diff --git a/Sources/SocketControlSettings.swift b/Sources/SocketControlSettings.swift
index 67b91682..c0fb35bb 100644
--- a/Sources/SocketControlSettings.swift
+++ b/Sources/SocketControlSettings.swift
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ enum SocketControlMode: String, CaseIterable, Identifiable {
 struct SocketControlSettings {
     static let appStorageKey = "socketControlMode"
     static let legacyEnabledKey = "socketControlEnabled"
+    static let allowSocketPathOverrideKey = "CMUX_ALLOW_SOCKET_OVERRIDE"
 
     /// Map old persisted rawValues to the new enum.
     static func migrateMode(_ raw: String) -> SocketControlMode {
@@ -55,15 +56,83 @@ struct SocketControlSettings {
         return .cmuxOnly
     }
 
-    static func socketPath() -> String {
-        if let override = ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["CMUX_SOCKET_PATH"], !override.isEmpty {
+    private static var isDebugBuild: Bool {
+#if DEBUG
+        true
+#else
+        false
+#endif
+    }
+
+    static func socketPath(
+        environment: [String: String] = ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment,
+        bundleIdentifier: String? = Bundle.main.bundleIdentifier,
+        isDebugBuild: Bool = SocketControlSettings.isDebugBuild
+    ) -> String {
+        let fallback = defaultSocketPath(bundleIdentifier: bundleIdentifier, isDebugBuild: isDebugBuild)
+
+        guard let override = environment["CMUX_SOCKET_PATH"], !override.isEmpty else {
+            return fallback
+        }
+
+        if shouldHonorSocketPathOverride(
+            environment: environment,
+            bundleIdentifier: bundleIdentifier,
+            isDebugBuild: isDebugBuild
+        ) {
             return override
         }
-#if DEBUG
-        return "/tmp/cmux-debug.sock"
-#else
+
+        return fallback
+    }
+
+    static func defaultSocketPath(bundleIdentifier: String?, isDebugBuild: Bool) -> String {
+        if bundleIdentifier == "com.cmuxterm.app.nightly" {
+            return "/tmp/cmux-nightly.sock"
+        }
+        if isDebugLikeBundleIdentifier(bundleIdentifier) || isDebugBuild {
+            return "/tmp/cmux-debug.sock"
+        }
+        if isStagingBundleIdentifier(bundleIdentifier) {
+            return "/tmp/cmux-staging.sock"
+        }
         return "/tmp/cmux.sock"
-#endif
+    }
+
+    static func shouldHonorSocketPathOverride(
+        environment: [String: String],
+        bundleIdentifier: String?,
+        isDebugBuild: Bool
+    ) -> Bool {
+        if isTruthy(environment[allowSocketPathOverrideKey]) {
+            return true
+        }
+        if isDebugLikeBundleIdentifier(bundleIdentifier) || isStagingBundleIdentifier(bundleIdentifier) {
+            return true
+        }
+        return isDebugBuild
+    }
+
+    static func isDebugLikeBundleIdentifier(_ bundleIdentifier: String?) -> Bool {
+        guard let bundleIdentifier else { return false }
+        return bundleIdentifier == "com.cmuxterm.app.debug"
+            || bundleIdentifier.hasPrefix("com.cmuxterm.app.debug.")
+    }
+
+    static func isStagingBundleIdentifier(_ bundleIdentifier: String?) -> Bool {
+        guard let bundleIdentifier else { return false }
+        return bundleIdentifier == "com.cmuxterm.app.staging"
+            || bundleIdentifier.hasPrefix("com.cmuxterm.app.staging.")
+    }
+
+    static func isTruthy(_ raw: String?) -> Bool {
+        guard let raw else { return false }
+        switch raw.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines).lowercased() {
+        case "1", "true", "yes", "on":
+            return true
+        default:
+            return false
+        }
     }
 
     static func envOverrideEnabled() -> Bool? {
diff --git a/Sources/cmuxApp.swift b/Sources/cmuxApp.swift
index 24841d43..f7da6258 100644
--- a/Sources/cmuxApp.swift
+++ b/Sources/cmuxApp.swift
@@ -2540,7 +2540,7 @@ struct SettingsView: View {
                         SettingsCardDivider()
 
