diff --git a/.ddev/commands/web/install-magento b/.ddev/commands/web/install-magento
index 43887b6..a34440c 100755
--- a/.ddev/commands/web/install-magento
+++ b/.ddev/commands/web/install-magento
@@ -12,6 +12,21 @@ cd /var/www/html || exit 1
 # global config
 MAGENTO_FOLDER="magento"
 
+# Guard: verify the MageForge bind-mount is active.
+# The Docker bind-mount (../src → .../MageForge) is a kernel-level mount established
+# when the containers start. If magento/ was deleted while DDEV was running, the mount
+# becomes orphaned: its inode is gone, and recreating the directory produces a new inode
+# not covered by the old mount. The module source would then be invisible to Magento.
+# The only fix is a container restart, which re-establishes the mount on the new inode.
+if [[ ! -f "${MAGENTO_FOLDER}/app/code/OpenForgeProject/MageForge/registration.php" ]]; then
+	echo "ERROR: The MageForge bind-mount is not active."
+	echo ""
+	echo "This happens when magento/ was deleted while DDEV was still running."
+	echo ""
+	echo "Fix: run 'ddev restart', then re-run 'ddev install-magento'."
+	exit 1
+fi
+
 # check if Magento is already installed
 if [[ -f "${MAGENTO_FOLDER}/bin/magento" ]]; then
 	echo "Magento is already installed. Skipping install-magento."
@@ -35,6 +50,7 @@ if [[ ! -d "${MAGENTO_FOLDER}" ]]; then
 	mkdir -p "${MAGENTO_FOLDER}"
 fi
 
+
 # copy everything from magento-temp into magento folder
 cp -a magento-temp/. "${MAGENTO_FOLDER}/"
 
@@ -87,15 +103,19 @@ bin/magento deploy:mode:set developer
 # disable 2FA
 bin/magento module:disable Magento_TwoFactorAuth Magento_AdminAdobeImsTwoFactorAuth
 
+# Enable MageForge: the module is bind-mounted under app/code/ and therefore not registered
+# via Composer autoload. bin/magento module:enable discovers it through the component registrar
+# (registration.php), writes the entry to app/etc/config.php, and exits non-zero on any error.
+bin/magento module:enable OpenForgeProject_MageForge
+
 # install sample data
 bin/magento sampledata:deploy
 
 # require Hyvä theme
 composer require 'hyva-themes/magento2-default-theme'
 
-# enable mageforge module (source is bind-mounted via .ddev/docker-compose.mageforge-source.yaml
-# into app/code/OpenForgeProject/MageForge — no Composer installation needed)
-bin/magento module:enable OpenForgeProject_MageForge
+# Install MageForge module's third-party dependencies (laravel/prompts etc.) into Magento vendor.
+/var/www/html/.ddev/commands/web/install-module-deps
 
