feat(newos4): the script runner runs scripts — control flow, variables, globs, redirects, stdin

MAINT-021 and MAINT-017, executed from .hermes/plans/2026-10-27_145500-newos4-script-runner.md.

- shell.js: new block parser (_parseBlocks) and executor (_runInstructions/_runSimple/_runCommand/
  _dispatchOne). `for`/`while`/`if` bodies now run, including one-line `if [ -f x ]; then y; fi`.
  Variables expand through _expandVars ($VAR, ${VAR}, $?, single quotes literal), globs expand
  through _expandGlobs (unquoted args only, per-command), and `>`/`>>` capture the command's output
  into the VFS instead of being passed to the command as text.
- shell.js: a script never answers an unknown command by calling the AI any more. It prints
  `script:<path>:<line>: <cmd>: command not found` and sets $? — the AI fallback stays for typing.
- shell.js: unclosed blocks and bad `for` headers surface as `Script <path> failed: …` (the parse
  used to sit outside the try, so a bad script crashed the runner).
- shell.js: interactive path gets the same treatment — prompt globbing and `echo hi > /f` now work.
  Cause of the asymmetry: the two code paths had separate dispatch.
- shell.js: `_isPipeAware` no longer injects the __pipebuf__ file into wc (it reads _pipeInput), and
  the module registers itself with a versioned URL and calls its own init() — registerModule() does
  not call init(), so the executeCommand wrapper was never installed from the boot bundle.
- module-fs.js: wc/head/tail/grep read piped stdin when no file operand is given; `cat` accepts
  several operands (`cat *.txt`); `ls <file>` names the file instead of printing "(empty)".
- main.html: shell.js removed from the extension list — it is already inside
  critical-ext-bundle.js, and loading it twice produced two ShellModule instances that could
  disagree about their version.

Verification:
- test-shell-script.js 27 asserts (parser, variables, globs, executor, redirect, command-not-found,
  one-line if, parse error). RED on HEAD: `TypeError: shell._parseBlocks is not a function`.
- test-shell-stdin.js 16 asserts (added by a subagent): wc -l/-c, head -n, tail -n over stdin, and
  the file-argument path unchanged.
- Suite 18/18 files; maintain --fix "node tests 18/18 pass".
- Live on v4.6.115, through the real executeCommand:
  `ls /n*.txt` -> /n1.txt · `cat /n*.txt` -> one|two · `echo hi > /r.txt` then `cat /r.txt` -> hi ·
  `cat /probe.txt | wc -l` -> 3 (bare, no __pipebuf__) ·
  `script /run.sh` -> item 1 / item 2 / item 3 / exists / command not found, exit 1, no AI routing.

8 files changed, 977 insertions, 151 deletions

diff --git a/main.html b/main.html
index 8048efb..9496a15 100644
--- a/main.html
+++ b/main.html
@@ -1312,7 +1312,7 @@
                 var mods = [
                     ['Foundation (always loaded)', ['virtual-fs.js','module-manager.js','ollama-manager.js','terminal.js'], true],
                     ['Built-in modules', ['module-system.js','module-fs.js','module-ollama.js','module-my.js','module-searxng.js','module-servermon.js','module-ollamamodels.js','module-config.js','module-simplegui.js','module-io.js','module-dynamicprompts.js','module-aiassist.js','module-aiasm.js','module-smartctx.js','module-duckduckgo.js','module-fetcher.js','module-chatstudio.js'], false],
-                    ['Extensions', ['calc.js','voice.js','cron.js','theme.js','wpm.js','mindmap.js','webdav.js','skill-pack-core.js','editor.js','diff.js','alias.js','finder.js','filemgr.js','cryptogzip.js','tutorial.js','shell.js','busybox.js','floating.js','console.js','kanban.js','course.js'], false]
+                    ['Extensions', ['calc.js','voice.js','cron.js','theme.js','wpm.js','mindmap.js','webdav.js','skill-pack-core.js','editor.js','diff.js','alias.js','finder.js','filemgr.js','cryptogzip.js','tutorial.js','busybox.js','floating.js','console.js','kanban.js','course.js'], false]
                 ];
                 var isSel = function(name) { return true; }; // default: all selected
                 mods.forEach(function(section) {
@@ -1349,13 +1349,13 @@
     </script>
 
     <!-- v4.5.63: A2A scratchpad fixes + agent-register arg fix -->
-<script src="modules/core/core-bundle.js?v=v4.6.110"></script>
+<script src="modules/core/core-bundle.js?v=v4.6.115"></script>
 
     <!-- Async dependency-ordered module loader now only initializes terminal and loads optional ext modules -->
-<script src="modules/core/module-loader.js?v=v4.6.110"></script>
+<script src="modules/core/module-loader.js?v=v4.6.115"></script>
 
     <!-- Critical ext bundle loads AFTER webx11 exists so registerModule calls work -->
-<script src="modules/ext/critical-ext-bundle.js?v=v4.6.110"></script>
+<script src="modules/ext/critical-ext-bundle.js?v=v4.6.115"></script>
 
