diff --git a/scarf/Packages/ScarfIOS/Sources/ScarfIOS/CitadelServerTransport.swift b/scarf/Packages/ScarfIOS/Sources/ScarfIOS/CitadelServerTransport.swift
index 0bca7bf..170b86e 100644
--- a/scarf/Packages/ScarfIOS/Sources/ScarfIOS/CitadelServerTransport.swift
+++ b/scarf/Packages/ScarfIOS/Sources/ScarfIOS/CitadelServerTransport.swift
@@ -407,8 +407,76 @@ public final class CitadelServerTransport: ServerTransport, @unchecked Sendable
         let remoteTmp = "/tmp/scarf-snapshot-\(UUID().uuidString).db"
         // Double-quote paths; $HOME expansion happens inside double quotes.
         let rewritten = Self.rewriteHomeRelative(remotePath)
-        let backupScript = #"sqlite3 "\#(rewritten)" ".backup '\#(remoteTmp)'" && sqlite3 '\#(remoteTmp)' "PRAGMA journal_mode=DELETE;" > /dev/null"#
-        _ = try await client.executeCommand(backupScript + " 2>&1")
+
+        // Prepend the same PATH prefix `asyncRunProcess` uses so `sqlite3`
+        // resolves on hosts where it lives in /usr/local/bin or
+        // /opt/homebrew/bin (issue #56). Citadel's bare exec channel
+        // inherits a stripped PATH (typically `/usr/bin:/bin` on Linux);
+        // without this, statically-linked or custom-prefix sqlite3
+        // installs fail "command not found" at exit 127.
+        let backupScript =
+            #"PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/local/bin:$PATH" "#
+            + #"sqlite3 "\#(rewritten)" ".backup '\#(remoteTmp)'" && sqlite3 '\#(remoteTmp)' "PRAGMA journal_mode=DELETE;" > /dev/null"#
+
+        // Drive `executeCommandStream` instead of `executeCommand` so we
+        // capture stderr regardless of exit code (issue #56). Pre-fix
+        // a non-zero exit threw `CommandFailed` and discarded the buffer
+        // — surfaced as the unhelpful "Citadel.SSHClient.CommandFailed
+        // error 1" banner. Now we propagate the real stderr so
+        // `HermesDataService.humanize` can translate "sqlite3: command
+        // not found" / "no such file" / "permission denied" into the
+        // dashboard banner with actionable copy.
+        let stream: AsyncThrowingStream<ExecCommandOutput, Error>
+        do {
+            stream = try await client.executeCommandStream(backupScript)
+        } catch {
+            throw NSError(
+                domain: "CitadelServerTransport",
+                code: -1,
+                userInfo: [NSLocalizedDescriptionKey: "Failed to start snapshot stream: \(error.localizedDescription)"]
+            )
+        }
+        var stdout = Data()
+        var stderr = Data()
+        var exitCode: Int32 = 0
+        do {
+            for try await chunk in stream {
+                switch chunk {
+                case .stdout(var buf):
+                    if let s = buf.readString(length: buf.readableBytes) {
+                        stdout.append(Data(s.utf8))
+                    }
+                case .stderr(var buf):
+                    if let s = buf.readString(length: buf.readableBytes) {
+                        stderr.append(Data(s.utf8))
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        } catch let failed as SSHClient.CommandFailed {
+            exitCode = Int32(failed.exitCode)
+        } catch {
+            stderr.append(Data(error.localizedDescription.utf8))
+            exitCode = -1
+        }
+        if exitCode != 0 {
+            // Combine stdout + stderr into the error message — sqlite3
+            // sometimes prints "Error: ..." on stdout depending on the
+            // remote shell. HermesDataService.humanize keys off
+            // substrings like "sqlite3: command not found",
+            // "permission denied", "no such file", so as long as one of
+            // them ends up in the message we get a useful banner.
+            let messageBytes = stderr.isEmpty ? stdout : stderr
+            let message = String(data: messageBytes, encoding: .utf8)?.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines) ?? ""
+            throw NSError(
+                domain: "CitadelServerTransport",
+                code: Int(exitCode),
+                userInfo: [
+                    NSLocalizedDescriptionKey: message.isEmpty
+                        ? "Snapshot exited \(exitCode) with no output (likely sqlite3 missing on remote)"
+                        : message
+                ]
+            )
+        }
 
         // SFTP-download the remote tmp into our local snapshot cache.
         let sftp = try await connectionHolder.sftp()