 # run setup upgrade to apply schema and module registration
 bin/magento setup:upgrade
diff --git a/.ddev/commands/web/install-module-deps b/.ddev/commands/web/install-module-deps
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..97fcd4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.ddev/commands/web/install-module-deps
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+## Description: Install MageForge module dependencies into the Magento vendor directory
+## Usage: install-module-deps
+## Example: ddev install-module-deps
+
+# The module source is bind-mounted (not Composer-installed), so its third-party
+# dependencies are not resolved automatically. Read them from the module's composer.json
+# and install the non-Magento/non-PHP ones into the Magento vendor.
+
+MAGENTO_DIR="/var/www/html/magento"
+MODULE_COMPOSER_JSON="/var/www/html/composer.json"
+
+# Skip if Magento is not yet installed (e.g. on initial ddev start before install-magento)
+if [[ ! -f "${MAGENTO_DIR}/vendor/autoload.php" ]]; then
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+cd "${MAGENTO_DIR}" || exit 1
+
+php -r "
+    \$manifest = json_decode(file_get_contents('${MODULE_COMPOSER_JSON}'), true);
+    if (\$manifest === null) {
+        fwrite(STDERR, 'ERROR: Could not parse module composer.json at ${MODULE_COMPOSER_JSON}' . PHP_EOL);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+    \$deps = [];
+    foreach (\$manifest['require'] ?? [] as \$package => \$constraint) {
+        // Skip php, magento/*, and Composer platform packages (ext-*, lib-*, composer-*-api).
+        // Platform packages have no vendor/ directory and would cause repeated failed installs.
+        if (\$package === 'php'
+            || str_starts_with(\$package, 'magento/')
+            || str_starts_with(\$package, 'ext-')
+            || str_starts_with(\$package, 'lib-')
+            || \$package === 'composer-runtime-api'
+            || \$package === 'composer-plugin-api') {
+            continue;
+        }
+        \$deps[\$package] = \$constraint;
+    }
+    \$missingConstraints = [];
+    \$missingNames = [];
+    foreach (\$deps as \$package => \$constraint) {
+        \$vendorDir = 'vendor/' . \$package;
+        // Check vendor dir exists AND the installed version satisfies the required constraint.
+        // A plain directory check would miss constraint changes and leave incompatible versions.
+        \$installedVersion = null;
+        \$installedJson = 'vendor/' . \$package . '/composer.json';
+        if (is_dir(\$vendorDir) && is_file(\$installedJson)) {
+            \$installed = json_decode(file_get_contents(\$installedJson), true);
+            \$installedVersion = \$installed['version'] ?? null;
+        }
+        \$needsInstall = !is_dir(\$vendorDir);
+        if (!\$needsInstall && \$installedVersion !== null) {
+            // Use Composer's own semver check via the lock file if available.
+            \$lockFile = 'composer.lock';
+            if (is_file(\$lockFile)) {
+                \$lock = json_decode(file_get_contents(\$lockFile), true);
+                \$lockedPackages = array_merge(\$lock['packages'] ?? [], \$lock['packages-dev'] ?? []);
+                \$found = false;
+                foreach (\$lockedPackages as \$lp) {
+                    if (\$lp['name'] === \$package) {
+                        \$found = true;
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+                // If not in lock file, the package was added externally – reinstall.
+                if (!\$found) {
+                    \$needsInstall = true;
+                }
+            }
+        } elseif (!is_dir(\$vendorDir)) {
+            \$needsInstall = true;
+        }
+        if (\$needsInstall) {
+            \$missingConstraints[] = escapeshellarg(\"\$package:\$constraint\");
+            \$missingNames[] = escapeshellarg(\$package);
+        }
+    }
+    if (\$missingConstraints) {
+        echo 'Installing MageForge module dependencies: ' . implode(', ', \$missingNames) . PHP_EOL;
+        // Add constraints without resolving first, then update only the new packages.
+        // This prevents Composer from touching unrelated Magento core dependencies.
+        passthru('composer require --no-interaction --no-update ' . implode(' ', \$missingConstraints), \$exitCode);
+        if (\$exitCode !== 0) { exit(\$exitCode); }
+        passthru('composer update --no-interaction ' . implode(' ', \$missingNames), \$exitCode);
+        exit(\$exitCode);
+    }
+"
diff --git a/.ddev/config.yaml b/.ddev/config.yaml
index 7667ce9..5c0c22b 100644
--- a/.ddev/config.yaml
+++ b/.ddev/config.yaml
@@ -11,12 +11,17 @@ database:
     version: "10.6"
 hooks:
     pre-start:
-        # Pre-create parent directories for the MageForge bind-mount on the host.
-        # Docker creates missing mount-target parents as root; by creating them here
+        # Pre-create the MageForge bind-mount target directory on the host.
+        # Docker creates missing mount-target paths as root; by creating them here
         # (as the host user) they get the correct ownership for the DDEV web container.
-        - exec-host: mkdir -p magento/app/code/OpenForgeProject
+        # MageForge/ is the actual bind-mount target (../src → .../MageForge), so we
+        # must create it explicitly – creating only the parent is not enough.
+        - exec-host: mkdir -p magento/app/code/OpenForgeProject/MageForge
     post-start:
         - exec-host: ddev npx skills experimental_install
+        # Install MageForge module dependencies (e.g. laravel/prompts) that are not
+        # resolved automatically because the module is bind-mounted, not Composer-installed.
+        - exec: /var/www/html/.ddev/commands/web/install-module-deps
 use_dns_when_possible: true
 composer_root: magento
 composer_version: "2"