diff --git a/eslint.config.mjs b/eslint.config.mjs
index bb1a72f74..58d5b8f27 100644
--- a/eslint.config.mjs
+++ b/eslint.config.mjs
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import reactHooks from "eslint-plugin-react-hooks";
 import tseslint from "typescript-eslint";
 
 /**
- * Custom ESLint plugin for zombie process prevention
- * Enforces safe child_process patterns
+ * Custom ESLint plugin for safe Node.js patterns
+ * Enforces safe child_process and filesystem patterns
  */
 const localPlugin = {
   rules: {
@@ -41,6 +41,67 @@ const localPlugin = {
         };
       },
     },
+    "no-sync-fs-methods": {
+      meta: {
+        type: "problem",
+        docs: {
+          description: "Prevent synchronous filesystem operations",
+        },
+        messages: {
+          syncFsMethod:
+            "Do not use synchronous fs methods ({{method}}). Use async version instead: {{asyncMethod}}",
+        },
+      },
+      create(context) {
+        // Map of sync methods to their async equivalents
+        const syncMethods = {
+          statSync: "stat",
+          readFileSync: "readFile",
+          writeFileSync: "writeFile",
+          readdirSync: "readdir",
+          mkdirSync: "mkdir",
+          unlinkSync: "unlink",
+          rmdirSync: "rmdir",
+          existsSync: "access or stat",
+          accessSync: "access",
+          copyFileSync: "copyFile",
+          renameSync: "rename",
+          chmodSync: "chmod",
+          chownSync: "chown",
+          lstatSync: "lstat",
+          linkSync: "link",
+          symlinkSync: "symlink",
+          readlinkSync: "readlink",
+          realpathSync: "realpath",
+          truncateSync: "truncate",
+          fstatSync: "fstat",
+          appendFileSync: "appendFile",
+        };
+
+        return {
+          MemberExpression(node) {
+            // Only flag if it's a property access on 'fs' or imported fs methods
+            if (
+              node.property &&
+              node.property.type === "Identifier" &&
+              syncMethods[node.property.name] &&
+              node.object &&
+              node.object.type === "Identifier" &&
+              (node.object.name === "fs" || node.object.name === "fsPromises")
+            ) {
+              context.report({
+                node,
+                messageId: "syncFsMethod",
+                data: {
+                  method: node.property.name,
+                  asyncMethod: syncMethods[node.property.name],
+                },
+              });
+            }
+          },
+        };
+      },
+    },
   },
 };
 
@@ -178,8 +239,9 @@ export default defineConfig([
       "react/react-in-jsx-scope": "off",
       "react/prop-types": "off",
 
-      // Zombie process prevention
+      // Safe Node.js patterns
       "local/no-unsafe-child-process": "error",
+      "local/no-sync-fs-methods": "error",
 
       // Allow console for this app (it's a dev tool)
       "no-console": "off",
@@ -259,6 +321,26 @@ export default defineConfig([
       "no-restricted-syntax": "off",
     },
   },
+  {
+    // Temporarily allow sync fs methods in files with existing usage
+    // TODO: Gradually migrate these to async operations
+    files: [
+      "src/config.ts",
+      "src/debug/**/*.ts",
+      "src/git.ts",
+      "src/main.ts",
+      "src/services/gitService.ts",
+      "src/services/log.ts",
+      "src/services/streamManager.ts",
+      "src/services/tempDir.ts",
+      "src/services/tools/bash.ts",
+      "src/services/tools/bash.test.ts",
+      "src/services/tools/testHelpers.ts",
+    ],
+    rules: {
+      "local/no-sync-fs-methods": "off",
+    },
+  },
   {
     // Frontend architectural boundary - prevent services and tokenizer imports
     files: ["src/components/**", "src/contexts/**", "src/hooks/**", "src/App.tsx"],
diff --git a/src/services/ipcMain.ts b/src/services/ipcMain.ts
index ce2115f5d..a9d70d887 100644
--- a/src/services/ipcMain.ts
+++ b/src/services/ipcMain.ts
@@ -652,11 +652,11 @@ export class IpcMain {
       }
     );
 
-    ipcMain.handle(IPC_CHANNELS.WORKSPACE_OPEN_TERMINAL, (_event, workspacePath: string) => {
+    ipcMain.handle(IPC_CHANNELS.WORKSPACE_OPEN_TERMINAL, async (_event, workspacePath: string) => {
       try {
         if (process.platform === "darwin") {
           // macOS - try Ghostty first, fallback to Terminal.app
-          const terminal = this.findAvailableCommand(["ghostty", "terminal"]);
+          const terminal = await this.findAvailableCommand(["ghostty", "terminal"]);
           if (terminal === "ghostty") {
             const child = spawn("open", ["-a", "Ghostty", workspacePath], {
               detached: true,
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ export class IpcMain {
             { cmd: "xterm", args: [], cwd: workspacePath },
           ];
 
-          const availableTerminal = terminals.find((t) => this.isCommandAvailable(t.cmd));
+          const availableTerminal = await this.findAvailableTerminal(terminals);
 
           if (availableTerminal) {
             const child = spawn(availableTerminal.cmd, availableTerminal.args, {
@@ -1036,9 +1036,31 @@ export class IpcMain {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Check if a command is available in the system PATH
+   * Check if a command is available in the system PATH or known locations
    */
-  private isCommandAvailable(command: string): boolean {
+  private async isCommandAvailable(command: string): Promise<boolean> {
+    // Special handling for ghostty on macOS - check common installation paths
+    if (command === "ghostty" && process.platform === "darwin") {
+      const ghosttyPaths = [
+        "/opt/homebrew/bin/ghostty",
+        "/Applications/Ghostty.app/Contents/MacOS/ghostty",
+        "/usr/local/bin/ghostty",
+      ];
+
+      for (const ghosttyPath of ghosttyPaths) {
+        try {
+          const stats = await fsPromises.stat(ghosttyPath);
+          // Check if it's a file and any executable bit is set (owner, group, or other)
+          if (stats.isFile() && (stats.mode & 0o111) !== 0) {
+            return true;
+          }
+        } catch {
+          // Try next path
+        }
+      }
+      // If none of the known paths work, fall through to which check
+    }
+
     try {
       const result = spawnSync("which", [command], { encoding: "utf8" });
       return result.status === 0;
@@ -1050,7 +1072,26 @@ export class IpcMain {
   /**
    * Find the first available command from a list of commands
    */
-  private findAvailableCommand(commands: string[]): string | null {
-    return commands.find((cmd) => this.isCommandAvailable(cmd)) ?? null;
+  private async findAvailableCommand(commands: string[]): Promise<string | null> {
+    for (const cmd of commands) {
+      if (await this.isCommandAvailable(cmd)) {
+        return cmd;
+      }
+    }
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Find the first available terminal from a list of terminal configurations
+   */
+  private async findAvailableTerminal(
+    terminals: Array<{ cmd: string; args: string[]; cwd?: string }>
+  ): Promise<{ cmd: string; args: string[]; cwd?: string } | null> {
+    for (const terminal of terminals) {
+      if (await this.isCommandAvailable(terminal.cmd)) {
+        return terminal;
+      }
+    }
+    return null;
   }
 }