                         SettingsCardNote("Controls access to the local Unix socket for programmatic control. In \"cmux processes only\" mode, only processes spawned inside cmux terminals can connect.")
-                        SettingsCardNote("Overrides: CMUX_SOCKET_ENABLE, CMUX_SOCKET_MODE, and CMUX_SOCKET_PATH.")
+                        SettingsCardNote("Overrides: CMUX_SOCKET_ENABLE, CMUX_SOCKET_MODE, and CMUX_SOCKET_PATH (set CMUX_ALLOW_SOCKET_OVERRIDE=1 for stable/nightly builds).")
                     }
 
                     SettingsCard {
diff --git a/cmuxTests/GhosttyConfigTests.swift b/cmuxTests/GhosttyConfigTests.swift
index e2978e55..6e57013e 100644
--- a/cmuxTests/GhosttyConfigTests.swift
+++ b/cmuxTests/GhosttyConfigTests.swift
@@ -316,3 +316,85 @@ final class TabManagerNotificationOrderingSourceTests: XCTestCase {
         return URL(fileURLWithPath: FileManager.default.currentDirectoryPath)
     }
 }
+
+final class SocketControlSettingsTests: XCTestCase {
+    func testStableReleaseIgnoresAmbientSocketOverrideByDefault() {
+        let path = SocketControlSettings.socketPath(
+            environment: [
+                "CMUX_SOCKET_PATH": "/tmp/cmux-debug-issue-153-tmux-compat.sock",
+            ],
+            bundleIdentifier: "com.cmuxterm.app",
+            isDebugBuild: false
+        )
+
+        XCTAssertEqual(path, "/tmp/cmux.sock")
+    }
+
+    func testNightlyReleaseUsesDedicatedDefaultAndIgnoresAmbientSocketOverride() {
+        let path = SocketControlSettings.socketPath(
+            environment: [
+                "CMUX_SOCKET_PATH": "/tmp/cmux-debug-issue-153-tmux-compat.sock",
+            ],
+            bundleIdentifier: "com.cmuxterm.app.nightly",
+            isDebugBuild: false
+        )
+
+        XCTAssertEqual(path, "/tmp/cmux-nightly.sock")
+    }
+
+    func testDebugBundleHonorsSocketOverrideWithoutOptInFlag() {
+        let path = SocketControlSettings.socketPath(
+            environment: [
+                "CMUX_SOCKET_PATH": "/tmp/cmux-debug-my-tag.sock",
+            ],
+            bundleIdentifier: "com.cmuxterm.app.debug.my-tag",
+            isDebugBuild: false
+        )
+
+        XCTAssertEqual(path, "/tmp/cmux-debug-my-tag.sock")
+    }
+
+    func testStagingBundleHonorsSocketOverrideWithoutOptInFlag() {
+        let path = SocketControlSettings.socketPath(
+            environment: [
+                "CMUX_SOCKET_PATH": "/tmp/cmux-staging-my-tag.sock",
+            ],
+            bundleIdentifier: "com.cmuxterm.app.staging.my-tag",
+            isDebugBuild: false
+        )
+
+        XCTAssertEqual(path, "/tmp/cmux-staging-my-tag.sock")
+    }
+
+    func testStableReleaseCanOptInToSocketOverride() {
+        let path = SocketControlSettings.socketPath(
+            environment: [
+                "CMUX_SOCKET_PATH": "/tmp/cmux-debug-forced.sock",
+                "CMUX_ALLOW_SOCKET_OVERRIDE": "1",
+            ],
+            bundleIdentifier: "com.cmuxterm.app",
+            isDebugBuild: false
+        )
+
+        XCTAssertEqual(path, "/tmp/cmux-debug-forced.sock")
+    }
+
+    func testDefaultSocketPathByChannel() {
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            SocketControlSettings.defaultSocketPath(bundleIdentifier: "com.cmuxterm.app", isDebugBuild: false),
+            "/tmp/cmux.sock"
+        )
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            SocketControlSettings.defaultSocketPath(bundleIdentifier: "com.cmuxterm.app.nightly", isDebugBuild: false),
+            "/tmp/cmux-nightly.sock"
+        )
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            SocketControlSettings.defaultSocketPath(bundleIdentifier: "com.cmuxterm.app.debug.tag", isDebugBuild: false),
+            "/tmp/cmux-debug.sock"
+        )
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            SocketControlSettings.defaultSocketPath(bundleIdentifier: "com.cmuxterm.app.staging.tag", isDebugBuild: false),
+            "/tmp/cmux-staging.sock"
+        )
+    }
+}