diff --git a/lib/cmd/vite/generate-kiln-edit.js b/lib/cmd/vite/generate-kiln-edit.js
index 7b2f65f..6188a27 100644
--- a/lib/cmd/vite/generate-kiln-edit.js
+++ b/lib/cmd/vite/generate-kiln-edit.js
@@ -70,6 +70,36 @@ async function generateViteKilnEditEntry() {
   // If neither is present, fall back to the namespace itself.
   lines.push('');
   lines.push('function _resolveDefault(ns) { return (ns && ns.default !== undefined) ? ns.default : ns; }');
+  lines.push('function _serializeKilnInitError(error) {');
+  lines.push('  if (error == null) return { message: "Unknown error" };');
+  lines.push('  if (typeof error === "string") return { message: error };');
+  lines.push('  if (typeof error !== "object") return { message: String(error) };');
+  lines.push('');
+  lines.push('  var payload = {');
+  lines.push('    name: error.name || null,');
+  lines.push('    message: error.message || String(error),');
+  lines.push('    stack: error.stack || null,');
+  lines.push('  };');
+  lines.push('');
+  lines.push('  if (error.code != null) payload.code = error.code;');
+  lines.push('  if (error.cause != null) payload.cause = _serializeKilnInitError(error.cause);');
+  lines.push('');
+  lines.push('  return payload;');
+  lines.push('}');
+  lines.push('');
+  lines.push('function _reportKilnInitError(error) {');
+  lines.push('  var payload = _serializeKilnInitError(error);');
+  lines.push('  var message = payload.message || "Unknown error";');
+  lines.push('  var header = "[clay vite] kiln plugin init error: " + message;');
+  lines.push('');
+  lines.push('  if (console.groupCollapsed) {');
+  lines.push('    console.groupCollapsed(header);');
+  lines.push('    console.error(payload);');
+  lines.push('    console.groupEnd();');
+  lines.push('  } else {');
+  lines.push('    console.error(header, payload);');
+  lines.push('  }');
+  lines.push('}');
 
   lines.push('');
   lines.push('window.kiln = window.kiln || {};');
@@ -94,7 +124,16 @@ async function generateViteKilnEditEntry() {
   // Run site kiln plugin initializer
   if (hasKilnPlugin) {
     lines.push('var _initKilnPlugins = _resolveDefault(_kilnPluginNs);');
-    lines.push('if (typeof _initKilnPlugins === "function") _initKilnPlugins();');
+    lines.push('if (typeof _initKilnPlugins === "function") {');
+    lines.push('  try {');
+    lines.push('    var _kilnInitResult = _initKilnPlugins();');
+    lines.push('    if (_kilnInitResult && typeof _kilnInitResult.then === "function") {');
+    lines.push('      _kilnInitResult.catch(_reportKilnInitError);');
+    lines.push('    }');
+    lines.push('  } catch (error) {');
+    lines.push('    _reportKilnInitError(error);');
+    lines.push('  }');
+    lines.push('}');
   }
 
   await fs.ensureDir(CLAY_DIR);
diff --git a/lib/cmd/vite/generators.test.js b/lib/cmd/vite/generators.test.js
index caa3831..10ba2d5 100644
--- a/lib/cmd/vite/generators.test.js
+++ b/lib/cmd/vite/generators.test.js
@@ -169,7 +169,9 @@ describe('generate-vite env/bootstrap/kiln generators', () => {
       expect(content).toContain('import * as _kilnPluginNs from "../services/kiln/index.js";');
       expect(content).toContain('window.kiln.componentModels["article"] = _resolveDefault(_m0);');
       expect(content).toContain('window.kiln.componentKilnjs["article"] = _resolveDefault(_k0);');
-      expect(content).toContain('if (typeof _initKilnPlugins === "function") _initKilnPlugins();');
+      expect(content).toContain('function _reportKilnInitError(error) {');
+      expect(content).toContain('var _kilnInitResult = _initKilnPlugins();');
+      expect(content).toContain('_kilnInitResult.catch(_reportKilnInitError);');
     });
 
     it('does not import kiln plugin when services/kiln/index.js is missing', async () => {
diff --git a/lib/cmd/vite/index.js b/lib/cmd/vite/index.js
index 13408db..a60a56c 100644
--- a/lib/cmd/vite/index.js
+++ b/lib/cmd/vite/index.js
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ function getEditScripts(assetPath) {
  * Populate media.moduleScripts and media.modulePreloads for amphora-html.
  *
  * In view mode: one bootstrap URL.
- * In edit mode: kiln edit bundle + bootstrap.
+ * In edit mode: bootstrap + kiln edit bundle.
  *
  * @param {object}  media
  * @param {string}  assetPath
@@ -113,7 +113,9 @@ function resolveModuleScripts(media, assetPath, options) {
   if (edit) {
     const editScripts = getEditScripts(assetPath);
 
