diff --git a/bin/claude-rc b/bin/claude-rc
index 08feff2..7adaf00 100755
--- a/bin/claude-rc
+++ b/bin/claude-rc
@@ -68,12 +68,7 @@ case "$cmd" in
         # prompts "Choose [1/2]" for spawn mode and blocks forever. Default to
         # worktree (isolated session per spawn — safe for concurrent agents);
         # override per-instance with CLAUDE_RC_SPAWN=same-dir|session.
-        # --permission-mode sets the mode for spawned sessions; bypassPermissions
-        # so phone/web sessions run without permission prompts (override with
-        # CLAUDE_RC_PERM=default|acceptEdits|plan|...).
-        exec claude rc --name "$name" \
-            --spawn "${CLAUDE_RC_SPAWN:-worktree}" \
-            --permission-mode "${CLAUDE_RC_PERM:-bypassPermissions}"
+        exec claude rc --name "$name" --spawn "${CLAUDE_RC_SPAWN:-worktree}"
         ;;
     list|ls)
         printf '%-16s %-10s %s\n' NAME STATE DIR
diff --git a/bin/crc b/bin/crc
index 64dc725..19f132c 100755
--- a/bin/crc
+++ b/bin/crc
@@ -7,10 +7,14 @@
 # mobile app. It must keep running after you disconnect — so crc parks it in a
 # named tmux session on the host (same durability trick as tssh/remote-run).
 #
+# This is for INTERACTIVE, ad-hoc use — you watch it connect, grab the URL, then
+# detach (Ctrl-b d) and it keeps running until the host reboots. For servers
+# that must survive a reboot, use a systemd --user unit running `claude rc`
+# directly instead (see the claude-rc@ units on apricot).
+#
 # The tmux session name is derived from the directory, so re-running crc for the
 # same host+dir RE-ATTACHES the existing server instead of starting a second
-# one. Detach with Ctrl-b d; the server keeps running. Reattach with the same
-# crc command.
+# one. Detach with Ctrl-b d; reattach with the same crc command.
 #
 # Usage:
 #   crc                          # apricot.lan, mirror of $PWD
@@ -20,14 +24,6 @@
 #   crc -n ...                   # open a NEW iTerm window instead of current tab
 #   crc -h | --help
 #
-# Options:
-#   -s, --session <name>   override the derived tmux session name (so a boot
-#                          unit and an interactive attach share ONE session)
-#   --ensure               start the session detached if not already running,
-#                          then exit (no attach) — for systemd / scripting
-#   --respawn              run `claude rc` in a restart loop inside the session,
-#                          so a crash is recovered without systemd intervention
-#
 # host may be any ssh target (alias, user@host, IP), or local/./localhost to run
 # on this machine. When <dir> is omitted, $PWD is mirrored to the same path
 # under the remote's $HOME (like rclaude); paths outside $HOME fall back to ~.
@@ -40,15 +36,10 @@ set -eu
 host=${CRC_HOST:-apricot.lan}
 new_window=0
 dry_run=0
-session_override=''
-ensure=0
-respawn=0
 
-usage() { sed -n '2,37p' "$0" | sed 's/^# \{0,1\}//'; }
+usage() { sed -n '2,31p' "$0" | sed 's/^# \{0,1\}//'; }
 
