diff --git a/src/cli.js b/src/cli.js
index b5efda7..78f1e6a 100644
--- a/src/cli.js
+++ b/src/cli.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import { Command } from 'commander';
 import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { brand } from './lib/brand.js';
+import { USING_VIT_REMINDER } from './lib/constants.js';
 import registerAdopt from './cmd/adopt.js';
 import registerBeacon from './cmd/beacon.js';
 import registerConfig from './cmd/config.js';
@@ -52,4 +53,12 @@ registerHack(program);
 registerLink(program);
 registerInbox(program);
 
+program.addHelpText('after', USING_VIT_REMINDER);
+program.configureOutput({
+  outputError(str, write) {
+    write(str);
+    write(`${USING_VIT_REMINDER}\n`);
+  },
+});
+
 export { program };
diff --git a/src/lib/constants.js b/src/lib/constants.js
index 7645a33..5af16b4 100644
--- a/src/lib/constants.js
+++ b/src/lib/constants.js
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ export const VOUCH_COLLECTION = 'org.v-it.vouch';
 export const SKILL_COLLECTION = 'org.v-it.skill';
 export const DEFAULT_JETSTREAM_URL = 'wss://jetstream2.us-east.bsky.network/subscribe';
 export const DEFAULT_EXPLORE_URL = 'https://explore.v-it.org';
+export const USING_VIT_REMINDER = 'Load the using-vit skill before using this CLI.';
diff --git a/test/help-reminder.test.js b/test/help-reminder.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa29939
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/help-reminder.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+// Copyright (c) 2026 sol pbc
+
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { run } from './helpers.js';
+
+const R = 'Load the using-vit skill before using this CLI.';
+const pkg = JSON.parse(readFileSync(new URL('../package.json', import.meta.url), 'utf-8'));
+
+function count(haystack, needle) {
+  return haystack.split(needle).length - 1;
+}
+
+describe('using-vit skill reminder', () => {
+  test('--help prints the reminder once on stdout', () => {
+    const result = run('--help', '/tmp');
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain('Usage: vit');
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain('help [command]');
+    expect(count(result.stdout, R)).toBe(1);
+    expect(typeof result.stderr).toBe('string');
+    expect(result.stderr.length).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  test('bare invocation prints help and the reminder once on stderr', () => {
+    const result = run('', '/tmp');
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe('');
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain('Usage: vit');
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain('help [command]');
+    expect(count(result.stderr, R)).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('unknown command prints the reminder once and no root help', () => {
+    const result = run('notacommand', '/tmp');
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe('');
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain("error: unknown command 'notacommand'");
+    expect(count(result.stderr, R)).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stderr).not.toContain('Usage: vit [options] [command]');
+  });
+
+  test('unknown option prints the reminder once and no root help', () => {
+    const result = run('--bogus', '/tmp');
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe('');
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain("error: unknown option '--bogus'");
+    expect(count(result.stderr, R)).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stderr).not.toContain('Usage: vit [options] [command]');
+  });
+
+  test('vouch missing ref prints the reminder once and no root help', () => {
+    const result = run('vouch', '/tmp');
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe('');
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain('error: missing required argument');
+    expect(count(result.stderr, R)).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stderr).not.toContain('Usage: vit [options] [command]');
+  });
+
+  test('--version is reminder-free', () => {
+    const result = run('--version', '/tmp');
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe(pkg.version);
+    expect(typeof result.stderr).toBe('string');
+    expect(result.stderr.length).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stdout).not.toContain(R);
+    expect(result.stderr).not.toContain(R);
+  });
+
+  test('application --kind error is not decorated', () => {
+    const result = run('vouch fast-cache-invalidation --kind badkind', '/tmp');
+    expect(result.exitCode).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain('--kind must be one of');
+    expect(result.stdout).not.toContain(R);
+    expect(result.stderr).not.toContain(R);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/helpers.js b/test/helpers.js
index 1d8b33b..0410fe4 100644
--- a/test/helpers.js
+++ b/test/helpers.js
@@ -2,29 +2,23 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2026 sol pbc
 
 import { join } from 'node:path';
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
 
 const vitBin = join(import.meta.dir, '..', 'bin', 'vit.js');
 const nonAgentEnv = { CLAUDECODE: '', GEMINI_CLI: '', CODEX_CI: '', OPENCODE: '' };
 
 export function run(args, cwd, env, input) {
-  try {
-    return {
-      stdout: execSync(`bun ${vitBin} ${args}`, {
-        cwd,
-        encoding: 'utf-8',
-        timeout: 30000,
-        stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-        env: { ...process.env, ...nonAgentEnv, ...(env || {}) },
-        input,
-      }).trim(),
-      exitCode: 0,
-    };
-  } catch (err) {
-    return {
-      stdout: (err.stdout || '').trim(),
-      stderr: (err.stderr || '').trim(),
-      exitCode: err.status,
-    };
-  }
+  const result = spawnSync(`bun ${vitBin} ${args}`, {
+    shell: true,
+    cwd,
+    encoding: 'utf-8',
+    timeout: 30000,
+    env: { ...process.env, ...nonAgentEnv, ...(env || {}) },
+    input,
+  });
+  return {
+    stdout: (result.stdout || '').trim(),
+    stderr: (result.stderr || '').trim(),
+    exitCode: result.status ?? 1,
+  };
 }