diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml
index 279dbc1..12a8b86 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml
@@ -115,6 +115,11 @@ jobs:
           echo "image=${IMAGE}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "Will build and push: ${IMAGE}"
 
+      - name: Touch HTML placeholder files
+        # El binary regenerates these at startup via fs_write. They must exist
+        # in the build context for Dockerfile COPY to succeed.
+        run: touch src/index.html src/about.html src/terms.html src/enterprise-terms.html
+
       - name: Build image (build-stage.sh)
         if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true'
         env:
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/dev.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/dev.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae0353e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/dev.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+name: Dev — Build & local smoke test
+
+# Validates that the build compiles and the server starts cleanly.
+# No GCP deployment — this is the inner dev loop gate.
+# Merge to stage when you want a real environment.
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [dev]
+    paths:
+      - 'src/**'
+      - 'dist/**'
+      - 'runtime/**'
+      - 'Dockerfile.stage'
+      - 'build-stage.sh'
+      - '.gitea/workflows/dev.yaml'
+
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  build-smoke:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      id-token: write
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 2
+
+      - name: Clone el (provides elc compiler)
+        env:
+          CHECKOUT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CHECKOUT_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          DEST="${{ github.workspace }}/../foundation-el"
+          rm -rf "$DEST"
+          git clone --depth 1 \
+            "https://will:${CHECKOUT_TOKEN}@git.neuralplatform.ai/neuron-technologies/el.git" \
+            "$DEST"
+          echo "EL_HOME=$DEST" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+      - name: Authenticate to GCP
+        uses: google-github-actions/auth@v2
+        with:
+          credentials_json: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
+
+      - name: Set up gcloud SDK
+        uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@v2
+        with:
+          project_id: neuron-785695
+
+      - name: Configure docker auth for Artifact Registry
+        run: gcloud auth configure-docker us-central1-docker.pkg.dev --quiet
+
+      - name: Get elc (pre-built linux/amd64)
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          curl -fL -o "$EL_HOME/dist/platform/elc" \
+            https://git.neuralplatform.ai/neuron-technologies/el/releases/download/v1.2.1/elc-linux-amd64
+          chmod +x "$EL_HOME/dist/platform/elc"
+
+      - name: Compute image tag
+        id: tag
+        run: echo "tag=dev-${GITHUB_SHA:0:8}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Touch HTML placeholder files
+        # El binary regenerates these at startup via fs_write. They must exist
+        # in the build context for Dockerfile COPY to succeed. touch is
+        # idempotent if the files already exist from a prior run.
+        run: touch src/index.html src/about.html src/terms.html src/enterprise-terms.html
+
+      - name: Build image (local only — no push)
+        env:
+          EXTRACT_JS: '1'
+        run: ./build-stage.sh "${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}"
+
+      - name: Local smoke test
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          IMAGE="marketing:${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}"
+
+          docker run -d --name dev-smoke \
+            -p 8080:8080 \
+            -e PORT=8080 \
+            -e NODE_ENV=production \
+            -e LANDING_ROOT=/srv/landing \
+            "$IMAGE"
+
+          # entrypoint.sh sleeps 4s for soul-demo to load before starting neuron-web.
+          # Poll up to 45s total.
+          for i in $(seq 1 15); do
+            STATUS=$(curl -sSo /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" --max-time 5 http://localhost:8080/ || echo "000")
+            echo "Attempt $i/15: HTTP $STATUS"
+            if [ "$STATUS" = "200" ]; then
+              echo "Dev smoke test PASSED"
+              docker stop dev-smoke && docker rm dev-smoke
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            sleep 3
+          done
+
+          echo "--- container logs ---"
+          docker logs dev-smoke || true
+          docker stop dev-smoke && docker rm dev-smoke || true
+          echo "Dev smoke test FAILED"
+          exit 1
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/stage.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/stage.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..632a5d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/stage.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,189 @@
+name: Stage — Build, push & deploy to marketing-stage
+
+# Pipeline: build → push → deploy marketing-stage → smoke test.
+# STOPS HERE. No prod deploy. Merge to main when stage looks good.
