@@ -327,15 +327,7 @@ describe("WsTransport", () => {
 
     await transport.dispose();
 
-    expect(onClose).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      {
-        code: 1000,
-        reason: "",
-      },
-      {
-        intentional: true,
-      },
-    );
+    expect(onClose).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(getWsConnectionStatus()).toMatchObject({
       connectionLabel: "Remote Mac mini",
       phase: "connected",
 
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ export class WsTransport {
       Layer.mergeAll(
         createWsRpcProtocolLayer(this.url, {
           ...this.lifecycleHandlers,
-          isActive: () => this.activeSessionId === sessionId,
+          isActive: () => !this.disposed && this.activeSessionId === sessionId,
           isCloseIntentional: () =>
             this.disposed ||
             this.intentionalCloseDepth > 0 ||
 
@@ -25,7 +25,13 @@ describe("ssh config", () => {
       yield* fs.makeDirectory(path.join(sshDir, "config.d"), { recursive: true });
       yield* fs.writeFileString(
         path.join(sshDir, "config"),
-        ["Host devbox", "  HostName devbox.example.com", "Include config.d/*.conf", ""].join("\n"),
+        [
+          "Host devbox",
+          "  HostName devbox.example.com",
+          "Host=equalsbox",
+          "Include=config.d/*.conf",
+          "",
+        ].join("\n"),
       );
       yield* fs.writeFileString(
         path.join(sshDir, "config.d", "team.conf"),
@@ -63,6 +69,13 @@ describe("ssh config", () => {
           port: null,
           source: "ssh-config",
         },
+        {
+          alias: "equalsbox",
+          hostname: "equalsbox",
+          username: null,
+          port: null,
+          source: "ssh-config",
+        },
         {
           alias: "known.example.com",
           hostname: "known.example.com",
 
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ function stripInlineComment(line: string): string {
 
 function splitDirectiveArgs(value: string): ReadonlyArray<string> {
   return value
+    .replace(/=(?!=)/gu, " ")
     .trim()
     .split(/\s+/u)
     .map((entry) => entry.trim())
 
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
   buildRemotePairingScript,
   buildRemoteStopScript,
   buildRemoteT3RunnerScript,
+  describeReadinessCause,
   issueRemotePairingToken,
   REMOTE_PICK_PORT_SCRIPT,
   SshEnvironmentManager,
@@ -192,6 +193,23 @@ describe("ssh tunnel scripts", () => {
     ),
   );
 
+  it("preserves primitive readiness reason values in diagnostic output", () => {
+    assert.deepEqual(
+      describeReadinessCause({
+        _tag: "HttpClientError",
+        message: "Backend readiness probe failed.",
+        reason: "authentication failed",
+        cause: "upstream closed",
+      }),
+      {
+        _tag: "HttpClientError",
+        message: "Backend readiness probe failed.",
+        reason: "authentication failed",
+        cause: "upstream closed",
+      },
+    );
+  });
+
   it.effect("accepts pretty-printed pairing JSON from the remote CLI", () => {
     const target = {
       alias: "devbox",
 
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ function applyScriptPlaceholders(
   return result;
 }
 
-function describeReadinessCause(cause: unknown): unknown {
+export function describeReadinessCause(cause: unknown): unknown {
   if (cause instanceof SshReadinessError) {
     return {
       _tag: cause._tag,
@@ -215,9 +215,7 @@ function describeReadinessCause(cause: unknown): unknown {
   return {
     ...(typeof record._tag === "string" ? { _tag: record._tag } : {}),
     ...(typeof record.message === "string" ? { message: record.message } : {}),
-    ...(typeof record.reason === "object" && record.reason !== null
-      ? { reason: describeReadinessCause(record.reason) }
-      : {}),
+    ...(record.reason === undefined ? {} : { reason: describeReadinessCause(record.reason) }),
     ...(record.cause === undefined ? {} : { cause: describeReadinessCause(record.cause) }),
   };
 }