diff --git a/apps/daemon/src/agents.ts b/apps/daemon/src/agents.ts
index 6eb7bc2cbd..f2e0972084 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/src/agents.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/src/agents.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 // @ts-nocheck
 import { execFile } from 'node:child_process';
 import { promisify } from 'node:util';
-import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { existsSync, readdirSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { delimiter } from 'node:path';
 import path from 'node:path';
+import { homedir } from 'node:os';
 import { detectAcpModels } from './acp.js';
 import { parsePiModels } from './pi-rpc.js';
 
@@ -577,12 +578,79 @@ export const AGENT_DEFS = [
   },
 ];
 
+function existingDirsUnder(root, segments = []) {
+  const dirs = [];
+  let entries = [];
+  try {
+    entries = readdirSync(root, { withFileTypes: true });
+  } catch {
+    return dirs;
+  }
+  for (const entry of entries) {
+    if (!entry.isDirectory()) continue;
+    const full = path.join(root, entry.name, ...segments);
+    if (existsSync(full)) dirs.push(full);
+  }
+  return dirs;
+}
+
+const TOOLCHAIN_DIR_CACHE_TTL_MS = 5000;
+let cachedToolchainHome = null;
+let cachedToolchainDirs = null;
+let cachedToolchainDirsAt = 0;
+
+function userToolchainDirs() {
+  const homeOverride = process.env.OD_AGENT_HOME;
+  const home = homeOverride || homedir();
+  const now = Date.now();
+  if (
+    cachedToolchainHome === home &&
+    cachedToolchainDirs &&
+    now - cachedToolchainDirsAt < TOOLCHAIN_DIR_CACHE_TTL_MS
+  ) {
+    return cachedToolchainDirs;
+  }
+  cachedToolchainHome = home;
+  cachedToolchainDirsAt = now;
+  cachedToolchainDirs = [
+    path.join(home, '.local', 'bin'),
+    path.join(home, '.opencode', 'bin'),
+    path.join(home, '.bun', 'bin'),
+    path.join(home, '.volta', 'bin'),
+    path.join(home, '.asdf', 'shims'),
+    path.join(home, 'Library', 'pnpm'),
+    path.join(home, '.cargo', 'bin'),
+    ...(process.platform !== 'win32' && !homeOverride ? ['/opt/homebrew/bin', '/usr/local/bin'] : []),
+    ...existingDirsUnder(path.join(home, '.local', 'share', 'mise', 'installs', 'node'), ['bin']),
+    ...existingDirsUnder(path.join(home, '.nvm', 'versions', 'node'), ['bin']),
+    ...existingDirsUnder(path.join(home, '.local', 'share', 'fnm', 'node-versions'), ['installation', 'bin']),
+  ];
+  return cachedToolchainDirs;
+}
+
+function resolvePathDirs() {
+  const seen = new Set();
+  const dirs = [
+    ...(process.env.PATH || '').split(delimiter),
+    // GUI launchers (macOS .app bundles, Linux .desktop files) often start
+    // with a minimal PATH. Include common user-level CLI install locations
+    // so agent detection matches the user's shell-installed tools,
+    // especially Node version managers.
+    ...userToolchainDirs(),
+  ];
+  return dirs.filter((dir) => {
+    if (!dir || seen.has(dir)) return false;
+    seen.add(dir);
+    return true;
+  });
+}
+
 export function resolveOnPath(bin) {
   const exts =
     process.platform === 'win32'
       ? (process.env.PATHEXT || '.EXE;.CMD;.BAT').split(';')
       : [''];
-  const dirs = (process.env.PATH || '').split(delimiter);
+  const dirs = resolvePathDirs();
   for (const dir of dirs) {
     for (const ext of exts) {
       const full = path.join(dir, bin + ext);
diff --git a/apps/daemon/tests/agents.test.ts b/apps/daemon/tests/agents.test.ts
index 22f7fa1b4b..8e3b30fe8a 100644
--- a/apps/daemon/tests/agents.test.ts
+++ b/apps/daemon/tests/agents.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // @ts-nocheck
 import { afterEach, test } from 'vitest';
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
-import { chmodSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { chmodSync, mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { AGENT_DEFS, resolveAgentExecutable } from '../src/agents.js';
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ const claude = AGENT_DEFS.find((agent) => agent.id === 'claude');
 const devin = AGENT_DEFS.find((agent) => agent.id === 'devin');
 const originalDisablePlugins = process.env.OD_CODEX_DISABLE_PLUGINS;
 const originalPath = process.env.PATH;
+const originalHome = process.env.HOME;
+const originalAgentHome = process.env.OD_AGENT_HOME;
 
 afterEach(() => {
   if (originalDisablePlugins == null) {
@@ -22,6 +24,16 @@ afterEach(() => {
     process.env.OD_CODEX_DISABLE_PLUGINS = originalDisablePlugins;
   }
   process.env.PATH = originalPath;
+  if (originalHome == null) {
+    delete process.env.HOME;
+  } else {
+    process.env.HOME = originalHome;
+  }
+  if (originalAgentHome == null) {
+    delete process.env.OD_AGENT_HOME;
+  } else {
+    process.env.OD_AGENT_HOME = originalAgentHome;
+  }
 });
 
 test('codex args disable plugins when OD_CODEX_DISABLE_PLUGINS is 1', () => {
@@ -288,6 +300,7 @@ fsTest('resolveAgentExecutable prefers def.bin over fallbackBins when bin is on
     writeFileSync(join(dir, 'openclaude'), '');
     chmodSync(join(dir, 'claude'), 0o755);
     chmodSync(join(dir, 'openclaude'), 0o755);
+    process.env.OD_AGENT_HOME = dir;
     process.env.PATH = dir;
 
     const resolved = resolveAgentExecutable({
@@ -306,6 +319,7 @@ fsTest('resolveAgentExecutable falls back through fallbackBins when def.bin is m
     // Only `openclaude` is installed (Claude Code fork-only setup).
     writeFileSync(join(dir, 'openclaude'), '');
     chmodSync(join(dir, 'openclaude'), 0o755);
+    process.env.OD_AGENT_HOME = dir;
     process.env.PATH = dir;
 
     const resolved = resolveAgentExecutable({
@@ -321,6 +335,7 @@ fsTest('resolveAgentExecutable falls back through fallbackBins when def.bin is m
 fsTest('resolveAgentExecutable returns null when neither def.bin nor any fallback is on PATH', () => {
   const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'od-agents-resolve-'));
   try {
+    process.env.OD_AGENT_HOME = dir;
     process.env.PATH = dir;
 
     const resolved = resolveAgentExecutable({
@@ -333,6 +348,25 @@ fsTest('resolveAgentExecutable returns null when neither def.bin nor any fallbac
   }
 });
 
+fsTest('resolveAgentExecutable searches mise node bins when PATH is minimal', () => {
+  const home = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'od-agents-home-'));
+  try {
+    const dir = join(home, '.local', 'share', 'mise', 'installs', 'node', '24.14.1', 'bin');
+    mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, 'codex'), '');
+    chmodSync(join(dir, 'codex'), 0o755);
+    process.env.OD_AGENT_HOME = home;
+    process.env.PATH = '/usr/bin:/bin';
+
+    const resolved = resolveAgentExecutable({
+      bin: 'codex',
+    });
+    assert.equal(resolved, join(dir, 'codex'));
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(home, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
 fsTest('resolveAgentExecutable still resolves agents without a fallbackBins field', () => {
   // Guard against a regression that would require every AGENT_DEF to
   // declare fallbackBins. Most agents (codex / gemini / opencode / ...)