diff --git a/plugins/orchestrator/dist/server.js b/plugins/orchestrator/dist/server.js
index 6b6141f..a238a58 100644
--- a/plugins/orchestrator/dist/server.js
+++ b/plugins/orchestrator/dist/server.js
@@ -24819,7 +24819,7 @@ server.tool("system_status", "Check the health of the orchestrator system: embed
   const lines = [];
   lines.push("## System Status");
   lines.push("");
-  lines.push(`- **Version**: orchestrator MCP server **0.30.28** (pid ${process.pid})`);
+  lines.push(`- **Version**: orchestrator MCP server **${PLUGIN_VERSION}** (pid ${process.pid})`);
   if (agentChannel) {
     lines.push(`- **Agent-channel**: ACTIVE - filewatcher running`);
   } else {
@@ -26044,7 +26044,7 @@ function startAgentChannel() {
 `);
     return;
   }
-  const projectHash = projectDir.replace(/[\\/:]/g, "-").replace(/^-+/, "");
+  const projectHash = projectDir.replace(/[\\/:]/g, "-");
   const projectsHashDir = join5(homedir2(), ".claude", "projects", projectHash);
   const roleEnv = process.env.ORCHESTRATOR_AGENT_ROLE ?? process.env.SPAWNBOX_AGENT_ROLE;
   const role = roleEnv === "prime" ? "prime" : "subordinate";
diff --git a/plugins/orchestrator/mcp/server.ts b/plugins/orchestrator/mcp/server.ts
index 85eed16..da238de 100644
--- a/plugins/orchestrator/mcp/server.ts
+++ b/plugins/orchestrator/mcp/server.ts
@@ -652,7 +652,7 @@ server.tool(
     const lines: string[] = [];
     lines.push("## System Status");
     lines.push("");
-    lines.push(`- **Version**: orchestrator MCP server **0.30.28** (pid ${process.pid})`);
+    lines.push(`- **Version**: orchestrator MCP server **${PLUGIN_VERSION}** (pid ${process.pid})`);
     if (agentChannel) {
       lines.push(`- **Agent-channel**: ACTIVE - filewatcher running`);
     } else {
@@ -2180,8 +2180,11 @@ function startAgentChannel(): void {
 
   // Project hash dir under ~/.claude/projects/. Hash mirrors how Claude Code
   // names the per-project directory: replace path separators + drive colons
-  // with hyphens, leading hyphens trimmed.
-  const projectHash = projectDir.replace(/[\\/:]/g, "-").replace(/^-+/, "");
+  // with hyphens. Leading hyphens are preserved — CC retains the leading
+  // dash that comes from a leading slash on POSIX absolute paths (e.g.
+  // /home/foo -> -home-foo). Stripping them caused a silent path mismatch
+  // and broke the JSONL filewatcher entirely (see anti_pattern 6dfc7ae1).
+  const projectHash = projectDir.replace(/[\\/:]/g, "-");
   const projectsHashDir = join(homedir(), ".claude", "projects", projectHash);
 
   // Role/name env vars: ORCHESTRATOR_AGENT_* is the canonical form (set by