diff --git a/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.test.ts b/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.test.ts
index 392885b640c1..596fe095b1ff 100644
--- a/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 import { assert, describe, it } from "@effect/vitest";
+import { afterAll } from "vite-plus/test";
+// @effect-diagnostics-next-line nodeBuiltinImport:off - the executed suite runs the generated launch script through a real POSIX shell.
+import * as NodeChildProcess from "node:child_process";
 import * as NodeServices from "@effect/platform-node/NodeServices";
 import * as NetService from "@t3tools/shared/Net";
 import * as Duration from "effect/Duration";
@@ -447,3 +450,114 @@ describe("ssh tunnel scripts", () => {
     }).pipe(Effect.provide(layer), Effect.scoped);
   });
 });
+
+// The launch script's failure diagnostic only misbehaves when a real shell runs
+// the failure branch against a log left over from a previous run, so the suite
+// below executes the real generated script. Find a shell that has the tools it
+// needs; anywhere else the executed suite skips.
+const REQUIRED_SHELL_TOOLS = ["nohup", "mktemp", "cmp", "tail"] as const;
+
+const posixShellRunner = (() => {
+  // Candidates rather than a platform switch: wsl.exe simply fails to spawn
+  // where it does not exist, which is the same answer as a missing tool.
+  const candidates = [
+    { file: "bash", args: [] as ReadonlyArray<string> },
+    { file: "wsl.exe", args: ["-e", "bash"] as ReadonlyArray<string> },
+  ];
+  const probe = REQUIRED_SHELL_TOOLS.map((tool) => `command -v ${tool} >/dev/null || exit 1`).join(
+    "\n",
+  );
+  return (
+    candidates.find((candidate) => {
+      const result = NodeChildProcess.spawnSync(candidate.file, [...candidate.args, "-c", probe], {
+        encoding: "utf8",
+      });
+      return result.status === 0;
+    }) ?? null
+  );
+})();
+
+const runShell = (script: string, args: ReadonlyArray<string> = []) => {
+  if (posixShellRunner === null) throw new Error("no POSIX shell runner available");
+  // The launch script arrives on stdin with the state key as $1 in production too.
+  const result = NodeChildProcess.spawnSync(
+    posixShellRunner.file,
+    [...posixShellRunner.args, "-s", "--", ...args],
+    { input: script, encoding: "utf8" },
+  );
+  return { status: result.status, stdout: result.stdout ?? "", stderr: result.stderr ?? "" };
+};
+
+const sh = (value: string) => `'${value.replaceAll("'", "'\\''")}'`;
+
+// Reading the generated script proves what it says, not what it does. An
+// append-mode launch satisfied every text assertion and still blamed a silent
+// server's failure on the previous run's log, because [ -s "$LOG_FILE" ] stayed
+// true forever once any run had logged. So run the real script in a throwaway
+// HOME seeded with a stale log, with a fake `node` that picks a port, fails
+// readiness immediately, and lets the runner exit without writing a byte.
+describe.skipIf(posixShellRunner === null)("remote launch script (executed)", () => {
+  const fixtures: Array<string> = [];
+
+  afterAll(() => {
+    for (const work of fixtures) runShell(`set -eu\nrm -rf ${sh(work)}`);
+    fixtures.length = 0;
+  });
+
+  it("reports a silent launch instead of tailing the previous run's log", () => {
+    const setup = runShell(
+      [
+        "set -eu",
+        "work=$(mktemp -d)",
+        'mkdir -p "$work/bin" "$work/home/.t3/ssh-launch/launch-test"',
+        // One fake node serves the launch script's three contracts, told apart
+        // by argv: `node - <state>/port ...` picks a port, `node - <runtime
+        // file>` finds no external server, `node - <ms> ...` probes readiness,
+        // and `node <script> serve ...` is the runner, which must exit silently.
+        'cat > "$work/bin/node" <<\'T3_FAKE_NODE\'',
+        "#!/bin/sh",
+        'case "${2-}" in',
+        "  */server-runtime.json) exit 1 ;;",
+        "  */port) printf '43117'; exit 0 ;;",
+        "esac",
+        '[ "${1-}" = "-" ] && exit 1',
+        "exit 0",
+        "T3_FAKE_NODE",
+        'chmod 700 "$work/bin/node"',
+        "printf 'STALE_PREVIOUS_RUN\\n' > \"$work/home/.t3/ssh-launch/launch-test/server.log\"",
+        "printf 'work:%s\\n' \"$work\"",
+      ].join("\n"),
+    );
+    assert.strictEqual(setup.status, 0, setup.stderr);
+    const workLine = setup.stdout.split("\n").find((line) => line.startsWith("work:"));
+    if (workLine === undefined) throw new Error(`missing work dir in setup output: ${setup.stdout}`);
+    const work = workLine.slice("work:".length).trim();
+    fixtures.push(work);
+
+    // The script reads $HOME and finds node on $PATH, so the overrides ride in
+    // the script itself, ahead of the generated text.
+    const launch = runShell(
+      [
+        `HOME=${sh(`${work}/home`)}`,
+        "export HOME",
+        `PATH=${sh(`${work}/bin`)}":$PATH"`,
+        "export PATH",
+        buildRemoteLaunchScript({ nodeScriptPath: `${work}/serve.mjs` }),
+      ].join("\n"),
+      ["launch-test"],
+    );
+
+    assert.strictEqual(launch.status, 1, launch.stderr);
+    assert.include(launch.stderr, "Remote T3 server did not become ready");
+    // The whole point: a launch that wrote nothing must say so, not replay
+    // whatever the previous server left in the log.
+    assert.include(launch.stderr, "It wrote nothing to");
+    assert.notInclude(launch.stderr, "STALE_PREVIOUS_RUN");
+
+    const logBytes = runShell(
+      `set -eu\nwc -c < ${sh(`${work}/home/.t3/ssh-launch/launch-test/server.log`)}`,
+    );
+    assert.strictEqual(logBytes.status, 0, logBytes.stderr);
+    assert.strictEqual(logBytes.stdout.trim(), "0");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.ts b/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.ts
index 0afd1007f8ed..3d2e173935d9 100644
--- a/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.ts
+++ b/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.ts
@@ -590,6 +590,7 @@ if [ -z "$REMOTE_PORT" ]; then
     printf 'Failed to find an available port on the remote host. Ensure node is available on PATH.\\n' >&2
     exit 1
   fi
+  rm -f "$LOG_FILE"
   nohup env T3CODE_NO_BROWSER=1 "$RUNNER_FILE" serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port "$REMOTE_PORT" --base-dir "$DEFAULT_SERVER_HOME" >>"$LOG_FILE" 2>&1 < /dev/null &
   REMOTE_PID="$!"
   printf '%s\\n' "$REMOTE_PID" >"$PID_FILE"