diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 7cc9e45a..62df9dee 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -31,3 +31,63 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Test
         run: bun test
+
+  smoke-test:
+    name: Smoke Test (${{ matrix.os }})
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    timeout-minutes: 15
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Setup Bun
+        uses: oven-sh/setup-bun@v2
+        with:
+          bun-version: 1.3.9
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: bun install --frozen-lockfile
+
+      - name: Build CLI
+        run: bun run build:cli
+        working-directory: ./packages/chronicle
+
+      - name: Build example
+        run: ./packages/chronicle/bin/chronicle.js build --config examples/basic/chronicle.yaml
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Smoke test dev server
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          ./packages/chronicle/bin/chronicle.js dev --config examples/basic/chronicle.yaml --port 3001 &
+          DEV_PID=$!
+          for i in $(seq 1 30); do
+            if curl -sf http://localhost:3001/api/health > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "Dev server ready"
+              break
+            fi
+            sleep 2
+          done
+          curl -sf http://localhost:3001/api/health | grep -q '"ok"'
+          echo "Dev server health check passed"
+          kill $DEV_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+
+      - name: Smoke test start server
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          ./packages/chronicle/bin/chronicle.js start --config examples/basic/chronicle.yaml --port 3002 &
+          START_PID=$!
+          for i in $(seq 1 30); do
+            if curl -sf http://localhost:3002/api/health > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "Start server ready"
+              break
+            fi
+            sleep 2
+          done
+          curl -sf http://localhost:3002/api/health | grep -q '"ok"'
+          echo "Start server health check passed"
+          kill $START_PID 2>/dev/null || true
diff --git a/packages/chronicle/src/cli/commands/dev.ts b/packages/chronicle/src/cli/commands/dev.ts
index 2dc4b2c4..f8cc703b 100644
--- a/packages/chronicle/src/cli/commands/dev.ts
+++ b/packages/chronicle/src/cli/commands/dev.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ export const devCommand = new Command('dev')
 
     await linkContent(projectRoot, config);
 
+    // Nitro 3's default node-worker runner fails on Windows due to Vite 8 environment API incompatibility
+    if (process.platform === 'win32' && !process.env.NITRO_DEV_RUNNER) {
+      process.env.NITRO_DEV_RUNNER = 'node-process';
+    }
+
     console.log(chalk.cyan('Starting dev server...'));
 
     const { createServer } = await import('vite');