diff --git a/mobile/src/terminal/document/surface-tap.ts b/mobile/src/terminal/document/surface-tap.ts
index 38da7ae0fe6..2f0c5fdf81f 100644
--- a/mobile/src/terminal/document/surface-tap.ts
+++ b/mobile/src/terminal/document/surface-tap.ts
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ export function notifyTerminalSurfaceTap(
       notify(scope, { type: 'open-url', url })
       return
     }
-    const candidates = uniqueFileTapCandidates(
-      findTerminalFileLinksAtBufferPosition(buffer, position, term.cols)
-    )
-    if (candidates.length > 0) {
+    const { links, guesses } = findTerminalFileLinksAtBufferPosition(buffer, position, term.cols)
+    // Why: a tap decides now, so only a path as written makes it a file tap; the host checks the guesses.
+    if (links.length > 0) {
+      const candidates = uniqueFileTapCandidates([...links, ...guesses])
       notify(scope, { type: 'terminal-file-tap', candidates })
       return
     }
diff --git a/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-tap-routing.test.ts b/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-tap-routing.test.ts
index f6deaf21740..2bca5be1b5d 100644
--- a/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-tap-routing.test.ts
+++ b/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-tap-routing.test.ts
@@ -267,6 +267,32 @@ describe('terminal WebView tap routing', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  it('keeps a tap on prose beside a path an ordinary tap', async () => {
+    const line = 'me@host:~/proj$ git status'
+    const { posted } = boot(line)
+    await settle()
+
+    fireTouch('touchstart', [{ x: screenXForCol(line.indexOf('git') + 1), y: tapY }])
+    fireTouch('touchend', [])
+
+    expect(posted.find((m) => m.type === 'terminal-file-tap')).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(posted.find((m) => m.type === 'terminal-tap')).toBeDefined()
+  })
+
+  it('opens a markdown link whose destination has spaces', async () => {
+    const line = 'see [PDF](</tmp/folder with spaces/report.pdf>)'
+    const { posted } = boot(line)
+    await settle()
+
+    fireTouch('touchstart', [{ x: screenXForCol(line.indexOf('with') + 1), y: tapY }])
+    fireTouch('touchend', [])
+
+    expect(posted.find((m) => m.type === 'terminal-file-tap')).toEqual({
+      type: 'terminal-file-tap',
+      candidates: [{ pathText: '/tmp/folder with spaces/report.pdf', line: null, column: null }]
+    })
+  })
+
   it('opens plain file URLs through terminal file taps', async () => {
     const line = 'open file:///tmp/result.json#L12C3 now'
     const { posted } = boot(line)
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/comment-markdown-native-chat-file-links.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/comment-markdown-native-chat-file-links.ts
index 22c71b52bdd..8a49bf664e6 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/comment-markdown-native-chat-file-links.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/comment-markdown-native-chat-file-links.ts
@@ -7,9 +7,11 @@ import {
   parseFileLinkLocation
 } from '../../../../shared/file-link-location'
 import {
+  extractTerminalFileLinkReadings,
   extractTerminalFileLinks,
   type ParsedTerminalFileLink
 } from '../../../../shared/terminal-links'
+import { ROOTED_PATH_START_PATTERN } from '../../../../shared/terminal-file-link-detection-ranges'
 import { preferLongestNonOverlappingMatches } from '@/lib/longest-non-overlapping-matches'
 
 type MarkdownNode = {
@@ -19,13 +21,11 @@ type MarkdownNode = {
   children?: MarkdownNode[]
 }
 
-const ROOTED_PATH_PREFIX_PATTERN = /^(?:~[\\/]|\.{1,2}[\\/]|[\\/]|[A-Za-z]:[\\/])/
-
 /** Whether a detected path names a file on the chat's host; the terminal's own check. */
 export type FileLinkExists = (link: ParsedTerminalFileLink) => boolean
 
 function looksLikeFilePath(link: ParsedTerminalFileLink, isProse: boolean): boolean {
-  const hasRootedPrefix = ROOTED_PATH_PREFIX_PATTERN.test(link.pathText)
+  const hasRootedPrefix = ROOTED_PATH_START_PATTERN.test(link.pathText)
   const hasLineSuffix = link.line !== null || link.column !== null
   const hasAlphabeticExtension = /\.[\p{L}][\p{L}\p{N}\p{M}_+-]*$/u.test(link.pathText)
   const hasPathExtension = /\.[\p{L}\p{N}][\p{L}\p{N}\p{M}_+-]*$/u.test(link.pathText)
@@ -110,54 +110,12 @@ function createFileLinkNode(link: ParsedTerminalFileLink, child: MarkdownNode):
   }
 }
 
-function isTrailingPunctuation(token: string, endIndex: number): boolean {
-  return isSafeTrailingBoundary(token, endIndex) && /^\p{P}+$/u.test(token.slice(endIndex))
-}
-
-/** `endsSentence`: a token may end in sentence punctuation, which stays outside the link. */
-function linkableTokens(
-  link: ParsedTerminalFileLink,
-  endsSentence: boolean
-): ParsedTerminalFileLink[] {
-  const tokenLinks: ParsedTerminalFileLink[] = []
-  for (const match of link.displayText.matchAll(/\S+/g)) {
-    const token = match[0]
-    const exactLink = extractTerminalFileLinks(token).find(
-      (candidate) =>
-        candidate.startIndex === 0 &&
-        (candidate.endIndex === token.length ||
-          (endsSentence && isTrailingPunctuation(token, candidate.endIndex)))
-    )
-    if (exactLink && isLinkifiableFile(exactLink, true)) {
-      const startIndex = link.startIndex + (match.index ?? 0)
-      tokenLinks.push({ ...exactLink, startIndex, endIndex: startIndex + exactLink.endIndex })
-    }
-  }
-  return tokenLinks
-}
-
-// Prose can join paths into one extracted span; split path-like tokens while letting longer real spaced paths win existence checks.
-function splitProseJoinedLinks(link: ParsedTerminalFileLink): ParsedTerminalFileLink[] {
-  if (!/\s/.test(link.displayText)) {
-    return [link]
-  }
-  if (ROOTED_PATH_PREFIX_PATTERN.test(link.pathText)) {
-    return [link, ...linkableTokens(link, true)]
-  }
-  // Preserve unrooted token punctuation to avoid linking cases the extractor intentionally leaves plain.
-  const tokenLinks = linkableTokens(link, false)
-  const hasBareWord = Array.from(link.displayText.matchAll(/\S+/g)).some(
-    (match) => !/[\\/.]/.test(match[0])
-  )
-  return hasBareWord || tokenLinks.length > 1 ? tokenLinks : [link]
-}
-
 function splitTextSegment(value: string, exists: FileLinkExists): MarkdownNode[] {
+  const { links: textLinks, guesses } = extractTerminalFileLinkReadings(value)
   const links = selectExistingLinks(
-    extractTerminalFileLinks(value)
+    [...textLinks, ...guesses]
       .filter((link) => !hasPartialPathBoundary(value, link))
-      .filter((link) => isLinkifiableFile(link, true))
-      .flatMap(splitProseJoinedLinks),
+      .filter((link) => isLinkifiableFile(link, true)),
     exists
   )
   if (links.length === 0) {
@@ -213,7 +171,7 @@ function exactFileLink(value: string, exists: FileLinkExists): ParsedTerminalFil
     return null
   }
   const looksLikePath =
-    ROOTED_PATH_PREFIX_PATTERN.test(parsed.pathText) ||
+    ROOTED_PATH_START_PATTERN.test(parsed.pathText) ||
     /[\\/]/.test(parsed.pathText) ||
     /\.[\p{L}][\p{L}\p{N}\p{M}_+-]*$/u.test(parsed.pathText)
   if (!looksLikePath) {
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-file-link-hit-testing.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-file-link-hit-testing.ts
index 0b357ef0702..6f027972a45 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-file-link-hit-testing.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-file-link-hit-testing.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ type ClickedFileLink = FileLinkTarget & {
   pathText: string
   cachedExists: boolean | undefined
   hasOscLink: boolean
+  /** Opens only once the host has found its file. */
+  guess: boolean
 }
 
 // Why: a slow probe from an earlier click must not open its file after a later click.
@@ -54,25 +56,30 @@ export function openFilePathLinkAtBufferPosition(
   deps: FileLinkHitTestDeps
 ): boolean {
   const gesture = ++latestClickGesture
+  const host: FileLinkHost = { ...deps, cwd: deps.startupCwd, homePath: deps.terminalHomePath }
+  const readings = findTerminalFileLinksAtBufferPosition(buffer, position, terminalColumns)
   const links: ClickedFileLink[] = []
-  for (const parsed of findTerminalFileLinksAtBufferPosition(buffer, position, terminalColumns)) {
-    const target = resolveFileLinkTarget(parsed, {
-      cwd: deps.startupCwd,
-      homePath: deps.terminalHomePath,
-      worktreeId: deps.worktreeId,
-      worktreePath: deps.worktreePath,
-      runtimeEnvironmentId: deps.runtimeEnvironmentId,
-      wslDistro: deps.wslDistro
-    })
-    if (!target) {
+  for (const [parsed, guess] of [
+    ...readings.links.map((link) => [link, false] as const),
+    ...readings.guesses.map((link) => [link, true] as const)
+  ]) {
+    const target = resolveFileLinkTarget(parsed, host)
+    const cachedExists =
+      target && deps.pathExistsCache
+        ? readTerminalPathExistence(deps.pathExistsCache, target.cacheKey)
+        : undefined
+    // Why: a guess the host may not be asked about (an external share) can never be confirmed.
+    if (
+      !target ||
+      (guess && cachedExists !== true && !mayCheckFileLinkTargetUnprompted(target, host))
+    ) {
       continue
     }
     links.push({
       ...target,
       pathText: parsed.pathText,
-      cachedExists: deps.pathExistsCache
-        ? readTerminalPathExistence(deps.pathExistsCache, target.cacheKey)
-        : undefined,
+      cachedExists,
+      guess,
       hasOscLink: terminalLogicalLinkHasOscLink(
         buffer,
         parsed.logicalLine,
@@ -82,8 +89,12 @@ export function openFilePathLinkAtBufferPosition(
     })
   }
 
