diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 7bcc2988b..2f069f7aa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -15,15 +15,28 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
-  sync:
-    name: Sync Main to GH-Pages
-    uses: ./.github/workflows/sync-gh-pages.yml
+  guard:
+    name: Enforce main-only dispatch
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions: {}
+    steps:
+      - name: Verify ref is refs/heads/main
+        run: |
+          if [ "${{ github.ref }}" != "refs/heads/main" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Release can only be dispatched from 'main' (got ${{ github.ref }})."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+  test-website:
+    name: Website Testing
+    needs: guard
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/website-test.yml
     permissions:
-      contents: write
+      contents: read
 
   deploy:
     name: Deploy Site To GitHub Pages
-    needs: sync
+    needs: test-website
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     environment:
       name: github-pages
@@ -31,7 +44,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
         with:
-          ref: ${{ needs.sync.outputs.synced_sha }}
+          ref: ${{ github.sha }}
       - uses: actions/setup-node@48b55a011bda9f5d6aeb4c2d9c7362e8dae4041e  # v6.4.0
         with:
           node-version: 24
@@ -42,14 +55,10 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           npm ci
           npm run build
-      - name: Test
-        working-directory: website
-        run: |
-          npm test
       - name: Upload Pages artifact
-        uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@7b1f4a764d45c48632c6b24a0339c27f5614fb0b  # v4.0.0
+        uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@fc324d3547104276b827a68afc52ff2a11cc49c9  # v5.0.0
         with:
           path: ./website/build
       - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
         id: deployment
-        uses: actions/deploy-pages@d6db90164ac5ed86f2b6aed7e0febac5b3c0c03e  # v4.0.5
\ No newline at end of file
+        uses: actions/deploy-pages@cd2ce8fcbc39b97be8ca5fce6e763baed58fa128  # v5.0.0
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync-gh-pages.yml b/.github/workflows/sync-gh-pages.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index becc67ce1..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/sync-gh-pages.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-name: Sync Main to GH-Pages
-
-# Syncs the main branch to gh-pages so that the release workflow
-# can be triggered from gh-pages (required by environment protection rules).
-on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-  workflow_call:
-
-permissions:
-  contents: write
-
-jobs:
-  sync:
-    name: Sync Main to GH-Pages Branch
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
-        with:
-          ref: main
-          fetch-depth: 0
-      - name: Push main to gh-pages
-        run: git push origin main:gh-pages --force-with-lease
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/test-deploy.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 9c027ce54..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/test-deploy.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-name: Test Deploy (on PR)
-
-on:
-  pull_request:
-    branches:
-      - main
-    # Review gh actions docs if you want to further define triggers, paths, etc
-    # https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#on
-
-permissions:
-  contents: read
-
-jobs:
-  test-deploy:
-    name: Test deployment
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@48b55a011bda9f5d6aeb4c2d9c7362e8dae4041e  # v6.4.0
-        with:
-          node-version: 24
-          cache: npm
-          cache-dependency-path: website/package-lock.json
-      - name: Build website
-        working-directory: website
-        run: |
-          npm ci
-          npm run build
-      - name: Run Tests
-        working-directory: website
-        run: |
-          npm test
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/website-test.yml b/.github/workflows/website-test.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..748bfd7e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/website-test.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+name: Website Testing
+
+# Runs on PRs and pushes to validate the website, and is called from
+# release.yml as the pre-deploy gate.
+#
+# All events run: npm ci -> unit tests -> build.
+# Release dispatch / manual dispatch additionally run Playwright e2e.
+# PR / push runs skip the heavier browser suite to keep feedback fast.
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - main
+    paths:
+      - 'website/**'
+      - '.github/workflows/website-test.yml'
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+    paths:
+      - 'website/**'
+      - '.github/workflows/website-test.yml'
+  workflow_call:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  test-website:
+    name: Test website
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 20
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ github.sha }}
+
+      - name: Setup Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@48b55a011bda9f5d6aeb4c2d9c7362e8dae4041e  # v6.4.0
+        with:
+          node-version: 24
+          cache: npm
+          cache-dependency-path: website/package-lock.json
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        working-directory: website
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - name: Run unit tests
+        working-directory: website
+        run: npm test
+
+      - name: Build website
+        working-directory: website
+        run: npm run build
+
+      # ----- e2e steps below: only on release dispatch and manual runs -----
+
+      - name: Install Playwright browsers
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'workflow_call' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' }}
+        working-directory: website
+        run: npx playwright install chromium --with-deps
+
+      - name: Run Playwright tests
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'workflow_call' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' }}
+        working-directory: website
+        run: npx playwright test
+
+      - name: Upload Playwright report
+        if: ${{ failure() && (github.event_name == 'workflow_call' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch') }}
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a  # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          name: playwright-report
+          path: website/playwright-report/
+          retention-days: 7
diff --git a/website/.gitignore b/website/.gitignore
index b2d6de306..492a4c87c 100644
--- a/website/.gitignore
+++ b/website/.gitignore
@@ -18,3 +18,14 @@
 npm-debug.log*
 yarn-debug.log*
 yarn-error.log*
+
+# Playwright
+/playwright-report
+/test-results
+/playwright/.cache
+
+# Override the root `*.png` rule for the website tree. PNGs under
+# website/static and any future e2e screenshot baselines should be
+# tracked; PNGs inside the ignored directories above remain ignored
+# (parent-dir ignore wins over file-level re-include).
