diff --git a/src/tray/windows.ts b/src/tray/windows.ts
index 65c568692..eec7251af 100644
--- a/src/tray/windows.ts
+++ b/src/tray/windows.ts
@@ -150,8 +150,16 @@ function quoteRunValue(value: string): string {
   return `\"${value}\"`;
 }
 
-/** Command persisted under HKCU Run. Every value is an owned absolute package/home path. */
-export function buildWindowsTrayRunCommand(entry: WindowsTrayEntry, powershell = windowsPowerShellPath()): string {
+function installedTrayLauncherPath(): string {
+  return join(getConfigDir(), "opencodex-tray.vbs");
+}
+
+function quoteVbsPath(value: string): string {
+  return value.replace(/"/g, '""');
+}
+
+/** Full PowerShell invocation used by the owned VBS launcher (not written to HKCU Run). */
+export function buildWindowsTrayPowerShellCommand(entry: WindowsTrayEntry, powershell = windowsPowerShellPath()): string {
   return [
     quoteRunValue(powershell),
     "-NoLogo",
@@ -169,6 +177,27 @@ export function buildWindowsTrayRunCommand(entry: WindowsTrayEntry, powershell =
   ].join(" ");
 }
 
+/** Short HKCU Run command (must stay ≤260 chars under long Windows user/npm paths). */
+export function buildWindowsTrayRunCommand(entry: WindowsTrayEntry & { launcherPath: string }): string {
+  const wscript = join(process.env.SystemRoot ?? "C:\\Windows", "System32", "wscript.exe");
+  return `${quoteRunValue(wscript)} //B //NoLogo ${quoteRunValue(entry.launcherPath)}`;
+}
+
+export function buildWindowsTrayLauncherScript(entry: WindowsTrayEntry, powershell = windowsPowerShellPath()): string {
+  const command = buildWindowsTrayPowerShellCommand(entry, powershell);
+  // VBS CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Run command, 0, False — hidden, non-blocking.
+  return [
+    "' OpenCodex owned tray launcher — do not edit by hand.",
+    `CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Run "${quoteVbsPath(command)}", 0, False`,
+    "",
+  ].join("\r\n");
+}
+
+/** @deprecated Prefer buildWindowsTrayPowerShellCommand; kept for callers that still expect the long form. */
+export function buildWindowsTrayLegacyRunCommand(entry: WindowsTrayEntry, powershell = windowsPowerShellPath()): string {
+  return buildWindowsTrayPowerShellCommand(entry, powershell);
+}
+
 function readState(): WindowsTrayState | null {
   try {
     const state = JSON.parse(readFileSync(trayStatePath(), "utf8")) as Partial<WindowsTrayState>;
@@ -204,7 +233,11 @@ function replaceOwnedFile(path: string, contents: string | Buffer): void {
   }
 }
 
-function writeState(entry: WindowsTrayEntry, runValue: string, runCommand: string): void {
+function writeState(
+  entry: WindowsTrayEntry & { launcherPath: string },
+  runValue: string,
+  runCommand: string,
+): void {
   const path = trayStatePath();
   replaceOwnedFile(path, JSON.stringify({ version: TRAY_STATE_VERSION, ...entry, runValue, runCommand }, null, 2) + "\n");
 }
@@ -376,7 +409,8 @@ function trayStatusFrom(registered: string | null): WindowsTrayStatus {
   const running = heartbeatProcessAlive(heartbeat);
   const registrationOwned = state !== null
     && registered === state.runCommand
-    && [state.bun, state.cli, state.script, ...installedTrayIconPaths()].every(path => existsSync(path));
+    && [state.bun, state.cli, state.script, ...(state.launcherPath ? [state.launcherPath] : []), ...installedTrayIconPaths()]
+      .every(path => existsSync(path));
   const stale = windowsTrayRegistrationIsStale({
     registered: registered !== null,
     registrationOwned,
@@ -507,7 +541,12 @@ export function installWindowsTray(startNow = true): WindowsTrayStatus {
   }
   recordOwnedConfigPath(getConfigDir(), trayStatePath());
   if (!existsSync(getConfigDir())) mkdirSync(getConfigDir(), { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 });
-  const runCommand = buildWindowsTrayRunCommand(entry);
+  const launcherPath = installedTrayLauncherPath();
+  const entryWithLauncher = { ...entry, launcherPath };
+  const runCommand = buildWindowsTrayRunCommand(entryWithLauncher);
+  if (runCommand.length > 260) {
+    throw new Error(`Tray Run command exceeds the Windows 260-character limit (${runCommand.length} chars).`);
+  }
   const runValue = windowsTrayRunValue(entry.opencodexHome);
   const existing = readOwnedRunValue(runValue);
   const state = readState();
@@ -517,6 +556,9 @@ export function installWindowsTray(startNow = true): WindowsTrayStatus {
   if (existsSync(entry.script) && (!state || resolve(state.script) !== resolve(entry.script))) {
     throw new Error(`Refusing to overwrite an unowned tray script at ${entry.script}.`);
   }
+  if (existsSync(launcherPath) && (!state?.launcherPath || resolve(state.launcherPath) !== resolve(launcherPath))) {
+    throw new Error(`Refusing to overwrite an unowned tray launcher at ${launcherPath}.`);
+  }
   if (!state && iconPairs.some(pair => existsSync(pair.installed))) {
     throw new Error("Refusing to overwrite unowned Windows tray icon assets.");
   }
@@ -531,6 +573,7 @@ export function installWindowsTray(startNow = true): WindowsTrayStatus {
 
