diff --git a/src/commands/bar/index.ts b/src/commands/bar/index.ts
index 27ecb28b..f12d8cd4 100644
--- a/src/commands/bar/index.ts
+++ b/src/commands/bar/index.ts
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ export async function handleBarCommand(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
   if (!handler) {
     console.error(`[X] Unknown bar subcommand: ${subcommand}`);
     console.error('[i] Usage: ccs bar [launch|serve|stop|status|install|uninstall|version|--help]');
+    process.exitCode = 1;
     return;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/dispatcher/pre-dispatch.ts b/src/dispatcher/pre-dispatch.ts
index aef943c6..e5c0d4eb 100644
--- a/src/dispatcher/pre-dispatch.ts
+++ b/src/dispatcher/pre-dispatch.ts
@@ -68,10 +68,19 @@ export async function runPreDispatchHandlers(ctx: PreDispatchContext): Promise<b
   }
 
   // Auto-migrate to unified config format (silent if already migrated)
-  // Skip if user is explicitly running migrate command
+  // Skip if user is explicitly running migrate command.
+  // Wrapped in try-catch so a corrupt config.yaml does not crash pre-dispatch
+  // before doctor/setup can run and report the problem to the user.
   if (firstArg !== 'migrate') {
-    const { autoMigrate } = await import('../config/migration-manager');
-    await autoMigrate();
+    try {
+      const { autoMigrate } = await import('../config/migration-manager');
+      await autoMigrate();
+    } catch (err) {
+      cliLogger.warn('migration.failed', 'Auto-migration failed (config may be corrupt)', {
+        message: (err as Error).message,
+      });
+      // Do not print the error again — loadUnifiedConfig already printed the YAML details.
+    }
   }
 
   // Auto-recovery for missing configuration (BEFORE any early-exit commands)
@@ -90,8 +99,10 @@ export async function runPreDispatchHandlers(ctx: PreDispatchContext): Promise<b
     cliLogger.warn('recovery.failed', 'Auto-recovery failed during CLI startup', {
       message: (err as Error).message,
     });
-    // Recovery is best-effort - don't block basic CLI functionality
-    console.warn('[!] Recovery failed:', (err as Error).message);
+    // Recovery is best-effort - don't block basic CLI functionality. Use only the
+    // first line: a YAML parse error embeds a multi-line snippet the loader already
+    // printed, so re-emitting it here just duplicates the noise.
+    console.warn('[!] Recovery failed:', (err as Error).message.split('\n')[0].trim());
   }
 
   // Root command router (handles --help, --version, config, doctor, etc.)
@@ -112,12 +123,18 @@ export async function runPreDispatchHandlers(ctx: PreDispatchContext): Promise<b
   }
 
   // Special case: copilot command (GitHub Copilot integration)
-  // Route known subcommands to command handler, keep all other args as profile passthrough.
+  // Route known subcommands AND unknown tokens to the command handler so the
+  // default case can print "[X] Unknown subcommand: <token>" and exit 1.
+  // Unknown tokens that are NOT subcommand-like are kept as profile passthrough.
   if (firstArg === 'copilot' && args.length > 1) {
     const copilotToken = args[1];
-    const shouldRouteToCopilotCommand = isCopilotSubcommandToken(copilotToken);
+    const isKnownSubcommand = isCopilotSubcommandToken(copilotToken);
+    // Route any non-flag, non-profile-looking second token to the handler so
+    // the default branch fires with the correct error message.
+    const looksLikeCopilotSubcmd =
+      isKnownSubcommand || (typeof copilotToken === 'string' && !copilotToken.startsWith('-'));
 
-    if (shouldRouteToCopilotCommand) {
+    if (looksLikeCopilotSubcmd) {
       const { handleCopilotCommand } = await import('../commands/copilot-command');
       const exitCode = await handleCopilotCommand(args.slice(1));
       process.exit(exitCode);
@@ -125,14 +142,11 @@ export async function runPreDispatchHandlers(ctx: PreDispatchContext): Promise<b
   }
 
   // Special case: explicit legacy Cursor bridge namespace.
+  // Route ALL tokens (known and unknown) so the default case can report the error.
   if (firstArg === LEGACY_CURSOR_PROFILE_NAME && args.length > 1) {
     const { handleCursorCommand } = await import('../commands/cursor-command');
-    const cursorToken = args[1];
-
-    if (isCursorSubcommandToken(cursorToken)) {
-      const exitCode = await handleCursorCommand(args.slice(1));
-      process.exit(exitCode);
-    }
+    const exitCode = await handleCursorCommand(args.slice(1));
+    process.exit(exitCode);
   }
 
   // Compatibility shim: old `ccs cursor <subcommand>` still forwards to the legacy bridge