+!*.png
diff --git a/website/e2e/gallery-filters.spec.ts b/website/e2e/gallery-filters.spec.ts
index cfd66acea..952a080e9 100644
--- a/website/e2e/gallery-filters.spec.ts
+++ b/website/e2e/gallery-filters.spec.ts
@@ -31,14 +31,17 @@ test.describe("Gallery Filtering", () => {
   test("empty state shows actionable message when no results", async ({ page }) => {
     const searchInput = page.getByRole("searchbox");
     await searchInput.fill("zzzznonexistenttemplate");
+    await searchInput.press("Enter");
     await expect(page.locator("text=No templates found")).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
   });
 
   test("clear filters resets the view", async ({ page }) => {
     const searchInput = page.getByRole("searchbox");
     await searchInput.fill("python");
+    await searchInput.press("Enter");
     await expect(page).toHaveURL(/name=python/);
-    await searchInput.clear();
+    await searchInput.fill("");
+    await searchInput.press("Enter");
     await expect(page).not.toHaveURL(/name=python/);
   });
 });
diff --git a/website/e2e/gallery-functionality.spec.ts b/website/e2e/gallery-functionality.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6667777f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/website/e2e/gallery-functionality.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+import { test, expect } from "@playwright/test";
+
+// End-to-end coverage modeled on Azure/ai-app-templates' website.spec.ts,
+// adapted for awesome-azd's paginated gallery (20 cards/page). Assertions
+// against the filtered template *total* read the live "Viewing N templates"
+// status text, since the rendered `.fui-Card` count is capped by pagination.
+test.describe("Gallery functionality (deploy gate)", () => {
+  test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
+    await page.goto("./");
+    await page.waitForLoadState("networkidle");
+    await page.waitForSelector(".fui-Card", { timeout: 15_000 });
+  });
+
+  // Reads the total from the "Viewing N templates" live region. The page
+  // has multiple aria-live polite regions (color-mode toggle, copy toast,
+  // status counter) so we filter by the literal "Viewing" text.
+  //
+  // The status string takes three forms depending on totalItems:
+  //   "Viewing 0 templates"           (no results)
+  //   "Viewing 1 template"            (single result)
+  //   "Viewing 1-20 of 290 templates" (paginated, > 1 result)
+  // In every case the LAST integer is the total.
+  async function viewingCount(page: import("@playwright/test").Page): Promise<number> {
+    const status = page
+      .locator('[role="status"]')
+      .filter({ hasText: /Viewing/ })
+      .first();
+    await expect(status).toBeVisible();
+    const text = (await status.textContent()) ?? "";
+    const nums = text.match(/\d+/g);
+    expect(nums, `expected numbers in status: "${text}"`).not.toBeNull();
+    return Number(nums![nums!.length - 1]);
+  }
+
+  test("homepage renders without 404 / error fallback", async ({ page }) => {
+    const body = (await page.textContent("body")) ?? "";
+    expect(body).not.toContain("Page Not Found");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("404 Not Found");
+    await expect(page.locator("body")).toBeVisible();
+  });
+
+  test("gallery shows a healthy number of templates", async ({ page }) => {
+    // Deploy-gate guardrail: if the data pipeline regresses or the gallery
+    // fails to hydrate, the live counter drops to ~0. A real release has 100+.
+    const total = await viewingCount(page);
+    console.log(`Initial gallery total: ${total}`);
+    expect(total).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(50);
+  });
+
+  test("page renders at least one template card", async ({ page }) => {
+    const cards = page.locator(".fui-Card");
+    const rendered = await cards.count();
+    expect(rendered).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  });
+
+  test('search "azure" narrows results but keeps some', async ({ page }) => {
+    const initial = await viewingCount(page);
+    expect(initial).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+
+    const searchInput = page.locator("#filterBar");
+    await searchInput.click();
+    await searchInput.fill("azure");
+    // The SearchBox's onSearch (URL update + filtering) only fires on Enter.