 <script>
 // ═══ ONE TRUE VERSION SOURCE ═══
diff --git a/modules/core/core-bundle.js b/modules/core/core-bundle.js
index 8d6cbda..6f00658 100644
--- a/modules/core/core-bundle.js
+++ b/modules/core/core-bundle.js
@@ -6575,7 +6575,12 @@ class FileSystemModule {
             const showLong = flags.some(f => f.includes('l'));
             const showHidden = flags.some(f => f.includes('a'));
             const files = this.terminal.fs.ls(target);
-            if (!files || files.length === 0) { this.terminal.print('(empty)', 'info'); return; }
+            if (!files || files.length === 0) {
+                // `ls somefile` used to print "(empty)": a file operand should name the file,
+                // which is also what makes `ls *.txt` (glob-expanded to several paths) readable.
+                if (target && this.terminal.fs.readFile(target) !== null) { this.terminal.print(target, 'info'); return; }
+                this.terminal.print('(empty)', 'info'); return;
+            }
             const filtered = showHidden ? files : files.filter(f => !f.name.startsWith('.'));
             if (filtered.length === 0) { this.terminal.print('(no visible files, use ls -a)', 'info'); return; }
             const maxName = Math.max(...filtered.map(f => f.name.length), 8);
@@ -6615,12 +6620,19 @@ class FileSystemModule {
             docs.forEach(f => this.terminal.print(`  ${f.name}  ${f.size || 0} B`, 'info'));
         };
         this.commands['cat'] = (args) => {
-            if(!args[0]) return this.terminal.print('Usage: cat <filename>', 'warning');
-            const content = this.terminal.fs.readFile(args[0]);
-            if(content !== null && content !== undefined) {
-                if (content.length === 0) this.terminal.print('(empty file)', 'info');
-                else this.terminal.print(content);
-            } else this.terminal.print('cat: ' + args[0] + ': No such file', 'error');
+            if(!args[0]) return this.terminal.print('Usage: cat <filename> [...]', 'warning');
+            // Multiple operands: `cat *.txt` is useless if only the first path is read.
+            const files = args.filter(a => !String(a).startsWith('-'));
+            let printed = 0;
+            files.forEach((f) => {
+                const content = this.terminal.fs.readFile(f);
+                if (content !== null && content !== undefined) {
+                    if (content.length === 0) this.terminal.print('(empty file)', 'info');
+                    else this.terminal.print(content);
+                    printed++;
+                } else this.terminal.print('cat: ' + f + ': No such file', 'error');
+            });
+            if (!printed && !files.length) this.terminal.print('Usage: cat <filename> [...]', 'warning');
         };
         this.commands['echo'] = (args) => {
             if (!args || args.length === 0) { this.terminal.print(''); return; }
@@ -6848,7 +6860,12 @@ class FileSystemModule {
                 else if (headFiles.length && /^\d+$/.test(a)) n = parseInt(a, 10);   // head f 40
                 else headFiles.push(a);
             }
-            if (!headFiles.length) return this.terminal.print('Usage: head [-n] <filename> [...] [lines]', 'warning');
+            // Piped input: `cat x | head -n 2` — no file operand means stdin, not usage.
+            const piped = this.terminal ? this.terminal._pipeInput : null;
+            if (!headFiles.length) {
+                if (piped === null || piped === undefined) return this.terminal.print('Usage: head [-n] <filename> [...] [lines]', 'warning');
+                return this.terminal.print(String(piped).split('\n').slice(0, Math.max(1, n)).join('\n'));
+            }
             const headMulti = headFiles.length > 1;
             headFiles.forEach(file => {
                 const c = this.terminal.fs.readFile(file);
@@ -6877,7 +6894,15 @@ class FileSystemModule {
             // v4.6.66: every path argument (packet §1). A numeric second positional is still
             // the legacy `tail <file> <count>`, not a filename.
             const tailFiles = positional.filter((p, i) => !(i > 0 && /^\d+$/.test(p)));
-            if (!tailFiles.length) return this.terminal.print('Usage: tail [-f] [-n N] <file> [...] — last N lines; -f follows changes (Ctrl+C or Esc to stop)', 'warning');
+            // Piped input: `cat x | tail -n 1` — no file operand means stdin, not usage.
+            const piped = this.terminal ? this.terminal._pipeInput : null;
+            if (!tailFiles.length) {
+                if (piped === null || piped === undefined) return this.terminal.print('Usage: tail [-f] [-n N] <file> [...] — last N lines; -f follows changes (Ctrl+C or Esc to stop)', 'warning');
+                const _in = String(piped).split('\n');
+                // same trailing-newline rule as the file path below
+                if (_in.length > 1 && _in[_in.length - 1] === '') _in.pop();
+                return this.terminal.print(_in.slice(-n).join('\n'));
+            }
             if (positional[1] && /^\d+$/.test(positional[1])) n = parseInt(positional[1], 10); // legacy back-compat
             const tailMulti = tailFiles.length > 1;
             let shownFiles = tailFiles;
@@ -7047,10 +7072,25 @@ class FileSystemModule {
                 else if (/^-[a-zA-Z]+$/.test(a)) { /* ignore other flags */ }
                 else files.push(a);
             });
-            if (!files.length) return this.terminal.print('Usage: wc [-l] [-w] [-c] <filename> [...]', 'warning');
+            // Piped input: `cat x | wc -l`. The pipe wrapper sets terminal._pipeInput for every
+            // stage (modules/ext/shell.js), so "no file operand" means "count stdin", not usage.
+            const piped = this.terminal ? this.terminal._pipeInput : null;
+            const stdinMode = !files.length && piped !== null && piped !== undefined;
+            if (!files.length && !stdinMode) return this.terminal.print('Usage: wc [-l] [-w] [-c] <filename> [...]', 'warning');
             const anyFlag = want.l || want.w || want.c;
             const rows = [];
             let total = { l: 0, w: 0, c: 0 };
+            if (stdinMode) {
+                const content = String(piped);
+                const r = {
+                    file: null,   // stdin has no name — GNU wc prints the bare counts
+                    l: content.split('\n').length,
+                    w: content.split(/\s+/).filter(w => w).length,
+                    c: content.length
+                };
+                total.l += r.l; total.w += r.w; total.c += r.c;
+                rows.push(r);
+            }
             files.forEach(file => {
                 const content = this.terminal.fs.readFile(file);
                 if (content === null || content === undefined) {
@@ -7073,7 +7113,7 @@ class FileSystemModule {
                 if (want.l || !anyFlag) out.push(r.l);
                 if (want.w || !anyFlag) out.push(r.w);
                 if (want.c || !anyFlag) out.push(r.c);
-                if (multi || (anyFlag && !(want.l && want.w && want.c))) out.push(name);
+                if ((multi || (anyFlag && !(want.l && want.w && want.c))) && name !== null) out.push(name);
                 return out.join(' ');
             };
             rows.forEach(r => this.terminal.print(fmt(r, r.file)));
diff --git a/modules/core/module-fs.js b/modules/core/module-fs.js
index 583cfda..757d1da 100644
--- a/modules/core/module-fs.js
+++ b/modules/core/module-fs.js
@@ -52,7 +52,12 @@ class FileSystemModule {
             const showLong = flags.some(f => f.includes('l'));
             const showHidden = flags.some(f => f.includes('a'));
             const files = this.terminal.fs.ls(target);
-            if (!files || files.length === 0) { this.terminal.print('(empty)', 'info'); return; }
+            if (!files || files.length === 0) {
+                // `ls somefile` used to print "(empty)": a file operand should name the file,
+                // which is also what makes `ls *.txt` (glob-expanded to several paths) readable.
+                if (target && this.terminal.fs.readFile(target) !== null) { this.terminal.print(target, 'info'); return; }
+                this.terminal.print('(empty)', 'info'); return;
+            }
             const filtered = showHidden ? files : files.filter(f => !f.name.startsWith('.'));
             if (filtered.length === 0) { this.terminal.print('(no visible files, use ls -a)', 'info'); return; }
             const maxName = Math.max(...filtered.map(f => f.name.length), 8);
@@ -92,12 +97,19 @@ class FileSystemModule {
             docs.forEach(f => this.terminal.print(`  ${f.name}  ${f.size || 0} B`, 'info'));
         };
         this.commands['cat'] = (args) => {
-            if(!args[0]) return this.terminal.print('Usage: cat <filename>', 'warning');
-            const content = this.terminal.fs.readFile(args[0]);
-            if(content !== null && content !== undefined) {
-                if (content.length === 0) this.terminal.print('(empty file)', 'info');
-                else this.terminal.print(content);
-            } else this.terminal.print('cat: ' + args[0] + ': No such file', 'error');
+            if(!args[0]) return this.terminal.print('Usage: cat <filename> [...]', 'warning');
+            // Multiple operands: `cat *.txt` is useless if only the first path is read.
+            const files = args.filter(a => !String(a).startsWith('-'));
+            let printed = 0;
+            files.forEach((f) => {
+                const content = this.terminal.fs.readFile(f);
+                if (content !== null && content !== undefined) {
+                    if (content.length === 0) this.terminal.print('(empty file)', 'info');
+                    else this.terminal.print(content);
+                    printed++;
+                } else this.terminal.print('cat: ' + f + ': No such file', 'error');
+            });
+            if (!printed && !files.length) this.terminal.print('Usage: cat <filename> [...]', 'warning');
         };
         this.commands['echo'] = (args) => {
             if (!args || args.length === 0) { this.terminal.print(''); return; }
@@ -325,7 +337,12 @@ class FileSystemModule {
                 else if (headFiles.length && /^\d+$/.test(a)) n = parseInt(a, 10);   // head f 40
                 else headFiles.push(a);
             }
-            if (!headFiles.length) return this.terminal.print('Usage: head [-n] <filename> [...] [lines]', 'warning');
+            // Piped input: `cat x | head -n 2` — no file operand means stdin, not usage.
+            const piped = this.terminal ? this.terminal._pipeInput : null;
+            if (!headFiles.length) {
+                if (piped === null || piped === undefined) return this.terminal.print('Usage: head [-n] <filename> [...] [lines]', 'warning');
+                return this.terminal.print(String(piped).split('\n').slice(0, Math.max(1, n)).join('\n'));
+            }
             const headMulti = headFiles.length > 1;
             headFiles.forEach(file => {
                 const c = this.terminal.fs.readFile(file);
@@ -354,7 +371,15 @@ class FileSystemModule {
             // v4.6.66: every path argument (packet §1). A numeric second positional is still
             // the legacy `tail <file> <count>`, not a filename.
             const tailFiles = positional.filter((p, i) => !(i > 0 && /^\d+$/.test(p)));
-            if (!tailFiles.length) return this.terminal.print('Usage: tail [-f] [-n N] <file> [...] — last N lines; -f follows changes (Ctrl+C or Esc to stop)', 'warning');
+            // Piped input: `cat x | tail -n 1` — no file operand means stdin, not usage.
+            const piped = this.terminal ? this.terminal._pipeInput : null;
+            if (!tailFiles.length) {
+                if (piped === null || piped === undefined) return this.terminal.print('Usage: tail [-f] [-n N] <file> [...] — last N lines; -f follows changes (Ctrl+C or Esc to stop)', 'warning');
+                const _in = String(piped).split('\n');
+                // same trailing-newline rule as the file path below
+                if (_in.length > 1 && _in[_in.length - 1] === '') _in.pop();
+                return this.terminal.print(_in.slice(-n).join('\n'));
+            }
             if (positional[1] && /^\d+$/.test(positional[1])) n = parseInt(positional[1], 10); // legacy back-compat
             const tailMulti = tailFiles.length > 1;
             let shownFiles = tailFiles;
@@ -524,10 +549,25 @@ class FileSystemModule {
                 else if (/^-[a-zA-Z]+$/.test(a)) { /* ignore other flags */ }
                 else files.push(a);
             });
-            if (!files.length) return this.terminal.print('Usage: wc [-l] [-w] [-c] <filename> [...]', 'warning');
+            // Piped input: `cat x | wc -l`. The pipe wrapper sets terminal._pipeInput for every
+            // stage (modules/ext/shell.js), so "no file operand" means "count stdin", not usage.
+            const piped = this.terminal ? this.terminal._pipeInput : null;
+            const stdinMode = !files.length && piped !== null && piped !== undefined;
+            if (!files.length && !stdinMode) return this.terminal.print('Usage: wc [-l] [-w] [-c] <filename> [...]', 'warning');
             const anyFlag = want.l || want.w || want.c;
             const rows = [];
             let total = { l: 0, w: 0, c: 0 };
+            if (stdinMode) {
+                const content = String(piped);
+                const r = {
+                    file: null,   // stdin has no name — GNU wc prints the bare counts
+                    l: content.split('\n').length,
+                    w: content.split(/\s+/).filter(w => w).length,
+                    c: content.length
+                };
+                total.l += r.l; total.w += r.w; total.c += r.c;
+                rows.push(r);
+            }
             files.forEach(file => {
                 const content = this.terminal.fs.readFile(file);
                 if (content === null || content === undefined) {
@@ -550,7 +590,7 @@ class FileSystemModule {
                 if (want.l || !anyFlag) out.push(r.l);
                 if (want.w || !anyFlag) out.push(r.w);
                 if (want.c || !anyFlag) out.push(r.c);
-                if (multi || (anyFlag && !(want.l && want.w && want.c))) out.push(name);
+                if ((multi || (anyFlag && !(want.l && want.w && want.c))) && name !== null) out.push(name);
                 return out.join(' ');
             };
             rows.forEach(r => this.terminal.print(fmt(r, r.file)));
diff --git a/modules/core/module-loader.js b/modules/core/module-loader.js
index 329d0f7..29a1b62 100644
--- a/modules/core/module-loader.js
+++ b/modules/core/module-loader.js
@@ -4,8 +4,13 @@
     // Core module bundle loaded synchronously in main.html.
     // This loader only handles version cache-busting, splash, terminal init, and optional ext modules.
 
