diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9d737b24..1873c257 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- `ctl.sh status` and `ctl.sh stop` now recognize daemons launched through a custom `HERMES_WEBUI_PYTHON` wrapper, keeping the Python 3.13 process-lifecycle regression tests stable without weakening stale-PID protection.
 - **PR #2136** by @LumenYoung — Stale stream writebacks no longer poison the active session transcript. `cancel_stream()` intentionally clears `active_stream_id` early so the UI can accept a follow-up turn while an old worker is unwinding — but the old worker could still return later from `run_conversation()` and persist its stale result over the newer transcript, causing visible transcript / turn journal / `state.db` to disagree (especially around cancel+retry on compressed continuations). Adds a single-line ownership check `_stream_writeback_is_current(session, stream_id)` (token equality against `session.active_stream_id`) and short-circuits both finalize paths: the success path in `_run_agent_streaming` and the cancel-handler path in `cancel_stream()`. When the stream no longer owns the writeback, both paths log `Skipping stale stream/cancel writeback` and return cleanly without persisting. 89-line regression suite in `tests/test_stale_stream_writeback.py`; companion updates to `tests/test_issue1361_cancel_data_loss.py` and `tests/test_sprint42.py` for the new return-without-persist behavior.
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/ctl.sh b/ctl.sh
index 1f41e497..132a146b 100755
--- a/ctl.sh
+++ b/ctl.sh
@@ -129,11 +129,12 @@ _build_bootstrap_args() {
 }
 
 _write_state() {
-  local pid="$1" host="$2" port="$3"
+  local pid="$1" host="$2" port="$3" python_exe="${4:-}"
   local state_dir="${HERMES_WEBUI_STATE_DIR:-${DEFAULT_STATE_DIR}}"
   {
     printf 'PID=%q\n' "${pid}"
     printf 'REPO_ROOT=%q\n' "${REPO_ROOT}"
+    printf 'PYTHON_EXE=%q\n' "${python_exe}"
     printf 'HOST=%q\n' "${host}"
     printf 'PORT=%q\n' "${port}"
     printf 'LOG_FILE=%q\n' "${LOG_FILE}"
@@ -168,14 +169,15 @@ _proc_args() {
 }
 
 _is_owned_webui_pid() {
-  local pid="$1" args state_repo=""
+  local pid="$1" args state_repo="" state_python=""
   [[ -f "${STATE_FILE}" ]] || return 1
   _load_state_if_present
   state_repo="${REPO_ROOT:-}"
+  state_python="${PYTHON_EXE:-}"
   [[ "${state_repo}" == "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)" ]] || return 1
   args="$(_proc_args "${pid}")"
   [[ -n "${args}" ]] || return 1
-  [[ "${args}" == *"${state_repo}/bootstrap.py"* || "${args}" == *"${state_repo}/server.py"* || "${args}" == *"${state_repo}/start.sh"* ]]
+  [[ "${args}" == *"${state_repo}/bootstrap.py"* || "${args}" == *"${state_repo}/server.py"* || "${args}" == *"${state_repo}/start.sh"* || ( -n "${state_python}" && "${args}" == *"${state_python}"* ) ]]
 }
 
 _current_pid() {
@@ -222,7 +224,7 @@ start_cmd() {
   pid=$!
 
   printf '%s\n' "${pid}" > "${PID_FILE}"
-  _write_state "${pid}" "${CTL_HOST}" "${CTL_PORT}"
+  _write_state "${pid}" "${CTL_HOST}" "${CTL_PORT}" "${python_exe}"
   sleep 0.15
   if ! _is_alive "${pid}"; then
     echo "[ctl] Hermes WebUI failed to stay running. Log: ${LOG_FILE}" >&2
diff --git a/tests/test_ctl_script.py b/tests/test_ctl_script.py
index ea5dc14b..95134fc9 100644
--- a/tests/test_ctl_script.py
+++ b/tests/test_ctl_script.py
@@ -75,6 +75,17 @@ def wait_for_pid_file(pid_file: Path, timeout: float = 3.0) -> int:
     raise AssertionError(f"PID file was not written: {pid_file}")
 
 
+def wait_for_file_text(path: Path, timeout: float = 3.0) -> str:
+    deadline = time.time() + timeout
+    while time.time() < deadline:
+        if path.exists():
+            text = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+            if text:
+                return text
+        time.sleep(0.05)
+    raise AssertionError(f"File was not written: {path}")
+
+
 def assert_process_exits(pid: int, timeout: float = 3.0) -> None:
     deadline = time.time() + timeout
     while time.time() < deadline:
@@ -110,7 +121,7 @@ def test_start_writes_pid_under_hermes_home_runs_foreground_no_browser_and_logs(
     try:
         assert pid > 1
         assert log_file.exists()
-        fake_output = fake_log.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        fake_output = wait_for_file_text(fake_log)
         assert "bootstrap.py --no-browser --foreground" in fake_output
         assert "host=0.0.0.0 port=18991" in fake_output
         assert str(hermes_home / "webui") in fake_output
@@ -154,7 +165,7 @@ def test_start_loads_dotenv_but_inline_overrides_win(tmp_path):
     assert result.returncode == 0, result.stderr + result.stdout
     pid = wait_for_pid_file(tmp_path / ".hermes" / "webui.pid")
     try:
-        fake_output = fake_log.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        fake_output = wait_for_file_text(fake_log)
         assert "fake-python args:" in fake_output
         assert "host=0.0.0.0 port=18888" in fake_output
     finally: