diff --git a/scripts/run-real-archive-profile.ps1 b/scripts/run-real-archive-profile.ps1
index d218977..4b90ea3 100644
--- a/scripts/run-real-archive-profile.ps1
+++ b/scripts/run-real-archive-profile.ps1
@@ -28,32 +28,191 @@ $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
 
 function Get-NormalizedDirectoryPath {
-    param([Parameter(Mandatory)][string] $Path)
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string] $Path
+    )
 
-    $full = [System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath($Path)
-    return $full.TrimEnd([System.IO.Path]::DirectorySeparatorChar, [System.IO.Path]::AltDirectorySeparatorChar)
+    $fullPath = [System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath($Path)
+
+    return $fullPath.TrimEnd(
+        [System.IO.Path]::DirectorySeparatorChar,
+        [System.IO.Path]::AltDirectorySeparatorChar
+    )
 }
 
 function Test-PathOverlap {
     param(
-        [Parameter(Mandatory)][string] $Left,
-        [Parameter(Mandatory)][string] $Right
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string] $Left,
+
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string] $Right
     )
 
     $separator = [System.IO.Path]::DirectorySeparatorChar
+
     $leftWithSeparator = $Left + $separator
     $rightWithSeparator = $Right + $separator
-    return $Left.Equals($Right, [System.StringComparison]::OrdinalIgnoreCase) `
-        -or $leftWithSeparator.StartsWith($rightWithSeparator, [System.StringComparison]::OrdinalIgnoreCase) `
-        -or $rightWithSeparator.StartsWith($leftWithSeparator, [System.StringComparison]::OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+
+    return (
+        $Left.Equals(
+            $Right,
+            [System.StringComparison]::OrdinalIgnoreCase
+        ) -or
+        $leftWithSeparator.StartsWith(
+            $rightWithSeparator,
+            [System.StringComparison]::OrdinalIgnoreCase
+        ) -or
+        $rightWithSeparator.StartsWith(
+            $leftWithSeparator,
+            [System.StringComparison]::OrdinalIgnoreCase
+        )
+    )
+}
+
+function ConvertTo-NativeCommandLineArgument {
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [AllowEmptyString()]
+        [string] $Value
+    )
+
+    if ($Value.Length -eq 0) {
+        return '""'
+    }
+
+    if ($Value -notmatch '[\s"]') {
+        return $Value
+    }
+
+    return '"' + $Value.Replace('"', '\"') + '"'
+}
+
+function Invoke-NativeRedirected {
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string] $FilePath,
+
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string[]] $Arguments,
+
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string] $StandardOutputPath,
+
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string] $StandardErrorPath
+    )
+
+    $outputDirectory = Split-Path -Parent $StandardOutputPath
+    $errorDirectory = Split-Path -Parent $StandardErrorPath
+
+    if ($outputDirectory) {
+        New-Item `
+            -ItemType Directory `
+            -Path $outputDirectory `
+            -Force |
+            Out-Null
+    }
+
+    if ($errorDirectory -and $errorDirectory -ne $outputDirectory) {
+        New-Item `
+            -ItemType Directory `
+            -Path $errorDirectory `
+            -Force |
+            Out-Null
+    }
+
+    Remove-Item `
+        -LiteralPath $StandardOutputPath `
+        -Force `
+        -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+
+    Remove-Item `
+        -LiteralPath $StandardErrorPath `
+        -Force `
+        -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+
+    $commandLine = (
+        $Arguments |
+        ForEach-Object {
+            ConvertTo-NativeCommandLineArgument -Value $_
+        }
+    ) -join " "
+
+    $process = Start-Process `
+        -FilePath $FilePath `
+        -ArgumentList $commandLine `
+        -WorkingDirectory $repositoryRoot `
+        -RedirectStandardOutput $StandardOutputPath `
+        -RedirectStandardError $StandardErrorPath `
+        -NoNewWindow `
+        -Wait `
+        -PassThru
+
+    return [int] $process.ExitCode
+}
+
+function Write-Utf8JsonFile {
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [object] $Value,
+
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string] $Path,
+
+        [Parameter()]
+        [ValidateRange(1, 100)]
+        [int] $Depth = 8
+    )
+
+    $json = $Value | ConvertTo-Json -Depth $Depth
+    $utf8WithoutBom = [System.Text.UTF8Encoding]::new($false)
+
+    [System.IO.File]::WriteAllText(
+        $Path,
+        $json + [System.Environment]::NewLine,
+        $utf8WithoutBom
+    )
+}
+
+function Add-EvidenceFileToManifest {
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [System.Collections.IDictionary] $Manifest,
+
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string] $Path
+    )
+
+    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path -PathType Leaf)) {
+        return
+    }
+
+    $item = Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path
+    $digest = Get-FileHash -LiteralPath $Path -Algorithm SHA256
+
+    $Manifest.files += [ordered]@{
+        name   = $item.Name
+        bytes  = [long] $item.Length
+        sha256 = $digest.Hash.ToLowerInvariant()
+    }
 }
 
