diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy-timing.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy-timing.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0bd2ca95a17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy-timing.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// npm install on a cold Windows cache plus antivirus scanning can exceed the
+// default 30s exec timeout.
+export const NATIVE_DEPS_COMMAND_TIMEOUT_MS = 240_000
+
+// Why: a missing binding can require both install and rebuild while the same
+// install lock is held. Concurrent first installs must wait for that valid
+// holder instead of failing halfway through its bounded work.
+export const NATIVE_DEPS_REPAIR_BUDGET_MS = 2 * NATIVE_DEPS_COMMAND_TIMEOUT_MS
+
+// Why: individual exec commands have their own timeouts, but the full deploy
+// pipeline has no overall bound. Leave headroom after the native-deps budget
+// for platform detection, upload, probes, and launch.
+export const RELAY_DEPLOY_TIMEOUT_MS = NATIVE_DEPS_REPAIR_BUDGET_MS + 60_000
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy.test.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy.test.ts
index aa68f984aa6..4eb5bd57364 100644
--- a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy.test.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ vi.mock('./ssh-relay-versioned-install', () => ({
   gcOldRelayVersions: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined)
 }))
 
+vi.mock('./ssh-relay-repair-lock', () => ({
+  tryAcquireRelayRepairLock: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(true)
+}))
+
 vi.mock('./ssh-connection-utils', () => ({
   shellEscape: (s: string) => `'${s}'`
 }))
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy.ts
index 681f24b98ff..fb0bad68c8f 100644
--- a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy.ts
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-deploy.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ import {
   abandonInstall,
   gcOldRelayVersions
 } from './ssh-relay-versioned-install'
+import { tryAcquireRelayRepairLock } from './ssh-relay-repair-lock'
+import { NATIVE_DEPS_COMMAND_TIMEOUT_MS, RELAY_DEPLOY_TIMEOUT_MS } from './ssh-relay-deploy-timing'
 import { shellEscape } from './ssh-connection-utils'
 import {
   probeBuildToolchain,
@@ -66,22 +68,6 @@ export type RelayDeployResult = {
   sockPath?: string
 }
 
-// npm install on a cold Windows cache plus antivirus scanning can exceed the
-// default 30s exec timeout. The same bound covers the post-install `npm rebuild`
-// retry that repairs a native binding skipped by an ignore-scripts host.
-const NATIVE_DEPS_INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS = 240_000
-
-// Why: individual exec commands have their own timeouts, but the full deploy
-// pipeline (detect platform → check existing → upload → npm install → rebuild →
-// launch) has no overall bound, so a hanging step or slow SFTP upload could
-// block the connection indefinitely. This is a backstop, sized so the common
-// native-deps case — a first install AND its follow-up rebuild, each up to
-// NATIVE_DEPS_INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS — plus headroom is not falsely timed out.
-// (Adding heavy install-lock contention on top could still trip it; that stays
-// a rare, self-healing-on-retry edge rather than a reason to loosen the
-// backstop further.)
-const RELAY_DEPLOY_TIMEOUT_MS = 2 * NATIVE_DEPS_INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS + 60_000
-
 function execHostCommand(
   conn: SshConnection,
   hostPlatform: RemoteHostPlatform,
@@ -443,6 +429,12 @@ const RELAY_NATIVE_DEPS = {
   '@parcel/watcher': '2.5.6'
 } as const
 
+// Why: npm 12 blocks dependency lifecycle scripts unless each exact package
+// version is approved, even when ignore-scripts is explicitly disabled.
+const RELAY_NATIVE_DEP_SCRIPT_ALLOWLIST = Object.fromEntries(
+  Object.entries(RELAY_NATIVE_DEPS).map(([name, version]) => [`${name}@${version}`, true])
+)
+
 const LOAD_RELAY_NATIVE_DEPS = 'require("node-pty"); require("@parcel/watcher")'
 
 async function hasRequiredNativeDeps(
@@ -484,22 +476,14 @@ async function repairInstalledNativeDeps(
     return
   }
 
-  // Why: an already-installed relay can ALWAYS launch in degraded mode (fs/git/
-  // preflight still work — only native-backed ops fail), so native-deps repair
-  // is best-effort and must never block the connection: not on lock contention,
-  // and not on an offline/unbuildable repair. Pre-repair this path used
-  // require.resolve (which passed for a present-but-unloadable binding), so a
-  // fatal repair here would be a straight regression. launchRelay still surfaces
-  // a genuinely dead transport on its own.
+  // Why: an already-installed relay can launch in degraded mode (fs/git/preflight
+  // still work; native-backed ops fail), so native-deps repair is best-effort:
+  // lock contention and repair failures must not abort the connection. Pre-repair
+  // this path used require.resolve (which passed for a present-but-unloadable
+  // binding), so a fatal repair here would be a straight regression.
   console.warn(`[ssh-relay] Repairing missing native deps at ${remoteDir}`)
-  try {
-    await acquireInstallLock(conn, remoteDir, hostPlatform)
-  } catch (err) {
-    console.warn(
-      `[ssh-relay] Could not lock native-deps repair at ${remoteDir}; launching degraded: ${
-        err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)
-      }`
-    )
+  if (!(await tryAcquireRelayRepairLock(conn, remoteDir, hostPlatform))) {
+    console.warn(`[ssh-relay] Native-deps repair lock is busy at ${remoteDir}; launching degraded`)
     return
   }
   try {
@@ -551,7 +535,8 @@ async function installNativeDeps(
     version: '1.0.0',
     private: true,
     type: 'commonjs',
-    dependencies: RELAY_NATIVE_DEPS
+    dependencies: RELAY_NATIVE_DEPS,
+    allowScripts: RELAY_NATIVE_DEP_SCRIPT_ALLOWLIST
   })}\n`
   await writeRemoteFile(
     conn,
@@ -582,7 +567,7 @@ async function installNativeDeps(
           `npm install --ignore-scripts=false --omit=dev --no-audit --no-fund ${installArgs} 2>&1`
         )
     await execHostCommand(conn, hostPlatform, command, {
-      timeoutMs: NATIVE_DEPS_INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS
+      timeoutMs: NATIVE_DEPS_COMMAND_TIMEOUT_MS
     })
   } catch (err) {
     // Don't write .install-complete on hard fail; reconnect retries on a
@@ -657,7 +642,7 @@ async function rebuildNativeDeps(
         `npm rebuild --ignore-scripts=false ${depNames.map(shellEscape).join(' ')} 2>&1`
       )
   await execHostCommand(conn, hostPlatform, command, {
-    timeoutMs: NATIVE_DEPS_INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS
+    timeoutMs: NATIVE_DEPS_COMMAND_TIMEOUT_MS
   })
 }
 
