diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run-message.ts b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run-message.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f3882ff910e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run-message.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// Atoms before `--` are positional shell arguments where re-quoting around
+// embedded spaces preserves the user's word-binding intent (PR #4979).
+// Atoms in `args["--"]` are raw passthrough per yargs `populate--` semantics:
+// the user typed `--` to opt out of further parsing, so the assembler must
+// not synthesize quote bytes around them. Re-quoting raw atoms breaks
+// leading-dash inputs like `kilo run -- "- Who are you?"` (#9622) by
+// emitting `"- Who are you?"` (literal quotes) into the model prompt.
+export function buildRunMessage(positionals: string[], dashDash?: string[]): string {
+  const quoted = positionals.map((arg) => (arg.includes(" ") ? `"${arg.replace(/"/g, '\\"')}"` : arg))
+  return [...quoted, ...(dashDash ?? [])].join(" ")
+}
diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run.ts b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run.ts
index b8650e9a5b1..b5cdffee2d3 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { pathToFileURL } from "url"
 import { UI } from "../ui"
 import { cmd } from "./cmd"
 import { Flag } from "@opencode-ai/core/flag/flag"
+import { buildRunMessage } from "./run-message"
 import { bootstrap } from "../bootstrap"
 import { EOL } from "os"
 import { text as streamText } from "node:stream/consumers"
@@ -300,9 +301,7 @@ export const RunCommand = cmd({
     )
   },
   handler: async (args) => {
-    let message = [...args.message, ...(args["--"] || [])]
-      .map((arg) => (arg.includes(" ") ? `"${arg.replace(/"/g, '\\"')}"` : arg))
-      .join(" ")
+    let message = buildRunMessage(args.message, args["--"])
 
     const directory = (() => {
       if (!args.dir) return undefined
diff --git a/packages/opencode/test/cli/cmd/run.test.ts b/packages/opencode/test/cli/cmd/run.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6059d466771
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/opencode/test/cli/cmd/run.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test"
+import { buildRunMessage } from "../../../src/cli/cmd/run-message"
+
+describe("buildRunMessage", () => {
+  test("preserves shell-bound multi-word positionals via wrap-quote (PR #4979)", () => {
+    expect(buildRunMessage(["hello", "world foo", "bar"], undefined)).toBe('hello "world foo" bar')
+  })
+
+  test("does not quote single-word positionals", () => {
+    expect(buildRunMessage(["hello", "world"], undefined)).toBe("hello world")
+  })
+
+  test("escapes embedded double quotes inside positionals", () => {
+    expect(buildRunMessage(['say "hi"'], undefined)).toBe('"say \\"hi\\""')
+  })
+
+  test("passes args['--'] through verbatim without wrap-quote (#9622)", () => {
+    // `kilo run -- "- Who are you?"` — yargs+populate-- captures the leading-dash
+    // phrase as a single atom in args["--"]. The assembler must NOT wrap it,
+    // because the user typed `--` precisely to opt out of further parsing.
+    expect(buildRunMessage([], ["- Who are you?"])).toBe("- Who are you?")
+  })
+
+  test("does not synthesize quote bytes around dashDash atoms even when they contain spaces", () => {
+    expect(buildRunMessage([], ["one two", "three"])).toBe("one two three")
+  })
+
+  test("combines positionals and dashDash with appropriate quoting per source", () => {
+    expect(buildRunMessage(["pre", "fix arg"], ["raw arg", "tail"])).toBe('pre "fix arg" raw arg tail')
+  })
+
+  test("handles undefined and empty dashDash identically", () => {
+    expect(buildRunMessage(["x"], undefined)).toBe("x")
+    expect(buildRunMessage(["x"], [])).toBe("x")
+  })
+})