diff --git a/e2e/scenarios/multi-repo/external-update-deploys-component.yaml b/e2e/scenarios/multi-repo/external-update-deploys-component.yaml
index 229b065..15e0716 100644
--- a/e2e/scenarios/multi-repo/external-update-deploys-component.yaml
+++ b/e2e/scenarios/multi-repo/external-update-deploys-component.yaml
@@ -1,19 +1,19 @@
-# Scenario: external deploy opts in to on_update.deploy and the receiver still
-# records new external state, proving the additive on_update config is
-# back-compatible with the live record path.
+# Scenario: external deploy opts in to on_update.deploy and the receiver records
+# new external state while the scoped deploy_cdk job runs live against a local
+# reusable deploy workflow.
 #
-# Scope note: the scoped deploy job wiring (a deploy_<name> job, needs: update,
-# if gated on needs.update.result == 'success' && inputs.deploy_name == '<name>',
-# uses: the declared workflow, secrets: inherit) is asserted at the generator
-# level in internal/generate/external_test.go. A live scoped deploy run needs a
-# real reusable deploy workflow plus deploy credentials in the satellite repo,
-# which is not reproducible in the gitea + act harness, so the actual deploy run
-# is covered by the downstream fleet validation rather than forced here. This
-# scenario keeps the live coverage focused on what the harness can prove: that
-# adding on_update.deploy does not break the receiver's record path.
+# The scenario proves three things end-to-end:
+#   1. Adding on_update.deploy does not break the receiver's record path.
+#   2. The generated deploy_cdk job fires when deploy_name == 'cdk' and
+#      calls the local reusable workflow via uses: ./.github/workflows/...
+#   3. The local reusable workflow (committed to primary-backend before the
+#      dispatch) completes successfully so the overall run concludes success.
+#
+# Note: no actions/checkout inside the reusable workflow - act cannot resolve
+# checkout for a reusable callback against the per-scenario gitea instance.
 
 name: external-update-deploys-component
-description: External deploy declares on_update.deploy; receiver still records new external state
+description: External deploy declares on_update.deploy; receiver records state and scoped deploy job runs live
 
 repos:
   primary-backend:
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ repos:
               workflow: example/cdk-infra/.github/workflows/deploy.yaml
               on_update:
                 deploy:
-                  workflow: example/cdk-infra/.github/workflows/deploy.yaml
+                  workflow: .github/workflows/on-update-deploy-cdk.yaml
     manifest:
       state:
         dev:
@@ -61,7 +61,39 @@ repos:
 primary: primary-backend
 
 steps:
-  # Step 1: Commit changes to satellite CDK repo
+  # Step 1: Commit the local reusable deploy workflow to primary-backend so that
+  # act can resolve it via uses: ./.github/workflows/on-update-deploy-cdk.yaml
+  # when the generated deploy_cdk job fires.
+  - name: seed-local-deploy-workflow
+    repo: primary-backend
+    action: commit
+    commit:
+      message: "chore: add on-update deploy workflow for cdk"
+      files:
+        .github/workflows/on-update-deploy-cdk.yaml: |
+          name: on-update-deploy-cdk
+          on:
+            workflow_call:
+              inputs:
+                environment:
+                  required: false
+                  type: string
+                sha:
+                  required: false
+                  type: string
+                version:
+                  required: false
+                  type: string
+                deploy_name:
+                  required: false
+                  type: string
+          jobs:
+            cdkdeploy:
+              runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+              steps:
+                - run: echo "on-update deploy ran deploy_name=${{ inputs.deploy_name }} sha=${{ inputs.sha }}"
+
+  # Step 2: Commit changes to satellite CDK repo
   - name: update-cdk-stack
     repo: cdk-infra
     action: commit
@@ -77,7 +109,8 @@ steps:
             }
           }
 
-  # Step 2: Satellite notifies primary after deploy
+  # Step 3: Satellite notifies primary after deploy; external-update.yaml runs,
+  # records state, and the scoped deploy_cdk job calls the local reusable workflow.
   - name: notify-primary
     repo: cdk-infra
     action: dispatch
diff --git a/internal/generate/external.go b/internal/generate/external.go
index fd17e21..6ea3150 100644
--- a/internal/generate/external.go
+++ b/internal/generate/external.go
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ func (g *ExternalUpdateGenerator) writeHeader(sb *strings.Builder) {
 
 func (g *ExternalUpdateGenerator) writeWorkflowTrigger(sb *strings.Builder) {
 	sb.WriteString("name: External Update\n\n")
+	sb.WriteString("run-name: External Update ${{ inputs.deploy_name }} ${{ inputs.sha }}\n\n")
 	sb.WriteString("on:\n")
 	sb.WriteString("  workflow_dispatch:\n")
 	sb.WriteString("    inputs:\n")
diff --git a/internal/generate/external_test.go b/internal/generate/external_test.go
index 969172f..837bd91 100644
--- a/internal/generate/external_test.go
+++ b/internal/generate/external_test.go
@@ -1038,3 +1038,29 @@ func TestExternalUpdateGenerator_OnUpdateDeploy_LocalWorkflowPath(t *testing.T)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.Contains(t, content, "uses: ./.github/workflows/deploy-cdk.yaml")
 }
+
+// TestExternalUpdateGenerator_EmitsRunName verifies that the generated
+// external-update workflow includes a run-name line that embeds the
+// deploy_name and sha inputs so individual runs are correlatable in the
+// GitHub Actions UI.
+func TestExternalUpdateGenerator_EmitsRunName(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := &config.TrunkConfig{
+		TrunkBranch:  "master",
+		Environments: []string{"dev", "test", "prod"},
+		External: []config.ExternalRepoConfig{
+			{
+				Repo: "example/cdk-infra",
+				Ref:  "main",
+				Deploys: []config.ExternalDeployConfig{
+					{Name: "cdk", Workflow: "example/cdk-infra/.github/workflows/deploy.yaml"},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	gen := NewExternalUpdateGenerator(cfg, "/tmp")
+	content, err := gen.Generate()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	assert.Contains(t, content, "run-name: External Update ${{ inputs.deploy_name }} ${{ inputs.sha }}")
+}