diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index e3329b1dad9..0bd87925c12 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -69,6 +69,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build desktop pipeline
         run: bun run build:desktop
 
+      - name: Smoke test bundled CLI
+        run: bun --filter=t3 run smoke:cli-bundle
+
       - name: Verify preload bundle output
         run: |
           test -f apps/desktop/dist-electron/preload.cjs
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 367ce867dc3..a5914d875ee 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -449,6 +449,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build CLI package
         run: bun --filter=t3 run build
 
+      - name: Smoke test bundled CLI
+        run: bun --filter=t3 run smoke:cli-bundle
+
       - name: Publish CLI package
         run: node apps/server/scripts/cli.ts publish --tag "${{ needs.preflight.outputs.cli_dist_tag }}" --app-version "${{ needs.preflight.outputs.version }}" --verbose
 
diff --git a/apps/server/package.json b/apps/server/package.json
index c045331dd4d..bf290f52d7f 100644
--- a/apps/server/package.json
+++ b/apps/server/package.json
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
     "dev": "node --watch src/bin.ts",
     "build": "node scripts/cli.ts build",
     "build:bundle": "tsdown",
+    "smoke:cli-bundle": "node scripts/smoke-cli-bundle.ts",
     "start": "node dist/bin.mjs",
     "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",
     "test": "vitest run",
diff --git a/apps/server/scripts/smoke-cli-bundle.ts b/apps/server/scripts/smoke-cli-bundle.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..058650ca8fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/server/scripts/smoke-cli-bundle.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// @effect-diagnostics nodeBuiltinImport:off
+import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { existsSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { dirname, join, resolve } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import * as Console from "effect/Console";
+import * as Effect from "effect/Effect";
+
+const serverRoot = resolve(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), "..");
+const bundledCliPath = resolve(serverRoot, "dist/bin.mjs");
+
+if (!existsSync(bundledCliPath)) {
+  throw new Error(`Missing bundled CLI at ${bundledCliPath}. Run the server build first.`);
+}
+
+const baseDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "t3-cli-bundle-smoke-base-"));
+const workspaceRoot = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "t3-cli-bundle-smoke-workspace-"));
+
+try {
+  const output = execFileSync(
+    process.execPath,
+    [
+      bundledCliPath,
+      "project",
+      "add",
+      workspaceRoot,
+      "--title",
+      "Bundle Smoke",
+      "--base-dir",
+      baseDir,
+    ],
+    {
+      cwd: serverRoot,
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "inherit"],
+    },
+  );
+
+  if (!output.includes("Added project")) {
+    throw new Error(`Bundled CLI smoke did not add a project. Output:\n${output}`);
+  }
+
+  Effect.runSync(Console.log("Bundled CLI smoke checks passed."));
+} finally {
+  rmSync(baseDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  rmSync(workspaceRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+}