diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1b39136
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# Claude Code Instructions for dtvem
+
+## Deployment
+
+After building, always deploy both executables to the user's installation directory:
+
+```bash
+cp dist/dtvem.exe ~/.dtvem/bin/dtvem.exe
+cp dist/shim.exe ~/.dtvem/bin/dtvem-shim.exe
+~/.dtvem/bin/dtvem.exe reshim
+```
+
+The `reshim` command must be run after deploying the shim to regenerate all runtime shims (npm, node, python, etc.) with the updated binary.
diff --git a/src/cmd/shim/main.go b/src/cmd/shim/main.go
index c84567e..6bf10f2 100644
--- a/src/cmd/shim/main.go
+++ b/src/cmd/shim/main.go
@@ -311,7 +311,17 @@ func executeCommand(execPath string, args []string) error {
 			Stdout: os.Stdout,
 			Stderr: os.Stderr,
 		}
-		return cmd.Run()
+		if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+			// Check if this is an exit error (command ran but returned non-zero)
+			var exitErr *exec.ExitError
+			if errors.As(err, &exitErr) {
+				// Command executed successfully but returned non-zero exit code
+				// This is not a shim error - propagate the exit code
+				os.Exit(exitErr.ExitCode())
+			}
+			// Other errors (couldn't start, etc.) are actual failures
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 
 	return nil