diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3f8ddce..ea03fc6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,17 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Onboarding a machine that shares a hostname with an existing machine no longer overwrites that machine's sync state — machine identity is now a random id rather than the hostname
+- `pnpm` failures now surface the real error text (pnpm writes errors to stdout, not stderr, so failures previously showed a blank reason)
+
+### Changed
+
+- New machines get a random machine id; existing machines keep their hostname-based id, so no migration runs on upgrade. A fleet that already contains two machines sharing a hostname is not auto-repaired — re-id one of them by removing its `~/.tether/state.json` and running `tether init` again
+
 ## [1.11.10] - 2026-04-08
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/src/packages/pnpm.rs b/src/packages/pnpm.rs
index 3f5354e..6c913ae 100644
--- a/src/packages/pnpm.rs
+++ b/src/packages/pnpm.rs
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@ impl PnpmManager {
         let output = Command::new("pnpm").args(args).output().await?;
 
         if !output.status.success() {
-            let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("pnpm command failed: {}", stderr));
+            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
+                "pnpm command failed: {}",
+                pnpm_error_message(&output.stderr, &output.stdout)
+            ));
         }
 
         Ok(String::from_utf8(output.stdout)?)
@@ -93,8 +95,10 @@ impl PackageManager for PnpmManager {
         let output = Command::new("pnpm").args(["update", "-g"]).output().await?;
 
         if !output.status.success() {
-            let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("pnpm update failed: {}", stderr));
+            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
+                "pnpm update failed: {}",
+                pnpm_error_message(&output.stderr, &output.stdout)
+            ));
         }
 
         Ok(())
@@ -107,10 +111,42 @@ impl PackageManager for PnpmManager {
             .await?;
 
         if !output.status.success() {
-            let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("pnpm remove failed: {}", stderr));
+            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
+                "pnpm remove failed: {}",
+                pnpm_error_message(&output.stderr, &output.stdout)
+            ));
         }
 
         Ok(())
     }
 }
+
+/// pnpm writes failures to stdout, not stderr — fall back when stderr is empty.
+fn pnpm_error_message(stderr: &[u8], stdout: &[u8]) -> String {
+    let err = String::from_utf8_lossy(stderr);
+    let trimmed = err.trim();
+    if !trimmed.is_empty() {
+        return trimmed.to_string();
+    }
+    String::from_utf8_lossy(stdout).trim().to_string()
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn prefers_trimmed_stderr() {
+        assert_eq!(pnpm_error_message(b"  boom  ", b"ignored"), "boom");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn falls_back_to_stdout_when_stderr_blank() {
+        assert_eq!(pnpm_error_message(b"   \n", b"  ENOENT  "), "ENOENT");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn empty_when_both_blank() {
+        assert_eq!(pnpm_error_message(b"", b"  "), "");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/security/encryption.rs b/src/security/encryption.rs
index a032613..a0b58a5 100644
--- a/src/security/encryption.rs
+++ b/src/security/encryption.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@ pub fn generate_key() -> [u8; KEY_SIZE] {
     key
 }
 
+/// Generate a random hex id.
+pub fn random_hex_id() -> String {
+    let mut bytes = [0u8; 6];
+    OsRng.fill_bytes(&mut bytes);
+    hex::encode(bytes)
+}
+
 /// Encrypt data using AES-256-GCM
 /// Format: [nonce (12 bytes)][ciphertext + auth tag]
 pub fn encrypt(plaintext: &[u8], key: &[u8]) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
@@ -96,6 +103,16 @@ mod tests {
         assert_ne!(key1, key2); // Keys should be random
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_random_hex_id() {
+        let id1 = random_hex_id();
+        let id2 = random_hex_id();
+
+        assert_eq!(id1.len(), 12);
+        assert!(id1.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_hexdigit()));
+        assert_ne!(id1, id2);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_encrypt_decrypt_roundtrip() {
         let key = generate_key();
diff --git a/src/security/mod.rs b/src/security/mod.rs
index acdf0f0..6fa7f03 100644
--- a/src/security/mod.rs
+++ b/src/security/mod.rs
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ pub fn write_owner_only(path: &Path, data: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-pub use encryption::{decrypt, encrypt, generate_key};
+pub use encryption::{decrypt, encrypt, generate_key, random_hex_id};
 pub use keychain::{
     clear_cached_key, get_encryption_key, has_encryption_key, is_unlocked,
     store_encryption_key_with_passphrase, unlock_with_passphrase,
diff --git a/src/sync/state.rs b/src/sync/state.rs
index b2204c8..f986ea2 100644
--- a/src/sync/state.rs
+++ b/src/sync/state.rs
@@ -278,11 +278,11 @@ impl SyncState {
         }
     }
 
+    /// A random id, not the hostname — hostnames collide across machines, and a
+    /// collision makes one machine's sync overwrite another's `machines/<id>.json`
+    /// record. The human-readable hostname lives on `MachineState` as metadata.
     fn generate_machine_id() -> String {
-        hostname::get()
-            .ok()
-            .and_then(|h| h.into_string().ok())
-            .unwrap_or_else(|| "unknown".to_string())
+        crate::security::random_hex_id()
     }
 
     pub fn update_file(&mut self, path: &str, hash: String) {