diff --git a/bash/README.md b/bash/README.md
index 5ba9e09..e211ce9 100644
--- a/bash/README.md
+++ b/bash/README.md
@@ -11,12 +11,12 @@ same behavior — no PowerShell required.
 
 ## Requirements
 
-- bash 4+, `jq`, `curl`, `zip`, OpenSSH (`ssh`/`scp`)
+- bash 3.2+ (the stock macOS bash works), `jq`, `curl`, `zip`, OpenSSH (`ssh`/`scp`)
 - `lsof` (for `zkill`/`zrestart`), `rsync` (for `zsync <project>` mirror mode)
 - Docker + docker compose on the remote host for the deploy scripts
 
 Debian/Ubuntu: `sudo apt install jq curl zip lsof rsync`
-macOS: `brew install jq` (the rest ships with the OS)
+macOS: `brew install jq` (bash, curl, zip, ssh, lsof and rsync already ship with macOS)
 
 ## Install
 
diff --git a/bash/zbackup b/bash/zbackup
index 68b3d2c..021cd52 100644
--- a/bash/zbackup
+++ b/bash/zbackup
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ done
 BACKUP_ROOT="$(z_path "$(zq '.paths.backupsLocal')")"
 include_scripts=0
 if [ "${#projects[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
-  mapfile -t projects < <(zproj_keys)
+  projects=(); while IFS= read -r _zl || [ -n "$_zl" ]; do projects+=("$_zl"); done < <(zproj_keys)
   include_scripts=1
 else
   filtered=()
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ backup_project() {  # <key>
 
   warn "  [2/3] Archiving source..."
   local excl=()
-  mapfile -t excl < <(z_archive_excludes "$key" 1)
+  excl=(); while IFS= read -r _zl || [ -n "$_zl" ]; do excl+=("$_zl"); done < <(z_archive_excludes "$key" 1)
   if ! z_archive "$root" "$zip_path" 0 "$extra" "${excl[@]}"; then
     rm -rf "$dump_dir"; return 1
   fi
diff --git a/bash/zbackup_ec2 b/bash/zbackup_ec2
index ddd54af..be3df82 100644
--- a/bash/zbackup_ec2
+++ b/bash/zbackup_ec2
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ z_require ssh scp
 
 projects=("$@")
 if [ "${#projects[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
-  mapfile -t projects < <(jq -r '.projects | to_entries[] | select((.key | startswith("_") | not) and .value.remote.path != null) | .key' "$ZCONFIG")
+  projects=(); while IFS= read -r _zl || [ -n "$_zl" ]; do projects+=("$_zl"); done \
+    < <(jq -r '.projects | to_entries[] | select((.key | startswith("_") | not) and .value.remote.path != null) | .key' "$ZCONFIG")
 fi
 
 EC2_BACKUP_ROOT="$(z_path "$(zq '.paths.backupsEc2')")"
diff --git a/bash/zdeploy b/bash/zdeploy
index 1c68cdd..7bd0c33 100644
--- a/bash/zdeploy
+++ b/bash/zdeploy
@@ -46,8 +46,10 @@ mkdir -p "$TEMP_ROOT"
 
 # 'all' -> every project, edge kinds first (the proxy must route before apps ship).
 if printf '%s\n' "${projects[@]}" | grep -qx 'all'; then
-  mapfile -t edge_keys < <(jq -r '.projects | to_entries[] | select((.key | startswith("_") | not) and .value.kind == "edge") | .key' "$ZCONFIG")
-  mapfile -t rest_keys < <(jq -r '.projects | to_entries[] | select((.key | startswith("_") | not) and .value.kind != "edge") | .key' "$ZCONFIG")
+  edge_keys=(); while IFS= read -r _zl || [ -n "$_zl" ]; do edge_keys+=("$_zl"); done \
+    < <(jq -r '.projects | to_entries[] | select((.key | startswith("_") | not) and .value.kind == "edge") | .key' "$ZCONFIG")
+  rest_keys=(); while IFS= read -r _zl || [ -n "$_zl" ]; do rest_keys+=("$_zl"); done \
+    < <(jq -r '.projects | to_entries[] | select((.key | startswith("_") | not) and .value.kind != "edge") | .key' "$ZCONFIG")
   projects=("${edge_keys[@]+"${edge_keys[@]}"}" "${rest_keys[@]+"${rest_keys[@]}"}")
   info "Deploying all projects: $(printf '%s ' "${projects[@]}")"
 fi
@@ -203,7 +205,7 @@ deploy_python() {  # <key>
 
   printf '\n'; info "--- [1] Zipping $label ---"
   find "$root" -type d -name '__pycache__' -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null
-  mapfile -t excl < <(z_archive_excludes "$key" 0)
+  excl=(); while IFS= read -r _zl || [ -n "$_zl" ]; do excl+=("$_zl"); done < <(z_archive_excludes "$key" 0)
   z_archive "$root" "$zip_local" 0 "-" "${excl[@]}" || return 1
 
