diff --git a/.aiox-core/core/pro/pro-updater.js b/.aiox-core/core/pro/pro-updater.js
index b2b9fc78a5..d293ff794a 100644
--- a/.aiox-core/core/pro/pro-updater.js
+++ b/.aiox-core/core/pro/pro-updater.js
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ function resolveInstalledPro(projectRoot) {
 }
 
 function readProjectPackageJson(projectRoot) {
-  const packageJsonPath = path.join(projectRoot, 'package.json');
+  const packageJsonPath = path.join(path.resolve(projectRoot), 'package.json');
   if (!fs.existsSync(packageJsonPath)) {
     return null;
   }
@@ -126,12 +126,14 @@ function readProjectPackageJson(projectRoot) {
 }
 
 function buildNodeModulesPackageJsonPath(projectRoot, packageName) {
+  const resolvedProjectRoot = path.resolve(projectRoot);
+
   if (packageName.startsWith('@')) {
     const [scope, name] = packageName.slice(1).split('/');
-    return path.join(projectRoot, 'node_modules', scope, name, 'package.json');
+    return path.join(resolvedProjectRoot, 'node_modules', scope, name, 'package.json');
   }
 
-  return path.join(projectRoot, 'node_modules', packageName, 'package.json');
+  return path.join(resolvedProjectRoot, 'node_modules', packageName, 'package.json');
 }
 
 function detectCorePackageName(projectRoot) {
@@ -187,7 +189,8 @@ function assertValidProjectRoot(projectRoot) {
  * @returns {string|null}
  */
 function getCoreVersion(projectRoot) {
-  const versionJsonPath = path.join(projectRoot, '.aiox-core', 'version.json');
+  const resolvedProjectRoot = path.resolve(projectRoot);
+  const versionJsonPath = path.join(resolvedProjectRoot, '.aiox-core', 'version.json');
   if (fs.existsSync(versionJsonPath)) {
     try {
       const versionInfo = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(versionJsonPath, 'utf8'));
@@ -200,7 +203,7 @@ function getCoreVersion(projectRoot) {
   }
 
   for (const packageName of CORE_PACKAGES) {
-    const packageJsonPath = buildNodeModulesPackageJsonPath(projectRoot, packageName);
+    const packageJsonPath = buildNodeModulesPackageJsonPath(resolvedProjectRoot, packageName);
     if (fs.existsSync(packageJsonPath)) {
       try {
         const data = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(packageJsonPath, 'utf8'));
@@ -211,13 +214,13 @@ function getCoreVersion(projectRoot) {
     }
   }
 
-  const projectPackageJson = readProjectPackageJson(projectRoot);
+  const projectPackageJson = readProjectPackageJson(resolvedProjectRoot);
   if (projectPackageJson) {
     if (CORE_PACKAGES.includes(projectPackageJson.name)) {
       return projectPackageJson.version || null;
     }
 
