diff --git a/packages/mosaic/__tests__/platform/detect.test.ts b/packages/mosaic/__tests__/platform/detect.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..540f0e8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/mosaic/__tests__/platform/detect.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+
+// homedir/platform are read at call time, so they can be stubbed per case.
+vi.mock('node:os', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import('node:os')>();
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    homedir: () => '/home/tester',
+    platform: () => mockPlatform,
+  };
+});
+
+let mockPlatform: NodeJS.Platform = 'linux';
+
+const { getShellProfilePath, detectShell } = await import('../../src/platform/detect.js');
+
+describe('getShellProfilePath', () => {
+  const originalShell = process.env['SHELL'];
+  const originalZdotdir = process.env['ZDOTDIR'];
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    mockPlatform = 'linux';
+    delete process.env['ZDOTDIR'];
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    if (originalShell === undefined) delete process.env['SHELL'];
+    else process.env['SHELL'] = originalShell;
+    if (originalZdotdir === undefined) delete process.env['ZDOTDIR'];
+    else process.env['ZDOTDIR'] = originalZdotdir;
+  });
+
+  // The regression this guards: setupPath() in stages/finalize.ts appends the
+  // PATH export to whatever this returns. A line written to ~/.bashrc is
+  // unreachable to `bash -lc`, systemd units and agent seats, because Debian's
+  // default .bashrc returns early for non-interactive shells — so an install
+  // reported success and left `mosaic: command not found`. Same for .zshrc,
+  // which zsh only reads for interactive shells.
+  it('never targets an interactive-only rc file', () => {
+    for (const shell of ['/bin/bash', '/usr/bin/zsh']) {
+      process.env['SHELL'] = shell;
+      const profile = getShellProfilePath();
+      expect(profile).not.toMatch(/\.bashrc$/);
+      expect(profile).not.toMatch(/\.zshrc$/);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('uses ~/.profile for bash', () => {
+    process.env['SHELL'] = '/bin/bash';
+    expect(getShellProfilePath()).toBe('/home/tester/.profile');
+  });
+
+  it('uses ~/.zshenv for zsh', () => {
+    process.env['SHELL'] = '/usr/bin/zsh';
+    expect(getShellProfilePath()).toBe('/home/tester/.zshenv');
+  });
+
+  it('honours ZDOTDIR for zsh', () => {
+    process.env['SHELL'] = '/usr/bin/zsh';
+    process.env['ZDOTDIR'] = '/custom/zdot';
+    expect(getShellProfilePath()).toBe('/custom/zdot/.zshenv');
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to ~/.profile for an unknown shell', () => {
+    process.env['SHELL'] = '/bin/somethingelse';
+    expect(detectShell()).toBe('unknown');
+    expect(getShellProfilePath()).toBe('/home/tester/.profile');
+  });
+
+  it('still routes fish to its own config', () => {
+    process.env['SHELL'] = '/usr/bin/fish';
+    expect(getShellProfilePath()).toBe('/home/tester/.config/fish/config.fish');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/src/platform/detect.ts b/packages/mosaic/src/platform/detect.ts
index 59f48173..4abb3129 100644
--- a/packages/mosaic/src/platform/detect.ts
+++ b/packages/mosaic/src/platform/detect.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { homedir, platform } from 'node:os';
 
@@ -22,15 +21,18 @@ export function getShellProfilePath(): string | null {
 
   const shell = detectShell();
   switch (shell) {
+    // Both of these deliberately avoid the interactive-only rc files.
+    // Debian's default .bashrc returns early for non-interactive shells, so a
+    // PATH line appended to it never runs for `bash -lc`, systemd units, or
+    // agent seats — an install could report success and still leave `mosaic`
+    // unreachable. .profile is read by login shells and sources .bashrc for
+    // interactive ones, so one line covers both; .zshenv is zsh's equivalent.
     case 'zsh': {
       const zdotdir = process.env['ZDOTDIR'] ?? home;
-      return join(zdotdir, '.zshrc');
+      return join(zdotdir, '.zshenv');
     }
-    case 'bash': {
-      const bashrc = join(home, '.bashrc');
-      if (existsSync(bashrc)) return bashrc;
+    case 'bash':
       return join(home, '.profile');
-    }
     case 'fish':
       return join(home, '.config', 'fish', 'config.fish');
     default:
diff --git a/tools/install.sh b/tools/install.sh
index 46c54f34..bd76d265 100755
--- a/tools/install.sh
+++ b/tools/install.sh
@@ -309,6 +309,87 @@ require_cmd() {
   fi
 }
 
