed
+    const nvmBase = path.join(process.env.HOME || '/', '.nvm', 'versions', 'node');
+    const nvmPaths = [];
+    try {
+      const versions = fs.readdirSync(nvmBase);
+      for (const v of versions.reverse()) {
+        nvmPaths.push(path.join(nvmBase, v, 'bin', 'claude'));
+      }
+    } catch (e) { /* nvm not installed */ }
+
     const possibleCommands = [
+      // Absolute paths first — more reliable when running under launchd/systemd
+      // where PATH may not include nvm or user-local bin directories
+      ...nvmPaths,
       '/home/ec2-user/.claude/local/claude',
-      'claude',
-      'claude-code',
       path.join(process.env.HOME || '/', '.claude', 'local', 'claude'),
       path.join(process.env.HOME || '/', '.local', 'bin', 'claude'),
       '/usr/local/bin/claude',
-      '/usr/bin/claude'
+      '/usr/bin/claude',
+      // Short names as last resort (relies on PATH being set correctly)
+      'claude',
+      'claude-code',
     ];
 
     for (const cmd of possibleCommands) {
@@ -67,8 +81,21 @@ class ClaudeBridge {
         console.log(`⚠️ WARNING: Skipping permissions with --dangerously-skip-permissions flag`);
       }
 
-      const args = dangerouslySkipPermissions ? ['--dangerously-skip-permissions'] : [];
-      const claudeProcess = spawn(this.claudeCommand, args, {
+      // When the resolved claude command is a .js script (e.g. installed via nvm),
+      // node-pty cannot posix_spawnp a script file directly. Detect this case and
+      // invoke it via the current node binary instead.
+      let spawnCmd = this.claudeCommand;
+      let baseArgs = dangerouslySkipPermissions ? ['--dangerously-skip-permissions'] : [];
+      try {
+        const resolvedCmd = fs.realpathSync(this.claudeCommand);
+        if (resolvedCmd.endsWith('.js')) {
+          baseArgs = [resolvedCmd, ...baseArgs];
+          spawnCmd = process.execPath;
+          console.log(`Resolved to JS script, spawning via node: ${spawnCmd} ${resolvedCmd}`);
+        }
+      } catch (e) { /* use spawnCmd as-is */ }
+      const args = baseArgs;
+      const claudeProcess = spawn(spawnCmd, args, {
         cwd: workingDir,
         env: {
           ...process.env,
diff --git a/src/public/app.js b/src/public/app.js
index b35e564..5148ec3 100644
--- a/src/public/app.js
+++ b/src/public/app.js
@@ -103,11 +103,9 @@ class ClaudeCodeWebInterface {
             const firstTabId = this.sessionTabManager.tabs.keys().next().value;
             console.log('[Init] Switching to tab:', firstTabId);
             await this.sessionTabManager.switchToTab(firstTabId);
-            
-            // Hide overlay completely since we have sessions
-            console.log('[Init] About to hide overlay');
-            this.hideOverlay();
-            console.log('[Init] Overlay should be hidden now');
+            // Overlay state is handled by the session_joined message handler:
+            // it hides the overlay when Claude is active, or shows startPrompt when not.
+            // Do NOT call hideOverlay() here — it would race with and override that logic.
         } else {
             console.log('[Init] No sessions found, showing folder browser');
             // No sessions - hide loading overlay and show folder picker to create first session