diff --git a/node_modules/pi-background-tasks/src/core/registry.ts b/node_modules/pi-background-tasks/src/core/registry.ts
index cfbf133..c632390 100644
--- a/node_modules/pi-background-tasks/src/core/registry.ts
+++ b/node_modules/pi-background-tasks/src/core/registry.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import { spawn as nodeSpawn, type SpawnOptions } from 'node:child_process';
-import { randomBytes } from 'node:crypto';
+import { createHash, randomBytes } from 'node:crypto';
 import { createWriteStream, existsSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { mkdir, realpath, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { join, resolve } from 'node:path';
 import type { Api, Model } from '@earendil-works/pi-ai';
 import type { ExtensionContext } from '@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent';
-import { formatSize } from '@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent';
+import { formatSize, getAgentDir } from '@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent';
 import {
   boundedRead,
   deriveTaskNameFromCommand,
@@ -781,9 +781,29 @@ export class BackgroundTaskRegistry {
     if (this.runtimeDir) return this.runtimeDir;
     const sessionId = sanitizePathSegment(ctx.sessionId ?? `session-${String(process.pid)}`);
     const runId = `${sessionId}-${String(process.pid)}`;
-    const runtimeDirAbs = join(ctx.cwd, '.pi', 'tasks', runId);
-    const runtimeDirDisplay = join('.pi', 'tasks', runId);
-    await mkdir(runtimeDirAbs, { recursive: true });
+    let runtimeDirAbs = join(ctx.cwd, '.pi', 'tasks', runId);
+    let runtimeDirDisplay = join('.pi', 'tasks', runId);
+    try {
+      await mkdir(runtimeDirAbs, { recursive: true });
+    } catch (error) {
+      // Privateer: Git Bash can open in Program Files. Keep the command cwd,
+      // but store task artifacts in the user's agent dir when cwd is protected.
+      const code = (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
+      if (code !== 'EACCES' && code !== 'EPERM' && code !== 'EROFS') throw error;
+      const projectDir = runtimeDirAbs;
+      const projectId = createHash('sha256').update(resolve(ctx.cwd)).digest('hex').slice(0, 16);
+      runtimeDirAbs = resolve(getAgentDir(), 'tasks', projectId, runId);
+      // Never describe an external artifact as project-relative.
+      runtimeDirDisplay = runtimeDirAbs;
+      try {
+        await mkdir(runtimeDirAbs, { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 });
+      } catch (fallbackError) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `Cannot create background task storage at ${projectDir} (${code}) or ${runtimeDirAbs}: ${fallbackError instanceof Error ? fallbackError.message : String(fallbackError)}`,
+          { cause: fallbackError },
+        );
+      }
+    }
     this.runtimeDir = { abs: runtimeDirAbs, display: runtimeDirDisplay };
     return this.runtimeDir;
   }
diff --git a/node_modules/pi-background-tasks/src/extension.ts b/node_modules/pi-background-tasks/src/extension.ts
index 3afbd8e..d003a57 100644
--- a/node_modules/pi-background-tasks/src/extension.ts
+++ b/node_modules/pi-background-tasks/src/extension.ts
@@ -473,14 +473,15 @@ export default function backgroundTasksExtension(pi: ExtensionAPI): void {
   pi.on('session_start', async (_event, ctx) => {
     registry.setShuttingDown(false);
     currentCtx = ctx;
-    await registry.ensureRuntimeDir(ctx);
+    // Privateer: no project writes just to open a session. Each task-start path
+    // creates its runtime directory on demand, with a per-user fallback.
     updateUi(ctx);
     if (statusInterval) clearInterval(statusInterval);
     statusInterval = setInterval(() => {
       updateUi();
     }, STATUS_INTERVAL_MS);
-    // One-shot, non-blocking: never awaited on the session-start path or the status tick.
-    void scheduleUpdateCheck(ctx);
+    // Privateer: update check disabled. Privateer manages updates at the distribution
+    // level via `privateer update`; individual tool packs shouldn't check npm or prompt /bg-update.
   });
 
   pi.on('session_shutdown', async (_event, ctx) => {
@@ -565,22 +566,11 @@ export default function backgroundTasksExtension(pi: ExtensionAPI): void {
   });
 
   pi.registerCommand('bg-update', {
-    description: 'Show how to update pi-background-tasks to the latest published version',
+    description: 'Show update guidance for background tasks in Privateer',
     handler: (_args, ctx) => {
-      const current = PACKAGE_VERSION ?? 'unknown';
-      const latest = latestKnownVersion;
-      const pinnedNpm = latest ? `${PACKAGE_NAME}@${latest}` : `${PACKAGE_NAME}@<version>`;
       const lines = [
-        latest
-          ? `pi-background-tasks ${current} is installed; ${latest} is the latest published version.`
-          : `pi-background-tasks ${current} is installed.`,
-        'Update from npm:',
-        `  pi install npm:${PACKAGE_NAME}@latest`,
-        `  pi install npm:${pinnedNpm}`,
-        'Git releases are independent of npm versions; use main only when you want current repository state:',
-        `  pi install ${GIT_INSTALL_TARGET}@main`,
-        `For a pinned git release, first verify the tag exists, then use ${GIT_INSTALL_TARGET}@<existing-tag>.`,
-        'This command only prints update instructions; it does not install or self-update.',
+        'pi-background-tasks is built into Privateer.',
+        'To update Privateer and bundled tools, run: privateer update',
       ];
       ctx.ui.notify(lines.join('\n'), 'info');
       return Promise.resolve();
@@ -682,7 +672,7 @@ export default function backgroundTasksExtension(pi: ExtensionAPI): void {
   pi.registerTool<typeof BgRunParams, BgRunDetails>({
     name: 'bg_run',
     label: 'Background Run',
-    description: `Start a named long-running shell command in the background and return immediately with a task ID and output path. By default, completed, failed, or killed terminal state is delivered automatically as <background-task-notification> and starts a follow-up agent turn; do not sleep or poll merely to wait. Output is written to .pi/tasks and model-visible logs are bounded to ${formatSize(MAX_LOG_BYTES)}.`,
+    description: `Start a named long-running shell command in the background and return immediately with a task ID and output path. By default, completed, failed, or killed terminal state is delivered automatically as <background-task-notification> and starts a follow-up agent turn; do not sleep or poll merely to wait. Output is written to .pi/tasks (or per-user agent storage when the project denies writes); use the returned output path. Model-visible logs are bounded to ${formatSize(MAX_LOG_BYTES)}.`,
     promptSnippet:
       'Start a named long-running shell command; default terminal notification wakes a follow-up turn, so yield instead of polling',
     promptGuidelines: [