diff --git a/gitnexus-claude-plugin/hooks/gitnexus-hook.js b/gitnexus-claude-plugin/hooks/gitnexus-hook.js
index 91c20c9d22..bbe90dbc64 100644
--- a/gitnexus-claude-plugin/hooks/gitnexus-hook.js
+++ b/gitnexus-claude-plugin/hooks/gitnexus-hook.js
@@ -185,6 +185,48 @@ function extractPattern(toolName, toolInput) {
   return null;
 }
 
+function commandExistsOnPath(command) {
+  const pathValue = process.env.PATH || process.env.Path || process.env.path || '';
+  if (!pathValue) return false;
+
+  const extensions =
+    process.platform === 'win32'
+      ? Array.from(
+          new Set([
+            '',
+            '.cmd',
+            '.bat',
+            '.exe',
+            '.ps1',
+            ...(process.env.PATHEXT || '')
+              .split(';')
+              .map((ext) => ext.trim().toLowerCase())
+              .filter(Boolean)
+              .map((ext) => (ext.startsWith('.') ? ext : `.${ext}`)),
+          ]),
+        )
+      : [''];
+
+  for (const dir of pathValue.split(path.delimiter).filter(Boolean)) {
+    for (const ext of extensions) {
+      try {
+        const candidate = path.join(dir, `${command}${ext}`);
+        if (!fs.statSync(candidate).isFile()) continue;
+        if (process.platform !== 'win32') fs.accessSync(candidate, fs.constants.X_OK);
+        return true;
+      } catch {
+        /* try next candidate */
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
+function buildAnalyzeCommand(hadEmbeddings) {
+  const analyzeBin = commandExistsOnPath('gitnexus') ? 'gitnexus' : 'npx gitnexus';
+  return `${analyzeBin} analyze${hadEmbeddings ? ' --embeddings' : ''}`;
+}
+
 /**
  * Spawn a gitnexus CLI command synchronously.
  * Detects binary on PATH once, then runs exactly once.
@@ -345,7 +387,7 @@ function handlePostToolUse(input) {
   // If HEAD matches last indexed commit, no reindex needed
   if (currentHead && currentHead === lastCommit) return;
 
-  const analyzeCmd = `npx gitnexus analyze${hadEmbeddings ? ' --embeddings' : ''}`;
+  const analyzeCmd = buildAnalyzeCommand(hadEmbeddings);
   sendHookResponse(
     'PostToolUse',
     `GitNexus index is stale (last indexed: ${lastCommit ? lastCommit.slice(0, 7) : 'never'}). ` +
diff --git a/gitnexus/hooks/antigravity/gitnexus-antigravity-hook.cjs b/gitnexus/hooks/antigravity/gitnexus-antigravity-hook.cjs
index 4bd807631d..681cfbd4aa 100755
--- a/gitnexus/hooks/antigravity/gitnexus-antigravity-hook.cjs
+++ b/gitnexus/hooks/antigravity/gitnexus-antigravity-hook.cjs
@@ -207,6 +207,48 @@ function runGitNexusCli(cliPath, args, cwd, timeout) {
   });
 }
 
+function commandExistsOnPath(command) {
+  const pathValue = process.env.PATH || process.env.Path || process.env.path || '';
+  if (!pathValue) return false;
+
+  const extensions =
+    process.platform === 'win32'
+      ? Array.from(
+          new Set([
+            '',
+            '.cmd',
+            '.bat',
+            '.exe',
+            '.ps1',
+            ...(process.env.PATHEXT || '')
+              .split(';')
+              .map((ext) => ext.trim().toLowerCase())
+              .filter(Boolean)
+              .map((ext) => (ext.startsWith('.') ? ext : `.${ext}`)),
+          ]),
+        )
+      : [''];
+
+  for (const dir of pathValue.split(path.delimiter).filter(Boolean)) {
+    for (const ext of extensions) {
+      try {
+        const candidate = path.join(dir, `${command}${ext}`);
+        if (!fs.statSync(candidate).isFile()) continue;
+        if (process.platform !== 'win32') fs.accessSync(candidate, fs.constants.X_OK);
+        return true;
+      } catch {
+        /* try next candidate */
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
+function buildAnalyzeCommand(hadEmbeddings) {
+  const analyzeBin = commandExistsOnPath('gitnexus') ? 'gitnexus' : 'npx gitnexus';
+  return `${analyzeBin} analyze${hadEmbeddings ? ' --embeddings' : ''}`;
+}
+
 function writeAdditionalContext(text) {
   process.stdout.write(
     JSON.stringify({
@@ -315,7 +357,7 @@ function buildStaleIndexHint(gitNexusDir, cwd) {
 
