diff --git a/packages/opencode/bin/altimate b/packages/opencode/bin/altimate
index c842b49deb..dea3eecea6 100755
--- a/packages/opencode/bin/altimate
+++ b/packages/opencode/bin/altimate
@@ -5,9 +5,55 @@ const fs = require("fs")
 const path = require("path")
 const os = require("os")
 
+// Resolve script location early — needed by both run() and findBinary().
+const scriptPath = fs.realpathSync(__filename)
+const scriptDir = path.dirname(scriptPath)
+
+// Collect ALL node_modules directories walking upward from startDir.
+// Bun's single-file executable uses a virtual filesystem (/$bunfs/root/) without
+// node_modules. External packages are resolved via NODE_PATH instead.
+// We collect every node_modules in the hierarchy (not just the first) to handle
+// pnpm strict layouts, hoisted monorepos, and npm flat installs alike.
+function findAllNodeModules(startDir) {
+  const paths = []
+  let current = startDir
+  for (;;) {
+    const modules = path.join(current, "node_modules")
+    if (fs.existsSync(modules)) paths.push(modules)
+    const parent = path.dirname(current)
+    if (parent === current) break
+    current = parent
+  }
+  return paths
+}
+
 function run(target) {
+  // Resolve NODE_PATH so the compiled Bun binary can find external packages
+  // installed alongside the wrapper (e.g. @altimateai/altimate-core NAPI module).
+  // Search from BOTH the binary's location AND the wrapper script's location
+  // to cover npm flat installs, pnpm isolated stores, and hoisted monorepos.
+  const env = { ...process.env }
+  try {
+    const resolvedTarget = fs.realpathSync(target)
+    const targetDir = path.dirname(path.dirname(resolvedTarget))
+
+    const targetModules = findAllNodeModules(targetDir)
+    const scriptModules = findAllNodeModules(scriptDir)
+    const allPaths = [...new Set([...scriptModules, ...targetModules])]
+
+    if (allPaths.length > 0) {
+      const sep = process.platform === "win32" ? ";" : ":"
+      const joined = allPaths.join(sep)
+      env.NODE_PATH = env.NODE_PATH ? joined + sep + env.NODE_PATH : joined
+    }
+  } catch {
+    // realpathSync failed (e.g. target doesn't exist) — continue without
+    // NODE_PATH; spawnSync will report the missing binary via result.error.
+  }
+
   const result = childProcess.spawnSync(target, process.argv.slice(2), {
     stdio: "inherit",
+    env,
   })
   if (result.error) {
     console.error(result.error.message)
@@ -22,9 +68,6 @@ if (envPath) {
   run(envPath)
 }
 
-const scriptPath = fs.realpathSync(__filename)
-const scriptDir = path.dirname(scriptPath)
-
 //
 const cached = path.join(scriptDir, ".altimate-code")
 if (fs.existsSync(cached)) {
diff --git a/packages/opencode/bin/altimate-code b/packages/opencode/bin/altimate-code
index c842b49deb..dea3eecea6 100755
--- a/packages/opencode/bin/altimate-code
+++ b/packages/opencode/bin/altimate-code
@@ -5,9 +5,55 @@ const fs = require("fs")
 const path = require("path")
 const os = require("os")
 
+// Resolve script location early — needed by both run() and findBinary().
+const scriptPath = fs.realpathSync(__filename)
+const scriptDir = path.dirname(scriptPath)
+
+// Collect ALL node_modules directories walking upward from startDir.
+// Bun's single-file executable uses a virtual filesystem (/$bunfs/root/) without
+// node_modules. External packages are resolved via NODE_PATH instead.
+// We collect every node_modules in the hierarchy (not just the first) to handle
+// pnpm strict layouts, hoisted monorepos, and npm flat installs alike.
+function findAllNodeModules(startDir) {
+  const paths = []
+  let current = startDir
+  for (;;) {
+    const modules = path.join(current, "node_modules")
+    if (fs.existsSync(modules)) paths.push(modules)
+    const parent = path.dirname(current)
+    if (parent === current) break
+    current = parent
+  }
+  return paths
+}
+
 function run(target) {
+  // Resolve NODE_PATH so the compiled Bun binary can find external packages
+  // installed alongside the wrapper (e.g. @altimateai/altimate-core NAPI module).
+  // Search from BOTH the binary's location AND the wrapper script's location
+  // to cover npm flat installs, pnpm isolated stores, and hoisted monorepos.
+  const env = { ...process.env }
+  try {
+    const resolvedTarget = fs.realpathSync(target)
+    const targetDir = path.dirname(path.dirname(resolvedTarget))
+
+    const targetModules = findAllNodeModules(targetDir)
+    const scriptModules = findAllNodeModules(scriptDir)
+    const allPaths = [...new Set([...scriptModules, ...targetModules])]
+
+    if (allPaths.length > 0) {
+      const sep = process.platform === "win32" ? ";" : ":"
+      const joined = allPaths.join(sep)
+      env.NODE_PATH = env.NODE_PATH ? joined + sep + env.NODE_PATH : joined
+    }
+  } catch {
+    // realpathSync failed (e.g. target doesn't exist) — continue without
+    // NODE_PATH; spawnSync will report the missing binary via result.error.
+  }
+
   const result = childProcess.spawnSync(target, process.argv.slice(2), {
     stdio: "inherit",
+    env,
   })
   if (result.error) {
     console.error(result.error.message)
@@ -22,9 +68,6 @@ if (envPath) {
   run(envPath)
 }
 
