diff --git a/.prettierignore b/.prettierignore
index 0c09424..32405c6 100644
--- a/.prettierignore
+++ b/.prettierignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 pnpm-lock.yaml
 dist/
 node_modules/
+CHANGELOG.md
diff --git a/src/integrations/claude/onboarding.ts b/src/integrations/claude/onboarding.ts
index ca39886..d15fd24 100644
--- a/src/integrations/claude/onboarding.ts
+++ b/src/integrations/claude/onboarding.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { createInterface } from 'node:readline';
 import type { OnboardingOpts, OnboardingCallbacks } from '../types.js';
 import { STATUS_PREFIX } from '../constants.js';
 import { type StreamEvent, extractTextLines } from '../stream-json.js';
+import { spawnErrorMessage } from '../utils.js';
 
 export function runOnboarding(
   opts: OnboardingOpts,
@@ -12,18 +13,24 @@ export function runOnboarding(
     ? { ...globalThis.process.env, CONFIDENCE_ACCESS_TOKEN: opts.token }
     : undefined;
 
-  const child = spawn(
-    'claude',
-    ['--print', '--output-format', 'stream-json', '--verbose', opts.prompt],
-    {
-      cwd: opts.projectDir,
-      timeout: 300000,
-      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-      env,
-    },
-  );
+  let child: ChildProcess;
+  try {
+    child = spawn(
+      'claude',
+      ['--print', '--output-format', 'stream-json', '--verbose', opts.prompt],
+      {
+        cwd: opts.projectDir,
+        timeout: 600_000,
+        stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+        env,
+      },
+    );
+  } catch (err) {
+    callbacks.onError(spawnErrorMessage('claude', err as NodeJS.ErrnoException));
+    return null;
+  }
 
-  if (!child?.stdout) return null;
+  if (!child.stdout) return null;
 
   const allLines: string[] = [];
   let stderrBuf = '';
@@ -66,9 +73,9 @@ export function runOnboarding(
     callbacks.onComplete(allLines);
   });
 
-  child.on('error', (err: Error) => {
+  child.on('error', (err: NodeJS.ErrnoException) => {
     rl.close();
-    callbacks.onError(err.message);
+    callbacks.onError(spawnErrorMessage('claude', err));
   });
 
   return child;
diff --git a/src/integrations/codex/onboarding.ts b/src/integrations/codex/onboarding.ts
index 6f30177..f231aca 100644
--- a/src/integrations/codex/onboarding.ts
+++ b/src/integrations/codex/onboarding.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { type ChildProcess, spawn } from 'node:child_process';
 import { createInterface } from 'node:readline';
 import type { OnboardingOpts, OnboardingCallbacks } from '../types.js';
 import { STATUS_PREFIX } from '../constants.js';
+import { spawnErrorMessage } from '../utils.js';
 
 type CodexEvent = {
   type: string;
@@ -19,16 +20,22 @@ export function runOnboarding(
     ? { ...globalThis.process.env, CONFIDENCE_ACCESS_TOKEN: opts.token }
     : undefined;
 
-  const child = spawn('codex', ['exec', '--json', '--sandbox', 'workspace-write', '-'], {
-    cwd: opts.projectDir,
-    timeout: 300000,
-    stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-    env,
-  });
+  let child: ChildProcess;
+  try {
+    child = spawn('codex', ['exec', '--json', '--sandbox', 'workspace-write', '-'], {
+      cwd: opts.projectDir,
+      timeout: 600_000,
+      stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+      env,
+    });
+  } catch (err) {
+    callbacks.onError(spawnErrorMessage('codex', err as NodeJS.ErrnoException));
+    return null;
+  }
 
   child.stdin?.end(opts.prompt);
 
-  if (!child?.stdout) return null;
+  if (!child.stdout) return null;
 
   const allLines: string[] = [];
   let stderrBuf = '';
@@ -74,9 +81,9 @@ export function runOnboarding(
     callbacks.onComplete(allLines);
   });
 
