diff --git a/scripts/ci/verify-installer.js b/scripts/ci/verify-installer.js
index 683e7d861..fe20502f7 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/verify-installer.js
+++ b/scripts/ci/verify-installer.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
-// Verifies the Windows NSIS installer: default safely observes an existing install (dir, an uninstaller that exists, shortcuts); --destructive runs install->verify->uninstall but refuses to clobber an existing install unless --force (clean machine / CI).
+// Verifies the Windows installer (Squirrel, per electron/package.json win.target): default safely observes an existing install (dir, an uninstaller that exists, shortcuts); --destructive runs install->verify->uninstall but refuses to clobber an existing install unless --force (clean machine / CI).
+// Squirrel conventions, same as smoke-windows-packaged.yml: the setup exe lands in dist\squirrel-windows\, installs per-user into %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenSwarm as a stub launcher beside a versioned app-<ver>\ folder, honours --silent (NOT /S, which opens a UI and waits for a click), and uninstalls through Update.exe --uninstall.
 
 'use strict';
 const fs = require('fs');
@@ -18,16 +19,31 @@ function parseArgs(argv) {
   return out;
 }
 
-const INSTALL_DIR = path.join(process.env.LOCALAPPDATA || '', 'Programs', 'OpenSwarm');
+const INSTALL_DIR = path.join(process.env.LOCALAPPDATA || '', 'OpenSwarm');
 const DATA_DIR = path.join(process.env.APPDATA || '', 'OpenSwarm');
 const failures = [];
 const ok = (m) => process.stdout.write(`  ok   ${m}\n`);
 const bad = (m) => { failures.push(m); process.stdout.write(`  FAIL ${m}\n`); };
 const exists = (p) => { try { fs.statSync(p); return true; } catch { return false; } }
 
+// electron-builder writes the Squirrel setup under dist\squirrel-windows\; the release flow copies a stable-named alias to dist\ root, so accept either.
 function defaultSetup() {
-  const p = path.join(h.REPO_ROOT, 'electron', 'dist', 'OpenSwarm-Setup-x64.exe');
-  return exists(p) ? p : null;
+  const dist = path.join(h.REPO_ROOT, 'electron', 'dist');
+  for (const p of [path.join(dist, 'squirrel-windows', 'OpenSwarm-Setup-x64.exe'), path.join(dist, 'OpenSwarm-Setup-x64.exe')]) {
+    if (exists(p)) return p;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+// The versioned exe (app-<ver>\OpenSwarm.exe) is the one that holds resources\ and is worth launching; the root OpenSwarm.exe is Squirrel's stub launcher.
+function installedAppExe() {
+  let dirs = [];
+  try { dirs = fs.readdirSync(INSTALL_DIR).filter((d) => /^app-/i.test(d)).sort().reverse(); } catch { return null; }
+  for (const d of dirs) {
+    const exe = path.join(INSTALL_DIR, d, 'OpenSwarm.exe');
+    if (exists(exe)) return exe;
+  }
+  return null;
 }
 
 // The shipped installer must be a real, complete PE (catch a 0-byte stub or truncated upload).
@@ -43,13 +59,14 @@ function checkSetupArtifact(setup) {
 
 function regUninstall() {
   try {
-    const ps = `$ErrorActionPreference='SilentlyContinue'; Get-ChildItem 'HKCU:\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall' | ForEach-Object { $p=Get-ItemProperty $_.PSPath; if ($p.DisplayName -like '*OpenSwarm*') { $p.DisplayName + '|' + $p.QuietUninstallString } }`;
+    const ps = `$ErrorActionPreference='SilentlyContinue'; Get-ChildItem 'HKCU:\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall' | ForEach-Object { $p=Get-ItemProperty $_.PSPath; if ($p.DisplayName -like '*OpenSwarm*') { $p.DisplayName + '|' + $p.QuietUninstallString + '|' + $p.UninstallString } }`;
     return execSync(`powershell -NoProfile -Command "${ps.replace(/"/g, '\\"')}"`, { encoding: 'utf8' }).trim();
   } catch { return ''; }
 }
 
+// Squirrel registers `"...\\Update.exe" --uninstall` (an NSIS build registered "Uninstall OpenSwarm.exe"); accept both.
 function uninstallerPathFromReg(reg) {
-  const m = reg.match(/"([^"]*Uninstall OpenSwarm\.exe)"/i) || reg.match(/([A-Za-z]:\\[^|]*Uninstall OpenSwarm\.exe)/i);
+  const m = reg.match(/"([^"]*(?:Update\.exe|Uninstall OpenSwarm\.exe))"/i) || reg.match(/([A-Za-z]:\\[^|"]*(?:Update\.exe|Uninstall OpenSwarm\.exe))/i);
   return m ? m[1] : null;
 }
 
