diff --git a/src/ccs.ts b/src/ccs.ts
index 6ee9da64..5cc90df5 100644
--- a/src/ccs.ts
+++ b/src/ccs.ts
@@ -318,6 +318,14 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
       console.error(warn(`CCS directory is under ${cloudService}.`));
       console.error('    OAuth tokens in cliproxy/auth/ will be synced to cloud.');
     }
+  } else if (process.env.CCS_HOME) {
+    // Also warn for CCS_HOME env var pointing to cloud sync
+    const { detectCloudSyncPath } = await import('./utils/config-manager');
+    const cloudService = detectCloudSyncPath(process.env.CCS_HOME);
+    if (cloudService) {
+      console.error(warn(`CCS directory is under ${cloudService}.`));
+      console.error('    OAuth tokens in cliproxy/auth/ will be synced to cloud.');
+    }
   }
 
   const firstArg = args[0];
diff --git a/src/management/recovery-manager.ts b/src/management/recovery-manager.ts
index 79cedbcc..ec7e3710 100644
--- a/src/management/recovery-manager.ts
+++ b/src/management/recovery-manager.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ class RecoveryManager {
   ensureCcsDirectory(): boolean {
     if (!fs.existsSync(this.ccsDir)) {
       fs.mkdirSync(this.ccsDir, { recursive: true, mode: 0o755 });
-      this.recovered.push('Created ~/.ccs/ directory');
+      this.recovered.push(`Created ${this.ccsDir} directory`);
       return true;
     }
     return false;
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class RecoveryManager {
         return false; // Config exists and is valid
       }
       // Config exists but is corrupted - will be recreated below
-      this.recovered.push('Detected corrupted ~/.ccs/config.yaml');
+      this.recovered.push(`Detected corrupted ${this.ccsDir}/config.yaml`);
     }
 
     // Check for legacy config.json - if exists, let autoMigrate handle it
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ class RecoveryManager {
 
     try {
       saveUnifiedConfig(config);
-      this.recovered.push('Created ~/.ccs/config.yaml');
+      this.recovered.push(`Created ${this.ccsDir}/config.yaml`);
       return true;
     } catch (_saveErr) {
       // Fallback: create minimal config.json for backward compat
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class RecoveryManager {
         const tmpPath = `${legacyConfigPath}.tmp`;
         fs.writeFileSync(tmpPath, JSON.stringify(fallbackConfig, null, 2) + '\n', 'utf8');
         fs.renameSync(tmpPath, legacyConfigPath);
-        this.recovered.push('Created ~/.ccs/config.json (fallback)');
+        this.recovered.push(`Created ${this.ccsDir}/config.json (fallback)`);
         return true;
       } catch (_fallbackErr) {
         // Both writes failed - log but don't crash
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ class RecoveryManager {
     // Create ~/.claude/ if missing
     if (!fs.existsSync(this.claudeDir)) {
       fs.mkdirSync(this.claudeDir, { recursive: true, mode: 0o755 });
-      this.recovered.push('Created ~/.claude/ directory');
+      this.recovered.push(`Created ${this.claudeDir} directory`);
     }
 
     // Create settings.json if missing
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ class RecoveryManager {
       fs.writeFileSync(tmpPath, '{}\n', 'utf8');
       fs.renameSync(tmpPath, claudeSettingsPath);
 
-      this.recovered.push('Created ~/.claude/settings.json');
+      this.recovered.push(`Created ${claudeSettingsPath}`);
       return true;
     }
 
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ class RecoveryManager {
     // Create shared directory
     if (!fs.existsSync(this.sharedDir)) {
       fs.mkdirSync(this.sharedDir, { recursive: true, mode: 0o755 });
-      this.recovered.push('Created ~/.ccs/shared/');
+      this.recovered.push(`Created ${this.sharedDir}`);
       created = true;
     }
 
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ class RecoveryManager {
     }
 
     if (installed) {
-      this.recovered.push('Installed shell completions to ~/.ccs/completions/');
+      this.recovered.push(`Installed shell completions to ${this.completionsDir}`);
     }
 
     return installed;
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ class RecoveryManager {
     this.recovered.forEach((msg) => console.log(`    - ${msg}`));
 
