diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly.yml b/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
index 34b94949..197de4be 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
@@ -263,8 +263,10 @@ jobs:
           else
             NIGHTLY_BUILD="${NIGHTLY_DATE}000000"
           fi
+          NIGHTLY_MARKETING_VERSION="${BASE_MARKETING}-nightly.${NIGHTLY_BUILD}"
           echo "NIGHTLY_BUILD=${NIGHTLY_BUILD}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-          echo "NIGHTLY_REMOTE_DAEMON_VERSION=${BASE_MARKETING}-nightly.${NIGHTLY_BUILD}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "NIGHTLY_MARKETING_VERSION=${NIGHTLY_MARKETING_VERSION}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "NIGHTLY_REMOTE_DAEMON_VERSION=${NIGHTLY_MARKETING_VERSION}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
 
           NIGHTLY_DMG_IMMUTABLE="cmux-nightly-macos-${NIGHTLY_BUILD}.dmg"
           echo "NIGHTLY_DMG_IMMUTABLE=${NIGHTLY_DMG_IMMUTABLE}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
@@ -282,7 +284,7 @@ jobs:
             /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :SUFeedURL" "$app_plist" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
             /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :SUPublicEDKey string ${SPARKLE_PUBLIC_KEY}" "$app_plist"
             /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :SUFeedURL string ${feed_url}" "$app_plist"
-            /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleShortVersionString ${BASE_MARKETING}-nightly.${NIGHTLY_DATE}" "$app_plist"
+            /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleShortVersionString ${NIGHTLY_MARKETING_VERSION}" "$app_plist"
             /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleVersion ${NIGHTLY_BUILD}" "$app_plist"
             /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :CMUXCommit" "$app_plist" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
             /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :CMUXCommit string ${SHORT_SHA}" "$app_plist"
@@ -296,13 +298,13 @@ jobs:
 
           echo "Nightly app name: cmux NIGHTLY"
           echo "Nightly bundle ID: com.cmuxterm.app.nightly"
-          echo "Nightly marketing version: ${BASE_MARKETING}-nightly.${NIGHTLY_DATE}"
+          echo "Nightly marketing version: ${NIGHTLY_MARKETING_VERSION}"
           echo "Nightly build number: ${NIGHTLY_BUILD}"
           echo "Nightly immutable DMG: ${NIGHTLY_DMG_IMMUTABLE}"
           echo "Commit SHA: ${SHORT_SHA}"
 
       - name: Build remote daemon nightly assets and inject manifest
-        if: needs.decide.outputs.should_publish != 'true' || steps.current_head.outputs.still_current == 'true'
+        if: needs.decide.outputs.should_publish != 'true' || (steps.current_head_prebuild.outputs.still_current == 'true' && steps.current_head_postbuild.outputs.still_current == 'true')
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           ./scripts/build_remote_daemon_release_assets.sh \
@@ -311,13 +313,13 @@ jobs:
             --repo "manaflow-ai/cmux" \
             --output-dir "remote-daemon-assets"
           MANIFEST_JSON="$(python3 -c 'import json,sys; print(json.dumps(json.load(open(sys.argv[1], encoding="utf-8")), separators=(",",":")))' remote-daemon-assets/cmuxd-remote-manifest.json)"
-          for APP_PLIST in \
-            "build-arm/Build/Products/Release/cmux NIGHTLY.app/Contents/Info.plist" \
-            "build-universal/Build/Products/Release/cmux NIGHTLY.app/Contents/Info.plist"
-          do
-            plutil -remove CMUXRemoteDaemonManifestJSON "$APP_PLIST" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
-            plutil -insert CMUXRemoteDaemonManifestJSON -string "$MANIFEST_JSON" "$APP_PLIST"
-          done
+          APP_PLIST="build-universal/Build/Products/Release/cmux NIGHTLY.app/Contents/Info.plist"
+          if [ ! -f "$APP_PLIST" ]; then
+            echo "Missing nightly app Info.plist at $APP_PLIST" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          plutil -remove CMUXRemoteDaemonManifestJSON "$APP_PLIST" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+          plutil -insert CMUXRemoteDaemonManifestJSON -string "$MANIFEST_JSON" "$APP_PLIST"
 