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-install-lock-commands.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-install-lock-commands.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dd341161ecc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-install-lock-commands.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+import { shellEscape } from './ssh-connection-utils'
+import { powerShellCommand, powerShellLiteral } from './ssh-remote-powershell'
+import { isWindowsRemoteHost, type RemoteHostPlatform } from './ssh-remote-platform'
+
+const STALE_STEAL_LOCK_SECONDS = 120
+
+export function acquireInstallLockParentCommand(
+  host: RemoteHostPlatform,
+  remoteRelayDir: string
+): string {
+  if (!isWindowsRemoteHost(host)) {
+    return `mkdir -p ${shellEscape(remoteRelayDir)}`
+  }
+  return powerShellCommand(
+    `$null = New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path ${powerShellLiteral(remoteRelayDir)}`
+  )
+}
+
+export function tryCreateInstallLockCommand(host: RemoteHostPlatform, lockDir: string): string {
+  if (!isWindowsRemoteHost(host)) {
+    return `mkdir ${shellEscape(lockDir)} 2>&1 && echo OK || echo BUSY`
+  }
+  // New-Item has no -LiteralPath parameter; using it breaks stock Windows PowerShell.
+  return powerShellCommand(
+    `$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"; try { $null = New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path ${powerShellLiteral(lockDir)}; 'OK' } catch { 'BUSY' }`
+  )
+}
+
+export function lockAgeSecondsCommand(host: RemoteHostPlatform, lockDir: string): string {
+  if (!isWindowsRemoteHost(host)) {
+    return `${posixLockAgeSecondsAssignment(lockDir)} && echo "$age" || echo`
+  }
+  return powerShellCommand(
+    [
+      `$item = Get-Item -LiteralPath ${powerShellLiteral(lockDir)} -ErrorAction Stop`,
+      '$mtime = ([DateTimeOffset]$item.LastWriteTimeUtc).ToUnixTimeSeconds()',
+      '$now = [DateTimeOffset]::UtcNow.ToUnixTimeSeconds()',
+      'Write-Output ($now - $mtime)'
+    ].join('; ')
+  )
+}
+
+export function tryStealInstallLockCommand(
+  host: RemoteHostPlatform,
+  lockDir: string,
+  staleAfterSeconds: number
+): string {
+  if (!isWindowsRemoteHost(host)) {
+    return posixStealInstallLockCommand(lockDir, staleAfterSeconds)
+  }
+  return windowsStealInstallLockCommand(lockDir, staleAfterSeconds)
+}
+
+function posixStealInstallLockCommand(lockDir: string, staleAfterSeconds: number): string {
+  const escapedLockDir = shellEscape(lockDir)
+  const escapedStealLockPrefix = shellEscape(`${lockDir}.steal`)
+  return [
+    `${posixLockIdentityAssignment(lockDir, 'lock_key')} && mtime=\${lock_key%%:*} && now=$(date +%s) && age=$((now - mtime)) || age=0;`,
+    `if [ "\${age:-0}" -le ${staleAfterSeconds} ] 2>/dev/null; then echo BUSY; else`,
+    `steal=${escapedStealLockPrefix}.$mtime;`,
+    'owns_steal=0;',
+    'owned_steal=;',
+    'lock_tombstone=;',
+    'attempts=0;',
+    `while [ "$attempts" -lt 8 ] && [ "$owns_steal" != 1 ]; do`,
+    'if mkdir "$steal" 2>/dev/null; then owns_steal=1; owned_steal=$steal; break; fi;',
+    `steal_key=$(stat -c %Y:%i "$steal" 2>/dev/null || stat -f %m:%i "$steal" 2>/dev/null) && steal_mtime=\${steal_key%%:*} && steal_now=$(date +%s) && steal_age=$((steal_now - steal_mtime)) || break;`,
+    `if [ "\${steal_age:-0}" -le ${STALE_STEAL_LOCK_SECONDS} ] 2>/dev/null; then break; fi;`,
+    `steal_token=$(printf '%s' "$steal_key" | tr ':/' '__');`,
+    `steal="$steal.next.$steal_token";`,
+    'attempts=$((attempts + 1));',
+    'done;',
+    'if [ "$owns_steal" = 1 ]; then',
+    `trap 'rmdir "$owned_steal" 2>/dev/null || true; rm -rf "$lock_tombstone" 2>/dev/null || true' EXIT;`,
+    `${posixLockIdentityAssignment(lockDir, 'current_key')} && current_mtime=\${current_key%%:*} && current_now=$(date +%s) && current_age=$((current_now - current_mtime)) || current_age=0;`,
+    `if [ "$current_key" = "$lock_key" ] && [ "\${current_age:-0}" -gt ${staleAfterSeconds} ] 2>/dev/null; then`,
+    `lock_tombstone=${escapedLockDir}.tombstone.$$.$(date +%s);`,
+    `if mv ${escapedLockDir} "$lock_tombstone" 2>/dev/null; then mkdir ${escapedLockDir} 2>&1 && echo OK || echo BUSY; else echo BUSY; fi;`,
+    'else echo BUSY; fi;',
+    'else echo BUSY; fi; fi'
+  ].join(' ')
+}
+
+function windowsStealInstallLockCommand(lockDir: string, staleAfterSeconds: number): string {
+  return powerShellCommand(
+    [
+      `$lock = ${powerShellLiteral(lockDir)}`,
+      'try {',
+      '$item = Get-Item -LiteralPath $lock -ErrorAction Stop',
+      '$mtime = ([DateTimeOffset]$item.LastWriteTimeUtc).ToUnixTimeSeconds()',
+      '$lockIdentity = "${mtime}:$($item.CreationTimeUtc.Ticks)"',
+      '$now = [DateTimeOffset]::UtcNow.ToUnixTimeSeconds()',
+      `if (($now - $mtime) -le ${staleAfterSeconds}) { 'BUSY' } else {`,
+      '$steal = "$lock.steal.$mtime"',
+      '$ownsSteal = $false',
+      '$ownedSteal = $null',
+      '$lockTombstone = $null',
+      'try {',
+      'for ($attempt = 0; ($attempt -lt 8) -and (-not $ownsSteal); $attempt++) {',
+      'try {',
+      '$null = New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $steal -ErrorAction Stop',
+      '$ownsSteal = $true',
+      '$ownedSteal = $steal',
+      'break',
+      '} catch {',
+      'try {',
+      '$stealItem = Get-Item -LiteralPath $steal -ErrorAction Stop',
+      '$stealMtime = ([DateTimeOffset]$stealItem.LastWriteTimeUtc).ToUnixTimeSeconds()',
+      '$stealAge = [DateTimeOffset]::UtcNow.ToUnixTimeSeconds() - $stealMtime',
+      `if ($stealAge -le ${STALE_STEAL_LOCK_SECONDS}) { break }`,
+      '$stealIdentity = "$stealMtime-$($stealItem.CreationTimeUtc.Ticks)"',
+      '$steal = "$steal.next.$stealIdentity"',
+      '} catch { break }',
+      '}',
+      '}',
+      "if (-not $ownsSteal) { 'BUSY' } else {",
+      '$current = Get-Item -LiteralPath $lock -ErrorAction Stop',
+      '$currentMtime = ([DateTimeOffset]$current.LastWriteTimeUtc).ToUnixTimeSeconds()',
+      '$currentIdentity = "${currentMtime}:$($current.CreationTimeUtc.Ticks)"',
+      '$currentNow = [DateTimeOffset]::UtcNow.ToUnixTimeSeconds()',
+      `if (($currentIdentity -eq $lockIdentity) -and (($currentNow - $currentMtime) -gt ${staleAfterSeconds})) {`,
+      '$lockTombstone = "$lock.tombstone.$PID.$([DateTimeOffset]::UtcNow.ToUnixTimeMilliseconds())"',
+      'Move-Item -LiteralPath $lock -Destination $lockTombstone -ErrorAction Stop',
+      "try { $null = New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $lock -ErrorAction Stop; 'OK' } catch { 'BUSY' }",
+      "} else { 'BUSY' }",
+      '}',
+      "} catch { 'BUSY' } finally { if ($null -ne $ownedSteal) { Remove-Item -LiteralPath $ownedSteal -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }; if ($null -ne $lockTombstone) { Remove-Item -LiteralPath $lockTombstone -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue } }",
+      '}',
+      "} catch { 'BUSY' }"
+    ].join('; ')
+  )
+}
+
+function posixLockAgeSecondsAssignment(lockDir: string): string {
+  return `${posixLockMtimeSecondsAssignment(lockDir, 'mtime')} && now=$(date +%s) && age=$((now - mtime))`
+}
+
+function posixLockIdentityAssignment(lockDir: string, variableName: string): string {
+  const escapedLockDir = shellEscape(lockDir)
+  return `${variableName}=$(stat -c %Y:%i ${escapedLockDir} 2>/dev/null || stat -f %m:%i ${escapedLockDir} 2>/dev/null)`
+}
+
+function posixLockMtimeSecondsAssignment(lockDir: string, variableName: string): string {
+  const escapedLockDir = shellEscape(lockDir)
+  return `${variableName}=$(stat -c %Y ${escapedLockDir} 2>/dev/null || stat -f %m ${escapedLockDir} 2>/dev/null)`
+}
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-native-deps-install.test.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-native-deps-install.test.ts
index d15d68b1640..5dd1b4905ca 100644
--- a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-native-deps-install.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-native-deps-install.test.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ vi.mock('./ssh-relay-versioned-install', () => ({
   gcOldRelayVersions: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined)
 }))
 
