diff --git a/crates/tui/src/mcp.rs b/crates/tui/src/mcp.rs
index 39d5875e..dea45276 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/mcp.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/mcp.rs
@@ -1129,6 +1129,7 @@ fn is_connection_closed_error_text(err: &str) -> bool {
         || err.contains("connection reset")
         || err.contains("broken pipe")
         || err.contains("unexpected eof")
+        || err.contains("forcibly closed")
 }
 
 fn parse_sse_message_data(body: &str) -> Vec<Vec<u8>> {
@@ -4401,6 +4402,14 @@ mod tests {
             is_mcp_stale_session_error(&err),
             "reset legacy SSE POST should force reconnect before retry"
         );
+
+        let err = anyhow::anyhow!(
+            "MCP SSE POST send failed (transport=sse endpoint=http://127.0.0.1:123/messages): An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host."
+        );
+        assert!(
+            is_mcp_stale_session_error(&err),
+            "Windows reset wording should force reconnect before retry"
+        );
     }
 
     #[tokio::test]
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/project_context.rs b/crates/tui/src/project_context.rs
index f8dfa6d6..54c8300f 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/project_context.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/project_context.rs
@@ -683,17 +683,18 @@ fn load_project_context_with_parents_and_home(
     workspace: &Path,
     home_dir: Option<&Path>,
 ) -> ProjectContext {
+    let workspace_canonical = canonicalize_workspace_or_keep(workspace);
     let mut ctx = load_project_context(workspace);
     let parent_search_stop = project_context_parent_search_stop_dir();
 
     // If no context found in workspace, check parent directories
     if !ctx.has_instructions() {
-        let mut current = workspace.parent();
+        let mut current = workspace_canonical.parent();
 
         while let Some(parent) = current {
             if parent_search_stop
                 .as_deref()
-                .is_some_and(|stop| paths_equal_after_canonicalizing(parent, stop))
+                .is_some_and(|stop| parent == stop)
             {
                 break;
             }
@@ -782,7 +783,7 @@ pub(crate) fn project_context_cache_candidate_paths(
     while let Some(dir) = current {
         if parent_search_stop
             .as_deref()
-            .is_some_and(|stop| paths_equal_after_canonicalizing(dir, stop))
+            .is_some_and(|stop| dir == stop)
         {
             break;
         }
@@ -856,10 +857,6 @@ fn project_context_parent_search_stop_dir() -> Option<PathBuf> {
     dirs::home_dir().map(|home| canonicalize_workspace_or_keep(&home))
 }
 
-fn paths_equal_after_canonicalizing(left: &Path, right: &Path) -> bool {
-    canonicalize_workspace_or_keep(left) == canonicalize_workspace_or_keep(right)
-}
-
 /// Combine global user-wide preferences with a project-local
 /// AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md/instructions.md. Global comes first so
 /// workspace-specific rules can override it — the model reads in declared
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/prompts.rs b/crates/tui/src/prompts.rs
index d4cb68d5..1e8136b9 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/prompts.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/prompts.rs
@@ -2710,12 +2710,12 @@ mod tests {
         // surface (engine.rs builds the system prompt via this fn or
         // its sibling _and_skills variant on every turn).
         let _env_guard = crate::test_support::lock_test_env();
-        let tmp = tempdir().expect("tempdir");
-        let home = tmp.path().join("home");
-        let _home = EnvVarGuard::set("HOME", home.as_os_str());
-        let _userprofile = EnvVarGuard::set("USERPROFILE", home.as_os_str());
+        let workspace_tmp = tempdir().expect("workspace tempdir");
+        let home_tmp = tempdir().expect("home tempdir");
+        let _home = EnvVarGuard::set("HOME", home_tmp.path().as_os_str());
+        let _userprofile = EnvVarGuard::set("USERPROFILE", home_tmp.path().as_os_str());
         let _skills_dir = EnvVarGuard::remove("DEEPSEEK_SKILLS_DIR");
-        let workspace = tmp.path();
+        let workspace = workspace_tmp.path();
 
         for mode in [AppMode::Agent, AppMode::Yolo, AppMode::Plan] {
             let a = match system_prompt_for_mode_with_context(mode, workspace, None) {