diff --git a/test/shell.d/omarchycn-ai-test.sh b/test/shell.d/omarchycn-ai-test.sh
index e67ef5ed..2fd1c60d 100755
--- a/test/shell.d/omarchycn-ai-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/omarchycn-ai-test.sh
@@ -149,7 +149,12 @@ chmod +x "$TEST_HOME/stubs/omarchy-mise-install"
 echo "sk-secret-1" | omarchy-cn-ai-secret set deepseek > /dev/null
 mkdir -p "$HOME/.claude"
 printf '{"permissions":{"allow":["Bash"]},"env":{"KEEP":"1"}}' > "$HOME/.claude/settings.json"
-omarchy-cn-ai-default good > /dev/null
+# Restricted PATH guarantees claude is absent so the installer branch runs
+restricted="$TEST_HOME/stubs:$ROOT/bin:/usr/bin:/bin"
+if PATH="$restricted" command -v claude > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+  fail "precondition: claude must not be visible on the restricted PATH"
+fi
+PATH="$restricted" omarchy-cn-ai-default good > /dev/null
 [[ $(jq -r '.env.KEEP' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json") == 1 ]] || fail "ai-default preserves user env"
 [[ $(jq -r '.permissions.allow[0]' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json") == Bash ]] || fail "ai-default preserves permissions"
 [[ $(jq -r '.env.ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json") == "https://api.deepseek.com/anthropic" ]] || fail "ai-default env written"