- captureExec: stop wrapping with { … ; }; Bare shell splits ; naively, so {

became argv[0] (“unknown command: {”). Redirect only, append EXIT:N from
  BARE_OS_EXIT_STATUS after execLine.

- Streaming: normalize newlines for SSH PTY (bareOsPtyStdoutCrlf on SSH child ctx,
  bareAgentWriteOut uses ctx).

kernel/bin/agent

@@ -3368,17 +3368,16 @@ async function bareAgentDispatchTool(o) {
   async function captureExec(line, timeoutMs, captureOpts) {
     const outPath = paths.cmdOut
     const captureExit = Boolean(captureOpts && captureOpts.captureExit)
-    const wrapped = captureExit
+    /**
-      ? '{ ' +
+     * Do not wrap with `{ cmd ; }` — Bare OS `splitTokensBySemicolon` splits on every `;`
-        line +
+     * at depth 0 and does not treat `{ … }` as a compound, so `{` became argv[0]
-        ' ; } > ' +
+     * (`unknown command: {`). Redirect only; read exit from env after `execLine`.
-        bareAgentShellQuote(outPath) +
+     */
-        ' 2>&1; printf "\\nEXIT:%s\\n" $? >> ' +
+    const wrapped =
-        bareAgentShellQuote(outPath)
+      line +
-      : line +
+      ' > ' +
-        ' > ' +
+      bareAgentShellQuote(outPath) +
-        bareAgentShellQuote(outPath) +
+      ' 2>&1'
-        ' 2>&1'
     const opts =
       signal || timeoutMs
         ? {
@@ -3409,6 +3408,34 @@ async function bareAgentDispatchTool(o) {
     } catch {
       /* ignore */
     }
+    if (captureExit) {
+      const env = ctx.vfs?.env && typeof ctx.vfs.env === 'object' ? ctx.vfs.env : null
+      const rawEc =
+        env && env.BARE_OS_EXIT_STATUS != null && env.BARE_OS_EXIT_STATUS !== ''
+          ? env.BARE_OS_EXIT_STATUS
+          : ctx.exitCode
+      const n = Number(rawEc)
+      const codeStr = String(Number.isFinite(n) ? n : 0)
+      const exitLine = '\nEXIT:' + codeStr + '\n'
+      captured += exitLine
+      try {
+        if (vfs?.readFile && vfs?.writeFile && ctx.b4a && typeof ctx.b4a.concat === 'function') {
+          let prev = await vfs.readFile(outPath)
+          const prevBytes =
+            prev && prev.length
+              ? prev instanceof Uint8Array
+                ? prev
+                : ctx.b4a.from(prev)
+              : ctx.b4a.from('')
+          await vfs.writeFile(
+            outPath,
+            ctx.b4a.concat([prevBytes, ctx.b4a.from(exitLine)])
+          )
+        }
+      } catch {
+        /* ignore */
+      }
+    }
     const max = 120_000
     if (captured.length > max) captured = captured.slice(0, max) + '\n… truncated'
     return { ok: true, stdout_stderr: captured }

kernel/etc/bare-os/posix_utilities.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "schema": 2,
   "profileId": "bare-os-posix-like",
-  "generatedAt": "2026-04-22T21:10:53.539Z",
+  "generatedAt": "2026-04-22T21:32:31.052Z",
   "note": "Sparse POSIX Issue 7 coverage hints for /bin utilities. Omitted command names are not yet profiled here.",
   "commandIndex": [
     {

kernel/lib/bare/shell-completion.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "schema": 1,
-  "atMs": 1776892253538,
+  "atMs": 1776893551051,
   "commands": [
     "agent",
     "arch",

