diff --git a/Services/Execution/SubprocessScriptExecutor.cs b/Services/Execution/SubprocessScriptExecutor.cs
index 617ac20..e62870d 100644
--- a/Services/Execution/SubprocessScriptExecutor.cs
+++ b/Services/Execution/SubprocessScriptExecutor.cs
@@ -32,9 +32,12 @@ public class SubprocessScriptExecutor : IScriptExecutor
             var workingDir = ExecutionHelpers.ResolveWorkingDir(invocation);
             var entryPath = Path.Combine(workingDir, invocation.EntryFile);
 
+            var (executable, args) = ResolveInterpreter(entryPath);
+            args.Add(entryPath);
+
             var output = await ProcessRunner.RunAsync(
-                _executable,
-                new[] { entryPath },
+                executable,
+                args,
                 workingDir,
                 ExecutionHelpers.BuildEnvironment(invocation),
                 invocation.Input,
@@ -50,6 +53,54 @@ public class SubprocessScriptExecutor : IScriptExecutor
         }
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Chooses the interpreter for a shell script. A shell script may declare a
+    /// specific shell in its shebang (e.g. <c>#!/usr/bin/env bash</c>); running it
+    /// under the registered POSIX <c>sh</c> instead would reject bash-only syntax
+    /// such as <c>set -o pipefail</c>. When the shebang names an interpreter that
+    /// is available on PATH we honour it; otherwise (no shebang, unknown
+    /// interpreter) we fall back to the registered default so behaviour is
+    /// unchanged for plain POSIX scripts.
+    /// </summary>
+    private (string Executable, List<string> Args) ResolveInterpreter(string entryPath)
+    {
+        var fallback = (_executable, new List<string>());
+        if (!string.Equals(_language, "shell", StringComparison.Ordinal) || !File.Exists(entryPath))
+            return fallback;
+
+        try
+        {
+            string? firstLine;
+            using (var reader = new StreamReader(entryPath))
+                firstLine = reader.ReadLine();
+
+            if (firstLine is null || !firstLine.StartsWith("#!", StringComparison.Ordinal))
+                return fallback;
+
+            var parts = firstLine.Substring(2).Trim()
+                .Split(new[] { ' ', '\t' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
+            if (parts.Length == 0)
+                return fallback;
+
+            var candidate = parts[0];
+            var extra = parts.Skip(1).ToList();
+
+            // "#!/usr/bin/env bash" -> run "bash" (env resolves it via PATH).
+            if (string.Equals(Path.GetFileName(candidate), "env", StringComparison.Ordinal) && extra.Count > 0)
+            {
+                candidate = extra[0];
+                extra.RemoveAt(0);
+            }
+
+            var resolved = ProcessRunner.FindInPath(candidate);
+            return resolved is null ? fallback : (resolved, extra);
+        }
+        catch (IOException)
+        {
+            return fallback;
+        }
+    }
+
     private static int ParseInt(string? text, int fallback)
         => int.TryParse(text, out var value) && value > 0 ? value : fallback;
 }
diff --git a/appsettings.Development.json b/appsettings.Development.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3214c4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/appsettings.Development.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+  "Logging": {
+    "LogLevel": {
+      "Default": "Information",
+      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
+    }
+  },
+  "Workflows": {
+    "ChatApiUrl": "http://localhost:5258"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/w4c-workflows-api.Tests/SubprocessScriptExecutorTests.cs b/w4c-workflows-api.Tests/SubprocessScriptExecutorTests.cs
index 8a97fec..e8d7a81 100644
--- a/w4c-workflows-api.Tests/SubprocessScriptExecutorTests.cs
+++ b/w4c-workflows-api.Tests/SubprocessScriptExecutorTests.cs
@@ -82,6 +82,28 @@ public class SubprocessScriptExecutorTests
         Assert.Contains("time limit", result.Error);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task Shell_honours_bash_shebang_for_bash_only_scripts()
+    {
+        if (ProcessRunner.FindInPath("bash") is null)
+            return; // no bash on this host — the fallback path is covered elsewhere
+
+        using var dir = new TempDir();
+        dir.Write("task.sh", """
+            #!/usr/bin/env bash
+            set -euo pipefail
+            cat >/dev/null || true
+            echo '{"ok":true}'
+            """);
+
+        var result = await Shell().ExecuteAsync(
+            Invocation.For("shell", "task.sh", "{}", dir.Path), default);
+
+        Assert.True(result.Success, result.Error);
+        using var output = JsonDocument.Parse(result.Output!);
+        Assert.True(output.RootElement.GetProperty("ok").GetBoolean());
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public async Task Python_reads_stdin_and_returns_json_output()
     {