   preflight_cleanup "$REMOTE_HOME/$zip_name" || { rm -f "$zip_local"; return 1; }
@@ -289,7 +291,7 @@ deploy_vite() {  # <key>
     pre_bn="$(jq -r '.buildNumber // empty' "$root/build-version.json")"
     [ -n "$pre_pv" ] && dim "  Pre-zip build label: v${pre_pv}.${pre_bn} (server-side build will bump +1)"
   fi
-  mapfile -t excl < <(z_archive_excludes "$key" 0)
+  excl=(); while IFS= read -r _zl || [ -n "$_zl" ]; do excl+=("$_zl"); done < <(z_archive_excludes "$key" 0)
   z_archive "$root" "$zip_local" 0 "-" "${excl[@]}" || return 1
 
   preflight_cleanup "$REMOTE_HOME/$zip_name" || { rm -f "$zip_local"; return 1; }
@@ -347,7 +349,7 @@ deploy_next() {  # <key>
   fi
 
   printf '\n'; info "--- [1] Zipping project files ---"
-  mapfile -t excl < <(z_archive_excludes "$key" 0)
+  excl=(); while IFS= read -r _zl || [ -n "$_zl" ]; do excl+=("$_zl"); done < <(z_archive_excludes "$key" 0)
   z_archive "$root" "$zip_local" 0 "-" "${excl[@]}" || return 1
 
   preflight_cleanup "$REMOTE_HOME/$zip_name" || { rm -f "$zip_local"; return 1; }
diff --git a/bash/zec2 b/bash/zec2
index 37513ec..a991bee 100644
--- a/bash/zec2
+++ b/bash/zec2
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ done
 HOST="${host_override:-$(zec2_ip)}"
 
 if [ "${#projects[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
-  mapfile -t projects < <(zproj_keys_with_domain)
+  projects=(); while IFS= read -r _zl || [ -n "$_zl" ]; do projects+=("$_zl"); done < <(zproj_keys_with_domain)
   if [ "${#projects[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
     warn "No projects with a 'domain' configured in zconfig.json."
     exit 1
diff --git a/bash/zec2online b/bash/zec2online
index e4ed6d1..e85c246 100644
--- a/bash/zec2online
+++ b/bash/zec2online
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ HOST="${host_override:-$(zec2_ip)}"
 EDGE_KEY="$(zedge_key)"
 
 if [ "${#projects[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
-  mapfile -t projects < <(zproj_keys_with_domain)
+  projects=(); while IFS= read -r _zl || [ -n "$_zl" ]; do projects+=("$_zl"); done < <(zproj_keys_with_domain)
   if [ "${#projects[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
     warn "No projects with a 'domain' configured in zconfig.json."
     exit 1
diff --git a/bash/zhelpers.sh b/bash/zhelpers.sh
index 59eb611..81d2ae6 100644
--- a/bash/zhelpers.sh
+++ b/bash/zhelpers.sh
@@ -311,8 +311,16 @@ z_track_stop() {
   Z_TRACK_FILE=""
 }
 
-# Portable thousands separators (avoids locale-dependent printf %'d).
-_z_commafy() { printf '%s' "$1" | sed -E ':a;s/([0-9])([0-9]{3})($|[^0-9])/\1,\2\3/;ta'; }
+# Portable thousands separators for a non-negative integer string (avoids both
+# locale-dependent printf %'d and the GNU-only `sed :a;...;ta` idiom, which
+# errors on BSD/macOS sed).
+_z_commafy() {
+  awk -v n="$1" 'BEGIN{
+    s = n ""; out = ""
+    while (length(s) > 3) { out = "," substr(s, length(s) - 2) out; s = substr(s, 1, length(s) - 3) }
+    printf "%s%s", s, out
+  }'
+}
 
 # Append a run to the ztokens JSONL store. Data dir precedence: $ZTOKENS_DATA,
 # then config "ztokens.dataDir", then the sibling ../../ztokens/data if present
diff --git a/bash/zkill b/bash/zkill
index 1a29ad2..eed91fd 100644
--- a/bash/zkill
+++ b/bash/zkill
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ if [ "${#projects[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+# --kill-all (kill stray project processes beyond the dev-port listener) isn't
+# ported yet; announce it rather than silently accepting the flag and doing nothing.
+[ "$kill_all" -eq 1 ] && warn "Note: --kill-all isn't implemented in the bash port yet - killing dev-port listeners only."
+
 for key in "${projects[@]}"; do
   zproj_require "$key"
   label="$(zproj "$key" .label)"; [ -n "$label" ] || label="$key"
diff --git a/bash/zrepair b/bash/zrepair
index 58a0181..ab2bf4e 100644
--- a/bash/zrepair
+++ b/bash/zrepair
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ for key in "$@"; do
     "cd $compose_dir || exit 1; if ! sudo docker compose ps | grep -q Up; then echo '    [Action] Stack is down. Starting...'; sudo docker compose up -d; else echo '    [OK] Stack is active and UP.'; fi" || exit 1
 
   if [ -n "$domain" ]; then
-    warn "  [3/3] Smoke test for https://$domain..."
+    warn "  [3/3] Smoke test for $domain (via http://$HOST)..."
     code="$(http_code "http://$HOST/" "$domain")"
     if [ "$code" = "000" ]; then
       err "    FAIL - smoke test failed: no HTTP response"