diff --git a/src/autoskillit/recipes/contracts/smoke-test.yaml b/.autoskillit/recipes/contracts/smoke-test.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from src/autoskillit/recipes/contracts/smoke-test.yaml
rename to .autoskillit/recipes/contracts/smoke-test.yaml
diff --git a/src/autoskillit/recipes/diagrams/smoke-test.md b/.autoskillit/recipes/diagrams/smoke-test.md
similarity index 100%
rename from src/autoskillit/recipes/diagrams/smoke-test.md
rename to .autoskillit/recipes/diagrams/smoke-test.md
diff --git a/src/autoskillit/recipes/smoke-test.yaml b/.autoskillit/recipes/smoke-test.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from src/autoskillit/recipes/smoke-test.yaml
rename to .autoskillit/recipes/smoke-test.yaml
diff --git a/docs/recipes.md b/docs/recipes.md
index cf845a09..7e48ee0d 100644
--- a/docs/recipes.md
+++ b/docs/recipes.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Recipes are YAML pipeline definitions that automate multi-step workflows. Each r
 
 ## Bundled Recipes
 
-AutoSkillit ships with 6 recipes:
+AutoSkillit ships with 5 recipes:
 
 ### implementation
 
@@ -98,12 +98,6 @@ Two-phase technical research recipe. Phase 1 scopes a research question and open
 
 **Requires pack:** `research` (pack members: `scope`, `plan-experiment`, `implement-experiment`, `run-experiment`, `write-report`)
 
-### smoke-test
-
-Integration self-test of the orchestration engine. Creates a local bare repo and exercises the full pipeline with stub skills.
-
-**When to use:** Internal testing only. Verifies that step routing, tool dispatch, capture/context threading, retry logic, and merge mechanics all work correctly.
-
 ## Project Recipes
 
 You can create custom recipes in `.autoskillit/recipes/`:
diff --git a/tests/migration/test_engine.py b/tests/migration/test_engine.py
index 758f5573..d4df822a 100644
--- a/tests/migration/test_engine.py
+++ b/tests/migration/test_engine.py
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
 )
 from autoskillit.migration.loader import MigrationChange, MigrationNote
 
+PROJECT_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Helpers
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -292,8 +294,9 @@ async def test_contract_adapter_migrate_regenerates_card_on_disk(self, tmp_path:
         contracts_dir = recipes_dir / "contracts"
         contracts_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
 
-        # Copy a real bundled recipe so generate_recipe_card has valid input
-        src_recipe = pkg_root() / "recipes" / "smoke-test.yaml"
+        # Copy the project-local smoke-test recipe so generate_recipe_card has valid input
+        src_recipe = PROJECT_ROOT / ".autoskillit" / "recipes" / "smoke-test.yaml"
+        assert src_recipe.exists(), f"smoke-test source missing: {src_recipe}"
         shutil.copy2(src_recipe, recipes_dir / "smoke-test.yaml")
 
         contract_path = contracts_dir / "smoke-test.yaml"
diff --git a/tests/recipe/test_bundled_recipe_hidden_policy.py b/tests/recipe/test_bundled_recipe_hidden_policy.py
index 9a663c88..9bca70c6 100644
--- a/tests/recipe/test_bundled_recipe_hidden_policy.py
+++ b/tests/recipe/test_bundled_recipe_hidden_policy.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
     "remediation",
     "implementation-groups",
     "merge-prs",
-    "smoke-test",
 ]
 
 
diff --git a/tests/recipe/test_bundled_recipes.py b/tests/recipe/test_bundled_recipes.py
index b4ff87a9..c8f8dde0 100644
--- a/tests/recipe/test_bundled_recipes.py
+++ b/tests/recipe/test_bundled_recipes.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+from pathlib import Path
+
 import pytest
 import yaml
 
@@ -10,6 +12,9 @@
 from autoskillit.recipe.io import builtin_recipes_dir, load_recipe
 from autoskillit.recipe.validator import analyze_dataflow, run_semantic_rules
 
+PROJECT_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent
+SMOKE_RECIPE = PROJECT_ROOT / ".autoskillit" / "recipes" / "smoke-test.yaml"
+
 
 def _assert_ci_conflict_fix_on_context_limit(recipe) -> None:
     """Shared assertion: ci_conflict_fix must abort via release_issue_failure on context limit."""
@@ -1132,8 +1137,7 @@ class TestSmokeTestStructure:
 
     @pytest.fixture()
     def smoke_yaml(self) -> dict:
-        recipe_path = builtin_recipes_dir() / "smoke-test.yaml"
-        return yaml.safe_load(recipe_path.read_text())
+        return yaml.safe_load(SMOKE_RECIPE.read_text())
 
