diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index f2ab66bf..94bb86a3 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Thanks for your interest. This document covers what you need to know to send a w
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-- Node.js 22.20 or newer (`engines.node` in `package.json`).
+- Node.js 22.13.0 or newer (`engines.node` in `package.json`).
 - npm 10 or newer (ships with recent Node).
 - macOS or Linux for full provider coverage. Windows works for most providers but Cursor / Antigravity development is easier on macOS.
 - Optional: Swift 6 toolchain if you are touching the macOS menubar (`mac/`).
@@ -18,7 +18,19 @@ cd codeburn
 npm install
 ```
 
-There is no separate build step required to run the dev CLI. `npm run dev` runs `tsx` against `src/cli.ts` directly.
+There is no separate build step required to run the dev CLI. `npm run dev` loads
+`tsx` through Node's `--import` flag and runs `src/cli.ts` directly. The command
+works with npm's default shell on Windows, macOS, and Linux; no shell configuration
+or extra environment assignment is required. Deprecation warnings are suppressed
+for this invocation, and any existing `NODE_OPTIONS` are retained.
+
+Use `--` to pass CLI arguments through npm. For a quick setup check that does not
+scan your session history, run:
+
+```bash
+npm run dev -- --version
+npm run dev -- status --help
+```
 
 ## Common Commands
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 228d8de4..dfabca87 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     "build:dash": "cd dash && npm ci --no-audit --no-fund --silent && npm run build",
     "build:vscode": "npm --prefix vscode run build",
     "package:vscode": "npm --prefix vscode run package",
-    "dev": "NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation tsx src/cli.ts",
+    "dev": "node --no-deprecation --import tsx src/cli.ts",
     "test": "vitest run tests --exclude \"tests/cache-refresh-lock*\"",
     "test:locks": "vitest run tests/cache-refresh-lock.test.ts tests/cache-refresh-lock-corrupt-body.test.ts tests/cache-refresh-lock-process.test.ts tests/cache-refresh-lock-status-snapshot.test.ts --poolOptions.forks.singleFork=true",
     "test:watch": "vitest tests --exclude \"tests/cache-refresh-lock*\"",
diff --git a/tests/dev-command.test.ts b/tests/dev-command.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..413fb5c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/dev-command.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process'
+import { mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync, symlinkSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path'
+import { pathToFileURL } from 'node:url'
+import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+const root = process.cwd()
+const manifest = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(root, 'package.json'), 'utf8')) as {
+  version: string
+  scripts: { dev: string }
+}
+let fixture: string
+
+function runDev(args: string, extraEnv: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = {}) {
+  // npm runs scripts through the platform's default shell and adds .bin to
+  // PATH. Exercise those same semantics, including cmd.exe on Windows.
+  return spawnSync(`${manifest.scripts.dev} ${args}`, {
+    cwd: fixture,
+    shell: true,
+    encoding: 'utf8',
+    timeout: 20_000,
+    env: {
+      ...process.env,
+      PATH: [dirname(process.execPath), join(fixture, 'node_modules', '.bin'), process.env.PATH].join(process.platform === 'win32' ? ';' : ':'),
+      ...extraEnv,
+    },
+  })
+}
+
+describe('development CLI command', () => {
+  beforeAll(() => {
+    // Both the checkout and executable paths can contain spaces on Windows.
+    fixture = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'codeburn dev command '))
+    const directoryLink = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'junction' : 'dir'
+    symlinkSync(join(root, 'src'), join(fixture, 'src'), directoryLink)
+    symlinkSync(join(root, 'node_modules'), join(fixture, 'node_modules'), directoryLink)
+    writeFileSync(join(fixture, 'package.json'), '{"type":"module"}\n')
+  })
+
+  afterAll(() => rmSync(fixture, { recursive: true, force: true }))
+
+  it('runs --version through the default shell from a checkout path with spaces', () => {
+    const result = runDev('--version')
+    expect(result.error).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0)
+    expect(result.stdout.trim()).toBe(manifest.version)
+  })
+
+  it('forwards command arguments to the CLI', () => {
+    const result = runDev('status --help')
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0)
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain('Usage: codeburn status')
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain('--format')
+  })
+
+  it('suppresses deprecation warnings while retaining inherited NODE_OPTIONS', () => {
+    const preload = join(fixture, 'warning.mjs')
+    const marker = join(fixture, 'preload-marker')
+    writeFileSync(preload, [
+      'import { writeFileSync } from "node:fs"',
+      `writeFileSync(${JSON.stringify(marker)}, "loaded")`,
+      'process.emitWarning("dev-command-fixture", "DeprecationWarning")',
+    ].join('\n'))
+    const result = runDev('--version', {
+      NODE_OPTIONS: `--import="${pathToFileURL(preload).href}"`,
+    })
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0)
+    expect(result.stdout.trim()).toBe(manifest.version)
+    expect(readFileSync(marker, 'utf8')).toBe('loaded')
+    expect(result.stderr).not.toContain('dev-command-fixture')
+  })
+})