-const scriptPath = fs.realpathSync(__filename)
-const scriptDir = path.dirname(scriptPath)
-
 //
 const cached = path.join(scriptDir, ".altimate-code")
 if (fs.existsSync(cached)) {
diff --git a/packages/opencode/script/build.ts b/packages/opencode/script/build.ts
index 802f475104..2206a093a9 100755
--- a/packages/opencode/script/build.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/script/build.ts
@@ -204,17 +204,26 @@ for (const item of targets) {
     tsconfig: "./tsconfig.json",
     plugins: [solidPlugin],
     sourcemap: "external",
-    // Packages excluded from the compiled binary — loaded lazily at runtime.
-    // NOTE: @altimateai/altimate-core is intentionally NOT external — it's a
-    // napi binary that must be bundled for the CLI to work out of the box.
+    // Packages excluded from the compiled binary — resolved from node_modules
+    // at runtime. Bun compiled binaries resolve externals via standard Node
+    // resolution from the binary's location, walking up to the wrapper
+    // package's node_modules.
+    //
+    // IMPORTANT: Without code splitting, Bun inlines dynamic import() targets
+    // into the main chunk. Any external require() in those targets will fail
+    // at startup — not when the import() is called. Only mark packages as
+    // external when they truly cannot be bundled (e.g. NAPI native addons).
     external: [
-      // dbt integration — heavy transitive deps, loaded on first dbt operation
-      "@altimateai/dbt-integration",
-      // Database drivers — users install on demand per warehouse
+      // NAPI native module — cannot be embedded in Bun single-file executable.
+      // The JS loader dynamically require()s platform-specific .node binaries
+      // (e.g. @altimateai/altimate-core-darwin-arm64).
+      // Must be installed as a dependency of the published wrapper package.
+      "@altimateai/altimate-core",
+      // Database drivers — native addons, users install on demand per warehouse
       "pg", "snowflake-sdk", "@google-cloud/bigquery", "@databricks/sql",
       "mysql2", "mssql", "oracledb", "duckdb", "better-sqlite3",
-      // Optional infra packages
-      "keytar", "ssh2", "dockerode", "yaml",
+      // Optional infra packages — native addons or heavy optional deps
+      "keytar", "ssh2", "dockerode",
     ],
     compile: {
       autoloadBunfig: false,
diff --git a/packages/opencode/script/publish.ts b/packages/opencode/script/publish.ts
index 73d46e4a0f..29525a10f0 100755
--- a/packages/opencode/script/publish.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/script/publish.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,18 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from "url"
 const dir = fileURLToPath(new URL("..", import.meta.url))
 process.chdir(dir)
 
+// NAPI native modules that must be installed alongside the CLI binary.
+// These cannot be embedded in Bun's single-file executable — the JS loader
+// dynamically require()s platform-specific .node binaries at runtime.
+const altimateCoreDep = pkg.dependencies["@altimateai/altimate-core"]
+if (!altimateCoreDep) {
+  console.error("Missing required dependency: @altimateai/altimate-core in package.json")
+  process.exit(1)
+}
+const runtimeDependencies: Record<string, string> = {
+  "@altimateai/altimate-core": altimateCoreDep,
+}
+
 const binaries: Record<string, string> = {}
 for (const filepath of new Bun.Glob("**/package.json").scanSync({ cwd: "./dist" })) {
   const pkg = await Bun.file(`./dist/${filepath}`).json()
@@ -34,6 +46,7 @@ await Bun.file(`./dist/${pkg.name}/package.json`).write(
       },
       version: version,
       license: pkg.license,
+      dependencies: runtimeDependencies,
       optionalDependencies: binaries,
     },
     null,
@@ -81,6 +94,7 @@ try {
         },
         version: version,
         license: pkg.license,
+        dependencies: runtimeDependencies,
         optionalDependencies: binaries,
       },
       null,