+# True if any shell rc file already puts $1 on PATH.
+#
+# Each file is tested for existence first and grepped one at a time, rather than
+# handed to a single `grep -qs ... "${rc_files[@]}"`. Handing grep a missing file
+# makes the exit status implementation-defined: GNU grep 3.11 returns 0 when -q
+# matched an earlier file, ugrep 7.5 returns 2 for the missing one regardless.
+# On the 2 path the caller reads "not present yet" and appends a duplicate PATH
+# line on every single install.
+path_entry_exists() {
+  local dir="$1" rc_file
+  for rc_file in "$HOME/.profile" "$HOME/.zshenv" "$HOME/.zshrc" "$HOME/.bashrc"; do
+    if [[ -f "$rc_file" ]] && grep -qF "$dir" "$rc_file"; then
+      return 0
+    fi
+  done
+  return 1
+}
+
+# Append `export PATH="$1:$PATH"` to the shell profile so $1 survives this
+# process. An `export` here reaches only the installer; every directory the
+# install leaves behind has to be written down somewhere a later shell reads.
+#
+# Deliberately NOT ~/.bashrc: Debian's default .bashrc returns early for
+# non-interactive shells, so a PATH line appended to the bottom of it is
+# unreachable to `bash -lc`, to systemd units, and to every agent seat — the
+# exact consumers that need these binaries. ~/.profile is read by login shells
+# and Debian's .profile sources .bashrc for interactive ones, so a single line
+# there reaches both. For zsh the always-sourced file is .zshenv, not .zshrc.
+#
+# $1 = directory to add, $2 = label for the comment line.
+# Returns 1 (having warned) if the profile could not be written.
+persist_on_path() {
+  local dir="$1" label="$2" profile
+
+  if path_entry_exists "$dir"; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  if [[ -n "${ZSH_VERSION:-}" ]] || [[ "$(basename "${SHELL:-}")" == "zsh" ]]; then
+    profile="$HOME/.zshenv"
+  else
+    profile="$HOME/.profile"
+  fi
+
+  # Probe writability in a subshell. A redirection failure on a special built-in
+  # aborts the shell it runs in, so it has to be a child; and the redirection on
+  # the subshell is what silences the "Permission denied" the shell would
+  # otherwise print ahead of our own message.
+  if ! ( : >>"$profile" ) 2>/dev/null; then
+    warn "$dir is not on your PATH and $profile could not be written"
+    dim "  Add to your shell rc:  export PATH=\"$dir:\$PATH\""
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  {
+    echo ""
+    echo "# $label"
+    echo "export PATH=\"$dir:\$PATH\""
+  } >>"$profile"
+  ok "Added $dir to PATH in $profile"
+  return 0
+}
+
+# Persist $PREFIX/bin on PATH instead of only warning about it.
+#
+# The warning it replaces was the last step of an otherwise successful install,
+# so the installer reported success and left `mosaic: command not found` — an
+# unattended install had no operator to read the advice and act on it.
+ensure_prefix_on_path() {
+  if [[ ":$PATH:" == *":$PREFIX/bin:"* ]]; then
+    return
+  fi
+
+  if path_entry_exists "$PREFIX/bin"; then
+    warn "$PREFIX/bin is in your shell profile but not in this shell"
+  elif ! persist_on_path "$PREFIX/bin" "Mosaic CLI"; then
+    return
+  fi
+  dim "  Run:  export PATH=\"$PREFIX/bin:\$PATH\"   (or start a new login shell)"
+}
+
 installed_cli_version() {
   local json
   json="$(npm ls -g --depth=0 --json --prefix="$PREFIX" 2>/dev/null)" || true
@@ -516,8 +597,175 @@ install_next_cli_from_registry() {
   ok "Installed @next packages: CLI ${installed_cli}, gateway ${installed_gateway}"
 }
 
