diff --git a/integration/models/__tests__/application.test.ts b/integration/models/__tests__/application.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6e2d52d0e2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/models/__tests__/application.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+
+import { resolveServerUrl } from '../application';
+
+describe('resolveServerUrl', () => {
+  describe('with opts.serverUrl', () => {
+    it('appends port to a URL without an explicit port', () => {
+      expect(resolveServerUrl('http://localhost', undefined, 3000)).toBe('http://localhost:3000');
+    });
+
+    it('appends port to an https URL without an explicit port', () => {
+      expect(resolveServerUrl('https://example.com', undefined, 4000)).toBe('https://example.com:4000');
+    });
+
+    it('preserves an explicit port in the URL', () => {
+      expect(resolveServerUrl('http://localhost:8080', undefined, 3000)).toBe('http://localhost:8080');
+    });
+
+    it('handles a URL with a path (returns origin only)', () => {
+      expect(resolveServerUrl('http://localhost/some/path', undefined, 3000)).toBe('http://localhost:3000');
+    });
+
+    it('handles a bare hostname by appending port', () => {
+      expect(resolveServerUrl('myhost', undefined, 5000)).toBe('myhost:5000');
+    });
+
+    it('handles a bare IP address by appending port', () => {
+      expect(resolveServerUrl('127.0.0.1', undefined, 5000)).toBe('127.0.0.1:5000');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('with fallback serverUrl', () => {
+    it('uses fallback when opts.serverUrl is undefined', () => {
+      expect(resolveServerUrl(undefined, 'http://fallback:9000', 3000)).toBe('http://fallback:9000');
+    });
+
+    it('prefers opts.serverUrl over fallback', () => {
+      expect(resolveServerUrl('http://localhost', 'http://fallback:9000', 3000)).toBe('http://localhost:3000');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('with no serverUrl at all', () => {
+    it('defaults to http://localhost with the given port', () => {
+      expect(resolveServerUrl(undefined, undefined, 4567)).toBe('http://localhost:4567');
+    });
+
+    it('defaults when fallback is empty string', () => {
+      expect(resolveServerUrl(undefined, '', 4567)).toBe('http://localhost:4567');
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/integration/models/application.ts b/integration/models/application.ts
index fd4a4d00fa6..d0662225eb7 100644
--- a/integration/models/application.ts
+++ b/integration/models/application.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,31 @@ import type { EnvironmentConfig } from './environment.js';
 
 export type Application = ReturnType<typeof application>;
 
+/**
+ * Resolves the server URL for a dev/serve process, ensuring the runtime port
+ * is always reflected in the URL. Uses the URL constructor to detect whether
+ * an explicit port is present (avoiding false positives from the scheme colon).
+ */
+export const resolveServerUrl = (
+  optsServerUrl: string | undefined,
+  fallbackServerUrl: string | undefined,
+  port: number,
+): string => {
+  if (optsServerUrl) {
+    try {
+      const parsed = new URL(optsServerUrl);
+      if (!parsed.port) {
+        parsed.port = String(port);
+      }
+      return parsed.origin;
+    } catch {
+      // Bare host (e.g. "localhost"), not a full URL
+      return `${optsServerUrl}:${port}`;
+    }
+  }
+  return fallbackServerUrl || `http://localhost:${port}`;
+};
+
 export const application = (
   config: ApplicationConfig,
   appDirPath: string,
@@ -58,13 +83,7 @@ export const application = (
     dev: async (opts: { port?: number; manualStart?: boolean; detached?: boolean; serverUrl?: string } = {}) => {
       const log = logger.child({ prefix: 'dev' }).info;
       const port = opts.port || (await getPort());
-      const getServerUrl = () => {
-        if (opts.serverUrl) {
-          return opts.serverUrl.includes(':') ? opts.serverUrl : `${opts.serverUrl}:${port}`;
-        }
-        return serverUrl || `http://localhost:${port}`;
-      };
-      const runtimeServerUrl = getServerUrl();
+      const runtimeServerUrl = resolveServerUrl(opts.serverUrl, serverUrl, port);
       log(`Will try to serve app at ${runtimeServerUrl}`);
       if (opts.manualStart) {
         // for debugging, you can start the dev server manually by cd'ing into the temp dir
