diff --git a/ruby/builtins.rb b/ruby/builtins.rb
index b162315..4df5efc 100644
--- a/ruby/builtins.rb
+++ b/ruby/builtins.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ class Shell
   class Builtins
     attr_reader :logger
 
-    def initialize(logger = ShellLogger.instance)
+    def initialize(shell, logger = Logger.instance)
+      @shell = shell
       @logger = logger
     end
 
@@ -18,8 +19,14 @@ class Shell
     ### Built-ins ###
     #################
 
+    def builtin_bg(args)
+      cmd = args.shift
+      @shell.exec_command(cmd, args, background: true)
+    end
+
     def builtin_cd(args)
       Dir.chdir args.first
+      0
     end
 
     def builtin_export(args)
@@ -30,10 +37,12 @@ class Shell
       else
         ENV[name] = value_parts.join('=').gsub(/\$\w+/) { |m| ENV[m[1..]] || '' }
       end
+      0
     end
 
     def bulitin_pwd(_args)
       puts Dir.pwd
+      0
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/ruby/job.rb b/ruby/job.rb
index 682f37b..ff546a0 100644
--- a/ruby/job.rb
+++ b/ruby/job.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 class Shell
-  Job = Struct.new(:id, :cmd)
+  Job = Struct.new(:id, :pid, :cmd, :args)
 end
diff --git a/ruby/logger.rb b/ruby/logger.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fab0a21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/logger.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+require './colours'
+
+class Shell
+  # Queues up messages to be printed out when readline is waiting for input, to prevent
+  # mixing shell output with command output.
+  class Logger
+    Log = Struct.new(:level, :message)
+
+    attr_reader :logs
+
+    def self.instance
+      @instance ||= new
+    end
+
+    def initialize
+      clear
+    end
+
+    def log(message)
+      @logs << Log.new(:info, "#{WHITE}[INFO]#{CLEAR} #{message}")
+    end
+    alias info log
+
+    def warn(message)
+      @logs << Log.new(:warning, "#{YELLOW}[WARN]#{CLEAR} #{message}")
+    end
+
+    def error(message)
+      @logs << Log.new(:error, "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} #{message}")
+    end
+
+    def verbose(message)
+      @logs << Log.new(:verbose, "[VERBOSE] #{message}")
+    end
+
+    def clear
+      @logs = []
+      nil
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/ruby/main.rb b/ruby/main.rb
index 0e0efa0..af1e886 100755
--- a/ruby/main.rb
+++ b/ruby/main.rb
@@ -7,33 +7,35 @@ require 'wordexp'
 
 require './builtins'
 require './colours'
-require './shell_logger'
+require './logger'
 require './job'
 
 class Shell
   attr_reader :logger, :options
 
   def initialize(args = ARGV)
-    @builtins = Builtins.new
+    @builtins = Builtins.new(self)
     @jobs_by_pid = {}
-    @logger = ShellLogger.instance
+    @logger = Logger.instance
     @options = parse_options(args)
     logger.verbose "Options: #{options.inspect}"
   end
 
   def main
-    # this breaks Open3.capture3 so hold off until we fork + exec
-    # trap_sigchld
+    trap_sigchld
     if options[:command]
       logger.verbose "Executing command: #{options[:command]}"
       print_logs
       exit process_command(options[:command])
     elsif $stdin.isatty
       add_to_history = true
+      status = 0
       loop do
         print_logs
+        print "#{RED}#{status}#{CLEAR} " unless status.zero?
         line = Readline.readline(prompt(Dir.pwd), add_to_history)
-        process_command(line)
+        Readline::HISTORY.pop if line.nil? || line.strip.empty?
+        status = process_command(line)
       end
     end
   end
@@ -63,13 +65,17 @@ class Shell
 
   def trap_sigchld
     # handler for SIGCHLD when a child's state changes
-    Signal.trap('CHLD') do |signo|
-      logger.info "SIGCHLD #{signo}"
+    Signal.trap('CHLD') do |_signo|
       pid = Process.waitpid(-1, Process::WNOHANG)
-      if (job = @jobs_by_pid[pid])
-        logger.info "#{YELLOW}#{job.id}#{CLEAR}: #{WHITE}(pid #{pid})#{CLEAR} #{job.cmd}"
+      if pid.nil?
+        # no-op
+      elsif (job = @jobs_by_pid[pid])
+        puts "\n#{YELLOW}#{job.id}#{CLEAR}: " \
+             "#{WHITE}(pid #{pid})#{CLEAR} "  \
+             "#{GREEN}#{job.cmd}#{CLEAR} "    \
+             "#{job.args.inspect}"
       else
-        logger.warn "No job found for child with PID #{pid}"
+        warn "\n#{YELLOW}[WARN]#{CLEAR} No job found for child with PID #{pid}"
       end
     end
   end
@@ -88,10 +94,10 @@ class Shell
   end
 