-  // Why: a failure names the path the user sees, not a longer joined guess.
-  const shown = shortestPath(links)
+  // Why: only a written path or a confirmed guess takes the click; prose beside a path stays ordinary text.
+  if (!links.some((link) => !link.guess || link.cachedExists === true)) {
+    return false
+  }
+  // Why: a failure names the path the user sees, never a guess.
+  const shown = shortestPath(links.filter((link) => !link.guess))
   const open = (link: ClickedFileLink, verified = link.cachedExists === true): void => {
     const { onOpenFailure } = deps
     // Why: a bare dotted word (`console.log`, `example.com`) is not a claim that a file exists.
@@ -97,8 +108,7 @@ export function openFilePathLinkAtBufferPosition(
       onOpenFailure: reportsFailure ? (failure) => onOpenFailure(reportedPath, failure) : undefined
     })
   }
-  const host: FileLinkHost = { ...deps, cwd: deps.startupCwd, homePath: deps.terminalHomePath }
-  // Never stat external shares unprompted; open the guess as-is and let the host resolve it.
+  // Never stat external shares unprompted; open the path as written and let the host resolve it.
   const settled = (link: ClickedFileLink): boolean =>
     link.cachedExists === true ||
     link.isKnownWorktreeRoot ||
@@ -114,19 +124,17 @@ export function openFilePathLinkAtBufferPosition(
       !settled(link) &&
       (!best || link.pathText.length > best.pathText.length)
   )
-  if (toProbe.length === 0 || (!best && toProbe.length === 1)) {
-    // Why the visible path last: a click on a path already known missing still says so.
-    // An OSC 8 hyperlink there is xterm's to open.
-    const knownMissing =
-      shown && !shown.hasOscLink && /[\\/]/.test(shown.pathText) ? shown : undefined
-    const link = best ?? toProbe[0] ?? knownMissing
+  // Why the visible path last: a click on a missing path still says so. An OSC 8 hyperlink there is xterm's to open.
+  const visible = shown && !shown.hasOscLink && /[\\/]/.test(shown.pathText) ? shown : undefined
+  if (toProbe.length === 0 || (!best && toProbe.length === 1 && !toProbe[0].guess)) {
+    const link = best ?? toProbe[0] ?? visible
     if (link) {
       open(link)
     }
     return link !== undefined
   }
 
-  // Wait for hover probes before choosing longer hard-wrap guesses; otherwise a bad join can hide the real path.
+  // Probe before choosing a longer hard-wrap or spaced reading; otherwise a bad join can hide the real path.
   const isLatestOpen = reserveDetectedFilePathOpenTurn()
   const clickedHost = fileHostFingerprint(toProbe[0].fileContext)
   void probeClickedFileLinks(toProbe, deps).then((existing) => {
@@ -138,8 +146,8 @@ export function openFilePathLinkAtBufferPosition(
       return
     }
     const found = longestPath(existing)
-    // Without a verified candidate, let opening the shortest report the real failure instead of guessing absence.
-    const link = found ?? best ?? shortestPath(toProbe)
+    // Without a verified reading, opening the shortest unchecked path reports the real failure.
+    const link = found ?? best ?? shortestPath(toProbe.filter((link) => !link.guess)) ?? visible
     if (link) {
       open(link, link === found || link.cachedExists === true)
     }
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-link-handlers.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-link-handlers.ts
index dfce319283c..ed53da39150 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-link-handlers.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-link-handlers.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,7 @@
-import { dedupeLogicalLines } from '../../../../shared/terminal-link-logical-line-deduplication'
 import type { TerminalPathExistsCache } from './terminal-path-exists-cache'
 import { createTerminalPathExistenceBatch } from './terminal-path-existence-batch'
 import type { IDisposable, ILink, ILinkProvider, Terminal } from '@xterm/xterm'
-import {
-  extractTerminalFileLinkCandidates,
-  extractTerminalFileLinks
-} from '../../../../shared/terminal-links'
+import { extractTerminalFileLinkReadings } from '../../../../shared/terminal-links'
 import { preferLongestNonOverlappingMatches } from '@/lib/longest-non-overlapping-matches'
 import type { PaneManager } from '@/lib/pane-manager/pane-manager'
 import { buildCandidateLogicalLinesForBufferPosition } from '../../../../shared/terminal-link-buffer-hit-testing'
@@ -14,8 +10,6 @@ import { shouldOpenTerminalFileWithSystemDefault } from './terminal-file-open-ro
 import { isHtmlFilePath, localHtmlFileDestinations } from './local-html-file-destinations'
 import { fileLinkTargetExists, resolveFileLinkTarget } from './terminal-file-link-target'
 import {
-  buildHardWrappedPathLogicalLineCandidates,
-  buildWrappedLogicalLine,
   rangeForParsedFileLink,
   type WrappedLogicalLine
 } from '../../../../shared/wrapped-terminal-link-ranges'
@@ -95,19 +89,21 @@ export function createFilePathLinkProvider(
       }
 
       const buffer = pane.terminal.buffer.active
-      const softWrappedLogicalLine = buildWrappedLogicalLine(buffer, bufferLineNumber)
-      const logicalLines = dedupeLogicalLines([
-        ...buildHardWrappedPathLogicalLineCandidates(buffer, bufferLineNumber),
-        ...(softWrappedLogicalLine ? [softWrappedLogicalLine] : [])
-      ])
-      if (logicalLines.every((logicalLine) => !logicalLine.text)) {
-        callback(undefined)
-        return
-      }
-
-      if (
-        logicalLines.every((logicalLine) => extractTerminalFileLinks(logicalLine.text).length === 0)
-      ) {
+      // Why: xterm hit-tests only the hovered row, so checking the rest of a long line wastes host stats.
+      const rowLinks = buildCandidateLogicalLinesForBufferPosition(
+        buffer,
+        bufferLineNumber
+      ).flatMap((logicalLine) => {
+        const { links, guesses } = extractTerminalFileLinkReadings(logicalLine.text)
+        // Why guesses too: every reading below is shown only once the host finds its file.
+        return [...links, ...guesses].flatMap((parsed) => {
+          const range = rangeForParsedFileLink(logicalLine, parsed.startIndex, parsed.endIndex)
+          return range && range.start.y <= bufferLineNumber && range.end.y >= bufferLineNumber
+            ? [{ logicalLine, parsed, range }]
+            : []
+        })
+      })
+      if (rowLinks.length === 0) {
         callback(undefined)
         return
       }
@@ -115,86 +111,78 @@ export function createFilePathLinkProvider(
       const pathExists = createTerminalPathExistenceBatch()
       // A rejected wrapped-path guess must not hide verified sibling paths.
       void Promise.allSettled(
-        logicalLines.flatMap((logicalLine) =>
-          extractTerminalFileLinkCandidates(logicalLine.text).map(
-            async (parsed): Promise<ProvidedFileLink | null> => {
-              const runtimeEnvironmentId =
-                deps.getRuntimeEnvironmentIdForPane?.(paneId) ?? deps.runtimeEnvironmentId ?? null
-              const target = resolveFileLinkTarget(parsed, {
-                cwd: deps.getPaneLinkCwd?.(paneId) ?? startupCwd,
-                homePath: deps.terminalHomePath,
-                worktreeId,
-                worktreePath,
-                runtimeEnvironmentId,
-                wslDistro: deps.wslDistro
-              })
-              const range = rangeForParsedFileLink(logicalLine, parsed.startIndex, parsed.endIndex)
-              if (!target || !range) {
-                return null
-              }
-              const terminalHandle = deps.getRuntimeTerminalHandleForPane?.(paneId) ?? null
-              if (
-                !(await fileLinkTargetExists(target, pathExistsCache, pathExists, terminalHandle))
-              ) {
-                return null
-              }
-              const { absolutePath: mappedPath, fileContext } = target
+        rowLinks.map(async ({ logicalLine, parsed, range }): Promise<ProvidedFileLink | null> => {
+          const runtimeEnvironmentId =
+            deps.getRuntimeEnvironmentIdForPane?.(paneId) ?? deps.runtimeEnvironmentId ?? null
+          const target = resolveFileLinkTarget(parsed, {
+            cwd: deps.getPaneLinkCwd?.(paneId) ?? startupCwd,
+            homePath: deps.terminalHomePath,
+            worktreeId,
+            worktreePath,
+            runtimeEnvironmentId,
+            wslDistro: deps.wslDistro
+          })
+          if (!target) {
+            return null
+          }
+          const terminalHandle = deps.getRuntimeTerminalHandleForPane?.(paneId) ?? null
+          if (!(await fileLinkTargetExists(target, pathExistsCache, pathExists, terminalHandle))) {
+            return null
+          }
+          const { absolutePath: mappedPath, fileContext } = target
 
