diff --git a/Sources/termio/Terminal/TerminalPathClick.swift b/Sources/termio/Terminal/TerminalPathClick.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1be17a98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Sources/termio/Terminal/TerminalPathClick.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,345 @@
+import AppKit
+import Foundation
+import GhosttyTerminal
+
+// Bare file paths that agent CLIs print — `BranchModel.swift`, `src/foo.ts:42`,
+// `Sources/App/App.swift:88:15` — are plain text, not OSC 8 hyperlinks and not a
+// URL scheme, so libghostty's link detector never lights them up (its regex only
+// matches real schemes, and the maintainers have declined to add row/column
+// parsing — see the design notes on this feature). VS Code makes the same paths
+// clickable with its own `terminalLinkParsing` layer, and the reason that layer is
+// *stable* rather than a false-positive machine is not its regex: it is that every
+// candidate is validated against the filesystem before it becomes a link. termio
+// mirrors that shape here — reconstruct the token under a cmd-click from the grid
+// text, peel a trailing `:line[:col]`, resolve it against the surface's working
+// directory, and open it **only if it resolves to a real file on disk**. Anything
+// that doesn't validate is silently dropped, so an imprecise click column or a
+// stray word never opens the wrong thing.
+enum TerminalPathScanner {
+    /// A file path successfully reconstructed from a grid row and confirmed to exist.
+    struct Match: Equatable {
+        let url: URL
+        /// 1-based line to jump to, from a `:line` / `:line:col` suffix, else `nil`.
+        let line: Int?
+    }
+
+    /// Finds the file path a user cmd-clicked in `row`. Every whitespace token is a
+    /// candidate; they are tried nearest-to-the-click first and the first one that
+    /// resolves to an existing regular file wins. Returns `nil` when nothing on the
+    /// row resolves — the caller then lets the click fall through to the terminal.
+    ///
+    /// `nearColumn` is the clicked cell column; it only orders candidates, so a
+    /// column that is off by a cell (grid padding, a wide glyph) still resolves the
+    /// right path as long as the row holds a single real file — the common case.
+    ///
+    /// `baseDirectories` are the roots a relative path is tried against, in order —
+    /// the terminal's own cwd, then the session's worktree / project root. Trusting
+    /// only the terminal-reported cwd is fragile (a shell that doesn't emit OSC 7, or
+    /// `ls` run in a subdir leaves the cwd stale); resolving against the project root
+    /// too is what lets `package.json` open even when the cwd read is `~`.
+    static func resolve(in row: String, nearColumn: Int, baseDirectories: [String]) -> Match? {
+        let bases = orderedUnique(baseDirectories)
+        for candidate in candidates(in: row, nearColumn: nearColumn) {
+            if let match = validate(candidate, baseDirectories: bases) {
+                return match
+            }
+        }
+        return nil
+    }
+
+    private static func orderedUnique(_ values: [String]) -> [String] {
+        var seen = Set<String>()
+        return values.filter { seen.insert($0).inserted }
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Tokenising
+
+    /// How many adjacent whitespace tokens may be rejoined into one candidate. Four
+    /// covers the shapes that occur in practice (`Application Support/…`, `My Project
+    /// Notes.md`) while keeping the widening from wandering across a whole row.
+    private static let maximumJoinedTokens = 4
+
+    /// A whitespace-delimited run of the row, with the character range it occupies so
+    /// candidates can be ranked by how close they are to the click column.
+    private struct Token {
+        let text: String
+        let start: Int
+        let end: Int
+    }
+
+    /// Every spelling on the row worth checking, precise-first: each whitespace token,
+    /// plus the runs of adjacent tokens that a path containing a space would have been
+    /// torn into. Ordered by distance to the click and then by width, so the token the
+    /// user actually pointed at is checked before any widened span — the filesystem
+    /// gate then decides, and the widening only ever costs extra misses.
