diff --git a/.github/workflows/platform-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/platform-ci.yml
index 2fe7f2cee..85a063fdf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/platform-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/platform-ci.yml
@@ -43,10 +43,17 @@ jobs:
           node-version-file: .node-version
       - run: vp fmt --check
       - run: vp lint
-      - run: vp run lint:platform
       - run: vp run build
       - run: vp run --filter './platform/packages/**' build
-      - run: vp run check
+      # After the builds: the type-aware platform lint reads the dashboard's generated
+      # `.void/tsconfig.json`, which only exists once the dashboard has been built.
+      - run: vp run lint:platform
+      # Platform packages only. The framework and the playgrounds are typechecked by ci.yml, and
+      # the playground typechecks need the playground builds, which this job does not run.
+      - run: vp run check:platform
+      # SDK packages too: the deploy workflows run only this job, the dashboard and the
+      # workers bundle the SDK, and `vp pack` does not typecheck.
+      - run: vp run check:sdk
 
   test:
     runs-on: blacksmith-4vcpu-ubuntu-2404
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 82119acad..dc6f47497 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     "build:platform": "vp run --filter './platform/packages/**' build",
     "check": "vp run -r --parallel typecheck",
     "check:platform": "vp run --filter './platform/**' --parallel typecheck",
+    "check:sdk": "vp run --filter './packages/**' --parallel typecheck",
     "dev:docs": "vp run --filter ./docs dev",
     "dev:platform": "vp run --filter @voidcloud/platform dev",
     "fmt": "vp fmt --write .",
diff --git a/platform/README.md b/platform/README.md
index 6057e22bc..a5e9bd735 100644
--- a/platform/README.md
+++ b/platform/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 The hosted Void platform lives in `platform/` inside the main Void monorepo. Public SDK packages live in the repository-level `packages/` directory. Both surfaces share one pnpm workspace, lockfile, Vite+ configuration, and commit history.
 
-Paths in this file are relative to `platform/` unless they begin with `../`. For example, `packages/api` is the hosted control plane and `../packages/void` is the public SDK package.
+Paths in this file are relative to `platform/` unless they begin with `../`. For example, `packages/api` is the hosted control plane and `../packages/void` is the public SDK package. The bare `vp run deploy*` commands in this file are `platform/package.json` scripts and run from `platform/`; from the repository root, the equivalent is `vp run --filter @voidcloud/platform <script>`.
 
 ## Context Overview
 
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ Void is one repository with an explicit dependency boundary:
 | User-facing dashboard                                                         | `packages/dashboard/pages/*`, `packages/dashboard/middleware/01.auth.ts`, `packages/dashboard/lib/api.ts`                                                                                                                              |
 | Shared internal styling                                                       | `packages/ui/src/base.css`, `packages/ui/src/theme.css`                                                                                                                                                                                |
 
-The dashboard depends on `void` and `@void/react` through normal `workspace:*` dependencies. The monorepo task graph builds those packages before the dashboard when required.
+The dashboard depends on `void` and `@void/react` through normal `workspace:*` dependencies. Those packages export only their `dist/` output, so run `vp run build` before `vp run --filter @voidcloud/platform deploy` on a fresh checkout. The platform workflows do this; the task graph does not.
 
 ## SDK overview
 
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ The user-facing dashboard.
 - Built as a Void Vue pages app.
 - Uses direct Postgres reads through Hyperdrive for read-heavy loaders.
 - Uses the API for mutations, usage metrics, secrets, and domain operations.
-- Is deployed separately from the main platform pipeline.
+- Deploys as the last stage of the full platform deploy, after the workers. `deploy:dashboard` and `deploy:staging:dashboard` deploy it alone.
 - Is currently de-emphasized relative to the rest of the platform work.
 
 ### `packages/dispatch`
diff --git a/platform/meta/operations.md b/platform/meta/operations.md
index e1ac2ff73..af845f404 100644
--- a/platform/meta/operations.md
+++ b/platform/meta/operations.md
@@ -27,10 +27,10 @@ Five Cloudflare Workers:
 
 Two fully isolated environments. Each has its own CF resources (KV, R2, dispatch namespace, analytics engine) and a separate Hyperdrive configuration pointing to its own PlanetScale PostgreSQL database.
 