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [stage]
+    paths:
+      - 'src/**'
+      - 'dist/**'
+      - 'runtime/**'
+      - 'Dockerfile.stage'
+      - 'build-stage.sh'
+      - '.gitea/workflows/stage.yaml'
+
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      tag:
+        description: 'Image tag to build and deploy (defaults to short SHA)'
+        required: false
+        type: string
+
+jobs:
+  deploy-stage:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 45
+
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      id-token: write
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 2
+
+      - name: Detect change type
+        id: changetype
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          CHANGED=$(git diff --name-only HEAD~1 HEAD 2>/dev/null || git diff --name-only HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+          echo "Changed files:"
+          echo "$CHANGED"
+          NON_ASSET=$(echo "$CHANGED" | grep -v '^src/assets/' | grep -v '^src/shares/' | grep -v '^src/index\.html' | grep -v '^src/about\.html' | grep -v '^src/terms\.html' | grep -v '^src/enterprise-terms\.html' | grep -v '^src/llms\.txt' | grep -v '^$' || true)
+          if [ -z "$NON_ASSET" ] && [ "$CHANGED" != "unknown" ]; then
+            echo "asset_only=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "=> Asset-only change detected, will use fast path"
+          else
+            echo "asset_only=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "=> Full build required"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Clone el (provides elc compiler)
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true'
+        env:
+          CHECKOUT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CHECKOUT_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          DEST="${{ github.workspace }}/../foundation-el"
+          rm -rf "$DEST"
+          git clone --depth 1 \
+            "https://will:${CHECKOUT_TOKEN}@git.neuralplatform.ai/neuron-technologies/el.git" \
+            "$DEST"
+          echo "EL_HOME=$DEST" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+      - name: Authenticate to GCP
+        uses: google-github-actions/auth@v2
+        with:
+          credentials_json: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
+
+      - name: Set up gcloud SDK
+        uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@v2
+        with:
+          project_id: neuron-785695
+
+      - name: Configure docker auth for Artifact Registry
+        run: gcloud auth configure-docker us-central1-docker.pkg.dev --quiet
+
+      - name: Get elc (pre-built linux/amd64)
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true'
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          curl -fL -o "$EL_HOME/dist/platform/elc" \
+            https://git.neuralplatform.ai/neuron-technologies/el/releases/download/v1.2.1/elc-linux-amd64
+          chmod +x "$EL_HOME/dist/platform/elc"
+
+      - name: Compute image tag
+        id: tag
+        run: |
+          TAG="${{ inputs.tag }}"
+          if [ -z "$TAG" ]; then TAG="stage-${GITHUB_SHA:0:8}"; fi
+          IMAGE="us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:${TAG}"
+          echo "tag=${TAG}"     >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "image=${IMAGE}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "Will build and push: ${IMAGE}"
+
+      - name: Touch HTML placeholder files
+        # El binary regenerates these at startup via fs_write. They must exist
+        # in the build context for Dockerfile COPY to succeed.
+        run: touch src/index.html src/about.html src/terms.html src/enterprise-terms.html
+
+      - name: Build image (build-stage.sh)
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true'
+        env:
+          EXTRACT_JS: '1'
+        run: |
+          ./build-stage.sh "${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}"
+          docker tag "marketing:${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}" "${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}"
+          docker tag "marketing:${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}" "us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:stage-latest"
+
+      - name: Push image
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true'
+        run: |
+          docker push "${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}"
+          docker push "us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:stage-latest"
+
+      - name: Asset-only fast build
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only == 'true'
+        env:
+          IMAGE: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          LATEST="us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:stage-latest"
+          docker pull "$LATEST"
+          cat > /tmp/Dockerfile.assets <<'EOF'
+          ARG BASE
+          FROM ${BASE}
+          COPY src/assets /srv/landing/assets
+          COPY src/shares /srv/landing/shares
+          EOF
+          docker build \
+            --build-arg BASE="$LATEST" \
+            -f /tmp/Dockerfile.assets \
+            -t "marketing:${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}" \
+            -t "$IMAGE" \
+            -t "${LATEST%:*}:stage-latest" \
+            .
