diff --git a/.changeset/fix-server-crash-and-cred-path.md b/.changeset/fix-server-crash-and-cred-path.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3242e42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fix-server-crash-and-cred-path.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@enbox/gitd": patch
+---
+
+Fix daemon crash when cloning nonexistent repos (process.exit in server context) and resolve credential helper by absolute path so push auth works without PATH setup.
diff --git a/src/cli/repo-context.ts b/src/cli/repo-context.ts
index d8af075..e43731f 100644
--- a/src/cli/repo-context.ts
+++ b/src/cli/repo-context.ts
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ export async function getRepoContext(
     });
 
     if (records.length === 0) {
-      console.error(`Repository "${repoName}" not found. Run \`gitd init ${repoName}\` first.`);
-      process.exit(1);
+      throw new Error(`Repository "${repoName}" not found. Run \`gitd init ${repoName}\` first.`);
     }
 
     return extractContext(records[0], repoName);
@@ -54,13 +53,11 @@ export async function getRepoContext(
   const { records } = await ctx.repo.records.query('repo');
 
   if (records.length === 0) {
-    console.error('No repository found. Run `gitd init <name>` first.');
-    process.exit(1);
+    throw new Error('No repository found. Run `gitd init <name>` first.');
   }
 
   if (records.length > 1) {
-    console.error('Multiple repositories exist. Specify one with --repo <name>, GITD_REPO env, or `git config enbox.repo <name>`.');
-    process.exit(1);
+    throw new Error('Multiple repositories exist. Specify one with --repo <name>, GITD_REPO env, or `git config enbox.repo <name>`.');
   }
 
   const data = await records[0].data.json();
@@ -85,8 +82,7 @@ export async function getRepoContextId(
 function extractContext(record: any, name: string): RepoContext {
   const contextId = record.contextId;
   if (!contextId) {
-    console.error('Repository record has no contextId — this should not happen.');
-    process.exit(1);
+    throw new Error('Repository record has no contextId — this should not happen.');
   }
 
   const visibility = (record.tags?.visibility as 'public' | 'private') ?? 'public';
diff --git a/src/git-remote/main.ts b/src/git-remote/main.ts
index 2aded30..46d62cc 100644
--- a/src/git-remote/main.ts
+++ b/src/git-remote/main.ts
@@ -20,11 +20,19 @@
  * @module
  */
 
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { resolve } from 'node:path';
 import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
 
 import { parseDidUrl } from './parse-url.js';
 import { resolveGitEndpoint } from './resolve.js';
 
+/** Resolve the absolute path to the credential helper binary (sibling file). */
+function resolveCredentialHelper(): string {
+  const thisFile = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
+  return resolve(thisFile, '..', 'credential-main.js');
+}
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Main
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -67,8 +75,12 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
     ? 'remote-https'
     : 'remote-http';
 
+  // The credential helper is a sibling .js file with a bun shebang.
+  // Use git's `!<command>` syntax to invoke it via bun, which avoids
+  // needing the file to be +x or on PATH.
+  const credHelper = resolveCredentialHelper();
   const child = spawn('git', [
-    '-c', 'credential.helper=git-remote-did-credential',
+    '-c', `credential.helper=!bun '${credHelper}'`,
     '-c', 'credential.useHttpPath=true',
     helper, remoteName, endpoint.url,
   ], {