diff --git a/docs/development.md b/docs/development.md
index bd573b5b96..244db268ee 100644
--- a/docs/development.md
+++ b/docs/development.md
@@ -131,9 +131,11 @@ desktop-only environment inherited by terminals opened inside Paseo from couplin
 a new worktree instance to the parent desktop instance's profile or single-instance
 lock.
 
-Electron remains in the desktop dev runner's process group. Closing or stopping the
-workspace-script terminal must terminate Electron with Metro; detaching Electron
-leaves an orphan holding the worktree's single-instance lock and broken output pipes.
+The desktop workspace script `exec`s the dev runner so the terminal owns the runner
+PID. Terminal shutdown reaches the runner as `SIGHUP`; the runner stops Metro and
+asks Electron to quit through its normal app lifecycle. Do not add an npm wrapper or
+detach Electron: either change leaves an orphan holding the worktree's single-instance
+lock and broken output pipes.
 
 With desktop dev running, verify the real BrowserWindow, titlebar clearance, fullscreen
 transition, and 751-pixel settings split with:
diff --git a/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner-config.mjs b/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner-config.mjs
index 8efbd3a033..c855b3e5d1 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner-config.mjs
+++ b/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner-config.mjs
@@ -15,3 +15,9 @@ export function createElectronSpawnOptions({ env, colorEnv, expoDevUrl }) {
 export function resolveChildKillTarget(pid, detached) {
   return detached ? -pid : pid;
 }
+
+export function registerDevRunnerShutdownSignals({ signalSource, stop }) {
+  for (const signal of ["SIGHUP", "SIGINT", "SIGTERM"]) {
+    signalSource.on(signal, () => stop("SIGTERM"));
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner-config.test.mjs b/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner-config.test.mjs
index 813bc6760c..ca34fe8c16 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner-config.test.mjs
+++ b/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner-config.test.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,23 @@
 import { describe, expect, test } from "vitest";
-import { createElectronSpawnOptions, resolveChildKillTarget } from "./dev-runner-config.mjs";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import {
+  createElectronSpawnOptions,
+  registerDevRunnerShutdownSignals,
+  resolveChildKillTarget,
+} from "./dev-runner-config.mjs";
 
 describe("desktop dev process ownership", () => {
+  test("makes the signal-handling runner the workspace terminal process", () => {
+    const paseoConfig = JSON.parse(
+      readFileSync(new URL("../../../paseo.json", import.meta.url), "utf8"),
+    );
+    const devScript = readFileSync(new URL("./dev.sh", import.meta.url), "utf8");
+
+    expect(paseoConfig.scripts.desktop.command).toContain("exec ./packages/desktop/scripts/dev.sh");
+    expect(devScript).toContain('npm --prefix "$DESKTOP_DIR" run build:main');
+    expect(devScript).toContain('exec node "$SCRIPT_DIR/dev-runner.mjs"');
+  });
+
   test("keeps Electron in the runner process group", () => {
     const options = createElectronSpawnOptions({
       env: { PATH: "/usr/bin" },
@@ -23,4 +39,24 @@ describe("desktop dev process ownership", () => {
     expect(resolveChildKillTarget(42, true)).toBe(-42);
     expect(resolveChildKillTarget(42, false)).toBe(42);
   });
+
+  test("stops children when the owning terminal hangs up", () => {
+    const listeners = new Map();
+    const receivedSignals = [];
+
+    registerDevRunnerShutdownSignals({
+      signalSource: {
+        on(signal, listener) {
+          listeners.set(signal, listener);
+        },
+      },
+      stop(signal) {
+        receivedSignals.push(signal);
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(Array.from(listeners.keys())).toEqual(["SIGHUP", "SIGINT", "SIGTERM"]);
+    listeners.get("SIGHUP")();
+    expect(receivedSignals).toEqual(["SIGTERM"]);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner.mjs b/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner.mjs
index c653f31b39..5e0344c0d1 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner.mjs
+++ b/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-runner.mjs
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import { execFileSync, spawn } from "node:child_process";
 import { createRequire } from "node:module";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
-import { createElectronSpawnOptions, resolveChildKillTarget } from "./dev-runner-config.mjs";
+import {
+  createElectronSpawnOptions,
+  registerDevRunnerShutdownSignals,
+  resolveChildKillTarget,
+} from "./dev-runner-config.mjs";
 
 import { resolveDevElectronArgs } from "./dev-runner-args.mjs";
 
@@ -159,8 +163,7 @@ function canConnect(port, host) {
   });
 }
 
-process.on("SIGINT", () => stopAll("SIGTERM"));
-process.on("SIGTERM", () => stopAll("SIGTERM"));
+registerDevRunnerShutdownSignals({ signalSource: process, stop: stopAll });
 
 spawnChild("metro", "npx", ["expo", "start", "--port", String(expoPort)], {
   cwd: appDir,
diff --git a/packages/desktop/scripts/dev.sh b/packages/desktop/scripts/dev.sh
index f00625d873..90d5ffa095 100755
--- a/packages/desktop/scripts/dev.sh
+++ b/packages/desktop/scripts/dev.sh
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export PASEO_DAEMON_ENDPOINT="$DAEMON_ENDPOINT"
 
 export PASEO_CORS_ORIGINS="${PASEO_CORS_ORIGINS:-*}"
 