-              return {
-                logicalLine,
-                link: {
-                  range,
-                  text: parsed.displayText,
-                  activate: (event) => {
-                    if (
-                      handleTerminalFileLink(
-                        mappedPath,
-                        target.line,
-                        target.column,
-                        event,
-                        {
-                          worktreeId,
-                          worktreePath,
-                          runtimeEnvironmentId,
-                          wslDistro: deps.wslDistro,
-                          terminalHandle,
-                          sourceTabId: deps.sourceTabId,
-                          onOpenFailure: (failure) =>
-                            showFileLinkOpenFailureToast(mappedPath, failure)
-                        },
-                        deps.getLinkActionContext?.(paneId)
-                      )
-                    ) {
-                      pane.terminal.clearSelection?.()
-                    }
-                  },
-                  hover: () => {
-                    // Only local paths can use the Shift+modifier OS escape hatch.
-                    const canOpenWithSystemDefault =
-                      shouldOpenTerminalFileWithSystemDefault(fileContext)
-                    const showActions = deps.getLinkActionContext
-                      ? deps.getLinkActionContext(paneId) !== null
-                      : true
-                    const hint = target.isKnownWorktreeRoot
-                      ? getTerminalWorktreePathOpenHint(canOpenWithSystemDefault, showActions)
-                      : canOpenWithSystemDefault
-                        ? isHtmlFilePath(mappedPath)
-                          ? getTerminalHtmlFileOpenHint(localHtmlFileDestinations(), showActions)
-                          : showActions
-                            ? openLinkHint
-                            : getTerminalFileOpenHint(false)
-                        : getTerminalOrcaFileOpenHint(showActions)
-                    linkTooltip.textContent = `${mappedPath} (${hint})`
-                    linkTooltip.style.display = ''
-                  },
-                  leave: () => {
-                    linkTooltip.style.display = 'none'
-                  }
+          return {
+            logicalLine,
+            link: {
+              range,
+              text: parsed.displayText,
+              activate: (event) => {
+                if (
+                  handleTerminalFileLink(
+                    mappedPath,
+                    target.line,
+                    target.column,
+                    event,
+                    {
+                      worktreeId,
+                      worktreePath,
+                      runtimeEnvironmentId,
+                      wslDistro: deps.wslDistro,
+                      terminalHandle,
+                      sourceTabId: deps.sourceTabId,
+                      onOpenFailure: (failure) => showFileLinkOpenFailureToast(mappedPath, failure)
+                    },
+                    deps.getLinkActionContext?.(paneId)
+                  )
+                ) {
+                  pane.terminal.clearSelection?.()
                 }
+              },
+              hover: () => {
+                // Only local paths can use the Shift+modifier OS escape hatch.
+                const canOpenWithSystemDefault =
+                  shouldOpenTerminalFileWithSystemDefault(fileContext)
+                const showActions = deps.getLinkActionContext
+                  ? deps.getLinkActionContext(paneId) !== null
+                  : true
+                const hint = target.isKnownWorktreeRoot
+                  ? getTerminalWorktreePathOpenHint(canOpenWithSystemDefault, showActions)
+                  : canOpenWithSystemDefault
+                    ? isHtmlFilePath(mappedPath)
+                      ? getTerminalHtmlFileOpenHint(localHtmlFileDestinations(), showActions)
+                      : showActions
+                        ? openLinkHint
+                        : getTerminalFileOpenHint(false)
+                    : getTerminalOrcaFileOpenHint(showActions)
+                linkTooltip.textContent = `${mappedPath} (${hint})`
+                linkTooltip.style.display = ''
+              },
+              leave: () => {
+                linkTooltip.style.display = 'none'
               }
             }
-          )
-        )
+          }
+        })
       )
         .then((settledLinks) => {
           const latestFingerprints = new Set(
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-link-paired-click-fallback.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-link-paired-click-fallback.test.ts
index 8c85ff9afb9..3317f39fcac 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-link-paired-click-fallback.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-link-paired-click-fallback.test.ts
@@ -341,6 +341,80 @@ describe('a modifier-click on a paired-server path followed by more paths', () =
     expect(asked).toEqual(['//server/share/other/report.txt'])
   })
 
+  it.each([
+    ['report', ['//server/share/report.md']],
+    ['details', []]
+  ])('never opens an unchecked guess past a share path when clicking %s', async (word, opened) => {
+    setPlatform('Windows')
+    runtimeEnvironmentCallMock.mockResolvedValue({
+      id: 'rpc-1',
+      ok: true,
+      result: { worktree: 'wt-1', relativePath: null, absolutePath: null, exists: false },
+      _meta: { runtimeId: 'remote-runtime' }
+    })
+    const line = 'See //server/share/report.md for details'
+    const buffer = makeBuffer([makeBufferLine(line)])
+
+    openFilePathLinkAtBufferPosition(buffer, { x: line.indexOf(word) + 1, y: 1 }, 80, {
+      startupCwd: '/srv/repo',
+      worktreeId: 'wt-1',
+      worktreePath: '/srv/repo',
+      runtimeEnvironmentId: 'env-1',
+      terminalHandle: 'term-1',
+      pathExistsCache: new Map()
+    })
+    await flushDoubleRaf()
+
+    const asked = runtimeEnvironmentCallMock.mock.calls.map(([args]) => args.params?.pathText)
+    expect(asked).toEqual(opened)
+  })
+
+  it('leaves a click on prose beside a path to the terminal', async () => {
+    setPlatform('Macintosh')
+    const line = '/tmp/report.md completed successfully'
+    const buffer = makeBuffer([makeBufferLine(line)])
+
+    const handled = openFilePathLinkAtBufferPosition(
+      buffer,
+      { x: line.indexOf('completed') + 1, y: 1 },
+      80,
+      {
+        startupCwd: '/srv/repo',
+        worktreeId: 'wt-1',
+        worktreePath: '/srv/repo',
+        runtimeEnvironmentId: 'env-1',
+        terminalHandle: 'term-1',
+        pathExistsCache: new Map()
+      }
+    )
+    await flushDoubleRaf()
+
+    expect(handled).toBe(false)
+    expect(runtimeEnvironmentCallMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('opens the joined path when its checks fail and the visible prefix is known missing', async () => {
+    setPlatform('Macintosh')
+    hostAnswers((path) => ({ exists: path === 'report.txt' }))
+    const answerOpen = runtimeEnvironmentCallMock.getMockImplementation()!
+    runtimeEnvironmentCallMock.mockImplementation((args) =>
+      args.method === 'files.pathsExist' ? Promise.reject(new Error('host busy')) : answerOpen(args)
+    )
+    const buffer = makeBuffer([
+      makeBufferLine('/srv/repo/report'),
+      makeBufferLine('.txt'),
+      makeBufferLine('.map')
+    ])
+
+    clickPairedPath(buffer, makeExistsCache([[runtimeKey('/srv/repo/report'), false]]))
+    await flushDoubleRaf()
+
+    expect(openFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({ filePath: '/srv/repo/report.txt' }),
+      expect.anything()
+    )
+  })
+
   it('opens a wrapped share path whole even when its prefix is a known file', async () => {
     setPlatform('Windows')
     runtimeEnvironmentCallMock.mockResolvedValue({
diff --git a/src/shared/terminal-file-link-detection-ranges.ts b/src/shared/terminal-file-link-detection-ranges.ts
index 3d3705f7017..c53887a7256 100644
--- a/src/shared/terminal-file-link-detection-ranges.ts
+++ b/src/shared/terminal-file-link-detection-ranges.ts
@@ -4,30 +4,33 @@ import type { ParsedTerminalFileLink } from './terminal-links'
 const LEADING_TRIM_CHARS = new Set(['(', '[', '{', '"', "'"])
 const TRAILING_TRIM_CHARS = new Set([')', ']', '}', '"', "'", ',', ';', '.'])
 