-    const declaredCorePackage = detectCorePackageName(projectRoot);
+    const declaredCorePackage = detectCorePackageName(resolvedProjectRoot);
     if (declaredCorePackage) {
       for (const field of DEPENDENCY_FIELDS) {
         const declaredVersion = projectPackageJson[field]?.[declaredCorePackage];
diff --git a/.aiox-core/data/entity-registry.yaml b/.aiox-core/data/entity-registry.yaml
index 3c8e711064..a655608a35 100644
--- a/.aiox-core/data/entity-registry.yaml
+++ b/.aiox-core/data/entity-registry.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 metadata:
   version: 1.0.0
-  lastUpdated: '2026-05-08T19:57:34.743Z'
+  lastUpdated: '2026-05-08T21:17:46.181Z'
   entityCount: 755
   checksumAlgorithm: sha256
   resolutionRate: 100
@@ -12802,8 +12802,8 @@ entities:
         score: 0.4
         constraints: []
         extensionPoints: []
-      checksum: sha256:532bdded456b4d5c62ddcfb82a145c67e2c34a42153589cf7a4632d27b16fa7d
-      lastVerified: '2026-05-08T19:57:34.737Z'
+      checksum: sha256:30ea78b8ab088e695936ae662057697410856751f463eeb649e00b67dcc31531
+      lastVerified: '2026-05-08T21:17:46.174Z'
       externalDeps: []
       plannedDeps: []
       lifecycle: orphan
diff --git a/.aiox-core/install-manifest.yaml b/.aiox-core/install-manifest.yaml
index 157442cee3..5db5a1c3e2 100644
--- a/.aiox-core/install-manifest.yaml
+++ b/.aiox-core/install-manifest.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 # - File types for categorization
 #
 version: 5.1.15
-generated_at: "2026-05-08T21:14:02.282Z"
+generated_at: "2026-05-08T21:28:13.872Z"
 generator: scripts/generate-install-manifest.js
 file_count: 1122
 files:
@@ -1009,9 +1009,9 @@ files:
     type: core
     size: 7193
   - path: core/pro/pro-updater.js
-    hash: sha256:532bdded456b4d5c62ddcfb82a145c67e2c34a42153589cf7a4632d27b16fa7d
+    hash: sha256:30ea78b8ab088e695936ae662057697410856751f463eeb649e00b67dcc31531
     type: core
-    size: 17817
+    size: 17994
   - path: core/quality-gates/base-layer.js
     hash: sha256:9a9a3921da08176b0bd44f338a59abc1f5107f3b1ee56571e840bf4e8ed233f4
     type: core
@@ -1277,7 +1277,7 @@ files:
     type: data
     size: 9590
   - path: data/entity-registry.yaml
-    hash: sha256:978e53082f9799d21b396a23901bb97a524999ee2604d1d27454aba20bc68f32
+    hash: sha256:c115355ba33df1671460f3ba51baba5235db865f34a0f3e8b6ec3c8a31134be2
     type: data
     size: 528021
   - path: data/learned-patterns.yaml
diff --git a/tests/cli/aiox-delegate.test.js b/tests/cli/aiox-delegate.test.js
index 079a5a9e94..eecfdcae19 100644
--- a/tests/cli/aiox-delegate.test.js
+++ b/tests/cli/aiox-delegate.test.js
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ const {
 
 describe('aiox-delegate external executor CLI', () => {
   const fixedDate = new Date(Date.UTC(2026, 4, 8, 2, 30, 45));
+  const workdir = path.resolve('/tmp/work');
 
   test('parses codex delegation arguments', () => {
     const options = parseArgs([
@@ -42,10 +43,10 @@ describe('aiox-delegate external executor CLI', () => {
     );
 
     expect(plan.slug).toBe('story-4.3');
-    expect(plan.runDir).toBe('/tmp/work/.aiox/external-runs/20260508-023045-story-4.3');
+    expect(plan.runDir).toBe(path.join(workdir, '.aiox', 'external-runs', '20260508-023045-story-4.3'));
     expect(plan.command).toBe('codex');
     expect(plan.args).toEqual(
-      expect.arrayContaining(['-a', 'never', '-s', 'workspace-write', 'exec', '-C', '/tmp/work']),
+      expect.arrayContaining(['-a', 'never', '-s', 'workspace-write', 'exec', '-C', workdir]),
     );
     expect(plan.args.at(-1)).toBe('-');
     expect(plan.outputPath).toBe(path.join(plan.runDir, 'output.md'));
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ describe('aiox-delegate external executor CLI', () => {
     );
 
     expect(plan.args).toEqual(
-      expect.arrayContaining(['-a', 'never', '-s', 'workspace-write', 'exec', '-C', '/tmp/work']),
+      expect.arrayContaining(['-a', 'never', '-s', 'workspace-write', 'exec', '-C', workdir]),
     );
   });
 
diff --git a/tests/core/orchestration/bob-orchestrator.test.js b/tests/core/orchestration/bob-orchestrator.test.js
index ad574ddb31..ec0f923efd 100644
--- a/tests/core/orchestration/bob-orchestrator.test.js
+++ b/tests/core/orchestration/bob-orchestrator.test.js
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ const {
 // Test fixtures
 const TEST_PROJECT_ROOT = path.join(__dirname, '../../fixtures/test-project-bob');
 
+function portablePath(targetPath) {
+  return String(targetPath).replace(/\\/g, '/');
+}
+
 // Mock Epic 11 modules
 jest.mock('../../../.aiox-core/core/config/config-resolver', () => ({
   resolveConfig: jest.fn(),
@@ -1061,7 +1065,7 @@ describe('BobOrchestrator', () => {
       const result = orchestrator._resolveStoryPath('99.99');
 
       // Then
-      expect(result).toContain('docs/stories/active');
+      expect(portablePath(result)).toContain('docs/stories/active');
       expect(result).toContain('99.99.story.md');
     });
   });