   if (currentHead === lastCommit) return '';
 
-  const analyzeCmd = `npx gitnexus analyze${hadEmbeddings ? ' --embeddings' : ''}`;
+  const analyzeCmd = buildAnalyzeCommand(hadEmbeddings);
   return (
     `[GitNexus] index is stale (last indexed: ${lastCommit ? lastCommit.slice(0, 7) : 'never'}). ` +
     `Run \`${analyzeCmd}\` to refresh the knowledge graph.`
diff --git a/gitnexus/hooks/claude/gitnexus-hook.cjs b/gitnexus/hooks/claude/gitnexus-hook.cjs
index 9793bd7bc8..1270f3ee67 100755
--- a/gitnexus/hooks/claude/gitnexus-hook.cjs
+++ b/gitnexus/hooks/claude/gitnexus-hook.cjs
@@ -207,6 +207,48 @@ function resolveCliPath() {
   return cliPath;
 }
 
+function commandExistsOnPath(command) {
+  const pathValue = process.env.PATH || process.env.Path || process.env.path || '';
+  if (!pathValue) return false;
+
+  const extensions =
+    process.platform === 'win32'
+      ? Array.from(
+          new Set([
+            '',
+            '.cmd',
+            '.bat',
+            '.exe',
+            '.ps1',
+            ...(process.env.PATHEXT || '')
+              .split(';')
+              .map((ext) => ext.trim().toLowerCase())
+              .filter(Boolean)
+              .map((ext) => (ext.startsWith('.') ? ext : `.${ext}`)),
+          ]),
+        )
+      : [''];
+
+  for (const dir of pathValue.split(path.delimiter).filter(Boolean)) {
+    for (const ext of extensions) {
+      try {
+        const candidate = path.join(dir, `${command}${ext}`);
+        if (!fs.statSync(candidate).isFile()) continue;
+        if (process.platform !== 'win32') fs.accessSync(candidate, fs.constants.X_OK);
+        return true;
+      } catch {
+        /* try next candidate */
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
+function buildAnalyzeCommand(hadEmbeddings) {
+  const analyzeBin = commandExistsOnPath('gitnexus') ? 'gitnexus' : 'npx gitnexus';
+  return `${analyzeBin} analyze${hadEmbeddings ? ' --embeddings' : ''}`;
+}
+
 /**
  * Spawn a gitnexus CLI command synchronously.
  * Returns the stderr output (KuzuDB captures stdout at OS level).
@@ -340,7 +382,7 @@ function handlePostToolUse(input) {
   // If HEAD matches last indexed commit, no reindex needed
   if (currentHead && currentHead === lastCommit) return;
 
-  const analyzeCmd = `npx gitnexus analyze${hadEmbeddings ? ' --embeddings' : ''}`;
+  const analyzeCmd = buildAnalyzeCommand(hadEmbeddings);
   sendHookResponse(
     'PostToolUse',
     `GitNexus index is stale (last indexed: ${lastCommit ? lastCommit.slice(0, 7) : 'never'}). ` +
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/integration/antigravity-hook-e2e.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/integration/antigravity-hook-e2e.test.ts
index 617214c0c1..8d2bbb1a11 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/integration/antigravity-hook-e2e.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/integration/antigravity-hook-e2e.test.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,13 @@ import fsp from 'fs/promises';
 import path from 'path';
 import { cleanupTempDir, cleanupTempDirSync } from '../helpers/test-db.js';
 import os from 'os';
-import { runHook, parseHookOutput } from '../utils/hook-test-helpers.js';
+import {
+  createGitNexusPathEntry,
+  envWithPath,
+  parseHookOutput,
+  pathWithoutGitNexus,
+  runHook,
+} from '../utils/hook-test-helpers.js';
 import { setupCommand } from '../../src/cli/setup.js';
 
 let tempHome: string;
@@ -97,13 +103,20 @@ describe('antigravity hook adapter e2e', () => {
         JSON.stringify({ lastCommit: 'a'.repeat(40), stats: {} }),
       );
 