+vi.mock('./ssh-relay-repair-lock', () => ({
+  tryAcquireRelayRepairLock: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(true)
+}))
+
 vi.mock('./ssh-connection-utils', () => ({
   shellEscape: (s: string) => `'${s}'`
 }))
@@ -61,6 +65,7 @@ import {
   finalizeInstall,
   isRelayAlreadyInstalled
 } from './ssh-relay-versioned-install'
+import { tryAcquireRelayRepairLock } from './ssh-relay-repair-lock'
 import type { SshConnection } from './ssh-connection'
 
 type SftpWriteCapture = {
@@ -270,6 +275,10 @@ describe('installNativeDeps (via deployAndLaunchRelay)', () => {
     // break `require('node-pty')`.
     expect(parsed.type).toBe('commonjs')
     expect(parsed.dependencies).toEqual({ '@parcel/watcher': '2.5.6', 'node-pty': '1.1.0' })
+    expect(parsed.allowScripts).toEqual({
+      '@parcel/watcher@2.5.6': true,
+      'node-pty@1.1.0': true
+    })
 
     const execCalls = vi.mocked(execCommand).mock.calls.map(([, c]) => c)
     const npmInstallIdx = execCalls.findIndex(
@@ -694,7 +703,7 @@ describe('installNativeDeps (via deployAndLaunchRelay)', () => {
 
     await deployAndLaunchRelay(conn)
 
-    expect(vi.mocked(acquireInstallLock)).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(vi.mocked(tryAcquireRelayRepairLock)).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
     expect(vi.mocked(finalizeInstall)).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
     const execCalls = vi.mocked(execCommand).mock.calls.map(([, c]) => c)
     expect(
@@ -734,9 +743,7 @@ describe('installNativeDeps (via deployAndLaunchRelay)', () => {
     // Why: lock contention/wedge must not block a completed relay from launching
     // in degraded mode — repair is best-effort and we hold no lock to release.
     vi.mocked(isRelayAlreadyInstalled).mockResolvedValue(true)
-    vi.mocked(acquireInstallLock).mockRejectedValueOnce(
-      new Error('Could not acquire relay install lock at /x; another install is in progress')
-    )
+    vi.mocked(tryAcquireRelayRepairLock).mockResolvedValueOnce(false)
     const conn = makeMockConnection(sftpCapture)
     feed([
       '__ORCA_REMOTE_PLATFORM__ Linux x86_64',
@@ -753,7 +760,7 @@ describe('installNativeDeps (via deployAndLaunchRelay)', () => {
     const execCalls = vi.mocked(execCommand).mock.calls.map(([, c]) => c)
     expect(execCalls.some((c) => c.includes('npm install'))).toBe(false)
     const warnMessages = warnSpy.mock.calls.map((args) => String(args[0] ?? ''))
-    expect(warnMessages.some((m) => m.includes('Could not lock native-deps repair'))).toBe(true)
+    expect(warnMessages.some((m) => m.includes('repair lock is busy'))).toBe(true)
   })
 
   it('loads native bindings when checking whether a completed relay needs repair', async () => {
@@ -792,6 +799,7 @@ describe('installNativeDeps (via deployAndLaunchRelay)', () => {
     await deployAndLaunchRelay(conn)
 
