diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/gooseServe.ts b/ui/desktop/src/gooseServe.ts
index 4deb00d8f..cf9eac255 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/gooseServe.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/gooseServe.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ export interface StartGooseServeOptions extends FindGooseBinaryOptions {
   serverSecret: string;
   tls?: boolean;
   env?: Record<string, string | undefined>;
+  /** PATH from the user's login shell, appended so goosed can find CLI providers. */
+  loginShellPath?: string | null;
   logger?: Logger;
   diagnosticsDir?: string;
   readinessFetch?: ReadinessFetch;
@@ -288,7 +290,8 @@ const withStartupDiagnosticsPath = (
 const buildGooseServeEnv = (
   serverSecret: string,
   binaryPath: string,
-  additionalEnv: Record<string, string | undefined>
+  additionalEnv: Record<string, string | undefined>,
+  loginShellPath?: string | null
 ): Record<string, string | undefined> => {
   const homeDir = process.env.HOME || os.homedir();
   const pathKey = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'Path' : 'PATH';
@@ -297,7 +300,9 @@ const buildGooseServeEnv = (
   const env: Record<string, string | undefined> = {
     ...process.env,
     HOME: homeDir,
-    [pathKey]: `${path.dirname(binaryPath)}${path.delimiter}${currentPath}`,
+    [pathKey]: [path.dirname(binaryPath), currentPath, loginShellPath]
+      .filter(Boolean)
+      .join(path.delimiter),
   };
 
   if (process.platform === 'win32') {
@@ -322,6 +327,7 @@ export const startGooseServe = async ({
   serverSecret,
   tls = false,
   env: additionalEnv = {},
+  loginShellPath,
   isPackaged,
   resourcesPath,
   logger = defaultLogger,
@@ -385,7 +391,7 @@ export const startGooseServe = async ({
   }
 
   const spawnOptions = {
-    env: buildGooseServeEnv(secretKey, goosePath, additionalEnv),
+    env: buildGooseServeEnv(secretKey, goosePath, additionalEnv, loginShellPath),
     cwd: workingDir,
     windowsHide: true,
     shell: false as const,
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/loginShellPath.ts b/ui/desktop/src/loginShellPath.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8869c1edb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/loginShellPath.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { spawn } from 'child_process';
+
+import type { Logger } from './gooseServe';
+
+const RESOLVE_TIMEOUT_MS = 5000;
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the user's full PATH by running their login shell (bash/zsh).
+ *
+ * The desktop app launched from Finder/Dock inherits a minimal PATH from
+ * launchd, so goosed can't find CLI-backed providers (claude, etc.). Sourcing
+ * the user's profile via a login+interactive shell recovers the real PATH.
+ * Doing this here rather than in goosed keeps the plain `goose` CLI on the
+ * ambient PATH. Returns null on non-macOS platforms, timeout, or any failure.
+ */
+const resolveLoginShellPath = (logger?: Logger): Promise<string | null> => {
+  if (process.platform !== 'darwin') {
+    return Promise.resolve(null);
+  }
+
+  const shell = process.env.SHELL || 'bash';
+
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    // detached: a new session keeps the interactive shell's job-control setup
+    // from stealing the terminal foreground and suspending the app.
+    // Use `printenv PATH` instead of `echo $PATH` so the command is
+    // shell-neutral: fish treats $PATH as a list and space-joins it under
+    // `echo`, which would corrupt the resolved PATH for fish users.
+    const child = spawn(shell, ['-l', '-i', '-c', 'printenv PATH'], {
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'],
+      detached: true,
+      windowsHide: true,
+    });
+
+    const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+      child.kill();
+      resolve(null);
+    }, RESOLVE_TIMEOUT_MS);
+    timer.unref?.();
+
+    let stdout = '';
+    child.stdout?.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => {
+      stdout += chunk.toString('utf8');
+    });
+    child.on('error', (error) => {
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      logger?.error('Failed to resolve login shell PATH', error);
+      resolve(null);
+    });
+    child.on('close', (code) => {
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      const path = stdout.trim().split('\n').pop()?.trim();
+      resolve(code === 0 && path ? path : null);
+    });
+  });
+};
+
+let cached: Promise<string | null> | undefined;
+
+/** Resolve the login-shell PATH once per app run, caching the result. */
+export const getLoginShellPath = (logger?: Logger): Promise<string | null> => {
+  cached ??= resolveLoginShellPath(logger);
+  return cached;
+};
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/main.ts b/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
index 7f27448e3..daff13e85 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import { execFileSync, spawn, execFile } from 'child_process';
 import 'dotenv/config';
 import { checkBackendStatus } from './backendStatus';
 import { startGooseServe } from './gooseServe';
+import { getLoginShellPath } from './loginShellPath';
 import { GooseServeLeaseRegistry, type GooseServeLease } from './gooseServeLeaseRegistry';
 import { acpWebSocketUrlFromHttpBase, normalizeAcpHttpBaseUrl } from './acp/url';
 import { expandTilde, sanitizeGoosePathRoot } from './utils/pathUtils';
@@ -1155,6 +1156,8 @@ const createChat = async (
   } else {
     const localCertificateTrust = trustBackendCertificate('127.0.0.1', null);
 
+    const loginShellPath = await getLoginShellPath(log);
+
     let gooseServeResult: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof startGooseServe>>;
     try {
       gooseServeResult = await startGooseServe({
@@ -1164,6 +1167,7 @@ const createChat = async (
         env: {
           GOOSE_PATH_ROOT: appConfig.GOOSE_PATH_ROOT as string | undefined,
         },
+        loginShellPath,
         isPackaged: app.isPackaged,
         resourcesPath: app.isPackaged ? process.resourcesPath : undefined,
         logger: log,