-    const LATEST_VER = 'v4.6.110';
+    const LATEST_VER = 'v4.6.115';
     const CACHE = '?v=' + LATEST_VER;
+    // Exposed so ext modules can register their own URL with the same cache-busting version
+    // instead of an unversioned path the browser may already have cached (shell.js did).
+    if (typeof window !== 'undefined' && window.webx11 && window.webx11.moduleManager) {
+        window.webx11.moduleManager.LATEST_VER = LATEST_VER;
+    }
     const stored = localStorage.getItem('webx11_cache_ver');
     if (stored !== LATEST_VER) {
         localStorage.setItem('webx11_cache_ver', LATEST_VER);
diff --git a/modules/ext/critical-ext-bundle.js b/modules/ext/critical-ext-bundle.js
index d1a2b83..fb623fd 100644
--- a/modules/ext/critical-ext-bundle.js
+++ b/modules/ext/critical-ext-bundle.js
@@ -175,8 +175,15 @@ class ShellModule {
     // ── Hook into terminal.executeCommand ──
 
     init() {
-        // Guard: prevent double-wrapping if init is called multiple times
+        // Guard: prevent double-wrapping if init is called multiple times, and adopt the wrapper
+        // if another instance already installed one (shell.js used to be loaded twice — once in
+        // critical-ext-bundle.js, once from main.html's extension list — and the two copies could
+        // disagree about their version).
         if (this._initialized) return;
+        if (this.terminal && this.terminal._shellModule && this.terminal._shellModule !== this) {
+            this._initialized = true;
+            return;
+        }
         this._initialized = true;
         
         // Wrap executeCommand to add shell parsing — only for compound commands
@@ -226,9 +233,10 @@ class ShellModule {
                     // Check for redirects
                     const redirectInfo = self._extractRedirects(chainCmd);
                     if (redirectInfo.hasRedirect) {
-                        // Run, capture, write to file
-                        await self._executeWithRedirect(redirectInfo);
-                        lastOk = redirectInfo.exitOk;
+                        // Same capture-and-write path the script runner uses. _executeWithRedirect
+                        // handed `>` to builtins, so `echo hi > /f` printed the operator instead of
+                        // writing the file.
+                        lastOk = await self._runCommand(chainCmd, { $: 0 }, { inScript: false });
                     } else {
                         // Normal or piped command
                         const pipeParts = this.splitPipe(chainCmd);
@@ -238,7 +246,11 @@ class ShellModule {
                             // Single command — check for shell built-ins first
                             const parts = chainCmd.split(/\s+/);
                             const cmd = parts[0].toLowerCase();
-                            const args = parts.slice(1);
+                            // Globs expand at the prompt too — the script runner did it and the
+                            // interactive path did not, so `ls *.txt` printed (empty) but the same
+                            // line inside a script worked.
+                            const args = self._expandGlobs(parts.slice(1), (this.fs && this.fs.currentPath) || []);
+                            const expandedCmd = [cmd].concat(args).join(' ');
                             if (self.commands[cmd]) {
                                 try {
                                     this.markDirty();
@@ -250,7 +262,7 @@ class ShellModule {
                                 }
                             } else {
                                 try {
-                                    await this.security.checkAndRun(chainCmd);
+                                    await this.security.checkAndRun(expandedCmd);
                                     lastOk = true;
                                 } catch(e) {
                                     this.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error');
@@ -579,8 +591,10 @@ class ShellModule {
     }
 
     _isPipeAware(cmd) {
-        // Commands that read from files and should use pipe buffer
-        return ['grep', 'head', 'tail', 'sort', 'wc', 'cut', 'uniq', 'expand'].includes(cmd);
+        // Commands that read from files and should use the pipe buffer file. wc is NOT here any
+        // more: it reads terminal._pipeInput natively (v4.6.111), and injecting __pipebuf__ gave
+        // `3 __pipebuf__` instead of a bare count.
+        return ['grep', 'head', 'tail', 'sort', 'cut', 'uniq', 'expand'].includes(cmd);
     }
 
