diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-preprod-hotfix.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy-preprod-hotfix.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1857f4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-preprod-hotfix.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+name: Deploy Preprod Hotfix
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - "hotfix/**"
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      branch:
+        description: "Branch to deploy (defaults to current ref)"
+        required: false
+        type: string
+      skip_tests:
+        description: "Skip tests before deployment"
+        required: false
+        default: "false"
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - "true"
+          - "false"
+
+concurrency:
+  group: deploy-preprod-hotfix-${{ github.ref_name }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  pre-deployment-checks:
+    name: Pre-Deployment Validation
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch' || github.event.inputs.skip_tests != 'true' }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ github.event.inputs.branch || github.ref }}
+
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.11"
+
+      - name: Set up uv
+        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v5
+        with:
+          version: "latest"
+          enable-cache: true
+
+      - name: Create virtual environment
+        run: uv venv .venv
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: |
+          source .venv/bin/activate
+          uv pip install -r coaching/requirements.txt
+          uv pip install -r coaching/requirements-dev.txt
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Run Ruff Linting
+        run: |
+          source .venv/bin/activate
+          python -m ruff check . --exclude=".venv,venv,__pycache__,.pytest_cache"
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Run MyPy Type Checking
+        run: |
+          source .venv/bin/activate
+          python -m mypy coaching/src/ shared/ --config-file=pyproject.toml
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Run Unit Tests
+        run: |
+          source .venv/bin/activate
+          python -m pytest coaching/tests/unit/ -v --cov=coaching/src --cov-fail-under=70
+        shell: bash
+        env:
+          PYTHONPATH: coaching:shared:.
+
+  deploy-coaching:
+    name: Deploy to Preprod
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [pre-deployment-checks]
+    if: ${{ always() && (needs.pre-deployment-checks.result == 'success' || (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && github.event.inputs.skip_tests == 'true')) }}
+    permissions:
+      id-token: write
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ github.event.inputs.branch || github.ref }}
+
+      - name: Setup Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.11"
+
+      - name: Install Pulumi Python dependencies
+        working-directory: coaching/pulumi
+        run: pip install -r requirements.txt
+
+      - name: Configure AWS credentials
+        uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
+        with:
+          aws-region: us-east-1
+          aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
+          aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+
+      - name: Deploy Coaching Service
+        uses: pulumi/actions@v5
+        with:
+          command: up
+          stack-name: preprod
+          work-dir: coaching/pulumi
+        env:
+          PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
+          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
+          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+          AWS_REGION: us-east-1
+
+  smoke-tests:
+    name: Post-Deployment Smoke Tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [deploy-coaching]
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ github.event.inputs.branch || github.ref }}
+
+      - name: Install Pulumi CLI
+        uses: pulumi/actions@v5
+        with:
+          pulumi-version: "latest"
+
+      - name: Configure AWS credentials
+        uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
+        with:
+          aws-region: us-east-1
+          aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
+          aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+
+      - name: Get API Gateway URL
+        id: api-url
+        working-directory: coaching/pulumi
+        run: |
+          URL=$(pulumi stack output customDomainUrl --stack preprod)
+          echo "url=$URL" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        env:
+          PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Health Check
+        run: |
+          HTTP_CODE=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "${{ steps.api-url.outputs.url }}/health" || echo "000")
+          if [ "$HTTP_CODE" != "200" ] && [ "$HTTP_CODE" != "404" ]; then
+            echo "❌ Health check failed with HTTP $HTTP_CODE"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "✅ Health check passed ($HTTP_CODE)"
+
+      - name: CORS Preflight Check
+        run: |
+          ORIGIN="https://preprod.purposepath.app"
+          TARGET="${{ steps.api-url.outputs.url }}/api/v1/ai/execute-async"
+          CORS_HEADERS=$(curl -s -D - -o /dev/null -X OPTIONS "$TARGET" \
+            -H "Origin: $ORIGIN" \
+            -H "Access-Control-Request-Method: POST" \
+            -H "Access-Control-Request-Headers: Authorization,Content-Type,X-Tenant-Id")
+
+          ALLOW_ORIGIN=$(echo "$CORS_HEADERS" | tr -d '\r' | awk -F': ' 'tolower($1)=="access-control-allow-origin"{print $2}' | tail -n 1)
+          ALLOW_CREDENTIALS=$(echo "$CORS_HEADERS" | tr -d '\r' | awk -F': ' 'tolower($1)=="access-control-allow-credentials"{print $2}' | tail -n 1)
+
+          if [ "$ALLOW_ORIGIN" != "$ORIGIN" ]; then
+            echo "❌ Invalid Access-Control-Allow-Origin: '$ALLOW_ORIGIN' (expected '$ORIGIN')"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          if [ "$ALLOW_CREDENTIALS" != "true" ]; then
+            echo "❌ Invalid Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: '$ALLOW_CREDENTIALS' (expected 'true')"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          echo "✅ CORS preflight returned expected headers"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-production.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy-production.yml
index a7b3e66..616c653 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy-production.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-production.yml
@@ -34,13 +34,20 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           SHOULD_DEPLOY="false"
           TRIGGER_REASON="not-eligible"
+          HEAD_REF="${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}"
 