+# ─── node bootstrap ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# Nothing on a greenfield host installs Node.js, yet this installer and the CLI
+# it installs both hard-require it. Measured on a clean Debian 13 image: the
+# installer stopped at `require_cmd node` with "Required command not found" and
+# nothing was installed, with no hint of how to proceed.
+#
+# Inlined rather than factored into a sibling file on purpose: this script is
+# fetched standalone by curl and has nothing to source.
+#
+# No-op when a suitable node is already on PATH, so it never fights an
+# operator's nvm/fnm/distro node.
+
+NODE_ROOT="${MOSAIC_NODE_ROOT:-$HOME/.mosaic/node}"
+NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION="${MOSAIC_NODE_VERSION:-v22.23.2}"
+NODE_MIN_MAJOR="${MOSAIC_NODE_MIN_MAJOR:-20}"
+NODE_DIST_BASE="${MOSAIC_NODE_DIST_BASE:-https://nodejs.org/dist}"
+
+# Major version of the node at $1, or empty if it will not run.
+node_major_of() {
+  local candidate="$1" version
+  version="$("$candidate" -e 'process.stdout.write(process.versions.node)' 2>/dev/null)" || return 0
+  printf '%s' "${version%%.*}"
+}
+
+node_is_suitable() {
+  local major
+  major="$(node_major_of "$1")"
+  [[ -n "$major" ]] && [[ "$major" -ge "$NODE_MIN_MAJOR" ]]
+}
+
+install_node() {
+  local node_os node_arch tarball release_url work_dir extracted target node_bin
+
+  case "$(uname -s)" in
+    Linux)  node_os="linux" ;;
+    Darwin) node_os="darwin" ;;
+    *) fail "Unsupported OS '$(uname -s)'. Install Node.js >= $NODE_MIN_MAJOR manually."; return 1 ;;
+  esac
+
+  # Linux here means glibc. Node's official linux-x64 build is dynamically
+  # linked against glibc, so on musl (Alpine) the binary will not exec — but it
+  # fails visibly: node_is_suitable rejects it and ensure_node exits with
+  # "install Node.js manually". No silent breakage, just a wasted download.
+  # A musl host needs the unofficial build, which is out of scope here.
+  case "$(uname -m)" in
+    x86_64|amd64)  node_arch="x64" ;;
+    aarch64|arm64) node_arch="arm64" ;;
+    armv7l)        node_arch="armv7l" ;;
+    *) fail "Unsupported architecture '$(uname -m)'. Install Node.js >= $NODE_MIN_MAJOR manually."; return 1 ;;
+  esac
+
+  # .tar.gz rather than the smaller .tar.xz: gzip is universally present, xz is
+  # not, and a minimal image is exactly the case this exists to handle.
+  tarball="node-${NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION}-${node_os}-${node_arch}.tar.gz"
+  release_url="${NODE_DIST_BASE}/${NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION}"
+
+  work_dir="$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/mosaic-node-XXXXXX")"
+
+  info "Installing Node.js $NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION ($node_os-$node_arch) to $NODE_ROOT…"
+
+  if ! curl -fsSL "${release_url}/${tarball}" -o "$work_dir/$tarball"; then
+    fail "Download failed: ${release_url}/${tarball}"
+    rm -rf "$work_dir"; return 1
+  fi
+
+  # Trust assumption, stated so nobody has to infer it: this verifies INTEGRITY
+  # (the tarball matches the manifest), not AUTHENTICITY (the manifest is
+  # genuinely Node's). The only thing establishing that is TLS to
+  # $NODE_DIST_BASE. Node publishes SHASUMS256.txt.sig signed by its release
+  # keys and we do not check it, which is on par with nvm but means pointing
+  # MOSAIC_NODE_DIST_BASE at an untrusted mirror has no signature backstop.
+  # Tracked as a hardening follow-up (raised by scooby in the #1229 review).
+  if ! curl -fsSL "${release_url}/SHASUMS256.txt" -o "$work_dir/SHASUMS256.txt"; then
+    fail "Could not fetch SHASUMS256.txt; refusing to install an unverified runtime."
+    rm -rf "$work_dir"; return 1
+  fi
+
+  # Keep only our artifact's line, so a missing entry is an error not a pass.
+  if ! grep " ${tarball}\$" "$work_dir/SHASUMS256.txt" >"$work_dir/expected.sha256"; then
+    fail "$tarball has no entry in SHASUMS256.txt; refusing to install."
+    rm -rf "$work_dir"; return 1
+  fi
+
+  if ! (cd "$work_dir" && verify_sha256 expected.sha256); then
+    fail "Checksum mismatch for $tarball; refusing to install."
+    rm -rf "$work_dir"; return 1
+  fi
+  ok "Checksum verified"
+
+  tar xzf "$work_dir/$tarball" -C "$work_dir"
+  extracted="$work_dir/node-${NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION}-${node_os}-${node_arch}"
+  if [[ ! -x "$extracted/bin/node" ]]; then
+    fail "Extracted archive has no bin/node"
+    rm -rf "$work_dir"; return 1
+  fi
+
+  mkdir -p "$NODE_ROOT"
+  target="$NODE_ROOT/$NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION"
+  rm -rf "$target.incoming"
+  mv "$extracted" "$target.incoming"
+  rm -rf "$target"
+  mv "$target.incoming" "$target"
+  ln -sfn "$NODE_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION" "$NODE_ROOT/current"
+  rm -rf "$work_dir"
+
+  node_bin="$NODE_ROOT/current/bin"
+  if ! node_is_suitable "$node_bin/node"; then
+    fail "Installed node at $node_bin/node did not run"
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  export PATH="$node_bin:$PATH"
+  ok "Node.js $(node -v) installed with npm $(npm -v 2>/dev/null || echo '?')"
+  return 0
+}
+
+# Make the Mosaic-managed Node reachable from the next shell as well as this
+# one. Measured on a greenfield canary run: without this the install finished
+# rc=0, wrote $PREFIX/bin to ~/.profile, and the next login shell found `mosaic`
+# and then died on `env: 'node': No such file or directory` — the CLI is a Node
+# script, so a CLI on PATH without its runtime is a successful install that
+# produces a broken command.
+persist_node_on_path() {
+  persist_on_path "$NODE_ROOT/current/bin" "Mosaic-managed Node.js" || true
+}
+
+ensure_node() {
+  if command -v node &>/dev/null && node_is_suitable node; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  # A previous run may have installed one that is not on this shell's PATH.
+  if node_is_suitable "$NODE_ROOT/current/bin/node"; then
+    export PATH="$NODE_ROOT/current/bin:$PATH"
+    persist_node_on_path
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  if [[ "${MOSAIC_SKIP_NODE_BOOTSTRAP:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
+    fail "No suitable Node.js and MOSAIC_SKIP_NODE_BOOTSTRAP=1; refusing to download."
+    echo "  Install Node.js >= $NODE_MIN_MAJOR yourself, then re-run this script."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  require_cmd curl
+  require_cmd tar
+
+  # sha256sum on Linux, shasum on macOS. Verification is not optional: without a
+  # checksum this would install an unauthenticated runtime.
+  if command -v sha256sum &>/dev/null; then
+    verify_sha256() { sha256sum -c --status "$1"; }
+  elif command -v shasum &>/dev/null; then
+    verify_sha256() { shasum -a 256 -c --status "$1"; }
+  else
+    fail "sha256sum or shasum required to verify the Node.js download"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  if ! install_node; then
+    fail "Could not bootstrap Node.js. Install Node.js >= $NODE_MIN_MAJOR and re-run."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  persist_node_on_path
+}
+
 # ─── preflight ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
+ensure_node
 require_cmd node
 require_cmd npm
 