     // ── Variable substitution ──
@@ -697,68 +711,292 @@ class ShellModule {
         this._scriptDepth++;
         try {
             this.terminal.print(`Running script: ${path}`, 'info');
-            const lines = content.split('\n');
-            let lineNum = 0;
-            for (const rawLine of lines) {
-                lineNum++;
-                const line = rawLine.trim();
-                if (!line || line.startsWith('#')) continue;
-                this.terminal.print(`[${path}:${lineNum}] ${line}`, 'command-prompt');
-                const substituted = this._substituteVars(line);
-                const seqParts = this._splitSequence(substituted);
-                for (const seqPart of seqParts) {
-                    if (!seqPart.trim()) continue;
-                    const chainParts = this._splitChain(seqPart.trim());
-                    let lastOk = true;
-                    for (const chainPart of chainParts) {
-                        if (!chainPart.cmd.trim()) continue;
-                        if (chainPart.operator === '&&' && !lastOk) continue;
-                        if (chainPart.operator === '||' && lastOk) continue;
-                        const redirectInfo = this._extractRedirects(chainPart.cmd);
-                        if (redirectInfo.hasRedirect) {
-                            await this._executeWithRedirect(redirectInfo);
-                            lastOk = redirectInfo.exitOk;
-                        } else {
-                            const pipeParts = this.terminal.splitPipe(chainPart.cmd);
-                            if (pipeParts.length > 1) {
-                                await this.terminal.executePipeChain(pipeParts);
-                            } else {
-                                const parts = chainPart.cmd.split(/\s+/);
-                                const cmd = parts[0].toLowerCase();
-                                const args = parts.slice(1);
-                                // Check if it's a shell built-in command
-                                if (this.commands[cmd]) {
-                                    try {
-                                        this.terminal.markDirty();
-                                        await this.commands[cmd](args);
-                                        lastOk = true;
-                                    } catch(e) {
-                                        this.terminal.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error');
-                                        lastOk = false;
-                                    }
-                                } else {
-                                    try {
-                                        await this.terminal.security.checkAndRun(chainPart.cmd);
-                                        lastOk = true;
-                                    } catch(e) {
-                                        this.terminal.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error');
-                                        lastOk = false;
-                                    }
-                                }
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
+            const env = Object.assign({ $: 0 }, this._scriptEnv || {});
+            this._inScript = true;
+            let result = { ran: 0 };
+            try {
+                const tree = this._parseBlocks(content.split('\n'));
+                result = await this._runInstructions(tree, env, { path, inScript: true });
+            } catch (e) {
+                // A parse error (unclosed block, bad for-header) must read as a script error, not
+                // as a crashed terminal.
+                this.terminal.print(`Script ${path} failed: ${e.message}`, 'error');
+                result = { ran: 0 };
+            } finally {
+                this._inScript = false;
             }
-            this.terminal.print(`Script ${path} completed (${lineNum} lines)`, 'success');
+            this._scriptEnv = env;
+            this.terminal.print(`Script ${path} completed (${result.ran} statements, exit ${env.$})`, 'success');
         } finally {
             // Always decrement — even on error or thrown exception
             this._scriptDepth--;
         }
     }
+    // Parse a script into an instruction tree. Line-by-line execution cannot express a loop body,
+    // which is why `for … done` used to be fed to the AI one line at a time.
+    _parseBlocks(lines) {
+        const root = { body: [] };
+        const stack = [root];
+        const cur = () => stack[stack.length - 1];
+        const push = (node) => {
+            const top = cur();
+            if (top.op === 'if') { (top.inElse ? top.else : top.then).push(node); }
+            else { top.body.push(node); }
+        };
+        // `if [ -f /x ]; then echo y; fi` on one line is common enough to support: split atoms on
+        // ';' when the line carries a block keyword, and keep quoted text intact otherwise.
+        const atoms = [];
+        lines.forEach((raw) => {
+            const l = String(raw).replace(/\r$/, '');
+            if (l.includes(';') && /\b(then|do|done|fi|else)\b/.test(l)) l.split(';').forEach(p => atoms.push(p));
+            else atoms.push(l);
+        });
+        atoms.forEach((raw, idx) => {
+            const line = String(raw).replace(/\r$/, '').trim();
+            const lineNo = idx + 1;
+            if (!line || line.startsWith('#')) return;
+            const head = line.split(/\s+/)[0];
+            if (head === 'for') {
+                const m = line.match(/^for\s+([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)\s+in\s+(.*)$/);
+                if (!m) throw new Error('line ' + lineNo + ": expected 'for <var> in <items>'");
+                const node = { op: 'for', line: lineNo, var: m[1], items: m[2].trim().split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean), body: [] };
+                push(node); stack.push(node); return;
+            }
+            if (head === 'while') {
+                const node = { op: 'while', line: lineNo, test: line.slice(5).trim(), body: [] };
+                push(node); stack.push(node); return;
+            }
+            if (head === 'if') {
+                const node = { op: 'if', line: lineNo, test: line.slice(2).trim(), then: [], else: [], inElse: false };
+                push(node); stack.push(node); return;
+            }
+            if (head === 'then' || head === 'do') {
+                // `then echo y` on the same atom still means "run echo y"
+                const rest = line.slice(head.length).trim();
+                if (rest) push({ op: 'simple', line: lineNo, text: rest });
+                return;
+            }
+            if (head === 'else') {
+                const top = cur();
+                if (top.op !== 'if') throw new Error('line ' + lineNo + ": 'else' without 'if'");
+                top.inElse = true;
+                const rest = line.slice(4).trim();
+                if (rest) push({ op: 'simple', line: lineNo, text: rest });
+                return;
+            }
+            if (head === 'done' || head === 'fi') {
+                const top = stack.pop();
+                const want = !top ? null : (top.op === 'if' ? 'fi' : 'done');
+                if (!want) throw new Error('line ' + lineNo + ": '" + head + "' without an open block");
+                if (head !== want) throw new Error('line ' + lineNo + ": expected '" + want + "' to close '" + top.op + "' from line " + top.line);
+                return;
+            }
+            push({ op: 'simple', line: lineNo, text: line });
+        });
+        if (stack.length !== 1) {
+            const open = stack[stack.length - 1];
+            throw new Error("unclosed '" + open.op + "' from line " + open.line + " — expected '" + (open.op === 'if' ? 'fi' : 'done') + "'");
+        }
+        const fix = (nodes) => nodes.map(n => {
+            if (n.op === 'if') { n.body = n.then; n.elseBody = n.else; }
+            if (n.body && (n.op === 'for' || n.op === 'while')) fix(n.body);
+            if (n.body && n.op === 'if') fix(n.body);
+            if (n.elseBody) fix(n.elseBody);
+            return n;
+        });
+        return fix(root.body);
+    }
+
+    // Same rules as _substituteVars, but against an explicit env so a loop body sees `$i`, and
+    // `$?` carries the previous statement's exit status.
+    _expandVars(input, env) {
+        const src = String(input);
+        let out = '', inSingle = false, inDouble = false;
+        for (let i = 0; i < src.length; i++) {
+            const ch = src[i];
+            if (ch === "'" && !inDouble) { inSingle = !inSingle; out += ch; continue; }
+            if (ch === '"' && !inSingle) { inDouble = !inDouble; out += ch; continue; }
+            if (ch !== '$' || inSingle) { out += ch; continue; }
+            const next = src[i + 1];
+            if (next === '?') { out += String(env.$ == null ? 0 : env.$); i++; continue; }
+            let name = '';
+            if (next === '{') {
+                const end = src.indexOf('}', i + 2);
+                if (end === -1) { out += ch; continue; }
+                name = src.slice(i + 2, end); i = end;
+            } else {
+                const m = /^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*/.exec(src.slice(i + 1));
+                if (!m) { out += ch; continue; }
+                name = m[0]; i += name.length;
+            }
+            out += (env[name] == null ? '' : String(env[name]));
+        }
+        return out;
+    }
+
+    // Wildcards only expand for unquoted arguments, and only against the VFS — `ls *.txt` used to
+    // return an empty list because the literal pattern was handed to ls.
+    _expandGlobs(args, cwdSegments) {
+        const globToRe = (pat) => new RegExp('^' + pat.replace(/[.+^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&')
+            .replace(/\*/g, '[^/]*').replace(/\?/g, '[^/]') + '$');
+        const dirOf = (p) => {
+            const segs = String(p).split('/').filter(Boolean);
+            segs.pop();
+            return segs;
+        };
+        return args.flatMap((arg) => {
+            const a = String(arg);
+            if (/^['"]/.test(a) || !/[*?]/.test(a)) return [a];
+            const segs = a.split('/').filter(Boolean);
+            const namePat = segs.pop() || '*';
+            const rawDir = a.startsWith('/') ? segs : cwdSegments.concat(segs);
+            // cwd segments may arrive as ['work'] or ['/work'] — normalise both
+            const dirPath = '/' + rawDir.map(s => String(s).split('/').filter(Boolean).join('/'))
+                .filter(Boolean).join('/');
+            let entries = [];
+            try { entries = this.terminal.fs.ls(dirPath) || []; } catch (e) { entries = []; }
+            const re = globToRe(namePat);
+            const hits = entries.filter(e => re.test(e.name)).map(e => (dirPath === '/' ? '' : dirPath) + '/' + e.name);
+            return hits.length ? hits : [a];
+        });
+    }
+
+
+    // Evaluate the only condition syntaxes the runner supports: test -f/-d/-e/-z/-n, `a = b`,
+    // and the bracket spelling of the same. Anything else is false, never a crash.
+    _evalTest(expr, env) {
+        const t = this._expandVars(String(expr == null ? '' : expr), env || {})
+            .trim().replace(/^\[/, '').replace(/\]$/, '').trim();
+        if (!t) return false;
+        const fs = this.terminal.fs;
+        const parts = t.split(/\s+/);
+        const p = parts[1];
+        switch (parts[0]) {
+            case '-f': return typeof fs.readFile(p) === 'string';
+            case '-d': return !!fs.readDir(p);
+            case '-e': return typeof fs.readFile(p) === 'string' || !!fs.readDir(p);
+            case '-z': return !p;
+            case '-n': return !!p;
+            case '!': return !this._evalTest(parts.slice(1).join(' '), env);
+        }
+        if (parts.length === 3 && (parts[1] === '=' || parts[1] === '==')) return parts[0] === parts[2];
+        if (parts.length === 3 && parts[1] === '!=') return parts[0] !== parts[2];
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    async _runInstructions(nodes, env, ctx) {
+        let ran = 0;
+        for (const node of nodes) {
+            if (node.op === 'for') {
+                for (const item of node.items) {
+                    env[node.var] = this._expandVars(item, env);
+                    const r = await this._runInstructions(node.body, env, ctx);
+                    ran += r.ran + 1;
+                }
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (node.op === 'while') {
+                let guard = 0;
+                const cap = this._maxLoopIterations || 1000;
+                while (guard++ < cap && this._evalTest(node.test, env)) {
+                    const r = await this._runInstructions(node.body, env, ctx);
+                    ran += r.ran + 1;
+                }
+                if (guard > cap) this.terminal.print('script: while loop hit the iteration limit (' + cap + ')', 'warning');
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (node.op === 'if') {
+                const take = this._evalTest(node.test, env);
+                env.$ = take ? 0 : 1;
+                const r = await this._runInstructions(take ? node.body : (node.elseBody || []), env, ctx);
+                ran += r.ran + 1;
+                continue;
+            }
+            const r = await this._runSimple(this._expandVars(node.text, env), env, Object.assign({}, ctx, { line: node.line }));
+            ran += r.ran;
+        }
+        return { ran };
+    }
+
+    async _runSimple(text, env, ctx) {
+        const seqParts = this._splitSequence(text);
+        let lastOk = true;
+        for (const seqPart of seqParts) {
+            if (!seqPart.trim()) continue;
+            lastOk = true;
+            for (const chainPart of this._splitChain(seqPart.trim())) {
+                if (!chainPart.cmd.trim()) continue;
+                if (chainPart.operator === '&&' && !lastOk) continue;
+                if (chainPart.operator === '||' && lastOk) continue;
+                lastOk = await this._runCommand(chainPart.cmd, env, ctx);
+            }
+        }
+        env.$ = lastOk ? 0 : 1;
+        return { ran: 1, ok: lastOk };
+    }
+
+    async _runCommand(cmdText, env, ctx) {
+        const redirectInfo = this._extractRedirects(cmdText);
+        if (redirectInfo.hasRedirect) {
+            const cap = { output: '', onChunk: null };
+            const stack = this.terminal._printCaptureStack || (this.terminal._printCaptureStack = []);
+            stack.push(cap);
+            let ok = true;
+            try { ok = await this._runCommand(redirectInfo.cmdText, env, ctx); }
+            catch (e) { this.terminal.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error'); ok = false; }
+            finally { stack.pop(); }
+            const target = redirectInfo.redirectFile;
+            const prev = redirectInfo.append ? (this.terminal.fs.readFile(target) || '') : '';
+            const wrote = this.terminal.fs.writeFile(target, prev + cap.output);
+            if (!wrote) { this.terminal.print('script: cannot write ' + target, 'error'); return false; }
+            return ok;
+        }
+        const pipeParts = this.terminal.splitPipe ? this.terminal.splitPipe(cmdText) : [cmdText];
+        if (pipeParts.length > 1) {
+            await this.terminal.executePipeChain(pipeParts);
+            return true;
+        }
+        return this._dispatchOne(cmdText, env, ctx);
+    }
+
+    async _dispatchOne(cmdText, env, ctx) {
+        const parts = String(cmdText).trim().split(/\s+/);
+        const cmd = (parts[0] || '').toLowerCase();
+        const cwd = (this.terminal.fs && this.terminal.fs.currentPath) || [];
+        const args = this._expandGlobs(parts.slice(1), cwd);
+        if (this.commands[cmd]) {
+            try { this.terminal.markDirty(); await this.commands[cmd](args); return true; }
+            catch (e) { this.terminal.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error'); return false; }
+        }
+        const known = (this.terminal.moduleManager && this.terminal.moduleManager.getAllCommands
+            ? this.terminal.moduleManager.getAllCommands() : {})[cmd];
+        if (ctx && ctx.inScript && !known) {
+            // A script must never answer an unknown command by calling the AI.
+            this.terminal.print('script:' + ctx.path + ':' + (ctx.line || '?') + ': ' + cmd + ': command not found', 'error');
+            return false;
+        }
+        // Dispatch the EXPANDED argument list — passing cmdText here silently dropped the glob
+        // results, so `ls /g*.txt` still reached the fs as a literal pattern.
+        const rebuilt = [cmd].concat(args).join(' ');
+        try { await this.terminal.security.checkAndRun(rebuilt); return true; }
+        catch (e) { this.terminal.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error'); return false; }
+    }
+
 }
 if (typeof window.webx11 !== 'undefined' && window.webx11) {
-    webx11.moduleManager.registerModule(new ShellModule(), 'https://webx11.duckdns.org/spaces/newos4/modules/ext/shell.js');
+    // Register with a cache-busting query: an unversioned URL let the browser keep serving a
+    // pre-v4.6.111 shell.js after the bundle had already shipped the new runner.
+    const _mm = window.webx11.moduleManager;
+    const _ver = (_mm && (_mm.LATEST_VER || _mm.latestVer)) || ('t' + Date.now());
+    const _inst = new ShellModule();
+    webx11.moduleManager.registerModule(_inst,
+        'https://webx11.duckdns.org/spaces/newos4/modules/ext/shell.js?v=' + _ver);
+    // registerModule() does not call init(); only loadModule() does. A module registered from the
+    // boot bundle therefore never installed its executeCommand wrapper, so prompt-level globbing
+    // and redirects silently did nothing. Init it here, once.
+    if (typeof _inst.init === 'function' && !_inst._initialized) {
+        try { _inst.init(); } catch (e) { console.warn('ShellModule init failed:', e && e.message); }
+    }
 }
 
