diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1993a644..c91877d6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -54,3 +54,6 @@ flatpak/node-sources.json
 
 # Local Codex desktop env state
 .codex/environments/environment.toml
+
+# Claude Code local settings
+.claude/settings.local.json
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 24c736a7..374dc0be 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -10359,7 +10359,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "md5 0.7.0",
  "path-slash",
  "rand 0.9.1",
- "regex 1.11.1",
  "reqwest",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
diff --git a/crates/yaak-plugins/Cargo.toml b/crates/yaak-plugins/Cargo.toml
index f78f676b..3f4f2945 100644
--- a/crates/yaak-plugins/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/yaak-plugins/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ log = { workspace = true }
 md5 = "0.7.0"
 path-slash = "0.2.1"
 rand = "0.9.0"
-regex = "1.10.6"
 reqwest = { workspace = true, features = ["json"] }
 serde = { workspace = true, features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/yaak-plugins/src/manager.rs b/crates/yaak-plugins/src/manager.rs
index d7b30a08..d17eefe1 100644
--- a/crates/yaak-plugins/src/manager.rs
+++ b/crates/yaak-plugins/src/manager.rs
@@ -1081,16 +1081,10 @@ async fn read_plugins_dir(dir: &PathBuf) -> Result<Vec<String>> {
 fn fix_windows_paths(p: &PathBuf) -> String {
     use dunce;
     use path_slash::PathBufExt;
-    use regex::Regex;
 
-    // 1. Remove UNC prefix for Windows paths to pass to sidecar
-    let safe_path = dunce::simplified(p.as_path()).to_string_lossy().to_string();
+    // 1. Remove UNC prefix for Windows paths
+    let safe_path = dunce::simplified(p.as_path());
 
-    // 2. Remove the drive letter
-    let safe_path = Regex::new("^[a-zA-Z]:").unwrap().replace(safe_path.as_str(), "");
-
-    // 3. Convert backslashes to forward
-    let safe_path = PathBuf::from(safe_path.to_string()).to_slash_lossy().to_string();
-
-    safe_path
+    // 2. Convert backslashes to forward slashes for Node.js compatibility
+    PathBuf::from(safe_path).to_slash_lossy().to_string()
 }
diff --git a/scripts/run-dev.mjs b/scripts/run-dev.mjs
index 97ee875d..e6ded1c3 100644
--- a/scripts/run-dev.mjs
+++ b/scripts/run-dev.mjs
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ const args = [
   ...additionalArgs
 ];
 
-const result = spawnSync('tauri', args, { stdio: 'inherit', shell: false, env: process.env });
+// Invoke the tauri CLI JS entry point directly via node to avoid shell escaping issues on Windows
+const tauriJs = path.join(rootDir, 'node_modules', '@tauri-apps', 'cli', 'tauri.js');
+
+const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [tauriJs, ...args], { stdio: 'inherit', env: process.env });
 
 process.exit(result.status || 0);