diff --git a/apps/studio/package.json b/apps/studio/package.json
index 2f973d6dfd8..8756068aa06 100644
--- a/apps/studio/package.json
+++ b/apps/studio/package.json
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@
   "scripts": {
     "preinstall": "npx only-allow pnpm",
     "dev": "NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=8192 vite dev --port ${STUDIO_PORT:-8082}",
-    "build": "vite build",
-    "start": "vite preview --port 8082",
+    "build": "vite build --mode ${MODE:-production}",
+    "start": "node scripts/serve.js",
+    "preview": "vite preview --mode ${MODE:-production} --port 8082",
     "dev:next": "next dev -p ${STUDIO_PORT:-8082}",
     "build:next": "next build && if [ \"$SKIP_ASSET_UPLOAD\" != \"1\" ]; then ./../../scripts/upload-static-assets.sh; fi",
     "start:next": "next start -p 8082",
diff --git a/apps/studio/scripts/serve.js b/apps/studio/scripts/serve.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..aacf8f6e98d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/studio/scripts/serve.js
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Standalone Node HTTP server that hosts the production studio build.
+//
+// We export the fetch-handler shape from `dist/server/server.js` because
+// Vercel consumes it directly (see `apps/studio/api/server.js`). For
+// self-hosted / e2e, we need an HTTP listener of our own — this is that
+// listener.
+//
+// Responsibilities:
+//   - Load env files in vite preview's order so non-NEXT_PUBLIC_* values
+//     (POSTGRES_PASSWORD, PG_META_CRYPTO_KEY, etc.) are in process.env
+//     at request time. NEXT_PUBLIC_* are already inlined into the bundle
+//     at build time and don't need to be re-loaded.
+//   - Serve static client assets from `dist/client/` directly with the
+//     right MIME types and cache headers.
+//   - Forward everything else to the TanStack Start handler exported
+//     from `dist/server/server.js`.
+
+import { createServer } from 'node:http'
+import { createReadStream } from 'node:fs'
+import { readFile, stat } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { Readable } from 'node:stream'
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
+import path from 'node:path'
+
+const studioRoot = path.resolve(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '..')
+const clientDir = path.join(studioRoot, 'dist/client')
+const mode = process.env.MODE || 'production'
+
+const dotenvLine = /^\s*(?:export\s+)?([\w.-]+)\s*=\s*(.*?)\s*$/
+const envFiles = ['.env', '.env.local', `.env.${mode}`, `.env.${mode}.local`]
+const parsed = {}
+for (const file of envFiles) {
+  let content
+  try {
+    content = await readFile(path.join(studioRoot, file), 'utf8')
+  } catch {
+    continue
+  }
+  for (const raw of content.split('\n')) {
+    const m = dotenvLine.exec(raw)
+    if (!m) continue
+    let v = m[2]
+    if (
+      (v.startsWith('"') && v.endsWith('"')) ||
+      (v.startsWith("'") && v.endsWith("'"))
+    ) {
+      v = v.slice(1, -1)
+    }
+    parsed[m[1]] = v
+  }
+}
+// Don't clobber values the shell already provides — match `vite preview`.
+for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(parsed)) {
+  if (process.env[k] !== undefined) continue
+  process.env[k] = v.replace(
+    /\$\{?([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)\}?/g,
+    (_, name) => process.env[name] ?? parsed[name] ?? ''
+  )
+}
+
+const { default: handler } = await import(path.join(studioRoot, 'dist/server/server.js'))
+
+const mimeByExt = new Map([
+  ['.js', 'application/javascript; charset=utf-8'],
+  ['.mjs', 'application/javascript; charset=utf-8'],
+  ['.css', 'text/css; charset=utf-8'],
+  ['.html', 'text/html; charset=utf-8'],
+  ['.json', 'application/json; charset=utf-8'],
+  ['.map', 'application/json; charset=utf-8'],
+  ['.png', 'image/png'],
+  ['.jpg', 'image/jpeg'],
+  ['.jpeg', 'image/jpeg'],
+  ['.gif', 'image/gif'],
+  ['.svg', 'image/svg+xml'],
+  ['.ico', 'image/x-icon'],
+  ['.woff', 'font/woff'],
+  ['.woff2', 'font/woff2'],
+  ['.txt', 'text/plain; charset=utf-8'],
+  ['.webmanifest', 'application/manifest+json'],
+])
+
+// Vite emits hashed filenames (e.g. `index-DB4J79t9.js`) for everything
+// it bundles. Those are content-addressed so we serve them immutable.