-  child.on('error', (err: Error) => {
+  child.on('error', (err: NodeJS.ErrnoException) => {
     rl.close();
-    callbacks.onError(err.message);
+    callbacks.onError(spawnErrorMessage('codex', err));
   });
 
   return child;
diff --git a/src/integrations/cursor/onboarding.ts b/src/integrations/cursor/onboarding.ts
index 55f15dc..fdc749f 100644
--- a/src/integrations/cursor/onboarding.ts
+++ b/src/integrations/cursor/onboarding.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { type ChildProcess, spawn } from 'node:child_process';
 import { createInterface } from 'node:readline';
 import type { OnboardingOpts, OnboardingCallbacks } from '../types.js';
 import { type StreamEvent, extractTextLines } from '../stream-json.js';
-import { normalizeStatusLine } from '../utils.js';
+import { normalizeStatusLine, spawnErrorMessage } from '../utils.js';
 
 export function runOnboarding(
   opts: OnboardingOpts,
@@ -21,14 +21,20 @@ export function runOnboarding(
     '--auto-review',
     opts.prompt,
   ];
-  const child = spawn('cursor', args, {
-    cwd: opts.projectDir,
-    timeout: 300000,
-    stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-    env,
-  });
+  let child: ChildProcess;
+  try {
+    child = spawn('cursor', args, {
+      cwd: opts.projectDir,
+      timeout: 600_000,
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+      env,
+    });
+  } catch (err) {
+    callbacks.onError(spawnErrorMessage('cursor', err as NodeJS.ErrnoException));
+    return null;
+  }
 
-  if (!child?.stdout) return null;
+  if (!child.stdout) return null;
 
   const allLines: string[] = [];
   let stderrBuf = '';
@@ -69,9 +75,9 @@ export function runOnboarding(
     callbacks.onComplete(allLines);
   });
 
-  child.on('error', (err: Error) => {
+  child.on('error', (err: NodeJS.ErrnoException) => {
     rl.close();
-    callbacks.onError(err.message);
+    callbacks.onError(spawnErrorMessage('cursor', err));
   });
 
   return child;
diff --git a/src/integrations/utils.ts b/src/integrations/utils.ts
index 35312f2..979030a 100644
--- a/src/integrations/utils.ts
+++ b/src/integrations/utils.ts
@@ -3,3 +3,10 @@ import { STATUS_PREFIX } from './constants.js';
 export function normalizeStatusLine(line: string) {
   return line.startsWith(STATUS_PREFIX) ? line.slice(STATUS_PREFIX.length) : line;
 }
+
+export function spawnErrorMessage(bin: string, err: NodeJS.ErrnoException): string {
+  if (err.code === 'ENOEXEC' || err.code === 'ENOENT') {
+    return `${bin} CLI not found or not executable. Make sure it is installed and on your PATH.`;
+  }
+  return err.message;
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/index.ts b/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/index.ts
index bf3a2ff..49e61fc 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/index.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/index.ts
@@ -35,27 +35,27 @@ export function buildOnboardingPrompt({
   const steps = new StepCounter(isEmptyProject ? 2 : 1);
   const tools = buildToolVars(ide);
 
-  const includingFlags = goal === 'feature-flags' || goal === 'all';
-  const includingRecording = goal === 'session-recording' || goal === 'all';
-  const usingSkill = includingFlags && hasPlugins;
+  const withFlags = goal === 'feature-flags' || goal === 'all';
+  const withRecordings = goal === 'session-recording' || goal === 'all';
+  const viaSkill = withFlags && hasPlugins;
 
   const sections = [
     preamble(framework, projectDir, isEmptyProject, goal),
     preflight(tools),
     addIf(isEmptyProject, () => scaffold(framework, steps.next())),
 
-    usingSkill
+    viaSkill
       ? [integrateViaSkill(framework, steps.next(), isEmptyProject, ide)]
       : [
-          addIf(includingFlags, () => determineSDK(framework, steps.next(), tools)),
-          addIf(includingFlags, () => resolveClient(framework, steps.next(), tools)),
-          addIf(includingFlags, () =>
+          addIf(withFlags, () => determineSDK(framework, steps.next(), tools)),
+          addIf(withFlags, () => resolveClient(framework, steps.next(), tools)),
+          addIf(withFlags, () =>
             integrateSDK(steps.next(), steps.current - 2, isEmptyProject, tools),
           ),
         ],
 