+export const ROOTED_PATH_START_PATTERN = /^(?:~[\\/]|[\\/]|\.{1,2}[\\/]|[A-Za-z]:[\\/])/
+
 export type DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange = {
   startIndex: number
   endIndex: number
   text: string
 }
 
-function trimBoundaryPunctuation(
+export function hasPathSeparator(text: string): boolean {
+  return text.includes('/') || text.includes('\\')
+}
+
+export function trimTerminalPathBoundaryPunctuation(
   value: string,
   startIndex: number
 ): DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange | null {
   let start = 0
   let end = value.length
-
   while (start < end && LEADING_TRIM_CHARS.has(value[start])) {
     start += 1
   }
   while (end > start && TRAILING_TRIM_CHARS.has(value[end - 1])) {
     end -= 1
   }
-
   if (start >= end) {
     return null
   }
-
   return {
     text: value.slice(start, end),
     startIndex: startIndex + start,
@@ -41,7 +44,7 @@ export function* detectTerminalFileLinkRanges(
 ): Generator<DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange> {
   for (const match of lineText.matchAll(regex)) {
     const rawStart = match.index ?? 0
-    const trimmed = trimBoundaryPunctuation(match[0], rawStart)
+    const trimmed = trimTerminalPathBoundaryPunctuation(match[0], rawStart)
     if (trimmed) {
       yield trimmed
     }
@@ -85,30 +88,6 @@ export function terminalFileLinkRangesOverlap(
   return previous !== undefined && previous[1] > range.startIndex
 }
 
-export function insertTerminalFileLinkClaimedRange(
-  claimedRanges: [number, number][],
-  range: [number, number]
-): void {
-  // oxlint-disable-next-line unicorn/prefer-at -- the phone's terminal WebView (Chrome 74) has no Array#at
-  const last: [number, number] | undefined = claimedRanges[claimedRanges.length - 1]
-  if (!last || last[0] <= range[0]) {
-    claimedRanges.push(range)
-    return
-  }
-
-  let low = 0
-  let high = claimedRanges.length
-  while (low < high) {
-    const mid = Math.floor((low + high) / 2)
-    if (claimedRanges[mid][0] <= range[0]) {
-      low = mid + 1
-    } else {
-      high = mid
-    }
-  }
-  claimedRanges.splice(low, 0, range)
-}
-
 export function toParsedTerminalFileLink(
   range: DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange
 ): ParsedTerminalFileLink | null {
diff --git a/src/shared/terminal-link-buffer-hit-testing.ts b/src/shared/terminal-link-buffer-hit-testing.ts
index 282ecadea36..d4ded4d51d6 100644
--- a/src/shared/terminal-link-buffer-hit-testing.ts
+++ b/src/shared/terminal-link-buffer-hit-testing.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { buildTerminalHttpLogicalLines, hasHardWrappedRows } from './terminal-ht
 import { extractTerminalHttpLinks } from './terminal-http-url-extraction'
 import { dedupeLogicalLines } from './terminal-link-logical-line-deduplication'
 import { rangeForParsedLinkOnRow } from './terminal-link-row-range'
-import { extractTerminalFileLinkCandidates, type ParsedTerminalFileLink } from './terminal-links'
+import { extractTerminalFileLinkReadings, type ParsedTerminalFileLink } from './terminal-links'
 import { terminalLogicalLinkHasOscLink } from './terminal-osc-link-cells'
 import {
   buildHardWrappedPathLogicalLineCandidates,
@@ -60,23 +60,28 @@ export function buildCandidateLogicalLinesForBufferPosition(
   return dedupeLogicalLines(candidates)
 }
 
-/** Every file-link reading that covers the cell; callers choose among soft/hard-wrap guesses. */
+/** The readings covering the cell; a guess needs the host to find its file before anyone acts on it. */
 export function findTerminalFileLinksAtBufferPosition(
   buffer: TerminalLinkBuffer,
   position: TerminalLinkBufferPosition,
   terminalColumns: number
-): TerminalFileLinkAtBufferPosition[] {
+): { links: TerminalFileLinkAtBufferPosition[]; guesses: TerminalFileLinkAtBufferPosition[] } {
   const links: TerminalFileLinkAtBufferPosition[] = []
+  const guesses: TerminalFileLinkAtBufferPosition[] = []
   for (const logicalLine of buildCandidateLogicalLinesForBufferPosition(buffer, position.y)) {
-    for (const parsed of extractTerminalFileLinkCandidates(logicalLine.text)) {
+    const readings = extractTerminalFileLinkReadings(logicalLine.text)
+    const covering = (parsed: ParsedTerminalFileLink): boolean => {
       const range = rangeForParsedFileLink(logicalLine, parsed.startIndex, parsed.endIndex)
-      if (!range || !rangeContainsBufferPosition(range, position, terminalColumns)) {
-        continue
-      }
+      return range !== null && rangeContainsBufferPosition(range, position, terminalColumns)
+    }
+    for (const parsed of readings.links.filter(covering)) {
       links.push({ ...parsed, logicalLine })
     }
+    for (const parsed of readings.guesses.filter(covering)) {
+      guesses.push({ ...parsed, logicalLine })
+    }
   }
-  return links
+  return { links, guesses }
 }
 
 function rangeContainsBufferPosition(
diff --git a/src/shared/terminal-links-cjk.test.ts b/src/shared/terminal-links-cjk.test.ts
index 0ac0e85a524..99c6c1b6519 100644
--- a/src/shared/terminal-links-cjk.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/terminal-links-cjk.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { extractTerminalFileLinks, resolveTerminalFileLink } from './terminal-links'
+import {
+  extractTerminalFileLinkReadings,
+  extractTerminalFileLinks,
+  resolveTerminalFileLink
+} from './terminal-links'
 
 describe('CJK terminal path names', () => {
   for (const character of ['・', '･', '〜', '～']) {
@@ -13,9 +17,11 @@ describe('CJK terminal path names', () => {
       '/tmp/前CHAR後/space name/a.txt'
     ])(`keeps ${character} in %s`, (template) => {
       const filePath = template.replace('CHAR', character)
-      const links = extractTerminalFileLinks(filePath)
-      expect(links.map((link) => link.pathText)).toEqual([filePath])
-      expect(links[0]).toMatchObject({ startIndex: 0, endIndex: filePath.length })
+      const { links, guesses } = extractTerminalFileLinkReadings(filePath)
+      expect([...links, ...guesses].find((link) => link.pathText === filePath)).toMatchObject({
+        startIndex: 0,
+        endIndex: filePath.length
+      })
     })
 
     it(`preserves location and normalized Windows target for ${character}`, () => {
diff --git a/src/shared/terminal-links-redos.test.ts b/src/shared/terminal-links-redos.test.ts
index ca8f35273e8..d441f9e301f 100644
--- a/src/shared/terminal-links-redos.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/terminal-links-redos.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { performance } from 'node:perf_hooks'
 import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest'
-import { extractTerminalFileLinks, extractTerminalFileLinkCandidates } from './terminal-links'
+import { extractTerminalFileLinkReadings } from './terminal-links'
 
 // Large space-padded newline-free ConPTY dashboards once caused overlapping-whitespace backtracking (#5970); bound fixture size without hiding the regression.
 describe('terminal-links ReDoS guard (#5970)', () => {
@@ -15,15 +15,14 @@ describe('terminal-links ReDoS guard (#5970)', () => {
   for (const [name, line] of cases) {
     it(`scans "${name}" in roughly linear time`, () => {
       const start = performance.now()
-      extractTerminalFileLinks(line)
-      extractTerminalFileLinkCandidates(line)
+      extractTerminalFileLinkReadings(line)
       const elapsedMs = performance.now() - start
       expect(elapsedMs).toBeLessThan(500)
     })
   }
 
   it('still detects separator paths that contain spaces', () => {
-    const links = extractTerminalFileLinks('/Users/a/Foo Bar/file.ts')
-    expect(links.some((link) => link.pathText === '/Users/a/Foo Bar/file.ts')).toBe(true)
+    const { guesses } = extractTerminalFileLinkReadings('/Users/a/Foo Bar/file.ts')
+    expect(guesses.some((link) => link.pathText === '/Users/a/Foo Bar/file.ts')).toBe(true)
   })
 })
diff --git a/src/shared/terminal-links.test.ts b/src/shared/terminal-links.test.ts
index d5b07a6404f..af94824c5f2 100644
--- a/src/shared/terminal-links.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/terminal-links.test.ts
@@ -3,32 +3,41 @@ import {
   TERMINAL_FILE_LINK_TAP_CONFORMANCE_CASES,
   columnForTerminalFileLinkTap
 } from './terminal-file-link-conformance'
+import { classifyTerminalOscLinkTarget } from './terminal-osc-link-target'
 import {
+  extractTerminalFileLinkReadings,
   extractTerminalFileLinks,
-  findExactTerminalFileLink,
   isPathInsideWorktree,
   resolveTerminalFileLink,
   toWorktreeRelativePath
 } from './terminal-links'
 
-function extractTerminalFileLinkAtColumn(lineText: string, column: number) {
-  return (
-    extractTerminalFileLinks(lineText).find(
-      (link) => column >= link.startIndex && column < link.endIndex
-    ) ?? null
-  )
+// Every reading a host that checks files is offered.
+function allReadings(lineText: string) {
+  const { links, guesses } = extractTerminalFileLinkReadings(lineText)
+  return [...links, ...guesses]
+}
+
+function readingsAt(lineText: string, column: number) {
+  return allReadings(lineText)
+    .filter((link) => column >= link.startIndex && column < link.endIndex)
+    .map(({ pathText, line, column }) => ({ pathText, line, column }))
+}
+
+function pathTexts(lineText: string): string[] {
+  return allReadings(lineText).map((link) => link.pathText)
 }
 
 describe('terminal path helpers', () => {
   describe('shared terminal file-link tap conformance', () => {
+    // Desktop offers every reading at the tap and lets the host's existence check choose.
     it.each(TERMINAL_FILE_LINK_TAP_CONFORMANCE_CASES)('$name', (testCase) => {
-      const link = extractTerminalFileLinkAtColumn(
-        testCase.lineText,
-        columnForTerminalFileLinkTap(testCase)
-      )
-      expect(
-        link ? { pathText: link.pathText, line: link.line, column: link.column } : null
-      ).toEqual(testCase.expected)
+      const readings = readingsAt(testCase.lineText, columnForTerminalFileLinkTap(testCase))
+      if (testCase.expected) {
+        expect(readings).toContainEqual(testCase.expected)
+      } else {
+        expect(readings).toEqual([])
+      }
     })
   })
 
