diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
index e365609..6fb03f4 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
@@ -248,6 +248,8 @@ async function runInitWorkspace(force: boolean): Promise<void> {
   if (!existsSync(join(nerveRoot, ".git"))) {
     try {
       await runCommand("git", ["init"], nerveRoot);
+      await runCommand("git", ["add", "."], nerveRoot);
+      await runCommand("git", ["commit", "-m", "Initial nerve workspace"], nerveRoot);
     } catch {
       process.stdout.write("⚠️ git init failed — skipping.\n");
     }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts
index b2e8ee3..2df8ef5 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-import { createWriteStream } from "node:fs";
-import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { createWriteStream, existsSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { mkdir } from "node:fs/promises";
-import { join } from "node:path";
+import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 
 import { parseNerveConfig } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
@@ -85,6 +84,23 @@ async function runForeground(nerveRoot: string): Promise<void> {
   await kernel.ready;
 }
 
+/** Path to the CLI entry script (for spawning `start` without `-d`). */
+function cliEntryScript(): string {
+  const here = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
+  const ext = here.endsWith(".ts") ? ".ts" : ".js";
+  // When bundled, `here` is already the CLI entry (e.g. dist/cli.js).
+  // When running from source, `here` is src/commands/start.ts → go up to src/cli.ts.
+  const candidates = [
+    join(dirname(here), `cli${ext}`),        // bundled: dist/cli.js
+    join(dirname(here), "..", `cli${ext}`),   // source: src/commands/start.ts → src/cli.ts
+  ];
+  const cliPath = candidates.find((p) => existsSync(p));
+  if (!cliPath) {
+    throw new Error(`CLI entry not found (searched: ${candidates.join(", ")})`);
+  }
+  return cliPath;
+}
+
 async function runDaemon(nerveRoot: string): Promise<void> {
   if (isRunning()) {
     const pid = readPidFile();
@@ -108,9 +124,9 @@ async function runDaemon(nerveRoot: string): Promise<void> {
     else resolve();
   });
 
-  const selfPath = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
+  const cliPath = cliEntryScript();
 
-  const child = spawn(process.execPath, [selfPath, "start"], {
+  const child = spawn(process.execPath, [cliPath, "start"], {
     detached: true,
     stdio: ["ignore", logStream.fd, logStream.fd],
     env: { ...process.env, NERVE_DAEMON_MODE: "1" },