diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 1d64329d472..03e04e28dc3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -1069,10 +1069,14 @@ jobs:
   # catches compile failures (e.g. a moved-value error); fmt/clippy are not run
   # here because the release pipeline does not gate on them either.
   desktop_shell:
-    name: 'Desktop Shell (ubuntu-22.04)'
+    name: 'Desktop Shell (${{ matrix.os }})'
     needs: 'classify_pr'
     if: "${{ !cancelled() && github.event_name != 'push' && needs.classify_pr.outputs.skip_ci != 'true' }}"
-    runs-on: 'ubuntu-22.04'
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        os: ['ubuntu-22.04', 'windows-2022']
+    runs-on: '${{ matrix.os }}'
     timeout-minutes: 45
     permissions:
       contents: 'read'
@@ -1126,13 +1130,13 @@ jobs:
       # cargo test links the Tauri/wry webview, so the WebKit/GTK dev headers
       # must be present (mirrors the Linux build job in desktop-release.yml).
       - name: 'Install Linux dependencies'
-        if: "${{ steps.filter.outputs.changed == 'true' }}"
+        if: "${{ steps.filter.outputs.changed == 'true' && runner.os == 'Linux' }}"
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
           sudo apt-get install -y libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libappindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev libatk-bridge2.0-0 at-spi2-core dbus-x11 patchelf libfuse2 xdg-utils
 
       - uses: 'actions/setup-node@48b55a011bda9f5d6aeb4c2d9c7362e8dae4041e' # v6.4.0
-        if: "${{ steps.filter.outputs.changed == 'true' }}"
+        if: "${{ steps.filter.outputs.changed == 'true' && runner.os == 'Linux' }}"
         with:
           node-version: '22.x'
 
@@ -1150,6 +1154,6 @@ jobs:
         run: 'cargo test --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml'
 
       - name: 'Run desktop release tests'
-        if: "${{ steps.filter.outputs.changed == 'true' }}"
+        if: "${{ steps.filter.outputs.changed == 'true' && runner.os == 'Linux' }}"
         working-directory: 'packages/desktop-shell'
         run: 'node scripts/test-release.js'
diff --git a/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/Cargo.lock b/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
index 8ec31e4efd2..75373b6e282 100644
--- a/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+++ b/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
@@ -2730,6 +2730,7 @@ name = "qwen-code-desktop"
 version = "0.0.1"
 dependencies = [
  "command-group",
+ "dunce",
  "open",
  "rand",
  "serde",
diff --git a/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/Cargo.toml b/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
index 3495c0256de..be904ebcb24 100644
--- a/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
+++ b/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ tauri-build = { version = "2.4.1", features = [] }
 
 [dependencies]
 command-group = "5.0.1"
+dunce = "1.0.5"
 open = "5.4.0"
 rand = "0.9.2"
 serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
diff --git a/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/src/main.rs b/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/src/main.rs
index 91bfd575920..bf7af37ed89 100755
--- a/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/src/main.rs
+++ b/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/src/main.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ mod desktop_state;
 mod runtime;
 
 use desktop_state::{default_window_size, restore_window, SettingsStore};
-use runtime::DesktopRuntime;
+use runtime::{resolve_workspace, DesktopRuntime};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::fs;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
@@ -307,22 +307,10 @@ fn start_runtime_async(app: AppHandle, workspace: PathBuf) {
     let _ = app.emit("runtime-starting", workspace.to_string_lossy().into_owned());
     tauri::async_runtime::spawn_blocking(move || {
         let state = app.state::<ApplicationState>();
-        let canonical = match fs::canonicalize(&workspace) {
-            Ok(path) if path.is_dir() => path,
-            Ok(path) => {
-                emit_runtime_failure(
-                    &app,
-                    generation,
-                    format!("Workspace is not a directory: {}", path.display()),
-                );
-                return;
-            }
+        let canonical = match resolve_workspace(&workspace) {
+            Ok(path) => path,
             Err(error) => {
-                emit_runtime_failure(
-                    &app,
-                    generation,
-                    format!("Failed to open workspace {}: {error}", workspace.display()),
-                );
+                emit_runtime_failure(&app, generation, error);
                 return;
             }
         };
diff --git a/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/src/runtime.rs b/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/src/runtime.rs
index b559df10aa1..1231c1e3738 100644
--- a/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/src/runtime.rs
+++ b/packages/desktop-shell/src-tauri/src/runtime.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use rand::RngCore;
 use std::ffi::OsString;
 use std::fs::{self, File};
 use std::io::{BufRead, BufReader, Read, Write};
-use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::path::{Component, Path, PathBuf};
 use std::process::{Command, Stdio};
 use std::sync::{
     atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering},
@@ -44,13 +44,13 @@ impl DesktopRuntime {
     pub fn start(app: &AppHandle, workspace: &Path, log_path: &Path) -> Result<Self, String> {
         let id = NEXT_RUNTIME_ID.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed);
         let layout = RuntimeLayout::resolve(app)?;
-        let workspace = resolve_workspace(workspace)?;
+        // Callers pass a workspace already resolved by resolve_workspace.
         let token = random_token();
         let mut command = Command::new(&layout.node);
         command
             .arg(&layout.entry)
-            .args(runtime_arguments(&workspace))
-            .current_dir(&workspace)
+            .args(runtime_arguments(workspace))
+            .current_dir(workspace)
             .stdin(Stdio::null())
             .stdout(Stdio::piped())
             .stderr(Stdio::piped())
@@ -176,13 +176,28 @@ fn require_file(path: &Path, description: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
     Err(format!("{description} is missing at {}", path.display()))
 }
 
