diff --git a/docs/tools/search.md b/docs/tools/search.md
index f481bf9d8..cb87d1982 100644
--- a/docs/tools/search.md
+++ b/docs/tools/search.md
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 | Field | Type | Required | Description |
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
 | `pattern` | `string` | Yes | Regex pattern. `search.ts` trims it and rejects empty input. The native matcher enables multiline only when the pattern text contains a literal newline or the two-character sequence `\\n`. The model prompt explicitly documents literal-brace escaping such as ``interface\\{\\}``, although the native layer also auto-escapes braces that cannot be valid repetition quantifiers. |
-| `paths` | `string[]` | Yes | One or more file paths, directory paths, glob-like paths, or internal URLs. Empty strings are rejected after trimming/quote stripping. Internal URLs must resolve to a backing file and cannot contain glob characters. |
+| `paths` | `string \| string[]` | Yes | One file path, directory path, glob-like path, internal URL, or an array of those. Empty strings are rejected after trimming/quote stripping. Internal URLs must resolve to a backing file and cannot contain glob characters. |
 | `i` | `boolean` | No | Case-insensitive search. Defaults to `false`. Passed to native `ignoreCase`. |
 | `gitignore` | `boolean` | No | Respect `.gitignore` during directory scans. Defaults to `true`. Passed to native `gitignore`. |
 | `skip` | `number` | No | Global match offset. Defaults to `0`. `search.ts` floors finite numbers and rejects negative or non-finite values. |
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ The tool returns a single text block in `content[0].text` plus structured `detai
    - trims `pattern`, rejects empty patterns;
    - normalizes `skip` to a non-negative integer;
    - reads `search.contextBefore` and `search.contextAfter` from session settings (`1` and `3` by default);
-   - enables multiline only when `pattern` contains `\n` or an actual newline.
+   - enables multiline only when `pattern` contains `\n` or an actual newline;
+   - wraps a single string `paths` value into a one-element list before path resolution.
 2. Each `paths` entry is normalized with `normalizePathLikeInput()`.
 3. Internal URLs are resolved through `session.internalRouter`:
    - glob metacharacters (`*`, `?`, `[`, `{`) are rejected for internal URLs;
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/prompts/tools/search.md b/packages/coding-agent/src/prompts/tools/search.md
index d96a26d3e..3753b88b8 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/prompts/tools/search.md
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/prompts/tools/search.md
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ Searches files using powerful regex matching.
 
 <instruction>
 - Supports Rust regex syntax (RE2-style — no lookaround or backreferences). Use line anchors or post-filters instead of (?!…)/(?<!…)
-- `paths` is required and accepts an array of files, directories, globs, or internal URLs
-- `paths` is an array; do not embed commas or spaces inside a single entry. Pass `["src", "tests"]` not `["src,tests"]`.
+- `paths` is required and accepts either one string or an array of files, directories, globs, or internal URLs
+- For multiple targets, pass an array with one target per element. Do not comma-join targets inside one string: pass `["src", "tests"]`, not `"src,tests"` or `["src,tests"]`.
 - Cross-line patterns are detected from literal `\n` or escaped `\\n` in `pattern`
 </instruction>
 
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/tools/index.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/tools/index.ts
index 5060d8ace..9d0509424 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/tools/index.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/tools/index.ts
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ export interface ToolSession {
 	requireYieldTool?: boolean;
 	/** Task recursion depth (0 = top-level, 1 = first child, etc.) */
 	taskDepth?: number;
+	/** Get shared eval executor session ID. Subagents inherit this to share JS/Python state. */
+	getEvalSessionId?: () => string | null;
 	/** Get session file */
 	getSessionFile: () => string | null;
 	/** Get eval kernel owner ID for session-scoped retained-kernel cleanup. */
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/tools/search.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/tools/search.ts
index 377d35b1c..6a8310b6e 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/tools/search.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/tools/search.ts
@@ -9,11 +9,12 @@ import { prompt, untilAborted } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-utils";
 import * as z from "zod/v4";
 import { getFileReadCache } from "../edit/file-read-cache";
 import type { RenderResultOptions } from "../extensibility/custom-tools/types";
-import { computeFileHash, formatHashlineHeader } from "../hashline/hash";
+import { formatHashlineHeader, getHashlineSyntax } from "../hashline/hash";
 import type { Theme } from "../modes/theme/theme";
 import searchDescription from "../prompts/tools/search.md" with { type: "text" };
 import { DEFAULT_MAX_COLUMN, type TruncationResult, truncateHead } from "../session/streaming-output";
 import { Ellipsis, fileHyperlink, renderStatusLine, renderTreeList, truncateToWidth } from "../tui";
+import { resolveEditMode } from "../utils/edit-mode";
 import { resolveFileDisplayMode } from "../utils/file-display-mode";
 import type { ToolSession } from ".";
 import {
@@ -39,13 +40,13 @@ import {
 import { ToolError } from "./tool-errors";
 import { toolResult } from "./tool-result";
 
