diff --git a/packages/marmel/package.nix b/packages/marmel/package.nix
index 45b6958..9c440a1 100644
--- a/packages/marmel/package.nix
+++ b/packages/marmel/package.nix
@@ -7,26 +7,31 @@
 
 rustPlatform.buildRustPackage rec {
   pname = "marmel";
-  # Upstream publishes no git tags, so this is pinned to the 1.0.0 release
-  # commit ("1.0.0 (#6)").
+  # Upstream publishes no git tags and no GitHub releases, and Cargo.toml still
+  # says 1.0.0, so the version is meaningless and the source is tracked by
+  # branch head. Bump with nix-update (see passthru.updateScript).
   version = "1.0.0";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "Na1w";
     repo = "marmel";
-    rev = "d6627d7cf3bf509d1e6db0d9d78736116e92e82a";
-    hash = "sha256-UlrSp/n3og0GAQXzISsB24OfK3qOUPE7jYOkEbZ2neI=";
+    rev = "3f238ff217ee2e1033c937c840bd2d33ec57abc4";
+    hash = "sha256-ijSsUAJom/uIiE09PM1kfXqNVCRqnipAQo72KXlr8sQ=";
   };
 
   cargoHash = "sha256-etqW3xcxkiNfkiPxl/Emt5pQCkNnoIhHFkX0Zqfs4rc=";
 
   nativeCheckInputs = [ cacert ];
 
+  patches = [ ./session-boot-trust-store.patch ];
+
   # The test suite builds `reqwest::Client`s, and rustls rejects construction
   # outright when no system trust store is found ("No CA certificates were
-  # loaded from the system"). The sandbox has no /etc/ssl, so point the tests
-  # at nixpkgs' bundle. Build-time only; the installed binary still uses the
-  # host's trust store at runtime.
+  # loaded from the system"). rustls-native-certs probes only SSL_CERT_FILE,
+  # SSL_CERT_DIR and a fixed list of /etc dirs (/etc/ssl, /etc/pki/tls, ...),
+  # none of which exist in the build sandbox, so point the tests at nixpkgs'
+  # bundle. Build-time only; the installed binary still uses the host's trust
+  # store at runtime.
   preCheck = ''
     export SSL_CERT_FILE=${cacert}/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt
   '';
diff --git a/packages/marmel/session-boot-trust-store.patch b/packages/marmel/session-boot-trust-store.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ba4965
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/marmel/session-boot-trust-store.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+Give the env-cleared child process a trust store.
+
+run_marmel() wipes the child environment so the binary under test cannot
+inherit the runner's MARMEL_* variables or its terminal. reqwest's TLS stack
+is rustls-native-certs, which reads SSL_CERT_FILE / SSL_CERT_DIR and then the
+well-known /etc paths, so where no system trust store exists at all the child
+dies inside reqwest::Client::new() ("No CA certificates were loaded from the
+system") before it ever reads the bundle. Four cases in this file assert the
+CLI's exit codes and stderr, and they then observe the panic's 101 instead.
+
+Forward the test runner's SSL_CERT_FILE when it has one. On a normal Linux
+host the child picks the trust store up from /etc as before, so the assertions
+themselves are unchanged.
+
+This is a workaround, not the real fix. The panic should not happen at all:
+src/llm/client.rs builds the client with unwrap_or_default() on a
+Result<Client, reqwest::Error>, and reqwest's Client::default() is
+Client::new(), which repeats the same build and .expect()s it, so the fallback
+can never recover. Upstream was told; drop this patch once the error is
+propagated instead of discarded.
+
+--- a/tests/test_session_boot.rs
++++ b/tests/test_session_boot.rs
+@@ -221,8 +221,17 @@
+     let err_file = std::fs::File::create(&err_path).expect("stderr file");
+
+     let mut cmd = Command::new(env!("CARGO_BIN_EXE_marmel"));
+-    cmd.current_dir(dir)
+-        .env_clear()
++    cmd.current_dir(dir).env_clear();
++    // rustls-native-certs reads SSL_CERT_FILE / SSL_CERT_DIR, both of which the
++    // env_clear() above drops, so when no system trust store can be probed
++    // either the child dies inside reqwest::Client::new() ("No CA certificates
++    // were loaded from the system") before it ever reaches the bundle, and the
++    // exit-code assertions below then see the panic's 101. Forward the runner's
++    // value when it has one; the assertions themselves are untouched.
++    if let Some(trust_store) = std::env::var("SSL_CERT_FILE").ok().filter(|p| !p.is_empty()) {
++        cmd.env("SSL_CERT_FILE", trust_store);
++    }
++    cmd
+         // A minimal, deterministic environment: the binary must not inherit the
+         // test runner's `MARMEL_*` variables or its terminal.
+         .env("PATH", "/usr/bin:/bin")