diff --git a/apps/cli/src/lib/telemetry.ts b/apps/cli/src/lib/telemetry.ts
index 08cc8ab2..881c6070 100644
--- a/apps/cli/src/lib/telemetry.ts
+++ b/apps/cli/src/lib/telemetry.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import path from 'node:path';
+
 const POSTHOG_KEY = 'phc_aUZcaccxNs56PokvsvIInqHCrwjUjvpiMWih9P86cTV';
 const POSTHOG_HOST = 'https://us.i.posthog.com';
 const TELEMETRY_ENV_FLAG = 'BTCA_TELEMETRY';
@@ -11,7 +13,7 @@ const expandHome = (filePath: string) => {
 	return filePath;
 };
 
-const getTelemetryPath = () => `${expandHome(TELEMETRY_CONFIG_DIR)}/${TELEMETRY_FILENAME}`;
+const getTelemetryPath = () => path.join(expandHome(TELEMETRY_CONFIG_DIR), TELEMETRY_FILENAME);
 
 type TelemetryConfig = {
 	enabled: boolean;
@@ -78,11 +80,11 @@ const ensureConfigDir = async (configDir: string) => {
 };
 
 const saveTelemetryConfig = async (config: TelemetryConfig) => {
-	const path = getTelemetryPath();
-	const configDir = path.slice(0, path.lastIndexOf('/'));
+	const telemetryPath = getTelemetryPath();
+	const configDir = path.dirname(telemetryPath);
 	await ensureConfigDir(configDir);
-	await Bun.write(`${configDir}/.keep`, '');
-	await Bun.write(path, JSON.stringify(config, null, 2));
+	await Bun.write(path.join(configDir, '.keep'), '');
+	await Bun.write(telemetryPath, JSON.stringify(config, null, 2));
 };
 
 const getOrCreateTelemetryConfig = async () => {
diff --git a/apps/server/src/resources/schema.ts b/apps/server/src/resources/schema.ts
index b632e67d..2eae0db8 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/resources/schema.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/resources/schema.ts
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ const SearchPathSchema = z
 	.refine((path) => !path.includes('..'), {
 		message: 'Search path must not contain path traversal sequences (..)'
 	})
-	.refine((path) => !path.startsWith('/') && !path.match(/^[a-zA-Z]:\\/), {
+	.refine((path) => !path.startsWith('/') && !path.match(/^[a-zA-Z]:[\\/]/), {
 		message: 'Search path must not be an absolute path'
 	});
 
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ const LocalPathSchema = z
 	.refine((path) => !path.includes('\0'), {
 		message: 'Path must not contain null bytes'
 	})
-	.refine((path) => path.startsWith('/') || path.match(/^[a-zA-Z]:\\/), {
+	.refine((path) => path.startsWith('/') || path.match(/^[a-zA-Z]:[\\/]/), {
 		message: 'Local path must be an absolute path'
 	});
 
diff --git a/apps/server/src/validation/index.test.ts b/apps/server/src/validation/index.test.ts
index 597d7f5d..bc24e036 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/validation/index.test.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/validation/index.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
 
-import { validateResourceReference, validateResourcesArray } from './index.ts';
+import {
+	validateLocalPath,
+	validateResourceReference,
+	validateResourcesArray,
+	validateSearchPath
+} from './index.ts';
 
 describe('validateResourceReference', () => {
 	it('accepts configured resource names', () => {
@@ -72,3 +77,18 @@ describe('validateResourcesArray', () => {
 		expect(result.valid).toBe(true);
 	});
 });
+
+describe('windows path handling', () => {
+	it('accepts absolute windows local paths with forward slashes', () => {
+		const result = validateLocalPath('C:/Users/test/project');
+		expect(result.valid).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	it('rejects absolute windows search paths as searchPath', () => {
+		const result = validateSearchPath('C:/Users/test/project');
+		expect(result.valid).toBe(false);
+		if (!result.valid) {
+			expect(result.error).toContain('absolute path');
+		}
+	});
+});
diff --git a/apps/server/src/validation/index.ts b/apps/server/src/validation/index.ts
index 92f920c6..23665620 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/validation/index.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/validation/index.ts
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ export const validateSearchPath = (searchPath: string | undefined): ValidationRe
 	}
 
 	// Reject absolute paths
-	if (searchPath.startsWith('/') || searchPath.match(/^[a-zA-Z]:\\/)) {
+	if (searchPath.startsWith('/') || searchPath.match(/^[a-zA-Z]:[\\/]/)) {
 		return fail('Search path must not be an absolute path');
 	}
 
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ export const validateLocalPath = (path: string): ValidationResult => {
 	}
 
 	// Must be absolute path (starts with / on Unix or drive letter on Windows)
-	if (!normalizedPath.startsWith('/') && !normalizedPath.match(/^[a-zA-Z]:\\/)) {
+	if (!normalizedPath.startsWith('/') && !normalizedPath.match(/^[a-zA-Z]:[\\/]/)) {
 		return fail('Local path must be an absolute path');
 	}