diff --git a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
index e552de650..4cdd47b54 100644
--- a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
+++ b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
   "plugins": [
     {
       "name": "genie",
-      "version": "5.260831.3",
+      "version": "5.260831.5",
       "source": "./plugins/genie",
       "description": "Human-AI partnership for Claude Code. Share a terminal, orchestrate workers, evolve together. Brainstorm ideas, wish them into plans, make with parallel agents, ship as one team. A coding genie that grows with your project."
     }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 79d027a67..9f48d43fe 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@automagik/genie",
-  "version": "5.260831.3",
+  "version": "5.260831.5",
   "description": "Collaborative terminal toolkit for human + AI workflows. NOTE: npm distribution discontinued 2026-05-09 — install via `curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/automagik-dev/genie/main/install.sh | bash` (cosign + SLSA verified). See https://automagik.dev/genie/release-process",
   "license": "MIT",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/plugins/genie/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/genie/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index d91fea75b..aaee8684b 100644
--- a/plugins/genie/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/genie/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "genie",
-  "version": "5.260831.3",
+  "version": "5.260831.5",
   "description": "Human-AI partnership for Claude Code. Share a terminal, orchestrate workers, evolve together. Brainstorm ideas, turn them into wishes, execute with /work, validate with /review, and ship as one team.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Namastex Labs"
diff --git a/plugins/genie/.codex-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/genie/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
index 874cbbf0a..7b1f5fb40 100644
--- a/plugins/genie/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/genie/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "genie",
-  "version": "5.260831.3",
+  "version": "5.260831.5",
   "description": "Plan, execute, review, and ship software with Genie workflows in Codex.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Namastex Labs",
diff --git a/plugins/genie/.kimi-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/genie/.kimi-plugin/plugin.json
index 8f97a36fb..eaaf8599d 100644
--- a/plugins/genie/.kimi-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/genie/.kimi-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "genie",
-  "version": "5.260831.3",
+  "version": "5.260831.5",
   "description": "Human-AI partnership for Kimi Code CLI. Share a terminal, orchestrate workers, evolve together. Brainstorm ideas, turn them into wishes, execute with /genie:work, validate with /genie:review, and ship as one team.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Namastex Labs",
diff --git a/plugins/genie/orca-plugin.json b/plugins/genie/orca-plugin.json
index 9d31c6289..bf31012f0 100644
--- a/plugins/genie/orca-plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/genie/orca-plugin.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "id": "genie",
   "publisher": "automagik",
   "name": "Genie",
-  "version": "5.260831.3",
+  "version": "5.260831.5",
   "description": "Genie workflows backed by Orca as the sole lifecycle authority.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Namastex Labs",
diff --git a/plugins/genie/package.json b/plugins/genie/package.json
index 5a5010786..b30966dc9 100644
--- a/plugins/genie/package.json
+++ b/plugins/genie/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "genie-plugin",
-  "version": "5.260831.3",
+  "version": "5.260831.5",
   "private": true,
   "description": "Runtime dependencies for genie bundled CLIs",
   "license": "MIT",
diff --git a/plugins/hermes-genie/plugin.yaml b/plugins/hermes-genie/plugin.yaml
index bd0678cd8..fa4d95ccf 100644
--- a/plugins/hermes-genie/plugin.yaml
+++ b/plugins/hermes-genie/plugin.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: genie
-version: 5.260831.3
+version: 5.260831.5
 description: "Native Hermes surface for Genie orchestration: read-only status, work-plan and review-plan tools, hooks, commands, and a thin cockpit skill."
 provides_tools:
   # Exactly three native read-only planning/status tools.
diff --git a/plugins/pi-genie/package.json b/plugins/pi-genie/package.json
index b8133df1b..5ce42183f 100644
--- a/plugins/pi-genie/package.json
+++ b/plugins/pi-genie/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "genie-pi-plugin",
-  "version": "5.260831.3",
+  "version": "5.260831.5",
   "private": true,
   "description": "Pi extension manifest for the Genie pi plugin — the plugin payload is plugins/pi-genie/extension.ts",
   "license": "MIT",
diff --git a/src/genie.ts b/src/genie.ts
index 5e728917d..2b24a68d6 100644
--- a/src/genie.ts
+++ b/src/genie.ts
@@ -43,7 +43,21 @@ program
   .option('--staging-root <path>')
   .option('--expected-version <version>')
   .option('--self-test')
-  .action((options: InstallPromoteCommandOptions) => installPromoteCommand(options));
+  .action((options: InstallPromoteCommandOptions) => {
+    try {
+      installPromoteCommand(options);
+    } catch (error) {
+      // Preflight/link failures are operator-fixable environment problems
+      // (e.g. a group-writable ~/.local/bin); print the remedy, never a stack.
+      const name = error instanceof Error ? error.name : '';
+      if (name === 'CanonicalInstallLinkError' || name === 'InstallPromoteCommandError') {
+        console.error(`\u2716 ${(error as Error).message}`);
+        process.exitCode = 1;
+        return;
+      }
+      throw error;
+    }
+  });
 