     expect(vi.mocked(acquireInstallLock)).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(vi.mocked(tryAcquireRelayRepairLock)).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(vi.mocked(finalizeInstall)).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     const execCalls = vi.mocked(execCommand).mock.calls.map(([, c]) => c)
     expect(execCalls.some((c) => c.includes('npm install'))).toBe(false)
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-repair-lock.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-repair-lock.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ebcac8c09ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-repair-lock.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import type { SshConnection } from './ssh-connection'
+import { execCommand } from './ssh-relay-deploy-helpers'
+import {
+  acquireInstallLockParentCommand,
+  tryCreateInstallLockCommand,
+  tryStealInstallLockCommand
+} from './ssh-relay-install-lock-commands'
+import {
+  getRemoteHostPlatform,
+  isWindowsRemoteHost,
+  joinRemotePath,
+  type RemoteHostPlatform
+} from './ssh-remote-platform'
+import { INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_SECONDS, RELAY_INSTALL_LOCK_NAME } from './ssh-relay-versioned-install'
+
+const DEFAULT_REMOTE_HOST = getRemoteHostPlatform('linux-x64')
+
+function execHostCommand(
+  conn: SshConnection,
+  host: RemoteHostPlatform,
+  command: string
+): Promise<string> {
+  return execCommand(conn, command, { wrapCommand: !isWindowsRemoteHost(host) })
+}
+
+/**
+ * Try once to acquire the install lock for best-effort repair work.
+ *
+ * Why: a completed relay can launch in degraded mode, so repair must not wait
+ * behind another installer. An already-stale lock is still recovered now.
+ */
+export async function tryAcquireRelayRepairLock(
+  conn: SshConnection,
+  remoteRelayDir: string,
+  host: RemoteHostPlatform = DEFAULT_REMOTE_HOST
+): Promise<boolean> {
+  const lockDir = joinRemotePath(host, remoteRelayDir, RELAY_INSTALL_LOCK_NAME)
+  try {
+    await execHostCommand(conn, host, acquireInstallLockParentCommand(host, remoteRelayDir))
+    const firstAttempt = await execHostCommand(
+      conn,
+      host,
+      tryCreateInstallLockCommand(host, lockDir)
+    )
+    if (firstAttempt.trim().endsWith('OK')) {
+      return true
+    }
+    const steal = await execHostCommand(
+      conn,
+      host,
+      tryStealInstallLockCommand(host, lockDir, INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_SECONDS)
+    )
+    if (steal.trim().endsWith('OK')) {
+      console.warn(`[ssh-relay] Stealing stale install lock at ${lockDir}`)
+      return true
+    }
+    return false
+  } catch {
+    return false
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-versioned-install.test.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-versioned-install.test.ts
index 244ae80a48c..e7e96ad7c2f 100644
--- a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-versioned-install.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-versioned-install.test.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import {
   abandonInstall,
   gcOldRelayVersions
 } from './ssh-relay-versioned-install'
+import { tryAcquireRelayRepairLock } from './ssh-relay-repair-lock'
 import { execCommand } from './ssh-relay-deploy-helpers'
 import { getRemoteHostPlatform } from './ssh-remote-platform'
 import type { SshConnection } from './ssh-connection'
@@ -131,6 +132,38 @@ describe('acquireInstallLock', () => {
     expect(mockExec).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
   })
 
+  it('returns immediately when a best-effort repair lock is busy', async () => {
+    mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('').mockResolvedValueOnce('BUSY').mockResolvedValueOnce('BUSY')
+
+    await expect(tryAcquireRelayRepairLock(conn, '/r')).resolves.toBe(false)
+
+    const commands = mockExec.mock.calls.map(([, command]) => command)
+    expect(commands.some((command) => command.includes('.install-lock.steal'))).toBe(true)
+    expect(commands.filter((command) => command.startsWith('rm -rf'))).toHaveLength(0)
+  })
+
+  it('does not steal a live repair lock that exceeds the deploy backstop', async () => {
+    // Why: repair can run npm install plus rebuild under the same lock; a
+    // second reconnect must launch degraded rather than corrupt node_modules.
+    mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('').mockResolvedValueOnce('BUSY').mockResolvedValueOnce('BUSY')
+
+    await expect(tryAcquireRelayRepairLock(conn, '/r')).resolves.toBe(false)
+
+    const commands = mockExec.mock.calls.map(([, command]) => command)
+    expect(commands.some((command) => command.includes('.install-lock.steal'))).toBe(true)
+    expect(commands.filter((command) => command.startsWith('rm -rf'))).toHaveLength(0)
+  })
+
+  it('recovers a stale best-effort repair lock without polling', async () => {
+    mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('').mockResolvedValueOnce('BUSY').mockResolvedValueOnce('OK')
+
+    await expect(tryAcquireRelayRepairLock(conn, '/r')).resolves.toBe(true)
+
+    const commands = mockExec.mock.calls.map(([, command]) => command)
+    expect(commands.some((command) => command.includes('.install-lock.steal'))).toBe(true)
+    expect(commands.filter((command) => command.includes('.install-lock.steal'))).toHaveLength(1)
+  })
+
   it('polls until the lock becomes available (concurrent installer wins, then we acquire)', async () => {
     vi.useFakeTimers()
     try {
@@ -159,36 +192,29 @@ describe('acquireInstallLock', () => {
     }
   })
 
-  it('steals a stale lock and retries with a reset timeout window', async () => {
+  it('steals a stale lock with a serialized remote steal command', async () => {
     vi.useFakeTimers({ now: 1_700_000_000_000 })
     try {
-      let mkdirCalls = 0
       mockExec.mockImplementation(async (_conn: unknown, cmd: string) => {
         if (cmd.startsWith('mkdir -p')) {
           return ''
         }
+        if (cmd.includes('.install-lock.steal')) {
+          return 'OK'
+        }
         if (cmd.includes('mkdir') && cmd.includes('.install-lock')) {
-          mkdirCalls++
-          return mkdirCalls > 200 ? 'OK' : 'BUSY'
-        }
-        if (cmd.includes('stat')) {
-          return `${Math.floor((Date.now() - 10 * 60 * 1000) / 1000)}\n`
-        }
-        if (cmd.startsWith('rm -rf')) {
-          mkdirCalls = 1000
-          return ''
+          return 'BUSY'
         }
         return ''
       })
 
       const promise = acquireInstallLock(conn, '/r')
-      // Drive through the full timeout (120s) so the stale-recovery branch
-      // fires, then drive a few more seconds for the post-recovery retry.
-      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(125_000)
+      // Drive through the full deploy bound so stale recovery fires.
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(545_000)
       await promise
 