@@ -144,25 +163,59 @@ export const application = (
     get serveOutput() {
       return serveOutput;
     },
-    serve: async (opts: { port?: number; manualStart?: boolean } = {}) => {
+    serve: async (opts: { port?: number; manualStart?: boolean; detached?: boolean; serverUrl?: string } = {}) => {
       const log = logger.child({ prefix: 'serve' }).info;
       const port = opts.port || (await getPort());
-      // TODO: get serverUrl as in dev()
-      const serverUrl = `http://localhost:${port}`;
-      // If this is ever used as a background process, we need to make sure
-      // it's not using the log function. See the dev() method above
+      const runtimeServerUrl = resolveServerUrl(opts.serverUrl, serverUrl, port);
+      log(`Will try to serve app at ${runtimeServerUrl}`);
+
+      if (opts.manualStart) {
+        state.serverUrl = runtimeServerUrl;
+        return { port, serverUrl: runtimeServerUrl };
+      }
+
+      // Read .env file and pass as process env vars since production servers
+      // may not auto-load .env files (e.g., react-router-serve)
+      const envFromFile: Record<string, string> = {};
+      const envFilePath = path.resolve(appDirPath, '.env');
+      if (fs.existsSync(envFilePath)) {
+        const envContent = fs.readFileSync(envFilePath, 'utf-8');
+        for (const line of envContent.split('\n')) {
+          const trimmed = line.trim();
+          if (trimmed && !trimmed.startsWith('#')) {
+            const eqIdx = trimmed.indexOf('=');
+            if (eqIdx > 0) {
+              envFromFile[trimmed.slice(0, eqIdx)] = trimmed.slice(eqIdx + 1);
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
       const proc = run(scripts.serve, {
         cwd: appDirPath,
-        env: { PORT: port.toString() },
-        log: (msg: string) => {
-          serveOutput += `\n${msg}`;
-          log(msg);
-        },
+        env: { ...envFromFile, PORT: port.toString() },
+        detached: opts.detached,
+        stdout: opts.detached ? fs.openSync(stdoutFilePath, 'a') : undefined,
+        stderr: opts.detached ? fs.openSync(stderrFilePath, 'a') : undefined,
+        log: opts.detached
+          ? undefined
+          : (msg: string) => {
+              serveOutput += `\n${msg}`;
+              log(msg);
+            },
       });
+
+      if (opts.detached) {
+        const shouldExit = () => !!proc.exitCode && proc.exitCode !== 0;
+        await waitForServer(runtimeServerUrl, { log, maxAttempts: Infinity, shouldExit });
+      } else {
+        await waitForIdleProcess(proc);
+      }
+
+      log(`Server started at ${runtimeServerUrl}, pid: ${proc.pid}`);
       cleanupFns.push(() => awaitableTreekill(proc.pid, 'SIGKILL'));
-      await waitForIdleProcess(proc);
-      state.serverUrl = serverUrl;
-      return { port, serverUrl, pid: proc };
+      state.serverUrl = runtimeServerUrl;
+      return { port, serverUrl: runtimeServerUrl, pid: proc.pid };
     },
     stop: async () => {
       logger.info('Stopping...');
diff --git a/integration/models/longRunningApplication.ts b/integration/models/longRunningApplication.ts
index b7e17ced2df..18be6c14204 100644
--- a/integration/models/longRunningApplication.ts
+++ b/integration/models/longRunningApplication.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ export const longRunningApplication = (params: LongRunningApplicationParams) =>
       // will be called by global.setup.ts and by the test runner
       // the first time this is called, the app starts and the state is persisted in the state file
       init: async () => {
+        const log = (msg: string) => console.log(`[${name}] ${msg}`);
+        log('Starting init...');
         try {
           const publishableKey = params.env.publicVariables.get('CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY');
           const secretKey = params.env.privateVariables.get('CLERK_SECRET_KEY');
@@ -66,8 +68,9 @@ export const longRunningApplication = (params: LongRunningApplicationParams) =>
           const { instanceType, frontendApi: frontendApiUrl } = parsePublishableKey(publishableKey);
 
           if (instanceType !== 'development') {
-            console.log('Clerk: skipping setup of testing tokens for non-development instance');
+            log('Skipping setup of testing tokens for non-development instance');
           } else {
+            log('Setting up testing tokens...');
             await clerkSetup({