           if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" == "pull_request" ] && \
              [ "${{ github.event.pull_request.merged }}" == "true" ] && \
              [ "${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }}" == "master" ] && \
-             [ "${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}" == "staging" ]; then
+             [ "$HEAD_REF" == "staging" ]; then
             SHOULD_DEPLOY="true"
             TRIGGER_REASON="merged-staging-to-master-pr"
+          elif [ "${{ github.event_name }}" == "pull_request" ] && \
+               [ "${{ github.event.pull_request.merged }}" == "true" ] && \
+               [ "${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }}" == "master" ] && \
+               [[ "$HEAD_REF" == hotfix/* ]]; then
+            SHOULD_DEPLOY="true"
+            TRIGGER_REASON="merged-hotfix-to-master-pr"
           elif [ "${{ github.event_name }}" == "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
             SHOULD_DEPLOY="true"
             TRIGGER_REASON="manual-dispatch"
@@ -56,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.promotion-check.outputs.should_deploy != 'true'
         run: |
           echo "No production deployment triggered."
-          echo "This workflow only deploys on merged PRs from staging -> master, or manual dispatch."
+          echo "This workflow deploys on merged PRs from staging/hotfix -> master, or manual dispatch."
 
   pre-deployment-checks:
     name: Pre-Deployment Validation
@@ -199,6 +206,24 @@ jobs:
         env:
           PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
 
+      - name: Lambda Runtime State Check
+        run: |
+          echo "Validating Lambda runtime state..."
+          LAMBDA_ARN=$(pulumi stack output lambdaArn --stack prod)
+          LAMBDA_NAME=${LAMBDA_ARN##*:function:}
+
+          STATE=$(aws lambda get-function --function-name "$LAMBDA_NAME" --region us-east-1 --query "Configuration.State" --output text)
+          REASON=$(aws lambda get-function --function-name "$LAMBDA_NAME" --region us-east-1 --query "Configuration.StateReason" --output text)
+
+          if [ "$STATE" != "Active" ]; then
+            echo "❌ Lambda is not Active (state=$STATE, reason=$REASON)"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          echo "✅ Lambda state is Active"
+        env:
+          PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
+
       - name: Create GitHub Release
         uses: actions/create-release@v1
         env:
diff --git a/coaching/pulumi/__main__.py b/coaching/pulumi/__main__.py
index ea6ebb8..51dd22f 100644
--- a/coaching/pulumi/__main__.py
+++ b/coaching/pulumi/__main__.py
@@ -309,21 +309,10 @@
     ),
 )
 
-# Reuse shared ECR repository when it already exists.
-# This avoids cross-stack repository creation conflicts in production.
-try:
-    existing_ecr_repo = aws.ecr.get_repository(name="purposepath-coaching")
-    ecr_repository_url = pulumi.Output.from_input(existing_ecr_repo.repository_url)
-except Exception:
-    ecr_repo = aws.ecr.Repository(
-        "coaching-repo",
-        name="purposepath-coaching",
-        image_scanning_configuration=aws.ecr.RepositoryImageScanningConfigurationArgs(
-            scan_on_push=True
-        ),
-        force_delete=True,
-    )
-    ecr_repository_url = ecr_repo.repository_url
+# Use the shared ECR repository managed outside this stack.
+# Do not create/delete this repository from service deployments.
+existing_ecr_repo = aws.ecr.get_repository(name="purposepath-coaching")
+ecr_repository_url = pulumi.Output.from_input(existing_ecr_repo.repository_url)
 
 # Build and push Docker image
 auth_token = aws.ecr.get_authorization_token()