 /* === alias.js === */
diff --git a/modules/ext/shell.js b/modules/ext/shell.js
index 9966e0f..07f175b 100644
--- a/modules/ext/shell.js
+++ b/modules/ext/shell.js
@@ -39,8 +39,15 @@ class ShellModule {
     // ── Hook into terminal.executeCommand ──
 
     init() {
-        // Guard: prevent double-wrapping if init is called multiple times
+        // Guard: prevent double-wrapping if init is called multiple times, and adopt the wrapper
+        // if another instance already installed one (shell.js used to be loaded twice — once in
+        // critical-ext-bundle.js, once from main.html's extension list — and the two copies could
+        // disagree about their version).
         if (this._initialized) return;
+        if (this.terminal && this.terminal._shellModule && this.terminal._shellModule !== this) {
+            this._initialized = true;
+            return;
+        }
         this._initialized = true;
         
         // Wrap executeCommand to add shell parsing — only for compound commands
@@ -90,9 +97,10 @@ class ShellModule {
                     // Check for redirects
                     const redirectInfo = self._extractRedirects(chainCmd);
                     if (redirectInfo.hasRedirect) {
-                        // Run, capture, write to file
-                        await self._executeWithRedirect(redirectInfo);
-                        lastOk = redirectInfo.exitOk;
+                        // Same capture-and-write path the script runner uses. _executeWithRedirect
+                        // handed `>` to builtins, so `echo hi > /f` printed the operator instead of
+                        // writing the file.
+                        lastOk = await self._runCommand(chainCmd, { $: 0 }, { inScript: false });
                     } else {
                         // Normal or piped command
                         const pipeParts = this.splitPipe(chainCmd);
@@ -102,7 +110,11 @@ class ShellModule {
                             // Single command — check for shell built-ins first
                             const parts = chainCmd.split(/\s+/);
                             const cmd = parts[0].toLowerCase();
-                            const args = parts.slice(1);
+                            // Globs expand at the prompt too — the script runner did it and the
+                            // interactive path did not, so `ls *.txt` printed (empty) but the same
+                            // line inside a script worked.
+                            const args = self._expandGlobs(parts.slice(1), (this.fs && this.fs.currentPath) || []);
+                            const expandedCmd = [cmd].concat(args).join(' ');
                             if (self.commands[cmd]) {
                                 try {
                                     this.markDirty();
@@ -114,7 +126,7 @@ class ShellModule {
                                 }
                             } else {
                                 try {
-                                    await this.security.checkAndRun(chainCmd);
+                                    await this.security.checkAndRun(expandedCmd);
                                     lastOk = true;
                                 } catch(e) {
                                     this.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error');
@@ -443,8 +455,10 @@ class ShellModule {
     }
 
     _isPipeAware(cmd) {
-        // Commands that read from files and should use pipe buffer
-        return ['grep', 'head', 'tail', 'sort', 'wc', 'cut', 'uniq', 'expand'].includes(cmd);
+        // Commands that read from files and should use the pipe buffer file. wc is NOT here any
+        // more: it reads terminal._pipeInput natively (v4.6.111), and injecting __pipebuf__ gave
+        // `3 __pipebuf__` instead of a bare count.
+        return ['grep', 'head', 'tail', 'sort', 'cut', 'uniq', 'expand'].includes(cmd);
     }
 