-      const result = runHook(installedHook, {
-        hook_event_name: 'AfterTool',
-        tool_name: 'run_shell_command',
-        tool_input: { command: 'git commit -m "test"' },
-        tool_response: { llmContent: '[committed]' },
-        cwd: tmpDir,
-      });
+      const result = runHook(
+        installedHook,
+        {
+          hook_event_name: 'AfterTool',
+          tool_name: 'run_shell_command',
+          tool_input: { command: 'git commit -m "test"' },
+          tool_response: { llmContent: '[committed]' },
+          cwd: tmpDir,
+        },
+        undefined,
+        {
+          env: envWithPath(pathWithoutGitNexus()),
+        },
+      );
 
       const output = parseHookOutput(result.stdout);
       expect(output).not.toBeNull();
@@ -116,6 +129,38 @@ describe('antigravity hook adapter e2e', () => {
       expect(result.stderr).toContain('[GitNexus] index is stale');
     });
 
+    it('suggests direct gitnexus analyze when gitnexus is on PATH', () => {
+      fs.writeFileSync(
+        path.join(gitNexusDir, 'meta.json'),
+        JSON.stringify({ lastCommit: 'a'.repeat(39) + 'b', stats: {} }),
+      );
+      const gitNexusPath = createGitNexusPathEntry();
+
+      try {
+        const result = runHook(
+          installedHook,
+          {
+            hook_event_name: 'AfterTool',
+            tool_name: 'run_shell_command',
+            tool_input: { command: 'git commit -m "test"' },
+            tool_response: { llmContent: '[committed]' },
+            cwd: tmpDir,
+          },
+          undefined,
+          {
+            env: envWithPath(gitNexusPath.pathValue),
+          },
+        );
+
+        const output = parseHookOutput(result.stdout);
+        expect(output).not.toBeNull();
+        expect(output!.additionalContext).toContain('Run `gitnexus analyze`');
+        expect(output!.additionalContext).not.toContain('npx gitnexus analyze');
+      } finally {
+        gitNexusPath.cleanup();
+      }
+    });
+
     it('stays silent when meta.json lastCommit matches HEAD', () => {
       const head = spawnSync('git', ['rev-parse', 'HEAD'], {
         cwd: tmpDir,
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/integration/hooks-e2e.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/integration/hooks-e2e.test.ts
index 6d3b79172d..17473973f2 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/integration/hooks-e2e.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/integration/hooks-e2e.test.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,13 @@ import { spawnSync } from 'child_process';
 import fs from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import os from 'os';
-import { runHook, parseHookOutput } from '../utils/hook-test-helpers.js';
+import {
+  createGitNexusPathEntry,
+  envWithPath,
+  parseHookOutput,
+  pathWithoutGitNexus,
+  runHook,
+} from '../utils/hook-test-helpers.js';
 
 // ─── Paths to both hook variants ────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -66,13 +72,20 @@ describe.each(HOOKS)('hooks e2e ($name)', ({ name, path: hookPath }) => {
         JSON.stringify({ lastCommit: 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa', stats: {} }),
       );
 