+          docker push "$IMAGE"
+          docker push "${LATEST%:*}:stage-latest"
+          echo "Fast asset build complete"
+
+      - name: Deploy to marketing-stage
+        id: deploy-stage
+        env:
+          IMAGE: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+
+          gcloud run deploy marketing-stage \
+            --image "$IMAGE" \
+            --region us-central1 \
+            --project neuron-785695 \
+            --service-account neuron-marketing-sa@neuron-785695.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
+            --update-env-vars "NODE_ENV=production,STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_51TPoHnJg9Fv1D3AUp1FEMcy4MGlKRZqs4scW66kjQFQjWofmNc2rottzXzDaXekHvuw1OQpyp2WCIsc7O5fXIG0G00HQQrkdGX,GCS_SHARE_BUCKET=neuron-shares-prod,SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJzdXBhYmFzZSIsInJlZiI6Im9jb2pzZ2hhb25sdHVuaWRrenB3Iiwicm9sZSI6ImFub24iLCJpYXQiOjE3Nzc2NDIxNjgsImV4cCI6MjA5MzIxODE2OH0.e0FVFw1aahnrBVvnkR5R8a-RxCx095U8o_gsk7Quq3E,NEURON_LLM_0_FORMAT=anthropic,NEURON_LLM_0_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-5,NEURON_LLM_0_URL=https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages" \
+            --update-secrets "SUPABASE_SERVICE_KEY=supabase-service-key:latest,NEURON_LLM_0_KEY=anthropic-api-key:latest,ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=anthropic-api-key:latest,STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=stripe-secret-key-stage:latest,STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=stripe-webhook-secret-stage:latest,STRIPE_PRICE_PROFESSIONAL=stripe-price-professional-stage:latest,STRIPE_PRICE_FOUNDING=stripe-price-founding-stage:latest,STRIPE_PRICE_FAMILY_CHILD=stripe-price-family-child:latest,RESEND_API_KEY=resend-api-key:latest,DOCUSEAL_WEBHOOK_TOKEN=docuseal-webhook-token:latest" \
+            --allow-unauthenticated \
+            --quiet
+
+          STAGE_URL=$(gcloud run services describe marketing-stage \
+            --region us-central1 --project neuron-785695 \
+            --format 'value(status.url)')
+          echo "stage_url=${STAGE_URL}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "Stage URL: ${STAGE_URL}"
+
+          gcloud run services update marketing-stage \
+            --region us-central1 --project neuron-785695 \
+            --update-env-vars "NEURON_ORIGIN=${STAGE_URL}" \
+            --quiet
+
+      - name: Smoke test stage
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          STAGE_URL="${{ steps.deploy-stage.outputs.stage_url }}"
+          echo "Smoke testing stage: ${STAGE_URL}"
+
+          for i in $(seq 1 18); do
+            STATUS=$(curl -sSo /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" --max-time 15 "${STAGE_URL}/" || echo "000")
+            echo "Attempt ${i}/18: HTTP ${STATUS}"
+            if [ "$STATUS" = "200" ]; then
+              echo "Stage smoke test PASSED — merge to main when ready"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            sleep 5
+          done
+
+          echo "Stage smoke test FAILED"
+          exit 1
diff --git a/runtime/el_runtime.c b/runtime/el_runtime.c
index 8f8a602..0ba1432 100644
--- a/runtime/el_runtime.c
+++ b/runtime/el_runtime.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
 #include <dlfcn.h>      /* dlsym for http_set_handler fallback */
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
@@ -1853,6 +1854,84 @@ el_val_t fs_write_bytes(el_val_t pathv, el_val_t bytesv, el_val_t lengthv) {
     return 1;
 }
 
+// exec_command — run a shell command, return exit code (0 = success).
+// Used by elb and other El tooling to invoke subprocesses.
+el_val_t exec_command(el_val_t cmdv) {
+    const char* cmd = EL_CSTR(cmdv);
+    if (!cmd) return (el_val_t)(int64_t)-1;
+    int ret = system(cmd);
+    return (el_val_t)(int64_t)ret;
+}
+
+// exec_capture — run a shell command, capture stdout, return as String.
+// Returns "" on failure.
+el_val_t exec_capture(el_val_t cmdv) {
+    const char* cmd = EL_CSTR(cmdv);
+    if (!cmd) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
+    FILE* f = popen(cmd, "r");
+    if (!f) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
+    JsonBuf b; jb_init(&b);
+    char buf[4096];
+    while (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), f)) jb_puts(&b, buf);
+    pclose(f);
+    return el_wrap_str(b.buf);
+}
+
+// exec — run a shell command via /bin/sh, capture stdout, return as String.
+// Times out after 30 seconds. Returns "" on any error.
+// El name: exec(cmd) -> String
+el_val_t exec(el_val_t cmdv) {
+    const char* cmd = EL_CSTR(cmdv);
+    if (!cmd || !*cmd) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
+    /* Build a time-limited command: wrap with timeout(1) if available,
+     * otherwise rely on the 30s read loop guard below. We use the simple
+     * popen approach with a deadline measured by wall clock so the caller
+     * is never blocked indefinitely. */
+    FILE* f = popen(cmd, "r");
+    if (!f) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
+    JsonBuf b; jb_init(&b);
+    char buf[4096];
+    /* 30-second wall-clock deadline */
+    time_t deadline = time(NULL) + 30;
+    while (time(NULL) < deadline) {
+        if (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), f) == NULL) break;
+        jb_puts(&b, buf);
+    }
+    pclose(f);
+    return el_wrap_str(b.buf);
+}
+
+// exec_bg — run a shell command in background, return PID as String.