-    media.moduleScripts  = [...editScripts, ...viewScripts];
+    // Keep bootstrap first so shared env/bootstrap globals are available
+    // before the kiln edit entry executes.
+    media.moduleScripts  = [...viewScripts, ...editScripts];
     media.modulePreloads = preloadEditBundle
       ? [...preloads, ...editScripts]
       : preloads;
diff --git a/lib/cmd/vite/index.test.js b/lib/cmd/vite/index.test.js
index 69806cc..eba7709 100644
--- a/lib/cmd/vite/index.test.js
+++ b/lib/cmd/vite/index.test.js
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ describe('index — view mode scripts', () => {
 // ── edit mode scripts ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 describe('index — edit mode scripts', () => {
-  it('includes both kiln edit bundle and bootstrap in edit mode', () => {
+  it('includes bootstrap first, then kiln edit bundle in edit mode', () => {
     const { mod, cleanup } = withManifest({
       [BOOTSTRAP_KEY]: { file: '/js/bootstrap-abc.js',  imports: [] },
       [KILN_EDIT_KEY]: { file: '/js/kiln-edit-xyz.js', imports: ['/js/vue-chunk.js'] },
@@ -174,8 +174,10 @@ describe('index — edit mode scripts', () => {
     mod.resolveModuleScripts(media, '', { edit: true });
     cleanup();
 
-    expect(media.moduleScripts).toContain('/js/kiln-edit-xyz.js');
     expect(media.moduleScripts).toContain('/js/bootstrap-abc.js');
+    expect(media.moduleScripts).toContain('/js/kiln-edit-xyz.js');
+    expect(media.moduleScripts.indexOf('/js/bootstrap-abc.js'))
+      .toBeLessThan(media.moduleScripts.indexOf('/js/kiln-edit-xyz.js'));
   });
 
   it('still serves view scripts when kiln entry is absent from manifest', () => {
diff --git a/lib/cmd/vite/scripts.js b/lib/cmd/vite/scripts.js
index 223a56c..646ceeb 100644
--- a/lib/cmd/vite/scripts.js
+++ b/lib/cmd/vite/scripts.js
@@ -178,6 +178,54 @@ function getViteConfig(cliOptions = {}) {
 
 exports.getViteConfig = getViteConfig;
 
