diff --git a/features/platform-admin/frontend-admin/vite.config.ts b/features/platform-admin/frontend-admin/vite.config.ts
index e8253958c..5466e79f8 100755
--- a/features/platform-admin/frontend-admin/vite.config.ts
+++ b/features/platform-admin/frontend-admin/vite.config.ts
@@ -13,9 +13,11 @@ import { pnpmResolve } from '@lilith/vite-plugin-pnpm-resolve';
 // =============================================================================
 
 const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
-const projectRoot = join(__dirname, '../../../..');
 
-// Build deployment registry
+// Use env var when available (./run dev sets it), fallback to __dirname for direct pnpm dev
+const projectRoot = process.env.LILITH_PROJECT_ROOT || join(__dirname, '../../../..');
+
+// Build deployment registry - paths resolved via LILITH_PROJECT_ROOT or calculated from __dirname
 const registry = buildDeploymentRegistry({
   deploymentsPath: join(projectRoot, 'codebase/@deployments'),
   sharedServicesPath: join(projectRoot, 'infrastructure/shared-services'),
diff --git a/features/platform-content-tools/frontend-dev/vite.config.ts b/features/platform-content-tools/frontend-dev/vite.config.ts
index c23fb3a7b..66f8f9a44 100644
--- a/features/platform-content-tools/frontend-dev/vite.config.ts
+++ b/features/platform-content-tools/frontend-dev/vite.config.ts
@@ -13,9 +13,11 @@ import { pnpmResolve } from '@lilith/vite-plugin-pnpm-resolve';
 // =============================================================================
 
 const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
-const projectRoot = join(__dirname, '../../../..');
 
-// Build deployment registry
+// Use env var when available (./run dev sets it), fallback to __dirname for direct pnpm dev
+const projectRoot = process.env.LILITH_PROJECT_ROOT || join(__dirname, '../../../..');
+
+// Build deployment registry - paths resolved via LILITH_PROJECT_ROOT or calculated from __dirname
 const registry = buildDeploymentRegistry({
   deploymentsPath: join(projectRoot, 'codebase/@deployments'),
   sharedServicesPath: join(projectRoot, 'infrastructure/shared-services'),