diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 77db58bb9..80b7b0861 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
     - Preserved skill independence — Each skill remains independently installable/referenceable (no global routing required)
 
 ### Fixed
+- **MetadataPlugin driver bridging fallback** — Fixed `MetadataPlugin.start()` so the driver service scan fallback (`driver.*`) is reached when ObjectQL returns `null` (not just when it throws). Previously, `setDatabaseDriver` was never called in environments where ObjectQL was not loaded.
+- **Auth trustedOrigins test alignment** — Updated `plugin-auth` tests to match the auto-default `http://localhost:*` behavior added in PR #1152 for better-auth CORS support. When no `trustedOrigins` are configured, the implementation correctly defaults to trusting all localhost ports for development convenience.
+- **Docs build: lucide-react module resolution** — Added Turbopack `resolveAlias` in `apps/docs/next.config.mjs` so MDX content files in `content/docs/` (outside the app directory) can resolve `lucide-react`. Turbopack starts module resolution from the file's directory, which doesn't have access to the app's `node_modules/`.
+- **Client Hono integration test timeout** — Fixed `afterAll` hook timeout in `client.hono.test.ts` by racing `kernel.shutdown()` against a 10s deadline. The shutdown can hang when pino's worker-thread flush callback never fires in CI, so the race ensures the hook completes within the 30s vitest limit.
 - **CI: Replace `pnpm/action-setup@v6` with corepack** — Switched all GitHub Actions workflows (`ci.yml`, `lint.yml`, `release.yml`, `validate-deps.yml`, `pr-automation.yml`) from `pnpm/action-setup@v6` to `corepack enable` to fix persistent `ERR_PNPM_BROKEN_LOCKFILE` errors. Corepack reads the exact `packageManager` field from `package.json` (including SHA verification), ensuring the correct pnpm version is used in CI. Also bumped pnpm store cache keys to v3 and added a pnpm version verification step.
 - **Broken pnpm lockfile** — Regenerated `pnpm-lock.yaml` from scratch to fix `ERR_PNPM_BROKEN_LOCKFILE` ("expected a single document in the stream, but found more") that was causing all CI jobs to fail. The previous merge of PR #1117 only included workflow cache key changes but did not carry over the regenerated lockfile.
 - **service-ai: Fix navigation item labels using deprecated i18n object format** — Replaced `{ key, defaultValue }` i18n objects with plain string labels in `AIServicePlugin`'s Setup App navigation contributions, completing the `I18nLabelSchema` migration from [#1054](https://github.com/objectstack-ai/framework/issues/1054).
diff --git a/apps/docs/next.config.mjs b/apps/docs/next.config.mjs
index 26e2d7e2f..44d31efc5 100644
--- a/apps/docs/next.config.mjs
+++ b/apps/docs/next.config.mjs
@@ -9,6 +9,15 @@ const config = {
   typescript: {
     ignoreBuildErrors: false,
   },
+  turbopack: {
+    resolveAlias: {
+      // MDX content lives in ../../content/docs/ (outside the app directory).
+      // Turbopack resolves modules starting from the file's directory, so it
+      // can't find packages installed under this app's node_modules/.
+      // Alias lucide-react so external MDX files can import it.
+      'lucide-react': './node_modules/lucide-react',
+    },
+  },
   images: {
     remotePatterns: [
       {
diff --git a/packages/client/src/client.hono.test.ts b/packages/client/src/client.hono.test.ts
index b8e2a847b..2a7aa90c8 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/client.hono.test.ts
+++ b/packages/client/src/client.hono.test.ts
@@ -107,11 +107,19 @@ describe('ObjectStackClient (with Hono Server)', () => {
         baseUrl = `http://localhost:${port}`;
 
         console.log(`Test server running at ${baseUrl}`);
-    });
+    }, 30_000);
 
     afterAll(async () => {
-        if (kernel) await kernel.shutdown();
-    });
+        if (kernel) {
+            // Race shutdown against a hard deadline.
+            // kernel.shutdown() can hang when pino's flush callback never fires
+            // in CI (worker-thread transport timing issues), so cap the wait.
+            await Promise.race([
+                kernel.shutdown(),
+                new Promise<void>((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 10_000)),
+            ]);
+        }
+    }, 30_000);
 
     it('should connect to hono server and discover endpoints', async () => {
         const client = new ObjectStackClient({ baseUrl });
diff --git a/packages/metadata/src/plugin.ts b/packages/metadata/src/plugin.ts
index a2491ce21..3e3778ba8 100644
--- a/packages/metadata/src/plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/metadata/src/plugin.ts
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ export class MetadataPlugin implements Plugin {
         // Bridge database driver from kernel service registry to MetadataManager.
         // Uses ObjectQL engine's datasource mapping to resolve the correct driver
         // for sys_metadata (respects namespace → datasource routing).
+        // Falls back to the first available driver.* service when ObjectQL is unavailable.
+        let driverBridged = false;
         try {
             const ql = ctx.getService<any>('objectql');
             if (ql) {
@@ -118,12 +120,17 @@ export class MetadataPlugin implements Plugin {
                         driver: driver.name,
                     });
                     this.manager.setDatabaseDriver(driver);
+                    driverBridged = true;
                 } else {
                     ctx.logger.debug('[MetadataPlugin] ObjectQL could not resolve driver for metadata table', { tableName });
                 }
             }
         } catch {
-            // ObjectQL not available — fall back to first available driver service
+            // ObjectQL not available — will fall through to driver service fallback below
+        }
+
+        // Fallback: scan for driver.* services when ObjectQL didn't provide a driver
+        if (!driverBridged) {
             try {
                 const services = ctx.getServices();
                 for (const [serviceName, service] of services) {
diff --git a/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/auth-manager.test.ts b/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/auth-manager.test.ts
index 73aa9cddd..e010ee4b2 100644
--- a/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/auth-manager.test.ts
+++ b/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/auth-manager.test.ts
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ describe('AuthManager', () => {
       ]);
     });
 
-    it('should NOT include trustedOrigins key when not provided', () => {
+    it('should default to localhost wildcard when trustedOrigins not provided', () => {
       let capturedConfig: any;
       (betterAuth as any).mockImplementation((config: any) => {
         capturedConfig = config;
@@ -449,10 +449,10 @@ describe('AuthManager', () => {
       manager.getAuthInstance();
       warnSpy.mockRestore();
 
-      expect(capturedConfig).not.toHaveProperty('trustedOrigins');
+      expect(capturedConfig.trustedOrigins).toEqual(['http://localhost:*']);
     });
 
-    it('should NOT include trustedOrigins key when array is empty', () => {
+    it('should default to localhost wildcard when trustedOrigins array is empty', () => {
       let capturedConfig: any;
       (betterAuth as any).mockImplementation((config: any) => {
         capturedConfig = config;
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ describe('AuthManager', () => {
       manager.getAuthInstance();
       warnSpy.mockRestore();
 
-      expect(capturedConfig).not.toHaveProperty('trustedOrigins');
+      expect(capturedConfig.trustedOrigins).toEqual(['http://localhost:*']);
     });
   });