diff --git a/src/management/recovery-manager.ts b/src/management/recovery-manager.ts
index 313f6911..e7f6decf 100644
--- a/src/management/recovery-manager.ts
+++ b/src/management/recovery-manager.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,68 @@ class RecoveryManager {
     return false;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Remove a dangling symlink so recovery can recreate the directory.
+   * Mirrors scripts/postinstall.js behavior for skipped lifecycle installs.
+   */
+  private removeIfBrokenSymlink(targetPath: string): boolean {
+    try {
+      const stats = fs.lstatSync(targetPath);
+      if (!stats.isSymbolicLink()) {
+        return false;
+      }
+
+      try {
+        fs.statSync(targetPath);
+        return false;
+      } catch (error) {
+        const code = (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
+        if (code !== 'ENOENT' && code !== 'ENOTDIR') {
+          return false;
+        }
+
+        fs.unlinkSync(targetPath);
+        this.recovered.push(`Removed broken symlink: ${targetPath}`);
+        return true;
+      }
+    } catch {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private inspectDirectoryPath(
+    targetPath: string
+  ): { state: 'ready' } | { state: 'missing' } | { state: 'invalid'; reason: string } {
+    try {
+      const stats = fs.lstatSync(targetPath);
+
+      if (stats.isSymbolicLink()) {
+        try {
+          return fs.statSync(targetPath).isDirectory()
+            ? { state: 'ready' }
+            : { state: 'invalid', reason: 'symlink target is not a directory' };
+        } catch (error) {
+          const code = (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
+          return code === 'ENOENT' || code === 'ENOTDIR'
+            ? { state: 'missing' }
+            : {
+                state: 'invalid',
+                reason: `symlink target is not accessible (${code || 'unknown'})`,
+              };
+        }
+      }
+
+      return stats.isDirectory()
+        ? { state: 'ready' }
+        : { state: 'invalid', reason: 'existing path is not a directory' };
+    } catch (error) {
+      const code = (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
+      return code === 'ENOENT'
+        ? { state: 'missing' }
+        : { state: 'invalid', reason: `could not inspect path (${code || 'unknown'})` };
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Ensure ~/.ccs/config.yaml exists with defaults
    * This is the primary config format (YAML unified config)
@@ -126,20 +188,34 @@ class RecoveryManager {
   ensureSharedDirectories(): boolean {
     let created = false;
 
+    this.removeIfBrokenSymlink(this.sharedDir);
+    const sharedState = this.inspectDirectoryPath(this.sharedDir);
+
     // Create shared directory
-    if (!fs.existsSync(this.sharedDir)) {
+    if (sharedState.state === 'missing') {
       fs.mkdirSync(this.sharedDir, { recursive: true, mode: 0o755 });
       this.recovered.push(`Created ${this.sharedDir}`);
       created = true;
+    } else if (sharedState.state === 'invalid') {
+      this.recovered.push(`Skipped ${this.sharedDir}: ${sharedState.reason}`);
+      return created;
     }
 
     // Create subdirectories
     const subdirs = ['commands', 'skills', 'agents', 'plugins'];
     for (const subdir of subdirs) {
       const subdirPath = path.join(this.sharedDir, subdir);
-      if (!fs.existsSync(subdirPath)) {
+      this.removeIfBrokenSymlink(subdirPath);
+      const subdirState = this.inspectDirectoryPath(subdirPath);
+
+      if (subdirState.state === 'missing') {
         fs.mkdirSync(subdirPath, { recursive: true, mode: 0o755 });
         created = true;
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      if (subdirState.state === 'invalid') {
+        this.recovered.push(`Skipped ${subdirPath}: ${subdirState.reason}`);
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/recovery-manager.test.ts b/tests/unit/recovery-manager.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a395ace4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/recovery-manager.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, mock, spyOn } from 'bun:test';
+import * as fs from 'fs';
+import * as os from 'os';
+import * as path from 'path';
+import RecoveryManager from '../../src/management/recovery-manager';
+
+function createDirectorySymlink(targetDir: string, linkPath: string): void {
+  const symlinkType = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'junction' : 'dir';
+
+  try {
+    fs.symlinkSync(targetDir, linkPath, symlinkType as fs.symlink.Type);
+  } catch (error) {
+    const code = (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
+    if (code === 'EPERM' || code === 'EACCES') {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Symlink creation is not permitted in this environment (${code}) for ${linkPath}`
+      );
+    }
+    throw error;
+  }
+}
+
+describe('RecoveryManager', () => {
+  let tempHome = '';
