diff --git a/SPEC.md b/SPEC.md
index 3c211bd..6ef5898 100644
--- a/SPEC.md
+++ b/SPEC.md
@@ -144,7 +144,11 @@ hostname and workdir ride `krun_set_exec`'s config natively (the init
 blob applies both); the script's own hostname and cd lines stay as
 fallbacks. There is no exec (the init must outlive the payload to
 report it) and no share-less special case: the same contract covers a
-bare shell run. Ending the machine is not the script's job either:
+bare shell run. The payload itself is an argv vector taken
+literally; the one rewrite is a single argument containing whitespace,
+which is a quoted shell line ("apk add x && y") and runs through the
+image's shell as `sh -c`. Ending the machine is not the script's job
+either:
 when the script exits, the init blob reports the code and the VMM
 powers the machine off (the libkrunfw kernel has no sysrq).
 
@@ -223,12 +227,13 @@ pub struct RunOptions {
     pub workdir: String,        // guest cwd; empty = /
     pub env: Vec<(String, String)>, // composed envp; host env never inherited
     pub hostname: String,       // empty = generated ecrou-vm-XXXXXX
-    pub quiet: bool,
+    pub log_level: LogLevel,    // Quiet | Normal | Verbose
 }
 pub fn run(options: &RunOptions, progress: &dyn Progress) -> Result<i32>
 ```
 
-stdio is inherited; the return value is the guest exit code. A run
+Guest output reaches real stdout through the streamed console; the
+return value is the guest exit code. A run
 without working KVM is `Error::KvmUnavailable` with the remediation
 text. Everything else is `Error::Other` over the anyhow chain, ecr's
 shape. The v1 API has no captured-output variant and no long-lived
diff --git a/crates/ecrou-cli/src/cli.rs b/crates/ecrou-cli/src/cli.rs
index 33a1024..21c2c21 100644
--- a/crates/ecrou-cli/src/cli.rs
+++ b/crates/ecrou-cli/src/cli.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@ pub enum Command {
 pub struct RunArgs {
     /// Distribution name or OCI image reference
     pub image: String,
-    /// Command to run in the machine; the image's default shell when omitted
+    /// Command to run in the machine; the image's default shell when
+    /// omitted. An argument vector after `--` is taken literally; a
+    /// single quoted line runs through the image's shell.
     #[arg(last = true)]
     pub command: Vec<String>,
     /// Directory to share into the machine as HOST:GUEST[:ro] (repeatable)
diff --git a/crates/ecrou/src/vm.rs b/crates/ecrou/src/vm.rs
index 8b49c2f..691dc7f 100644
--- a/crates/ecrou/src/vm.rs
+++ b/crates/ecrou/src/vm.rs
@@ -362,10 +362,19 @@ fn collect_shares(
 
 /// The guest payload: the caller's argv, or the rootfs's default shell.
 fn payload_command(options: &RunOptions, rootfs_dir: &Path) -> Vec<String> {
-    if !options.command.is_empty() {
-        return options.command.clone();
+    let shell = utils::detect_shell(rootfs_dir).to_string();
+    match options.command.as_slice() {
+        // No command: the image's shell.
+        [] => vec![shell],
+        // One quoted shell line: `ecrou run alpine -- "apk add x && y"`.
+        // The whole line would otherwise be execvp'd as one program
+        // name; the consumer clearly asked for a shell line.
+        [line] if line.contains(char::is_whitespace) => {
+            vec![shell, "-c".to_string(), line.clone()]
+        }
+        // An argv vector, taken literally.
+        cmd => cmd.to_vec(),
     }
-    vec![utils::detect_shell(rootfs_dir).to_string()]
 }
 
 /// The guest environment, composed from scratch: a usable base, the
@@ -447,6 +456,64 @@ fn parse_memory_mib(s: &str) -> anyhow::Result<u32> {
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
+    /// A scratch with just a shell, for payload_command tests.
+    fn shell_rootfs() -> tempfile::TempDir {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(dir.path().join("bin")).unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(dir.path().join("bin/sh"), "").unwrap();
+        dir
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn payload_defaults_to_the_image_shell() {
+        let rootfs = shell_rootfs();
+        let options = RunOptions::default();
+        assert_eq!(
+            payload_command(&options, rootfs.path()),
+            vec!["/bin/sh".to_string()]
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn payload_argv_is_taken_literally() {
+        let rootfs = shell_rootfs();
+        let options = RunOptions {
+            command: vec!["uname".to_string(), "-a".to_string()],
+            ..RunOptions::default()
+        };
+        assert_eq!(
+            payload_command(&options, rootfs.path()),
+            vec!["uname".to_string(), "-a".to_string()]
+        );
+        // Even when it looks like a shell invocation: the consumer
+        // asked for argv.
+        let options = RunOptions {
+            command: vec!["sh".to_string(), "-c".to_string(), "exit 7".to_string()],
+            ..RunOptions::default()
+        };
+        assert_eq!(
+            payload_command(&options, rootfs.path()),
+            vec!["sh".to_string(), "-c".to_string(), "exit 7".to_string()]
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn payload_single_quoted_line_runs_through_the_shell() {
+        let rootfs = shell_rootfs();
+        let options = RunOptions {
+            command: vec!["apk add fastfetch && fastfetch".to_string()],
+            ..RunOptions::default()
+        };
+        assert_eq!(
+            payload_command(&options, rootfs.path()),
+            vec![
+                "/bin/sh".to_string(),
+                "-c".to_string(),
+                "apk add fastfetch && fastfetch".to_string()
+            ]
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn memory_parses_to_whole_mib() {
         assert_eq!(parse_memory_mib("1G").unwrap(), 1024);