+const HASHED_RE = /-[A-Za-z0-9_-]{6,}\.[a-z0-9]+$/
+
+async function serveStatic(req, res) {
+  let pathname
+  try {
+    pathname = new URL(req.url, 'http://localhost').pathname
+  } catch {
+    return false
+  }
+  if (pathname === '/' || pathname.endsWith('/')) return false
+  if (pathname.includes('..') || pathname.includes('\\')) return false
+  const filePath = path.join(clientDir, pathname)
+  if (!filePath.startsWith(clientDir + path.sep)) return false
+
+  let st
+  try {
+    st = await stat(filePath)
+  } catch {
+    return false
+  }
+  if (!st.isFile()) return false
+
+  res.statusCode = 200
+  res.setHeader('content-type', mimeByExt.get(path.extname(filePath).toLowerCase()) ?? 'application/octet-stream')
+  res.setHeader('content-length', String(st.size))
+  res.setHeader(
+    'cache-control',
+    HASHED_RE.test(pathname) ? 'public, max-age=31536000, immutable' : 'no-cache'
+  )
+  await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const stream = createReadStream(filePath)
+    stream.on('error', reject)
+    stream.on('end', resolve)
+    stream.pipe(res)
+  })
+  return true
+}
+
+function toWebRequest(req) {
+  const protocol = req.socket.encrypted ? 'https' : 'http'
+  const url = `${protocol}://${req.headers.host ?? 'localhost'}${req.url}`
+  const headers = new Headers()
+  for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(req.headers)) {
+    if (k.startsWith(':')) continue
+    if (Array.isArray(v)) for (const vv of v) headers.append(k, vv)
+    else if (v !== undefined) headers.set(k, v)
+  }
+  const init = { method: req.method, headers }
+  if (req.method !== 'GET' && req.method !== 'HEAD') {
+    init.body = Readable.toWeb(req)
+    init.duplex = 'half'
+  }
+  return new Request(url, init)
+}
+
+async function pipeWebResponse(response, res) {
+  res.statusCode = response.status
+  for (const [k, v] of response.headers) res.setHeader(k, v)
+  if (response.body) {
+    for await (const chunk of response.body) res.write(chunk)
+  }
+  res.end()
+}
+
+const port = Number(process.env.PORT || 8082)
+createServer(async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    if (await serveStatic(req, res)) return
+    const response = await handler.fetch(toWebRequest(req))
+    await pipeWebResponse(response, res)
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error('[serve] request failed:', err)
+    if (!res.headersSent) {
+      res.statusCode = 500
+      res.setHeader('content-type', 'text/plain; charset=utf-8')
+    }
+    res.end('Internal Server Error')
+  }
+}).listen(port, () => {
+  console.log(`Studio listening on http://localhost:${port} (mode=${mode})`)
+})
diff --git a/apps/studio/turbo.jsonc b/apps/studio/turbo.jsonc
index 25d64c35428..7ae894371d5 100644
--- a/apps/studio/turbo.jsonc
+++ b/apps/studio/turbo.jsonc
@@ -98,6 +98,15 @@
         "STATUSPAGE_PAGE_ID",
         "INCIDENT_IO_API_KEY",
         "LIVE_SUPABASE_SECRET_KEY",
+        // Selects the build mode for the studio's `build`/`start` scripts
+        // (e.g. e2e sets `MODE=test`). Listed so turbo invalidates the
+        // cache when it changes — without this, switching between test and
+        // production builds reuses a stale cached output.
+        "MODE",
+        // Read by scripts/serve.js (the Node host for `pnpm start`).
+        // Declared here so the studio-package turbo env lint rule passes
+        // even though turbo doesn't directly drive `start`.
+        "PORT",
       ],
       "passThroughEnv": [
         "CURRENT_CLI_VERSION",
@@ -106,7 +115,12 @@
         "SNIPPETS_MANAGEMENT_FOLDER",
         "EDGE_FUNCTIONS_MANAGEMENT_FOLDER",
       ],
-      "outputs": [".next/**", "!.next/cache/**", "!.next/dev/**/*"],
+      "outputs": [
+        ".next/**",
+        "!.next/cache/**",
+        "!.next/dev/**/*",
+        "dist/**",
+      ],
     },
   },
 }
diff --git a/apps/studio/vite.config.ts b/apps/studio/vite.config.ts
index 185db7bca16..24a311640f5 100644
--- a/apps/studio/vite.config.ts
+++ b/apps/studio/vite.config.ts
@@ -228,8 +228,10 @@ function assertNoChunkCycles(): Plugin {
 
 export default defineConfig(({ mode }) => {
   // Inline NEXT_PUBLIC_* env vars at build time so `process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_*`
-  // works in the browser bundle (mirrors Next.js behaviour). loadEnv reads the
-  // standard .env file hierarchy and merges with process.env.
+  // works in the browser bundle (mirrors Next.js behaviour). For e2e the
+  // build is invoked with `--mode test` (no shell `NODE_ENV=test`, which
+  // would force the React plugin onto the dev JSX runtime), so `.env.test`
+  // overrides whatever a developer has in `.env.local`.
   const env = loadEnv(mode, rootDir, '')
   const publicEnvDefines = Object.fromEntries(
     Object.entries(env)
@@ -384,7 +386,13 @@ export default defineConfig(({ mode }) => {
       // `import pkg from 'react-use'` + destructure. Works locally but
       // Vercel's Node resolves it differently and fails at module instantiate
       // (`ModuleJob._instantiate`). Inlining sidesteps the interop entirely.