+const searchPathEntrySchema = z.string().describe("file, directory, glob, or internal URL to search");
 const searchSchema = z
 	.object({
 		pattern: z.string().describe("regex pattern"),
 		paths: z
-			.array(z.string().describe("file, directory, glob, or internal URL to search"))
-			.min(1)
-			.describe("files, directories, globs, or internal URLs to search"),
+			.union([searchPathEntrySchema, z.array(searchPathEntrySchema).min(1)])
+			.describe("file, directory, glob, internal URL, or array of those to search"),
 		i: z.boolean().optional().describe("case-insensitive search"),
 		gitignore: z.boolean().optional().describe("respect gitignore"),
 		skip: z
@@ -237,7 +238,7 @@ export class SearchTool implements AgentTool<typeof searchSchema, SearchToolDeta
 		_onUpdate?: AgentToolUpdateCallback<SearchToolDetails>,
 		_toolContext?: AgentToolContext,
 	): Promise<AgentToolResult<SearchToolDetails>> {
-		const { pattern, paths, i, gitignore, skip } = params;
+		const { pattern, paths: rawPaths, i, gitignore, skip } = params;
 
 		return untilAborted(signal, async () => {
 			const normalizedPattern = pattern.trim();
@@ -249,6 +250,7 @@ export class SearchTool implements AgentTool<typeof searchSchema, SearchToolDeta
 			if (normalizedSkip < 0 || !Number.isFinite(normalizedSkip)) {
 				throw new ToolError("Skip must be a non-negative number");
 			}
+			const paths = typeof rawPaths === "string" ? [rawPaths] : rawPaths;
 			for (const entry of paths) {
 				if (containsTopLevelComma(entry)) {
 					throw new ToolError('paths is an array — pass ["a", "b"] not ["a,b"]');
@@ -486,6 +488,7 @@ export class SearchTool implements AgentTool<typeof searchSchema, SearchToolDeta
 				}
 				const displayLines: string[] = [];
 				const hashContexts = new Map<string, { absolutePath: string; fileHash: string }>();
+				const hashlineSyntax = getHashlineSyntax(resolveEditMode(this.session));
 				if (baseDisplayMode.hashLines) {
 					for (const relativePath of fileList) {
 						if (archiveDisplaySet.has(relativePath)) continue;
@@ -493,7 +496,7 @@ export class SearchTool implements AgentTool<typeof searchSchema, SearchToolDeta
 						if (immutableSourcePaths.has(absoluteFilePath)) continue;
 						try {
 							const fullText = await Bun.file(absoluteFilePath).text();
-							const fileHash = computeFileHash(fullText);
+							const fileHash = hashlineSyntax.computeFileHash(fullText);
 							hashContexts.set(relativePath, { absolutePath: absoluteFilePath, fileHash });
 						} catch {
 							// Best-effort: if the file disappeared between grep and render, fall back to plain line output.
@@ -525,7 +528,9 @@ export class SearchTool implements AgentTool<typeof searchSchema, SearchToolDeta
 								modelOut.push("...");
 								displayOut.push(`${gutterPad}│...`);
 							}
-							modelOut.push(formatMatchLine(lineNumber, line, isMatch, { useHashLines }));
+							modelOut.push(
+								formatMatchLine(lineNumber, line, isMatch, { useHashLines, syntax: hashlineSyntax }),
+							);
 							displayOut.push(formatCodeFrameLine(isMatch ? "*" : " ", lineNumber, line, lineNumberWidth));
 							if (recordable) cacheEntries.push([lineNumber, line] as const);
 							lastEmittedLine = lineNumber;
@@ -560,7 +565,7 @@ export class SearchTool implements AgentTool<typeof searchSchema, SearchToolDeta
 						return {
 							modelLines: rendered.model,
 							displayLines: rendered.display,
-							headerSuffix: hashContext ? `#${hashContext.fileHash}` : "",
+							headerSuffix: hashContext && hashlineSyntax.id === "file" ? `#${hashContext.fileHash}` : "",
 							skip: rendered.model.length === 0,
 						};
 					});
@@ -576,7 +581,7 @@ export class SearchTool implements AgentTool<typeof searchSchema, SearchToolDeta
 						}
 						const hashContext = hashContexts.get(relativePath);
 						if (hashContext) {
-							outputLines.push(formatHashlineHeader(relativePath, hashContext.fileHash));
+							outputLines.push(formatHashlineHeader(relativePath, hashContext.fileHash, hashlineSyntax));
 						}
 						outputLines.push(...rendered.model);
 						displayLines.push(...rendered.display);