diff --git a/autoresearch.jsonl b/autoresearch.jsonl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6afa873
--- /dev/null
+++ b/autoresearch.jsonl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"type":"config","name":"Fixing Windows execution wrapper regression by rewriting launcher in Node.js","metricName":"test_status","metricUnit":"","bestDirection":"lower"}
diff --git a/bin/qmd b/bin/qmd
index 9ddfdcf..9b0c93d 100755
--- a/bin/qmd
+++ b/bin/qmd
@@ -1,68 +1,110 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-# Resolve symlinks so global installs (npm link / npm install -g) can find the
-# actual package directory instead of the global bin directory.
-SOURCE="$0"
-while [ -L "$SOURCE" ]; do
-  SOURCE_DIR="$(cd -P "$(dirname "$SOURCE")" && pwd)"
-  TARGET="$(readlink "$SOURCE")"
-  case "$TARGET" in
-    /*) SOURCE="$TARGET" ;;
-    *) SOURCE="$SOURCE_DIR/$TARGET" ;;
-  esac
-done
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Cross-platform launcher for qmd.
+//
+// Previously this was a POSIX shell script with `#!/bin/sh`, which meant npm
+// on Windows generated shims that tried to route through `/bin/sh` — a path
+// that doesn't exist on Windows, so `qmd` failed immediately after a global
+// install. Rewriting the launcher in Node.js lets npm generate native
+// cmd/ps1/sh shims that invoke `node` directly on every platform.
 
-# Detect the runtime used to install this package and use the matching one
-# to avoid native module ABI mismatches (e.g., better-sqlite3 compiled for bun vs node)
-DIR="$(cd -P "$(dirname "$SOURCE")/.." && pwd)"
+import { spawn, spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { existsSync, realpathSync } from "node:fs";
+import { dirname, resolve } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 
-# MCP stdio reserves stdout exclusively for JSON-RPC frames. node-llama-cpp
-# / llama.cpp / ggml can write native logs directly to stdout before JS-level
-# log handlers are attached, so seed the native quiet env before Node/Bun imports
-# the CLI and its LLM modules. Preserve explicit user values when provided.
-if [ "$1" = "mcp" ]; then
-  export LLAMA_LOG_LEVEL="${LLAMA_LOG_LEVEL:-error}"
-  export GGML_LOG_LEVEL="${GGML_LOG_LEVEL:-error}"
-  export GGML_BACKEND_SILENT="${GGML_BACKEND_SILENT:-1}"
-fi
+// Resolve symlinks so global installs (npm link / npm install -g) can find
+// the actual package directory instead of the global bin directory.
+const self = realpathSync(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const pkgDir = resolve(dirname(self), "..");
+const jsEntry = resolve(pkgDir, "dist/cli/qmd.js");
+const tsEntry = resolve(pkgDir, "src/cli/qmd.ts");
 
-JS="$DIR/dist/cli/qmd.js"
-TS="$DIR/src/cli/qmd.ts"
+// MCP stdio reserves stdout exclusively for JSON-RPC frames. node-llama-cpp
+// / llama.cpp / ggml can write native logs directly to stdout before JS-level
+// log handlers are attached, so seed the native quiet env before Node/Bun imports
+// the CLI and its LLM modules. Preserve explicit user values when provided.
+if (process.argv[2] === "mcp") {
+  process.env.LLAMA_LOG_LEVEL = process.env.LLAMA_LOG_LEVEL ?? "error";
+  process.env.GGML_LOG_LEVEL = process.env.GGML_LOG_LEVEL ?? "error";
+  process.env.GGML_BACKEND_SILENT = process.env.GGML_BACKEND_SILENT ?? "1";
+}
 
-# In published packages, bin/qmd must run dist/. In a git checkout, however,
-# dist/ is often ignored and can be stale after git reset or branch switches.
-# Prefer source mode only for checkouts so ./bin/qmd reflects the checked-out
-# source without changing packaged/runtime behavior.
-if [ -e "$DIR/.git" ] && [ -f "$TS" ]; then
-  if [ -f "$DIR/bun.lock" ] || [ -f "$DIR/bun.lockb" ]; then
-    if command -v bun >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-      exec bun "$TS" "$@"
-    fi
-  fi
-  if [ -f "$DIR/node_modules/tsx/dist/cli.mjs" ]; then
-    exec node "$DIR/node_modules/tsx/dist/cli.mjs" "$TS" "$@"
-  fi
-fi
+function hasBun() {
+  try {
+    const res = spawnSync("bun", ["--version"], { stdio: "ignore", shell: process.platform === "win32" });
+    return res.status === 0;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
 
-if [ ! -f "$JS" ]; then
-  echo "qmd is not built: missing $JS" >&2
-  echo "Run: bun install && bun run build" >&2
-  echo "Or:  npm install && npm run build" >&2
-  echo "After building, run: qmd doctor" >&2
-  exit 1
-fi
+// In published packages, bin/qmd must run dist/. In a git checkout, however,
+// dist/ is often ignored and can be stale after git reset or branch switches.
+// Prefer source mode only for checkouts so ./bin/qmd reflects the checked-out
+// source without changing packaged/runtime behavior.
+let useSourceMode = false;
+let sourceRunner = null;
+let sourceArgs = [];
 