-$repositoryRoot = Get-NormalizedDirectoryPath (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot "..")
+$repositoryRoot = Get-NormalizedDirectoryPath (
+    Join-Path $PSScriptRoot ".."
+)
+
 $archive = Get-NormalizedDirectoryPath $ArchiveRoot
 $workspace = Get-NormalizedDirectoryPath $WorkspaceRoot
 $evidenceBase = Get-NormalizedDirectoryPath $EvidenceRoot
+
 $sourceDatabase = Join-Path $archive "database\mailvault.sqlite3"
 
+if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $archive -PathType Container)) {
+    throw "MailVault archive directory was not found at: $archive"
+}
+
 if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $sourceDatabase -PathType Leaf)) {
     throw "MailVault database was not found at: $sourceDatabase"
 }
@@ -66,95 +225,247 @@ if (Test-PathOverlap -Left $archive -Right $evidenceBase) {
     throw "Runtime evidence directory must not overlap the canonical MailVault archive."
 }
 
+if (Test-PathOverlap -Left $workspace -Right $evidenceBase) {
+    throw "Profiler workspace and runtime evidence directory must not overlap."
+}
+
 if (-not (Get-Command cargo -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
     throw "cargo was not found. Install the Rust toolchain pinned by rust-toolchain.toml."
 }
 
 $timestamp = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyyMMddTHHmmssZ")
 $evidenceDirectory = Join-Path $evidenceBase "profile-$timestamp"
-New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $evidenceDirectory -Force | Out-Null
-New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $workspace -Force | Out-Null
+
+New-Item `
+    -ItemType Directory `
+    -Path $evidenceDirectory `
+    -Force |
+    Out-Null
+
+New-Item `
+    -ItemType Directory `
+    -Path $workspace `
+    -Force |
+    Out-Null
+
+$preflightJson = Join-Path $evidenceDirectory "preflight.json"
+$preflightLog = Join-Path $evidenceDirectory "preflight.stderr.log"
+$resultJson = Join-Path $evidenceDirectory "profile-result.json"
+$progressLog = Join-Path $evidenceDirectory "profile-progress.jsonl"
+$manifestPath = Join-Path $evidenceDirectory "run-manifest.json"
+
+$profileStarted = $false
+$profileExitCode = $null
+$startedAt = $null
+$finishedAt = $null
+$elapsedMilliseconds = $null
 
 Push-Location $repositoryRoot
+
 try {
     if (-not $SkipBuild) {
         Write-Host "Building the release CLI..."
-        & cargo build --release -p mailvault-profiler-cli
-        if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
-            throw "Release CLI build failed with exit code $LASTEXITCODE."
+
+        & cargo build `
+            --release `
+            --locked `
+            -p mailvault-profiler-cli
+
+        $buildExitCode = $LASTEXITCODE
+
+        if ($buildExitCode -ne 0) {
+            throw "Release CLI build failed with exit code $buildExitCode."
         }
     }
 
-    $binary = Join-Path $repositoryRoot "target\release\mailvault-profiler.exe"
+    $binary = Join-Path `
+        $repositoryRoot `
+        "target\release\mailvault-profiler.exe"
+
     if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $binary -PathType Leaf)) {
         throw "Release CLI was not found at: $binary"
     }
 
