diff --git a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/e2e-validate-init.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/e2e-validate-init.test.ts
index bccd77a..dbf8429 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/e2e-validate-init.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/e2e-validate-init.test.ts
@@ -202,10 +202,12 @@ describe("e2e init", () => {
     // Verify key files exist
     expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, "nerve.yaml"))).toBe(true);
     expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, "package.json"))).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, "pnpm-workspace.yaml"))).toBe(true);
     expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, "biome.json"))).toBe(true);
     expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, ".gitignore"))).toBe(true);
-    expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "schema.ts"))).toBe(true);
-    expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "index.js"))).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "package.json"))).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "src", "index.ts"))).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "src", "schema.ts"))).toBe(true);
     expect(existsSync(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "migrations", "0001_init.sql"))).toBe(
       true,
     );
@@ -213,6 +215,18 @@ describe("e2e init", () => {
 
     const pkgJson = readFileSync(join(nerveRoot, "package.json"), "utf8");
     expect(pkgJson).toContain('"@uncaged/nerve-skills": "latest"');
+    expect(pkgJson).toContain('"build": "pnpm -r build"');
+
+    const workspaceYaml = readFileSync(join(nerveRoot, "pnpm-workspace.yaml"), "utf8");
+    expect(workspaceYaml).toContain("workflows/*");
+    expect(workspaceYaml).toContain("senses/*");
+
+    const sensePkgJson = readFileSync(
+      join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "package.json"),
+      "utf8",
+    );
+    expect(sensePkgJson).toContain("nerve-sense-cpu-usage");
+    expect(sensePkgJson).toContain("esbuild");
   });
 
   it("generated nerve.yaml passes validate", { timeout: 10_000 }, async () => {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/create.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/create.ts
index d079d57..c8685a2 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/create.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/create.ts
@@ -324,12 +324,12 @@ const createSenseCommand = defineCommand({
 
     process.stdout.write("\nInstalling sense dependencies and building…\n");
     try {
-      await spawnAsync("pnpm", ["install", "--no-cache"], senseDir);
+      await spawnAsync("pnpm", ["install", "--no-cache", "--ignore-workspace"], senseDir);
       await spawnAsync("pnpm", ["run", "build"], senseDir);
       process.stdout.write("✅ Build complete — index.js ready.\n");
     } catch {
       process.stdout.write(
-        `⚠️ Build failed. Run manually:\n   cd ${senseDir} && pnpm install --no-cache && pnpm run build\n`,
+        `⚠️ Build failed. Run manually:\n   cd ${senseDir} && pnpm install --no-cache --ignore-workspace && pnpm run build\n`,
       );
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
index 8bef2f8..d79f511 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ senses:
     interval: 10s
 `;
 
+const PNPM_WORKSPACE_YAML = `packages:
+  - 'workflows/*'
+  - 'senses/*'
+`;
+
 const BIOME_JSON = `{
   "$schema": "https://biomejs.dev/schemas/1.9.0/schema.json",
   "formatter": {
@@ -42,26 +47,32 @@ const BIOME_JSON = `{
 }
 `;
 
-const PACKAGE_JSON = `{
-  "name": "my-nerve-workspace",
-  "version": "0.0.1",
-  "private": true,
-  "type": "module",
-  "dependencies": {
-    "@uncaged/nerve-core": "latest",
-    "@uncaged/nerve-daemon": "latest",
-    "@uncaged/nerve-skills": "latest",
-    "drizzle-orm": "latest"
+const PACKAGE_JSON = `${JSON.stringify(
+  {
+    name: "my-nerve-workspace",
+    version: "0.0.1",
+    private: true,
+    type: "module",
+    scripts: {
+      build: "pnpm -r build",
+    },
+    dependencies: {
+      "@uncaged/nerve-core": "latest",
+      "@uncaged/nerve-daemon": "latest",
+      "@uncaged/nerve-skills": "latest",
+      "drizzle-orm": "latest",
+    },
+    devDependencies: {
+      "@biomejs/biome": "latest",
+      "drizzle-kit": "latest",
+    },
+    pnpm: {
+      onlyBuiltDependencies: ["esbuild"],
+    },
   },
-  "devDependencies": {
-    "@biomejs/biome": "latest",
-    "drizzle-kit": "latest"
-  },
-  "pnpm": {
-    "onlyBuiltDependencies": ["esbuild"]
-  }
-}
-`;
+  null,
+  2,
+)}\n`;
 