     // Show login hint if created Claude settings
-    if (this.recovered.some((msg) => msg.includes('~/.claude/settings.json'))) {
+    if (this.recovered.some((msg) => msg.includes('settings.json') && msg.includes('.claude'))) {
       console.log('');
       console.log(info('Next step: Login to Claude CLI'));
       console.log('    Run: claude /login');
diff --git a/src/utils/config-manager.ts b/src/utils/config-manager.ts
index ffadad5a..c00d9319 100644
--- a/src/utils/config-manager.ts
+++ b/src/utils/config-manager.ts
@@ -30,16 +30,25 @@ export function getCcsHome(): string {
   return process.env.CCS_HOME || os.homedir();
 }
 
+/**
+ * Resolve the CCS directory with source information.
+ * Single source of truth for precedence logic.
+ */
+function _resolveCcsDir(): { source: string; dir: string } {
+  if (_globalConfigDir) return { source: '--config-dir', dir: _globalConfigDir };
+  if (process.env.CCS_DIR) return { source: 'CCS_DIR', dir: path.resolve(process.env.CCS_DIR) };
+  if (process.env.CCS_HOME)
+    return { source: 'CCS_HOME', dir: path.join(path.resolve(process.env.CCS_HOME), '.ccs') };
+  return { source: 'default', dir: path.join(os.homedir(), '.ccs') };
+}
+
 /**
  * Get the CCS directory path.
  * Precedence: --config-dir flag > CCS_DIR env > CCS_HOME env (legacy, appends .ccs) > ~/.ccs default
  * @returns Path to CCS config directory
  */
 export function getCcsDir(): string {
-  if (_globalConfigDir) return _globalConfigDir;
-  if (process.env.CCS_DIR) return path.resolve(process.env.CCS_DIR);
-  if (process.env.CCS_HOME) return path.join(path.resolve(process.env.CCS_HOME), '.ccs');
-  return path.join(os.homedir(), '.ccs');
+  return _resolveCcsDir().dir;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -47,11 +56,8 @@ export function getCcsDir(): string {
  * @returns [source_label, resolved_path] tuple
  */
 export function getCcsDirSource(): [string, string] {
-  if (_globalConfigDir) return ['--config-dir', _globalConfigDir];
-  if (process.env.CCS_DIR) return ['CCS_DIR', path.resolve(process.env.CCS_DIR)];
-  if (process.env.CCS_HOME)
-    return ['CCS_HOME', path.join(path.resolve(process.env.CCS_HOME), '.ccs')];
-  return ['default', path.join(os.homedir(), '.ccs')];
+  const r = _resolveCcsDir();
+  return [r.source, r.dir];
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/web-server/middleware/auth-middleware.ts b/src/web-server/middleware/auth-middleware.ts
index 664f5782..044963d7 100644
--- a/src/web-server/middleware/auth-middleware.ts
+++ b/src/web-server/middleware/auth-middleware.ts
@@ -38,10 +38,12 @@ function getSessionSecret(): string {
     return process.env.CCS_SESSION_SECRET;
   }
 
+  const secretPath = getSessionSecretPath();
+
   // 2. Try to read persisted secret
   try {
-    if (fs.existsSync(getSessionSecretPath())) {
-      const secret = fs.readFileSync(getSessionSecretPath(), 'utf-8').trim();
+    if (fs.existsSync(secretPath)) {
+      const secret = fs.readFileSync(secretPath, 'utf-8').trim();
       if (secret.length >= 32) {
         return secret;
       }
@@ -53,11 +55,11 @@ function getSessionSecret(): string {
   // 3. Generate and persist new random secret
   const newSecret = crypto.randomBytes(32).toString('hex');
   try {
-    const dir = path.dirname(getSessionSecretPath());
+    const dir = path.dirname(secretPath);
     if (!fs.existsSync(dir)) {
       fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
     }
-    fs.writeFileSync(getSessionSecretPath(), newSecret, { mode: 0o600 });
+    fs.writeFileSync(secretPath, newSecret, { mode: 0o600 });
   } catch (err) {
     // Log warning - sessions won't persist across restarts
     console.warn('[!] Failed to persist session secret:', (err as Error).message);
diff --git a/src/web-server/usage/disk-cache.ts b/src/web-server/usage/disk-cache.ts
index 46836bfc..45aa981e 100644
--- a/src/web-server/usage/disk-cache.ts
+++ b/src/web-server/usage/disk-cache.ts
@@ -42,8 +42,9 @@ const CACHE_VERSION = 3;
  * Ensure ~/.ccs/cache directory exists
  */
 function ensureCacheDir(): void {
-  if (!fs.existsSync(getCacheDir())) {
-    fs.mkdirSync(getCacheDir(), { recursive: true });
+  const dir = getCacheDir();
+  if (!fs.existsSync(dir)) {
+    fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
   }
 }