@@ -70,8 +87,12 @@ function findShortcuts() {
 function assertInstalled() {
   if (!exists(INSTALL_DIR)) { bad(`install dir missing: ${INSTALL_DIR}`); return; }
   ok(`install dir present: ${INSTALL_DIR}`);
-  for (const f of ['OpenSwarm.exe', 'resources', 'locales']) {
-    if (exists(path.join(INSTALL_DIR, f))) ok(`contains ${f}`); else bad(`install dir missing ${f}`);
+  const appExe = installedAppExe();
+  if (!appExe) { bad(`no app-*\\OpenSwarm.exe under ${INSTALL_DIR}`); return; }
+  ok(`versioned app present: ${appExe}`);
+  const appDir = path.dirname(appExe);
+  for (const f of ['resources', 'locales']) {
+    if (exists(path.join(appDir, f))) ok(`contains ${f}`); else bad(`app dir missing ${f}`);
   }
   const reg = regUninstall();
   if (!/OpenSwarm/i.test(reg)) bad('no OpenSwarm uninstall entry in HKCU registry');
@@ -99,25 +120,25 @@ function runDestructive(setup) {
   }
   process.stdout.write('\n[destructive] installing silently...\n');
   killRunning();
-  const installedExe = path.join(INSTALL_DIR, 'OpenSwarm.exe');
-  // Blocking: spawnSync returns only once the installer has fully finished
-  // (files + registry uninstall entry + shortcuts are all written, the last of
-  // which assertInstalled checks). The timeout is the safety net: the silent
-  // path now skips the unbounded --prewarm step (see installer-recovery.nsh), so
-  // a clean extract finishes well inside this, but if a future installer change
-  // reintroduces a synchronous stall this fails the gate in minutes instead of
-  // hanging the whole job until it is force-cancelled.
-  const inst = spawnSync(setup, ['/S'], { stdio: 'inherit', timeout: 300000 });
-  if (inst.error) bad(`Setup.exe /S did not complete: ${inst.error.message}`);
-  else if (inst.status !== 0 && inst.status !== null) bad(`Setup.exe /S exited ${inst.status}`);
-  // oneClick installer can return microseconds before the exe handle settles.
+  // Blocking: spawnSync returns only once the installer has fully finished (files + registry
+  // uninstall entry + shortcuts are all written, the last of which assertInstalled checks). The
+  // timeout is the safety net: a wrong switch makes Squirrel open a UI and wait forever, which
+  // looks like a hang, so fail in minutes with the Squirrel log instead of eating the whole job.
+  const inst = spawnSync(setup, ['--silent'], { stdio: 'inherit', timeout: 600000 });
+  if (inst.error) {
+    bad(`Setup.exe --silent did not complete: ${inst.error.message}`);
+    const log = path.join(process.env.LOCALAPPDATA || '', 'SquirrelTemp', 'SquirrelSetup.log');
+    if (exists(log)) process.stdout.write(`--- SquirrelSetup.log (tail) ---\n${fs.readFileSync(log, 'utf8').split(/\r?\n/).slice(-60).join('\n')}\n`);
+  } else if (inst.status !== 0 && inst.status !== null) bad(`Setup.exe --silent exited ${inst.status}`);
+  // The installer can return microseconds before the versioned exe handle settles.
   const deadline = Date.now() + 30000;
-  while (Date.now() < deadline && !exists(installedExe)) { execSync('powershell -NoProfile -Command "Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 1000"'); }
-  killRunning();   // defensive: ensure nothing the installer launched is holding the dir
+  while (Date.now() < deadline && !installedAppExe()) { execSync('powershell -NoProfile -Command "Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 1000"'); }
+  killRunning();   // defensive: Squirrel launches the app after install; nothing may hold the dir
   assertInstalled();
 
-  // Launch the INSTALLED exe through the full gate (boot/serve/provenance/etc.).
-  if (exists(installedExe)) {
+  // Launch the INSTALLED (versioned) exe through the full gate (boot/serve/provenance/etc.).
+  const installedExe = installedAppExe();
+  if (installedExe) {
     process.stdout.write('\n[destructive] verifying the INSTALLED app...\n');
     const v = spawnSync(process.execPath, [path.join(__dirname, 'verify-all.js'), '--app', installedExe], { stdio: 'inherit' });
     if (v.status !== 0) bad('verify-all against the installed app failed');
@@ -127,11 +148,14 @@ function runDestructive(setup) {
   killRunning();
   const reg = regUninstall();
   const up = uninstallerPathFromReg(reg);
-  if (up && exists(up)) { const un = spawnSync(up, ['/currentuser', '/S'], { stdio: 'inherit' }); if (un.status) bad(`uninstaller exited ${un.status}`); }
-  else bad('could not find the uninstaller to run');
+  if (up && exists(up)) {
+    const args = /Update\.exe$/i.test(up) ? ['--uninstall'] : ['/currentuser', '/S'];
+    const un = spawnSync(up, args, { stdio: 'inherit', timeout: 300000 });
+    if (un.status) bad(`uninstaller exited ${un.status}`);
+  } else bad('could not find the uninstaller to run');
   const delDeadline = Date.now() + 60000;
-  while (Date.now() < delDeadline && exists(path.join(INSTALL_DIR, 'OpenSwarm.exe'))) { execSync('powershell -NoProfile -Command "Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 1000"'); }
-  if (exists(path.join(INSTALL_DIR, 'OpenSwarm.exe'))) bad('uninstall left OpenSwarm.exe behind');
+  while (Date.now() < delDeadline && installedAppExe()) { execSync('powershell -NoProfile -Command "Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 1000"'); }
+  if (installedAppExe()) bad('uninstall left a versioned app folder behind');
   else ok('uninstall removed the app');
   // deleteAppDataOnUninstall:false - user data MUST survive an uninstall.
   if (exists(DATA_DIR)) ok(`user data preserved across uninstall: ${DATA_DIR}`);
@@ -140,7 +164,7 @@ function runDestructive(setup) {
 
 function main() {
   const args = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2));
-  if (process.platform !== 'win32') { process.stdout.write('SKIP: NSIS installer check is Windows-only.\n'); process.exit(0); }
+  if (process.platform !== 'win32') { process.stdout.write('SKIP: Windows installer check is Windows-only.\n'); process.exit(0); }
   const setup = args.setup || defaultSetup();
   if (!setup) { process.stderr.write('INSTALLER FAIL: no Setup.exe found; build first or pass --setup.\n'); process.exit(1); }