       const cmds = mockExec.mock.calls.map(([, c]) => c)
-      expect(cmds.some((c) => c.includes('rm -rf') && c.includes('.install-lock'))).toBe(true)
+      expect(cmds.some((c) => c.includes('.install-lock.steal'))).toBe(true)
     } finally {
       vi.useRealTimers()
     }
@@ -201,23 +227,50 @@ describe('acquireInstallLock', () => {
         if (cmd.startsWith('mkdir -p')) {
           return ''
         }
+        if (cmd.includes('.install-lock.steal')) {
+          return 'BUSY'
+        }
         if (cmd.includes('mkdir') && cmd.includes('.install-lock')) {
           return 'BUSY'
         }
         if (cmd.includes('stat')) {
-          return `${Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000)}\n`
+          return '0\n'
         }
         return ''
       })
 
       const rejection = expect(acquireInstallLock(conn, '/r')).rejects.toThrow(/not yet stale/i)
-      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(125_000)
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(545_000)
       await rejection
     } finally {
       vi.useRealTimers()
     }
   })
 
+  it('keeps waiting while a slow first installer is within the deploy bound', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers({ now: 1_700_000_000_000 })
+    try {
+      const availableAt = Date.now() + 500_000
+      mockExec.mockImplementation(async (_conn: unknown, cmd: string) => {
+        if (cmd.startsWith('mkdir -p')) {
+          return ''
+        }
+        if (cmd.includes('mkdir') && cmd.includes('.install-lock')) {
+          return Date.now() >= availableAt ? 'OK' : 'BUSY'
+        }
+        return ''
+      })
+
+      const promise = acquireInstallLock(conn, '/r')
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(501_000)
+
+      await expect(promise).resolves.toBeUndefined()
+      expect(mockExec.mock.calls.some(([, cmd]) => cmd.includes('.install-lock.steal'))).toBe(false)
+    } finally {
+      vi.useRealTimers()
+    }
+  })
+
   it('finalizeInstall writes .install-complete then removes the lock', async () => {
     mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('').mockResolvedValueOnce('')
     await finalizeInstall(conn, '/r')
@@ -273,8 +326,8 @@ describe('gcOldRelayVersions', () => {
   it('skips siblings whose .install-lock is held and fresh', async () => {
     mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('relay-0.1.0+aaa\n')
     mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('LOCKED')
-    // isLockStale: mtime ~now → not stale.
-    mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce(`${Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000)}\n`)
+    // isLockStale: age ~now → not stale.
+    mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('0\n')
     await gcOldRelayVersions(conn, '/home/u', '/home/u/.orca-remote/relay-0.1.0+bbb')
     const cmds = mockExec.mock.calls.map(([, c]) => c)
     expect(cmds.some((c) => c.includes('rm -rf'))).toBe(false)
@@ -283,9 +336,8 @@ describe('gcOldRelayVersions', () => {
   it('removes a sibling with a stale lock + .install-complete (rm-lock failed mid-finalize)', async () => {
     mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('relay-0.1.0+aaa\n')
     mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('LOCKED')
-    // isLockStale: mtime well in the past → stale.
-    const staleSec = Math.floor((Date.now() - 10 * 60 * 1000) / 1000)
-    mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce(`${staleSec}\n`)
+    // isLockStale: age well above the stale window → stale.
+    mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce(`${21 * 60}\n`)
     mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('COMPLETE') // .install-complete present
     mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('') // socket probe → no ALIVE
     mockExec.mockResolvedValueOnce('') // rm -rf
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-versioned-install.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-versioned-install.ts
index a669f0b7875..4028bf4233b 100644
--- a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-versioned-install.ts
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-versioned-install.ts
@@ -15,16 +15,20 @@ import { existsSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs'
 import type { SshConnection } from './ssh-connection'
 import { RELAY_REMOTE_DIR } from './relay-protocol'
 import { execCommand } from './ssh-relay-deploy-helpers'
+import { RELAY_DEPLOY_TIMEOUT_MS } from './ssh-relay-deploy-timing'
 import {
   acquireInstallLockParentCommand,
+  lockAgeSecondsCommand,
+  tryCreateInstallLockCommand,
+  tryStealInstallLockCommand
+} from './ssh-relay-install-lock-commands'
+import {
   listRelayBaseDirsCommand,
-  lockMtimeEpochCommand,
   probeDirectoryExistsCommand,
   probeFileExistsCommand,
   probeRelayInstalledCommand,
   relayLivenessProbeCommand,
   removeRemoteTreeCommand,
-  tryCreateInstallLockCommand,
   writeRemoteEmptyFileCommand
 } from './ssh-remote-commands'
 import {
@@ -51,18 +55,21 @@ const RELAY_VERSION_DIR_REGEX = /^relay-(v?\d+\.\d+\.\d+(\+[0-9a-f]+)?)$/
 // living on remote disks forever.
 const LEGACY_RELAY_DIR_REGEX = /^relay-v\d+\.\d+\.\d+$/
 
-const INSTALL_LOCK_NAME = '.install-lock'
+export const RELAY_INSTALL_LOCK_NAME = '.install-lock'
 const INSTALL_COMPLETE_NAME = '.install-complete'
 
 const INSTALL_LOCK_POLL_MS = 1_000
-const INSTALL_LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000
+// Why: the lock holder can legitimately use the full deploy bound for upload,
+// native install/rebuild, probes, and finalization. A concurrent first install
+// must not fail earlier; completed-relay repair uses a separate one-shot path.
+const INSTALL_LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS = RELAY_DEPLOY_TIMEOUT_MS
 // Why: a stale lock dir from a crashed installer must be recoverable without
 // user intervention. After the timeout we check the lock's mtime; if it's
 // older than this window the previous installer is assumed dead and we steal
-// the lock. 2 minutes is well above a normal `npm install node-pty` runtime
-// (10–60s on slow hosts) so a slow concurrent installer is not falsely
-// declared dead.
-const INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_MS = 120_000
+// the lock. Native-deps repair can keep running after the deploy backstop wins
+// Promise.race, so leave enough room for its bounded under-lock exec sequence.
+const INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_MS = 20 * 60_000
+export const INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_SECONDS = INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_MS / 1000
 const DEFAULT_REMOTE_HOST = getRemoteHostPlatform('linux-x64')
 
