diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/explore.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/explore.ts
index f9d21594e..add55320f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/explore.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/explore.ts
@@ -49,8 +49,11 @@ import {
   listSupportedReplayFields,
   parseReplayEnvironmentFilter,
 } from "../lib/replay-search.js";
-import { resolveOrgOptionalFromArg } from "../lib/resolve-target.js";
 import { sanitizeQuery } from "../lib/search-query.js";
+import {
+  type OrgOptionalTarget,
+  orgOptionalTarget,
+} from "../lib/target-positional.js";
 import {
   appendPeriodHint,
   PERIOD_BRIEF,
@@ -697,7 +700,7 @@ export const exploreCommand = buildListCommand("explore", {
           placeholder: "target",
           brief:
             "Target: <org>/<project>, <org>/, or <project>. Auto-detected if omitted.",
-          parse: String,
+          parse: orgOptionalTarget,
           optional: true as const,
         },
       ],
@@ -773,13 +776,12 @@ export const exploreCommand = buildListCommand("explore", {
       n: "limit",
     },
   },
-  async *func(this: SentryContext, flags: ExploreFlags, target?: string) {
-    const { cwd } = this;
-    const { org, project } = await resolveOrgOptionalFromArg(
-      target,
-      cwd,
-      "explore",
-    );
+  async *func(
+    this: SentryContext,
+    flags: ExploreFlags,
+    target: OrgOptionalTarget,
+  ) {
+    const { org, project } = await target.resolved;
 
     let dataset = flags.dataset;
     const userSuppliedFields = flags.field && flags.field.length > 0;
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/commands/explore.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/commands/explore.test.ts
index fa68161e4..fcb7b9fb3 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/commands/explore.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/commands/explore.test.ts
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ function createContext() {
         }),
       },
       cwd: "/tmp/test-explore",
+      commandPrefix: ["sentry", "explore"],
     },
     getStdout: () => stdoutChunks.join(""),
   };
@@ -150,8 +151,8 @@ beforeEach(async () => {
     nextCursor: undefined,
   });
 
-  // Default: resolveOrgOptionalFromArg returns org-only (auto-detect)
-  resolveTargetSpy = vi.spyOn(resolveTarget, "resolveOrgOptionalFromArg");
+  // Default: resolveOrgOptionalTarget returns org-only (auto-detect)
+  resolveTargetSpy = vi.spyOn(resolveTarget, "resolveOrgOptionalTarget");
   resolveTargetSpy.mockResolvedValue({ org: "test-org" });
 
   resolveCursorSpy = vi.spyOn(paginationDb, "resolveCursor").mockReturnValue({
@@ -209,7 +210,7 @@ describe("sentry explore", () => {
       await func.call(context, DEFAULT_FLAGS, "my-org/");
 
       expect(resolveTargetSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        "my-org/",
+        { type: "org-all", org: "my-org" },
         "/tmp/test-explore",
         "explore",
       );
@@ -257,7 +258,7 @@ describe("sentry explore", () => {
       await func.call(context, DEFAULT_FLAGS, "cli");
 
       expect(resolveTargetSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        "cli",
+        { type: "project-search", projectSlug: "cli" },
         "/tmp/test-explore",
         "explore",
       );
@@ -274,7 +275,7 @@ describe("sentry explore", () => {
       await func.call(context, DEFAULT_FLAGS);
 
       expect(resolveTargetSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        undefined,
+        { type: "auto-detect" },
         "/tmp/test-explore",
         "explore",
       );
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/lib/complete.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/lib/complete.test.ts
index 29632c043..c4790195a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/lib/complete.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/lib/complete.test.ts
@@ -93,6 +93,12 @@ describe("getCompletions: context detection", () => {
     expect(result.some((c) => c.value === "test-org/")).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  test("returns org/project completions for the top-level explore command", async () => {
+    await seedOrgs([{ slug: "my-org", name: "My Organization" }]);
+    const result = getCompletions(["explore"], "");
+    expect(result.some((c) => c.value === "my-org/")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   test("returns org-only completions for team list", async () => {
     await seedOrgs([{ slug: "acme", name: "Acme Inc" }]);
     const result = getCompletions(["team", "list"], "");