diff --git a/plugin-kit/package.json b/plugin-kit/package.json
index c53efb8e..c4cf6fad 100644
--- a/plugin-kit/package.json
+++ b/plugin-kit/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
 	"name": "@punktfunk/plugin-kit",
-	"version": "0.3.0",
+	"version": "0.3.1",
 	"description": "Effect-based framework for punktfunk plugins: lifecycle runtime, config/state, sync engine, UI serving, CLI scaffold, and browser helpers.",
 	"type": "module",
 	"license": "MIT OR Apache-2.0",
diff --git a/plugin-kit/src/cli.ts b/plugin-kit/src/cli.ts
index fcad0385..2535a5e6 100644
--- a/plugin-kit/src/cli.ts
+++ b/plugin-kit/src/cli.ts
@@ -73,7 +73,13 @@ export const runPluginCli = async <E, R>(opts: {
 	const rt = ManagedRuntime.make(Layer.provideMerge(opts.def.layer, base));
 	try {
 		await rt.runPromise(Effect.scoped(command.run(rest)));
-		process.exitCode = 0;
+		// Do NOT clobber a non-zero code the command set deliberately. `parity --compare` reports a
+		// mismatch by setting `process.exitCode = 1` and then RETURNING normally — a red parity is a
+		// finished comparison, not a crashed command. Assigning 0 here unconditionally overwrote it,
+		// so the one verb documented as a release gate ("exits non-zero on any difference", "do not
+		// publish a version whose parity run is red") always exited 0, and any scripted use of it
+		// passed. MEASURED against a live host on 2026-08-06: `parity FAILED — 1 missing`, exit 0.
+		process.exitCode ??= 0;
 	} catch (e) {
 		const hint =
 			e instanceof HostRequestError
diff --git a/plugin-kit/src/library/parsers/sqlite.ts b/plugin-kit/src/library/parsers/sqlite.ts
index 6831796b..df08298b 100644
--- a/plugin-kit/src/library/parsers/sqlite.ts
+++ b/plugin-kit/src/library/parsers/sqlite.ts
@@ -4,9 +4,22 @@
 // opened it read-write could take a write lock, create `-wal`/`-shm` sidecars next to it, or (worst
 // case) be blamed for a corrupted library. `immutable=1` promises the file will not change while
 // open, which makes Bun skip locking entirely — the strictest possible "look, don't touch".
-import { Database } from "bun:sqlite";
+import { constants, Database } from "bun:sqlite";
 import { isFile } from "./fs.js";
 
+/**
+ * READONLY | URI, passed as raw open flags.
+ *
+ * The `{ readonly: true }` options object does NOT enable SQLite's URI filename parsing, so a
+ * `file:…?immutable=1` name is taken literally, no such file exists, and the open throws
+ * `SQLiteError: unable to open database file`. Every caller here degrades an open failure to
+ * "launcher not installed", so that turned into a silent, total "0 games" on every box — see the
+ * regression test in test/library-parsers.test.ts. SQLITE_OPEN_URI is what makes the query string
+ * mean anything. (`{ readonly: true, uri: true }` is not a thing — measured on bun 1.3.14.)
+ */
+const OPEN_READONLY_URI =
+	constants.SQLITE_OPEN_READONLY | constants.SQLITE_OPEN_URI;
+
 export interface ReadOnlyDb {
 	/** Run a query and return its rows. Returns `[]` rather than throwing on a bad query. */
 	readonly query: <T = Record<string, unknown>>(
@@ -29,7 +42,9 @@ export const openReadOnly = (file: string): ReadOnlyDb | undefined => {
 		// `readonly` alone still takes locks and can spawn WAL sidecars; `immutable=1` is what makes
 		// this a pure read. It is safe here precisely because a scan is a point-in-time snapshot —
 		// if the launcher writes mid-scan we simply pick it up on the next sync.
-		db = new Database(`file:${encodeURI(file)}?immutable=1`, { readonly: true });
+		// The flags (not `{ readonly: true }`) are load-bearing: without SQLITE_OPEN_URI the name
+		// below is not parsed as a URI and the open always fails. See OPEN_READONLY_URI.