-      noExternal: ['lodash', /^next(\/|$)/, 'tslib', 'react-use'],
+      // `awesome-debounce-promise`'s CJS entry only emits
+      // `exports.default = fn` (no `module.exports = fn`, no `__esModule`
+      // flag). Node's CJS→ESM bridge therefore makes the default import the
+      // entire exports object `{ default: fn }`, and call sites like
+      // `AwesomeDebouncePromise(fn, 500)` crash with "is not a function" at
+      // SSR module evaluation. Surfaces on routes that load the table grid.
+      noExternal: ['lodash', /^next(\/|$)/, 'tslib', 'react-use', 'awesome-debounce-promise'],
     },
     plugins: [
       nextCompat(),
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5183c05ba51..9584fb20257 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@
     "test:studio": "turbo run test --filter=studio",
     "test:studio:watch": "turbo run test --filter=studio -- watch",
     "e2e:setup:cli": "supabase stop --all --no-backup ; supabase start --exclude studio,mailpit && if [ -z \"${CI}\" ]; then supabase db reset; fi && supabase status --output json > keys.json && node scripts/generateLocalEnv.js",
-    "e2e:setup:selfhosted": "SKIP_ASSET_UPLOAD=1 pnpm e2e:setup:cli && NODE_ENV=test NODE_OPTIONS=\"--max-old-space-size=4096\" pnpm run build:studio && NODE_ENV=test pnpm --prefix ./apps/studio start",
-    "e2e:setup:selfhosted:start-studio": "SKIP_ASSET_UPLOAD=1 NODE_ENV=test pnpm --prefix ./apps/studio start",
+    "e2e:setup:selfhosted": "SKIP_ASSET_UPLOAD=1 pnpm e2e:setup:cli && MODE=test NODE_OPTIONS=\"--max-old-space-size=4096\" pnpm run build:studio && MODE=test pnpm --prefix ./apps/studio start",
+    "e2e:setup:selfhosted:start-studio": "SKIP_ASSET_UPLOAD=1 MODE=test pnpm --prefix ./apps/studio start",
     "e2e:setup:platform": "SKIP_ASSET_UPLOAD=1 NODE_OPTIONS=\"--max-old-space-size=4096\" pnpm run build:studio && pnpm --prefix ./apps/studio start",
     "e2e": "pnpm --prefix e2e/studio run e2e",
     "e2e:ui": "pnpm --prefix e2e/studio run e2e:ui",
@@ -67,13 +67,6 @@
     "pnpm": "10.24",
     "node": ">=22"
   },
-  "keywords": [
-    "postgres",
-    "firebase",
-    "storage",
-    "functions",
-    "database",
-    "auth"
-  ],
+  "keywords": ["postgres", "firebase", "storage", "functions", "database", "auth"],
   "packageManager": "pnpm@10.24.0"
 }
diff --git a/scripts/generateLocalEnv.js b/scripts/generateLocalEnv.js
index 808f964d89d..8f8f645f858 100644
--- a/scripts/generateLocalEnv.js
+++ b/scripts/generateLocalEnv.js
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ const defaultEnv = {
   // NEXT_ANALYTICS_BACKEND_PROVIDER: 'postgres',
   // SUPABASE_REST_URL: 'http://127.0.0.1:54321/rest/v1/',
   // NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_LOGS: 'false',
-  // NEXT_PUBLIC_IS_PLATFORM: 'false',
+  // E2E tests target self-hosted studio (no auth). Explicitly written so that
+  // .env.test overrides any IS_PLATFORM=true that a developer's .env.local
+  // might set for their own platform-mode work.
+  NEXT_PUBLIC_IS_PLATFORM: 'false',
   PG_META_CRYPTO_KEY: 'SAMPLE_KEY',
   POSTGRES_PASSWORD: 'postgres',
   POSTGRES_HOST: 'db',
@@ -31,7 +34,7 @@ const defaultEnv = {
   NEXT_PUBLIC_HCAPTCHA_SITE_KEY: '10000000-ffff-ffff-ffff-000000000001',
   NEXT_PUBLIC_NODE_ENV: 'test',
   SNIPPETS_MANAGEMENT_FOLDER: '../../supabase/snippets',
-  EDGE_FUNCTIONS_MANAGEMENT_FOLDER: '../../supabase/functions' // path relative to studio project
+  EDGE_FUNCTIONS_MANAGEMENT_FOLDER: '../../supabase/functions', // path relative to studio project
 }
 
 const environment = { ...generatedEnv, ...defaultEnv }