   def process_command(line)
-    logger.verbose "Processing command: #{line.inspect}"
     exit 0 if line.nil? # EOF, ctrl-d
-    return if line.empty? # no input, no-op
+    return 0 if line.strip.empty? # no input, no-op
 
+    logger.verbose "Processing command: #{line.inspect}"
     args = Wordexp.expand(line)
     cmd = args.shift
     logger.verbose "Parsed command: #{cmd} #{args.inspect}"
@@ -100,20 +106,69 @@ class Shell
       @builtins.exec(cmd, args)
     else
       logger.verbose "Shelling out for #{cmd}"
-      status = exec_command(cmd, args)
-      print "#{RED}-#{status}-#{CLEAR} " unless status.zero?
+      exec_command(cmd, args)
     end
+  rescue Errno => e
+    warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} #{e.message}"
+    -1
   end
 
-  def exec_command(cmd, args)
-    # TODO: background execution using fork + exec, streaming output
-    out, err, status = Open3.capture3(cmd + ' ' + args.join(' '))
-    puts out.chomp unless out.empty?
-    warn err.chomp unless err.empty?
-    status.exitstatus
+  def exec_command(cmd, args, background: false)
+    unless (path = resolve_executable(cmd))
+      warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} command not found: #{cmd}"
+      return -2
+    end
+
+    pid = fork
+    if pid
+      # parent
+      if background
+        job = Job.new(next_job_id, pid, cmd, args)
+        @jobs_by_pid[pid] = job
+        puts "Background job #{job.id} (pid #{pid})"
+        Process.waitpid(pid, Process::WNOHANG)
+        0
+      else
+        begin
+          Process.waitpid(pid)
+          $CHILD_STATUS.exitstatus
+        rescue Errno::ECHILD => e
+          # FIXME: why does this happen?
+          warn "#{YELLOW}[WARN]#{CLEAR} #{e.message} but child was just forked 🧐"
+          -3
+        end
+      end
+    else
+      # child
+      exec([path, cmd], *args)
+      # if we make it here then exec failed
+      -4
+    end
   rescue StandardError => e
-    logger.warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} #{e.message}"
-    1
+    warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} #{e.message} #{e.inspect}"
+    -5
+  end
+
+  # Return absolute and relative paths directly, or searches PATH for a
+  # matching executable with the given filename and returns its path.
+  # Returns nil when no such command was found.
+  def resolve_executable(path_or_filename)
+    # process absolute and relative paths directly
+    return path_or_filename if path_or_filename['/'] && \
+                               File.executable?(path_or_filename)
+
+    filename = path_or_filename
+    ENV['PATH'].split(':').each do |dir|
+      path = File.join(dir, filename)
+      next unless File.exist?(path)
+      return path if File.executable?(path)
+      logger.warn "Found #{path} but it's not executable"
+    end
+    nil
+  end
+
+  def next_job_id
+    (@jobs_by_pid.values.map(&:id).max || 0) + 1
   end
 end
 
diff --git a/ruby/shell_logger.rb b/ruby/shell_logger.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 060b040..0000000
--- a/ruby/shell_logger.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-require './colours'
-
-# Queues up messages to be printed out when readline is waiting for input, to prevent
-# mixing shell output with command output.
-class ShellLogger
-  Log = Struct.new(:level, :message)
-
-  attr_reader :logs
-
-  def self.instance
-    @instance ||= new
-  end
-
-  def initialize
-    clear
-  end
-
-  def log(message)
-    @logs << Log.new(:info, "#{WHITE}[INFO]#{CLEAR} #{message}")
-  end
-  alias info log
-
-  def warn(message)
-    @logs << Log.new(:warning, "#{YELLOW}[WARN]#{CLEAR} #{message}")
-  end
-
-  def error(message)
-    @logs << Log.new(:error, "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} #{message}")
-  end
-
-  def verbose(message)
-    @logs << Log.new(:verbose, "[VERBOSE] #{message}")
-  end
-
-  def clear
-    @logs = []
-    nil
-  end
-end