-      const result = runHook(hookPath, {
-        hook_event_name: 'PostToolUse',
-        tool_name: 'Bash',
-        tool_input: { command: 'git commit -m "test"' },
-        tool_output: { exit_code: 0 },
-        cwd: tmpDir,
-      });
+      const result = runHook(
+        hookPath,
+        {
+          hook_event_name: 'PostToolUse',
+          tool_name: 'Bash',
+          tool_input: { command: 'git commit -m "test"' },
+          tool_output: { exit_code: 0 },
+          cwd: tmpDir,
+        },
+        undefined,
+        {
+          env: envWithPath(pathWithoutGitNexus()),
+        },
+      );
 
       const output = parseHookOutput(result.stdout);
       expect(output).not.toBeNull();
@@ -80,6 +93,41 @@ describe.each(HOOKS)('hooks e2e ($name)', ({ name, path: hookPath }) => {
       expect(output!.additionalContext).toContain('npx gitnexus analyze');
     });
 
+    it('suggests direct gitnexus analyze when gitnexus is on PATH', () => {
+      fs.writeFileSync(
+        path.join(gitNexusDir, 'meta.json'),
+        JSON.stringify({
+          lastCommit: 'abababababababababababababababababababab',
+          stats: {},
+        }),
+      );
+      const gitNexusPath = createGitNexusPathEntry();
+
+      try {
+        const result = runHook(
+          hookPath,
+          {
+            hook_event_name: 'PostToolUse',
+            tool_name: 'Bash',
+            tool_input: { command: 'git commit -m "test"' },
+            tool_output: { exit_code: 0 },
+            cwd: tmpDir,
+          },
+          undefined,
+          {
+            env: envWithPath(gitNexusPath.pathValue),
+          },
+        );
+
+        const output = parseHookOutput(result.stdout);
+        expect(output).not.toBeNull();
+        expect(output!.additionalContext).toContain('Run `gitnexus analyze`');
+        expect(output!.additionalContext).not.toContain('npx gitnexus analyze');
+      } finally {
+        gitNexusPath.cleanup();
+      }
+    });
+
     it('stays silent when meta.json lastCommit matches HEAD', () => {
       // Get current HEAD
       const headResult = spawnSync('git', ['rev-parse', 'HEAD'], {
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/utils/hook-test-helpers.ts b/gitnexus/test/utils/hook-test-helpers.ts
index 3f519bc81e..86960d192d 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/utils/hook-test-helpers.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/utils/hook-test-helpers.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
  * Shared helpers for hook test files (unit + integration).
  */
 import { spawnSync } from 'child_process';
+import fs from 'fs';
+import os from 'os';
+import path from 'path';
 
 export function runHook(
   hookPath: string,
@@ -35,3 +38,48 @@ export function parseHookOutput(
     return null;
   }
 }
+
+function gitNexusLauncherNames(): string[] {
+  return process.platform === 'win32'
+    ? ['gitnexus', 'gitnexus.cmd', 'gitnexus.bat', 'gitnexus.exe', 'gitnexus.ps1']
+    : ['gitnexus'];
+}
+
+export function pathWithoutGitNexus(
+  pathValue = process.env.PATH || process.env.Path || process.env.path || '',
+): string {
+  return pathValue
+    .split(path.delimiter)
+    .filter((dir) => {
+      if (!dir) return false;
+      return !gitNexusLauncherNames().some((name) => fs.existsSync(path.join(dir, name)));
+    })
+    .join(path.delimiter);
+}
+
+export function envWithPath(pathValue: string): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
+  const env = { ...process.env };
+  for (const key of Object.keys(env)) {
+    if (key.toLowerCase() === 'path') delete env[key];
+  }
+  env.PATH = pathValue;
+  return env;
+}
+
+export function createGitNexusPathEntry(): {
+  pathValue: string;
+  cleanup: () => void;
+} {
+  const binDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gitnexus-path-'));
+  const launcher = path.join(binDir, process.platform === 'win32' ? 'gitnexus.cmd' : 'gitnexus');
+  fs.writeFileSync(
+    launcher,
+    process.platform === 'win32' ? '@echo off\r\nexit /b 0\r\n' : '#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n',
+  );
+  if (process.platform !== 'win32') fs.chmodSync(launcher, 0o755);
+
+  return {
+    pathValue: [binDir, pathWithoutGitNexus()].filter(Boolean).join(path.delimiter),
+    cleanup: () => fs.rmSync(binDir, { recursive: true, force: true }),
+  };
+}