@@ -58,8 +67,9 @@ describe('terminal path helpers', () => {
     })
 
     it('does not double-link bare tokens that are part of an already-matched path', () => {
-      const links = extractTerminalFileLinks('./src/file.ts is the entry point')
-      expect(links.map((link) => link.displayText)).toEqual(['./src/file.ts'])
+      const paths = pathTexts('./src/file.ts is the entry point')
+      expect(paths).toContain('./src/file.ts')
+      expect(paths).not.toContain('file.ts')
     })
   })
 
@@ -73,18 +83,14 @@ describe('terminal path helpers', () => {
       ).toEqual(['docs/café/report.pdf'])
     })
 
-    it('detects an extensionless absolute path ending in a spaced segment', () => {
-      const links = extractTerminalFileLinks('/Users/alice/My Folder')
-      expect(links).toHaveLength(1)
-      expect(links[0]).toMatchObject({
-        pathText: '/Users/alice/My Folder',
-        displayText: '/Users/alice/My Folder'
-      })
+    it('offers absolute paths with spaces before the filename', () => {
+      expect(pathTexts('/Users/Path/FolderName with Space/content.js')).toContain(
+        '/Users/Path/FolderName with Space/content.js'
+      )
     })
 
-    it('does not treat mid-line command arguments as line-ending spaced paths', () => {
-      const links = extractTerminalFileLinks('run /usr/bin/env node, then continue')
-      expect(links.map((link) => link.pathText)).not.toContain('/usr/bin/env node')
+    it('offers an extensionless absolute path ending in a spaced segment', () => {
+      expect(pathTexts('/Users/alice/My Folder')).toContain('/Users/alice/My Folder')
     })
 
     it('does not linkify root-only or relative trailing separator tokens', () => {
@@ -96,6 +102,44 @@ describe('terminal path helpers', () => {
       expect(extractTerminalFileLinks('C:\\')).toEqual([])
     })
 
+    it('offers an extensionless relative path ending in a spaced segment', () => {
+      expect(pathTexts('./My Folder')).toContain('./My Folder')
+    })
+
+    // A spaced guess must never hide the plain path; the host keeps whichever exists.
+    it.each([
+      [
+        '~/orca-lanes/webhooks-research/bots/bots-ux-outline.md. It covers setup and/or teardown.',
+        '~/orca-lanes/webhooks-research/bots/bots-ux-outline.md'
+      ],
+      ['Wrote ~/notes/plan.md. Next: src/foo.ts', '~/notes/plan.md'],
+      ['Wrote ~/notes/plan.md and src/foo.ts covers the rest', '~/notes/plan.md'],
+      ['See /Users/me/a/b.md. Then C:\\Users\\me\\x.md.', '/Users/me/a/b.md'],
+      ['See /home/me/x.md. Then the pane/tab work.', '/home/me/x.md'],
+      ['See C:\\Users\\me\\x.md. Then the pane/tab work.', 'C:\\Users\\me\\x.md']
+    ])('offers the plain path in %j', (line, path) => {
+      expect(pathTexts(line)).toContain(path)
+    })
+
+    it.each([
+      '/Users/a/C# Projects/x.cs',
+      '/Users/a/Tom & Jerry/x.ts',
+      '/Users/a/Notes - Draft/x.md',
+      'C:\\Users\\Me\\Q&A Docs\\x.txt',
+      '/tmp/Foo.bar Docs/report.md',
+      '/tmp/My File.123',
+      'docs/My Archive.7z',
+      'docs/My 檔案.文件'
+    ])('offers spaced folder names with symbols: %s', (path) => {
+      expect(pathTexts(`open ${path}, then continue`)).toContain(path)
+    })
+
+    it('still offers the spaced reading so an existing spaced path can win', () => {
+      expect(pathTexts('Saved /Users/me/My Docs/plan.md. Next: src/foo.ts')).toEqual(
+        expect.arrayContaining(['/Users/me/My', '/Users/me/My Docs/plan.md'])
+      )
+    })
+
     it('detects framework route paths with bracket and paren segments', () => {
       const links = extractTerminalFileLinks(
         'Error in app/(shop)/products/[productId]/page.tsx:42:7'
@@ -108,6 +152,20 @@ describe('terminal path helpers', () => {
         displayText: 'app/(shop)/products/[productId]/page.tsx:42:7'
       })
     })
+
+    it('handles large spaced path lists in linear time', () => {
+      const line = Array.from({ length: 20_000 }, () => '/tmp/Foo Bar/file').join(', ')
+
+      const paths = pathTexts(line)
+
+      expect(paths.filter((path) => path === '/tmp/Foo Bar/file')).toHaveLength(20_000)
+    })
+
+    it('grows a spaced reading over a bounded number of words', () => {
+      const paths = pathTexts(`/tmp/root ${'part/x '.repeat(20_000)}`)
+
+      expect(paths.filter((path) => path.startsWith('/tmp/root'))).toHaveLength(11)
+    })
   })
 
   it('resolves tilde-prefixed paths against explicit terminal home when cwd is outside home', () => {
@@ -131,16 +189,32 @@ describe('terminal path helpers', () => {
     })
   })
 
-  it('keeps line and column suffixes from exact OSC hyperlink text', () => {
-    expect(findExactTerminalFileLink('docs/README.md:12:3')).toMatchObject({
-      pathText: 'docs/README.md',
-      line: 12,
-      column: 3
-    })
+  it('keeps a path spanning prose apart from the paths written in it', () => {
+    const { links, guesses } = extractTerminalFileLinkReadings(
+      '● Wrote ~/x/notes.md. It covers setup and/or teardown.'
+    )
+    expect(links.map((link) => link.pathText)).toEqual(['~/x/notes.md', 'and/or'])
+    expect(guesses.map((link) => link.pathText)).toContain('~/x/notes.md. It covers setup')
   })
 
-  it('does not take partial text as an OSC hyperlink target', () => {
-    expect(findExactTerminalFileLink('open docs/README.md')).toBeNull()
+  it.each([
+    ['docs/README.md:12:3', 'docs/README.md', 12],
+    ['/Users/a/My  Folder/file.ts:3', '/Users/a/My  Folder/file.ts', 3],
+    ['docs/My  Folder/file.ts', 'docs/My  Folder/file.ts', null]
+  ])('takes OSC hyperlink target %s as written', (target, pathText, line) => {
+    const osc = classifyTerminalOscLinkTarget(target, {
+      windowsPathsFirst: false,
+      allowUncHost: false
+    })
+    expect(osc).toMatchObject({ kind: 'path', link: { pathText, line } })
+  })
+
+  it('does not read a malformed URL OSC hyperlink target as a path', () => {
+    const osc = classifyTerminalOscLinkTarget('https://exa mple.com', {
+      windowsPathsFirst: false,
+      allowUncHost: false
+    })
+    expect(osc).toBeNull()
   })
 
   describe('plain-text file:// URIs', () => {
diff --git a/src/shared/terminal-links.ts b/src/shared/terminal-links.ts
index 1e99f72e5d1..9211a6961ef 100644
--- a/src/shared/terminal-links.ts
+++ b/src/shared/terminal-links.ts
@@ -2,13 +2,13 @@ import { normalizeAbsolutePath } from './terminal-path-normalization'
 import { resolveExplicitFileLinkTarget } from './explicit-file-link-target'
 import { detectBareFilenameLinks } from './terminal-bare-file-link-detection'
 import {
-  detectTerminalFileLinkRanges,
-  insertTerminalFileLinkClaimedRange,
+  hasPathSeparator,
   mergeTerminalFileLinkRanges,
-  terminalFileLinkRangesOverlap,
   toParsedTerminalFileLink,
+  trimTerminalPathBoundaryPunctuation,
   type DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange
 } from './terminal-file-link-detection-ranges'
+import { growSpacedPathRanges } from './terminal-spaced-path-candidates'
 import { detectTerminalFileUriLinks } from './terminal-file-uri-link'
 import { detectTerminalMarkdownFileLinks } from './terminal-markdown-file-links'
 
@@ -34,62 +34,8 @@ export type ResolvedTerminalFileLink = Pick<ParsedTerminalFileLink, 'line' | 'co
 const LOCAL_PATH_REGEX =
   /(?:~[\\/]|[\\/]|\.{1,2}[\\/]|[A-Za-z]:[\\/]|[\p{L}\p{N}\p{M}._-]+[\\/])[\p{L}\p{N}\p{M}._~\-/%+@\\()[\]\u30FB\uFF65\u301C\uFF5E]*(?::\d+)?(?::\d+)?/gu
 
