diff --git a/cli/package.json b/cli/package.json
index 11407d9..577f47c 100644
--- a/cli/package.json
+++ b/cli/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@cleanslice/ranch",
-  "version": "0.1.10",
+  "version": "0.1.11",
   "type": "module",
   "description": "Ranch project CLI",
   "license": "MIT",
diff --git a/cli/src/utils/bin.test.ts b/cli/src/utils/bin.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd80c4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/src/utils/bin.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import { chmodSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { hasBinary } from "./bin";
+
+const created: string[] = [];
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  for (const dir of created.splice(0)) {
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+function withFakeBin(name: string): string {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "ranch-bin-"));
+  created.push(dir);
+  const filename = process.platform === "win32" ? `${name}.cmd` : name;
+  const file = join(dir, filename);
+  writeFileSync(file, process.platform === "win32" ? "@echo off\n" : "#!/bin/sh\n");
+  if (process.platform !== "win32") chmodSync(file, 0o755);
+  const prev = process.env.PATH ?? "";
+  process.env.PATH = `${dir}${process.platform === "win32" ? ";" : ":"}${prev}`;
+  return prev;
+}
+
+describe("hasBinary", () => {
+  test("finds a platform helper that is already on PATH", () => {
+    expect(hasBinary(process.platform === "win32" ? "where" : "sh")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("finds a binary we drop onto PATH", () => {
+    const prev = withFakeBin("ranch-fake-bin");
+    try {
+      expect(hasBinary("ranch-fake-bin")).toBe(true);
+    } finally {
+      process.env.PATH = prev;
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("returns false when the binary is not on PATH", () => {
+    expect(hasBinary("ranch-missing-binary-CLEAN-41")).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/cli/src/utils/bin.ts b/cli/src/utils/bin.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..664478d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/src/utils/bin.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { delimiter, join } from "node:path";
+
+function candidateNames(name: string): string[] {
+  if (process.platform !== "win32") return [name];
+  const names = new Set([name]);
+  const exts = (process.env.PATHEXT ?? ".EXE;.CMD;.BAT;.COM").split(";").filter(Boolean);
+  const lower = name.toLowerCase();
+  const hasExt = exts.some((ext) => lower.endsWith(ext.toLowerCase()));
+  if (!hasExt) {
+    for (const ext of exts) names.add(name + ext);
+  }
+  return [...names];
+}
+
+/**
+ * True if `name` is on PATH.
+ *
+ * Node's `execSync` uses cmd.exe on Windows, so a Unix `command -v` check
+ * always fails there even when Docker Desktop is installed and running.
+ */
+export function hasBinary(name: string): boolean {
+  const pathEnv = process.env.PATH ?? "";
+  if (!pathEnv) return false;
+  const names = candidateNames(name);
+  for (const dir of pathEnv.split(delimiter)) {
+    if (!dir) continue;
+    for (const candidate of names) {
+      if (existsSync(join(dir, candidate))) return true;
+    }
+  }
+  return false;
+}
diff --git a/cli/src/utils/docker.ts b/cli/src/utils/docker.ts
index bfd73d9..1203540 100644
--- a/cli/src/utils/docker.ts
+++ b/cli/src/utils/docker.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,6 @@
 import { execSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { consola } from "consola";
-
-function hasBinary(name: string): boolean {
-  try {
-    execSync(`command -v ${name}`, { stdio: "ignore" });
-    return true;
-  } catch {
-    return false;
-  }
-}
+import { hasBinary } from "./bin";
 
 export function ensureDockerRunning(): void {
   if (!hasBinary("docker")) {
diff --git a/cli/src/utils/k3d.ts b/cli/src/utils/k3d.ts
index 93c6179..aa0fc9c 100644
--- a/cli/src/utils/k3d.ts
+++ b/cli/src/utils/k3d.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { homedir } from "node:os";
 import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 import { existsSync, mkdirSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { consola } from "consola";
+import { hasBinary } from "./bin";
 import { tryRun } from "./exec";
 
 const READY_TIMEOUT_MS = 90_000;
@@ -11,15 +12,6 @@ const READY_POLL_MS = 2_000;
 const CLUSTER = "ranch";
 const KUBECONFIG_LOCAL = join(homedir(), ".kube", "ranch-local.yaml");
 
-function hasBinary(name: string): boolean {
-  try {
-    execSync(`command -v ${name}`, { stdio: "ignore" });
-    return true;
-  } catch {
-    return false;
-  }
-}
-
 type ClusterState = "running" | "stopped" | "missing";
 
 function clusterState(): ClusterState {
diff --git a/cli/src/utils/port-forward.ts b/cli/src/utils/port-forward.ts
index 91d0934..f62fa8b 100644
--- a/cli/src/utils/port-forward.ts
+++ b/cli/src/utils/port-forward.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
 import { homedir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { consola } from "consola";
+import { hasBinary } from "./bin";
 
 const KUBECONFIG_LOCAL = join(homedir(), ".kube", "ranch-local.yaml");
 const RESTART_DELAY_MS = 3_000;
@@ -17,15 +18,6 @@ function portInUse(port: number): boolean {
   }
 }
 
-function hasBinary(name: string): boolean {
-  try {
-    execSync(`command -v ${name}`, { stdio: "ignore" });
-    return true;
-  } catch {
-    return false;
-  }
-}
-
 export interface PortForwardSpec {
   label: string;
   namespace: string;