diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cli.ts b/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
index cb4baceec..b77e9eaf5 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { Command, Option } from "commander";
-import { createRequire } from "node:module";
 import { createAgentCommand } from "./commands/agent/index.js";
 import { createDaemonCommand } from "./commands/daemon/index.js";
 import { createChatCommand } from "./commands/chat/index.js";
@@ -30,20 +29,7 @@ import {
   addJsonAndDaemonHostOptions,
   addJsonOption,
 } from "./utils/command-options.js";
-
-const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
-
-type CliPackageJson = {
-  version?: unknown;
-};
-
-function resolveCliVersion(): string {
-  const packageJson = require("../package.json") as CliPackageJson;
-  if (typeof packageJson.version === "string" && packageJson.version.trim().length > 0) {
-    return packageJson.version.trim();
-  }
-  throw new Error("Unable to resolve @getpaseo/cli version from package.json.");
-}
+import { resolveCliVersion } from "./version.js";
 
 const VERSION = resolveCliVersion();
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/client.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/client.ts
index 956c40c02..b934d19fa 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/client.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/client.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { loadConfig, resolvePaseoHome, DaemonClient } from "@getpaseo/server";
 import path from "node:path";
 import WebSocket from "ws";
 import { getOrCreateCliClientId } from "./client-id.js";
+import { resolveCliVersion } from "../version.js";
 
 export interface ConnectOptions {
   host?: string;
@@ -207,6 +208,7 @@ export async function connectToDaemon(options?: ConnectOptions): Promise<DaemonC
       url: target.url,
       clientId,
       clientType: "cli",
+      appVersion: resolveCliVersion(),
       connectTimeoutMs: timeout,
       webSocketFactory: (url: string, config?: { headers?: Record<string, string> }) =>
         nodeWebSocketFactory(url, {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/version.ts b/packages/cli/src/version.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b054f3e40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/version.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import { createRequire } from "node:module";
+
+const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+
+type CliPackageJson = {
+  version?: unknown;
+};
+
+export function resolveCliVersion(): string {
+  const packageJson = require("../package.json") as CliPackageJson;
+  if (typeof packageJson.version === "string" && packageJson.version.trim().length > 0) {
+    return packageJson.version.trim();
+  }
+  throw new Error("Unable to resolve @getpaseo/cli version from package.json.");
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/tests/28-client-ipc-targets.test.ts b/packages/cli/tests/28-client-ipc-targets.test.ts
index 09b999ba6..95d2b3968 100644
--- a/packages/cli/tests/28-client-ipc-targets.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/tests/28-client-ipc-targets.test.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   resolveDaemonTarget,
   resolveDefaultDaemonHosts,
 } from "../src/utils/client.js";
+import { resolveCliVersion } from "../src/version.js";
 
 console.log("=== CLI IPC Target Helpers ===\n");
 
@@ -94,7 +95,13 @@ console.log("=== CLI IPC Target Helpers ===\n");
 }
 
 {
-  console.log("Test 6: local IPC still takes priority over configured TCP hosts");
+  console.log("Test 6: CLI app version resolves for daemon hello compatibility");
+  assert.match(resolveCliVersion(), /^\d+\.\d+\.\d+/);
+  console.log("✓ CLI app version resolves for daemon hello compatibility\n");
+}
+
+{
+  console.log("Test 7: local IPC still takes priority over configured TCP hosts");
   const paseoHome = mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "paseo-client-targets-order-"));
   try {
     mkdirSync(paseoHome, { recursive: true });