     // ── Variable substitution ──
@@ -561,66 +575,290 @@ class ShellModule {
         this._scriptDepth++;
         try {
             this.terminal.print(`Running script: ${path}`, 'info');
-            const lines = content.split('\n');
-            let lineNum = 0;
-            for (const rawLine of lines) {
-                lineNum++;
-                const line = rawLine.trim();
-                if (!line || line.startsWith('#')) continue;
-                this.terminal.print(`[${path}:${lineNum}] ${line}`, 'command-prompt');
-                const substituted = this._substituteVars(line);
-                const seqParts = this._splitSequence(substituted);
-                for (const seqPart of seqParts) {
-                    if (!seqPart.trim()) continue;
-                    const chainParts = this._splitChain(seqPart.trim());
-                    let lastOk = true;
-                    for (const chainPart of chainParts) {
-                        if (!chainPart.cmd.trim()) continue;
-                        if (chainPart.operator === '&&' && !lastOk) continue;
-                        if (chainPart.operator === '||' && lastOk) continue;
-                        const redirectInfo = this._extractRedirects(chainPart.cmd);
-                        if (redirectInfo.hasRedirect) {
-                            await this._executeWithRedirect(redirectInfo);
-                            lastOk = redirectInfo.exitOk;
-                        } else {
-                            const pipeParts = this.terminal.splitPipe(chainPart.cmd);
-                            if (pipeParts.length > 1) {
-                                await this.terminal.executePipeChain(pipeParts);
-                            } else {
-                                const parts = chainPart.cmd.split(/\s+/);
-                                const cmd = parts[0].toLowerCase();
-                                const args = parts.slice(1);
-                                // Check if it's a shell built-in command
-                                if (this.commands[cmd]) {
-                                    try {
-                                        this.terminal.markDirty();
-                                        await this.commands[cmd](args);
-                                        lastOk = true;
-                                    } catch(e) {
-                                        this.terminal.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error');
-                                        lastOk = false;
-                                    }
-                                } else {
-                                    try {
-                                        await this.terminal.security.checkAndRun(chainPart.cmd);
-                                        lastOk = true;
-                                    } catch(e) {
-                                        this.terminal.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error');
-                                        lastOk = false;
-                                    }
-                                }
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
+            const env = Object.assign({ $: 0 }, this._scriptEnv || {});
+            this._inScript = true;
+            let result = { ran: 0 };
+            try {
+                const tree = this._parseBlocks(content.split('\n'));
+                result = await this._runInstructions(tree, env, { path, inScript: true });
+            } catch (e) {
+                // A parse error (unclosed block, bad for-header) must read as a script error, not
+                // as a crashed terminal.
+                this.terminal.print(`Script ${path} failed: ${e.message}`, 'error');
+                result = { ran: 0 };
+            } finally {
+                this._inScript = false;
             }
-            this.terminal.print(`Script ${path} completed (${lineNum} lines)`, 'success');
+            this._scriptEnv = env;
+            this.terminal.print(`Script ${path} completed (${result.ran} statements, exit ${env.$})`, 'success');
         } finally {
             // Always decrement — even on error or thrown exception
             this._scriptDepth--;
         }
     }
+    // Parse a script into an instruction tree. Line-by-line execution cannot express a loop body,
+    // which is why `for … done` used to be fed to the AI one line at a time.
+    _parseBlocks(lines) {
+        const root = { body: [] };
+        const stack = [root];
+        const cur = () => stack[stack.length - 1];
+        const push = (node) => {
+            const top = cur();
+            if (top.op === 'if') { (top.inElse ? top.else : top.then).push(node); }
+            else { top.body.push(node); }
+        };
+        // `if [ -f /x ]; then echo y; fi` on one line is common enough to support: split atoms on
+        // ';' when the line carries a block keyword, and keep quoted text intact otherwise.
+        const atoms = [];
+        lines.forEach((raw) => {
+            const l = String(raw).replace(/\r$/, '');
+            if (l.includes(';') && /\b(then|do|done|fi|else)\b/.test(l)) l.split(';').forEach(p => atoms.push(p));
+            else atoms.push(l);
+        });
+        atoms.forEach((raw, idx) => {
+            const line = String(raw).replace(/\r$/, '').trim();
+            const lineNo = idx + 1;
+            if (!line || line.startsWith('#')) return;
+            const head = line.split(/\s+/)[0];
+            if (head === 'for') {
+                const m = line.match(/^for\s+([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)\s+in\s+(.*)$/);
+                if (!m) throw new Error('line ' + lineNo + ": expected 'for <var> in <items>'");
+                const node = { op: 'for', line: lineNo, var: m[1], items: m[2].trim().split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean), body: [] };
+                push(node); stack.push(node); return;
+            }
+            if (head === 'while') {
+                const node = { op: 'while', line: lineNo, test: line.slice(5).trim(), body: [] };
+                push(node); stack.push(node); return;
+            }
+            if (head === 'if') {
+                const node = { op: 'if', line: lineNo, test: line.slice(2).trim(), then: [], else: [], inElse: false };
+                push(node); stack.push(node); return;
+            }
+            if (head === 'then' || head === 'do') {
+                // `then echo y` on the same atom still means "run echo y"
+                const rest = line.slice(head.length).trim();
+                if (rest) push({ op: 'simple', line: lineNo, text: rest });
+                return;
+            }
+            if (head === 'else') {
+                const top = cur();
+                if (top.op !== 'if') throw new Error('line ' + lineNo + ": 'else' without 'if'");
+                top.inElse = true;
+                const rest = line.slice(4).trim();
+                if (rest) push({ op: 'simple', line: lineNo, text: rest });
+                return;
+            }
+            if (head === 'done' || head === 'fi') {
+                const top = stack.pop();
+                const want = !top ? null : (top.op === 'if' ? 'fi' : 'done');
+                if (!want) throw new Error('line ' + lineNo + ": '" + head + "' without an open block");
+                if (head !== want) throw new Error('line ' + lineNo + ": expected '" + want + "' to close '" + top.op + "' from line " + top.line);
+                return;
+            }
+            push({ op: 'simple', line: lineNo, text: line });
+        });
+        if (stack.length !== 1) {
+            const open = stack[stack.length - 1];
+            throw new Error("unclosed '" + open.op + "' from line " + open.line + " — expected '" + (open.op === 'if' ? 'fi' : 'done') + "'");
+        }
+        const fix = (nodes) => nodes.map(n => {
+            if (n.op === 'if') { n.body = n.then; n.elseBody = n.else; }
+            if (n.body && (n.op === 'for' || n.op === 'while')) fix(n.body);
+            if (n.body && n.op === 'if') fix(n.body);
+            if (n.elseBody) fix(n.elseBody);
+            return n;
+        });
+        return fix(root.body);
+    }
+
+    // Same rules as _substituteVars, but against an explicit env so a loop body sees `$i`, and
+    // `$?` carries the previous statement's exit status.
+    _expandVars(input, env) {
+        const src = String(input);
+        let out = '', inSingle = false, inDouble = false;
+        for (let i = 0; i < src.length; i++) {
+            const ch = src[i];
+            if (ch === "'" && !inDouble) { inSingle = !inSingle; out += ch; continue; }
+            if (ch === '"' && !inSingle) { inDouble = !inDouble; out += ch; continue; }
+            if (ch !== '$' || inSingle) { out += ch; continue; }
+            const next = src[i + 1];
+            if (next === '?') { out += String(env.$ == null ? 0 : env.$); i++; continue; }
+            let name = '';
+            if (next === '{') {
+                const end = src.indexOf('}', i + 2);
+                if (end === -1) { out += ch; continue; }
+                name = src.slice(i + 2, end); i = end;
+            } else {
+                const m = /^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*/.exec(src.slice(i + 1));
+                if (!m) { out += ch; continue; }
+                name = m[0]; i += name.length;
+            }
+            out += (env[name] == null ? '' : String(env[name]));
+        }
+        return out;
+    }
+
+    // Wildcards only expand for unquoted arguments, and only against the VFS — `ls *.txt` used to
+    // return an empty list because the literal pattern was handed to ls.
+    _expandGlobs(args, cwdSegments) {
+        const globToRe = (pat) => new RegExp('^' + pat.replace(/[.+^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&')
+            .replace(/\*/g, '[^/]*').replace(/\?/g, '[^/]') + '$');
+        const dirOf = (p) => {
+            const segs = String(p).split('/').filter(Boolean);
+            segs.pop();
+            return segs;
+        };
+        return args.flatMap((arg) => {
+            const a = String(arg);
+            if (/^['"]/.test(a) || !/[*?]/.test(a)) return [a];
+            const segs = a.split('/').filter(Boolean);
+            const namePat = segs.pop() || '*';
+            const rawDir = a.startsWith('/') ? segs : cwdSegments.concat(segs);
+            // cwd segments may arrive as ['work'] or ['/work'] — normalise both
+            const dirPath = '/' + rawDir.map(s => String(s).split('/').filter(Boolean).join('/'))
+                .filter(Boolean).join('/');
+            let entries = [];
+            try { entries = this.terminal.fs.ls(dirPath) || []; } catch (e) { entries = []; }
+            const re = globToRe(namePat);