-// Claim spaced paths before ordinary paths to avoid splitting /Users/A/Foo Bar/file.ts. Broad linear scans avoid overlapping-whitespace backtracking on ConPTY dashboards; filter candidates in code.
-const SPACED_PATH_WITH_SEPARATOR_REGEX =
-  /(?:~[\\/]|[\\/]|\.{1,2}[\\/]|[A-Za-z]:[\\/]|[A-Za-z0-9._-]+[\\/])[^()[\]{}'",;<>|`\r\n]+(?::\d+)?(?::\d+)?/g
-// Why this shares the broad candidate shape: extension paths with prose after
-// them still need trimming, but the whitespace/extension test stays in code.
-const SPACED_PATH_WITH_EXTENSION_REGEX =
-  /(?:~[\\/]|[\\/]|\.{1,2}[\\/]|[A-Za-z]:[\\/]|[A-Za-z0-9._-]+[\\/])[^()[\]{}'",;<>|`\r\n]+(?::\d+)?(?::\d+)?/g
-// Why this is also broad: the candidates path runs on hover, including huge
-// space-padded TUI lines, so reject line-ending spaced paths outside the regex.
-const LINE_ENDING_SPACED_PATH_REGEX =
-  /(?:~[\\/]|[\\/]|\.{1,2}[\\/]|[A-Za-z]:[\\/]|[A-Za-z0-9._-]+[\\/])[^()[\]{}'",;<>|`\r\n]+(?::\d+)?(?::\d+)?/g
-const SPACED_LOCAL_PATH_REGEXES = [
-  SPACED_PATH_WITH_SEPARATOR_REGEX,
-  SPACED_PATH_WITH_EXTENSION_REGEX,
-  LINE_ENDING_SPACED_PATH_REGEX
-]
-
 const URI_PREFIX_CHAR_PATTERN = /^[A-Za-z0-9+./:-]$/
 
-function hasPathSeparator(text: string): boolean {
-  return text.includes('/') || text.includes('\\')
-}
-
-function hasSeparatorAfterWhitespace(text: string): boolean {
-  let sawWhitespace = false
-  for (const char of text) {
-    if (/\s/.test(char)) {
-      sawWhitespace = true
-      continue
-    }
-    if (sawWhitespace && (char === '/' || char === '\\')) {
-      return true
-    }
-  }
-  return false
-}
-
-function hasInternalWhitespaceBeforeTrimmedEnd(text: string): boolean {
-  const trimmed = text.trimEnd()
-  return /\s/.test(trimmed)
-}
-
-function isAtTrimmedLineEnd(lineText: string, endIndex: number): boolean {
-  return lineText.slice(endIndex).trim().length === 0
-}
-
-function hasSpacedPathExtension(text: string): boolean {
-  const trimmedRange = trimSpacedPathTrailingProse({
-    text,
-    startIndex: 0,
-    endIndex: text.length
-  })
-  const trimmedText = trimmedRange.text.trimEnd()
-  return /\s/.test(trimmedText) && /\.[A-Za-z0-9_+-]+(?::\d+)?(?::\d+)?$/.test(trimmedText)
-}
-
 function getImmediateUriPrefix(lineText: string, endIndex: number): string {
   let start = endIndex
   while (start > 0 && URI_PREFIX_CHAR_PATTERN.test(lineText[start - 1])) {
@@ -108,183 +54,72 @@ function isInsideUriScheme(lineText: string, range: DetectedTerminalFileLinkRang
   )
 }
 
-function trimSpacedPathTrailingProse(
-  range: DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange
-): DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange {
-  // Trim prose/unrelated paths after extension-terminated candidates. Extend only path-like added segments (v1.2 reports/result.json), never prose such as failed to start app.py.
-  let selected: string | null = null
-  const extensionPrefixPattern = /\.[A-Za-z0-9_+-]+(?::\d+)?(?::\d+)?(?=\s+|$)/g
-  const pathStartPattern = /(?:^|\s)(?:~[\\/]|[\\/]|\.{1,2}[\\/]|[A-Za-z]:[\\/])/g
-  let pathStartCount = 0
-  let nextPathStart = pathStartPattern.exec(range.text)
-  let match: RegExpExecArray | null
-  while ((match = extensionPrefixPattern.exec(range.text)) !== null) {
-    const end = match.index + match[0].length
-    const text = range.text.slice(0, end)
-    while (nextPathStart && nextPathStart.index + nextPathStart[0].length <= end) {
-      pathStartCount += 1
-      nextPathStart = pathStartPattern.exec(range.text)
-    }
-    if (pathStartCount > 1) {
-      continue
-    }
-    if (
-      end < range.text.length ||
-      selected === null ||
-      /[\\/]/.test(range.text.slice(selected.length, end))
-    ) {
-      selected = text
-    }
-  }
-  if (!selected) {
-    return range
-  }
-  return {
-    text: selected,
-    startIndex: range.startIndex,
-    endIndex: range.startIndex + selected.length
-  }
-}
-
-function trimTrailingWhitespace(
-  range: DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange
-): DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange {
-  const text = range.text.trimEnd()
-  return {
-    text,
-    startIndex: range.startIndex,
-    endIndex: range.startIndex + text.length
-  }
-}
-
-function buildLineEndingSpacedPathPrefixRanges(
-  range: DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange
-): DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange[] {
-  const ranges: DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange[] = []
-  for (const match of range.text.matchAll(/\s+/g)) {
-    const endIndex = match.index ?? 0
-    const text = range.text.slice(0, endIndex).trimEnd()
-    if (text.includes(' ')) {
-      ranges.push({
-        text,
-        startIndex: range.startIndex,
-        endIndex: range.startIndex + text.length
-      })
-    }
-  }
-  // oxlint-disable-next-line unicorn/no-array-reverse -- the phone's terminal WebView (Chrome 74) has no Array#toReversed; ranges is local
-  return ranges.reverse()
-}
-
-/** Detect separator paths with optional :line:col, ported from VS Code TerminalLocalLinkDetector. */
-function detectLocalPathLinks(
-  lineText: string,
-  includeLineEndingPrefixCandidates = false
-): ParsedTerminalFileLink[] {
+/** Separator paths plus their spaced extensions, ported from VS Code TerminalLocalLinkDetector. */
+function detectLocalPathLinks(lineText: string): {
+  paths: ParsedTerminalFileLink[]
+  spacedPaths: ParsedTerminalFileLink[]
+} {
+  const paths: ParsedTerminalFileLink[] = []
+  const spacedPaths: ParsedTerminalFileLink[] = []
   if (!hasPathSeparator(lineText)) {
-    return []
+    return { paths, spacedPaths }
   }
-
-  const links: ParsedTerminalFileLink[] = []
-  const spacedLinks = detectSpacedLocalPathLinks(lineText, includeLineEndingPrefixCandidates)
-  const spacedRanges = mergeTerminalFileLinkRanges(
-    spacedLinks.map(({ startIndex, endIndex }): [number, number] => [startIndex, endIndex])
-  )
-  for (const link of spacedLinks) {
-    links.push(link)
-  }
-  for (const range of detectTerminalFileLinkRanges(lineText, LOCAL_PATH_REGEX)) {
-    if (terminalFileLinkRangesOverlap(range, spacedRanges)) {
-      continue
-    }
-    if (isInsideUriScheme(lineText, range)) {
-      continue
-    }
-    if (!/[\\/]/.test(range.text)) {
+  let grownWordEndIndex = 0
+  for (const match of lineText.matchAll(LOCAL_PATH_REGEX)) {
+    const rawStart = match.index ?? 0
+    const range = trimTerminalPathBoundaryPunctuation(match[0], rawStart)
+    if (!range || !hasPathSeparator(range.text) || isInsideUriScheme(lineText, range)) {
       continue
     }
     const link = toParsedTerminalFileLink(range)
     if (link) {
-      links.push(link)
+      paths.push(link)
     }
-  }
-  return links.sort((a, b) => a.startIndex - b.startIndex || b.endIndex - a.endIndex)
-}
-
-function detectSpacedLocalPathLinks(
-  lineText: string,
-  includeLineEndingPrefixCandidates = false
-): ParsedTerminalFileLink[] {
-  const links: ParsedTerminalFileLink[] = []
-  const claimedRanges: [number, number][] = []
-  for (const regex of SPACED_LOCAL_PATH_REGEXES) {
-    for (const range of detectTerminalFileLinkRanges(lineText, regex)) {
-      if (regex === SPACED_PATH_WITH_SEPARATOR_REGEX && !hasSeparatorAfterWhitespace(range.text)) {
-        continue
-      }
-      if (regex === SPACED_PATH_WITH_EXTENSION_REGEX && !hasSpacedPathExtension(range.text)) {
-        continue
-      }
-      if (
-        regex === LINE_ENDING_SPACED_PATH_REGEX &&
-        (!hasInternalWhitespaceBeforeTrimmedEnd(range.text) ||
-          !isAtTrimmedLineEnd(lineText, range.endIndex))
-      ) {
-        continue
-      }
-      if (
-        terminalFileLinkRangesOverlap(range, claimedRanges) ||
-        isInsideUriScheme(lineText, range)
-      ) {
-        continue
-      }
-      const candidateRanges =
-        includeLineEndingPrefixCandidates && regex === LINE_ENDING_SPACED_PATH_REGEX
-          ? [range, ...buildLineEndingSpacedPathPrefixRanges(range)]
-          : [range]
-      const candidateLinks = candidateRanges
-        .map((candidateRange) =>
-          toParsedTerminalFileLink(
-            trimSpacedPathTrailingProse(trimTrailingWhitespace(candidateRange))
-          )
-        )
-        .filter((link): link is ParsedTerminalFileLink => link !== null)
-      const link = candidateLinks[0]
-      if (link) {
-        for (const candidateLink of candidateLinks) {
-          links.push(candidateLink)
-        }
-        insertTerminalFileLinkClaimedRange(claimedRanges, [link.startIndex, link.endIndex])
+    // Why: a path inside an earlier path's word (`a!b/c`) shares its growth; regrowing would rescan the word.
+    if (rawStart < grownWordEndIndex) {
+      continue
+    }
+    const grown = growSpacedPathRanges(lineText, range, rawStart + match[0].length)
+    grownWordEndIndex = grown.wordEndIndex
+    for (const spacedRange of grown.ranges) {
+      const spacedLink = toParsedTerminalFileLink(spacedRange)
+      if (spacedLink) {
+        spacedPaths.push(spacedLink)
       }
     }
   }
-  return links
+  return { paths, spacedPaths }
 }
 