-    $preflightJson = Join-Path $evidenceDirectory "preflight.json"
-    $preflightLog = Join-Path $evidenceDirectory "preflight.stderr.log"
     Write-Host "Running read-only preflight..."
-    & $binary preflight --archive $archive --json 1> $preflightJson 2> $preflightLog
-    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
-        throw "Preflight failed. Review $preflightJson and $preflightLog."
+
+    $preflightExitCode = Invoke-NativeRedirected `
+        -FilePath $binary `
+        -Arguments @(
+            "preflight",
+            "--archive",
+            $archive,
+            "--json"
+        ) `
+        -StandardOutputPath $preflightJson `
+        -StandardErrorPath $preflightLog
+
+    if ($preflightExitCode -ne 0) {
+        throw (
+            "Preflight failed with exit code $preflightExitCode. " +
+            "Review: $preflightJson and $preflightLog"
+        )
     }
 
-    $resultJson = Join-Path $evidenceDirectory "profile-result.json"
-    $progressLog = Join-Path $evidenceDirectory "profile-progress.jsonl"
+    if (
+        -not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $preflightJson -PathType Leaf) -or
+        (Get-Item -LiteralPath $preflightJson).Length -eq 0
+    ) {
+        throw "Preflight completed without producing a result: $preflightJson"
+    }
+
+    try {
+        Get-Content `
+            -LiteralPath $preflightJson `
+            -Raw |
+            ConvertFrom-Json |
+            Out-Null
+    }
+    catch {
+        throw "Preflight produced invalid JSON at: $preflightJson. $($_.Exception.Message)"
+    }
+
+    Write-Host "Profiling the canonical collection in read-only mode..."
+
     $startedAt = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime()
     $stopwatch = [System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch]::StartNew()
+    $profileStarted = $true
 
-    Write-Host "Profiling the canonical collection in read-only mode..."
-    & $binary profile `
-        --archive $archive `
-        --workspace $workspace `
-        --batch-size $InventoryBatchSize `
-        --file-stat-workers $FileStatWorkers `
-        --file-stat-batch-size $FileStatBatchSize `
-        1> $resultJson 2> $progressLog
-    $profileExitCode = $LASTEXITCODE
+    $profileExitCode = Invoke-NativeRedirected `
+        -FilePath $binary `
+        -Arguments @(
+            "profile",
+            "--archive",
+            $archive,
+            "--workspace",
+            $workspace,
+            "--batch-size",
+            $InventoryBatchSize.ToString(
+                [System.Globalization.CultureInfo]::InvariantCulture
+            ),
+            "--file-stat-workers",
+            $FileStatWorkers.ToString(
+                [System.Globalization.CultureInfo]::InvariantCulture
+            ),
+            "--file-stat-batch-size",
+            $FileStatBatchSize.ToString(
+                [System.Globalization.CultureInfo]::InvariantCulture
+            )
+        ) `
+        -StandardOutputPath $resultJson `
+        -StandardErrorPath $progressLog
 
     $stopwatch.Stop()
     $finishedAt = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime()
+    $elapsedMilliseconds = [long] $stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds
+
+    if ($profileExitCode -eq 0) {
+        if (
+            -not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $resultJson -PathType Leaf) -or
+            (Get-Item -LiteralPath $resultJson).Length -eq 0
+        ) {
+            $profileExitCode = 1
 