+            const hits = entries.filter(e => re.test(e.name)).map(e => (dirPath === '/' ? '' : dirPath) + '/' + e.name);
+            return hits.length ? hits : [a];
+        });
+    }
+
+
+    // Evaluate the only condition syntaxes the runner supports: test -f/-d/-e/-z/-n, `a = b`,
+    // and the bracket spelling of the same. Anything else is false, never a crash.
+    _evalTest(expr, env) {
+        const t = this._expandVars(String(expr == null ? '' : expr), env || {})
+            .trim().replace(/^\[/, '').replace(/\]$/, '').trim();
+        if (!t) return false;
+        const fs = this.terminal.fs;
+        const parts = t.split(/\s+/);
+        const p = parts[1];
+        switch (parts[0]) {
+            case '-f': return typeof fs.readFile(p) === 'string';
+            case '-d': return !!fs.readDir(p);
+            case '-e': return typeof fs.readFile(p) === 'string' || !!fs.readDir(p);
+            case '-z': return !p;
+            case '-n': return !!p;
+            case '!': return !this._evalTest(parts.slice(1).join(' '), env);
+        }
+        if (parts.length === 3 && (parts[1] === '=' || parts[1] === '==')) return parts[0] === parts[2];
+        if (parts.length === 3 && parts[1] === '!=') return parts[0] !== parts[2];
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    async _runInstructions(nodes, env, ctx) {
+        let ran = 0;
+        for (const node of nodes) {
+            if (node.op === 'for') {
+                for (const item of node.items) {
+                    env[node.var] = this._expandVars(item, env);
+                    const r = await this._runInstructions(node.body, env, ctx);
+                    ran += r.ran + 1;
+                }
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (node.op === 'while') {
+                let guard = 0;
+                const cap = this._maxLoopIterations || 1000;
+                while (guard++ < cap && this._evalTest(node.test, env)) {
+                    const r = await this._runInstructions(node.body, env, ctx);
+                    ran += r.ran + 1;
+                }
+                if (guard > cap) this.terminal.print('script: while loop hit the iteration limit (' + cap + ')', 'warning');
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (node.op === 'if') {
+                const take = this._evalTest(node.test, env);
+                env.$ = take ? 0 : 1;
+                const r = await this._runInstructions(take ? node.body : (node.elseBody || []), env, ctx);
+                ran += r.ran + 1;
+                continue;
+            }
+            const r = await this._runSimple(this._expandVars(node.text, env), env, Object.assign({}, ctx, { line: node.line }));
+            ran += r.ran;
+        }
+        return { ran };
+    }
+
+    async _runSimple(text, env, ctx) {
+        const seqParts = this._splitSequence(text);
+        let lastOk = true;
+        for (const seqPart of seqParts) {
+            if (!seqPart.trim()) continue;
+            lastOk = true;
+            for (const chainPart of this._splitChain(seqPart.trim())) {
+                if (!chainPart.cmd.trim()) continue;
+                if (chainPart.operator === '&&' && !lastOk) continue;
+                if (chainPart.operator === '||' && lastOk) continue;
+                lastOk = await this._runCommand(chainPart.cmd, env, ctx);
+            }
+        }
+        env.$ = lastOk ? 0 : 1;
+        return { ran: 1, ok: lastOk };
+    }
+
+    async _runCommand(cmdText, env, ctx) {
+        const redirectInfo = this._extractRedirects(cmdText);
+        if (redirectInfo.hasRedirect) {
+            const cap = { output: '', onChunk: null };
+            const stack = this.terminal._printCaptureStack || (this.terminal._printCaptureStack = []);
+            stack.push(cap);
+            let ok = true;
+            try { ok = await this._runCommand(redirectInfo.cmdText, env, ctx); }
+            catch (e) { this.terminal.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error'); ok = false; }
+            finally { stack.pop(); }
+            const target = redirectInfo.redirectFile;
+            const prev = redirectInfo.append ? (this.terminal.fs.readFile(target) || '') : '';
+            const wrote = this.terminal.fs.writeFile(target, prev + cap.output);
+            if (!wrote) { this.terminal.print('script: cannot write ' + target, 'error'); return false; }
+            return ok;
+        }
+        const pipeParts = this.terminal.splitPipe ? this.terminal.splitPipe(cmdText) : [cmdText];
+        if (pipeParts.length > 1) {
+            await this.terminal.executePipeChain(pipeParts);
+            return true;
+        }
+        return this._dispatchOne(cmdText, env, ctx);
+    }
+
+    async _dispatchOne(cmdText, env, ctx) {
+        const parts = String(cmdText).trim().split(/\s+/);
+        const cmd = (parts[0] || '').toLowerCase();
+        const cwd = (this.terminal.fs && this.terminal.fs.currentPath) || [];
+        const args = this._expandGlobs(parts.slice(1), cwd);
+        if (this.commands[cmd]) {
+            try { this.terminal.markDirty(); await this.commands[cmd](args); return true; }
+            catch (e) { this.terminal.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error'); return false; }
+        }
+        const known = (this.terminal.moduleManager && this.terminal.moduleManager.getAllCommands
+            ? this.terminal.moduleManager.getAllCommands() : {})[cmd];
+        if (ctx && ctx.inScript && !known) {
+            // A script must never answer an unknown command by calling the AI.
+            this.terminal.print('script:' + ctx.path + ':' + (ctx.line || '?') + ': ' + cmd + ': command not found', 'error');
+            return false;
+        }
+        // Dispatch the EXPANDED argument list — passing cmdText here silently dropped the glob
+        // results, so `ls /g*.txt` still reached the fs as a literal pattern.
+        const rebuilt = [cmd].concat(args).join(' ');
+        try { await this.terminal.security.checkAndRun(rebuilt); return true; }
+        catch (e) { this.terminal.print('Error: ' + e.message, 'error'); return false; }
+    }
+
 }
 if (typeof window.webx11 !== 'undefined' && window.webx11) {
-    webx11.moduleManager.registerModule(new ShellModule(), 'https://webx11.duckdns.org/spaces/newos4/modules/ext/shell.js');
+    // Register with a cache-busting query: an unversioned URL let the browser keep serving a
+    // pre-v4.6.111 shell.js after the bundle had already shipped the new runner.
+    const _mm = window.webx11.moduleManager;
+    const _ver = (_mm && (_mm.LATEST_VER || _mm.latestVer)) || ('t' + Date.now());
+    const _inst = new ShellModule();
+    webx11.moduleManager.registerModule(_inst,
+        'https://webx11.duckdns.org/spaces/newos4/modules/ext/shell.js?v=' + _ver);
+    // registerModule() does not call init(); only loadModule() does. A module registered from the
+    // boot bundle therefore never installed its executeCommand wrapper, so prompt-level globbing
+    // and redirects silently did nothing. Init it here, once.
+    if (typeof _inst.init === 'function' && !_inst._initialized) {
+        try { _inst.init(); } catch (e) { console.warn('ShellModule init failed:', e && e.message); }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/modules/test/test-shell-script.js b/modules/test/test-shell-script.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..578b186
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/test/test-shell-script.js
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+// modules/test/test-shell-script.js — run: node
+// Covers the script runner: block parser (A), variables (B), globs (C), and the executor (D).
+// D is the part that used to be impossible — a loop body could not run at all.
+const fsMod = require('fs'), path = require('path');
+const ROOT = path.join(__dirname, '..');
+const store = {};
+global.localStorage = { getItem: k => (k in store ? store[k] : null), setItem: (k, v) => { store[k] = String(v); }, removeItem: k => { delete store[k]; } };
+global.indexedDB = { open() { throw new Error('no idb'); }, deleteDatabase() { throw new Error('no idb'); } };
+global.window = global;
+const load = (rel, cls) => new Function(fsMod.readFileSync(path.join(ROOT, rel), 'utf8') + '\nreturn ' + cls + ';')();
+const Shell = load('ext/shell.js', 'ShellModule');
+const VFS = load('core/virtual-fs.js', 'VirtualFileSystem');
+
+let fails = 0, passes = 0;
+const ok = (name, cond, detail) => { if (cond) { passes++; return; } fails++; console.log('FAIL ' + name + (detail ? ' — ' + detail : '')); };
+
+const shell = Object.create(Shell.prototype);
+
+// A. block parser
+{
+    const tree = shell._parseBlocks(['for i in 1 2 3', 'do', '  echo item $i', 'done']);
+    ok('A1 one top-level instruction', tree.length === 1, JSON.stringify(tree));
+    ok('A2 it is a for loop over 3 items', tree[0].op === 'for' && tree[0].items.length === 3, JSON.stringify(tree[0]));
+    ok('A3 the body holds the echo', tree[0].body.length === 1 && /echo item \$i/.test(tree[0].body[0].text));
+}
+{
+    const tree = shell._parseBlocks(['if test -f /x', 'then', '  echo yes', 'else', '  echo no', 'fi']);
+    ok('A4 if/else parsed', tree[0].op === 'if' && tree[0].body.length === 1 && tree[0].elseBody.length === 1, JSON.stringify(tree));
+}
+{
+    let threw = null;
+    try { shell._parseBlocks(['for i in 1 2', '  echo $i']); } catch (e) { threw = e.message; }
+    ok('A5 an unclosed block is an error, not a silent run', !!threw && /done/.test(threw), String(threw));
+}
+
+// B. variables
+{
+    const env = { i: '2', name: 'webx11' };
+    ok('B1 $VAR expands', shell._expandVars('echo $name', env) === 'echo webx11');
+    ok('B2 ${VAR} expands', shell._expandVars('echo ${name}!', env) === 'echo webx11!');
+    ok('B3 single quotes are literal', shell._expandVars("echo '$name'", env) === "echo '$name'");
+    ok('B4 unknown var becomes empty', shell._expandVars('echo [$nope]', env) === 'echo []');
+}
+
+// C. globbing (against a fake fs)
+{
+    const fake = { ls: () => [{ name: 'a.txt', type: 'file' }, { name: 'b.txt', type: 'file' }, { name: 'c.log', type: 'file' }], readDir: () => [] };
+    shell.terminal = { fs: fake, moduleManager: { getAllCommands: () => ({}) } };
+    const out = shell._expandGlobs(['*.txt'], ['/work']);
+    ok('C1 *.txt expands to two files', out.length === 2 && out.join(',') === '/work/a.txt,/work/b.txt', JSON.stringify(out));
+    ok('C2 a literal arg is untouched', shell._expandGlobs(['plain'], ['/work']).join() === 'plain');
+    ok('C3 quoted wildcard stays literal', shell._expandGlobs(["'*.txt'"], ['/work']).join() === "'*.txt'");
+}
+
+// D. the executor (a fake terminal, a real VFS)
+function mkShell(seed) {
+    const vfs = new VFS();
+    vfs.saveToStorage = () => true;
+    Object.entries(seed || {}).forEach(([p, body]) => { vfs.writeFile(p, body); });