               publishableKey,
               frontendApiUrl,
@@ -76,13 +79,16 @@ export const longRunningApplication = (params: LongRunningApplicationParams) =>
               apiUrl,
               dotenv: false,
             });
+            log('Testing tokens setup complete');
           }
         } catch (error) {
           console.error('Error setting up testing tokens:', error);
           throw error;
         }
         try {
+          log('Committing config...');
           app = await config.commit();
+          log(`Config committed, appDir: ${app.appDir}`);
         } catch (error) {
           console.error('Error committing config:', error);
           throw error;
@@ -94,16 +100,35 @@ export const longRunningApplication = (params: LongRunningApplicationParams) =>
           throw error;
         }
         try {
+          log('Running setup (pnpm install)...');
           await app.setup();
+          log('Setup complete');
         } catch (error) {
           console.error('Error during app setup:', error);
           throw error;
         }
         try {
-          const { port, serverUrl, pid } = await app.dev({ detached: true });
-          stateFile.addLongRunningApp({ port, serverUrl, pid, id, appDir: app.appDir, env: params.env.toJson() });
+          log('Building app...');
+          const buildTimeout = new Promise((_, reject) =>
+            setTimeout(() => reject(new Error(`Build timed out after 120s for ${name}`)), 120_000),
+          );
+          await Promise.race([app.build(), buildTimeout]);
+          log('Build complete');
         } catch (error) {
-          console.error('Error during app dev:', error);
+          console.error('Error during app build:', error);
+          throw error;
+        }
+        try {
+          log('Starting serve (detached)...');
+          const serveResult = await app.serve({ detached: true });
+          port = serveResult.port;
+          serverUrl = serveResult.serverUrl;
+          pid = serveResult.pid;
+          appDir = app.appDir;
+          log(`Serve complete: port=${port}, serverUrl=${serverUrl}, pid=${pid}`);
+          stateFile.addLongRunningApp({ port, serverUrl, pid, id, appDir, env: params.env.toJson() });
+        } catch (error) {
+          console.error('Error during app serve:', error);
           throw error;
         }
       },
@@ -126,9 +151,7 @@ export const longRunningApplication = (params: LongRunningApplicationParams) =>
       setup: () => Promise.resolve(),
       withEnv: () => Promise.resolve(),
       teardown: () => Promise.resolve(),
-      build: () => {
-        throw new Error('build for long running apps is not supported yet');
-      },
+      build: () => Promise.resolve(),
       get name() {
         return name;
       },
diff --git a/integration/templates/astro-hybrid/astro.config.mjs b/integration/templates/astro-hybrid/astro.config.mjs
index 8568979754d..9e5347065c2 100644
--- a/integration/templates/astro-hybrid/astro.config.mjs
+++ b/integration/templates/astro-hybrid/astro.config.mjs
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
+import node from '@astrojs/node';
 import clerk from '@clerk/astro';
 import react from '@astrojs/react';
 
 export default defineConfig({
   output: 'hybrid',
+  adapter: node({
+    mode: 'standalone',
+  }),
   integrations: [
     clerk({
       appearance: {
@@ -15,6 +19,6 @@ export default defineConfig({
     react(),
   ],
   server: {
-    port: Number(process.env.PORT),
+    port: process.env.PORT ? Number(process.env.PORT) : undefined,
   },
 });
diff --git a/integration/templates/astro-hybrid/package.json b/integration/templates/astro-hybrid/package.json
index 0577b94f676..deba74ac54c 100644
--- a/integration/templates/astro-hybrid/package.json
+++ b/integration/templates/astro-hybrid/package.json
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "astro": "astro",
-    "build": "astro check && astro build",
+    "build": "astro build",
     "dev": "astro dev",
     "preview": "astro preview --port $PORT",
     "start": "astro dev --port $PORT"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@astrojs/check": "^0.9.4",
-    "@astrojs/node": "^9.4.2",
+    "@astrojs/node": "^8.0.0",
     "@astrojs/react": "^3.6.2",
     "@types/react": "18.3.12",
     "@types/react-dom": "18.3.1",
diff --git a/integration/templates/astro-node/astro.config.mjs b/integration/templates/astro-node/astro.config.mjs
