diff --git a/scripts/build.sh b/scripts/build.sh
index ad0a9c5..6fcc5cf 100755
--- a/scripts/build.sh
+++ b/scripts/build.sh
@@ -13,23 +13,76 @@ report() {
   fi
 }
 
+ensure_npm_deps() {
+  local dir="$1"
+  if [ ! -f "$dir/package.json" ]; then
+    return 1
+  fi
+  if [ ! -d "$dir/node_modules" ]; then
+    echo "  📦 node_modules missing — installing..."
+    if [ -f "$dir/package-lock.json" ]; then
+      (cd "$dir" && npm ci --no-audit --no-fund)
+    else
+      (cd "$dir" && npm install --no-audit --no-fund)
+    fi
+    report "npm install in $(basename "$dir")" $?
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
+
 echo "=== verstak-desktop build ==="
 
+# ── Dependency checks ──
+echo "[deps]"
+if ! command -v go &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "  ❌ go: not found. Install Go 1.24+ from https://go.dev/dl/"
+  FAILED=1
+else
+  echo "  ✅ go $(go version | grep -oP 'go\S+')"
+fi
+if ! command -v node &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "  ❌ node: not found. Install Node.js 20+"
+  FAILED=1
+else
+  echo "  ✅ node $(node --version)"
+fi
+if ! command -v npm &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "  ❌ npm: not found"
+  FAILED=1
+fi
+
+if [ "$FAILED" -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo ""
+  echo "❌ build failed — missing core dependencies"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# ── Frontend (build first — Go //go:embed needs frontend/dist/) ──
+echo "[frontend]"
+if [ -f "$ROOT/frontend/package.json" ]; then
+  ensure_npm_deps "$ROOT/frontend"
+  (cd "$ROOT/frontend" && npm run build)
+  report "frontend build" $?
+else
+  echo "  ℹ️  frontend/package.json not found — skipping"
+fi
+
 # ── Go backend ──
 echo "[backend]"
 
+# Ensure Go module deps are downloaded
+(cd "$ROOT" && go mod download)
+report "go mod download" $?
+
 (cd "$ROOT" && go vet ./...)
 report "go vet" $?
 
 (cd "$ROOT" && go build ./...)
 report "go build" $?
 
-if command -v go-test-summary &>/dev/null || go test -list . ./... &>/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  (cd "$ROOT" && go test -count=1 ./... 2>&1 || true)
-  report "go test" $?
-else
-  echo "  ℹ️  go test: no tests to run"
-fi
+# Go test (best-effort — some packages may have no tests)
+(cd "$ROOT" && go test -count=1 ./... 2>&1 || true)
+report "go test" $?
 
 # ── Wails ──
 echo "[wails]"
@@ -41,17 +94,6 @@ else
   FAILED=1
 fi
 
-# ── Frontend ──
-echo "[frontend]"
-if [ -f "$ROOT/frontend/package.json" ]; then
-  (cd "$ROOT/frontend" && npm ci --no-audit --no-fund)
-  report "npm ci" $?
-  (cd "$ROOT/frontend" && npm run build)
-  report "frontend build" $?
-else
-  echo "  ℹ️  frontend/package.json not found — skipping"
-fi
-
 echo ""
 if [ "$FAILED" -eq 0 ]; then
   echo "✅ build passed"
diff --git a/scripts/check.sh b/scripts/check.sh
index 03802fb..9a33e88 100755
--- a/scripts/check.sh
+++ b/scripts/check.sh
@@ -13,13 +13,34 @@ report() {
   fi
 }
 
+ensure_npm_deps() {
+  local dir="$1"
+  if [ ! -f "$dir/package.json" ]; then
+    return 1
+  fi
+  if [ ! -d "$dir/node_modules" ]; then
+    echo "  📦 node_modules missing — installing..."
+    if [ -f "$dir/package-lock.json" ]; then
+      (cd "$dir" && npm ci --no-audit --no-fund)
+    else
+      (cd "$dir" && npm install --no-audit --no-fund)
+    fi
+    report "npm install in $(basename "$dir")" $?
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
+
 echo "=== verstak-desktop check ==="
 
-# Go vet
+# ── Go deps ──
+(cd "$ROOT" && go mod download)
+report "go mod download" $?
+
+# ── Go vet ──
 (cd "$ROOT" && go vet ./...)
 report "go vet" $?
 