 type RelayInstalledProbeOptions = {
@@ -166,13 +173,12 @@ export async function acquireInstallLock(
   remoteRelayDir: string,
   host: RemoteHostPlatform = DEFAULT_REMOTE_HOST
 ): Promise<void> {
-  const lockDir = joinRemotePath(host, remoteRelayDir, INSTALL_LOCK_NAME)
+  const lockDir = joinRemotePath(host, remoteRelayDir, RELAY_INSTALL_LOCK_NAME)
   // Why: the parent dir may not exist yet on a first install. mkdir -p is
   // safe to run multiple times — it's a no-op if the dir already exists.
   await execHostCommand(conn, host, acquireInstallLockParentCommand(host, remoteRelayDir))
 
   let start = Date.now()
-  let recoveredOnce = false
   while (true) {
     try {
       const result = await execHostCommand(conn, host, tryCreateInstallLockCommand(host, lockDir))
@@ -183,24 +189,16 @@ export async function acquireInstallLock(
       /* mkdir failed with non-zero — fall through to BUSY treatment */
     }
     if (Date.now() - start >= INSTALL_LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS) {
-      if (recoveredOnce) {
-        throw new Error(
-          `Could not acquire relay install lock at ${lockDir} after ${
-            INSTALL_LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS / 1000
-          }s; another install is in progress or the lock is wedged.`
-        )
-      }
-      // Stale-lock recovery: if the lock dir's mtime is older than the stale
-      // window, the previous installer crashed. Steal it and retry once,
-      // resetting the timeout window so a single post-recovery race doesn't
-      // immediately exhaust the budget.
-      const ageOk = await isLockStale(conn, lockDir, host)
-      if (ageOk) {
+      // Stale-lock recovery is one remote command so two observers cannot both
+      // delete a lock that the other one just recreated.
+      const steal = await execHostCommand(
+        conn,
+        host,
+        tryStealInstallLockCommand(host, lockDir, INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_SECONDS)
+      ).catch(() => 'BUSY')
+      if (steal.trim().endsWith('OK')) {
         console.warn(`[ssh-relay] Stealing stale install lock at ${lockDir}`)
-        await execHostCommand(conn, host, removeRemoteTreeCommand(host, lockDir)).catch(() => {})
-        recoveredOnce = true
-        start = Date.now()
-        continue
+        return
       }
       throw new Error(
         `Could not acquire relay install lock at ${lockDir} after ${
@@ -212,22 +210,20 @@ export async function acquireInstallLock(
   }
 }
 
-async function isLockStale(
+export async function isRelayInstallLockStale(
   conn: SshConnection,
   lockDir: string,
   host: RemoteHostPlatform = DEFAULT_REMOTE_HOST
 ): Promise<boolean> {
   try {
-    // Why: `stat` flags differ between GNU coreutils (Linux) and BSD (macOS).
-    // We try GNU first, then BSD; both produce a Unix epoch in seconds on
-    // stdout. If both fail we conservatively treat the lock as not stale.
-    const out = await execHostCommand(conn, host, lockMtimeEpochCommand(host, lockDir))
-    const mtimeSec = Number.parseInt(out.trim(), 10)
-    if (!Number.isFinite(mtimeSec)) {
+    // Why: compute age on the remote host so clock skew between two Orca
+    // clients cannot make a live repair lock look older than it is.
+    const out = await execHostCommand(conn, host, lockAgeSecondsCommand(host, lockDir))
+    const ageSec = Number.parseInt(out.trim(), 10)
+    if (!Number.isFinite(ageSec) || ageSec < 0) {
       return false
     }
-    const ageMs = Date.now() - mtimeSec * 1000
-    return ageMs > INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_MS
+    return ageSec * 1000 > INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_MS
   } catch {
     return false
   }
@@ -245,7 +241,7 @@ export async function finalizeInstall(
   host: RemoteHostPlatform = DEFAULT_REMOTE_HOST
 ): Promise<void> {
   const sentinel = joinRemotePath(host, remoteRelayDir, INSTALL_COMPLETE_NAME)
-  const lock = joinRemotePath(host, remoteRelayDir, INSTALL_LOCK_NAME)
+  const lock = joinRemotePath(host, remoteRelayDir, RELAY_INSTALL_LOCK_NAME)
   await execHostCommand(conn, host, writeRemoteEmptyFileCommand(host, sentinel))
   await execHostCommand(conn, host, removeRemoteTreeCommand(host, lock)).catch(() => {})
 }
@@ -260,7 +256,7 @@ export async function abandonInstall(
   remoteRelayDir: string,
   host: RemoteHostPlatform = DEFAULT_REMOTE_HOST
 ): Promise<void> {
-  const lock = joinRemotePath(host, remoteRelayDir, INSTALL_LOCK_NAME)
+  const lock = joinRemotePath(host, remoteRelayDir, RELAY_INSTALL_LOCK_NAME)
   await execHostCommand(conn, host, removeRemoteTreeCommand(host, lock)).catch(() => {})
 }
 
@@ -346,7 +342,7 @@ async function isCandidateSafeToRemove(
 ): Promise<boolean> {
   const isLegacy = LEGACY_RELAY_DIR_REGEX.test(name)
 
-  const lockDir = joinRemotePath(host, dir, INSTALL_LOCK_NAME)
+  const lockDir = joinRemotePath(host, dir, RELAY_INSTALL_LOCK_NAME)
   const lockProbe = await execHostCommand(
     conn,
     host,
@@ -356,13 +352,13 @@ async function isCandidateSafeToRemove(
 
   if (locked) {
     // Why: a locked dir is normally unsafe to remove — but a STALE lock
-    // (mtime older than INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_MS) means the previous installer
+    // (remote age older than INSTALL_LOCK_STALE_MS) means the previous installer
     // crashed and is never coming back. If the dir also has the
     // .install-complete sentinel (touch succeeded but the rm-lock at the
     // end of finalizeInstall failed), removing the dir is safe — no
     // installer is racing us, and the daemon (if any) keeps running off
     // its already-loaded code regardless of disk state.
-    if (!(await isLockStale(conn, lockDir, host))) {
+    if (!(await isRelayInstallLockStale(conn, lockDir, host))) {
       return false
     }
     process.stderr.write?.(`[ssh-relay] GC: lock at ${lockDir} is stale; treating as recoverable\n`)
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-remote-commands.test.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-remote-commands.test.ts
index 952daf9edde..ae62a46de7c 100644
--- a/src/main/ssh/ssh-remote-commands.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-remote-commands.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,21 @@
+import { execFileSync, spawn, spawnSync } from 'node:child_process'
+import {
+  existsSync,
+  mkdirSync,
+  mkdtempSync,
+  readdirSync,
+  rmSync,
+  statSync,
+  utimesSync
+} from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import {
+  lockAgeSecondsCommand,
+  tryCreateInstallLockCommand,
+  tryStealInstallLockCommand
+} from './ssh-relay-install-lock-commands'
 import {
   commandInRemoteDirectory,
   commandWithNodePath,
@@ -6,19 +23,52 @@ import {
   makeRemoteDirectoryCommand,
   probeRelayInstalledCommand,
   readRemoteHomeCommand,
-  relayLivenessProbeCommand,
-  tryCreateInstallLockCommand
+  relayLivenessProbeCommand
 } from './ssh-remote-commands'
 import { getRemoteHostPlatform } from './ssh-remote-platform'
 
