diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cli.ts b/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
index 853009cb1..4c631d5b3 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
-import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
 import {
   buildSchemaContext,
   createBackend,
@@ -9,6 +8,7 @@ import {
   evaluateSqlSafety,
   formatSchemaContext,
   getDbxDiagnostics,
+  isMainModule,
   postBridge,
   sqlSafetyFromEnv,
   type Backend,
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ async function main() {
   process.exitCode = result.exitCode;
 }
 
-if (process.argv[1] && import.meta.url === pathToFileURL(process.argv[1]).href) {
+if (isMainModule(import.meta.url, process.argv[1])) {
   main().catch((error) => {
     console.error(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error));
     process.exitCode = 1;
diff --git a/packages/cli/tests/bin.test.ts b/packages/cli/tests/bin.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6d5c9ff16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/tests/bin.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { mkdtemp, rm, symlink } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import test from "node:test";
+
+const packageDir = fileURLToPath(new URL("..", import.meta.url));
+const cliSource = fileURLToPath(new URL("../src/cli.ts", import.meta.url));
+
+test("prints version when invoked through an npm-style symlink", async () => {
+  const bin = await symlinkedCli();
+  try {
+    const result = runDbx(bin, ["--version"]);
+
+    assert.equal(result.status, 0);
+    assert.match(result.stdout, /^\d+\.\d+\.\d+\n$/);
+    assert.equal(result.stderr, "");
+  } finally {
+    await rm(bin.dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test("prints capabilities when invoked through an npm-style symlink", async () => {
+  const bin = await symlinkedCli();
+  try {
+    const result = runDbx(bin, ["capabilities", "--json"]);
+
+    assert.equal(result.status, 0);
+    assert.equal(result.stderr, "");
+    const payload = JSON.parse(result.stdout) as { directQueryTypes: string[]; bridgeRequiredTypes: string[] };
+    assert.ok(payload.directQueryTypes.includes("postgres"));
+    assert.ok(payload.bridgeRequiredTypes.includes("oracle"));
+  } finally {
+    await rm(bin.dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+async function symlinkedCli() {
+  const dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "dbx-cli-bin-"));
+  const path = join(dir, "dbx");
+  await symlink(cliSource, path);
+  return { dir, path };
+}
+
+function runDbx(bin: { path: string }, args: string[]) {
+  return spawnSync(process.execPath, ["--import", "tsx", bin.path, ...args], {
+    cwd: packageDir,
+    encoding: "utf-8",
+  });
+}
diff --git a/packages/mcp-server/src/index.ts b/packages/mcp-server/src/index.ts
index a34d58980..4231cfdb7 100644
--- a/packages/mcp-server/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/mcp-server/src/index.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
 import { StdioServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js";
 import { createRequire } from "node:module";
-import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
 import { z } from "zod";
 import {
   buildSchemaContext,
@@ -11,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   evaluateSqlSafety,
   formatCell,
   formatSchemaContext,
+  isMainModule,
   mdTable,
   notifyReload,
   parseMongoAggregateCommand,
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ async function main() {
   await server.connect(transport);
 }
 
-if (process.argv[1] && import.meta.url === pathToFileURL(process.argv[1]).href) {
+if (isMainModule(import.meta.url, process.argv[1])) {
   main().catch((e) => {
     console.error("MCP Server failed to start:", e);
     process.exit(1);
diff --git a/packages/node-core/package.json b/packages/node-core/package.json
index f593f6bcf..e9dd6ca4c 100644
--- a/packages/node-core/package.json
+++ b/packages/node-core/package.json
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
     "./connections": "./dist/connections.js",
     "./database": "./dist/database.js",
     "./diagnostics": "./dist/diagnostics.js",
+    "./entrypoint": "./dist/entrypoint.js",
     "./format": "./dist/format.js",
     "./paths": "./dist/paths.js",
     "./schema-context": "./dist/schema-context.js",
diff --git a/packages/node-core/src/entrypoint.ts b/packages/node-core/src/entrypoint.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4bfec99fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/node-core/src/entrypoint.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { realpathSync } from "node:fs";
+import { normalize, resolve } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+
+export function isMainModule(moduleUrl: string, argvPath: string | undefined): boolean {
+  if (!argvPath) return false;
+  return normalizeEntryPath(fileURLToPath(moduleUrl)) === normalizeEntryPath(argvPath);
+}
+
+function normalizeEntryPath(path: string): string {
+  const normalized = normalize(realpathIfPossible(resolve(path)));
+  return process.platform === "win32" ? normalized.toLowerCase() : normalized;
+}
+
+function realpathIfPossible(path: string): string {
+  try {
+    return realpathSync.native(path);
+  } catch {
+    return path;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/node-core/src/index.ts b/packages/node-core/src/index.ts
index 78899660d..be93ef12e 100644
--- a/packages/node-core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/node-core/src/index.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ export * from "./bridge.js";
 export * from "./connections.js";
 export * from "./database.js";
 export * from "./diagnostics.js";
+export * from "./entrypoint.js";
 export * from "./format.js";
 export * from "./paths.js";
 export * from "./schema-context.js";
diff --git a/packages/node-core/tests/entrypoint.test.ts b/packages/node-core/tests/entrypoint.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b0a423799
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/node-core/tests/entrypoint.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, rm, symlink, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
+import test from "node:test";
+import { isMainModule } from "../src/entrypoint.js";
+
+test("matches a module invoked through its real file path", async () => {
+  const dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "dbx-entrypoint-"));
+  try {
+    const entry = join(dir, "cli.js");
+    await writeFile(entry, "", "utf-8");
+
+    assert.equal(isMainModule(pathToFileURL(entry).href, entry), true);
+  } finally {
+    await rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test("matches a module invoked through an npm-style symlink", async () => {
+  const dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "dbx-entrypoint-"));
+  try {
+    const entry = join(dir, "dist", "cli.js");
+    const bin = join(dir, "dbx");
+    await mkdir(join(dir, "dist"));
+    await writeFile(entry, "", "utf-8");
+    await symlink(entry, bin);
+
+    assert.equal(isMainModule(pathToFileURL(entry).href, bin), true);
+  } finally {
+    await rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test("does not match a different entry file", async () => {
+  const dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "dbx-entrypoint-"));
+  try {
+    const entry = join(dir, "cli.js");
+    const other = join(dir, "other.js");
+    await writeFile(entry, "", "utf-8");
+    await writeFile(other, "", "utf-8");
+
+    assert.equal(isMainModule(pathToFileURL(entry).href, other), false);
+  } finally {
+    await rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});