       - name: Import signing cert
         if: needs.decide.outputs.should_publish != 'true' || (steps.current_head_prebuild.outputs.still_current == 'true' && steps.current_head_postbuild.outputs.still_current == 'true')
@@ -463,7 +465,7 @@ jobs:
           cp appcast.xml appcast-universal.xml
 
       - name: Attest remote daemon nightly assets
-        if: needs.decide.outputs.should_publish != 'true' || steps.current_head.outputs.still_current == 'true'
+        if: needs.decide.outputs.should_publish != 'true' || (steps.current_head_prebuild.outputs.still_current == 'true' && steps.current_head_postbuild.outputs.still_current == 'true')
         uses: actions/attest-build-provenance@a2bbfa25375fe432b6a289bc6b6cd05ecd0c4c32 # v4.1.0
         with:
           subject-path: |
diff --git a/daemon/remote/cmd/cmuxd-remote/cli.go b/daemon/remote/cmd/cmuxd-remote/cli.go
index b38d1b21..2b2bf585 100644
--- a/daemon/remote/cmd/cmuxd-remote/cli.go
+++ b/daemon/remote/cmd/cmuxd-remote/cli.go
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ type commandSpec struct {
 	flagKeys []string
 	// noParams means the command takes no parameters at all.
 	noParams bool
+	// paramKeyOverrides remaps specific flags for compatibility aliases.
+	paramKeyOverrides map[string]string
+	// defaultParams are applied before flags/env fallbacks.
+	defaultParams map[string]any
 }
 
 var commands = []commandSpec{
@@ -59,12 +63,12 @@ var commands = []commandSpec{
 	{name: "close-workspace", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "workspace.close", flagKeys: []string{"workspace"}},
 	{name: "select-workspace", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "workspace.select", flagKeys: []string{"workspace"}},
 	{name: "current-workspace", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "workspace.current", noParams: true},
-	{name: "list-panels", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "panel.list", flagKeys: []string{"workspace"}},
-	{name: "focus-panel", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "panel.focus", flagKeys: []string{"panel", "workspace"}},
+	{name: "list-panels", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "surface.list", flagKeys: []string{"workspace"}},
+	{name: "focus-panel", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "surface.focus", flagKeys: []string{"panel", "workspace"}, paramKeyOverrides: map[string]string{"panel": "surface_id"}},
 	{name: "list-panes", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "pane.list", flagKeys: []string{"workspace"}},
 	{name: "list-pane-surfaces", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "pane.surfaces", flagKeys: []string{"pane"}},
-	{name: "new-pane", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "pane.create", flagKeys: []string{"workspace"}},
-	{name: "new-surface", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "surface.create", flagKeys: []string{"workspace", "pane"}},
+	{name: "new-pane", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "pane.create", flagKeys: []string{"workspace", "direction", "type", "url"}, defaultParams: map[string]any{"direction": "right"}},
+	{name: "new-surface", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "surface.create", flagKeys: []string{"workspace", "pane", "type", "url"}},
 	{name: "new-split", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "surface.split", flagKeys: []string{"surface", "direction"}},
 	{name: "close-surface", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "surface.close", flagKeys: []string{"surface"}},
 	{name: "send", proto: protoV2, v2Method: "surface.send_text", flagKeys: []string{"surface", "text"}},
@@ -191,7 +195,10 @@ func execV1(socketPath string, spec *commandSpec, args []string, refreshAddr fun
 