-/** Claim Markdown destinations/file URIs/paths before bare filenames so longer explicit links keep their ranges. */
-function assembleFileLinks(
-  lineText: string,
-  includeLineEndingPrefixCandidates: boolean
-): ParsedTerminalFileLink[] {
+export type TerminalFileLinkReadings = {
+  /** Paths as written: markdown destinations, file URIs, unspaced paths, bare filenames. */
+  links: ParsedTerminalFileLink[]
+  /** A path continued across the following words; act on one only after the host finds it exists. */
+  guesses: ParsedTerminalFileLink[]
+}
+
+export function extractTerminalFileLinkReadings(lineText: string): TerminalFileLinkReadings {
   const markdown = detectTerminalMarkdownFileLinks(lineText)
   const uriLinks = detectTerminalFileUriLinks(markdown.remainingText)
-  const pathLinks = detectLocalPathLinks(markdown.remainingText, includeLineEndingPrefixCandidates)
-  const explicitLinks = [...markdown.links, ...uriLinks, ...pathLinks]
+  const { paths, spacedPaths } = detectLocalPathLinks(markdown.remainingText)
+  const claimingLinks = [...markdown.links, ...uriLinks, ...paths]
   const claimed = mergeTerminalFileLinkRanges(
-    explicitLinks.map(({ startIndex, endIndex }): [number, number] => [startIndex, endIndex])
+    claimingLinks.map(({ startIndex, endIndex }): [number, number] => [startIndex, endIndex])
   )
-  for (const link of detectBareFilenameLinks(markdown.remainingText, claimed)) {
-    explicitLinks.push(link)
+  return {
+    links: [...claimingLinks, ...detectBareFilenameLinks(markdown.remainingText, claimed)].sort(
+      byStart
+    ),
+    guesses: spacedPaths
   }
-  return explicitLinks.sort((a, b) => a.startIndex - b.startIndex || b.endIndex - a.endIndex)
 }
 
 export function extractTerminalFileLinks(lineText: string): ParsedTerminalFileLink[] {
-  return assembleFileLinks(lineText, false)
+  return extractTerminalFileLinkReadings(lineText).links
 }
 
-export function extractTerminalFileLinkCandidates(lineText: string): ParsedTerminalFileLink[] {
-  return assembleFileLinks(lineText, true)
+function byStart(a: ParsedTerminalFileLink, b: ParsedTerminalFileLink): number {
+  return a.startIndex - b.startIndex || b.endIndex - a.endIndex
 }
 
 export function resolveTerminalFileLink(
@@ -295,12 +130,6 @@ export function resolveTerminalFileLink(
   return resolveExplicitFileLinkTarget(parsed, cwd, homePath)
 }
 
-/** The file link spanning all of `linkText`, as an OSC 8 target or other whole-text link names it. */
-export function findExactTerminalFileLink(linkText: string): ParsedTerminalFileLink | null {
-  const links = extractTerminalFileLinks(linkText)
-  return links.find((link) => link.startIndex === 0 && link.endIndex === linkText.length) ?? null
-}
-
 export function isPathInsideWorktree(filePath: string, worktreePath: string): boolean {
   const normalizedFile = normalizeAbsolutePath(filePath)
   const normalizedWorktree = normalizeAbsolutePath(worktreePath)
diff --git a/src/shared/terminal-markdown-file-links.test.ts b/src/shared/terminal-markdown-file-links.test.ts
index 39950654573..2de68f74732 100644
--- a/src/shared/terminal-markdown-file-links.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/terminal-markdown-file-links.test.ts
@@ -1,90 +1,88 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { extractTerminalFileLinkCandidates, extractTerminalFileLinks } from './terminal-links'
+import { extractTerminalFileLinks } from './terminal-links'
 