 // Global --no-interactive flag: disables all interactive prompts (scripting safety)
 program.option('--no-interactive', 'Disable interactive prompts (exit 2 instead of prompting)');
diff --git a/src/lib/install-link.test.ts b/src/lib/install-link.test.ts
index d296e4c72..4733f14cb 100644
--- a/src/lib/install-link.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/install-link.test.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,13 @@ import {
 } from 'node:fs';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
-import { CanonicalInstallLinkError, prepareCanonicalInstallLink, verifyCanonicalInstallLink } from './install-link.js';
+import {
+  CanonicalInstallLinkError,
+  classifyOwnedDirectorySafety,
+  preflightCanonicalInstallLink,
+  prepareCanonicalInstallLink,
+  verifyCanonicalInstallLink,
+} from './install-link.js';
 
 const roots: string[] = [];
 
@@ -130,6 +136,40 @@ describe('canonical installer link', () => {
   });
 
   for (const unsafeAncestor of ['.local', '.local/bin'] as const) {
+    test('accepts a 0775 ~/.local/bin owned by the user and their effective group (user-private-group umask 002)', () => {
+      const f = fixture();
+      const localBin = join(f.home, '.local', 'bin');
+      mkdirSync(localBin, { recursive: true, mode: 0o755 });
+      chmodSync(join(f.home, '.local'), 0o775);
+      chmodSync(localBin, 0o775);
+      // gid of a fresh dir is the process egid on non-setgid parents, matching the relaxation.
+      expect(() =>
+        preflightCanonicalInstallLink({
+          trustedHome: f.home,
+          linkPath: join(localBin, 'genie'),
+          targetPath: join(f.home, '.genie', 'bin', 'genie'),
+        }),
+      ).not.toThrow();
+    });
+
+    test('classifyOwnedDirectorySafety: pure verdicts', () => {
+      const uid = 1000n;
+      const gid = 1000n;
+      const mk = (mode: number, o: Partial<{ uid: bigint; gid: bigint; nlink: bigint }> = {}) =>
+        ({ uid: o.uid ?? uid, gid: o.gid ?? gid, nlink: o.nlink ?? 2n, mode: BigInt(0o40000 | mode) }) as never;
+      expect(classifyOwnedDirectorySafety(mk(0o755), { uid, gid })).toEqual({ ok: true });
+      expect(classifyOwnedDirectorySafety(mk(0o775), { uid, gid })).toEqual({ ok: true });
+      const foreign = classifyOwnedDirectorySafety(mk(0o775, { gid: 999n }), { uid, gid });
+      expect(foreign.ok).toBe(false);
+      if (!foreign.ok) expect(foreign.reason).toContain('group 999');
+      const world = classifyOwnedDirectorySafety(mk(0o777), { uid, gid });
+      expect(world.ok).toBe(false);
+      if (!world.ok) expect(world.reason).toContain('world-writable (mode 777)');
+      const sudo = classifyOwnedDirectorySafety(mk(0o755, { uid: 0n }), { uid, gid });
+      expect(sudo.ok).toBe(false);
+      if (!sudo.ok) expect(sudo.reason).toContain('owned by uid 0');
+    });
+
     test(`rejects a group/world-writable ${unsafeAncestor} PATH ancestor`, () => {
       const f = fixture();
       const localBin = join(f.home, '.local', 'bin');
@@ -138,7 +178,7 @@ describe('canonical installer link', () => {
 
