diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tools/search.rs b/crates/tui/src/tools/search.rs
index b4fc8d1f..98387cb8 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tools/search.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tools/search.rs
@@ -115,17 +115,28 @@ impl ToolSpec for GrepFilesTool {
         let exclude_patterns: Vec<String> =
             input.get("exclude").and_then(|v| v.as_array()).map_or_else(
                 || {
-                    // Default exclusions for common non-code directories
+                    // Default exclusions for common non-code directories.
+                    // Bare directory names skip the directory traversal entirely;
+                    // `dir/*` filters files inside if the directory is already
+                    // being walked (belt-and-suspenders — see #2200).
                     vec![
+                        "node_modules".to_string(),
                         "node_modules/*".to_string(),
+                        ".git".to_string(),
                         ".git/*".to_string(),
+                        "target".to_string(),
                         "target/*".to_string(),
                         "*.min.js".to_string(),
                         "*.min.css".to_string(),
+                        "dist".to_string(),
                         "dist/*".to_string(),
+                        "build".to_string(),
                         "build/*".to_string(),
+                        "__pycache__".to_string(),
                         "__pycache__/*".to_string(),
+                        ".venv".to_string(),
                         ".venv/*".to_string(),
+                        "venv".to_string(),
                         "venv/*".to_string(),
                     ]
                 },
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/app.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/app.rs
index 68cc3539..0969c8f8 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/app.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/app.rs
@@ -1076,6 +1076,10 @@ pub struct App {
     pub status_toasts: VecDeque<StatusToast>,
     /// Sticky status toast used for important warnings/errors.
     pub sticky_status: Option<StatusToast>,
+    /// Version-update hint shown in the footer when a newer release
+    /// is available. Set by a background GitHub API check after app
+    /// startup; `None` until the check completes or if up-to-date.
+    pub version_hint: Option<String>,
     /// Last status text already promoted from `status_message` into toast state.
     pub last_status_message_seen: Option<String>,
     pub model: String,
@@ -1801,6 +1805,7 @@ impl App {
             status_message: None,
             status_toasts: VecDeque::new(),
             sticky_status: None,
+            version_hint: None,
             last_status_message_seen: None,
             model,
             auto_model,
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/footer_ui.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/footer_ui.rs
index 0269c8de..e8df159c 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/footer_ui.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/footer_ui.rs
@@ -44,6 +44,13 @@ pub(crate) fn render_footer(f: &mut Frame, area: Rect, app: &mut App) {
         None
     };
     let toast = quit_prompt.or_else(|| {
+        // Version-update hint takes precedence over ephemeral status toasts
+        // so the user sees it even when status traffic would hide it.
+        app.version_hint.as_ref().map(|hint| FooterToast {
+            text: hint.clone(),
+            color: palette::STATUS_INFO,
+        })
+    }).or_else(|| {
         app.active_status_toast().map(|toast| FooterToast {
             text: toast.text,
             color: status_color(toast.level),
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
index 61cb195c..316bbd34 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
@@ -893,7 +893,59 @@ async fn run_event_loop(
         .checked_sub(Duration::from_secs(60))
         .unwrap_or_else(Instant::now);
 
+    // Fire-and-forget version check — runs once per session in the
+    // background. On success, `app.version_hint` is set and the footer
+    // renders the update recommendation on the next frame.
+    let mut version_check: Option<tokio::task::JoinHandle<Option<String>>> = Some({
+        let current = env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION").to_string();
+        tokio::spawn(async move {
+            let client = match reqwest::Client::builder()
+                .user_agent("codewhale-version-check")
+                .timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(5))
+                .build()
+            {
+                Ok(c) => c,
+                Err(_) => return None,
+            };
+            let resp = client
+                .get("https://api.github.com/repos/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases/latest")
+                .header("Accept", "application/vnd.github+json")
+                .send()
+                .await
+                .ok()?;
+            let json: serde_json::Value = resp.json().await.ok()?;
+            let tag = json["tag_name"].as_str()?;
+            let latest = tag.trim_start_matches('v');
+            // Compare semver so dev builds (e.g. "0.8.46-pre") don't
+            // trigger false hints. Falls back to string compare on
+            // unparseable versions.
+            let newer = match (parse_semver(latest), parse_semver(&current)) {
+                (Some(l), Some(c)) => l > c,
+                _ => latest != current,
+            };
+            if newer {
+                Some(format!(
+                    "v{latest} available — run `codewhale update` and restart"
+                ))
+            } else {
+                None
+            }
+        })
+    });
+
     loop {
+        // Drain the version-check handle once; re-assign None so we
+        // don't poll it again.
+        let mut done = false;
+        if let Some(ref handle) = version_check {
+            done = handle.is_finished();
+        }
+        if done {
+            if let Ok(Some(hint)) = version_check.take().unwrap().await {
+                app.version_hint = Some(hint);
+            }
+        }
+
         if !drain_web_config_events(&mut web_config_session, app, config, &engine_handle).await {
             web_config_session = None;
         }
@@ -7939,5 +7991,15 @@ fn extract_reasoning_header(text: &str) -> Option<String> {
     }
 }
 
+/// Parse a `major.minor.patch` version string into a comparable tuple.
+/// Returns `None` on any parse failure (non-semver, dev suffixes, etc.).
+fn parse_semver(v: &str) -> Option<(u32, u32, u32)> {
+    let mut parts = v.splitn(3, '.');
+    let major = parts.next()?.parse::<u32>().ok()?;
+    let minor = parts.next()?.parse::<u32>().ok()?;
+    let patch = parts.next().unwrap_or("0").parse::<u32>().ok()?;
+    Some((major, minor, patch))
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests;