diff --git a/.tspm_home/.npmextra/kv/@git.zone__tspm.json b/.tspm_home/.npmextra/kv/@git.zone__tspm.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 3bbc9fb..010b42c 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 2025-08-29 - 4.4.2 - fix(daemon)
+Fix daemon IPC id handling, reload configs on demand and correct CLI daemon start path
+
+- Normalize process IDs in daemon IPC handlers (trim strings) to avoid lookup mismatches
+- Attempt to reload saved process configurations when a startById request cannot find a config (handles races/stale state)
+- Use normalized IDs in responses and messages for stop/restart/delete/remove/describe handlers
+- Fix CLI daemon start path to point at dist_ts/daemon/tspm.daemon.js when launching the background daemon
+- Ensure the IPC client disconnects after showing CLI version/status to avoid leaked connections
+
 ## 2025-08-29 - 4.4.1 - fix(cli)
 Use server-side start-by-id flow for starting processes
 
diff --git a/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts b/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
index d7eaac4..afc6976 100644
--- a/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
+++ b/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@
  */
 export const commitinfo = {
   name: '@git.zone/tspm',
-  version: '4.4.1',
+  version: '4.4.2',
   description: 'a no fuzz process manager'
 }
diff --git a/ts/cli/commands/daemon/index.ts b/ts/cli/commands/daemon/index.ts
index e00ca2a..ce7842a 100644
--- a/ts/cli/commands/daemon/index.ts
+++ b/ts/cli/commands/daemon/index.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ export function registerDaemonCommand(smartcli: plugins.smartcli.Smartcli) {
             const daemonScript = plugins.path.join(
               paths.packageDir,
               'dist_ts',
-              'daemon.js',
+              'daemon',
+              'tspm.daemon.js',
             );
 
             // Start daemon as a detached background process
diff --git a/ts/cli/index.ts b/ts/cli/index.ts
index 2cedf86..eb637c6 100644
--- a/ts/cli/index.ts
+++ b/ts/cli/index.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ export const run = async (): Promise<void> => {
     } else {
       console.log('Daemon: not running');
     }
+    // Ensure we disconnect any IPC client connection used for status
+    try { await tspmIpcClient.disconnect(); } catch {}
     return; // do not start parser
   }
   // Keep Smartcli version info for help output but not used for -v now
diff --git a/ts/daemon/tspm.daemon.ts b/ts/daemon/tspm.daemon.ts
index 3faedc7..dfa48ed 100644
--- a/ts/daemon/tspm.daemon.ts
+++ b/ts/daemon/tspm.daemon.ts
@@ -141,15 +141,21 @@ export class TspmDaemon {
       'startById',
       async (request: RequestForMethod<'startById'>) => {
         try {
-          const config = this.tspmInstance.processConfigs.get(request.id);
+          const id = String(request.id).trim();
+          let config = this.tspmInstance.processConfigs.get(id);
           if (!config) {
-            throw new Error(`Process ${request.id} not found`);
+            // Try to reload configs if not found (handles races or stale state)
+            await this.tspmInstance.loadProcessConfigs();
+            config = this.tspmInstance.processConfigs.get(id) || null as any;
           }
-          await this.tspmInstance.setDesiredState(request.id, 'online');
+          if (!config) {
+            throw new Error(`Process ${id} not found`);
+          }
+          await this.tspmInstance.setDesiredState(id, 'online');
           await this.tspmInstance.start(config);
-          const processInfo = this.tspmInstance.processInfo.get(request.id);
+          const processInfo = this.tspmInstance.processInfo.get(id);
           return {
-            processId: request.id,
+            processId: id,
             pid: processInfo?.pid,
             status: processInfo?.status || 'stopped',
           };
@@ -163,11 +169,12 @@ export class TspmDaemon {
       'stop',
       async (request: RequestForMethod<'stop'>) => {
         try {
-          await this.tspmInstance.setDesiredState(request.id, 'stopped');
-          await this.tspmInstance.stop(request.id);
+          const id = String(request.id).trim();
+          await this.tspmInstance.setDesiredState(id, 'stopped');
+          await this.tspmInstance.stop(id);
           return {
             success: true,
-            message: `Process ${request.id} stopped successfully`,
+            message: `Process ${id} stopped successfully`,
           };
         } catch (error) {
           throw new Error(`Failed to stop process: ${error.message}`);
@@ -179,11 +186,12 @@ export class TspmDaemon {
       'restart',
       async (request: RequestForMethod<'restart'>) => {
         try {
-          await this.tspmInstance.setDesiredState(request.id, 'online');
-          await this.tspmInstance.restart(request.id);
-          const processInfo = this.tspmInstance.processInfo.get(request.id);
+          const id = String(request.id).trim();
+          await this.tspmInstance.setDesiredState(id, 'online');
+          await this.tspmInstance.restart(id);
+          const processInfo = this.tspmInstance.processInfo.get(id);
           return {
-            processId: request.id,
+            processId: id,
             pid: processInfo?.pid,
             status: processInfo?.status || 'stopped',
           };
@@ -197,10 +205,11 @@ export class TspmDaemon {
       'delete',
       async (request: RequestForMethod<'delete'>) => {
         try {
-          await this.tspmInstance.delete(request.id);
+          const id = String(request.id).trim();
+          await this.tspmInstance.delete(id);
           return {
             success: true,
-            message: `Process ${request.id} deleted successfully`,
+            message: `Process ${id} deleted successfully`,
           };
         } catch (error) {
           throw new Error(`Failed to delete process: ${error.message}`);
@@ -226,8 +235,9 @@ export class TspmDaemon {
       'remove',
       async (request: RequestForMethod<'remove'>) => {
         try {
-          await this.tspmInstance.delete(request.id);
-          return { success: true, message: `Process ${request.id} deleted successfully` };
+          const id = String(request.id).trim();
+          await this.tspmInstance.delete(id);
+          return { success: true, message: `Process ${id} deleted successfully` };
         } catch (error) {
           throw new Error(`Failed to remove process: ${error.message}`);
         }
@@ -245,9 +255,10 @@ export class TspmDaemon {
     this.ipcServer.onMessage(
       'describe',
       async (request: RequestForMethod<'describe'>) => {
-        const result = await this.tspmInstance.describe(request.id);
+        const id = String(request.id).trim();
+        const result = await this.tspmInstance.describe(id);
         if (!result) {
-          throw new Error(`Process ${request.id} not found`);
+          throw new Error(`Process ${id} not found`);
         }
         // Return correctly shaped response
         return {