       expect(() =>
         prepareCanonicalInstallLink({ trustedHome: f.home, linkPath: f.link, targetPath: f.target }),
-      ).toThrow('safe permissions');
+      ).toThrow('writable');
       expect(existsSync(f.link)).toBe(false);
     });
   }
diff --git a/src/lib/install-link.ts b/src/lib/install-link.ts
index 07374d501..bf36711f3 100644
--- a/src/lib/install-link.ts
+++ b/src/lib/install-link.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,48 @@ function currentUid(): bigint {
   return BigInt(process.getuid());
 }
 
+function currentGid(): bigint {
+  if (process.getegid === undefined)
+    throw new CanonicalInstallLinkError('canonical link requires a POSIX group identity');
+  return BigInt(process.getegid());
+}
+
+/**
+ * Pure safety classifier for a parent directory of the canonical install link.
+ * Ownership contract: owned by the current uid, at least one hard link, never
+ * world-writable, and group-writable ONLY when the directory's group is the
+ * process's effective group — the Debian/Ubuntu user-private-group layout
+ * (umask 002 → `~/.local/bin` is 0775 <user>:<user>), which is as private as
+ * 0755. A group-writable directory owned by any other group stays rejected:
+ * unknown group members could swap the `genie` link.
+ */
+export function classifyOwnedDirectorySafety(
+  stat: Pick<BigIntStats, 'uid' | 'gid' | 'nlink' | 'mode'>,
+  identity: { uid: bigint; gid: bigint },
+): { ok: true } | { ok: false; reason: string; remedy: string } {
+  const mode = Number(stat.mode & 0o777n);
+  const octal = mode.toString(8).padStart(3, '0');
+  if (stat.uid !== identity.uid) {
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      reason: `is owned by uid ${stat.uid}, not the current user (uid ${identity.uid})`,
+      remedy: 'chown it to your user (it may have been created with sudo), then retry',
+    };
+  }
+  if (stat.nlink < 1n) return { ok: false, reason: 'has no hard links', remedy: 'recreate the directory, then retry' };
+  if ((mode & 0o002) !== 0) {
+    return { ok: false, reason: `is world-writable (mode ${octal})`, remedy: 'run: chmod o-w <path>, then retry' };
+  }
+  if ((mode & 0o020) !== 0 && stat.gid !== identity.gid) {
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      reason: `is writable by group ${stat.gid}, which is not your effective group (gid ${identity.gid}); mode ${octal}`,
+      remedy: 'run: chmod g-w <path>, then retry',
+    };
+  }
+  return { ok: true };
+}
+
 function fdReferencePath(fd: number): string {
   if (process.platform === 'linux') return `/proc/self/fd/${fd}`;
   if (process.platform === 'darwin') return `/dev/fd/${fd}`;
@@ -127,8 +169,9 @@ function assertSafeOwnedDirectoryStat(stat: BigIntStats, label: string): void {
   if (!stat.isDirectory() || stat.isSymbolicLink()) {
     throw new CanonicalInstallLinkError(`${label} is not a physical directory`);
   }
-  if (stat.uid !== currentUid() || stat.nlink < 1n || Number(stat.mode & 0o022n) !== 0) {
-    throw new CanonicalInstallLinkError(`${label} is not current-user-owned with safe permissions`);
+  const verdict = classifyOwnedDirectorySafety(stat, { uid: currentUid(), gid: currentGid() });
+  if (!verdict.ok) {
+    throw new CanonicalInstallLinkError(`${label} ${verdict.reason} — ${verdict.remedy.replace('<path>', label)}`);
   }
 }