diff --git a/src/workspaces/cli/bin/openalice-cli.cjs b/src/workspaces/cli/bin/openalice-cli.cjs
index f4d86a3f5..56b067269 100644
--- a/src/workspaces/cli/bin/openalice-cli.cjs
+++ b/src/workspaces/cli/bin/openalice-cli.cjs
@@ -77,7 +77,10 @@ async function main() {
   if (wantsHelp) return printVerbHelp(group, verb, cmd)
 
   // Run it.
-  const args = parseFlags(argv.slice(argv.indexOf(verb) + 1))
+  const args = parseFlags(
+    argv.slice(argv.indexOf(verb) + 1),
+    (cmd.schema && cmd.schema.properties) || {},
+  )
   const res = await invoke(base, cmd.tool, args)
   process.stdout.write(res.endsWith('\n') ? res : res + '\n')
 }
@@ -186,7 +189,7 @@ async function fetchSocketJson(socketPath, path, opts) {
 
 // ---- flag parsing ---------------------------------------------------------
 
-function parseFlags(tokens) {
+function parseFlags(tokens, properties) {
   const args = {}
   const meta = {}
   const docs = []
@@ -225,7 +228,7 @@ function parseFlags(tokens) {
       // per-doc fields keep working; a bare path is wrapped into { path }.
       docs.push(val && typeof val === 'object' ? val : { path: String(val) })
     } else {
-      args[key] = val
+      args[canonicalFlagName(key, properties)] = val
     }
   }
   if (Object.keys(meta).length) args.metadataFilter = meta
@@ -233,6 +236,23 @@ function parseFlags(tokens) {
   return args
 }
 
+/**
+ * JSON-schema properties use JavaScript camelCase, while shell users naturally
+ * write kebab-case flags. Preserve exact schema keys for compatibility, then
+ * accept their kebab-case spelling only when it maps to a real property. An
+ * unknown flag stays unknown so the gateway's strict validation still catches
+ * typos instead of silently rewriting them.
+ */
+function canonicalFlagName(name, properties) {
+  if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(properties, name)) return name
+  const camel = name.replace(/-([a-zA-Z0-9])/g, (_, c) => c.toUpperCase())
+  return Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(properties, camel) ? camel : name
+}
+
+function displayFlagName(name) {
+  return name.replace(/[A-Z]/g, (c) => '-' + c.toLowerCase())
+}
+
 // ---- help rendering -------------------------------------------------------
 
 function printGroups(m) {
@@ -271,7 +291,7 @@ function printVerbHelp(group, verb, cmd) {
     const p = props[n] || {}
     const type = p.type || (p.enum ? 'enum' : '')
     const req = required.has(n) ? ' (required)' : ''
-    out(`  --${n}${type ? ' <' + type + '>' : ''}${req}   ${firstLine(p.description || '')}`)
+    out(`  --${displayFlagName(n)}${type ? ' <' + type + '>' : ''}${req}   ${firstLine(p.description || '')}`)
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/workspaces/cli/shim.spec.ts b/src/workspaces/cli/shim.spec.ts
index 51d383b5e..216c85456 100644
--- a/src/workspaces/cli/shim.spec.ts
+++ b/src/workspaces/cli/shim.spec.ts
@@ -136,6 +136,79 @@ describe('CLI launchers and payload', () => {
     }
   })
 
+  it('shows kebab-case flags and maps them back to exact schema properties', async () => {
+    const dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'openalice-cli-shim-flags-'))
+    const socketPath = process.platform === 'win32'
+      ? `\\\\.\\pipe\\openalice-cli-shim-flags-${process.pid}-${Date.now()}`
+      : join(dir, 'tools.sock')
+    const invocations: Array<{ tool?: string; args?: Record<string, unknown> }> = []
+    const manifest = {
+      description: 'test manifest',
+      groups: {
+        conversation: {
+          ask: {
+            tool: 'conversation_ask',
+            description: 'Ask a peer conversation',
+            schema: {
+              type: 'object',
+              properties: {
+                resumeId: { type: 'string', description: 'Conversation identity' },
+                timeoutMs: { type: 'number', description: 'Watchdog' },
+                prompt: { type: 'string', description: 'Question' },
+              },
+              required: ['prompt'],
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    }
+    const server = createServer((req, res) => {
+      if (req.method === 'GET') {
+        res.writeHead(200, { 'content-type': 'application/json' })
+        res.end(JSON.stringify(manifest))
+        return
+      }
+      let raw = ''
+      req.setEncoding('utf8')
+      req.on('data', (chunk) => { raw += chunk })
+      req.on('end', () => {
+        invocations.push(JSON.parse(raw))
+        res.writeHead(200, { 'content-type': 'application/json' })
+        res.end(JSON.stringify({ content: [{ type: 'text', text: '{"ok":true}' }] }))
+      })
+    })
+    await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+      server.once('error', reject)
+      server.listen(socketPath, resolve)
+    })
+    const env = {
+      ...process.env,
+      AQ_WS_ID: 'ws1',
+      OPENALICE_TOOL_SOCKET: socketPath,
+      OPENALICE_TOOL_URL: '/cli',
+    }
+    try {
+      const help = await runCli('alice-workspace', ['conversation', 'ask', '--help'], env)
+      expect(help.stdout).toContain('--resume-id <string>')
+      expect(help.stdout).toContain('--timeout-ms <number>')
+      expect(help.stdout).not.toContain('--resumeId')
+
+      await runCli('alice-workspace', [
+        'conversation', 'ask',
+        '--resume-id', 'resume-1',
+        '--timeout-ms', '300000',
+        '--prompt', 'why?',
+      ], env)
+      expect(invocations).toEqual([{
+        tool: 'conversation_ask',
+        args: { resumeId: 'resume-1', timeoutMs: '300000', prompt: 'why?' },
+      }])
+    } finally {
+      await new Promise<void>((resolve) => server.close(() => resolve()))
+      await rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
+
   it('every Windows `.cmd` twin derives its export and selects the managed Node runtime', () => {
     const canonical = read('alice.cmd')
     for (const name of EXPORT_BINARIES) {