diff --git a/scripts/ripgrep-wrapper.js b/scripts/ripgrep-wrapper.js
index 7974636b..62b33b99 100644
--- a/scripts/ripgrep-wrapper.js
+++ b/scripts/ripgrep-wrapper.js
@@ -1,13 +1,24 @@
-// Runtime platform detection wrapper for @vscode/ripgrep
-// This replaces the original index.js to support cross-platform MCPB bundles
+// Runtime platform detection wrapper for @vscode/ripgrep.
+// This replaces the package's index.js in MCPB bundles so a single bundle can
+// resolve the correct ripgrep binary at runtime across platforms.
+//
+// IMPORTANT: @vscode/ripgrep 1.18.0+ ships package.json with "type": "module",
+// so this wrapper MUST be ESM. The previous CommonJS version (require /
+// module.exports) threw "require is not defined in ES module scope" the moment
+// the dependency went ESM. That error was swallowed by the resolver's try/catch
+// and surfaced as a misleading "ripgrep binary not found", silently breaking
+// search on Windows even though the bundled binaries were present.
 
-const os = require('os');
-const path = require('path');
-const fs = require('fs');
+import os from 'os';
+import path from 'path';
+import fs from 'fs';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
+
+const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 
 function getTarget() {
   const arch = process.env.npm_config_arch || os.arch();
-  
+
   switch (os.platform()) {
     case 'darwin':
       return arch === 'arm64' ? 'aarch64-apple-darwin' : 'x86_64-apple-darwin';
@@ -32,34 +43,25 @@ const target = getTarget();
 const isWindows = os.platform() === 'win32';
 const binaryName = isWindows ? `rg-${target}.exe` : `rg-${target}`;
 // __dirname is lib/, so go up one level to reach bin/
-const rgPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'bin', binaryName);
+let resolvedRgPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'bin', binaryName);
 
-// Verify binary exists and ensure executable permissions
-if (!fs.existsSync(rgPath)) {
-  // Try fallback to original rg location
+if (!fs.existsSync(resolvedRgPath)) {
+  // Fallback to a plain rg binary if the platform-specific one is missing
   const fallbackPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'bin', isWindows ? 'rg.exe' : 'rg');
-  if (fs.existsSync(fallbackPath)) {
-    // Ensure executable permissions on Unix systems
-    if (!isWindows) {
-      try {
-        fs.chmodSync(fallbackPath, 0o755);
-      } catch (err) {
-        // Ignore permission errors - might not have write access
-      }
-    }
-    module.exports.rgPath = fallbackPath;
-  } else {
-    throw new Error(`ripgrep binary not found for platform ${target}: ${rgPath}`);
+  if (!fs.existsSync(fallbackPath)) {
+    throw new Error(`ripgrep binary not found for platform ${target}: ${resolvedRgPath}`);
   }
-} else {
-  // Ensure executable permissions on Unix systems
-  // This fixes issues when extracting from zip archives that don't preserve permissions
-  if (!isWindows) {
-    try {
-      fs.chmodSync(rgPath, 0o755);
-    } catch (err) {
-      // Ignore permission errors - might not have write access
-    }
+  resolvedRgPath = fallbackPath;
+}
+
+// Ensure executable permissions on Unix systems.
+// Fixes issues when extracting from zip archives that don't preserve permissions.
+if (!isWindows) {
+  try {
+    fs.chmodSync(resolvedRgPath, 0o755);
+  } catch (err) {
+    // Ignore permission errors - might not have write access
   }
-  module.exports.rgPath = rgPath;
 }
+
+export const rgPath = resolvedRgPath;
diff --git a/src/terminal-manager.ts b/src/terminal-manager.ts
index ee991709..00ffb6f2 100644
--- a/src/terminal-manager.ts
+++ b/src/terminal-manager.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,35 @@ import { configManager } from './config-manager.js';
 import {capture} from "./utils/capture.js";
 import { analyzeProcessState } from './utils/process-detection.js';
 
+/**
+ * Standard Windows PATHEXT value, used to repair a corrupted PATHEXT before
+ * spawning child shells.
+ *
+ * On some Windows Claude Desktop / DXT launches the server process inherits a
+ * broken PATHEXT (observed as ".CPL" only). Because we build the child env from
+ * { ...process.env }, that broken value would propagate into every spawned
+ * shell, stripping ".EXE" and breaking resolution of git / node / python / rg /
+ * etc. (and even full-path .exe invocations under PowerShell). See issue #481.
+ */
+const STANDARD_PATHEXT = '.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC';
+
+/**
+ * Return a healthy PATHEXT for spawned Windows shells.
+ * - Unset           -> use the standard list.
+ * - Missing ".EXE"  -> corrupted; merge the standard list with whatever was
+ *                      present (preserves any extra extensions, order-stable).
+ * - Otherwise       -> leave the inherited value untouched.
+ */
+function getRepairedPathExt(): string {
+  const current = process.env.PATHEXT;
+  if (!current) return STANDARD_PATHEXT;
+  const exts = current.split(';').map(e => e.trim().toUpperCase()).filter(Boolean);
+  if (!exts.includes('.EXE')) {
+    return [...new Set([...STANDARD_PATHEXT.split(';'), ...exts])].join(';');
+  }
+  return current;
+}
+
 interface CompletedSession {
   pid: number;
   outputLines: string[];       // Line-based buffer (consistent with active sessions)
@@ -185,6 +214,14 @@ export class TerminalManager {
       };
     }
 
+    // Repair PATHEXT on Windows before spawning. On some Windows DXT launches
+    // the server process inherits a corrupted PATHEXT (e.g. ".CPL"), which we
+    // would otherwise propagate via { ...process.env } and break command
+    // resolution (git, node, python, rg, ...) in the spawned shell. See #481.
+    if (process.platform === 'win32' && spawnOptions.env) {
+      spawnOptions.env.PATHEXT = getRepairedPathExt();
+    }
+
     // Spawn the process with appropriate arguments
     const childProcess = spawn(spawnConfig.executable, spawnConfig.args, spawnOptions);
     let output = '';