@@ -682,11 +930,7 @@ if [[ "$FLAG_CLI" == "true" ]]; then
     ensure_monorepo
     install_cli_from_source
 
-    # PATH check for npm prefix
-    if [[ ":$PATH:" != *":$PREFIX/bin:"* ]]; then
-      warn "$PREFIX/bin is not on your PATH"
-      dim "  Add to your shell rc:  export PATH=\"$PREFIX/bin:\$PATH\""
-    fi
+    ensure_prefix_on_path
   elif is_next_registry_lane; then
     info "Next mode — trying fast npm @next install from ${REGISTRY}…"
     if install_next_cli_from_registry; then
@@ -699,11 +943,7 @@ if [[ "$FLAG_CLI" == "true" ]]; then
       export MOSAIC_GATEWAY_SKIP_NPM_INSTALL=1
     fi
 
-    # PATH check for npm prefix
-    if [[ ":$PATH:" != *":$PREFIX/bin:"* ]]; then
-      warn "$PREFIX/bin is not on your PATH"
-      dim "  Add to your shell rc:  export PATH=\"$PREFIX/bin:\$PATH\""
-    fi
+    ensure_prefix_on_path
   else
     if [[ -z "$LATEST" ]]; then
       warn "Could not reach registry at $REGISTRY — skipping npm CLI."
@@ -721,11 +961,7 @@ if [[ "$FLAG_CLI" == "true" ]]; then
       ok "CLI is at or ahead of registry ($CURRENT ≥ $LATEST)."
     fi
 
-    # PATH check for npm prefix
-    if [[ ":$PATH:" != *":$PREFIX/bin:"* ]]; then
-      warn "$PREFIX/bin is not on your PATH"
-      dim "  Add to your shell rc:  export PATH=\"$PREFIX/bin:\$PATH\""
-    fi
+    ensure_prefix_on_path
   fi
 fi