-# Detect the package manager that installed dependencies by checking lockfiles.
-# $BUN_INSTALL is intentionally NOT checked — it only indicates that bun exists
-# on the system, not that it was used to install this package (see #361).
-#
-# package-lock.json takes priority: if it exists, npm installed the native
-# modules for Node.  The repo ships bun.lock, so without this check, source
-# builds that use npm would be incorrectly routed to bun, causing ABI
-# mismatches with better-sqlite3 / sqlite-vec (see #381).
-if [ -f "$DIR/package-lock.json" ]; then
-  exec node "$JS" "$@"
-elif [ -f "$DIR/bun.lock" ] || [ -f "$DIR/bun.lockb" ]; then
-  exec bun "$JS" "$@"
-else
-  exec node "$JS" "$@"
-fi
+if (existsSync(resolve(pkgDir, ".git")) && existsSync(tsEntry)) {
+  if (existsSync(resolve(pkgDir, "bun.lock")) || existsSync(resolve(pkgDir, "bun.lockb"))) {
+    if (hasBun()) {
+      useSourceMode = true;
+      sourceRunner = "bun";
+      sourceArgs = [tsEntry, ...process.argv.slice(2)];
+    }
+  }
+  if (!useSourceMode && existsSync(resolve(pkgDir, "node_modules/tsx/dist/cli.mjs"))) {
+    useSourceMode = true;
+    sourceRunner = "node";
+    sourceArgs = [resolve(pkgDir, "node_modules/tsx/dist/cli.mjs"), tsEntry, ...process.argv.slice(2)];
+  }
+}
+
+if (!useSourceMode && !existsSync(jsEntry)) {
+  console.error(`qmd is not built: missing ${jsEntry}`);
+  console.error("Run: bun install && bun run build");
+  console.error("Or:  npm install && npm run build");
+  console.error("After building, run: qmd doctor");
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+// Detect the package manager that installed dependencies by checking lockfiles.
+// $BUN_INSTALL is intentionally NOT checked — it only indicates that bun exists
+// on the system, not that it was used to install this package (see #361).
+//
+// package-lock.json takes priority: if it exists, npm installed the native
+// modules for Node. The repo ships bun.lock, so without this check, source
+// builds that use npm would be incorrectly routed to bun, causing ABI
+// mismatches with better-sqlite3 / sqlite-vec (see #381).
+let runnerName = "node";
+if (existsSync(resolve(pkgDir, "package-lock.json"))) {
+  runnerName = "node";
+} else if (existsSync(resolve(pkgDir, "bun.lock")) || existsSync(resolve(pkgDir, "bun.lockb"))) {
+  runnerName = "bun";
+} else {
+  runnerName = "node";
+}
+
+const runner = useSourceMode ? sourceRunner : (runnerName === "node" ? "node" : "bun");
+const args = useSourceMode ? sourceArgs : [jsEntry, ...process.argv.slice(2)];
+const needsShell = (runner === "bun") && process.platform === "win32";
+
+const child = spawn(runner, args, {
+  stdio: "inherit",
+  shell: needsShell,
+});
+
+child.on("exit", (code, signal) => {
+  if (signal) {
+    process.kill(process.pid, signal);
+  } else {
+    process.exit(code ?? 0);
+  }
+});
+
+child.on("error", (err) => {
+  const name = useSourceMode ? sourceRunner : runnerName;
+  console.error(`qmd: failed to launch ${name}: ${err.message}`);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
diff --git a/test/bin-wrapper.test.ts b/test/bin-wrapper.test.ts
index c0fb439..f3c508f 100644
--- a/test/bin-wrapper.test.ts
+++ b/test/bin-wrapper.test.ts
@@ -17,10 +17,28 @@ function makeTempFixture() {
 
   for (const runtime of ["node", "bun"]) {
     const runtimePath = join(runtimeBin, runtime);
-    writeFileSync(
-      runtimePath,
-      `#!/bin/sh\n{\n  printf '%s\\n' '${runtime}'\n  printf '%s\\n' "$1"\n  shift\n  printf '%s\\n' "$@"\n} > "$QMD_WRAPPER_CAPTURE"\n`,
-    );
+    if (runtime === "node") {
+      writeFileSync(
+        runtimePath,
+        `#!/bin/sh
+if [ "$(basename "$1")" = "qmd" ]; then
+  exec "${process.execPath}" "$@"
+else
+  {
+    printf '%s\\n' 'node'
+    printf '%s\\n' "$1"
+    shift
+    printf '%s\\n' "$@"
+  } > "$QMD_WRAPPER_CAPTURE"
+fi
+`,
+      );
+    } else {
+      writeFileSync(
+        runtimePath,
+        `#!/bin/sh\n{\n  printf '%s\\n' '${runtime}'\n  printf '%s\\n' "$1"\n  shift\n  printf '%s\\n' "$@"\n} > "$QMD_WRAPPER_CAPTURE"\n`,
+      );
+    }
     chmodSync(runtimePath, 0o755);
   }