+    private static func candidates(in row: String, nearColumn column: Int) -> [String] {
+        let tokens = tokens(in: row)
+        guard !tokens.isEmpty else { return [] }
+        let characters = Array(row)
+
+        var ranked: [(text: String, distance: Int, width: Int)] = []
+        for start in tokens.indices {
+            for end in start..<min(start + maximumJoinedTokens, tokens.count) {
+                let span = (lower: tokens[start].start, upper: tokens[end].end)
+                // A widened span exists only to repair a path the whitespace split tore
+                // in half, so it has to cover the click. Widening away from the pointer
+                // would let a row of prose join into something that happens to exist.
+                if end > start, !(span.lower <= column && column < span.upper) { continue }
+                let text = end == start
+                    ? tokens[start].text
+                    : String(characters[span.lower..<span.upper])
+                ranked.append((text, distance(from: span.lower, to: span.upper, column: column), end - start + 1))
+            }
+        }
+
+        return ranked.enumerated().sorted {
+            if $0.element.distance != $1.element.distance { return $0.element.distance < $1.element.distance }
+            if $0.element.width != $1.element.width { return $0.element.width < $1.element.width }
+            return $0.offset < $1.offset
+        }.map(\.element.text)
+    }
+
+    private static func distance(from lower: Int, to upper: Int, column: Int) -> Int {
+        if column >= lower, column < upper { return 0 }
+        return min(abs(column - lower), abs(column - upper))
+    }
+
+    private static func tokens(in row: String) -> [Token] {
+        var result: [Token] = []
+        var current = ""
+        var startIndex = 0
+        for (index, character) in row.enumerated() {
+            if character == " " || character == "\t" {
+                if !current.isEmpty {
+                    result.append(Token(text: current, start: startIndex, end: index))
+                    current = ""
+                }
+            } else {
+                if current.isEmpty { startIndex = index }
+                current.append(character)
+            }
+        }
+        if !current.isEmpty {
+            result.append(Token(text: current, start: startIndex, end: row.count))
+        }
+        return result
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Path + line/column parsing
+
+    /// Wrapping punctuation an agent or shell tends to put around a path — matched
+    /// brackets/quotes and trailing sentence punctuation — stripped before resolving.
+    private static let leadingTrim = CharacterSet(charactersIn: "([{<'\"`")
+    private static let trailingTrim = CharacterSet(charactersIn: ")]}>'\"`,;.")
+
+    /// Git-diff path prefixes (`a/foo`, `b/foo`, …). If the raw token misses on disk
+    /// but the de-prefixed form hits, that's the file the tool meant.
+    private static let diffPrefixes = ["a/", "b/", "c/", "i/", "o/", "w/"]
+
+    private static func validate(_ token: String, baseDirectories: [String]) -> Match? {
+        // Strip wrapping punctuation first — a closing `).` sits *after* the `:line`
+        // suffix (`(file.swift:10).`), so peeling the line has to see a clean tail.
+        let (rawPath, line) = peelLineColumn(strip(token))
+        let stripped = strip(rawPath)
+        guard !stripped.isEmpty else { return nil }
+
+        for candidate in pathVariants(stripped) {
+            for url in urls(for: candidate, baseDirectories: baseDirectories) {
+                var isDirectory: ObjCBool = false
+                if FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: url.path, isDirectory: &isDirectory),
+                   !isDirectory.boolValue {
+                    return Match(url: url, line: line)
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return nil
+    }
+
+    /// Peels a trailing `:line` or `:line:col` off a token, returning the bare path
+    /// and the 1-based line (the column is parsed to keep it off the path but isn't
+    /// used yet — the preview jumps by line). Only trailing all-digit segments are
+    /// taken, so a path that genuinely contains a colon is left intact.
+    private static func peelLineColumn(_ token: String) -> (path: String, line: Int?) {
+        let parts = token.components(separatedBy: ":")
+        guard parts.count >= 2 else { return (token, nil) }
+
+        var trailingNumbers: [Int] = []
+        var lastPathIndex = parts.count - 1
+        while lastPathIndex >= 1, trailingNumbers.count < 2, let value = Int(parts[lastPathIndex]) {
+            trailingNumbers.append(value)
+            lastPathIndex -= 1
+        }
+        guard !trailingNumbers.isEmpty else { return (token, nil) }
+
+        let path = parts[0...lastPathIndex].joined(separator: ":")
+        // Reversed: for `file:line:col` we collected [col, line]; for `file:line`, [line].
