diff --git a/get-shit-done/workflows/verify-work.md b/get-shit-done/workflows/verify-work.md
index 466a80c4f..a78af0b8c 100644
--- a/get-shit-done/workflows/verify-work.md
+++ b/get-shit-done/workflows/verify-work.md
@@ -108,6 +108,19 @@ Examples:
   → Expected: "Clicking Reply opens inline composer below comment. Submitting shows reply nested under parent with visual indentation."
 
 Skip internal/non-observable items (refactors, type changes, etc.).
+
+**Cold-start smoke test injection:**
+
+After extracting tests from SUMMARYs, scan the SUMMARY files for modified/created file paths. If ANY path matches these patterns:
+
+`server.ts`, `server.js`, `app.ts`, `app.js`, `index.ts`, `index.js`, `main.ts`, `main.js`, `database/*`, `db/*`, `seed/*`, `seeds/*`, `migrations/*`, `startup*`, `docker-compose*`, `Dockerfile*`
+
+Then **prepend** this test to the test list:
+
+- name: "Cold Start Smoke Test"
+- expected: "Kill any running server/service. Clear ephemeral state (temp DBs, caches, lock files). Start the application from scratch. Server boots without errors, any seed/migration completes, and a primary query (health check, homepage load, or basic API call) returns live data."
+
+This catches bugs that only manifest on fresh start — race conditions in startup sequences, silent seed failures, missing environment setup — which pass against warm state but break in production.
 </step>
 
 <step name="create_uat_file">