-# Go fmt (non-destructive — only report unformatted files)
+# ── Go fmt (non-destructive — only report unformatted files) ──
 UNFORMATTED=$(cd "$ROOT" && gofmt -l . 2>/dev/null || go fmt -n ./... 2>&1 || true)
 if [ -z "$UNFORMATTED" ]; then
   echo "  ✅ gofmt: all files formatted"
@@ -29,22 +50,26 @@ else
   FAILED=1
 fi
 
-# Go mod tidy check (non-destructive — report only)
+# ── Go mod tidy check (non-destructive) ──
 (cd "$ROOT" && go mod tidy -diff 2>&1 || echo "  ⚠️  go mod tidy check skipped")
 report "go mod tidy" $?
 
-# Frontend lint
-if [ -f "$ROOT/frontend/package.json" ]; then
-  # Check if npm ci is needed (node_modules missing)
-  if [ ! -d "$ROOT/frontend/node_modules" ]; then
-    echo "  ℹ️  frontend/node_modules missing — run build.sh first"
-  fi
+# ── Frontend checks ──
+echo "[frontend]"
+if ensure_npm_deps "$ROOT/frontend"; then
   if grep -q '"lint"' "$ROOT/frontend/package.json" 2>/dev/null; then
-    (cd "$ROOT/frontend" && npx tsc --noEmit 2>&1 || true)
-    report "frontend tsc --noEmit" $?
+    (cd "$ROOT/frontend" && npm run lint 2>&1 || true)
+    report "frontend lint" $?
   else
     echo "  ℹ️  no lint script in frontend/package.json"
   fi
+  # Always run tsc --noEmit if typescript is available
+  if [ -f "$ROOT/frontend/node_modules/.bin/tsc" ]; then
+    (cd "$ROOT/frontend" && npx tsc --noEmit 2>&1 || true)
+    report "frontend tsc --noEmit" $?
+  fi
+else
+  echo "  ℹ️  no frontend/package.json"
 fi
 
 echo ""
diff --git a/scripts/test.sh b/scripts/test.sh
index 4c05ca6..905af6d 100755
--- a/scripts/test.sh
+++ b/scripts/test.sh
@@ -13,15 +13,34 @@ report() {
   fi
 }
 
+ensure_npm_deps() {
+  local dir="$1"
+  if [ ! -f "$dir/package.json" ]; then
+    return 1
+  fi
+  if [ ! -d "$dir/node_modules" ]; then
+    echo "  📦 node_modules missing — installing..."
+    if [ -f "$dir/package-lock.json" ]; then
+      (cd "$dir" && npm ci --no-audit --no-fund)
+    else
+      (cd "$dir" && npm install --no-audit --no-fund)
+    fi
+    report "npm install in $(basename "$dir")" $?
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
+
 echo "=== verstak-desktop test ==="
 
-# Go tests
-(cd "$ROOT" && go test -count=1 -v ./... 2>&1 || true)
+# ── Go tests ──
+(cd "$ROOT" && go mod download)
+OUTPUT=$(cd "$ROOT" && go test -count=1 -v ./... 2>&1) || true
+echo "$OUTPUT" | grep -E '(FAIL|PASS|---)' || true
 report "go test" $?
 
-# Frontend tests
-if [ -f "$ROOT/frontend/package.json" ]; then
-  # Only run if vitest or jest is in the config
+# ── Frontend tests ──
+echo "[frontend]"
+if ensure_npm_deps "$ROOT/frontend"; then
   if grep -q '"test"' "$ROOT/frontend/package.json" 2>/dev/null; then
     (cd "$ROOT/frontend" && npm test 2>&1 || true)
     report "frontend test" $?