+        let line = trailingNumbers.last
+        return (path, line)
+    }
+
+    private static func strip(_ path: String) -> String {
+        var result = Substring(path)
+        while let first = result.unicodeScalars.first, leadingTrim.contains(first) {
+            result = result.dropFirst()
+        }
+        while let last = result.unicodeScalars.last, trailingTrim.contains(last) {
+            result = result.dropLast()
+        }
+        return String(result)
+    }
+
+    private static func pathVariants(_ path: String) -> [String] {
+        var variants: [String] = []
+        func add(_ value: String) {
+            guard !value.isEmpty, !variants.contains(value) else { return }
+            variants.append(value)
+            for prefix in diffPrefixes where value.hasPrefix(prefix) {
+                let dePrefixed = String(value.dropFirst(prefix.count))
+                guard !dePrefixed.isEmpty, !variants.contains(dePrefixed) else { continue }
+                variants.append(dePrefixed)
+            }
+        }
+        add(path)
+        add(unescapingShellBackslashes(path))
+        return variants
+    }
+
+    /// Folds shell backslash escapes into the character they escape: a shell echoes
+    /// `src/my\ file.ts`, but the name on disk is `src/my file.ts`.
+    private static func unescapingShellBackslashes(_ path: String) -> String {
+        guard path.contains("\\") else { return path }
+        var result = ""
+        var escaping = false
+        for character in path {
+            if escaping {
+                result.append(character)
+                escaping = false
+            } else if character == "\\" {
+                escaping = true
+            } else {
+                result.append(character)
+            }
+        }
+        // A lone trailing backslash isn't an escape; keep it so the spelling stays honest.
+        if escaping { result.append("\\") }
+        return result
+    }
+
+    private static func urls(for path: String, baseDirectories: [String]) -> [URL] {
+        let expanded = (path as NSString).expandingTildeInPath
+        if (expanded as NSString).isAbsolutePath {
+            return [URL(fileURLWithPath: expanded).standardizedFileURL]
+        }
+        return baseDirectories.map { base in
+            URL(fileURLWithPath: expanded, relativeTo: URL(fileURLWithPath: base, isDirectory: true))
+                .standardizedFileURL
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+extension TermioStore {
+    /// Cmd-click fallback for a bare file path that libghostty didn't detect as a link.
+    /// Maps the click to the grid cell under it (reusing the wrapper's own point→cell
+    /// convention), reads the row's text, and — if a token on that row resolves to a
+    /// real file — opens it in the read-only preview at the referenced line. Returns
+    /// `true` when it opened something, so the caller can consume the click; `false`
+    /// lets the click fall through to the terminal untouched.
+    @MainActor
+    func openBarePathUnderCommandClick(_ event: NSEvent) -> Bool {
+        guard let window = event.window else { return false }
+        let windowPoint = event.locationInWindow
+
+        // Find the surface by enumerating terminal views and testing which one's frame
+        // contains the click — robust to overlays/hosting layers that a plain `hitTest`
+        // would return instead (ghostty disables link detection under mouse reporting,
+        // so this fallback must not depend on the same z-order hitTest gives).
+        guard let (terminal, state) = terminalSurface(at: windowPoint, in: window) else {
+            return false
+        }
+        let surfaceID = surfaces.first(where: { $0.value === state })?.key
+        // The paths an `ssh` session prints live on the remote box. Resolving them
+        // against the local filesystem is worse than doing nothing: `src/main.rs`
+        // exists on both machines, so the click would quietly open the wrong file.
+        if let surfaceID, session(surfaceID)?.sshHost != nil { return false }
+        guard let metrics = state.surfaceSize,
+              metrics.cellWidthPixels > 0, metrics.cellHeightPixels > 0 else {
+            return false
+        }
+        guard case .inMemory(let session) = state.configuration.backend else {
+            return false
+        }
+        guard let viewport = session.readViewportText() else {
+            return false
+        }
+
+        // Same mapping the surface view uses internally: view-local points, y flipped
+        // to a top-left origin. Cell size is the surface's cell metric (backing
+        // pixels) brought back to points by the window's scale factor.
