diff --git a/docs/known-issues.md b/docs/known-issues.md
index e9303bd..faffde3 100644
--- a/docs/known-issues.md
+++ b/docs/known-issues.md
@@ -179,3 +179,8 @@ lack the required `SKILL_NAME` / `SKILL_TRIGGERS` module attrs, so 4
 confirmed 2026-07-02 during the log-review PRs). They look like leftover Pilot
 e2e scratch files, not real skills. Fix: either add the required metadata +
 regenerate `skills/.manifest.json`, or delete both files.
+
+**RESOLVED 2026-07-03:** they were auto-generated Pilot trace recordings
+(May 13) living in `~/.codec/skills/`, not repo files. Moved to
+`~/.codec/pilot_archive/` — recordings preserved, skills dir clean,
+`tests/test_skills.py` fully green (160/160).
diff --git a/pilot/pilot_runner.py b/pilot/pilot_runner.py
index bdfd667..2c6ed61 100644
--- a/pilot/pilot_runner.py
+++ b/pilot/pilot_runner.py
@@ -296,9 +296,25 @@ def _record_step(action: dict, snap_text: str, el=None, result: str = "") -> Non
     _recording.steps.append(step)
 
 
+def _normalize_url(url: str) -> str:
+    """Prepend https:// when the caller sends a bare domain (F8, 2026-07-03).
+
+    The Pilot UI normalizes before sending, but API callers (pilot skill,
+    MCP, curl) hitting /navigate with "example.com" got a 500 from the
+    browser driver. Scheme-relative (//host) and explicit schemes pass
+    through untouched; about:/data: etc. are left alone."""
+    u = (url or "").strip()
+    if not u:
+        return u
+    if "://" in u or u.startswith(("about:", "data:", "chrome:", "//")):
+        return u
+    return "https://" + u
+
+
 @app.post("/navigate")
 async def navigate(req: NavigateRequest):
     pilot = _require_pilot()
+    req.url = _normalize_url(req.url)
     await pilot.navigate(req.url, wait_until=req.wait_until)
     snap = await take_snapshot(pilot.page)
     _record_step(
diff --git a/tests/test_pilot_proxy.py b/tests/test_pilot_proxy.py
index 24839f9..ae9f595 100644
--- a/tests/test_pilot_proxy.py
+++ b/tests/test_pilot_proxy.py
@@ -39,3 +39,24 @@ def test_headers_always_include_token(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
 
 def test_stream_paths_cover_mjpeg():
     assert "screenshot/stream" in pilot_proxy._STREAM_PATHS
+
+
+# ── F8 (2026-07): runner-side bare-domain normalization ─────────────────────
+
+
+def test_normalize_url_bare_domain():
+    import pytest
+    pytest.importorskip("playwright")  # pilot deps absent on the CI runner
+    from pilot.pilot_runner import _normalize_url
+    assert _normalize_url("example.com") == "https://example.com"
+    assert _normalize_url("  avadigital.ai ") == "https://avadigital.ai"
+
+
+def test_normalize_url_leaves_schemes_alone():
+    import pytest
+    pytest.importorskip("playwright")  # pilot deps absent on the CI runner
+    from pilot.pilot_runner import _normalize_url
+    for u in ("https://example.com", "http://x.dev", "about:blank",
+              "data:text/html,hi", "//cdn.example.com/x"):
+        assert _normalize_url(u) == u
+    assert _normalize_url("") == ""