-    addIf(includingRecording, () => determineRecordingSDK(framework, steps.next(), tools)),
-    addIf(includingRecording, () => integrateRecording(steps.next(), isEmptyProject)),
+    addIf(withRecordings, () => determineRecordingSDK(framework, steps.next(), tools)),
+    addIf(withRecordings, () => integrateRecording(steps.next(), isEmptyProject)),
 
     ...migrations.map((m) => migrateFlags(m, steps.next())),
 
diff --git a/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/integrate.ts b/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/integrate.ts
index c969996..948ad15 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/integrate.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/integrate.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ export function integrateViaSkill(
   isEmptyProject: boolean,
   ide: ChosenIde,
 ): string {
+  const needsReactGotchas = /react|nextjs|next/i.test(framework);
+
   return loadStep('integrate-via-skill.md', {
     STEP: step,
     FRAMEWORK: framework,
@@ -26,6 +28,9 @@ export function integrateViaSkill(
     INSERTION_HINT: isEmptyProject
       ? 'For fresh scaffolds, use the scaffold\'s default heading or welcome text as the insertion point — the "aha" moment works just as well on boilerplate. Demonstrate at least two use cases (e.g. a gradual rollout for a heading change and a kill switch for a feature section).'
       : 'Read the top 2–3 candidate files and pick the best one: a single visible string or component, no complex conditionals already wrapping it, in a file the user will recognize.',
+
+    FLAG_GUIDANCE: isEmptyProject ? FLAG_GUIDANCE_EMPTY : FLAG_GUIDANCE_EXISTING,
+    REACT_GOTCHAS: needsReactGotchas ? REACT_GOTCHAS : '',
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/steps/integrate-via-skill.md b/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/steps/integrate-via-skill.md
index e62d044..512f602 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/steps/integrate-via-skill.md
+++ b/src/lib/onboarding-prompt/steps/integrate-via-skill.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 Print "STATUS: Analyzing project for flag integration points..."
 
+The detected framework is **{{FRAMEWORK}}**.
+
 Read `{{SKILLS_DIR}}/analyze-project/SKILL.md` as a **methodology reference** — use it for what to analyze, how to identify flag candidates, which SDK to pick, and how to create and wire flags. Ignore its output formatting entirely: no step tracker, no EDUCATE blocks, no AskUserQuestion calls.
 
 Execute the skill's workflow automatically, without pausing for user input:
@@ -13,7 +15,7 @@ Execute the skill's workflow automatically, without pausing for user input:
 
 {{INSERTION_HINT}}
 
-**Output format — use this instead of anything in the skill:**
+**Output format — use this instead of the skill's formatting:**
 
 The only user-visible output is STATUS-prefixed lines (~60 chars max). No step tracker boxes, no EDUCATE blocks, no headers, no AskUserQuestion. Print STATUS lines before each phase and periodically within longer phases:
 
@@ -27,5 +29,11 @@ The only user-visible output is STATUS-prefixed lines (~60 chars max). No step t
 - After wiring each flag: "STATUS: Integrated flag: <flag-name>"
 - "STATUS: Verifying project builds..."
 
-Read the client secret from CONFIDENCE_CLIENT_SECRET env var in all generated code.
-Use the OpenFeature API with local resolve where supported. Access flag values via dot notation: `flag-name.property`.
+**Guardrails — apply regardless of what the skill says:**
+
+- Read the client secret from CONFIDENCE_CLIENT_SECRET env var in all generated code — never hardcode it. Write the secret to `.env` and ensure `.env` is listed in `.gitignore`.
+- Use the OpenFeature API with local resolve where supported. Access flag values via dot notation: `flag-name.property`.
+- Set up the evaluation context with a stable `targeting_key` (user ID, session ID, or anonymous ID) and any attributes the app already has (`country`, `plan`, `device`). Don't fabricate attributes.
+- Use only SDK APIs from the docs integration guide — do not improvise method names or signatures from memory.
+  {{FLAG_GUIDANCE}}
+  {{REACT_GOTCHAS}}