diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Chat.test.tsx b/frontend/src/components/Chat.test.tsx
index a43ed49a..665be372 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Chat.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Chat.test.tsx
@@ -1642,7 +1642,8 @@ describe("Slash command handling (Story 374)", () => {
 		expect(mockedApi.botCommand).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 	});
 
-	it("AC: /help shows help overlay", async () => {
+	it("AC: /help calls botCommand and displays response", async () => {
+		mockedApi.botCommand.mockResolvedValue({ response: "Available commands: status, help, ..." });
 		render(<Chat projectPath="/tmp/project" onCloseProject={vi.fn()} />);
 		await waitFor(() => expect(capturedWsHandlers).not.toBeNull());
 
@@ -1658,9 +1659,14 @@ describe("Slash command handling (Story 374)", () => {
 			fireEvent.keyDown(input, { key: "Enter", shiftKey: false });
 		});
 
-		expect(await screen.findByTestId("help-overlay")).toBeInTheDocument();
+		await waitFor(() => {
+			expect(mockedApi.botCommand).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+				"help",
+				"",
+				undefined,
+			);
+		});
 		expect(lastSendChatArgs).toBeNull();
-		expect(mockedApi.botCommand).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 	});
 
 	it("AC: botCommand API error shows error message in chat", async () => {
diff --git a/server/src/llm/providers/claude_code.rs b/server/src/llm/providers/claude_code.rs
index ae2a82fe..6bcdb277 100644
--- a/server/src/llm/providers/claude_code.rs
+++ b/server/src/llm/providers/claude_code.rs
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ fn run_pty_session(
     // Read NDJSON lines from stdout
     let (line_tx, line_rx) = std::sync::mpsc::channel::<Option<String>>();
 
-    std::thread::spawn(move || {
+    let reader_handle = std::thread::spawn(move || {
         let buf_reader = BufReader::new(reader);
         slog!("[pty-debug] Reader thread started");
         for line in buf_reader.lines() {
@@ -284,6 +284,8 @@ fn run_pty_session(
     loop {
         if cancelled.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
             let _ = child.kill();
+            let _ = child.wait();
+            let _ = reader_handle.join();
             return Err("Cancelled".to_string());
         }
 
@@ -365,8 +367,11 @@ fn run_pty_session(
             }
             // If still running after 2s, kill it
             let _ = child.kill();
+            let _ = child.wait();
         }
     }
+    // Wait for the reader thread to release the cloned PTY master fd.
+    let _ = reader_handle.join();
     Ok(())
 }