diff --git a/.github/workflows/smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/smoke.yml
index 2c25c1a..dd56143 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/smoke.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 #
 # Called by other repos via workflow_call as a deploy gate.
 # Secrets required: STAGING_WP_ADMIN_USER, STAGING_WP_ADMIN_PASSWORD
+#
+# IMPORTANT: When called via workflow_call, GitHub Actions checks out the
+# CALLER's repo by default, not peptide-e2e. We explicitly checkout
+# peptide-e2e so npm ci and Playwright have the correct test code + lock file.
 
 name: Smoke Tests (Staging)
 
@@ -32,8 +36,11 @@ jobs:
     timeout-minutes: 15
 
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout
+      - name: Checkout peptide-e2e (explicit — workflow_call defaults to caller repo)
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: peptiderepo/peptide-e2e
+          ref: main
 
       - name: Set up Node.js
         uses: actions/setup-node@v4