diff --git a/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-index.sh b/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-index.sh
index aa22364..41cc216 100755
--- a/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-index.sh
+++ b/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-index.sh
@@ -139,6 +139,77 @@ validate_issue_ref() {
     fi
 }
 
+read_json_file() {
+    local file_path="$1"
+    if [ -f "$file_path" ]; then
+        cat "$file_path"
+    else
+        echo "{}"
+    fi
+}
+
+write_json_file() {
+    local file_path="$1"
+    local json_content="$2"
+    local temp_file="$file_path.tmp.$$"
+    
+    printf '%s' "$json_content" > "$temp_file"
+    
+    if ! python3 -c "import json; json.load(open('$temp_file'))" 2>/dev/null; then
+        echo "Error: write_json_file would create malformed JSON: $file_path" >&2
+        rm -f "$temp_file"
+        return 1
+    fi
+    
+    mv "$temp_file" "$file_path"
+}
+
+get_json_value() {
+    local file_path="$1"
+    local key="$2"
+    local default="${3:-}"
+    
+    if [ ! -f "$file_path" ]; then
+        echo "$default"
+        return
+    fi
+    
+    python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('$file_path')).get('$key', '$default'))" 2>/dev/null || echo "$default"
+}
+
+set_json_value() {
+    local file_path="$1"
+    local key="$2"
+    local value="$3"
+    
+    if [ ! -f "$file_path" ]; then
+        printf '{"%s": "%s"}\n' "$key" "$value" > "$file_path"
+        return
+    fi
+    
+    python3 << PYEOF
+import json
+import sys
+
+file_path = "$file_path"
+key = "$key"
+value = "$value"
+
+try:
+    with open(file_path, 'r') as f:
+        data = json.load(f)
+except:
+    data = {}
+
+data[key] = value
+
+with open(file_path, 'w') as f:
+    json.dump(data, f, indent=2)
+
+print(f"Set $key = $value in $file_path")
+PYEOF
+}
+
 update_session_pr_url() {
     local issue_ref="$1"
     local pr_url="$2"
diff --git a/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-queue-daemon.sh b/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-queue-daemon.sh
index a4dab1b..b2d8b0d 100644
--- a/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-queue-daemon.sh
+++ b/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-queue-daemon.sh
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ release_lock() {
 check_task_completion() {
     local item="$1"
     local queue_id=$(basename "$item" .json)
+    
+    local item_data=$(read_json_file "$item")
     local state=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('$item')).get('state', ''))" 2>/dev/null)
 
     [ "$state" = "notified" ] || return 0
diff --git a/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-session.sh b/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-session.sh
index 492ffec..f9d6f19 100755
--- a/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-session.sh
+++ b/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-session.sh
@@ -239,23 +239,34 @@ create_session() {
         return 1
     fi
     
-    local before_json=$(opencode session list --format=json 2>/dev/null)
-    local before_set=$(echo "$before_json" | python3 -c "import sys,json; sessions=json.load(sys.stdin); print('|'.join(s['id'] for s in sessions))" 2>/dev/null || echo "|")
+    local before_file="$KUGETSU_DIR/sessions/before$$.json"
+    local after_file="$KUGETSU_DIR/sessions/after$$.json"
+    
+    opencode session list --format=json > "$before_file" 2>/dev/null || printf '{}' > "$before_file"
     
     opencode run --fork --session "$base_session" "new session" >/dev/null 2>&1
     
     sleep 1
     
-    local after_json=$(opencode session list --format=json 2>/dev/null)
-    local after_sessions=$(echo "$after_json" | python3 -c "import sys,json; sessions=json.load(sys.stdin); [print(s['id']) for s in sessions]" 2>/dev/null || true)
+    opencode session list --format=json > "$after_file" 2>/dev/null || printf '{}' > "$after_file"
     
-    local new_session_id=""
-    while IFS= read -r sess; do
-        if [[ -n "$sess" ]] && [[ ! "$before_set" =~ \|${sess}\| ]]; then
-            new_session_id="$sess"
-            break
-        fi
-    done <<< "$after_sessions"
+    local new_session_id=$(python3 << PYEOF
+import json
+
+with open("$before_file", 'r') as f:
+    before = json.load(f)
+with open("$after_file", 'r') as f:
+    after = json.load(f)
+
+before_ids = set(s['id'] for s in before)
+for s in after:
+    if s['id'] not in before_ids:
+        print(s['id'])
+        break
+PYEOF
+)
+    
+    rm -f "$before_file" "$after_file"
     
     echo "$new_session_id"
 }
diff --git a/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-worktree.sh b/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-worktree.sh
index bff440d..a08ccee 100755
--- a/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-worktree.sh
+++ b/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu-worktree.sh
@@ -145,15 +145,17 @@ check_pr_status() {
         token="${GITEA_TOKEN:-}"
     fi
     
-    local response
+    local response_file="$KUGETSU_DIR/.pr_status_response_$$.json"
     if [ -n "$token" ]; then
-        response=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: token $token" "$api_url" 2>/dev/null || echo "{}")
+        curl -s -H "Authorization: token $token" "$api_url" > "$response_file" 2>/dev/null || printf '{}' > "$response_file"
     else
-        response=$(curl -s "$api_url" 2>/dev/null || echo "{}")
+        curl -s "$api_url" > "$response_file" 2>/dev/null || printf '{}' > "$response_file"
     fi
     
-    local state=$(echo "$response" | python3 -c "import json, sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d.get('state', 'unknown'))" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
-    local merged=$(echo "$response" | python3 -c "import json, sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print('true' if d.get('merged', False) else 'false')" 2>/dev/null || echo "false")
+    local state=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('$response_file')).get('state', 'unknown'))" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+    local merged=$(python3 -c "import json; print('true' if json.load(open('$response_file')).get('merged', False) else 'false')" 2>/dev/null || echo "false")
+    
+    rm -f "$response_file"
     
     if [ "$merged" = "true" ]; then
         echo "merged"