diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 699a72d..35d8ac8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ photon spectrum users ls
 photon billing show
 ```
 
-`pho` is an alias for `photon` for high-frequency commands:
+`pho` is an alias for `photon` for high-frequency commands. It's created
+automatically the first time you run `photon` after installing:
 
 ```sh
 pho ls          # photon projects ls
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e2999ea..f7e2174 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -21,10 +21,7 @@
     "url": "https://github.com/photon-hq/cli/issues"
   },
   "type": "module",
-  "bin": {
-    "photon": "./dist/photon.js",
-    "pho": "./dist/photon.js"
-  },
+  "bin": "./dist/photon.js",
   "files": [
     "dist",
     "README.md"
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 756b7db..6a2e37b 100755
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -21,9 +21,11 @@ import {
   UnknownEnvError,
 } from '~/lib/errors.ts';
 import { die } from '~/lib/output.ts';
+import { ensurePhoAlias } from '~/lib/pho-alias.ts';
 import { startUpdateNotifier } from '~/lib/update-check.ts';
 import pkg from '../package.json' with { type: 'json' };
 
+ensurePhoAlias();
 startUpdateNotifier();
 
 const program = new Command()
diff --git a/src/lib/pho-alias.ts b/src/lib/pho-alias.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b287e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/pho-alias.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+import { existsSync, lstatSync, symlinkSync } from "node:fs";
+import { join, resolve, sep } from "node:path";
+
+/**
+ * Lazily install `pho` as a sibling of `photon` in whichever bin directory
+ * we were launched from.
+ *
+ * Why not declare both bins in package.json? npm 11's `npx <scoped-pkg>`
+ * (no version) skips bin auto-resolve when `bin` has multiple keys. Keeping
+ * `bin` as a single string preserves clean `npx @photon-ai/photon` usage.
+ *
+ * Why not a `postinstall` script? Bun blocks postinstall by default — that
+ * would silently strip `pho` from `bun add -g` (our primary install path).
+ *
+ * Approach: walk up from the running script's path to the package root, then
+ * try the standard bin-dir layouts adjacent to it. First match wins.
+ *
+ *   <root>/node_modules/.bin                          (local install)
+ *   <prefix>/bin            with <prefix>/lib/node_modules/...  (npm/yarn/pnpm -g)
+ *   ~/.bun/bin              with ~/.bun/install/global/node_modules/...  (bun -g)
+ *
+ * Cost is two stat calls per launch after `pho` exists. Errors are swallowed
+ * — `pho` is convenience, never load-bearing.
+ */
+export function ensurePhoAlias(): void {
+  try {
+    const me = process.argv[1];
+    if (!me) return;
+
+    // Guard: only run when launched from an installed package layout.
+    // Source-mode runs (`bun run src/index.ts`) skip this entirely.
+    const installedShape = new RegExp(
+      `${escapeForRegex(sep)}node_modules${escapeForRegex(sep)}.+${escapeForRegex(sep)}dist${escapeForRegex(sep)}photon\\.js$`,
+    );
+    if (!installedShape.test(me)) return;
+
+    // process.argv[1] resolves symlinks → me is `<pkg>/dist/photon.js`.
+    // pkgRoot is two levels up.
+    const pkgRoot = resolve(me, "..", "..");
+
+    const candidates = [
+      resolve(pkgRoot, "..", "..", ".bin"),                    // local: node_modules/.bin
+      resolve(pkgRoot, "..", "..", "..", "..", "bin"),         // npm/yarn/pnpm global: <prefix>/bin
+      resolve(pkgRoot, "..", "..", "..", "..", "..", "bin"),   // bun global: ~/.bun/bin
+    ];
+
+    for (const dir of candidates) {
+      const photon = join(dir, "photon");
+      const pho = join(dir, "pho");
+      if (!existsSync(photon)) continue;
+
+      // lstatSync detects ANY entry at `pho` — including broken symlinks
+      // that existsSync would miss (existsSync follows the link target).
+      try {
+        lstatSync(pho);
+        return; // something already lives here; leave it alone
+      } catch {
+        // pho doesn't exist; safe to create
+      }
+
+      symlinkSync("./photon", pho);
+      return;
+    }
+  } catch {
+    // best-effort
+  }
+}
+
+function escapeForRegex(s: string): string {
+  return s.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, "\\$&");
+}