+  let originalCcsHome: string | undefined;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    tempHome = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'ccs-recovery-manager-test-'));
+    originalCcsHome = process.env.CCS_HOME;
+    process.env.CCS_HOME = tempHome;
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    mock.restore();
+
+    if (originalCcsHome !== undefined) {
+      process.env.CCS_HOME = originalCcsHome;
+    } else {
+      delete process.env.CCS_HOME;
+    }
+
+    if (tempHome && fs.existsSync(tempHome)) {
+      fs.rmSync(tempHome, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('recreates ~/.ccs/shared when recovery finds a dangling symlink', () => {
+    const ccsDir = path.join(tempHome, '.ccs');
+    const sharedDir = path.join(ccsDir, 'shared');
+    fs.mkdirSync(ccsDir, { recursive: true });
+    createDirectorySymlink(path.join(tempHome, 'missing-shared'), sharedDir);
+
+    const recovery = new RecoveryManager();
+
+    expect(() => recovery.ensureSharedDirectories()).not.toThrow();
+    expect(fs.statSync(sharedDir).isDirectory()).toBe(true);
+    expect(fs.statSync(path.join(sharedDir, 'commands')).isDirectory()).toBe(true);
+    expect(recovery.getRecoverySummary()).toContain(`Removed broken symlink: ${sharedDir}`);
+  });
+
+  it('recreates ~/.ccs/shared/commands when recovery finds a dangling symlink', () => {
+    const sharedDir = path.join(tempHome, '.ccs', 'shared');
+    const commandsDir = path.join(sharedDir, 'commands');
+    fs.mkdirSync(sharedDir, { recursive: true });
+    createDirectorySymlink(path.join(tempHome, 'missing-commands'), commandsDir);
+
+    const recovery = new RecoveryManager();
+
+    expect(() => recovery.ensureSharedDirectories()).not.toThrow();
+    expect(fs.statSync(commandsDir).isDirectory()).toBe(true);
+    expect(recovery.getRecoverySummary()).toContain(`Removed broken symlink: ${commandsDir}`);
+  });
+
+  it('preserves valid shared command symlinks', () => {
+    const sharedDir = path.join(tempHome, '.ccs', 'shared');
+    const commandsDir = path.join(sharedDir, 'commands');
+    const externalCommandsDir = path.join(tempHome, 'external-commands');
+    fs.mkdirSync(sharedDir, { recursive: true });
+    fs.mkdirSync(externalCommandsDir, { recursive: true });
+    createDirectorySymlink(externalCommandsDir, commandsDir);
+
+    const recovery = new RecoveryManager();
+
+    expect(() => recovery.ensureSharedDirectories()).not.toThrow();
+    expect(fs.lstatSync(commandsDir).isSymbolicLink()).toBe(true);
+    expect(path.resolve(path.dirname(commandsDir), fs.readlinkSync(commandsDir))).toBe(
+      externalCommandsDir
+    );
+    expect(recovery.getRecoverySummary()).not.toContain(`Removed broken symlink: ${commandsDir}`);
+  });
+
+  it('does not delete a valid shared command symlink when target access is denied', () => {
+    const sharedDir = path.join(tempHome, '.ccs', 'shared');
+    const commandsDir = path.join(sharedDir, 'commands');
+    const externalCommandsDir = path.join(tempHome, 'external-commands');
+    fs.mkdirSync(sharedDir, { recursive: true });
+    fs.mkdirSync(externalCommandsDir, { recursive: true });
+    createDirectorySymlink(externalCommandsDir, commandsDir);
+
+    const originalStatSync = fs.statSync.bind(fs);
+    spyOn(fs, 'statSync').mockImplementation((targetPath: fs.PathLike) => {
+      if (String(targetPath) === commandsDir) {
+        const error = new Error('simulated permission failure') as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+        error.code = 'EACCES';
+        throw error;
+      }
+
+      return originalStatSync(targetPath);
+    });
+
+    const recovery = new RecoveryManager();
+
+    expect(() => recovery.ensureSharedDirectories()).not.toThrow();
+    expect(fs.lstatSync(commandsDir).isSymbolicLink()).toBe(true);
+    expect(path.resolve(path.dirname(commandsDir), fs.readlinkSync(commandsDir))).toBe(
+      externalCommandsDir
+    );
+    expect(recovery.getRecoverySummary()).not.toContain(`Removed broken symlink: ${commandsDir}`);
+    expect(recovery.getRecoverySummary()).toContain(
+      `Skipped ${commandsDir}: symlink target is not accessible (EACCES)`
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/tests/unit/web-server/shared-routes.test.ts b/tests/unit/web-server/shared-routes.test.ts
index 8556e50e..defdd1d3 100644
--- a/tests/unit/web-server/shared-routes.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/web-server/shared-routes.test.ts
@@ -231,6 +231,14 @@ describe('web-server shared-routes', () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it('returns an empty command list when shared commands directory is missing', async () => {
+    const payload = await getJson<{
+      items: Array<{ name: string; type: string; description: string; path: string }>;
+    }>(baseUrl, '/api/shared/commands');
+
+    expect(payload.items).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it('returns full content for a shared command markdown file', async () => {
     const commandsDir = path.join(ccsDir, 'shared', 'commands');
     fs.mkdirSync(commandsDir, { recursive: true });