+    await searchInput.press("Enter");
+
+    await expect(page).toHaveURL(/name=azure/);
+    await expect
+      .poll(async () => viewingCount(page), { timeout: 10_000 })
+      .not.toBe(initial);
+
+    const filtered = await viewingCount(page);
+    console.log(`Gallery total after searching "azure": ${filtered}`);
+    expect(filtered).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(filtered).toBeLessThanOrEqual(initial);
+  });
+
+  test("nonsense search shows the empty-state message", async ({ page }) => {
+    const searchInput = page.locator("#filterBar");
+    await searchInput.click();
+    await searchInput.fill("zzzznonexistenttemplate");
+    await searchInput.press("Enter");
+
+    await expect(page.locator("text=No templates found")).toBeVisible({
+      timeout: 10_000,
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("section filter (Language → Python) narrows the gallery", async ({
+    page,
+  }) => {
+    const initial = await viewingCount(page);
+    expect(initial).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+
+    // The left-side filter panel uses checkboxes; clicking one applies a
+    // tag filter and updates the URL with ?tags=...
+    // Use the deterministic Fluent UI Checkbox id from ShowcaseLeftFilters
+    // (`showcase_checkbox_id_<tag>`) to avoid matching "Python" mentions
+    // inside template card titles, descriptions, or tag chips.
+    // ShowcaseLeftFilters has two levels of accordions: an outer one per
+    // section (Language, Framework, etc.) and an inner "View All" that
+    // hides tags after the first 6. Python is in the Language section, so
+    // expand that section first, then expand "View All" if needed.
+    const pythonCheckbox = page.locator("#showcase_checkbox_id_python");
+    if (!(await pythonCheckbox.isVisible().catch(() => false))) {
+      await page.getByRole("button", { name: /^Language/ }).first().click();
+    }
+    if (!(await pythonCheckbox.isVisible().catch(() => false))) {
+      const viewAllButtons = page.getByRole("button", { name: /view all/i });
+      const count = await viewAllButtons.count();
+      for (let i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+        await viewAllButtons.nth(i).click();
+      }
+    }
+    await expect(pythonCheckbox).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
+    await pythonCheckbox.click();
+
+    await expect(page).toHaveURL(/tags=/);
+    await expect
+      .poll(async () => viewingCount(page), { timeout: 10_000 })
+      .not.toBe(initial);
+
+    const filtered = await viewingCount(page);
+    console.log(`Gallery total after filtering by Python: ${filtered}`);
+    expect(filtered).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(filtered).toBeLessThan(initial);
+  });
+
+  test("clearing search restores the full gallery", async ({ page }) => {
+    const initial = await viewingCount(page);
+
+    const searchInput = page.locator("#filterBar");
+    await searchInput.fill("python");
+    await searchInput.press("Enter");
+    await expect(page).toHaveURL(/name=python/);
+    await expect
+      .poll(async () => viewingCount(page), { timeout: 10_000 })
+      .not.toBe(initial);
+
+    await searchInput.fill("");
+    await searchInput.press("Enter");
+    await expect(page).not.toHaveURL(/name=python/);
+    await expect
+      .poll(async () => viewingCount(page), { timeout: 10_000 })
+      .toBe(initial);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/website/e2e/getting-started.spec.ts b/website/e2e/getting-started.spec.ts
index d7c783abb..0a6d5e2ab 100644
--- a/website/e2e/getting-started.spec.ts
+++ b/website/e2e/getting-started.spec.ts
@@ -3,14 +3,16 @@ import { test, expect } from "@playwright/test";
 test.describe("Getting Started Page", () => {
   test("renders hero section", async ({ page }) => {
     await page.goto("getting-started");
-    await expect(page.locator("h1")).toContainText("Ship to Azure", { timeout: 15_000 });
+    await page.waitForLoadState("networkidle");
+    await expect(page.locator("h1")).toContainText("Ship in minutes", { timeout: 15_000 });
   });
 
   test("displays three onboarding steps", async ({ page }) => {
     await page.goto("getting-started");
+    await page.waitForLoadState("networkidle");
     await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Install the Azure Developer CLI" })).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15_000 });
-    await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Pick a template" })).toBeVisible();
-    await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Deploy to Azure" })).toBeVisible();
+    await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Pick a template", exact: true })).toBeVisible();
+    await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Deploy to Azure", exact: true })).toBeVisible();
   });
 
   test("shows step cards section", async ({ page }) => {
diff --git a/website/e2e/homepage.spec.ts b/website/e2e/homepage.spec.ts
index 9ac3839ee..8bf7afb0d 100644
--- a/website/e2e/homepage.spec.ts
+++ b/website/e2e/homepage.spec.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ test.describe("Homepage", () => {
     const searchInput = page.getByRole("searchbox");
     await expect(searchInput).toBeVisible();
     await searchInput.fill("python");
+    // The SearchBox's onSearch (URL update) only fires on Enter.
+    await searchInput.press("Enter");
     await expect(page).toHaveURL(/name=python/);
   });