diff --git a/ee/apps/den-api/scripts/build.mjs b/ee/apps/den-api/scripts/build.mjs
index 5fe9bab9b9..badbcfa730 100644
--- a/ee/apps/den-api/scripts/build.mjs
+++ b/ee/apps/den-api/scripts/build.mjs
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process"
 import { existsSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs"
 import path from "node:path"
-import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url"
+import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from "node:url"
 
 const scriptDir = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
 const serviceDir = path.resolve(scriptDir, "..")
 const repoRoot = path.resolve(serviceDir, "..", "..", "..")
 const desktopPackagePath = path.join(repoRoot, "apps", "desktop", "package.json")
 const generatedVersionPath = path.join(serviceDir, "src", "generated", "app-version.ts")
-const pnpmCommand = process.platform === "win32" ? "pnpm.cmd" : "pnpm"
+const pnpmCommand = "pnpm"
 const fallbackAppVersion = "0.0.0"
 
 function readDesktopVersion() {
@@ -40,21 +40,47 @@ function writeGeneratedVersionFile(latestAppVersion) {
   )
 }
 
+export function quoteShellArg(value) {
+  return `"${String(value).replace(/"/g, '\\"')}"`
+}
+
+export function createPnpmSpawnInput(command, args, platform = process.platform) {
+  const useShell = platform === "win32"
+  return {
+    command: useShell ? [command, ...args].map(quoteShellArg).join(" ") : command,
+    args: useShell ? [] : args,
+    shell: useShell,
+  }
+}
+
 function run(command, args) {
-  const result = spawnSync(command, args, {
+  const input = createPnpmSpawnInput(command, args)
+  const result = spawnSync(input.command, input.args, {
     cwd: serviceDir,
     env: process.env,
     stdio: "inherit",
+    shell: input.shell,
   })
 
+  if (result.error) {
+    console.error(result.error)
+    process.exit(1)
+  }
+
   if (result.status !== 0) {
     process.exit(result.status ?? 1)
   }
 }
 
-process.env.DEN_API_LATEST_APP_VERSION = process.env.DEN_API_LATEST_APP_VERSION || readDesktopVersion()
-writeGeneratedVersionFile(process.env.DEN_API_LATEST_APP_VERSION)
+function main() {
+  process.env.DEN_API_LATEST_APP_VERSION = process.env.DEN_API_LATEST_APP_VERSION || readDesktopVersion()
+  writeGeneratedVersionFile(process.env.DEN_API_LATEST_APP_VERSION)
 
-run(pnpmCommand, ["run", "build:email"])
-run(pnpmCommand, ["run", "build:den-db"])
-run(pnpmCommand, ["exec", "tsc", "-p", "tsconfig.json"])
+  run(pnpmCommand, ["run", "build:email"])
+  run(pnpmCommand, ["run", "build:den-db"])
+  run(pnpmCommand, ["exec", "tsc", "-p", "tsconfig.json"])
+}
+
+if (process.argv[1] && import.meta.url === pathToFileURL(process.argv[1]).href) {
+  main()
+}
diff --git a/ee/apps/den-api/src/generated/app-version.ts b/ee/apps/den-api/src/generated/app-version.ts
index 9a4e741eab..1e43bedf9d 100644
--- a/ee/apps/den-api/src/generated/app-version.ts
+++ b/ee/apps/den-api/src/generated/app-version.ts
@@ -1 +1 @@
-export const BUILD_LATEST_APP_VERSION = "0.13.8" as const
+export const BUILD_LATEST_APP_VERSION = "0.16.2" as const
diff --git a/ee/apps/den-api/test/build-script.test.ts b/ee/apps/den-api/test/build-script.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ccccb22e67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ee/apps/den-api/test/build-script.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test"
+import { createPnpmSpawnInput } from "../scripts/build.mjs"
+
+describe("den-api build script", () => {
+  test("quotes the pnpm command when Windows shell mode is required", () => {
+    const input = createPnpmSpawnInput("C:\\Program Files\\pnpm (den)\\pnpm.cmd", ["exec", "tsc", "-p", "tsconfig.json"], "win32")
+
+    expect(input).toEqual({
+      command: '"C:\\Program Files\\pnpm (den)\\pnpm.cmd" "exec" "tsc" "-p" "tsconfig.json"',
+      args: [],
+      shell: true,
+    })
+  })
+
+  test("keeps direct argv spawning on non-Windows platforms", () => {
+    const args = ["exec", "tsc", "-p", "tsconfig.json"]
+    const input = createPnpmSpawnInput("pnpm", args, "linux")
+
+    expect(input).toEqual({
+      command: "pnpm",
+      args,
+      shell: false,
+    })
+  })
+})