 const posix = getRemoteHostPlatform('linux-x64')
 const windows = getRemoteHostPlatform('win32-x64')
+const powerShellExecutable = (
+  process.platform === 'win32' ? ['pwsh.exe', 'powershell.exe'] : ['pwsh']
+).find((candidate) => {
+  const result = spawnSync(candidate, ['-NoProfile', '-NonInteractive', '-Command', 'exit 0'], {
+    stdio: 'ignore'
+  })
+  return result.status === 0
+})
 
 function decodePowerShellCommand(command: string): string {
   const match = command.match(/-EncodedCommand\s+([A-Za-z0-9+/=]+)/)
   return match ? Buffer.from(match[1], 'base64').toString('utf16le') : ''
 }
 
+function runShellCommand(command: string): Promise<string> {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const child = spawn('/bin/sh', ['-c', command], {
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe']
+    })
+    let stdout = ''
+    let stderr = ''
+    child.stdout.setEncoding('utf8')
+    child.stderr.setEncoding('utf8')
+    child.stdout.on('data', (chunk) => {
+      stdout += chunk
+    })
+    child.stderr.on('data', (chunk) => {
+      stderr += chunk
+    })
+    child.on('error', reject)
+    child.on('close', (code) => {
+      if (code === 0) {
+        resolve(stdout)
+        return
+      }
+      reject(new Error(`shell exited ${code}: ${stderr}`))
+    })
+  })
+}
+
 describe('ssh remote command builders', () => {
   it('keeps POSIX deploy commands POSIX-native', () => {
     expect(readRemoteHomeCommand(posix)).toBe('echo $HOME')
@@ -101,6 +151,121 @@ describe('ssh remote command builders', () => {
     expect(script).not.toContain('}; catch')
   })
 
+  it('computes install-lock age on the remote host clock', () => {
+    const posixCommand = lockAgeSecondsCommand(posix, '/home/me/.orca-remote/relay/.install-lock')
+    const windowsScript = decodePowerShellCommand(
+      lockAgeSecondsCommand(windows, 'C:/Users/me/.orca-remote/relay/.install-lock')
+    )
+
+    expect(posixCommand).toContain('date +%s')
+    expect(posixCommand).toContain('echo "$age"')
+    expect(windowsScript).toContain('[DateTimeOffset]::UtcNow.ToUnixTimeSeconds()')
+    expect(windowsScript).toContain('Write-Output ($now - $mtime)')
+  })
+
+  it('serializes stale install-lock recovery under a sibling steal mutex', () => {
+    const posixCommand = tryStealInstallLockCommand(
+      posix,
+      '/home/me/.orca-remote/relay/.install-lock',
+      20 * 60
+    )
+    const windowsScript = decodePowerShellCommand(
+      tryStealInstallLockCommand(windows, 'C:/Users/me/.orca-remote/relay/.install-lock', 20 * 60)
+    )
+
+    expect(posixCommand).toContain('.install-lock.steal')
+    expect(posixCommand).toContain('$mtime')
+    expect(posixCommand).toContain('-gt 1200')
+    expect(posixCommand).toContain('current_mtime')
+    expect(posixCommand).toContain('steal_age')
+    expect(posixCommand).toContain('steal="$steal.next.$steal_token"')
+    expect(posixCommand).toContain('trap')
+    expect(windowsScript).toContain('$lock.steal.$mtime')
+    expect(windowsScript).toContain('-gt 1200')
+    expect(windowsScript).toContain('$currentIdentity -eq $lockIdentity')
+    expect(windowsScript).toContain('$stealAge -le 120')
+    expect(windowsScript).toContain('$steal = "$steal.next.$stealIdentity"')
+    expect(windowsScript).toContain('New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $steal')
+    expect(windowsScript).toContain('finally')
+  })
+
+  it.runIf(powerShellExecutable)('emits a parseable Windows stale-lock recovery command', () => {
+    const script = decodePowerShellCommand(
+      tryStealInstallLockCommand(
+        windows,
+        'C:/Users/orca-missing/.orca-remote/relay/.install-lock',
+        20 * 60
+      )
+    )
+    const result = spawnSync(
+      powerShellExecutable!,
+      ['-NoProfile', '-NonInteractive', '-Command', script],
+      { encoding: 'utf8' }
+    )
+
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0)
+    expect(result.stdout.trim()).toBe('BUSY')
+  })
+
+  it.runIf(process.platform !== 'win32')(
+    'recovers a stale POSIX steal mutex left by a crashed stealer',
+    () => {
+      const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-install-lock-'))
+      try {
+        const lockDir = join(root, '.install-lock')
+        mkdirSync(lockDir)
+        const staleDate = new Date(Date.now() - 60 * 60_000)
+        utimesSync(lockDir, staleDate, staleDate)
+        const lockMtimeSeconds = Math.floor(statSync(lockDir).mtimeMs / 1000)
+        const stealDir = `${lockDir}.steal.${lockMtimeSeconds}`
+        mkdirSync(stealDir)
+        utimesSync(stealDir, staleDate, staleDate)
+
+        const command = tryStealInstallLockCommand(posix, lockDir, 20 * 60)
+        const output = execFileSync('/bin/sh', ['-c', command], { encoding: 'utf8' })
+
+        expect(output.trim()).toBe('OK')
+        expect(existsSync(lockDir)).toBe(true)
+        expect(existsSync(stealDir)).toBe(true)
+        expect(readdirSync(root).some((name) => name.includes('.next.'))).toBe(false)
+        expect(Math.floor(statSync(lockDir).mtimeMs / 1000)).toBeGreaterThan(lockMtimeSeconds)
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+      }
+    }
+  )
+
+  it.runIf(process.platform !== 'win32')(
+    'lets only one POSIX stealer take over a preexisting stale steal mutex',
+    async () => {
+      const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-install-lock-race-'))
+      try {
+        const lockDir = join(root, '.install-lock')
+        mkdirSync(lockDir)
+        const staleDate = new Date(Date.now() - 60 * 60_000)
+        utimesSync(lockDir, staleDate, staleDate)
+        const lockMtimeSeconds = Math.floor(statSync(lockDir).mtimeMs / 1000)
+        const stealDir = `${lockDir}.steal.${lockMtimeSeconds}`
+        mkdirSync(stealDir)
+        utimesSync(stealDir, staleDate, staleDate)
+
+        const command = tryStealInstallLockCommand(posix, lockDir, 20 * 60)
+        const outputs = await Promise.all(
+          Array.from({ length: 64 }, () => runShellCommand(command))
+        )
+        const okCount = outputs.filter((output) => output.trim().endsWith('OK')).length
+
+        expect(okCount).toBe(1)
+        expect(existsSync(lockDir)).toBe(true)
+        expect(existsSync(stealDir)).toBe(true)
+        expect(readdirSync(root).some((name) => name.includes('.next.'))).toBe(false)
+        expect(readdirSync(root).some((name) => name.includes('.tombstone'))).toBe(false)
+      } finally {
+        rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+      }
+    }
+  )
+
   it('makes Windows remote directory changes fail before running scoped commands', () => {
     const scopedCommand = decodePowerShellCommand(
       commandInRemoteDirectory(windows, 'C:/Users/me/.orca-remote/relay-0.1.0', "'READY'")
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-remote-commands.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-remote-commands.ts
index 339f4aef594..751c91017da 100644
--- a/src/main/ssh/ssh-remote-commands.ts
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-remote-commands.ts
@@ -81,36 +81,6 @@ export function probeRelayInstalledCommand(
   )
 }
 
