diff --git a/cli/src/fly/agents.ts b/cli/src/fly/agents.ts
index a2584d30..14f2ace1 100644
--- a/cli/src/fly/agents.ts
+++ b/cli/src/fly/agents.ts
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ async function installClaudeCode(): Promise<void> {
     `export PATH="${claudePath}:$PATH"`,
     `if command -v claude >/dev/null 2>&1; then ${finalize}; exit 0; fi`,
     // Ensure Node.js for npm method
-    `if ! command -v node >/dev/null 2>&1; then DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends nodejs npm 2>/dev/null && npm install -g n && n 22 && ln -sf /usr/local/bin/node /usr/bin/node && ln -sf /usr/local/bin/npm /usr/bin/npm && ln -sf /usr/local/bin/npx /usr/bin/npx || true; fi`,
+    `if ! command -v node >/dev/null 2>&1; then curl -fsSL https://nodejs.org/dist/v22.15.0/node-v22.15.0-linux-x64.tar.xz | tar -xJ -C /usr/local --strip-components=1 || true; fi`,
     // Method 2: npm
     `echo "==> Installing Claude Code (method 2/2: npm)..."`,
     `npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code || true`,
diff --git a/cli/src/fly/fly.ts b/cli/src/fly/fly.ts
index 2d76162b..e7a8456e 100644
--- a/cli/src/fly/fly.ts
+++ b/cli/src/fly/fly.ts
@@ -748,20 +748,21 @@ export async function waitForSsh(maxAttempts = 20): Promise<void> {
 export async function waitForCloudInit(): Promise<void> {
   await waitForSsh();
 
-  logStep("Installing packages (Node.js, bun)...");
+  logStep("Installing packages (bun, Node.js)...");
   // Batch all package installs into a single remote script to avoid multiple
   // round-trips (each of which was previously a separate fly machine exec call).
+  // Install bun first (single binary, no deps), then Node.js as a direct binary
+  // download from nodejs.org — no apt nodejs/npm/python3, no NodeSource, no n.
   const setupScript = [
     `echo "==> Installing base packages..."`,
     `export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive`,
-    `apt-get update -y && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl unzip git ca-certificates || true`,
-    `echo "==> Checking Node.js..."`,
-    `if ! command -v node >/dev/null 2>&1; then apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends nodejs npm || true; fi`,
-    `npm install -g n && n 22 && ln -sf /usr/local/bin/node /usr/bin/node && ln -sf /usr/local/bin/npm /usr/bin/npm && ln -sf /usr/local/bin/npx /usr/bin/npx || true`,
-    `echo "node: $(node --version 2>/dev/null || echo not installed)"`,
+    `apt-get update -y && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl unzip git ca-certificates xz-utils || true`,
     `echo "==> Checking bun..."`,
     `if ! command -v bun >/dev/null 2>&1 && [ ! -f "$HOME/.bun/bin/bun" ]; then curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash || true; fi`,
     `for rc in ~/.bashrc ~/.zshrc; do grep -q '.bun/bin' "$rc" 2>/dev/null || echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$HOME/.bun/bin:$PATH"' >> "$rc"; done`,
+    `echo "==> Checking Node.js..."`,
+    `if ! command -v node >/dev/null 2>&1; then curl -fsSL https://nodejs.org/dist/v22.15.0/node-v22.15.0-linux-x64.tar.xz | tar -xJ -C /usr/local --strip-components=1 || true; fi`,
+    `echo "node: $(node --version 2>/dev/null || echo not installed)"`,
   ].join('\n');
 
   try {
diff --git a/test/mock-curl-script.sh b/test/mock-curl-script.sh
index 26f2648d..292a4f28 100644
--- a/test/mock-curl-script.sh
+++ b/test/mock-curl-script.sh
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ _parse_args() {
 _maybe_inject_error() {
     [ -n "${MOCK_ERROR_SCENARIO:-}" ] || return 1
     case "$URL" in
-        *openrouter.ai*|*raw.githubusercontent.com*|*claude.ai/install*|*bun.sh*|*nodesource*|*opencode*|*zeroclaw*|*pip.pypa.io*|*get.docker.com*|*npmjs.org*|*github.com/*/releases*)
+        *openrouter.ai*|*raw.githubusercontent.com*|*claude.ai/install*|*bun.sh*|*nodesource*|*nodejs.org*|*opencode*|*zeroclaw*|*pip.pypa.io*|*get.docker.com*|*npmjs.org*|*github.com/*/releases*)
             return 1 ;;
     esac
     case "${MOCK_ERROR_SCENARIO}" in
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ _maybe_inject_error() {
 
 _handle_special_urls() {
     case "$URL" in
-        *claude.ai/install*|*bun.sh*|*nodesource*|*opencode*install*|*zeroclaw*install*|\
+        *claude.ai/install*|*bun.sh*|*nodesource*|*nodejs.org*|*opencode*install*|*zeroclaw*install*|\
         *pip.pypa.io*|*get.docker.com*|*install.python-poetry.org*|\
         *npmjs.org*|*deb.nodesource.com*|*github.com/*/releases*|*cli.github.com*)
             printf '#!/bin/bash\nexit 0\n'