diff --git a/src/server/__tests__/open-target-launch-options.test.ts b/src/server/__tests__/open-target-launch-options.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..335cee90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/__tests__/open-target-launch-options.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test'
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { delimiter, join } from 'node:path'
+import {
+  createOpenTargetService,
+  getDefaultLaunchSpawnOptions,
+} from '../services/openTargetService.js'
+
+describe('open target launch options', () => {
+  it('does not hide external application windows on Windows', () => {
+    const options = getDefaultLaunchSpawnOptions() as Record<string, unknown>
+
+    expect(options.windowsHide).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(options).toEqual({
+      detached: true,
+      stdio: 'ignore',
+    })
+  })
+
+  it.skipIf(process.platform === 'win32')('uses those options in the production launcher', async () => {
+    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'cc-haha-open-target-launch-'))
+    const binDir = join(root, 'bin')
+    const targetDir = join(root, 'target')
+    const commandPath = join(binDir, 'code')
+    const originalPath = process.env.PATH
+
+    await mkdir(binDir)
+    await mkdir(targetDir)
+    await writeFile(commandPath, '#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n', { mode: 0o755 })
+    process.env.PATH = `${binDir}${delimiter}${originalPath ?? ''}`
+
+    try {
+      const service = createOpenTargetService({
+        platform: 'linux',
+        commandExists: async (command) => command === 'code',
+      })
+
+      await expect(service.openTarget({ targetId: 'vscode', path: targetDir }))
+        .resolves.toMatchObject({ ok: true, targetId: 'vscode' })
+    } finally {
+      if (originalPath === undefined) {
+        delete process.env.PATH
+      } else {
+        process.env.PATH = originalPath
+      }
+      await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/server/services/openTargetService.ts b/src/server/services/openTargetService.ts
index 20a17c60..8a29505c 100644
--- a/src/server/services/openTargetService.ts
+++ b/src/server/services/openTargetService.ts
@@ -265,6 +265,17 @@ async function defaultPathExists(targetPath: string): Promise<boolean> {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Keep external applications detached without setting `windowsHide`: on
+ * Windows that flag passes SW_HIDE to GUI targets such as Explorer and IDEs.
+ */
+export function getDefaultLaunchSpawnOptions() {
+  return {
+    detached: true as const,
+    stdio: 'ignore' as const,
+  }
+}
+
 async function defaultLaunch(command: string, args: string[]): Promise<OpenTargetLaunchResult> {
   return await new Promise((resolveLaunch) => {
     let settled = false
@@ -275,11 +286,7 @@ async function defaultLaunch(command: string, args: string[]): Promise<OpenTarge
     }
 
     try {
-      const child = spawn(command, args, {
-        detached: true,
-        stdio: 'ignore',
-        windowsHide: true,
-      })
+      const child = spawn(command, args, getDefaultLaunchSpawnOptions())
 
       child.once('error', (error) => {
         settle({