-fn resolve_workspace(configured: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf, String> {
-    let workspace = fs::canonicalize(configured).map_err(|error| {
+fn ensure_supported_workspace_path(path: &Path) -> Result<(), String> {
+    if matches!(
+        path.components().next(),
+        Some(Component::Prefix(prefix)) if prefix.kind().is_verbatim()
+    ) {
+        return Err(format!(
+            "Desktop workspace path uses an unsupported Windows extended-length form: {}. Choose a local drive path; network (UNC) shares, paths over 260 characters, and names ending in a dot or space are not supported.",
+            path.display()
+        ));
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+pub(crate) fn resolve_workspace(configured: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf, String> {
+    // dunce::canonicalize strips the Windows `\\?\` prefix when safe (#8615).
+    let workspace = dunce::canonicalize(configured).map_err(|error| {
         format!(
             "Failed to resolve desktop workspace {}: {error}",
             configured.display()
         )
     })?;
+    ensure_supported_workspace_path(&workspace)?;
     if workspace.is_dir() {
         Ok(workspace)
     } else {
@@ -459,13 +474,61 @@ fn runtime_arguments(workspace: &Path) -> Vec<OsString> {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::{
-        append_failure_output, parse_listening_url, runtime_arguments, DesktopRuntime,
-        RuntimeStopped, FAILURE_OUTPUT_LIMIT,
+        append_failure_output, parse_listening_url, resolve_workspace, runtime_arguments,
+        DesktopRuntime, RuntimeStopped, FAILURE_OUTPUT_LIMIT,
     };
     use std::path::Path;
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    use std::path::PathBuf;
     use std::sync::Mutex;
     use url::Url;
 
+    #[test]
+    fn resolve_workspace_strips_windows_verbatim_prefix() {
+        let dir = std::env::temp_dir().join(format!("qwen-desktop-ws-{}", std::process::id()));
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir).expect("create temp workspace");
+        let resolved = resolve_workspace(&dir).expect("resolve workspace");
+        std::fs::remove_dir_all(&dir).expect("cleanup temp workspace");
+        let resolved = resolved.to_string_lossy();
+        assert!(
+            !resolved.starts_with("\\\\?\\"),
+            "workspace keeps the verbatim prefix: {resolved}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    #[test]
+    fn rejects_residual_windows_verbatim_workspace_paths() {
+        for path in [
+            r"\\?\C:\workspace",
+            r"\\?\UNC\server\share",
+            r"\\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolume1",
+        ] {
+            let error = super::ensure_supported_workspace_path(Path::new(path))
+                .expect_err("reject residual verbatim path");
+            assert!(error.contains("unsupported Windows extended-length form"));
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    #[test]
+    fn resolve_workspace_rejects_residual_verbatim_paths() {
+        use std::os::windows::ffi::OsStrExt;
+
+        let base =
+            std::env::temp_dir().join(format!("qwen-desktop-long-ws-{}", std::process::id()));
+        let mut workspace = PathBuf::from(format!(r"\\?\{}", base.display()));
+        while workspace.as_os_str().encode_wide().count() <= 270 {
+            workspace.push("long-workspace-component");
+        }
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&workspace).expect("create long workspace");
+        let result = resolve_workspace(&workspace);
+        std::fs::remove_dir_all(PathBuf::from(format!(r"\\?\{}", base.display())))
+            .expect("cleanup long workspace");
+        let error = result.expect_err("reject long workspace");
+        assert!(error.contains("unsupported Windows extended-length form"));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn parses_loopback_listening_line() {
         let url = parse_listening_url(