diff --git a/deno.json b/deno.json
index 44e3c14792..ad89db52cd 100644
--- a/deno.json
+++ b/deno.json
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@
   ],
   "exports": {
     ".": "./src/index.ts",
+    "./index.client": "./src/index.client.ts",
     "./head": "./src/react/components/Head.tsx",
     "./router": "./src/react/router/index.tsx",
     "./context": "./src/react/context/index.tsx",
@@ -144,6 +145,7 @@
     "./server": "./src/server/index.ts"
   },
   "imports": {
+    "veryfront/index.client": "./src/index.client.ts",
     "veryfront/head": "./src/react/runtime/core.ts",
     "veryfront/router": "./src/react/runtime/core.ts",
     "veryfront/context": "./src/react/runtime/core.ts",
diff --git a/scripts/build/browser-safe-exports.mjs b/scripts/build/browser-safe-exports.mjs
index e7bffe26f0..0ea817cba1 100644
--- a/scripts/build/browser-safe-exports.mjs
+++ b/scripts/build/browser-safe-exports.mjs
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 export const BROWSER_SAFE_EXPORTS = [
+  // Client/SSR-safe mirror of the root barrel (server bootstrap surface removed).
+  // The import rewriter redirects `veryfront` here for browser/ssr; it must ship
+  // in the npm package (built to esm/src/index.client.js) or that redirect 404s.
+  "./index.client",
   "./head",
   "./router",
   "./context",
diff --git a/src/index.client.ts b/src/index.client.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..55e02febc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/index.client.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+/**
+ * Client/SSR-safe mirror of the `veryfront` root barrel ({@link file://./index.ts}).
+ *
+ * The root barrel re-exports the server bootstrap surface (`createHandler`,
+ * `startServer`, `toNodeHandler`) from `#veryfront/server`. Because the browser
+ * and SSR pipelines transform modules per-file (no cross-module tree-shaking),
+ * an ESM re-export eagerly loads its source module — so pulling the root barrel
+ * into a client chunk drags the entire server graph in, including
+ * `src/server/production-server.ts`, which has module top-level `await` and
+ * cannot be transformed to the es2020 browser target (→ HTTP 500 on that chunk,
+ * which aborts hydration).
+ *
+ * A client-reachable module doing a *used* value import from the barrel (e.g.
+ * `import { getEnv } from "veryfront"`) is not dead-stripped, so it keeps the
+ * barrel — and the leak. This barrel exposes exactly the same browser-safe
+ * surface minus the server bootstrap functions, which no client/SSR page code
+ * ever legitimately calls. The import rewriter redirects `veryfront` to this
+ * module for the `browser` and `ssr` targets (see
+ * `src/transforms/import-rewriter/strategies/veryfront-strategy.ts`), the same
+ * mechanism `veryfront/workflow` already uses.
+ *
+ * Keep the exports below in sync with {@link file://./index.ts} — everything
+ * except the `createHandler` / `startServer` / `toNodeHandler` value export.
+ *
+ * @module veryfront
+ */
+
+export { defineConfig, defineConfigWithEnv, mergeConfigs } from "#veryfront/config";
+export type { VeryfrontConfig } from "#veryfront/config";
+
+export { getEnv } from "#veryfront/platform";
+
+// NOTE: the server bootstrap value export (`createHandler`, `startServer`,
+// `toNodeHandler` from "#veryfront/server") is intentionally omitted here — it
+// is server-only and pulls production-server.ts (top-level await) into client
+// chunks. Types are erased at transform time, so re-exporting them is inert.
+export type { StartServerOptions, VeryfrontHandler, VeryfrontServer } from "#veryfront/server";
+
+export {
+  badRequest,
+  forbidden,
+  json,
+  notFound as apiNotFound,
+  redirect as apiRedirect,
+  serverError,
+  unauthorized,
+} from "#veryfront/routing";
+export type { APIContext, APIHandler, APIResponse, APIRoute } from "#veryfront/routing";
+
+export { notFound, redirect } from "#veryfront/data";
+export type {
+  DataContext,
+  InferGetServerDataProps,
+  PageWithData,
+  StaticPathsResult,
+} from "#veryfront/data";
+
+export type { MDXFrontmatter, PageContext } from "#veryfront/types";
+
+export {
+  CommonSchemas,
+  createValidatedHandler,
+  createValidationError,
+  INPUT_VALIDATION_FAILED,
+  parseFormData,
+  parseJsonBody,
+  parseQueryParams,
+  sanitizeData,
+} from "#veryfront/security";
+export type { ValidatedHandlerConfig, ValidatedHandlerFunction } from "#veryfront/security";
diff --git a/src/transforms/import-rewriter/strategies/veryfront-strategy.test.ts b/src/transforms/import-rewriter/strategies/veryfront-strategy.test.ts
index 78a18cbab4..917aa4d74b 100644
--- a/src/transforms/import-rewriter/strategies/veryfront-strategy.test.ts
+++ b/src/transforms/import-rewriter/strategies/veryfront-strategy.test.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,27 @@ describe("VeryfrontStrategy", () => {
       );
     });
 
+    it("should redirect the root veryfront barrel to the client-safe barrel for browser", () => {
+      // Regression: the full root barrel re-exports `#veryfront/server`, which
+      // pulls `server/production-server.ts` (module top-level await) into client
+      // chunks — it 500s on the es2020 browser target and aborts hydration. A
+      // *used* value import (`import { getEnv } from "veryfront"`) is not
+      // dead-stripped, so the barrel must resolve to the server-free mirror.
+      const result = strategy.rewrite(
+        makeInfo("veryfront"),
+        makeCtx({ target: "browser" }),
+      );
+      assertEquals(result.specifier, "/_vf_modules/_veryfront/index.client.js");
+    });
+
+    it("should redirect the root veryfront barrel to the client-safe barrel for SSR", () => {
+      const result = strategy.rewrite(
+        makeInfo("veryfront"),
+        makeCtx({ target: "ssr" }),
+      );
+      assertEquals(result.specifier, "/_vf_modules/_veryfront/index.client.js?ssr=true");
+    });
+
     it("should not apply SSR override to non-overridden modules", () => {
       const result = strategy.rewrite(
         makeInfo("veryfront/head"),
diff --git a/src/transforms/import-rewriter/strategies/veryfront-strategy.ts b/src/transforms/import-rewriter/strategies/veryfront-strategy.ts
index 0461046764..8d8466f753 100644
--- a/src/transforms/import-rewriter/strategies/veryfront-strategy.ts
+++ b/src/transforms/import-rewriter/strategies/veryfront-strategy.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,15 @@ import {
  */
 const REACT_ONLY_MODULE_OVERRIDES: Record<string, string> = {
   "veryfront/workflow": "/_vf_modules/_veryfront/workflow/react/index.js",
+  // The root barrel re-exports the server bootstrap surface from
+  // `#veryfront/server`, which transitively pulls `server/production-server.ts`
+  // (module top-level await → cannot transform to the es2020 browser target →
+  // HTTP 500, aborting hydration). A *used* value import from the barrel (e.g.
+  // `import { getEnv } from "veryfront"`) survives dead-code stripping and drags
+  // the whole server graph into the client. Redirect to a client/SSR-safe mirror
+  // barrel that omits only the server bootstrap value export. See
+  // `src/index.client.ts`.
+  "veryfront": "/_vf_modules/_veryfront/index.client.js",
 };
 
 export class VeryfrontStrategy implements ImportRewriteStrategy {