diff --git a/src/main/codex-cli/command.test.ts b/src/main/codex-cli/command.test.ts
index c6d627f19d3..fbc1830443b 100644
--- a/src/main/codex-cli/command.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/codex-cli/command.test.ts
@@ -327,6 +327,25 @@ describe('resolveCliCommands', () => {
     expect(resolved.get('codex')).toBe(join(pathDir, 'codex'))
   })
 
+  it('still resolves PATH commands when the nvm versions dir is unreadable', async () => {
+    const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-cli-commands-'))
+    const pathDir = join(root, 'bin')
+    const pathClaude = join(pathDir, 'claude')
+    makeExecutable(pathClaude)
+    // Why: a file where a directory is expected makes readdir throw ENOTDIR,
+    // standing in for stale-mount/EACCES failures on ~/.nvm/versions/node.
+    makeNonExecutableFile(join(root, '.nvm', 'versions', 'node'))
+
+    const resolved = await resolveCliCommands(['claude', 'missing'], {
+      platform: 'darwin',
+      pathEnv: pathDir,
+      homePath: root
+    })
+
+    expect(resolved.get('claude')).toBe(pathClaude)
+    expect(resolved.get('missing')).toBe('missing')
+  })
+
   it('keeps Linux executable matching case-sensitive', async () => {
     const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-cli-commands-'))
     const pathDir = join(root, 'bin')
diff --git a/src/main/codex-cli/command.ts b/src/main/codex-cli/command.ts
index 55d36a56163..a51bb4c8337 100644
--- a/src/main/codex-cli/command.ts
+++ b/src/main/codex-cli/command.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { accessSync, constants, existsSync, readdirSync, statSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { accessSync, constants, existsSync, readdirSync, statSync, type Dirent } from 'node:fs'
 import { access, readdir, stat } from 'node:fs/promises'
 import { homedir } from 'node:os'
 import { delimiter, dirname, join } from 'node:path'
@@ -214,7 +214,17 @@ function getNvmVersionDirectories(homePath: string): string[] {
     return []
   }
 
-  return readdirSync(nvmVersionsDir, { withFileTypes: true })
+  // Why: bulk detection folds PATH and install dirs into one pass, so an
+  // unreadable nvm dir (stale mount, dangling symlink) must degrade to "no
+  // nvm dirs" instead of aborting resolution and discarding PATH-found CLIs.
+  let entries: Dirent[]
+  try {
+    entries = readdirSync(nvmVersionsDir, { withFileTypes: true })
+  } catch {
+    return []
+  }
+
+  return entries
     .filter((entry) => entry.isDirectory())
     .map((entry) => entry.name)
     .sort(compareVersionDesc)
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/App.tsx b/src/renderer/src/App.tsx
index a4ac1ffeec2..638e9eaefaa 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/App.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/App.tsx
@@ -326,7 +326,14 @@ function SkillFreshnessUpdateDialogGate(): React.JSX.Element | null {
     getSkillFreshnessUpdateDialogRequest,
     getSkillFreshnessUpdateDialogRequest
   )
-  if (!requested) {
+  // Why: stay mounted after the first request — closing consumes the request
+  // in the same commit `open` flips false, and unmounting then would cut off
+  // Radix's exit animation.
+  const everRequestedRef = useRef(false)
+  if (requested) {
+    everRequestedRef.current = true
+  }
+  if (!everRequestedRef.current) {
     return null
   }
   return (
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/app-startup-routing.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/app-startup-routing.test.ts
index 1f77ef4340d..a2a8437c960 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/app-startup-routing.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/app-startup-routing.test.ts
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ describe('renderer startup runtime routing', () => {
 
     expect(source).toContain("import('./LinearAgentSkillSetupDialog').then")
     expect(source).not.toContain("from './LinearAgentSkillSetupDialog'")
-    expect(source).toContain('const setupDialog = setupDialogOpen ?')
+    expect(source).toContain('const setupDialog = setupDialogEverOpenedRef.current ?')
   })
 
   it('loads worktree note Markdown only with the hover detail surface', () => {
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt.tsx
index e008c13956e..a7e8f4f471c 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt.tsx
@@ -86,6 +86,12 @@ export function LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt({
   const [cliStatus, setCliStatus] = useState<CliInstallStatus | null>(null)
   const [cliLoading, setCliLoading] = useState(linked)
   const [setupDialogOpen, setSetupDialogOpen] = useState(false)
+  // Why: keep the dialog mounted once opened so closing can play Radix's exit
+  // animation; only the very first mount is deferred off the startup path.
+  const setupDialogEverOpenedRef = useRef(false)
+  if (setupDialogOpen) {
+    setupDialogEverOpenedRef.current = true
+  }
   const [setupCheckResult, setSetupCheckResult] = useState<SetupCheckResult>('idle')
   const [activeSetupCheckIdentity, setActiveSetupCheckIdentity] = useState<string | null>(null)
   const agentRuntime = useMemo(
@@ -287,8 +293,9 @@ export function LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt({
   }
 
   // Why: rendering a lazy component with open=false still fetches its module.
-  // Gate the element itself so the inline installer terminal stays off startup.
-  const setupDialog = setupDialogOpen ? (
+  // Gate the element until the first open so the inline installer terminal
+  // stays off startup.
+  const setupDialog = setupDialogEverOpenedRef.current ? (
     <Suspense fallback={null}>
       <LinearAgentSkillSetupDialog
         open={setupDialogOpen}
diff --git a/tools/benchmarks/startup-time-benchmark-fixture.mjs b/tools/benchmarks/startup-time-benchmark-fixture.mjs
index ab1a23aacc6..fed69b766d8 100644
--- a/tools/benchmarks/startup-time-benchmark-fixture.mjs
+++ b/tools/benchmarks/startup-time-benchmark-fixture.mjs
@@ -519,6 +519,11 @@ export function ensureStartupBenchmarkFixture(fixtureDir, options) {
     ['Service Worker', 'CacheStorage'],
     ['terminal-scrollback-snapshots']
   ]
+  // Why: rebuilding with a smaller file count must not inherit higher-index
+  // files from a prior larger fixture, or the icacls walk measures the old size.
+  for (const bucketRoot of new Set(buckets.map(([root]) => root))) {
+    rmSync(join(fixtureDir, bucketRoot), { recursive: true, force: true })
+  }
   const payload = 'x'.repeat(1024)
   let written = 0
   const started = Date.now()