diff --git a/plugin/core/claude/sdk-adapter.ts b/plugin/core/claude/sdk-adapter.ts
index 96d1349..7467320 100644
--- a/plugin/core/claude/sdk-adapter.ts
+++ b/plugin/core/claude/sdk-adapter.ts
@@ -158,10 +158,29 @@ export async function* dispatchToClaude(
   // detached:true puts claude in its own process group. Claude's Bash tool
   // occasionally leaks shells/ssh that keep claude alive past end-of-turn; when
   // that happens we SIGKILL the whole group rather than wait forever.
+  // Sanitize NODE_OPTIONS before spawning. Claude Code is a Node CLI; if
+  // the parent gateway runs with `NODE_OPTIONS=--inspect=...:9229`, every
+  // child Node process — including claude — tries to bind the same inspector
+  // port, fails (EADDRINUSE), and exits SILENTLY (no stdout, no stderr).
+  // Bridge then sees an empty stream and reports `claude did not return a
+  // session_id` with no useful diagnostic. Strip any --inspect* /
+  // --inspect-brk* / --debug* flag from NODE_OPTIONS; keep everything else
+  // (e.g. --max-old-space-size) in case operators depend on it.
+  const childEnv: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = { ...process.env };
+  if (childEnv.NODE_OPTIONS) {
+    const filtered = childEnv.NODE_OPTIONS
+      .split(/\s+/)
+      .filter((tok) => tok && !tok.startsWith("--inspect") && !tok.startsWith("--debug"))
+      .join(" ")
+      .trim();
+    if (filtered) childEnv.NODE_OPTIONS = filtered;
+    else delete childEnv.NODE_OPTIONS;
+  }
+
   const child = spawn("claude", args, {
     cwd: workspace,
     stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
-    env: { ...process.env },
+    env: childEnv,
     detached: true,
   });
 
diff --git a/plugin/core/gemini/sdk-adapter.ts b/plugin/core/gemini/sdk-adapter.ts
index d3d935e..ab71436 100644
--- a/plugin/core/gemini/sdk-adapter.ts
+++ b/plugin/core/gemini/sdk-adapter.ts
@@ -156,10 +156,24 @@ export async function* dispatchToGemini(
     args.push("--resume", resumeSessionId);
   }
 
+  // Sanitize NODE_OPTIONS before spawning — same reason as the claude
+  // adapter: gemini-cli is a Node binary; inheriting a parent
+  // `NODE_OPTIONS=--inspect=...:9229` makes every child silently EADDRINUSE.
+  const childEnv: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = { ...process.env };
+  if (childEnv.NODE_OPTIONS) {
+    const filtered = childEnv.NODE_OPTIONS
+      .split(/\s+/)
+      .filter((tok) => tok && !tok.startsWith("--inspect") && !tok.startsWith("--debug"))
+      .join(" ")
+      .trim();
+    if (filtered) childEnv.NODE_OPTIONS = filtered;
+    else delete childEnv.NODE_OPTIONS;
+  }
+
   const child = spawn("gemini", args, {
     cwd: workspace,
     stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
-    env: { ...process.env },
+    env: childEnv,
   });
 
   const stderrLines: string[] = [];