packages/bare-os-coreutils/lib/agent-tools.js

@@ -549,17 +549,16 @@ async function bareAgentDispatchTool(o) {
   async function captureExec(line, timeoutMs, captureOpts) {
     const outPath = paths.cmdOut
     const captureExit = Boolean(captureOpts && captureOpts.captureExit)
-    const wrapped = captureExit
+    /**
-      ? '{ ' +
+     * Do not wrap with `{ cmd ; }` — Bare OS `splitTokensBySemicolon` splits on every `;`
-        line +
+     * at depth 0 and does not treat `{ … }` as a compound, so `{` became argv[0]
-        ' ; } > ' +
+     * (`unknown command: {`). Redirect only; read exit from env after `execLine`.
-        bareAgentShellQuote(outPath) +
+     */
-        ' 2>&1; printf "\\nEXIT:%s\\n" $? >> ' +
+    const wrapped =
-        bareAgentShellQuote(outPath)
+      line +
-      : line +
+      ' > ' +
-        ' > ' +
+      bareAgentShellQuote(outPath) +
-        bareAgentShellQuote(outPath) +
+      ' 2>&1'
-        ' 2>&1'
     const opts =
       signal || timeoutMs
         ? {
@@ -590,6 +589,34 @@ async function bareAgentDispatchTool(o) {
     } catch {
       /* ignore */
     }
+    if (captureExit) {
+      const env = ctx.vfs?.env && typeof ctx.vfs.env === 'object' ? ctx.vfs.env : null
+      const rawEc =
+        env && env.BARE_OS_EXIT_STATUS != null && env.BARE_OS_EXIT_STATUS !== ''
+          ? env.BARE_OS_EXIT_STATUS
+          : ctx.exitCode
+      const n = Number(rawEc)
+      const codeStr = String(Number.isFinite(n) ? n : 0)
+      const exitLine = '\nEXIT:' + codeStr + '\n'
+      captured += exitLine
+      try {
+        if (vfs?.readFile && vfs?.writeFile && ctx.b4a && typeof ctx.b4a.concat === 'function') {
+          let prev = await vfs.readFile(outPath)
+          const prevBytes =
+            prev && prev.length
+              ? prev instanceof Uint8Array
+                ? prev
+                : ctx.b4a.from(prev)
+              : ctx.b4a.from('')
+          await vfs.writeFile(
+            outPath,
+            ctx.b4a.concat([prevBytes, ctx.b4a.from(exitLine)])
+          )
+        }
+      } catch {
+        /* ignore */
+      }
+    }
     const max = 120_000
     if (captured.length > max) captured = captured.slice(0, max) + '\n… truncated'
     return { ok: true, stdout_stderr: captured }

packages/bare-os-seeder/kernel/bin/agent

@@ -3368,17 +3368,16 @@ async function bareAgentDispatchTool(o) {
   async function captureExec(line, timeoutMs, captureOpts) {
     const outPath = paths.cmdOut
     const captureExit = Boolean(captureOpts && captureOpts.captureExit)
-    const wrapped = captureExit
+    /**
-      ? '{ ' +
+     * Do not wrap with `{ cmd ; }` — Bare OS `splitTokensBySemicolon` splits on every `;`
-        line +
+     * at depth 0 and does not treat `{ … }` as a compound, so `{` became argv[0]
-        ' ; } > ' +
+     * (`unknown command: {`). Redirect only; read exit from env after `execLine`.
-        bareAgentShellQuote(outPath) +
+     */
-        ' 2>&1; printf "\\nEXIT:%s\\n" $? >> ' +
+    const wrapped =
-        bareAgentShellQuote(outPath)
+      line +
-      : line +
+      ' > ' +
-        ' > ' +
+      bareAgentShellQuote(outPath) +
-        bareAgentShellQuote(outPath) +
+      ' 2>&1'
-        ' 2>&1'
     const opts =
       signal || timeoutMs
         ? {
@@ -3409,6 +3408,34 @@ async function bareAgentDispatchTool(o) {
     } catch {
       /* ignore */
     }
+    if (captureExit) {
+      const env = ctx.vfs?.env && typeof ctx.vfs.env === 'object' ? ctx.vfs.env : null
+      const rawEc =
+        env && env.BARE_OS_EXIT_STATUS != null && env.BARE_OS_EXIT_STATUS !== ''
+          ? env.BARE_OS_EXIT_STATUS
+          : ctx.exitCode
+      const n = Number(rawEc)
+      const codeStr = String(Number.isFinite(n) ? n : 0)
+      const exitLine = '\nEXIT:' + codeStr + '\n'
+      captured += exitLine
+      try {
+        if (vfs?.readFile && vfs?.writeFile && ctx.b4a && typeof ctx.b4a.concat === 'function') {
+          let prev = await vfs.readFile(outPath)
+          const prevBytes =
+            prev && prev.length
+              ? prev instanceof Uint8Array
+                ? prev
+                : ctx.b4a.from(prev)
+              : ctx.b4a.from('')
+          await vfs.writeFile(
+            outPath,
+            ctx.b4a.concat([prevBytes, ctx.b4a.from(exitLine)])
+          )
+        }
+      } catch {
+        /* ignore */
+      }
+    }
     const max = 120_000
     if (captured.length > max) captured = captured.slice(0, max) + '\n… truncated'
     return { ok: true, stdout_stderr: captured }

packages/bare-os-seeder/kernel/etc/bare-os/posix_utilities.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "schema": 2,
   "profileId": "bare-os-posix-like",
-  "generatedAt": "2026-04-22T21:10:53.539Z",
+  "generatedAt": "2026-04-22T21:32:31.052Z",
   "note": "Sparse POSIX Issue 7 coverage hints for /bin utilities. Omitted command names are not yet profiled here.",
   "commandIndex": [
     {

packages/bare-os-seeder/kernel/lib/bare/shell-completion.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "schema": 1,
-  "atMs": 1776892253538,
+  "atMs": 1776893551051,
   "commands": [
     "agent",
     "arch",