index 41e54f926f8..54bd79e7f1c 100644
--- a/integration/templates/astro-node/astro.config.mjs
+++ b/integration/templates/astro-node/astro.config.mjs
@@ -22,6 +22,6 @@ export default defineConfig({
     tailwind(),
   ],
   server: {
-    port: Number(process.env.PORT),
+    port: process.env.PORT ? Number(process.env.PORT) : undefined,
   },
 });
diff --git a/integration/templates/astro-node/package.json b/integration/templates/astro-node/package.json
index d459a625002..9642a60ceac 100644
--- a/integration/templates/astro-node/package.json
+++ b/integration/templates/astro-node/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "astro": "astro",
-    "build": "astro check && astro build",
+    "build": "astro build",
     "dev": "astro dev",
     "preview": "astro preview --port $PORT",
     "start": "astro dev --port $PORT"
diff --git a/integration/templates/react-router-node/package.json b/integration/templates/react-router-node/package.json
index 3bcf6de6ba8..5c1d1d77262 100644
--- a/integration/templates/react-router-node/package.json
+++ b/integration/templates/react-router-node/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
   "scripts": {
     "build": "react-router build",
     "dev": "react-router dev --port $PORT",
-    "start": "react-router-serve ./build/server/index.js",
+    "start": "NODE_ENV=production react-router-serve ./build/server/index.js",
     "typecheck": "react-router typegen && tsc --build --noEmit"
   },
   "dependencies": {
diff --git a/integration/templates/react-router-node/vite.config.ts b/integration/templates/react-router-node/vite.config.ts
index fb860e8215f..df191826314 100644
--- a/integration/templates/react-router-node/vite.config.ts
+++ b/integration/templates/react-router-node/vite.config.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ export default defineConfig({
     }),
   ],
   server: {
-    port: Number(process.env.PORT),
+    port: process.env.PORT ? Number(process.env.PORT) : undefined,
   },
 });
diff --git a/integration/templates/react-vite/package.json b/integration/templates/react-vite/package.json
index 97ace6085d8..9c68b22de69 100644
--- a/integration/templates/react-vite/package.json
+++ b/integration/templates/react-vite/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
-    "build": "tsc && vite build",
+    "build": "vite build",
     "dev": "vite --port $PORT --no-open",
     "lint": "eslint src --ext ts,tsx --report-unused-disable-directives --max-warnings 0",
     "preview": "vite preview --port $PORT --no-open"
diff --git a/integration/templates/tanstack-react-start/package.json b/integration/templates/tanstack-react-start/package.json
index 7121e87e555..e830bac5bdf 100644
--- a/integration/templates/tanstack-react-start/package.json
+++ b/integration/templates/tanstack-react-start/package.json
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
-    "build": "vite build && tsc --noEmit",
+    "build": "vite build",
     "dev": "vite dev --port=$PORT",
-    "start": "vite start --port=$PORT"
+    "start": "srvx --static ../client dist/server/server.js"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@tanstack/react-router": "1.157.16",
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
     "@types/react": "^19.0.8",
     "@types/react-dom": "^19.0.3",
     "@vitejs/plugin-react": "^4.3.4",
+    "srvx": "^0.11.2",
     "tailwindcss": "^4.0.8",
     "typescript": "^5.7.2",
     "vite": "^7.1.7",
diff --git a/integration/templates/vue-vite/package.json b/integration/templates/vue-vite/package.json
index 98cf8d6d186..c15b18cdcef 100644
--- a/integration/templates/vue-vite/package.json
+++ b/integration/templates/vue-vite/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
-    "build": "vue-tsc -b && vite build",
+    "build": "vite build",
     "dev": "vite --port $PORT",
     "preview": "vite preview --port $PORT"
   },
diff --git a/integration/tests/global.setup.ts b/integration/tests/global.setup.ts
index 377477b4979..9125fab770d 100644
--- a/integration/tests/global.setup.ts
+++ b/integration/tests/global.setup.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { appConfigs } from '../presets';
 import { fs, parseEnvOptions, startClerkJsHttpServer, startClerkUiHttpServer } from '../scripts';
 
 setup('start long running apps', async () => {
-  setup.setTimeout(90_000);
+  setup.setTimeout(300_000);
 
   await fs.ensureDir(constants.TMP_DIR);