     # T_ST1
     def test_create_branch_is_run_cmd(self, smoke_yaml: dict) -> None:
@@ -1247,8 +1251,13 @@ def test_bundled_recipes_diagrams_dir_exists() -> None:
 
 def test_all_predicate_steps_have_on_failure() -> None:
     """Every tool/python step with on_result.conditions must declare on_failure."""
-    for recipe_name in ["implementation", "remediation", "smoke-test"]:
-        recipe = load_recipe(builtin_recipes_dir() / f"{recipe_name}.yaml")
+    paths = {
+        "implementation": builtin_recipes_dir() / "implementation.yaml",
+        "remediation": builtin_recipes_dir() / "remediation.yaml",
+        "smoke-test": SMOKE_RECIPE,
+    }
+    for recipe_name, recipe_path in paths.items():
+        recipe = load_recipe(recipe_path)
         for step_name, step in recipe.steps.items():
             is_tool = step.tool is not None or step.python is not None
             if is_tool and step.on_result and step.on_result.conditions:
@@ -1267,7 +1276,7 @@ def test_audit_impl_on_failure_routes_to_escalation() -> None:
 
 def test_smoke_check_summary_has_error_escalation() -> None:
     """check_summary must have a result.error condition routing to a non-done step."""
-    recipe = load_recipe(builtin_recipes_dir() / "smoke-test.yaml")
+    recipe = load_recipe(SMOKE_RECIPE)
     step = recipe.steps["check_summary"]
     error_routes = [
         c.route
@@ -1600,7 +1609,7 @@ def test_recipe_base_branch_auto_detects(self, recipe_name: str) -> None:
 
     def test_smoke_test_base_branch_remains_main(self) -> None:
         """smoke-test.yaml must keep base_branch default 'main' — isolated scratch repo context."""
-        recipe = load_recipe(builtin_recipes_dir() / "smoke-test.yaml")
+        recipe = load_recipe(SMOKE_RECIPE)
         assert recipe.ingredients["base_branch"].default == "main", (
             "smoke-test.yaml creates a fresh git repo initialized with 'main' — "
             "its base_branch default must stay 'main'"
diff --git a/tests/recipe/test_smoke_pipeline.py b/tests/recipe/test_smoke_pipeline.py
index 9a16ee92..89225f9b 100644
--- a/tests/recipe/test_smoke_pipeline.py
+++ b/tests/recipe/test_smoke_pipeline.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 test_check.__test__ = False  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
 
 PROJECT_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent
-SMOKE_SCRIPT = builtin_recipes_dir() / "smoke-test.yaml"
+SMOKE_SCRIPT = PROJECT_ROOT / ".autoskillit" / "recipes" / "smoke-test.yaml"
 
 _TOOL_MAP = {
     "run_cmd": run_cmd,
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ def _is_success(self, step_def: dict, result: dict) -> bool:
 def smoke_recipe():
     from autoskillit.recipe.io import load_recipe as _load_recipe
 
-    return _load_recipe(builtin_recipes_dir() / "smoke-test.yaml")
+    return _load_recipe(SMOKE_SCRIPT)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture()
@@ -204,11 +204,16 @@ def smoke_script_path() -> Path:
 
 @pytest.fixture()
 def smoke_project(tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> Path:
-    """Create a temp project dir for smoke tests.
+    """Create a temp project dir with smoke-test as a project-local recipe.
 
-    Bundled recipes (including smoke-test) are discovered via recipe_parser,
-    so no recipe files need to be copied into the project dir.
+    smoke-test is a project-local recipe (not bundled), so it must be copied
+    into the temp dir's .autoskillit/recipes/ for discovery via list_recipes().
     """
+    import shutil
+
+    recipes_dir = tmp_path / ".autoskillit" / "recipes"
+    recipes_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+    shutil.copy2(SMOKE_SCRIPT, recipes_dir / "smoke-test.yaml")
     monkeypatch.chdir(tmp_path)
     return tmp_path
 
@@ -404,6 +409,32 @@ async def test_assess_step_references_bug_report(self) -> None:
         assess_cmd = pipeline["steps"]["assess"]["with"]["skill_command"]
         assert "bug_report.json" in assess_cmd
 
+    def test_smoke_test_not_in_bundled_dir(self) -> None:
+        """smoke-test.yaml must not exist in the bundled recipes directory."""
+        assert not (builtin_recipes_dir() / "smoke-test.yaml").exists()
+
+    def test_smoke_test_exists_in_project_local(self) -> None:
+        """smoke-test.yaml must exist in the project-local recipes directory."""
+        assert SMOKE_SCRIPT.exists(), f"Expected smoke-test at {SMOKE_SCRIPT}"
+
+    async def test_smoke_test_source_is_project(self, smoke_project: Path) -> None:
+        """smoke-test must be listed with source PROJECT, not BUILTIN."""
+        result = json.loads(await list_recipes())
+        smoke = next((r for r in result["recipes"] if r["name"] == "smoke-test"), None)
+        assert smoke is not None, "smoke-test not found in list_recipes output"
+        assert smoke["source"] == "project"
+
+    async def test_smoke_test_invisible_from_external_project(
+        self, tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        """smoke-test must NOT appear in list_recipes from a project without it."""
+        bare_dir = tmp_path / "external"
+        bare_dir.mkdir()
+        monkeypatch.chdir(bare_dir)
+        result = json.loads(await list_recipes())
+        names = [r["name"] for r in result["recipes"]]
+        assert "smoke-test" not in names
+
 
 def test_smoke_commit_dirty_step_exists(smoke_recipe) -> None:
     """commit_dirty step must exist and route back to merge."""
diff --git a/tests/server/test_tools_recipe.py b/tests/server/test_tools_recipe.py
index 8fc33fc7..8bdc10f0 100644
--- a/tests/server/test_tools_recipe.py
+++ b/tests/server/test_tools_recipe.py
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ async def test_list_recipes_includes_builtins_with_empty_project_dir(
         names = {r["name"] for r in result["recipes"]}
         assert "implementation" in names
         assert "remediation" in names
-        assert "smoke-test" in names
+        assert "smoke-test" not in names
 
     # SS9
     @pytest.mark.anyio