+        let local = terminal.convert(windowPoint, from: nil)
+        let scale = terminal.window?.backingScaleFactor ?? 2
+        let cellWidth = CGFloat(metrics.cellWidthPixels) / scale
+        let cellHeight = CGFloat(metrics.cellHeightPixels) / scale
+        guard cellWidth > 0, cellHeight > 0 else { return false }
+
+        let column = Int(local.x / cellWidth)
+        let rowIndex = Int((terminal.bounds.height - local.y) / cellHeight)
+        let rows = viewport.components(separatedBy: "\n")
+        guard rowIndex >= 0, rowIndex < rows.count else { return false }
+
+        guard let match = TerminalPathScanner.resolve(
+            in: rows[rowIndex],
+            nearColumn: column,
+            baseDirectories: pathBaseDirectories(surfaceID: surfaceID, state: state)
+        ) else {
+            return false
+        }
+
+        openFileReadOnly = true
+        openFileLine = match.line
+        openFileURL = match.url
+        return true
+    }
+
+    /// The terminal surface (and its state) whose frame contains `windowPoint`. Walks
+    /// the whole view tree and geometry-tests each `TerminalView` rather than trusting
+    /// `hitTest`, so a transparent overlay above the grid can't hide the surface.
+    private func terminalSurface(
+        at windowPoint: CGPoint, in window: NSWindow
+    ) -> (TerminalView, TerminalViewState)? {
+        guard let root = window.contentView else { return nil }
+        var terminals: [TerminalView] = []
+        collectTerminalViews(under: root, into: &terminals)
+        for terminal in terminals {
+            let local = terminal.convert(windowPoint, from: nil)
+            guard terminal.bounds.contains(local),
+                  let state = terminal.delegate as? TerminalViewState else { continue }
+            return (terminal, state)
+        }
+        return nil
+    }
+
+    private func collectTerminalViews(under view: NSView, into out: inout [TerminalView]) {
+        if let terminal = view as? TerminalView { out.append(terminal) }
+        for subview in view.subviews { collectTerminalViews(under: subview, into: &out) }
+    }
+
+    /// Roots a relative path from the clicked surface is resolved against, most-specific
+    /// first: the terminal's own reported cwd, then the owning session's worktree and
+    /// project root. The project root is the reliable anchor — the terminal cwd can be
+    /// stale or unreported (no OSC 7), which is why a bare `package.json` must still
+    /// resolve against the project the surface belongs to.
+    private func pathBaseDirectories(surfaceID: UUID?, state: TerminalViewState) -> [String] {
+        var bases: [String] = []
+        if let surfaceID {
+            // Live cwd straight from the kernel (`PROC_PIDVNODEPATHINFO`), the reliable
+            // anchor: it tracks a plain `cd` even when the shell never emits OSC 7 — the
+            // exact case where the OSC 7 `workingDirectory` read is stale (still `~`).
+            if let liveCwd = ptyProcesses[surfaceID]?.currentWorkingDirectory() { bases.append(liveCwd) }
+            if let worktree = session(surfaceID)?.worktreePath { bases.append(worktree) }
+            if let project = project(for: surfaceID) { bases.append(project.path) }
+        }
+        if let cwd = state.workingDirectory { bases.append(cwd) }
+        if let workspace = selectedSessionWorkspace { bases.append(workspace) }
+        return bases
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Sources/termio/TermioStore/TermioStore.swift b/Sources/termio/TermioStore/TermioStore.swift
index 8ed11b6b..2766584a 100644
--- a/Sources/termio/TermioStore/TermioStore.swift
+++ b/Sources/termio/TermioStore/TermioStore.swift
@@ -467,11 +467,17 @@ final class TermioStore: ObservableObject {
         // that link in *both* shells and agent TUIs. Returning nil consumes the event so the click
         // isn't also delivered to the terminal/app underneath.