+    const printed = [];
+    const term = {
+        fs: vfs,
+        print: (t) => {
+            const st = term._printCaptureStack || [];
+            if (st.length) { st[st.length - 1].output += String(t) + '\n'; return; }
+            printed.push(String(t));
+        },
+        log: () => {}, markDirty: () => {},
+        moduleManager: { getAllCommands: () => ({ ls: {}, echo: {}, cat: {} }) },
+        security: { checkAndRun: async () => { printed.push('AI-ROUTED'); } },
+        _printCaptureStack: [],
+        splitPipe: (s) => s.split('|').map(x => x.trim()),
+        executePipeChain: async () => {},
+    };
+    const sh = Object.create(Shell.prototype);
+    sh.terminal = term;
+    sh.commands = { echo: (args) => term.print(args.join(' ')) };
+    return { sh, term, printed, vfs };
+}
+
+async function runScript(seed, lines) {
+    const env = { $: 0 };
+    const ctx = { path: '/t.sh', inScript: true };
+    const tree = (await (async () => { const { sh } = mkShell(seed); return sh._parseBlocks(lines); })());
+    const { sh, printed, vfs, term } = mkShell(seed);
+    await sh._runInstructions(tree, env, ctx);
+    return { printed, vfs, env, term };
+}
+
+(async () => {
+    {
+        const r = await runScript({}, ['for i in 1 2 3', 'do', 'echo item $i', 'done']);
+        ok('D1 the loop body ran 3 times', r.printed.join('|') === 'item 1|item 2|item 3', r.printed.join('|'));
+        ok('D2 $i is not left over as a literal', !r.printed.some(l => /\$i/.test(l)), r.printed.join('|'));
+    }
+    {
+        const r = await runScript({ '/present.txt': 'x' }, ['if [ -f /present.txt ]', 'then', 'echo yes', 'else', 'echo no', 'fi']);
+        ok('D3 bracket test takes the then-branch', r.printed.join('|') === 'yes', r.printed.join('|'));
+        const r2 = await runScript({}, ['if test -f /absent.txt', 'then', 'echo yes', 'else', 'echo no', 'fi']);
+        ok('D4 a failing test takes the else-branch', r2.printed.join('|') === 'no', r2.printed.join('|'));
+    }
+    {
+        const r = await runScript({}, ['echo hi > /o.txt']);
+        ok('D5 redirect writes the file', r.vfs.readFile('/o.txt') === 'hi\n', JSON.stringify(r.vfs.readFile('/o.txt')));
+        ok('D6 redirect does not echo to the screen', !r.printed.includes('hi > /o.txt'), r.printed.join('|'));
+    }
+    {
+        const vfs = new VFS(); vfs.saveToStorage = () => true;
+        vfs.mkdirRecursive('/work');
+        vfs.writeFile('/work/a.txt', '1'); vfs.writeFile('/work/b.txt', '2'); vfs.writeFile('/work/c.log', '3');
+        const seen = [];
+        const term = { fs: vfs, print: () => {}, log: () => {}, markDirty: () => {},
+            moduleManager: { getAllCommands: () => ({ ls: {} }) },
+            security: { checkAndRun: async (s) => { seen.push(s); } },
+            _printCaptureStack: [], splitPipe: (s) => [s], executePipeChain: async () => {} };
+        const sh = Object.create(Shell.prototype);
+        sh.terminal = term; sh.commands = {};
+        vfs.currentPath = ['work'];
+        await sh._runSimple('ls *.txt', { $: 0 }, { path: '/t.sh', inScript: true });
+        ok('D15 glob results reach the dispatched command', seen[0] === 'ls /work/a.txt /work/b.txt', JSON.stringify(seen));
+    }
+    {
+        const r = await runScript({}, ['no-such-cmd arg']);
+        ok('D7 unknown command is reported, not answered by the AI', r.printed.join('|').includes('command not found'), r.printed.join('|'));
+        ok('D8 the AI fallback was not used', !r.printed.includes('AI-ROUTED'), r.printed.join('|'));
+        ok('D9 exit status is non-zero', r.env.$ !== 0, String(r.env.$));
+    }
+    {
+        const r = await runScript({ '/present.txt': 'x' }, ['if [ -f /present.txt ]; then echo one-line; fi']);
+        ok('D11 a one-line if runs its then-branch', r.printed.join('|') === 'one-line', r.printed.join('|'));
+    }
+    {
+        const { sh, term, printed } = mkShell({});
+        sh.terminal.fs.writeFile('/bad.sh', 'for i in 1 2\necho $i\n');
+        await sh._cmdScript(['/bad.sh']);
+        ok('D12 an unclosed block fails as a script error', printed.join('|').includes('failed:'), printed.join('|'));
+        ok('D13 the failure names the missing terminator', /done/.test(printed.join('|')), printed.join('|'));
+    }
+    {
+        const r = await runScript({}, ['for i in 1 2 3', 'do', 'echo n $i', 'done', 'echo after']);
+        ok('D14 a statement after the loop still runs', r.printed[r.printed.length - 1] === 'after', r.printed.join('|'));
+    }
+    {
+        const r = await runScript({}, ['echo a', 'echo b']);
+        ok('D10 sequential statements all run', r.printed.join('|') === 'a|b', r.printed.join('|'));
+    }
+
+    if (fails === 0) console.log('test-shell-script: ' + passes + ' passed, 0 failed');
+    else { console.log('test-shell-script: ' + passes + ' passed, ' + fails + ' FAILED'); process.exit(1); }
+})();
diff --git a/modules/test/test-shell-stdin.js b/modules/test/test-shell-stdin.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10ba190
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/test/test-shell-stdin.js
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+// modules/test/test-shell-stdin.js — run: node
+// Pipes: wc/head/tail must read stdin when no file operand is given, and must still read the file
+// when one is (ignoring a stale pipe buffer). The channel is terminal._pipeInput — the property
+// the pipe wrapper in modules/ext/shell.js sets before dispatching each stage.
+const fsMod = require('fs'), path = require('path');
+const ROOT = path.join(__dirname, '..');
+const src = fsMod.readFileSync(path.join(ROOT, 'core/module-fs.js'), 'utf8');
+const FileSystemModule = new Function(src + '\nreturn FileSystemModule;')();
+
+let fails = 0, passes = 0;
+const ok = (name, cond, detail) => { if (cond) { passes++; return; } fails++; console.log('FAIL ' + name + (detail ? ' — ' + detail : '')); };
+
+// A fake terminal whose fs knows only the files it is handed: there is no __pipebuf__ magic here,
+// so a handler that quietly searched the cwd instead of reading stdin would fail, not pass.
+const mk = (files, pipeInput) => {
+    const out = [];
+    const term = {
+        fs: {
+            readFile: (p) => (files && Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(files, p)) ? files[p] : null,
+            getCurrentDir: () => ({ name: 'fake', content: {} }),
+        },
+        _pipeInput: pipeInput === undefined ? null : pipeInput,
+        print: (msg) => out.push(String(msg)),
+    };
+    const m = new FileSystemModule();
+    m.terminal = term;
+    m.registerCommands();
+    return { m, out };
+};
+const last = (out) => out.length ? out[out.length - 1] : '<nothing printed>';
+
+// (a) wc -l over 3 lines of stdin
+{
+    const { m, out } = mk({}, 'alpha\nbeta\ngamma');
+    m.commands.wc(['-l']);
+    ok('A1 wc -l on 3 piped lines prints 3', out.length === 1 && out[0].trim() === '3', JSON.stringify(out));
+}
+// (b) wc -c counts characters, not lines
+{
+    const { m, out } = mk({}, 'abcdef');
+    m.commands.wc(['-c']);
+    ok('B1 wc -c on "abcdef" piped prints 6', out.length === 1 && out[0].trim() === '6', JSON.stringify(out));
+
+    const w = mk({}, 'abcdef');
+    w.m.commands.wc(['-w']);
+    ok('B2 wc -w on one piped word prints 1', w.out.length === 1 && w.out[0].trim() === '1', JSON.stringify(w.out));
+
+    const l = mk({}, 'abcdef');
+    l.m.commands.wc(['-l']);
+    ok('B3 wc -l on the same piped text still prints 1 (so -c is not counting lines)', l.out.length === 1 && l.out[0].trim() === '1', JSON.stringify(l.out));
+}
+// (c) head -n 2 returns the first 2 piped lines
+{
+    const { m, out } = mk({}, 'alpha\nbeta\ngamma');
+    m.commands.head(['-n', '2']);
+    ok('C1 head -n 2 on piped stdin prints 2 lines', out.length === 1 && out[0] === 'alpha\nbeta', JSON.stringify(out));
+
+    const d = mk({}, 'alpha\nbeta\ngamma');
+    d.m.commands.head([]);
+    ok('C2 head with no operand/number defaults to 10 piped lines', d.out.length === 1 && d.out[0] === 'alpha\nbeta\ngamma', JSON.stringify(d.out));
+}
+// (d) tail -n 1 returns the last piped line
+{
+    const { m, out } = mk({}, 'alpha\nbeta\ngamma');
+    m.commands.tail(['-n', '1']);
+    ok('D1 tail -n 1 on piped stdin prints the last line', out.length === 1 && out[0] === 'gamma', JSON.stringify(out));
+
+    const t = mk({}, 'alpha\nbeta\ngamma');
+    t.m.commands.tail(['-2']);
+    ok('D2 tail -2 on piped stdin prints the last 2 lines', t.out.length === 1 && t.out[0] === 'beta\ngamma', JSON.stringify(t.out));
+
+    const nl = mk({}, 'alpha\nbeta\ngamma\n');
+    nl.m.commands.tail(['-n', '1']);
+    ok('D3 tail -n 1 ignores a trailing newline (no blank line)', nl.out.length === 1 && nl.out[0] === 'gamma', JSON.stringify(nl.out));
+}
+// (e) a real file operand still wins: the file is read and the pipe buffer is ignored
+{
+    const files = { '/probe.txt': 'one\ntwo\nthree\nfour' };
+    const { m, out } = mk(files, 'PIPED\nJUNK\nHERE');
+    m.commands.wc(['-l', '/probe.txt']);
+    ok('E1 wc -l <file> counts the file (4), not stdin', out.length === 1 && out[0].trim() === '4 /probe.txt', JSON.stringify(out));
+
+    const h = mk(files, 'PIPED\nJUNK\nHERE');
+    h.m.commands.head(['-n', '1', '/probe.txt']);
+    ok('E2 head -n 1 <file> prints the file\'s first line', h.out.length === 1 && h.out[0] === 'one', JSON.stringify(h.out));
+
+    const t = mk(files, 'PIPED\nJUNK\nHERE');
+    t.m.commands.tail(['-n', '1', '/probe.txt']);
+    ok('E3 tail -n 1 <file> prints the file\'s last line', t.out.length === 1 && t.out[0] === 'four', JSON.stringify(t.out));
+
+    const d = mk(files, 'PIPED\nJUNK\nHERE');
+    d.m.commands.wc(['/probe.txt']);
+    // Real behaviour (verified identical on the pre-change file): with no flag and a single
+    // file, wc prints the bare counts and no name — the name is only appended when there are
+    // several rows or when a flag was given.
+    ok('E4 wc <file> with no flags keeps its long format (l w c, no name for one file)',
+        d.out.length === 1 && d.out[0] === '4 4 18' && d.out[0].indexOf('PIPED') === -1, JSON.stringify(d.out));
+}
+// (f) no operand and no pipe must still be usage, not a crash or a silent empty read
+{
+    const w = mk({}, null);
+    w.m.commands.wc(['-l']);
+    ok('F1 wc with no file and no stdin prints usage', /^Usage: wc/.test(w.out[0] || ''), JSON.stringify(w.out));
+
+    const h = mk({});
+    h.m.commands.head(['-n', '2']);
+    ok('F2 head with no file and no stdin prints usage', /^Usage: head/.test(h.out[0] || ''), JSON.stringify(h.out));
+
+    const t = mk({}, null);
+    t.m.commands.tail(['-n', '1']);
+    ok('F3 tail with no file and no stdin prints usage', /^Usage: tail/.test(t.out[0] || ''), JSON.stringify(t.out));
+}
+
+console.log(passes + ' passed, ' + fails + ' failed');
+if (fails) process.exit(1);