diff --git a/apps/x/apps/main/package.json b/apps/x/apps/main/package.json
index 74cb1598..3330c3c0 100644
--- a/apps/x/apps/main/package.json
+++ b/apps/x/apps/main/package.json
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
         "make": "electron-forge make"
     },
     "dependencies": {
+        "@agentclientprotocol/claude-agent-acp": "^0.39.0",
+        "@agentclientprotocol/codex-acp": "^0.0.44",
         "@x/core": "workspace:*",
         "@x/shared": "workspace:*",
         "chokidar": "^4.0.3",
diff --git a/apps/x/packages/core/src/code-mode/acp/agents.ts b/apps/x/packages/core/src/code-mode/acp/agents.ts
index cf9e74e3..da06d8ea 100644
--- a/apps/x/packages/core/src/code-mode/acp/agents.ts
+++ b/apps/x/packages/core/src/code-mode/acp/agents.ts
@@ -49,5 +49,12 @@ export function getAgentLaunchSpec(agent: CodingAgent): AgentLaunchSpec {
         if (exe) env.CLAUDE_CODE_EXECUTABLE = exe;
     }
 
+    // We spawn the adapter with process.execPath. Inside Electron's main process
+    // that is the Electron binary, NOT node — so set ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 to make
+    // it behave as a plain Node runtime. (Harmless under a real node process, which
+    // ignores the var.) Without this the child never runs as node and the ACP stdio
+    // stream closes immediately ("ACP connection closed").
+    env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE = '1';
+
     return { command: process.execPath, args: [entry], env };
 }
diff --git a/apps/x/packages/core/src/code-mode/acp/client.ts b/apps/x/packages/core/src/code-mode/acp/client.ts
index 8f73f7a7..5c2bd1ba 100644
--- a/apps/x/packages/core/src/code-mode/acp/client.ts
+++ b/apps/x/packages/core/src/code-mode/acp/client.ts
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ export class AcpClient {
     private child?: ChildProcess;
     private connection?: ClientSideConnection;
     private loadSession_ = false;
+    // Diagnostics: the adapter's stderr/exit are captured so a dropped connection
+    // reports WHY (e.g. a crash) instead of the SDK's bare "ACP connection closed".
+    private stderrTail = '';
+    private exitInfo: string | null = null;
 
     constructor(opts: AcpClientOptions) {
         this.agent = opts.agent;
@@ -104,9 +108,19 @@ export class AcpClient {
         const child = spawn(spec.command, spec.args, {
             cwd: this.cwd,
             env: spec.env,
-            stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'inherit'],
+            // Capture stderr (not inherit) so we can attribute a dropped connection.
+            stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
         });
         this.child = child;
+        child.stderr?.on('data', (d: Buffer) => {
+            this.stderrTail = (this.stderrTail + d.toString()).slice(-4000);
+        });
+        child.on('exit', (code, signal) => {
+            this.exitInfo = `adapter exited (code ${code}${signal ? `, signal ${signal}` : ''})`;
+        });
+        child.on('error', (err) => {
+            this.stderrTail = (this.stderrTail + `\nspawn error: ${err.message}`).slice(-4000);
+        });
 
         const stream = ndJsonStream(
             Writable.toWeb(child.stdin!) as WritableStream<Uint8Array>,
@@ -115,24 +129,51 @@ export class AcpClient {
         const client = this.buildClient();
         this.connection = new ClientSideConnection(() => client, stream);
 
-        const init = await this.connection.initialize({
-            protocolVersion: PROTOCOL_VERSION,
-            clientCapabilities: { fs: { readTextFile: true, writeTextFile: true } },
-        });
-        this.loadSession_ = init.agentCapabilities?.loadSession === true;
+        try {
+            const init = await this.connection.initialize({
+                protocolVersion: PROTOCOL_VERSION,
+                clientCapabilities: { fs: { readTextFile: true, writeTextFile: true } },
+            });
+            this.loadSession_ = init.agentCapabilities?.loadSession === true;
+        } catch (e) {
+            throw this.enrich(e, 'initialize');
+        }
     }
 
     async newSession(): Promise<string> {
-        const res = await this.conn().newSession({ cwd: this.cwd, mcpServers: [] });
-        return res.sessionId;
+        try {
+            const res = await this.conn().newSession({ cwd: this.cwd, mcpServers: [] });
+            return res.sessionId;
+        } catch (e) {
+            throw this.enrich(e, 'newSession');
+        }
     }
 
     async loadSession(sessionId: string): Promise<void> {
-        await this.conn().loadSession({ sessionId, cwd: this.cwd, mcpServers: [] });
+        try {
+            await this.conn().loadSession({ sessionId, cwd: this.cwd, mcpServers: [] });
+        } catch (e) {
+            throw this.enrich(e, 'loadSession');
+        }
     }
 
     async prompt(sessionId: string, text: string): Promise<PromptResponse> {
-        return this.conn().prompt({ sessionId, prompt: [{ type: 'text', text }] });
+        try {
+            return await this.conn().prompt({ sessionId, prompt: [{ type: 'text', text }] });
+        } catch (e) {
+            throw this.enrich(e, 'prompt');
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Wrap a connection error with the adapter's exit/stderr so failures are
+    // self-explanatory rather than the SDK's opaque "ACP connection closed".
+    private enrich(err: unknown, phase: string): Error {
+        const base = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+        const parts = [
+            this.exitInfo,
+            this.stderrTail.trim() ? `adapter output: ${this.stderrTail.trim().slice(-1200)}` : '',
+        ].filter(Boolean);
+        return new Error(parts.length ? `${base} — ${parts.join(' | ')} [during ${phase}]` : `${base} [during ${phase}]`);
     }
 
     async cancel(sessionId: string): Promise<void> {
diff --git a/apps/x/pnpm-lock.yaml b/apps/x/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 02cb3068..65eb7f36 100644
--- a/apps/x/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/apps/x/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ importers:
 
   apps/main:
     dependencies:
+      '@agentclientprotocol/claude-agent-acp':
+        specifier: ^0.39.0
+        version: 0.39.0(@anthropic-ai/sdk@0.100.1(zod@4.2.1))(@modelcontextprotocol/sdk@1.25.1(hono@4.11.3)(zod@4.2.1))
+      '@agentclientprotocol/codex-acp':
+        specifier: ^0.0.44
+        version: 0.0.44(zod@4.2.1)
       '@x/core':
         specifier: workspace:*
         version: link:../../packages/core