-export function acquireInstallLockParentCommand(
-  host: RemoteHostPlatform,
-  remoteRelayDir: string
-): string {
-  return makeRemoteDirectoryCommand(host, remoteRelayDir)
-}
-
-export function tryCreateInstallLockCommand(host: RemoteHostPlatform, lockDir: string): string {
-  if (!isWindowsRemoteHost(host)) {
-    return `mkdir ${shellEscape(lockDir)} 2>&1 && echo OK || echo BUSY`
-  }
-  // New-Item has no -LiteralPath parameter; using it breaks stock Windows PowerShell.
-  return powerShellCommand(
-    `$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"; try { $null = New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path ${powerShellLiteral(lockDir)}; 'OK' } catch { 'BUSY' }`
-  )
-}
-
-export function lockMtimeEpochCommand(host: RemoteHostPlatform, lockDir: string): string {
-  if (!isWindowsRemoteHost(host)) {
-    return `stat -c %Y ${shellEscape(lockDir)} 2>/dev/null || stat -f %m ${shellEscape(lockDir)} 2>/dev/null || echo`
-  }
-  return powerShellCommand(
-    [
-      `$item = Get-Item -LiteralPath ${powerShellLiteral(lockDir)} -ErrorAction Stop`,
-      '$dto = [DateTimeOffset]$item.LastWriteTimeUtc',
-      'Write-Output $dto.ToUnixTimeSeconds()'
-    ].join('; ')
-  )
-}
-
 export function listRelayBaseDirsCommand(host: RemoteHostPlatform, baseDir: string): string {
   if (!isWindowsRemoteHost(host)) {
     return `ls -1 ${shellEscape(baseDir)} 2>/dev/null || true`
diff --git a/src/relay/pty-handler.ts b/src/relay/pty-handler.ts
index c1de6809c15..74fd755e6fd 100644
--- a/src/relay/pty-handler.ts
+++ b/src/relay/pty-handler.ts
@@ -51,7 +51,14 @@ async function loadPty(): Promise<typeof NodePty | null> {
     ptyModule = await import('node-pty')
     return ptyModule
   } catch {
-    return null
+    try {
+      // Why: Node caches rejected dynamic imports, while a failed CommonJS
+      // load remains retryable after deploy repairs node_modules in place.
+      ptyModule = require('node-pty') as typeof NodePty
+      return ptyModule
+    } catch {
+      return null
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/relay/subprocess.test.ts b/src/relay/subprocess.test.ts
index ee20461dd68..ea017bb8316 100644
--- a/src/relay/subprocess.test.ts
+++ b/src/relay/subprocess.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it, afterEach } from 'vitest'
-import { existsSync, mkdtempSync, readFileSync, unlinkSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import {
+  copyFileSync,
+  existsSync,
+  mkdirSync,
+  mkdtempSync,
+  readFileSync,
+  unlinkSync,
+  writeFileSync
+} from 'node:fs'
 import { rm } from 'node:fs/promises'
 import * as path from 'node:path'
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
@@ -103,6 +111,35 @@ describe('Subprocess: Relay entry point', () => {
     expect(readFileSync(relayEntry, 'utf8')).not.toContain('.toReversed(')
   })
 
+  it('loads node-pty after an in-place dependency repair without restarting', async () => {
+    tmpDir = mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), 'relay-native-repair-'))
+    const repairedRelayEntry = path.join(tmpDir, 'relay.js')
+    copyFileSync(relayEntry, repairedRelayEntry)
+
+    relay = spawnRelay(repairedRelayEntry)
+    await relay.sentinelReceived
+
+    const failedId = relay.send('pty.spawn', { cols: 80, rows: 24 })
+    const failed = await relay.waitForResponse(failedId)
+    expect(failed.error?.message).toContain('node-pty is not available')
+
+    const nodePtyDir = path.join(tmpDir, 'node_modules', 'node-pty')
+    mkdirSync(nodePtyDir, { recursive: true })
+    writeFileSync(
+      path.join(nodePtyDir, 'index.js'),
+      `module.exports = { spawn() { return {
+        pid: process.pid,
+        process: 'mock-shell',
+        onData() {}, onExit() {}, write() {}, resize() {}, kill() {}, clear() {}
+      } } }\n`
+    )
+
+    const repairedId = relay.send('pty.spawn', { cols: 80, rows: 24 })
+    const repaired = await relay.waitForResponse(repairedId)
+    expect(repaired.error).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(repaired.result).toMatchObject({ id: 'pty-1' })
+  }, 10_000)
+
   it('responds to fs.stat over stdin/stdout', async () => {
     tmpDir = mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), 'relay-sub-'))
     writeFileSync(path.join(tmpDir, 'test.txt'), 'hello')