diff --git a/apps/server/src/providers/cursor-provider.ts b/apps/server/src/providers/cursor-provider.ts
index 37535dce..14effe8e 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/providers/cursor-provider.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/providers/cursor-provider.ts
@@ -114,24 +114,30 @@ export class CursorProvider extends CliProvider {
     };
   }
 
-  buildCliArgs(options: ExecuteOptions): string[] {
-    // Extract model (strip 'cursor-' prefix if present)
-    const model = stripProviderPrefix(options.model || 'auto');
-
-    // Build prompt content
-    let promptText: string;
+  /**
+   * Extract prompt text from ExecuteOptions
+   * Used to pass prompt via stdin instead of CLI args to avoid shell escaping issues
+   */
+  private extractPromptText(options: ExecuteOptions): string {
     if (typeof options.prompt === 'string') {
-      promptText = options.prompt;
+      return options.prompt;
     } else if (Array.isArray(options.prompt)) {
-      promptText = options.prompt
+      return options.prompt
         .filter((p) => p.type === 'text' && p.text)
         .map((p) => p.text)
         .join('\n');
     } else {
       throw new Error('Invalid prompt format');
     }
+  }
+
+  buildCliArgs(options: ExecuteOptions): string[] {
+    // Extract model (strip 'cursor-' prefix if present)
+    const model = stripProviderPrefix(options.model || 'auto');
 
     // Build CLI arguments for cursor-agent
+    // NOTE: Prompt is NOT included here - it's passed via stdin to avoid
+    // shell escaping issues when content contains $(), backticks, etc.
     const cliArgs: string[] = [
       '-p', // Print mode (non-interactive)
       '--force', // Allow file modifications
@@ -145,8 +151,8 @@ export class CursorProvider extends CliProvider {
       cliArgs.push('--model', model);
     }
 
-    // Add the prompt
-    cliArgs.push(promptText);
+    // Use '-' to indicate reading prompt from stdin
+    cliArgs.push('-');
 
     return cliArgs;
   }
@@ -439,9 +445,16 @@ export class CursorProvider extends CliProvider {
       );
     }
 
+    // Extract prompt text to pass via stdin (avoids shell escaping issues)
+    const promptText = this.extractPromptText(options);
+
     const cliArgs = this.buildCliArgs(options);
     const subprocessOptions = this.buildSubprocessOptions(options, cliArgs);
 
+    // Pass prompt via stdin to avoid shell interpretation of special characters
+    // like $(), backticks, etc. that may appear in file content
+    subprocessOptions.stdinData = promptText;
+
     let sessionId: string | undefined;
 
     // Dedup state for Cursor-specific text block handling
diff --git a/libs/platform/src/subprocess.ts b/libs/platform/src/subprocess.ts
index 4c5afcb0..011d8a62 100644
--- a/libs/platform/src/subprocess.ts
+++ b/libs/platform/src/subprocess.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@ export interface SubprocessOptions {
   env?: Record<string, string>;
   abortController?: AbortController;
   timeout?: number; // Milliseconds of no output before timeout
+  /**
+   * Data to write to stdin after process spawns.
+   * Use this for passing prompts/content that may contain shell metacharacters.
+   * Avoids shell interpretation issues when passing data as CLI arguments.
+   */
+  stdinData?: string;
 }
 
 export interface SubprocessResult {
@@ -24,22 +30,33 @@ export interface SubprocessResult {
  * Spawns a subprocess and streams JSONL output line-by-line
  */
 export async function* spawnJSONLProcess(options: SubprocessOptions): AsyncGenerator<unknown> {
-  const { command, args, cwd, env, abortController, timeout = 30000 } = options;
+  const { command, args, cwd, env, abortController, timeout = 30000, stdinData } = options;
 
   const processEnv = {
     ...process.env,
     ...env,
   };
 
-  console.log(`[SubprocessManager] Spawning: ${command} ${args.slice(0, -1).join(' ')}`);
+  // Log command without stdin data (which may be large/sensitive)
+  console.log(`[SubprocessManager] Spawning: ${command} ${args.join(' ')}`);
   console.log(`[SubprocessManager] Working directory: ${cwd}`);
+  if (stdinData) {
+    console.log(`[SubprocessManager] Passing ${stdinData.length} bytes via stdin`);
+  }
 
   const childProcess: ChildProcess = spawn(command, args, {
     cwd,
     env: processEnv,
-    stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+    // Use 'pipe' for stdin when we need to write data, otherwise 'ignore'
+    stdio: [stdinData ? 'pipe' : 'ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
   });
 
+  // Write stdin data if provided
+  if (stdinData && childProcess.stdin) {
+    childProcess.stdin.write(stdinData);
+    childProcess.stdin.end();
+  }
+
   let stderrOutput = '';
   let lastOutputTime = Date.now();
   let timeoutHandle: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null;