-    $manifest = [ordered]@{
-        schemaVersion = 1
-        profilerVersion = "0.1.0-alpha.3"
-        startedAt = $startedAt.ToString("o")
-        finishedAt = $finishedAt.ToString("o")
-        elapsedMilliseconds = [long] $stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds
-        exitCode = $profileExitCode
-        archiveLeaf = Split-Path -Leaf $archive
-        workspaceLeaf = Split-Path -Leaf $workspace
-        inventoryBatchSize = $InventoryBatchSize
-        fileStatWorkers = $FileStatWorkers
-        fileStatBatchSize = $FileStatBatchSize
-        operatingSystem = [System.Environment]::OSVersion.VersionString
-        processorCount = [System.Environment]::ProcessorCount
-        files = @()
-    }
-
-    foreach ($path in @($preflightJson, $preflightLog, $resultJson, $progressLog)) {
-        if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $path -PathType Leaf) {
-            $item = Get-Item -LiteralPath $path
-            $digest = Get-FileHash -LiteralPath $path -Algorithm SHA256
-            $manifest.files += [ordered]@{
-                name = $item.Name
-                bytes = [long] $item.Length
-                sha256 = $digest.Hash.ToLowerInvariant()
-            }
+            throw (
+                "Profiler returned success but did not produce a result file: " +
+                $resultJson
+            )
         }
-    }
 
-    $manifestPath = Join-Path $evidenceDirectory "run-manifest.json"
-    $manifest | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 8 | Set-Content -LiteralPath $manifestPath -Encoding UTF8
+        try {
+            Get-Content `
+                -LiteralPath $resultJson `
+                -Raw |
+                ConvertFrom-Json |
+                Out-Null
+        }
+        catch {
+            $profileExitCode = 1
+
+            throw "Profiler produced invalid JSON at: $resultJson. $($_.Exception.Message)"
+        }
+    }
+}
+catch {
+    if ($profileStarted -and $null -eq $finishedAt) {
+        if ($null -ne $stopwatch -and $stopwatch.IsRunning) {
+            $stopwatch.Stop()
+            $elapsedMilliseconds = [long] $stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds
+        }
 
-    Write-Host "Runtime evidence: $evidenceDirectory"
-    if ($profileExitCode -ne 0) {
-        throw "Collection profile failed with exit code $profileExitCode. Review the runtime evidence directory."
+        $finishedAt = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime()
     }
 
-    Write-Host "Collection profile completed successfully."
+    throw
 }
 finally {
-    Pop-Location
+    try {
+        if ($null -eq $startedAt) {
+            $startedAt = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime()
+        }
+
+        if ($null -eq $finishedAt) {
+            $finishedAt = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime()
+        }
+
+        if ($null -eq $elapsedMilliseconds) {
+            $elapsedMilliseconds = 0
+        }
+
+        $manifestExitCode = if ($null -eq $profileExitCode) {
+            -1
+        }
+        else {
+            [int] $profileExitCode
+        }
+
+        $manifest = [ordered]@{
+            schemaVersion       = 1
+            profilerVersion     = "0.1.0-alpha.3"
+            startedAt           = $startedAt.ToString("o")
+            finishedAt          = $finishedAt.ToString("o")
+            elapsedMilliseconds = [long] $elapsedMilliseconds
+            exitCode            = $manifestExitCode
+            archiveLeaf         = Split-Path -Leaf $archive
+            workspaceLeaf       = Split-Path -Leaf $workspace
+            inventoryBatchSize  = $InventoryBatchSize
+            fileStatWorkers     = $FileStatWorkers
+            fileStatBatchSize   = $FileStatBatchSize
+            operatingSystem     = [System.Environment]::OSVersion.VersionString
+            processorCount      = [System.Environment]::ProcessorCount
+            files               = @()
+        }
+
+        foreach ($path in @(
+            $preflightJson,
+            $preflightLog,
+            $resultJson,
+            $progressLog
+        )) {
+            Add-EvidenceFileToManifest `
+                -Manifest $manifest `
+                -Path $path
+        }
+
+        Write-Utf8JsonFile `
+            -Value $manifest `
+            -Path $manifestPath `
+            -Depth 8
+
+        Write-Host "Runtime evidence: $evidenceDirectory"
+    }
+    finally {
+        Pop-Location
+    }
+}
+
+if ($profileExitCode -ne 0) {
+    throw (
+        "Collection profile failed with exit code $profileExitCode. " +
+        "Review the runtime evidence directory: $evidenceDirectory"
+    )
 }
+
+Write-Host "Collection profile completed successfully."
+Write-Host "Result: $resultJson"
+Write-Host "Progress: $progressLog"
+Write-Host "Manifest: $manifestPath"