-npm run build:main
+npm --prefix "$DESKTOP_DIR" run build:main
 
 echo "══════════════════════════════════════════════════════"
 echo "  Paseo Desktop Dev"
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/daemon/quit-lifecycle.test.ts b/packages/desktop/src/daemon/quit-lifecycle.test.ts
index 5dd1e66806..9985817d23 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/daemon/quit-lifecycle.test.ts
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/daemon/quit-lifecycle.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { DEFAULT_DESKTOP_SETTINGS } from "../settings/desktop-settings";
 import {
   createQuitLifecycle,
+  registerExternalQuitSignals,
   shouldStopDesktopManagedDaemonOnQuit,
   stopDesktopManagedDaemonOnQuitIfNeeded,
 } from "./quit-lifecycle";
@@ -29,6 +30,25 @@ function waitForQuitLifecycle(): Promise<void> {
 }
 
 describe("quit-lifecycle", () => {
+  it("turns external termination signals into one Electron quit", () => {
+    const listeners = new Map<NodeJS.Signals, () => void>();
+    const quits: string[] = [];
+
+    registerExternalQuitSignals({
+      signals: {
+        on: (signal, listener) => {
+          listeners.set(signal, listener);
+        },
+      },
+      quit: () => quits.push("quit"),
+    });
+
+    expect(Array.from(listeners.keys())).toEqual(["SIGHUP", "SIGINT", "SIGTERM"]);
+    listeners.get("SIGTERM")?.();
+    listeners.get("SIGHUP")?.();
+    expect(quits).toEqual(["quit"]);
+  });
+
   it("stops by default and only keeps running when keepRunningAfterQuit is enabled", () => {
     expect(shouldStopDesktopManagedDaemonOnQuit(SETTINGS_STOP_ON_QUIT)).toBe(true);
     expect(shouldStopDesktopManagedDaemonOnQuit(SETTINGS_KEEP_RUNNING)).toBe(false);
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/daemon/quit-lifecycle.ts b/packages/desktop/src/daemon/quit-lifecycle.ts
index 1998985f56..bd1847ce6b 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/daemon/quit-lifecycle.ts
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/daemon/quit-lifecycle.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ interface BeforeQuitApp {
   exit(code: number): void;
 }
 
+interface ExternalQuitSignalSource {
+  on(signal: NodeJS.Signals, listener: () => void): unknown;
+}
+
 interface QuitLifecycle {
   handleBeforeQuit(event: BeforeQuitEvent): void;
   handleBeforeQuitForUpdate(): void;
@@ -31,6 +35,23 @@ export interface StopOnQuitDeps {
   showShutdownFeedback: () => void;
 }
 
+export function registerExternalQuitSignals({
+  signals,
+  quit,
+}: {
+  signals: ExternalQuitSignalSource;
+  quit: () => void;
+}): void {
+  let quitRequested = false;
+  for (const signal of ["SIGHUP", "SIGINT", "SIGTERM"] satisfies NodeJS.Signals[]) {
+    signals.on(signal, () => {
+      if (quitRequested) return;
+      quitRequested = true;
+      quit();
+    });
+  }
+}
+
 export function shouldStopDesktopManagedDaemonOnQuit(settings: QuitLifecycleSettings): boolean {
   return !settings.daemon.keepRunningAfterQuit;
 }
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/main.ts b/packages/desktop/src/main.ts
index 36b66783ad..cb0ae0aa5a 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/main.ts
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/main.ts
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ import {
 } from "./daemon/daemon-manager.js";
 import {
   createQuitLifecycle,
+  registerExternalQuitSignals,
   stopDesktopManagedDaemonOnQuitIfNeeded,
 } from "./daemon/quit-lifecycle.js";
 import { runDesktopStartup } from "./desktop-startup.js";
@@ -1081,6 +1082,7 @@ const quitLifecycle = createQuitLifecycle({
 // electron-updater forwards this event through Electron's built-in autoUpdater.
 electronAutoUpdater.on("before-quit-for-update", quitLifecycle.handleBeforeQuitForUpdate);
 app.on("before-quit", quitLifecycle.handleBeforeQuit);
+registerExternalQuitSignals({ signals: process, quit: () => app.quit() });
 
 app.on("window-all-closed", () => {
   if (process.platform !== "darwin") {
diff --git a/paseo.json b/paseo.json
index 076d1f2c58..4e7b0e8116 100644
--- a/paseo.json
+++ b/paseo.json
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     },
     "desktop": {
       "type": "service",
-      "command": "PASEO_DEV_MANAGED_HOME=1 PASEO_DEV_ROOT=\"${PASEO_WORKTREE_PATH:-$PWD}\" PASEO_HOME=\"${PASEO_WORKTREE_PATH:-$PWD}/.dev/paseo-home\" PASEO_LISTEN=0.0.0.0:${PASEO_SERVICE_DAEMON_PORT:-6768} PASEO_DEV_DAEMON_ENDPOINT=localhost:${PASEO_SERVICE_DAEMON_PORT:-6768} EXPO_PORT=${PASEO_PORT:-} npm run dev --workspace=@getpaseo/desktop"
+      "command": "PASEO_DEV_MANAGED_HOME=1 PASEO_DEV_ROOT=\"${PASEO_WORKTREE_PATH:-$PWD}\" PASEO_HOME=\"${PASEO_WORKTREE_PATH:-$PWD}/.dev/paseo-home\" PASEO_LISTEN=0.0.0.0:${PASEO_SERVICE_DAEMON_PORT:-6768} PASEO_DEV_DAEMON_ENDPOINT=localhost:${PASEO_SERVICE_DAEMON_PORT:-6768} EXPO_PORT=${PASEO_PORT:-} exec ./packages/desktop/scripts/dev.sh"
     },
     "ios-simulator": {
       "type": "service",