 # --- arg parse -------------------------------------------------------------
-positional=''         # collected host/dir (max 2), space-free tokens unsafe so
-                       # we track count explicitly
 have_host=0
 dir_set=0
 dir=''
@@ -59,11 +50,6 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
         -h|--help) usage; exit 0 ;;
         -n|--new-window) new_window=1; shift ;;
         --dry-run) dry_run=1; shift ;;
-        -s|--session)
-            [ $# -ge 2 ] || { echo "crc: $1 needs a value" >&2; exit 2; }
-            session_override=$2; shift 2 ;;
-        --ensure) ensure=1; shift ;;
-        --respawn) respawn=1; shift ;;
         --) shift; rc_args=$*; break ;;
         -*) echo "crc: unknown option: $1" >&2; exit 2 ;;
         *)
@@ -79,9 +65,8 @@ done
 if [ "$new_window" -eq 1 ]; then
     cmd="crc"
     [ $have_host -eq 1 ] && cmd="$cmd $(printf %q "$host")"
-    [ $dir_set -eq 1 ]        && cmd="$cmd $(printf %q "$dir")"
-    [ -n "$session_override" ] && cmd="$cmd --session $(printf %q "$session_override")"
-    [ -n "$rc_args" ]         && cmd="$cmd -- $rc_args"
+    [ $dir_set -eq 1 ]   && cmd="$cmd $(printf %q "$dir")"
+    [ -n "$rc_args" ]    && cmd="$cmd -- $rc_args"
     escaped=$(printf %s "$cmd" | sed -e 's/\\/\\\\/g' -e 's/"/\\"/g')
     osascript <<OSA
 tell application "iTerm"
@@ -101,7 +86,14 @@ abs=''
 slug_src=''
 if [ $dir_set -eq 1 ]; then
     abs=$dir
-    slug_src=$dir
+    # Normalize the slug source so ~/x, $HOME/x and /abs/$HOME/x all yield the
+    # same session name (the shell may have already expanded ~ to $HOME before
+    # crc saw it) — otherwise attach-or-create can't find an existing session.
+    case "$dir" in
+        "$HOME"/*) slug_src=${dir#"$HOME"/} ;;
+        '~/'*)     slug_src=${dir#\~/} ;;
+        *)         slug_src=$dir ;;
+    esac
 else
     case "$PWD" in
         "$HOME") rel='' ; slug_src='home' ;;
@@ -122,10 +114,9 @@ fi
 
 # --- build the remote bootstrap (base64'd to survive all quoting layers) ----
 # Decoded and run by `sh` on the far side. Resolves DIR, validates it, then
-# starts `claude rc` in a tmux session under a login shell (so ~/.local/bin,
-# where claude lives, is on PATH). tmux -c sets the session start-dir, avoiding
-# a fragile inner `cd "$DIR"`. ENSURE=1 → start detached if absent, no attach.
-# RESPAWN=1 → wrap claude rc in a restart loop so crashes self-heal.
+# exec's tmux new-session -A (attach-or-create) running `claude rc` under a
+# login shell (so ~/.local/bin, where claude lives, is on PATH). tmux -c sets
+# the session start-dir, so no fragile inner `cd "$DIR"` is needed.
 boot=$(cat <<BOOT
 REL=$(printf %q "$rel")
 ABS=$(printf %q "$abs")
@@ -142,21 +133,7 @@ if ! cd "\$DIR" 2>/dev/null; then
     echo "crc: directory not found on host: \$DIR" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
-SH=\${SHELL:-/bin/sh}
-if [ "\$RESPAWN" = 1 ]; then
-    CMD="\$SH -lc 'while true; do claude rc \$RC_ARGS; sleep 3; done'"
-else
-    CMD="\$SH -lc 'exec claude rc \$RC_ARGS'"
-fi
-if [ "\$ENSURE" = 1 ]; then
-    if tmux has-session -t "\$SESS" 2>/dev/null; then
-        echo "crc: \$SESS already running" >&2
-    else
-        tmux new-session -d -c "\$DIR" -s "\$SESS" "\$CMD" && echo "crc: started detached \$SESS" >&2
-    fi
-else
-    exec tmux new-session -A -c "\$DIR" -s "\$SESS" "\$CMD"
-fi
+exec tmux new-session -A -c "\$DIR" -s "\$SESS" "\${SHELL:-/bin/sh} -lc 'exec claude rc \$RC_ARGS'"
 BOOT
 )
 boot_b64=$(printf %s "$boot" | base64 | tr -d '\n')