   const previousStateBytes = existsSync(trayStatePath()) ? readFileSync(trayStatePath()) : null;
   const previousScriptBytes = existsSync(entry.script) ? readFileSync(entry.script) : null;
+  const previousLauncherBytes = existsSync(launcherPath) ? readFileSync(launcherPath) : null;
   const previousIconBytes = new Map(iconPairs.map(pair => [
     pair.installed,
     existsSync(pair.installed) ? readFileSync(pair.installed) : null,
@@ -540,6 +583,10 @@ export function installWindowsTray(startNow = true): WindowsTrayStatus {
       if (previousScriptBytes) replaceOwnedFile(entry.script, previousScriptBytes);
       else if (existsSync(entry.script)) unlinkSync(entry.script);
     } catch { /* rollback best-effort */ }
+    try {
+      if (previousLauncherBytes) replaceOwnedFile(launcherPath, previousLauncherBytes);
+      else if (existsSync(launcherPath)) unlinkSync(launcherPath);
+    } catch { /* rollback best-effort */ }
     for (const [path, contents] of previousIconBytes) {
       try {
         if (contents) replaceOwnedFile(path, contents);
@@ -567,8 +614,9 @@ export function installWindowsTray(startNow = true): WindowsTrayStatus {
     if (!hardenedDir.ok) throw new Error("Windows tray directory ACL hardening did not complete; refusing to install persistence.");
     replaceOwnedFile(entry.script, readFileSync(sourceScript));
     for (const pair of iconPairs) replaceOwnedFile(pair.installed, readFileSync(pair.source));
+    replaceOwnedFile(launcherPath, Buffer.from("\uFEFF" + buildWindowsTrayLauncherScript(entry), "utf16le"));
     runRegistry(["add", RUN_KEY, "/v", runValue, "/t", "REG_SZ", "/d", runCommand, "/f", "/reg:64"]);
-    writeState(entry, runValue, runCommand);
+    writeState(entryWithLauncher, runValue, runCommand);
   } catch (error) {
     restorePreviousInstall();
     throw error;
@@ -578,9 +626,6 @@ export function installWindowsTray(startNow = true): WindowsTrayStatus {
     restorePreviousInstall();
     throw new Error("The tray startup registration was installed, but the tray process did not become healthy.");
   }
-  if (state?.launcherPath && existsSync(state.launcherPath)) {
-    try { unlinkSync(state.launcherPath); } catch { /* old owned VBS is inert after a committed Run replacement */ }
-  }
   return getWindowsTrayStatus();
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/windows-tray-run-limit.test.ts b/tests/windows-tray-run-limit.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..115d84475
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/windows-tray-run-limit.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import {
+  buildWindowsTrayRunCommand,
+  buildWindowsTrayPowerShellCommand,
+} from "../src/tray/windows";
+
+describe("windows tray Run registration (#696)", () => {
+  test("short wscript Run command stays within the 260-character Windows limit under long paths", () => {
+    const longHome = "C:\\Users\\VeryLongWindowsUserNameForTestingPaths\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@bitkyc08\\opencodex";
+    const entry = {
+      bun: `${longHome}\\node_modules\\bun\\bin\\bun.exe`,
+      cli: `${longHome}\\src\\cli\\index.ts`,
+      script: "C:\\Users\\VeryLongWindowsUserNameForTestingPaths\\.opencodex\\opencodex-tray.ps1",
+      codexHome: "C:\\Users\\VeryLongWindowsUserNameForTestingPaths\\.codex",
+      opencodexHome: "C:\\Users\\VeryLongWindowsUserNameForTestingPaths\\.opencodex",
+      launcherPath: "C:\\Users\\VeryLongWindowsUserNameForTestingPaths\\.opencodex\\opencodex-tray.vbs",
+    };
+    const runCommand = buildWindowsTrayRunCommand(entry);
+    expect(runCommand.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(260);
+    expect(runCommand.toLowerCase()).toContain("wscript.exe");
+    expect(runCommand).toContain("opencodex-tray.vbs");
+    // The long PowerShell form still exists for the VBS body, but must not be the Run value.
+    expect(buildWindowsTrayPowerShellCommand(entry).length).toBeGreaterThan(260);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/tests/windows-tray.test.ts b/tests/windows-tray.test.ts
index f00d8cb10..60383dd64 100644
--- a/tests/windows-tray.test.ts
+++ b/tests/windows-tray.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import { copyFileSync, existsSync, mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync } from "nod
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import {
+  buildWindowsTrayLauncherScript,
+  buildWindowsTrayPowerShellCommand,
   buildWindowsTrayRunCommand,
   launchWindowsTrayHost,
   parseWindowsTrayRunValue,
@@ -40,11 +42,39 @@ describe("Windows tray packaging and command safety", () => {
   });
 