+// The child process runs independently; the caller is not blocked.
+// Returns "" on fork failure.
+// El name: exec_bg(cmd) -> String
+el_val_t exec_bg(el_val_t cmdv) {
+    const char* cmd = EL_CSTR(cmdv);
+    if (!cmd || !*cmd) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
+    pid_t pid = fork();
+    if (pid < 0) {
+        /* fork failed */
+        return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
+    }
+    if (pid == 0) {
+        /* child: detach from parent's stdio, exec via shell */
+        setsid();
+        int devnull = open("/dev/null", O_RDWR);
+        if (devnull >= 0) {
+            dup2(devnull, STDIN_FILENO);
+            dup2(devnull, STDOUT_FILENO);
+            dup2(devnull, STDERR_FILENO);
+            close(devnull);
+        }
+        execl("/bin/sh", "sh", "-c", cmd, (char*)NULL);
+        _exit(127);
+    }
+    /* parent: convert pid to string and return immediately */
+    char pidbuf[32];
+    snprintf(pidbuf, sizeof(pidbuf), "%d", (int)pid);
+    return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(pidbuf));
+}
+
 el_val_t fs_list(el_val_t pathv) {
     const char* path = EL_CSTR(pathv);
     el_val_t lst = el_list_empty();
@@ -2916,8 +2995,13 @@ static int looks_like_string(el_val_t v) {
     const unsigned char* s = (const unsigned char*)p;
     for (int i = 0; i < 16; i++) {
         unsigned char c = s[i];
-        if (c == '\0') return i > 0; /* terminated string */
-        if (c < 0x09 || (c > 0x0d && c < 0x20) || c >= 0x7f) return 0;
+        if (c == '\0') return 1; /* terminated string (empty string is still a valid string) */
+        /* Reject C0 control chars (non-whitespace), allow UTF-8 high bytes.
+         * 0x09-0x0d = tab/newline/cr/vt/ff (whitespace, OK)
+         * 0x20-0x7e = printable ASCII (OK)
+         * 0x7f      = DEL (reject)
+         * 0x80-0xff = UTF-8 continuation/lead bytes (OK for multi-byte chars) */
+        if (c < 0x09 || (c > 0x0d && c < 0x20) || c == 0x7f) return 0;
     }
     return 1; /* 16+ printable bytes — call it a string */
 }
diff --git a/runtime/el_runtime.h b/runtime/el_runtime.h
index 68bae8b..72bbf4b 100644
--- a/runtime/el_runtime.h
+++ b/runtime/el_runtime.h
@@ -739,6 +739,12 @@ el_val_t  map_set(el_val_t map, el_val_t key, el_val_t value); /* el_map_set */
 /* See bottom of el_runtime.c for the implementation.
  * Configured by env vars OTLP_ENDPOINT, OTEL_SERVICE_NAME, OTEL_SERVICE_VERSION.
  * No-op when OTLP_ENDPOINT is unset. Drop-on-failure semantics. */
+/* ── Subprocess execution ────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+el_val_t exec_command(el_val_t cmd);   /* run shell command, return exit code */
+el_val_t exec_capture(el_val_t cmd);   /* run shell command, capture stdout   */
+el_val_t exec(el_val_t cmd);           /* exec(cmd) → stdout String (30s timeout) */
+el_val_t exec_bg(el_val_t cmd);        /* exec_bg(cmd) → PID String (non-blocking) */
+
 el_val_t emit_log(el_val_t level, el_val_t msg, el_val_t fields_json);
 el_val_t emit_metric(el_val_t name, el_val_t value, el_val_t tags_json);
 el_val_t trace_span_start(el_val_t name);
diff --git a/src/assets/js/manifest.json b/src/assets/js/manifest.json
index 05f414f..be19ba2 100644
--- a/src/assets/js/manifest.json
+++ b/src/assets/js/manifest.json
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
       "hash": "7eac0621cbca",
       "asset": "/assets/js/7eac0621cbca.js",
       "size": 2583,
-      "interpolated": []
+      "interpolated": [],
+      "note": "carried from prior run"
     },
     {
       "file": "checkout.el",