+		db = new Database(`file:${encodeURI(file)}?immutable=1`, OPEN_READONLY_URI);
 	} catch {
 		return undefined;
 	}
diff --git a/plugin-kit/test/library-parsers.test.ts b/plugin-kit/test/library-parsers.test.ts
index 8c038cd3..ae290c7d 100644
--- a/plugin-kit/test/library-parsers.test.ts
+++ b/plugin-kit/test/library-parsers.test.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 // per-plugin parity harness (design M5) then checks the whole pipeline against a live host, but
 // these catch a drift long before that.
 import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { Database } from "bun:sqlite";
 import * as fs from "node:fs";
 import * as os from "node:os";
 import * as path from "node:path";
@@ -17,6 +18,8 @@ import {
 	fileUrl,
 	gridFilenames,
 	isSteamTool,
+	withReadOnlyDb,
+	openReadOnly,
 	parseAppManifest,
 	parseRegQuery,
 	parseShortcuts,
@@ -287,3 +290,79 @@ describe("reg.exe output", () => {
 		]);
 	});
 });
+
+// The read-only SQLite helper, against a REAL database file.
+//
+// This exists because its absence shipped a total failure. `openReadOnly` built a
+// `file:…?immutable=1` URI but opened it with `{ readonly: true }`, which does not enable SQLite's
+// URI filename parsing — so the name was taken literally, the open threw, and `openReadOnly`
+// returned `undefined`. Every caller reads that as "this launcher isn't installed", and
+// `withReadOnlyDb(...) ?? []` turns it into an empty library. The lutris plugin therefore reported
+// "0 games" on every box, forever, while `detect` still said "present" (it only stats the file) —
+// and the only thing that caught it was a hand-run parity gate against a live host.
+//
+// So: assert the helper can actually READ, not merely that it returns something.
+describe("openReadOnly", () => {
+	const withDb = <T>(use: (file: string) => T): T => {
+		const dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "pf-kit-sqlite-"));
+		const file = path.join(dir, "pga.db");
+		const seed = new Database(file);
+		seed.run("CREATE TABLE games (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT, installed INT)");
+		seed.run("INSERT INTO games (id, name, installed) VALUES (1, 'Ubisoft Connect', 1)");
+		seed.close();
+		try {
+			return use(file);
+		} finally {
+			fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+		}
+	};
+
+	test("opens a real database and returns its rows", () => {
+		withDb((file) => {
+			const db = openReadOnly(file);
+			expect(db).toBeDefined();
+			expect(db?.query("SELECT id, name FROM games WHERE installed = 1")).toEqual([
+				{ id: 1, name: "Ubisoft Connect" },
+			]);
+			db?.close();
+		});
+	});
+
+	// A path with a space is the realistic URI-encoding case (Flatpak roots, "Program Files").
+	test("opens a path that needs URI escaping", () => {
+		const dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "pf kit sqlite "));
+		const file = path.join(dir, "pga.db");
+		const seed = new Database(file);
+		seed.run("CREATE TABLE games (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY)");
+		seed.run("INSERT INTO games (id) VALUES (7)");
+		seed.close();
+		try {
+			expect(openReadOnly(file)?.query("SELECT id FROM games")).toEqual([{ id: 7 }]);
+		} finally {
+			fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+		}
+	});
+
+	test("withReadOnlyDb reads, then closes", () => {
+		withDb((file) => {
+			expect(withReadOnlyDb(file, (h) => h.query("SELECT name FROM games"))).toEqual([
+				{ name: "Ubisoft Connect" },
+			]);
+		});
+	});
+
+	// The "not installed" contract — an absent file is `undefined`, never a throw.
+	test("absent file is undefined, not an error", () => {
+		expect(openReadOnly(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "pf-kit-nope", "pga.db"))).toBeUndefined();
+		expect(withReadOnlyDb(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "pf-kit-nope", "pga.db"), () => 1)).toBeUndefined();
+	});
+
+	// Schema drift degrades to no rows rather than taking the plugin down.
+	test("a bad query returns [] rather than throwing", () => {
+		withDb((file) => {
+			const db = openReadOnly(file);
+			expect(db?.query("SELECT missing_column FROM games")).toEqual([]);
+			db?.close();
+		});
+	});
+});