diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml
index d415c5f..df404f6 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ on:
 jobs:
   build-and-test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        working-directory: lang
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml
index 185c558..06f946d 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ on:
 jobs:
   build-and-test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        working-directory: lang
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml
index be4fe6d..9304e0d 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ on:
 jobs:
   build-and-release:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        working-directory: lang
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -56,7 +59,6 @@ jobs:
           echo "gen3 (self-hosted) elc built"
           dist/platform/elc --version || true
 
-      # Run all four test suites with gen3 elc
       - name: Run tests — text
         run: |
           ELC="$(pwd)/dist/platform/elc" \
@@ -88,7 +90,6 @@ jobs:
           GITEA_API: https://git.neuralplatform.ai/api/v1
           REPO: neuron-technologies/el
         run: |
-          # Delete existing `latest` release if it exists
           EXISTING_ID=$(curl -sf \
             -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
             "${GITEA_API}/repos/${REPO}/releases/tags/latest" \
@@ -101,12 +102,10 @@ jobs:
               "${GITEA_API}/repos/${REPO}/releases/${EXISTING_ID}"
           fi
 
-          # Delete and re-create the `latest` tag so it points at HEAD
           curl -sf -X DELETE \
             -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
             "${GITEA_API}/repos/${REPO}/tags/latest" || true
 
-          # Create the release
           RELEASE_ID=$(curl -sf -X POST \
             -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
@@ -121,7 +120,6 @@ jobs:
 
           echo "Created release id=${RELEASE_ID}"
 
-          # Upload assets
           upload_asset() {
             local filepath="$1"
             local name="$2"
@@ -138,7 +136,6 @@ jobs:
 
           echo "Release published successfully"
 
-      # Publish artifacts to GCP Artifact Registry (prod)
       - name: Publish El SDK to Artifact Registry (prod)
         env:
           GCP_SA_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
@@ -180,111 +177,18 @@ jobs:
           echo "Published El SDK version=${VERSION} to foundation-prod"
           rm -f /tmp/gcp-key.json
 
