diff --git a/cf-apps/circuitforge-core.manifest b/cf-apps/circuitforge-core.manifest
index a7d2862..23e9428 100644
--- a/cf-apps/circuitforge-core.manifest
+++ b/cf-apps/circuitforge-core.manifest
@@ -13,8 +13,11 @@ app_needs_core=false
 
 app_setup_bare_metal() {
   local dir="$1"
-  run "conda run -n ${app_conda_env} pip install -e \"${dir}\""
-  if [[ $dry_run != true ]]; then
+  if [[ $dry_run == true ]]; then
+    boxline "DryRun: conda run -n ${app_conda_env} pip install -e ${dir}"
+  else
+    # run() re-splits its argument as a bare string with no eval, which
+    # mangles the quoted path - execute directly instead.
     conda run -n "${app_conda_env}" pip install -e "${dir}"
   fi
 }
diff --git a/cf-apps/kiwi.manifest b/cf-apps/kiwi.manifest
index 6198010..35846f4 100644
--- a/cf-apps/kiwi.manifest
+++ b/cf-apps/kiwi.manifest
@@ -24,8 +24,11 @@ app_setup_docker() {
 # the docs for the LLM backend choice rather than guessing one.
 app_setup_bare_metal() {
   local dir="$1"
-  run "conda env create -f \"${dir}/environment.yml\" -n \"${app_conda_env}\""
-  if [[ $dry_run != true ]]; then
+  if [[ $dry_run == true ]]; then
+    boxline "DryRun: conda env create -f ${dir}/environment.yml -n ${app_conda_env}"
+  else
+    # run() re-splits its argument as a bare string with no eval, which
+    # mangles the quoted paths - execute directly instead.
     conda env create -f "${dir}/environment.yml" -n "${app_conda_env}"
   fi
   boxline "${app_name}: conda env '${app_conda_env}' created. See docs/getting-started/installation.md and llm-setup.md for the remaining BYOK LLM backend setup (Ollama/vLLM/OpenAI/Anthropic)."
diff --git a/lib/cf-apps.functions b/lib/cf-apps.functions
index 150d2b1..d43c0eb 100644
--- a/lib/cf-apps.functions
+++ b/lib/cf-apps.functions
@@ -181,13 +181,15 @@ install-cf-app() {
   local clone_dir="${apps_base_dir}/${app_name}"
   if [ -d "$clone_dir" ]; then
     warn "${clone_dir} already exists, skipping clone (will not overwrite)"
+  elif [[ $dry_run == true ]]; then
+    boxline "DryRun: git clone --recurse-submodules ${repo_url} ${clone_dir}"
   else
+    # run() re-splits its argument as a bare string with no eval, which
+    # mangles anything with embedded quotes (URLs/paths) - execute directly
+    # instead, gated on $dry_run above rather than double-executing via run().
     boxline "Cloning ${app_name} from ${repo_url}"
-    run "git clone --recurse-submodules \"${repo_url}\" \"${clone_dir}\""
-    if [[ $dry_run != true ]]; then
-      mkdir -p "$apps_base_dir"
-      git clone --recurse-submodules "$repo_url" "$clone_dir"
-    fi
+    mkdir -p "$apps_base_dir"
+    git clone --recurse-submodules "$repo_url" "$clone_dir"
   fi
 
   if [ -n "$app_env_template" ] && [ -f "${clone_dir}/${app_env_template}" ] && [ ! -f "${clone_dir}/.env" ]; then
@@ -260,13 +262,13 @@ provision-orchard-node() {
 
   if [ -d "$clone_dir" ]; then
     warn "${clone_dir} already exists, skipping clone (will not overwrite)"
+  elif [[ $dry_run == true ]]; then
+    boxline "DryRun: git clone ${repo_url} ${clone_dir}"
   else
+    # See install-cf-app for why this doesn't route through run().
     boxline "Cloning circuitforge-orch from Forgejo"
-    run "git clone \"${repo_url}\" \"${clone_dir}\""
-    if [[ $dry_run != true ]]; then
-      mkdir -p "$apps_base_dir"
-      git clone "$repo_url" "$clone_dir"
-    fi
+    mkdir -p "$apps_base_dir"
+    git clone "$repo_url" "$clone_dir"
   fi
 
   boxline "Handing off to circuitforge-orch's own install.sh..."