diff --git a/apps/website/e2e/workspace-shell.spec.ts b/apps/website/e2e/workspace-shell.spec.ts
index 839bef19f..cf55ee6aa 100644
--- a/apps/website/e2e/workspace-shell.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/website/e2e/workspace-shell.spec.ts
@@ -730,7 +730,15 @@ test.describe('workspace shell', () => {
     page,
   }) => {
     await page.emulateMedia({ reducedMotion: 'reduce' });
-    await page.route('http://localhost:4300/**', (request) => request.abort());
+    // The loader is on screen only while the runtime is still being
+    // configured, so refuse the runtime frame itself. Match it by the session
+    // params Run mode stamps on every runtime URL rather than by host: against
+    // the deployed site the frame loads from the production runtime origin,
+    // and a `localhost:4300` route lets it reach ready before the assertion.
+    await page.route(
+      (url) => url.searchParams.has('cockpit_cap'),
+      (route) => route.abort()
+    );
     await page.setViewportSize({ width: 390, height: 844 });
     await page.goto(`${streamingDocsPath}?mode=run`);
     await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Open navigation' }).click();
diff --git a/apps/website/playwright.config.ts b/apps/website/playwright.config.ts
index 2aed767ff..da4036680 100644
--- a/apps/website/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/apps/website/playwright.config.ts
@@ -22,29 +22,43 @@ export const createWebsitePlaywrightConfig = (
   const reuseExistingServer =
     environment['PLAYWRIGHT_REUSE_EXISTING_SERVER'] === 'true';
 
+  // The public-copy gate crawls every sitemap route. Against a prebuilt
+  // production server that is seconds; against `next dev` each route compiles
+  // on demand, which is far too slow to belong in the ordinary suite. It runs
+  // in production mode only, where its answers are the ones that matter.
+  const modeIgnores: readonly string[] = productionSmoke
+    ? ['**/public-copy.spec.ts']
+    : productionMode
+    ? [
+        '**/platform-production-smoke.spec.ts',
+        '**/custom-runtime-bfcache.spec.ts',
+      ]
+    : bfcacheRuntimeTest
+    ? ['**/platform-production-smoke.spec.ts', '**/public-copy.spec.ts']
+    : [
+        '**/platform-production-smoke.spec.ts',
+        '**/custom-runtime-bfcache.spec.ts',
+        '**/public-copy.spec.ts',
+      ];
+  // The custom-target specs drive the fixture runtime on 127.0.0.1:4399 and
+  // the local example apps, which exist only because this config starts them.
+  // A run against a deployed BASE_URL — the post-promotion verification, the
+  // production smoke — starts nothing, so every case would dial a fixture that
+  // is not there and fail with ECONNREFUSED after the site already promoted.
+  const fixtureDrivenSpecs: readonly string[] = [
+    '**/custom-runtime-targets.spec.ts',
+    '**/custom-runtime-bfcache.spec.ts',
+  ];
+  const testIgnore = shouldStartLocalServer
+    ? [...modeIgnores]
+    : [...new Set([...modeIgnores, ...fixtureDrivenSpecs])];
+
   return defineConfig({
     testDir: './e2e',
     testMatch: bfcacheRuntimeTest
       ? '**/custom-runtime-bfcache.spec.ts'
       : undefined,
-    // The public-copy gate crawls every sitemap route. Against a prebuilt
-    // production server that is seconds; against `next dev` each route compiles
-    // on demand, which is far too slow to belong in the ordinary suite. It runs
-    // in production mode only, where its answers are the ones that matter.
-    testIgnore: productionSmoke
-      ? '**/public-copy.spec.ts'
-      : productionMode
-      ? [
-          '**/platform-production-smoke.spec.ts',
-          '**/custom-runtime-bfcache.spec.ts',
-        ]
-      : bfcacheRuntimeTest
-      ? ['**/platform-production-smoke.spec.ts', '**/public-copy.spec.ts']
-      : [
-          '**/platform-production-smoke.spec.ts',
-          '**/custom-runtime-bfcache.spec.ts',
-          '**/public-copy.spec.ts',
-        ],
+    testIgnore,
     fullyParallel: true,
     // Match the cockpit configs: 2 retries on CI to absorb transient Next.js
     // dev-server startup flake; 0 locally for fast feedback.
diff --git a/apps/website/src/playwright-config.spec.ts b/apps/website/src/playwright-config.spec.ts
index c8ac4aee0..8c4317335 100644
--- a/apps/website/src/playwright-config.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/website/src/playwright-config.spec.ts
@@ -75,8 +75,49 @@ describe('Website Playwright configuration', () => {
     expect(config.webServer).toBeUndefined();
     // The smoke job hits the deployed site, so it runs every spec except the
     // public-copy gate, which exists to check a locally built production
-    // server before the code is deployed at all.
-    expect(config.testIgnore).toBe('**/public-copy.spec.ts');
+    // server before the code is deployed at all, and the custom-target specs,
+    // which drive a fixture runtime this config did not start.
+    expect(config.testIgnore).toEqual([
+      '**/public-copy.spec.ts',
+      '**/custom-runtime-targets.spec.ts',
+      '**/custom-runtime-bfcache.spec.ts',
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('skips the fixture-driven specs when BASE_URL points at a deployed site', () => {
+    // The deploy job re-runs the ordinary suite against production with only
+    // BASE_URL set. No local server starts in that mode, so the custom-target
+    // specs would dial a fixture on 127.0.0.1:4399 that does not exist and fail
+    // every case with ECONNREFUSED — after the site was already promoted.
+    const config = createWebsitePlaywrightConfig({
+      BASE_URL: 'https://threadplane.ai',
+    });
+
+    expect(config.webServer).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(config.use).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({ baseURL: 'https://threadplane.ai' })
+    );
+    expect(config.testIgnore).toEqual([
+      '**/platform-production-smoke.spec.ts',
+      '**/custom-runtime-bfcache.spec.ts',
+      '**/public-copy.spec.ts',
+      '**/custom-runtime-targets.spec.ts',
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('holds the runtime frame by its session params rather than the local host', () => {
+    // The reduced-motion check needs the runtime to stay in its connecting
+    // state so the loader is on screen. Refusing `http://localhost:4300` only
+    // does that against the local example app; against the deployed site the
+    // frame loads from the production runtime origin, the handshake completes,
+    // and the loader is gone before the assertion runs.
+    const shell = readFileSync(
+      resolve(__dirname, '../e2e/workspace-shell.spec.ts'),
+      'utf8'
+    );
+
+    expect(shell).not.toContain("page.route('http://localhost:4300/**'");
+    expect(shell).toContain("url.searchParams.has('cockpit_cap')");
   });
 
   it('starts Website, all migrated runtime apps under custom-runtime E2E, and the fixture', () => {