+/**
+ * Build the `process.env` define that redirects client env reads to the
+ * RUNTIME-hydrated `window.process.env`.
+ *
+ * This is the Vite equivalent of the legacy Browserify pipeline's transformEnv
+ * plugin (lib/cmd/compile/scripts.js), which rewrites every `process.env` in
+ * client code to `window.process.env` and inlines NO values ("reference window,
+ * so browserify doesn't bundle in `process`").
+ *
+ * ── Why a redirect, not an inline ───────────────────────────────────────────
+ *
+ * Vite does not inline arbitrary env, and @rollup/plugin-commonjs rewrites the
+ * bare `process.env` of a CJS module into a build-time-empty local stub
+ * (literally `var pVt = {}`).  So `const HOST = process.env.PYXIS_HOST || '…'`
+ * compiles to `pVt.PYXIS_HOST || '…'` → always the fallback, and the read is dead
+ * at build time.  That silently breaks every Kiln plugin / universal service that
+ * reads env (pyxis.js, glaze/agora helpers, …): they work in Browserify but not
+ * under Vite.
+ *
+ * Defining `process.env` → `window.process.env` makes `process.env.PYXIS_HOST`
+ * compile to `window.process.env.PYXIS_HOST` — a live read of the object
+ * .clay/_env-init.js hydrates from `window.kiln.preloadData._envVars` (amphora-html
+ * forwards the server's live env in edit mode, gated by client-env.json).  It also
+ * turns master's `window.process.env.X = process.env.X` plugin line into a harmless
+ * self-assign instead of clobbering the hydrated value with "".
+ *
+ * We deliberately do NOT inline values from the build env.  The Docker image build
+ * is bare (only CLAYCLI_* args), so there is nothing to inline in prod anyway; and
+ * inlining from the full build `process.env` would bake any referenced var —
+ * including secrets that are NOT on the client-env.json allowlist (e.g.
+ * CORAL_GRAPHQL_TOKEN) — into the public bundle on any env-present build (local
+ * `make assets`, future build-args, …).  The runtime object is allowlist-gated, so
+ * a pure redirect keeps Vite's client-env exposure identical to Browserify's.
+ *
+ * `process.env.NODE_ENV` is kept as a build-time literal by buildDefines (a
+ * more-specific key, so it wins over this catch-all) → `process.env.NODE_ENV ===
+ * 'production'` still tree-shakes.
+ *
+ * @returns {object} `{ 'process.env': 'window.process.env' }`
+ */
+function buildClientEnvDefines() {
+  // A member-expression value (not a JSON literal) tells esbuild/Vite to REWRITE
+  // the `process.env` token to `window.process.env` rather than substitute a
+  // constant.  `window.process.env` on the left-hand side of an assignment is left
+  // alone (its `process` is a member of `window`, not the free `process` token).
+  return { 'process.env': 'window.process.env' };
+}
+
 /**
  * Build the define map injected into every module at compile time.
  *
@@ -222,10 +270,19 @@ function buildDefines(userDefines = {}) {
       // of window. globalThis is universally available in ES2017+ environments.
       global: 'globalThis',
     },
+    // Client env (see buildClientEnvDefines): redirect `process.env` →
+    // `window.process.env` so reads resolve to the runtime-hydrated object
+    // (.clay/_env-init.js), matching the legacy Browserify transformEnv plugin —
+    // no build-time values are inlined.  `process.env.NODE_ENV` above is more
+    // specific and still wins as a literal.  Comes before userDefines so a site
+    // can still override a specific var via bundlerConfig().define if needed.
+    buildClientEnvDefines(),
     userDefines
   );
 }
 
+exports.buildDefines = buildDefines;
+
 /**
  * Assemble the Vite plugin array for a build pass.
  *
diff --git a/lib/cmd/vite/scripts.test.js b/lib/cmd/vite/scripts.test.js
index 7d4e07e..6bec020 100644
--- a/lib/cmd/vite/scripts.test.js
+++ b/lib/cmd/vite/scripts.test.js
@@ -80,6 +80,52 @@ describe('vite scripts', () => {
     expect(cfg.sourcemap).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it('buildDefines redirects process.env to window.process.env and never inlines build env (Browserify parity)', async () => {
+    await setupTmp('claycli-vite-scripts-clientenv-');
+
+    const prev = process.env.PYXIS_HOST;
+
+    // Even when the build env holds a value, it must NOT be baked in: the Docker
+    // image build is bare, and inlining from the full build env would leak vars
+    // outside the client-env.json allowlist into the public bundle. Reads resolve
+    // at runtime via window.process.env (hydrated by .clay/_env-init.js), exactly
+    // like the legacy Browserify transformEnv plugin. This also turns master's
+    // `window.process.env.X = process.env.X` into a harmless self-assign.
+    process.env.PYXIS_HOST = 'https://build-env-should-not-be-inlined.test';
+
+    try {
+      const { buildDefines } = require('./scripts');
+      const define = buildDefines();
+
+      expect(define['process.env']).toBe('window.process.env');
+      expect(define['process.env.PYXIS_HOST']).toBeUndefined();
+    } finally {
+      if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.PYXIS_HOST;
+      else process.env.PYXIS_HOST = prev;
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('buildDefines keeps NODE_ENV a build-time literal so guards still tree-shake', async () => {
+    await setupTmp('claycli-vite-scripts-nodeenv-');
+
+    const prev = process.env.NODE_ENV;
+
+    process.env.NODE_ENV = 'production';
+
+    try {
+      const { buildDefines } = require('./scripts');
+      const define = buildDefines();
+
+      // The more-specific `process.env.NODE_ENV` key wins over `process.env` in
+      // esbuild, so `process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production'` folds to a literal.
+      expect(define['process.env.NODE_ENV']).toBe(JSON.stringify('production'));
+      expect(define['process.env']).toBe('window.process.env');
+    } finally {
+      if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.NODE_ENV;
+      else process.env.NODE_ENV = prev;
+    }
+  });
+
   it('buildJS runs split builds, writes manifest and client-env', async () => {
     await setupTmp('claycli-vite-scripts-build-');