 const GITIGNORE = `data/
 logs/
@@ -110,9 +121,14 @@ export const cpuUsage = sqliteTable("cpu_usage", {
 });
 `;
 
-const CPU_INDEX_JS = `import { cpus } from "node:os";
+const CPU_INDEX_TS = `import { cpus } from "node:os";
 
-export async function compute() {
+type SenseResult = {
+  signal: { model: string; loadPercent: number; ts: number };
+  workflow: null;
+};
+
+export async function compute(): Promise<SenseResult> {
   const cpuList = cpus();
 
   let totalIdle = 0;
@@ -137,6 +153,24 @@ export async function compute() {
 }
 `;
 
+const CPU_SENSE_PACKAGE_JSON = `${JSON.stringify(
+  {
+    name: "nerve-sense-cpu-usage",
+    private: true,
+    type: "module",
+    scripts: {
+      build:
+        "esbuild src/index.ts --bundle --platform=node --format=esm --outdir=. --out-extension:.js=.js --packages=external",
+    },
+    devDependencies: {
+      esbuild: "^0.27.0",
+      "drizzle-orm": "*",
+    },
+  },
+  null,
+  2,
+)}\n`;
+
 const CPU_MIGRATION_SQL = `CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS cpu_usage (
   id          INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
   ts          INTEGER NOT NULL,
@@ -294,14 +328,17 @@ async function runInitWorkspace(force: boolean, skipInstall = false): Promise<vo
 
   mkdirSync(join(nerveRoot, "data"), { recursive: true });
   mkdirSync(join(nerveRoot, "data", "senses"), { recursive: true });
+  mkdirSync(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "src"), { recursive: true });
   mkdirSync(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "migrations"), { recursive: true });
 
   writeFile(join(nerveRoot, "nerve.yaml"), NERVE_YAML);
   writeFile(join(nerveRoot, "package.json"), PACKAGE_JSON);
+  writeFile(join(nerveRoot, "pnpm-workspace.yaml"), PNPM_WORKSPACE_YAML);
   writeFile(join(nerveRoot, "biome.json"), BIOME_JSON);
   writeFile(join(nerveRoot, ".gitignore"), GITIGNORE);
-  writeFile(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "schema.ts"), CPU_SCHEMA_TS);
-  writeFile(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "index.js"), CPU_INDEX_JS);
+  writeFile(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "package.json"), CPU_SENSE_PACKAGE_JSON);
+  writeFile(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "src", "index.ts"), CPU_INDEX_TS);
+  writeFile(join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "src", "schema.ts"), CPU_SCHEMA_TS);
   writeFile(
     join(nerveRoot, "senses", "cpu-usage", "migrations", "0001_init.sql"),
     CPU_MIGRATION_SQL,
@@ -319,6 +356,13 @@ async function runInitWorkspace(force: boolean, skipInstall = false): Promise<vo
       );
     }
 
+    process.stdout.write("Building senses…\n");
+    try {
+      await runCommand("pnpm", ["run", "build"], nerveRoot);
+    } catch {
+      process.stdout.write(`⚠️ Build failed. Try manually:\n   cd ${nerveRoot} && pnpm run build\n`);
+    }
+
     if (!(await verifyNodeSqlite())) {
       process.stdout.write(
         "⚠️ Built-in SQLite (node:sqlite) is not available in this Node.js build. " +