-| Environment    | API URL                  | Dashboard                 | User Sites           | Trigger                      |
-| -------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------- | -------------------- | ---------------------------- |
-| **Production** | `api.void.cloud`         | `dash.void.cloud`         | `*.void.app`         | Push to `prod` branch        |
-| **Staging**    | `api.staging.void.cloud` | `dash.staging.void.cloud` | `*.staging.void.app` | Push to `main` branch (auto) |
+| Environment    | API URL                  | Dashboard                 | User Sites           | Trigger                                       |
+| -------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------- | -------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
+| **Production** | `api.void.cloud`         | `dash.void.cloud`         | `*.void.app`         | Manual: "Deploy Platform Production" workflow |
+| **Staging**    | `api.staging.void.cloud` | `dash.staging.void.cloud` | `*.staging.void.app` | Manual: "Deploy Platform Staging" workflow    |
 
 ## Cloudflare Resources
 
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ Two GitHub environments (`Prod` and `Staging`) share the same repo-level secrets
 | `CF_ACCESS_CLIENT_ID_STAGING`     | Staging     | CF Access service-token client id for reaching staging (see Staging Access Control) |
 | `CF_ACCESS_CLIENT_SECRET_STAGING` | Staging     | CF Access service-token client secret for reaching staging                          |
 
-`deploy.yml` (push to `prod`) uses the `Prod` environment; `deploy-staging.yml` (push to `main`) uses `Staging`.
+`platform-deploy.yml` uses the `Prod` environment; `platform-deploy-staging.yml` uses `Staging`. Both run only on manual dispatch and only when the repository variable `VOID_PLATFORM_DEPLOY_ENABLED` is `true`.
 
 **GitHub Actions `CF_API_TOKEN` permissions** — narrower-scope token used only for wrangler deploys. Separate from the API worker runtime token.
 
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ Callers:
 
 ### Deploy Scripts
 
-Root `package.json` orchestrates deployment:
+`platform/package.json` orchestrates deployment. Run these from `platform/`, or from the repository root as `vp run --filter @voidcloud/platform <script>`. A fresh checkout needs the SDK build first (`vp run build` from the repository root; from `platform/` that name is the dashboard build) because the dashboard bundles the SDK from `dist/`.
 
 ```
 vp run deploy           # Production: same with --env production
@@ -502,28 +502,31 @@ This is a clean cutover. The API only reads project secrets from `project_secret
 
 ### GitHub Actions
 
-Three workflows in `.github/workflows/`:
+Four platform workflows live in the repository-level `.github/workflows/` directory, prefixed `platform-`. Every deploy and smoke-test job is gated on the repository variable `VOID_PLATFORM_DEPLOY_ENABLED == 'true'`.
 
-**`ci.yml`** — runs on PRs to `main` and as a reusable workflow:
+**`platform-ci.yml`** — runs on PRs to `main` that touch `platform/**`, `packages/**`, or the root manifests, and as a reusable workflow:
 
-1. Set up Vite+ and Node.js (from `.node-version`)
-2. `vp install --frozen-lockfile`
-3. `vp run build:all` (build all platform surfaces that define a build)
-4. `vp lint` (oxlint through Vite+)
-5. `vp run check` (typecheck all packages)
-6. `vp test run` (full test suite)
+1. Set up Vite+ and Node.js (from `.node-version`); `setup-vp` runs `vp install`
+2. `vp fmt --check`, `vp lint`
+3. `vp run build` (SDK packages), then `vp run --filter './platform/packages/**' build`
+4. `vp run lint:platform` (type-aware lint; needs the dashboard build output)
+5. `vp run check:platform` and `vp run check:sdk` (typecheck the platform packages and the SDK packages; the playgrounds are typechecked by `ci.yml`)
+6. `vp test run --project platform-unit` and `--project platform-api-integration`
+7. Builds the API build container image (PRs only)
 
-**`deploy.yml`** — runs on push to `prod` (production, environment: `Prod`):
+**`platform-deploy.yml`** — manual dispatch (production, environment: `Prod`):
 
-1. Runs CI workflow first
-2. Builds the framework packages used by the dashboard
-3. `vp run deploy` (api with drizzle-kit migrations, proxy, tail, dispatch, dashboard)
+1. Runs `platform-ci.yml` first
+2. `vp run build` (SDK packages the dashboard bundles)
+3. `vp run --filter @voidcloud/platform deploy` (api with drizzle-kit migrations, proxy, tail, dispatch, dashboard)
 
-**`deploy-staging.yml`** — runs on push to `main` (staging, environment: `Staging`):
+**`platform-deploy-staging.yml`** — manual dispatch (staging, environment: `Staging`):
 
-1. Runs CI workflow first
-2. Builds the framework packages used by the dashboard
-3. `vp run deploy:staging` (api with drizzle-kit migrations, proxy, tail, dispatch, dashboard — all to staging)
+1. Runs `platform-ci.yml` first
+2. `vp run build`
+3. `vp run --filter @voidcloud/platform deploy:staging` (same order, all to staging)
+
+**`platform-smoke-test.yml`** — manual dispatch (environment: `Staging`): builds the SDK, deploys `playground/kitchen-sink` to staging with `void deploy`, resets its state, and runs `platform/scripts/kitchen-sink-smoke-test.ts` against `https://kitchen-sink.staging.void.app`.
 
 ### Health Checks