   test("quotes metacharacter and Unicode paths without shell interpolation", () => {
-    const powershellCommand = buildWindowsTrayRunCommand(entry, "C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe");
+    const powershellCommand = buildWindowsTrayPowerShellCommand(entry, "C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe");
     expect(powershellCommand).toContain(`-File "${entry.script}"`);
     expect(powershellCommand).toContain(`-OpenCodexHome "${entry.opencodexHome}"`);
     expect(powershellCommand).not.toContain("cmd /c");
     expect(powershellCommand).not.toContain("-Command");
+    const runCommand = buildWindowsTrayRunCommand({
+      ...entry,
+      launcherPath: `${entry.opencodexHome}\\opencodex-tray.vbs`,
+    });
+    expect(runCommand.toLowerCase()).toContain("wscript.exe");
+    expect(runCommand.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(260);
+  });
+  test("keeps UNC backslashes literal in the VBS Run command", () => {
+    const uncRoot = "\\\\server\\share";
+    const uncEntry: WindowsTrayEntry = {
+      bun: `${uncRoot}\\tools\\bun.exe`,
+      cli: `${uncRoot}\\repo\\src\\cli\\index.ts`,
+      script: `${uncRoot}\\repo\\src\\tray\\windows-tray.ps1`,
+      codexHome: "C:\\Users\\Test\\.codex",
+      opencodexHome: `${uncRoot}\\opencodex`,
+    };
+    const launcher = buildWindowsTrayLauncherScript(uncEntry);
+    expect(launcher).toContain(`${uncRoot}\\tools\\bun.exe`);
+    expect(launcher).not.toMatch(/\\\\\\\\server/);
+  });
+
+
+  test("preserves non-ASCII paths in the tray launcher script and UTF-16LE install encoding", () => {
+    const launcher = buildWindowsTrayLauncherScript(entry);
+    expect(launcher).toContain("사용자 공간");
+    const encoded = Buffer.from("\uFEFF" + launcher, "utf16le");
+    expect(encoded.subarray(0, 2).equals(Buffer.from([0xff, 0xfe]))).toBe(true);
+    expect(encoded.toString("utf16le")).toContain("사용자 공간");
   });
 
   test("rejects quote and control-character path injection", () => {