diff --git a/.changeset/fix-pnpm-binary-install.md b/.changeset/fix-pnpm-binary-install.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fe0d0ed1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fix-pnpm-binary-install.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+"@googleworkspace/cli": patch
+---
+
+fix: auto-install binary on run if missing
+
+pnpm skips postinstall when the package is already up to date.
+This ensures run.js will auto-trigger install.js if the
+binary is missing, fixing the 'gws binary not found' error.
diff --git a/npm/run.js b/npm/run.js
index 67ff6fdd..4d6e84db 100644
--- a/npm/run.js
+++ b/npm/run.js
@@ -12,9 +12,15 @@ const binPath = path.join(__dirname, "bin", platform.binary);
 
 if (!fs.existsSync(binPath)) {
   console.error(
-    `gws binary not found at ${binPath}\nRun "npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli" to install it.`,
+    `gws binary not found at ${binPath}\nAuto-installing...`
   );
-  process.exit(1);
+  const install = spawnSync(process.execPath, [path.join(__dirname, "install.js")], {
+    cwd: __dirname,
+    stdio: "inherit",
+  });
+  if (install.status !== 0) {
+    process.exit(install.status ?? 1);
+  }
 }
 
 const result = spawnSync(binPath, process.argv.slice(2), {