diff --git a/apply.sh b/apply.sh
index d77a484..4e0fc78 100755
--- a/apply.sh
+++ b/apply.sh
@@ -18,8 +18,7 @@ if [[ -z "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-}" ]]; then
     git clone "$REPO_URL" "$TARGET" || { echo "✗ git clone failed"; exit 1; }
   fi
   # Pass DEV_ROOT explicitly — local mode must not guess it from script location
-  # Reopen stdin from /dev/tty so local mode can prompt interactively
-  exec bash "$TARGET/apply.sh" --bootstrapped "$DEV_ROOT" </dev/tty
+  exec bash "$TARGET/apply.sh" --bootstrapped "$DEV_ROOT"
 fi
 
 # ── Guard — block direct invocation ──────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -78,9 +77,9 @@ setup_project() {
   # FR-5 + FR-6: docs
   local docs="$project/docs"
   if [[ ! -d "$docs" ]]; then
-    if [[ -t 0 ]]; then
+    if [[ -t 0 ]] || [[ -e /dev/tty ]]; then
       printf "  ?  no docs/ folder — create it? [y/N] "
-      read -r answer
+      read -r answer </dev/tty
       if [[ "${answer,,}" == "y" ]]; then
         mkdir -p "$docs"
         echo "  ✓  created docs/"