-for (const extract of [extractTerminalFileLinks, extractTerminalFileLinkCandidates]) {
-  describe(extract.name, () => {
-    it.each([
-      [
-        '[/tmp/Каталог/отчет.pdf](/tmp/Каталог/отчет.pdf)',
-        '/tmp/Каталог/отчет.pdf',
-        '/tmp/Каталог/отчет.pdf'
-      ],
-      ['[/wrong/file.pdf](/tmp/right.pdf)', '/tmp/right.pdf', '/tmp/right.pdf'],
-      [
-        '[PDF](/tmp/folder%20with%20spaces/report.pdf)',
-        '/tmp/folder%20with%20spaces/report.pdf',
-        '/tmp/folder with spaces/report.pdf'
-      ],
-      [
-        '[PDF](/tmp/literal%2520/report.pdf)',
-        '/tmp/literal%2520/report.pdf',
-        '/tmp/literal%20/report.pdf'
-      ],
-      [
-        '[PDF](</tmp/folder with spaces/report.pdf>)',
-        '/tmp/folder with spaces/report.pdf',
-        '/tmp/folder with spaces/report.pdf'
-      ],
-      [
-        '[route](app/(shop)/products/[id]/page.tsx:12:3 "source")',
-        'app/(shop)/products/[id]/page.tsx:12:3',
-        'app/(shop)/products/[id]/page.tsx'
-      ],
-      [
-        '[route](/tmp/report\\(final\\).pdf)',
-        '/tmp/report\\(final\\).pdf',
-        '/tmp/report(final).pdf'
-      ],
-      [
-        '[file](file:///tmp/folder%20name/report.pdf#L12C3)',
-        'file:///tmp/folder%20name/report.pdf#L12C3',
-        '/tmp/folder name/report.pdf'
-      ],
-      [
-        '[source](C:\\repo\\src\\file.ts:12:3)',
-        'C:\\repo\\src\\file.ts:12:3',
-        'C:\\repo\\src\\file.ts'
-      ],
-      [
-        '[cfg](C:\\Users\\me\\.config\\app.json)',
-        'C:\\Users\\me\\.config\\app.json',
-        'C:\\Users\\me\\.config\\app.json'
-      ],
-      ['[ci](src\\.github\\ci.yml)', 'src\\.github\\ci.yml', 'src\\.github\\ci.yml'],
-      ['[source](README.md:12:3)', 'README.md:12:3', 'README.md'],
-      ['[PDF](/tmp/100%/report.pdf)', '/tmp/100%/report.pdf', '/tmp/100%/report.pdf']
-    ])('extracts only destination from %s', (text, displayText, pathText) => {
-      const links = extract(`before ${text} after`)
-      expect(links).toHaveLength(1)
-      expect(links[0]).toMatchObject({ pathText, displayText })
-      expect(`before ${text} after`.slice(links[0].startIndex, links[0].endIndex)).toBe(displayText)
-      if (text.includes(':12:3') || text.includes('#L12C3')) {
-        expect(links[0]).toMatchObject({ line: 12, column: 3 })
-      }
-    })
-
-    it('preserves bare percent filenames and route punctuation beside Markdown', () => {
-      expect(
-        extract('/tmp/literal%20/file.pdf [PDF](/tmp/report.pdf) app/(shop)/[id]/page.tsx').map(
-          (link) => link.pathText
-        )
-      ).toEqual(['/tmp/literal%20/file.pdf', '/tmp/report.pdf', 'app/(shop)/[id]/page.tsx'])
-    })
-
-    it('does not turn an external link label into a local file target', () => {
-      expect(extract('[/tmp/misleading.pdf](https://example.com/report.pdf)')).toEqual([])
-    })
-
-    it('preserves adjacent route bracket and parenthesis segments in bare paths', () => {
-      expect(extract('/tmp/[id](group)/page.tsx').map((link) => link.pathText)).toEqual([
-        '/tmp/[id](group)/page.tsx'
-      ])
-    })
-
-    it('finds adjacent Markdown destinations independently', () => {
-      expect(
-        extract('[one](/tmp/one.pdf)[two](/tmp/two.pdf)').map((link) => link.pathText)
-      ).toEqual(['/tmp/one.pdf', '/tmp/two.pdf'])
-    })
+describe('extractTerminalFileLinks', () => {
+  it.each([
+    [
+      '[/tmp/Каталог/отчет.pdf](/tmp/Каталог/отчет.pdf)',
+      '/tmp/Каталог/отчет.pdf',
+      '/tmp/Каталог/отчет.pdf'
+    ],
+    ['[/wrong/file.pdf](/tmp/right.pdf)', '/tmp/right.pdf', '/tmp/right.pdf'],
+    [
+      '[PDF](/tmp/folder%20with%20spaces/report.pdf)',
+      '/tmp/folder%20with%20spaces/report.pdf',
+      '/tmp/folder with spaces/report.pdf'
+    ],
+    [
+      '[PDF](/tmp/literal%2520/report.pdf)',
+      '/tmp/literal%2520/report.pdf',
+      '/tmp/literal%20/report.pdf'
+    ],
+    [
+      '[PDF](</tmp/folder with spaces/report.pdf>)',
+      '/tmp/folder with spaces/report.pdf',
+      '/tmp/folder with spaces/report.pdf'
+    ],
+    [
+      '[route](app/(shop)/products/[id]/page.tsx:12:3 "source")',
+      'app/(shop)/products/[id]/page.tsx:12:3',
+      'app/(shop)/products/[id]/page.tsx'
+    ],
+    ['[route](/tmp/report\\(final\\).pdf)', '/tmp/report\\(final\\).pdf', '/tmp/report(final).pdf'],
+    [
+      '[file](file:///tmp/folder%20name/report.pdf#L12C3)',
+      'file:///tmp/folder%20name/report.pdf#L12C3',
+      '/tmp/folder name/report.pdf'
+    ],
+    [
+      '[source](C:\\repo\\src\\file.ts:12:3)',
+      'C:\\repo\\src\\file.ts:12:3',
+      'C:\\repo\\src\\file.ts'
+    ],
+    [
+      '[cfg](C:\\Users\\me\\.config\\app.json)',
+      'C:\\Users\\me\\.config\\app.json',
+      'C:\\Users\\me\\.config\\app.json'
+    ],
+    ['[ci](src\\.github\\ci.yml)', 'src\\.github\\ci.yml', 'src\\.github\\ci.yml'],
+    ['[source](README.md:12:3)', 'README.md:12:3', 'README.md'],
+    ['[PDF](/tmp/100%/report.pdf)', '/tmp/100%/report.pdf', '/tmp/100%/report.pdf']
+  ])('extracts only destination from %s', (text, displayText, pathText) => {
+    const links = extractTerminalFileLinks(`before ${text} after`)
+    expect(links).toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(links[0]).toMatchObject({ pathText, displayText })
+    expect(`before ${text} after`.slice(links[0].startIndex, links[0].endIndex)).toBe(displayText)
+    if (text.includes(':12:3') || text.includes('#L12C3')) {
+      expect(links[0]).toMatchObject({ line: 12, column: 3 })
+    }
   })
-}
+
+  it('preserves bare percent filenames and route punctuation beside Markdown', () => {
+    expect(
+      extractTerminalFileLinks(
+        '/tmp/literal%20/file.pdf [PDF](/tmp/report.pdf) app/(shop)/[id]/page.tsx'
+      ).map((link) => link.pathText)
+    ).toEqual(['/tmp/literal%20/file.pdf', '/tmp/report.pdf', 'app/(shop)/[id]/page.tsx'])
+  })
+
+  it('does not turn an external link label into a local file target', () => {
+    expect(
+      extractTerminalFileLinks('[/tmp/misleading.pdf](https://example.com/report.pdf)')
+    ).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('preserves adjacent route bracket and parenthesis segments in bare paths', () => {
+    expect(
+      extractTerminalFileLinks('/tmp/[id](group)/page.tsx').map((link) => link.pathText)
+    ).toEqual(['/tmp/[id](group)/page.tsx'])
+  })
+
+  it('finds adjacent Markdown destinations independently', () => {
+    expect(
+      extractTerminalFileLinks('[one](/tmp/one.pdf)[two](/tmp/two.pdf)').map(
+        (link) => link.pathText
+      )
+    ).toEqual(['/tmp/one.pdf', '/tmp/two.pdf'])
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/shared/terminal-osc-link-target.ts b/src/shared/terminal-osc-link-target.ts
index e2313472123..5ba7d0b4d4c 100644
--- a/src/shared/terminal-osc-link-target.ts
+++ b/src/shared/terminal-osc-link-target.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ import {
   resolveTerminalFileUrlTarget,
   type TerminalFileUrlTarget
 } from './terminal-file-url-target'
-import { findExactTerminalFileLink, type ParsedTerminalFileLink } from './terminal-links'
+import { toParsedTerminalFileLink } from './terminal-file-link-detection-ranges'
+import type { ParsedTerminalFileLink } from './terminal-links'
 
 export type TerminalOscLinkTarget =
   | { kind: 'url'; url: string }
@@ -21,8 +22,11 @@ export function classifyTerminalOscLinkTarget(
   rawText: string,
   options: TerminalOscLinkTargetOptions
 ): TerminalOscLinkTarget | null {
+  // Why: a hyperlink names its whole target, so the path is taken as written, never detected in it.
   const pathTarget = (): TerminalOscLinkTarget | null => {
-    const link = findExactTerminalFileLink(rawText)
+    const link = rawText.includes('://')
+      ? null
+      : toParsedTerminalFileLink({ text: rawText, startIndex: 0, endIndex: rawText.length })
     return link ? { kind: 'path', link } : null
   }
   const windowsPath =
diff --git a/src/shared/terminal-spaced-path-candidates.ts b/src/shared/terminal-spaced-path-candidates.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0ac6725b4ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shared/terminal-spaced-path-candidates.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+import {
+  ROOTED_PATH_START_PATTERN,
+  hasPathSeparator,
+  trimTerminalPathBoundaryPunctuation,
+  type DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange
+} from './terminal-file-link-detection-ranges'
+
+// Spaced readings are guesses the host's existence check settles, so no rule predicts where a path ends.
+const MAX_SPACED_PATH_WORDS = 10
+// Why: the path regex stops at `#&=!`, which spaced folder names (`C# Projects`) may contain.
+const PATH_WORD_CONTINUATION_REGEX = /[^\s()[\]{}'",;<>|`]*/y
+// One single-spaced word; quotes and brackets end a spaced path.
+const SPACED_PATH_WORD_REGEX = / ([^\s()[\]{}'",;<>|`]+)/y
+const FILENAME_PATTERN = /\.[\p{L}\p{N}][\p{L}\p{N}\p{M}_+-]*(?::\d+)?(?::\d+)?[.,;:!?]*$/u
+
+/** Rooted: one reading per following word, up to ten; relative: its first filename. `wordEndIndex` ends the path's own word. */
+export function growSpacedPathRanges(
+  lineText: string,
+  path: DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange,
+  rawEndIndex: number
+): { ranges: DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange[]; wordEndIndex: number } {
+  PATH_WORD_CONTINUATION_REGEX.lastIndex = rawEndIndex
+  const continuation = PATH_WORD_CONTINUATION_REGEX.exec(lineText)?.[0] ?? ''
+  const wordEndIndex = rawEndIndex + continuation.length
+  const ranges: DetectedTerminalFileLinkRange[] = []
+  // Why: a trimmed closer (`(src/a.ts) now`) ends the path, a URL is a different link, and
+  // a word that continues the path past unsupported punctuation (`/tmp/$draft/a.md`) is never one link.
+  if (
+    /[^.]/.test(lineText.slice(path.endIndex, rawEndIndex)) ||
+    continuation.includes('://') ||
+    hasPathSeparator(continuation)
+  ) {
+    return { ranges, wordEndIndex }
+  }
+  // Why: relative paths come in dense lists (`src/a.ts src/b.ts`), so they grow only to their first filename.
+  const relative = !ROOTED_PATH_START_PATTERN.test(path.text)
+  if (relative && FILENAME_PATTERN.test(path.text + continuation)) {
+    return { ranges, wordEndIndex }
+  }
+  SPACED_PATH_WORD_REGEX.lastIndex = wordEndIndex
+  let match: RegExpExecArray | null
+  for (
+    let words = 0;
+    words < MAX_SPACED_PATH_WORDS &&
+    (match = SPACED_PATH_WORD_REGEX.exec(lineText)) !== null &&
+    // Why: `./a.ts ./b.ts` names two paths, and a `scheme://` word starts a URL.
+    !ROOTED_PATH_START_PATTERN.test(match[1]) &&
+    !match[1].includes('://');
+    words += 1
+  ) {
+    const filename = FILENAME_PATTERN.test(match[1])
+    if (relative && !filename) {
+      continue
+    }
+    const range = trimTerminalPathBoundaryPunctuation(
+      lineText.slice(path.startIndex, SPACED_PATH_WORD_REGEX.lastIndex),
+      path.startIndex
+    )
+    if (range) {
+      ranges.push(range)
+    }
+    if (relative) {
+      break
+    }
+  }
+  return { ranges, wordEndIndex }
+}