diff --git a/.agents/skills/openclaw-parallels-smoke/SKILL.md b/.agents/skills/openclaw-parallels-smoke/SKILL.md
index 2a597cf012d..23fbc533584 100644
--- a/.agents/skills/openclaw-parallels-smoke/SKILL.md
+++ b/.agents/skills/openclaw-parallels-smoke/SKILL.md
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ Use this skill for Parallels guest workflows and smoke interpretation. Do not lo
 - Always use `prlctl exec --current-user`; plain `prlctl exec` lands in `NT AUTHORITY\\SYSTEM`.
 - Prefer explicit `npm.cmd` and `openclaw.cmd`.
 - Use PowerShell only as the transport with `-ExecutionPolicy Bypass`, then call the `.cmd` shims from inside it.
+- Multi-word `openclaw agent --message ...` checks should call `& $openclaw ...` inside PowerShell, not `Start-Process ... -ArgumentList` against `openclaw.cmd`, or Commander can see split argv and throw `too many arguments for 'agent'`.
 - Windows installer/tgz phases now retry once after guest-ready recheck; keep new Windows smoke steps idempotent so a transport-flake retry is safe.
 - Keep onboarding and status output ASCII-clean in logs; fancy punctuation becomes mojibake in current capture paths.
 - If you hit an older run with `rc=255` plus an empty `fresh.install-main.log` or `upgrade.install-main.log`, treat it as a likely `prlctl exec` transport drop after guest start-up, not immediate proof of an npm/package failure.
diff --git a/scripts/e2e/parallels-windows-smoke.sh b/scripts/e2e/parallels-windows-smoke.sh
index 07423b63f55..529ea1871a5 100644
--- a/scripts/e2e/parallels-windows-smoke.sh
+++ b/scripts/e2e/parallels-windows-smoke.sh
@@ -333,32 +333,22 @@ guest_run_openclaw() {
   local env_value="${2:-}"
   shift 2
 
-  local args_literal stdout_name stderr_name env_name_q env_value_q
+  local args_literal env_name_q env_value_q
   args_literal="$(ps_array_literal "$@")"
-  stdout_name="openclaw-stdout-$RANDOM-$RANDOM.log"
-  stderr_name="openclaw-stderr-$RANDOM-$RANDOM.log"
   env_name_q="$(ps_single_quote "$env_name")"
   env_value_q="$(ps_single_quote "$env_value")"
 
   guest_powershell "$(cat <<EOF
-\$stdout = Join-Path \$env:TEMP '$stdout_name'
-\$stderr = Join-Path \$env:TEMP '$stderr_name'
-try {
-  if ('${env_name_q}' -ne '') {
-    Set-Item -Path ('Env:' + '${env_name_q}') -Value '${env_value_q}'
-  }
-  \$proc = Start-Process -FilePath (Join-Path \$env:APPDATA 'npm\openclaw.cmd') -ArgumentList $args_literal -NoNewWindow -PassThru -RedirectStandardOutput \$stdout -RedirectStandardError \$stderr
-  \$proc.WaitForExit()
-  if (Test-Path \$stdout) {
-    Get-Content \$stdout
-  }
-  if (Test-Path \$stderr) {
-    Get-Content \$stderr
-  }
-  exit \$proc.ExitCode
-} finally {
-  Remove-Item \$stdout, \$stderr -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+\$openclaw = Join-Path \$env:APPDATA 'npm\openclaw.cmd'
+\$args = $args_literal
+if ('${env_name_q}' -ne '') {
+  Set-Item -Path ('Env:' + '${env_name_q}') -Value '${env_value_q}'
 }
+\$output = & \$openclaw @args 2>&1
+if (\$null -ne \$output) {
+  \$output | ForEach-Object { \$_ }
+}
+exit \$LASTEXITCODE
 EOF
 )"
 }