diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 49a65ab..8c8acf0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 0.2.4 - 2026-05-17
+
+### Fixed
+- Fixed Windows Chrome CDP startup by spawning the Chrome/Edge/Brave executable directly without a shell.
+- Added a regression test to keep Chrome CDP spawn options shell-free on every platform.
+
 ## 0.2.3 - 2026-05-17
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/chrome-cdp-backend.mjs b/chrome-cdp-backend.mjs
index 57d993e..e84f609 100644
--- a/chrome-cdp-backend.mjs
+++ b/chrome-cdp-backend.mjs
@@ -131,6 +131,10 @@ export function buildChromeLaunchArgs({ debugPort, userDataDir, profileName = nu
   return args;
 }
 
+export function chromeSpawnOptions() {
+  return { stdio: 'ignore' };
+}
+
 async function readJson(url) {
   const response = await fetch(url, { headers: { accept: 'application/json' } });
   if (!response.ok) {
@@ -550,10 +554,7 @@ export class ChromeCdpBrowserBackend {
         profileName: this.profileName,
         startUrl: 'about:blank'
       });
-      this.chromeProcess = spawn(executable, args, {
-        stdio: 'ignore',
-        shell: process.platform === 'win32'
-      });
+      this.chromeProcess = spawn(executable, args, chromeSpawnOptions());
       this.chromeProcess.unref?.();
 
       let version;
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 766e16f..eb8dc13 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@agentify/desktop",
-  "version": "0.2.3",
+  "version": "0.2.4",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@agentify/desktop",
-      "version": "0.2.3",
+      "version": "0.2.4",
       "license": "MPL-2.0",
       "dependencies": {
         "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk": "^1.29.0",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7020cbf..a9f21c6 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@agentify/desktop",
-  "version": "0.2.3",
+  "version": "0.2.4",
   "description": "Agentify Desktop control center and MCP server for local AI web sessions",
   "license": "MPL-2.0",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/tests/chrome-cdp-backend.test.mjs b/tests/chrome-cdp-backend.test.mjs
index 55717ac..46a6018 100644
--- a/tests/chrome-cdp-backend.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/chrome-cdp-backend.test.mjs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import os from 'node:os';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import fs from 'node:fs/promises';
 
-import { ChromeCdpBrowserBackend, ChromeCdpConnection } from '../chrome-cdp-backend.mjs';
+import { ChromeCdpBrowserBackend, ChromeCdpConnection, chromeSpawnOptions } from '../chrome-cdp-backend.mjs';
 
 class MockWebSocket {
   constructor() {
@@ -84,6 +84,12 @@ test('chrome-cdp-backend: pending commands reject when websocket closes', async
   await assert.rejects(async () => await pending, /chrome_cdp_disconnected/);
 });
 
+test('chrome-cdp-backend: Chrome spawn does not use shell on any platform', () => {
+  const opts = chromeSpawnOptions();
+  assert.equal(opts.stdio, 'ignore');
+  assert.equal(Object.hasOwn(opts, 'shell'), false);
+});
+
 test('chrome-cdp-backend: connect rejects if websocket closes before open', async () => {
   const conn = new ChromeCdpConnection('ws://example.test/devtools/browser/1', {
     wsFactory: () => ({
@@ -266,12 +272,15 @@ test('chrome-cdp-backend: session close is best-effort when closeTarget fails',
 
 test('chrome-cdp-backend: start cleans up spawned chrome process when CDP connect fails', async () => {
   const tmpDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'agentify-chrome-start-fail-'));
-  const scriptPath = path.join(tmpDir, 'fake-chrome.sh');
-  await fs.writeFile(scriptPath, '#!/bin/sh\nsleep 30\n', { encoding: 'utf8', mode: 0o755 });
+  let executablePath = process.execPath;
+  if (process.platform !== 'win32') {
+    executablePath = path.join(tmpDir, 'fake-chrome.sh');
+    await fs.writeFile(executablePath, '#!/bin/sh\nsleep 30\n', { encoding: 'utf8', mode: 0o755 });
+  }
 
   const backend = new ChromeCdpBrowserBackend({
     stateDir: tmpDir,
-    executablePath: scriptPath,
+    executablePath,
     debugPort: 45999
   });