diff --git a/lib/design-tool-gate.sh b/lib/design-tool-gate.sh
index d14a560..b72f20b 100755
--- a/lib/design-tool-gate.sh
+++ b/lib/design-tool-gate.sh
@@ -51,6 +51,33 @@ PROFILE_FILE="$PROFILES_DIR/$PROFILE.profile"
 [ -x "$PROFILE_SH" ]  || { echo "design-gate: profile.sh not executable at $PROFILE_SH" >&2; exit 2; }
 [ -f "$PROFILE_FILE" ] || { echo "design-gate: profile '$PROFILE' not found" >&2; exit 2; }
 
+# Ensure the claude CLI + its node runtime are reachable even when a skill/hook
+# shells this script out with a sanitized PATH. The interactive alias
+# claude->dtach_claude never reaches a non-interactive subshell; the real binary
+# AND its node bin dir are what matter (claude's shebang needs node, same dir).
+# If `command -v claude` already resolves, do nothing; else probe known install
+# dirs and prepend. nvm keeps old node versions after an upgrade, so pick the
+# newest that actually ships claude (sort -V), not the first glob match.
+ensure_claude_on_path() {
+  command -v claude >/dev/null 2>&1 && return
+  local cand
+  for cand in \
+    "$HOME/.claude/local/claude" \
+    "$HOME/.local/bin/claude" \
+    /usr/local/bin/claude; do
+    [ -x "$cand" ] && { PATH="$(dirname "$cand"):$PATH"; return; }
+  done
+  local m newest matches=()
+  for m in "$HOME"/.nvm/versions/node/*/bin/claude; do
+    [ -x "$m" ] && matches+=("$m")
+  done
+  if [ "${#matches[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    newest="$(printf '%s\n' "${matches[@]}" | sort -V | tail -1)"
+    PATH="$(dirname "$newest"):$PATH"
+  fi
+}
+ensure_claude_on_path
+
 # Gate scope: the "# GATE-BLOCK:" allowlist (one or more lines, concatenated).
 # Empty => fall back to "every gate-relevant entry is in scope" (coarse).
 core_set="$(grep '^# GATE-BLOCK:' "$PROFILE_FILE" 2>/dev/null \