diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/IslandsShellViewModel.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/IslandsShellViewModel.cs
index 93837d53..d7f5b80c 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/IslandsShellViewModel.cs
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Ui/ViewModels/IslandsShellViewModel.cs
@@ -657,7 +657,15 @@ public sealed partial class IslandsShellViewModel : ViewModelBase, IDisposable
 
     private void RestartWorkerService()
     {
-        var exe = _workerLocator.Find();
+        // Prefer the exe path of the worker that's actually running: _workerLocator.Find()
+        // walks up from AppContext.BaseDirectory looking for install.json and falls back to
+        // the registry's InstallLocation otherwise — on a debug build launched from the repo
+        // there's no install.json above it, so it returns the *installed* worker's path. That
+        // never matches the running debug process, so KillMatchingWorkerProcesses silently
+        // skips it (it only kills a process whose path equals the given exe) and this either
+        // launches a second worker that immediately dies on the already-bound port, or leaves
+        // the real one running untouched while nothing visibly changes.
+        var exe = RunningWorkerExePath() ?? _workerLocator.Find();
         if (exe is null) throw new InvalidOperationException("Worker executable not found.");
 
         KillMatchingWorkerProcesses(exe);
@@ -667,6 +675,20 @@ public sealed partial class IslandsShellViewModel : ViewModelBase, IDisposable
             throw new InvalidOperationException($"worker process exited immediately (code {started.ExitCode})");
     }
 
+    private static string? RunningWorkerExePath()
+    {
+        foreach (var p in System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcessesByName("ClaudeDo.Worker"))
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                if (p.MainModule?.FileName is { } path) return path;
+            }
+            catch { /* inaccessible */ }
+            finally { p.Dispose(); }
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
     // Only kill the worker belonging to THIS installation — not any other
     // ClaudeDo.Worker on the machine (e.g. a second install).
     private static void KillMatchingWorkerProcesses(string exe)