         linkClickMonitor = NSEvent.addLocalMonitorForEvents(matching: [.leftMouseDown]) { [weak self] event in
-            guard let self,
-                  event.modifierFlags.contains(.command),
-                  let url = TerminalLinkState.hoveredURL else { return event }
-            self.openTerminalLink(url, surfaceWorkingDirectory: nil)
-            return nil
+            guard let self, event.modifierFlags.contains(.command) else { return event }
+            if let url = TerminalLinkState.hoveredURL {
+                self.openTerminalLink(url, surfaceWorkingDirectory: nil)
+                return nil
+            }
+            // Nothing libghostty detected under the mouse — fall back to reconstructing
+            // a bare file path from the grid text at the click (see `TerminalPathScanner`).
+            // Consumed only when it actually opens a file; otherwise the click passes
+            // through to the terminal as before.
+            if self.openBarePathUnderCommandClick(event) { return nil }
+            return event
         }
         syncWatchedFolders()
 
@@ -834,7 +840,7 @@ final class TermioStore: ObservableObject {
 
     /// The working directory of the selected session (its worktree, else the project root), used as
     /// the fall-back base for resolving a relative path when the surface hasn't reported an OSC 7 cwd.
-    private var selectedSessionWorkspace: String? {
+    var selectedSessionWorkspace: String? {
         guard let id = selectedSessionID, let session = session(id), let project = project(for: id)
         else { return nil }
         return session.worktreePath ?? project.path
diff --git a/Tests/termioTests/TerminalPathScannerTests.swift b/Tests/termioTests/TerminalPathScannerTests.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1ba5ece7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/termioTests/TerminalPathScannerTests.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+import XCTest
+@testable import termio
+
+/// `TerminalPathScanner` is the stability-critical half of cmd-click-to-open: it decides
+/// which bare token on a terminal row is a real file. The guard against false positives is
+/// filesystem validation, so these tests run against real files in a temp directory — the
+/// same thing the scanner checks at runtime.
+final class TerminalPathScannerTests: XCTestCase {
+    private var root: URL!
+
+    override func setUpWithError() throws {
+        root = URL(fileURLWithPath: NSTemporaryDirectory())
+            .appendingPathComponent("path-scanner-\(UUID().uuidString)", isDirectory: true)
+        try FileManager.default.createDirectory(at: root, withIntermediateDirectories: true)
+    }
+
+    override func tearDownWithError() throws {
+        try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: root)
+    }
+
+    @discardableResult
+    private func touch(_ relativePath: String) throws -> URL {
+        let url = root.appendingPathComponent(relativePath)
+        try FileManager.default.createDirectory(
+            at: url.deletingLastPathComponent(), withIntermediateDirectories: true
+        )
+        try Data().write(to: url)
+        return url
+    }
+
+    private func resolve(_ row: String, near column: Int = 0) -> TerminalPathScanner.Match? {
+        TerminalPathScanner.resolve(in: row, nearColumn: column, baseDirectories: [root.path])
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - The happy paths agents actually print
+
+    func testBareRelativePathResolvesAgainstWorkingDirectory() throws {
+        let file = try touch("BranchModel.swift")
+        let match = resolve("edited BranchModel.swift ok", near: 7)
+        XCTAssertEqual(match?.url, file.standardizedFileURL)
+        XCTAssertNil(match?.line)
+    }
+
+    func testNestedRelativePath() throws {
+        let file = try touch("Sources/App/App.swift")
+        XCTAssertEqual(resolve("Sources/App/App.swift")?.url, file.standardizedFileURL)
+    }
+
+    func testLineSuffixIsPeeledAndReported() throws {
+        try touch("src/module.ts")
+        let match = resolve("src/module.ts:42")
+        XCTAssertEqual(match?.url.lastPathComponent, "module.ts")
+        XCTAssertEqual(match?.line, 42)
+    }
+
+    func testLineAndColumnSuffixKeepsLineOnly() throws {
+        try touch("src/module.ts")
+        let match = resolve("src/module.ts:42:15")
+        XCTAssertEqual(match?.line, 42)
+    }
+
+    func testAbsolutePath() throws {
+        let file = try touch("abs.txt")
+        let match = TerminalPathScanner.resolve(
+            in: "see \(file.path):3", nearColumn: 4, baseDirectories: []
+        )
+        XCTAssertEqual(match?.url, file.standardizedFileURL)
+        XCTAssertEqual(match?.line, 3)
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Real-world noise around the token
+
+    func testSurroundingPunctuationIsStripped() throws {
+        try touch("file.swift")
+        XCTAssertNotNil(resolve("here (file.swift:10)."))