 // execV2 sends a v2 JSON-RPC request over the socket.
 func execV2(socketPath string, spec *commandSpec, args []string, jsonOutput bool, refreshAddr func() string) int {
-	params := make(map[string]any)
+	params := make(map[string]any, len(spec.defaultParams))
+	for key, value := range spec.defaultParams {
+		params[key] = value
+	}
 
 	if !spec.noParams {
 		parsed, err := parseFlags(args, spec.flagKeys)
@@ -203,6 +210,9 @@ func execV2(socketPath string, spec *commandSpec, args []string, jsonOutput bool
 		for _, key := range spec.flagKeys {
 			if val, ok := parsed.flags[key]; ok {
 				paramKey := flagToParamKey(key)
+				if override, ok := spec.paramKeyOverrides[key]; ok {
+					paramKey = override
+				}
 				params[paramKey] = val
 			}
 		}
@@ -212,17 +222,8 @@ func execV2(socketPath string, spec *commandSpec, args []string, jsonOutput bool
 			params["initial_command"] = parsed.positional[0]
 		}
 
-		// Fall back to env vars for common IDs
-		if _, ok := params["workspace_id"]; !ok {
-			if envWs := os.Getenv("CMUX_WORKSPACE_ID"); envWs != "" {
-				params["workspace_id"] = envWs
-			}
-		}
-		if _, ok := params["surface_id"]; !ok {
-			if envSf := os.Getenv("CMUX_SURFACE_ID"); envSf != "" {
-				params["surface_id"] = envSf
-			}
-		}
+		applyWorkspaceEnvFallback(params)
+		applySurfaceEnvFallback(params)
 	}
 
 	resp, err := socketRoundTripV2(socketPath, spec.v2Method, params, refreshAddr)
@@ -275,25 +276,36 @@ func runBrowserRelay(socketPath string, args []string, jsonOutput bool, refreshA
 
 	var method string
 	var flagKeys []string
+	var allowPositionalURL bool
+	var useWorkspaceEnv bool
+	var useSurfaceEnv bool
 	switch sub {
 	case "open", "open-split", "new":
-		method = "browser.open"
+		method = "browser.open_split"
 		flagKeys = []string{"url", "workspace", "surface"}
+		allowPositionalURL = true
+		useWorkspaceEnv = true
 	case "navigate":
 		method = "browser.navigate"
 		flagKeys = []string{"url", "surface"}
+		allowPositionalURL = true
+		useSurfaceEnv = true
 	case "back":
 		method = "browser.back"
 		flagKeys = []string{"surface"}
+		useSurfaceEnv = true
 	case "forward":
 		method = "browser.forward"
 		flagKeys = []string{"surface"}
+		useSurfaceEnv = true
 	case "reload":
 		method = "browser.reload"
 		flagKeys = []string{"surface"}
+		useSurfaceEnv = true
 	case "get-url":
-		method = "browser.get_url"
+		method = "browser.url.get"
 		flagKeys = []string{"surface"}
+		useSurfaceEnv = true
 	default:
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "cmux browser: unknown subcommand %q\n", sub)
 		return 2
@@ -311,6 +323,17 @@ func runBrowserRelay(socketPath string, args []string, jsonOutput bool, refreshA
 			params[paramKey] = val
 		}
 	}
+	if allowPositionalURL {
+		if _, ok := params["url"]; !ok && len(parsed.positional) > 0 {
+			params["url"] = strings.Join(parsed.positional, " ")
+		}
+	}
+	if useWorkspaceEnv {
+		applyWorkspaceEnvFallback(params)
+	}
+	if useSurfaceEnv {
+		applySurfaceEnvFallback(params)
+	}
 
 	resp, err := socketRoundTripV2(socketPath, method, params, refreshAddr)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -325,6 +348,24 @@ func runBrowserRelay(socketPath string, args []string, jsonOutput bool, refreshA
 	return 0
 }
 
+func applyWorkspaceEnvFallback(params map[string]any) {
+	if _, ok := params["workspace_id"]; ok {
+		return
+	}
+	if envWs := os.Getenv("CMUX_WORKSPACE_ID"); envWs != "" {
+		params["workspace_id"] = envWs
+	}
+}
+
+func applySurfaceEnvFallback(params map[string]any) {
+	if _, ok := params["surface_id"]; ok {
+		return
+	}
+	if envSf := os.Getenv("CMUX_SURFACE_ID"); envSf != "" {
+		params["surface_id"] = envSf
+	}
+}
+
 func defaultRelayOutput(resp string) string {
 	var result any
 	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(resp), &result); err != nil {