-      # Dispatch el-sdk-updated event to downstream repos
-      - name: Dispatch to foundation/engram
+      - name: Dispatch el-sdk-updated to downstream repos
         env:
           GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
           GITEA_API: https://git.neuralplatform.ai/api/v1
         run: |
-          curl -sf -X POST \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${GITEA_API}/repos/neuron-technologies/engram/dispatches" \
-            -d "{
-              \"type\": \"el-sdk-updated\",
-              \"inputs\": {
-                \"el_version\": \"latest\",
-                \"commit\": \"${GITHUB_SHA}\"
-              }
-            }"
-          echo "Dispatched el-sdk-updated to foundation/engram"
-
-      - name: Dispatch to neuron-technologies/forge
-        env:
-          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
-          GITEA_API: https://git.neuralplatform.ai/api/v1
-        run: |
-          curl -sf -X POST \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${GITEA_API}/repos/neuron-technologies/forge/dispatches" \
-            -d "{
-              \"type\": \"el-sdk-updated\",
-              \"inputs\": {
-                \"el_version\": \"latest\",
-                \"commit\": \"${GITHUB_SHA}\"
-              }
-            }"
-          echo "Dispatched el-sdk-updated to neuron-technologies/forge"
-
-      - name: Dispatch to neuron-technologies/el-ui
-        env:
-          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
-          GITEA_API: https://git.neuralplatform.ai/api/v1
-        run: |
-          curl -sf -X POST \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${GITEA_API}/repos/neuron-technologies/el-ui/dispatches" \
-            -d "{
-              \"type\": \"el-sdk-updated\",
-              \"inputs\": {
-                \"el_version\": \"latest\",
-                \"commit\": \"${GITHUB_SHA}\"
-              }
-            }"
-          echo "Dispatched el-sdk-updated to neuron-technologies/el-ui"
-
-      - name: Dispatch to neuron-technologies/elp
-        env:
-          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
-          GITEA_API: https://git.neuralplatform.ai/api/v1
-        run: |
-          curl -sf -X POST \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${GITEA_API}/repos/neuron-technologies/elp/dispatches" \
-            -d "{
-              \"type\": \"el-sdk-updated\",
-              \"inputs\": {
-                \"el_version\": \"latest\",
-                \"commit\": \"${GITHUB_SHA}\"
-              }
-            }"
-          echo "Dispatched el-sdk-updated to neuron-technologies/elp"
-
-      - name: Dispatch to neuron-technologies/elql
-        env:
-          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
-          GITEA_API: https://git.neuralplatform.ai/api/v1
-        run: |
-          curl -sf -X POST \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${GITEA_API}/repos/neuron-technologies/elql/dispatches" \
-            -d "{
-              \"type\": \"el-sdk-updated\",
-              \"inputs\": {
-                \"el_version\": \"latest\",
-                \"commit\": \"${GITHUB_SHA}\"
-              }
-            }"
-          echo "Dispatched el-sdk-updated to neuron-technologies/elql"
-
-      - name: Dispatch to neuron-technologies/el-ide
-        env:
-          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
-          GITEA_API: https://git.neuralplatform.ai/api/v1
-        run: |
-          curl -sf -X POST \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${GITEA_API}/repos/neuron-technologies/el-ide/dispatches" \
-            -d "{
-              \"type\": \"el-sdk-updated\",
-              \"inputs\": {
-                \"el_version\": \"latest\",
-                \"commit\": \"${GITHUB_SHA}\"
-              }
-            }"
-          echo "Dispatched el-sdk-updated to neuron-technologies/el-ide"
+          for repo in neuron-technologies/forge; do
+            curl -sf -X POST \
+              -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
+              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+              "${GITEA_API}/repos/${repo}/dispatches" \
+              -d "{
+                \"type\": \"el-sdk-updated\",
+                \"inputs\": {\"el_version\": \"latest\", \"commit\": \"${GITHUB_SHA}\"}
+              }" && echo "Dispatched to ${repo}" || echo "Warning: dispatch to ${repo} failed"
+          done
diff --git a/.githooks/pre-commit b/.githooks/pre-commit
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..bbea4e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.githooks/pre-commit
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# El pre-commit hook: compile and run native tests before commit.
+# Install once per clone: git config core.hooksPath .githooks
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+LANG_DIR="$ROOT/lang"
+RUNTIME="$LANG_DIR/el-compiler/runtime"
+ELC="$LANG_DIR/dist/platform/elc"
+
+# If elc isn't built yet, skip with a warning rather than blocking
+if [ ! -x "$ELC" ]; then
+  echo "⚠  elc not found at lang/dist/platform/elc — skipping pre-commit tests"
+  echo "   Build it first: cd lang && gcc -O2 -I el-compiler/runtime dist/elc-bootstrap.c el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c -lcurl -lpthread -o dist/elc-gen2 && ./dist/elc-gen2 el-compiler/src/compiler.el > /tmp/elc.c && gcc -O2 -I el-compiler/runtime /tmp/elc.c el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c -lcurl -lpthread -o dist/platform/elc"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+echo "→ Running El native tests..."
+PASS=0
+FAIL=0
+FAILED_TESTS=""
+
+for test_file in "$LANG_DIR"/tests/native/test_*.el; do
+  name=$(basename "$test_file" .el)
+  tmp_c="/tmp/el_hook_${name}.c"
+  tmp_bin="/tmp/el_hook_${name}"
+
+  if "$ELC" --test "$test_file" > "$tmp_c" 2>/dev/null \
+     && gcc -O2 -I "$RUNTIME" "$tmp_c" "$RUNTIME/el_runtime.c" \
+          -lcurl -lpthread -lm -o "$tmp_bin" 2>/dev/null \
+     && "$tmp_bin" 2>/dev/null; then
+    PASS=$((PASS + 1))
+  else
+    echo "  ✗ $name"
+    FAIL=$((FAIL + 1))
+    FAILED_TESTS="$FAILED_TESTS $name"
+  fi
+done
+
+echo "  $PASS passed, $FAIL failed"
+
+if [ "$FAIL" -gt 0 ]; then
+  echo ""
+  echo "✗ Pre-commit failed. Fix these tests before committing:$FAILED_TESTS"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "✓ All tests passed"
+exit 0