+        XCTAssertEqual(resolve("here (file.swift:10).")?.line, 10)
+        try touch("trailing.swift")
+        XCTAssertNotNil(resolve("open trailing.swift, then"))
+    }
+
+    func testGitDiffPrefixIsTriedWithoutPrefix() throws {
+        let file = try touch("lib/core.rs")
+        // Diff output prints `b/lib/core.rs`; the real file has no `b/`.
+        XCTAssertEqual(resolve("b/lib/core.rs:8")?.url, file.standardizedFileURL)
+    }
+
+    func testResolvesAgainstProjectRootWhenCwdIsWrong() throws {
+        // The bug from the field: terminal reported cwd `~`, but the file lives in the
+        // project. Passing both bases (stale cwd first, project root second) must still
+        // open it — mirrors VS Code/Zed validating against the workspace, not just cwd.
+        let file = try touch("package.json")
+        let match = TerminalPathScanner.resolve(
+            in: "  package.json", nearColumn: 3,
+            baseDirectories: ["/Users/nobody", root.path]
+        )
+        XCTAssertEqual(match?.url, file.standardizedFileURL)
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Paths that contain a space
+
+    func testPathWithSpaceIsRejoinedFromAdjacentTokens() throws {
+        let file = try touch("Application Support/settings.json")
+        // The shell prints the name unquoted, so a whitespace split tears it in half.
+        let row = "wrote Application Support/settings.json"
+        XCTAssertEqual(resolve(row, near: 8)?.url, file.standardizedFileURL)
+        XCTAssertEqual(resolve(row, near: 25)?.url, file.standardizedFileURL)
+    }
+
+    func testQuotedPathWithSpace() throws {
+        let file = try touch("my notes.md")
+        XCTAssertEqual(resolve("cat \"my notes.md\"", near: 6)?.url, file.standardizedFileURL)
+    }
+
+    func testBackslashEscapedSpace() throws {
+        let file = try touch("my notes.md")
+        XCTAssertEqual(resolve("cat my\\ notes.md", near: 5)?.url, file.standardizedFileURL)
+    }
+
+    func testRejoiningNeverWidensAwayFromTheClick() throws {
+        try touch("Application Support/settings.json")
+        // Clicking `wrote` must not drag the span rightwards onto a file the user
+        // never pointed at — only spans covering the click are considered.
+        XCTAssertNil(resolve("wrote Application Support/settings.json", near: 2))
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - The false-positive guard
+
+    func testNonexistentPathReturnsNil() {
+        XCTAssertNil(resolve("nope/missing.swift:3"))
+    }
+
+    func testPlainWordsReturnNil() {
+        XCTAssertNil(resolve("the quick brown fox"))
+    }
+
+    func testDirectoryIsNotAMatch() throws {
+        try FileManager.default.createDirectory(
+            at: root.appendingPathComponent("Sources"), withIntermediateDirectories: true
+        )
+        XCTAssertNil(resolve("Sources"))
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Column disambiguation
+
+    func testNearestColumnWinsWhenTwoFilesOnARow() throws {
+        let left = try touch("left.swift")
+        let right = try touch("right.swift")
+        let row = "left.swift and right.swift"
+        // "right.swift" starts at column 16.
+        XCTAssertEqual(resolve(row, near: 18)?.url, right.standardizedFileURL)
+        XCTAssertEqual(resolve(row, near: 2)?.url, left.standardizedFileURL)
+    }
+}