diff --git a/template/package.json b/template/package.json
index e54659479..e9181b64c 100644
--- a/template/package.json
+++ b/template/package.json
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     "dev": "NODE_ENV=development tsx watch --tsconfig ./tsconfig.server.json --env-file-if-exists=./.env ./server/server.ts",
     "build:client": "tsc -b tsconfig.client.json && vite build --config client/vite.config.ts",
     "build:server": "tsc -b tsconfig.server.json && tsdown -c tsdown.server.config.ts",
-    "build": "pnpm run build:server && pnpm run build:client",
+    "build": "{{or .packageManager `pnpm`}} run build:server && {{or .packageManager `pnpm`}} run build:client",
     "typecheck": "tsc -b tsconfig.server.json && tsc -b tsconfig.client.json",
     "lint": "eslint .",
     "lint:fix": "eslint . --fix",
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
     "format:fix": "prettier --write .",
     "test": "vitest run",
     "clean": "rm -rf client/dist dist build node_modules",
-    "prebuild": "pnpm run sync && appkit generate-types --wait",
-    "predev": "pnpm run sync && pnpm run typegen",
+    "prebuild": "{{or .packageManager `pnpm`}} run sync && appkit generate-types --wait",
+    "predev": "{{or .packageManager `pnpm`}} run sync && {{or .packageManager `pnpm`}} run typegen",
     "sync": "appkit plugin sync --write --silent",
     "typegen": "appkit generate-types",
     "setup": "appkit setup --write"
diff --git a/tools/template-artifacts.test.ts b/tools/template-artifacts.test.ts
index 8732bb0e9..9f6075468 100644
--- a/tools/template-artifacts.test.ts
+++ b/tools/template-artifacts.test.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ import { parse } from "yaml";
 
 import { checkTemplateArtifact } from "./check-template-artifact";
 import { preservePackageManagerArtifacts } from "./template-artifacts";
-import { selectSmokePackageManager } from "./template-smoke-runner";
+import {
+  PACKAGE_MANAGER_PLACEHOLDER,
+  selectSmokePackageManager,
+} from "./template-smoke-runner";
 
 const root = resolve(import.meta.dirname, "..");
 const temporaryDirectories: string[] = [];
@@ -67,6 +70,18 @@ test("static variants retain both package managers for the final init", () => {
   }
 });
 
+test("template scripts invoke the package manager selected by apps init", () => {
+  const { scripts } = JSON.parse(
+    readFileSync(join(root, "template/package.json"), "utf-8"),
+  );
+  for (const script of Object.values<string>(scripts)) {
+    // A hardcoded manager would make npm apps shell out to pnpm.
+    expect(script.replaceAll(PACKAGE_MANAGER_PLACEHOLDER, "")).not.toMatch(
+      /(^|[;&|(]\s*)(npm|pnpm|yarn|bun)\s/,
+    );
+  }
+});
+
 test.each(["npm", "pnpm"] as const)(
   "%s prebuild runs sync and forwards --wait to AppKit",
   (manager) => {
diff --git a/tools/template-smoke-runner.ts b/tools/template-smoke-runner.ts
index 2ea8bb031..92766f03f 100644
--- a/tools/template-smoke-runner.ts
+++ b/tools/template-smoke-runner.ts
@@ -17,26 +17,26 @@ import { parse } from "yaml";
 
 export type PackageManager = "npm" | "pnpm";
 
+/** Go template expression `databricks apps init` renders to the selected package manager. */
+export const PACKAGE_MANAGER_PLACEHOLDER = "{{or .packageManager `pnpm`}}";
+
 /** Test fixture shaping; end-user package-manager selection belongs to the CLI. */
 export function selectSmokePackageManager(
   appDir: string,
   pm: PackageManager,
 ): void {
-  if (pm === "pnpm") {
-    rmSync(join(appDir, "package-lock.json"), { force: true });
-    return;
-  }
-  for (const file of ["pnpm-lock.yaml", "pnpm-workspace.yaml", ".npmrc"]) {
-    rmSync(join(appDir, file), { force: true });
-  }
   const packagePath = join(appDir, "package.json");
   const pkg = JSON.parse(readFileSync(packagePath, "utf-8"));
-  pkg.packageManager = `npm@${execFileSync("npm", ["--version"], { encoding: "utf-8" }).trim()}`;
   for (const [name, script] of Object.entries<string>(pkg.scripts)) {
-    pkg.scripts[name] = script
-      .split(" && ")
-      .map((command) => command.replace(/^pnpm run /, "npm run "))
-      .join(" && ");
+    pkg.scripts[name] = script.replaceAll(PACKAGE_MANAGER_PLACEHOLDER, pm);
+  }
+  if (pm === "pnpm") {
+    rmSync(join(appDir, "package-lock.json"), { force: true });
+  } else {
+    for (const file of ["pnpm-lock.yaml", "pnpm-workspace.yaml", ".npmrc"]) {
+      rmSync(join(appDir, file), { force: true });
+    }
+    pkg.packageManager = `npm@${execFileSync("npm", ["--version"], { encoding: "utf-8" }).trim()}`;
   }
   writeFileSync(packagePath, `${JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2)}\n`);
 }